51-60

Chapter 51

Lin Zhen got the information he wanted. At the fork in the road, where can you buy Glauber's salt?

Looking at the apprentice who was still talking to him, Lin Zhen touched his nose. He felt that he was a bit bad, bullying an honest child.

After the apprentice gave him the Glauber's salt, he said to the apprentice: "Thank you, brother, you continue to be busy."

The apprentice wanted to go with him right now, and couldn't help but catch up with him and asked: "Brother Lin, where do you live? Is it inconvenient to go home so late?"

Because the owner of the clinic liked Lin Zhen's spicy hot pot, the apprentice sometimes ran errands for the owner, but the clinic was busy, and sometimes the owner would ask other people to do the errands, so it was not his turn. After he closed the shop, Lin Zhen had already packed up and went home, so it was difficult to see Lin Zhen.

He knew that Lin Zhen's pregnancy was light and it was difficult for her to have children, but he also knew that she looked good. When she was setting up the stall, several people wanted to hook up with Lin Zhen openly or secretly.

But he really couldn't suppress the thoughts in his heart, and when he reacted, the words had already come out.

Suddenly, just as Lin Zhen noticed the hidden meaning in his eyes and before he could speak, the doctor who had treated Gu Shuanzi came out and slapped the apprentice on the head: "Go and get the medicines for the prescriptions I just wrote."

"Oh." The doctor had a stern face and was very stern. The apprentice could only look at Lin Zhen eagerly for a few times, and then slumped his shoulders to get medicines for the patients.

The doctor looked at Lin Zhen and asked: "How is the child you brought last time?"

Lin Zhen had a good impression of this doctor. Seeing Gu Shuanzi's injuries, he did not treat him coldly, but would be anxious and scold him. He had a kind heart. He replied: "It's healed, and he has grown a little taller, thanks to the prescription you prescribed."

"It's the doctor's duty to treat patients and save lives. It's fine as long as the child is fine." After the doctor finished speaking, he stroked his beard and went in. When the apprentice who was getting medicine saw him come in, the little thoughts in his eyes almost turned into reality.

The doctor tapped his head: "I told you to memorize the prescription but you didn't work hard. Instead, you put your energy on the wrong person."

The apprentice rubbed his head after being tapped: "Uncle, you judge people by appearance. Brother Lin is very good."

"It's not that bad yet, but you already know how to talk to people," the doctor put the silver needles he had just used on the flame of the lamp to warm them, and put them back one by one. "No matter how good he is, he is still a man with a child. Your mother will never agree to you marrying him. Don't make your mother worry and feel sad."

The apprentice is the doctor's nephew, so he was brought here by him to study medicine. If it weren't for this relationship, the apprentice would still be like everyone else in the clinic, with endless work to do every day. It would be extremely difficult to learn something. How could he be like him, who could prescribe medicine for people.

"I..." The apprentice tightened his hands holding the prescription and couldn't say anything else.

The doctor knew that he was a filial child and cared about his mother's feelings, so he mentioned it briefly without saying more, and asked casually: "What prescription did you prescribe for that little brother just now?"

The apprentice was a little lost: "A few coins of Glauber's salt, he prescribed it to people in his village who had cold, heat, vomiting and diarrhea."

"Glauber's salt?" The doctor didn't care too much. Glauber's salt was cheap and was indeed useful for cold, heat, vomiting and diarrhea. He glanced at the apprentice who was drooping his head, "Hurry up and get the medicine and give it to the patient. Don't make him wait anxiously. He came to see a doctor anyway, don't delay his time."

"Yes."

Lin Zhen didn't know what happened later, but he already had some feelings in his heart. The apprentice might have some ideas about him.

(??)

How to say it, before I completely accepted my identity as a brother, I found that someone had a good impression of me. This feeling was a bit strange, so strange that Lin Zhen covered his cheek and hissed.

He quickly shook his head to shake these things out of his head, and didn't think about them anymore. Milk tea was more important.

The news about saltpeter has been heard. Now what needs to be done is how to buy saltpeter. The principle of making ice with saltpeter is too simple. If people know that ice is related to saltpeter, it will not be long before people start selling ice. Then the money that can be earned will be greatly reduced.

Although Lin Zhen has a high moral bottom line and does not do anything illegal, he is not a good person who will distribute the method of making ice on the street.

He thought about it and decided to hide the method of making ice with saltpeter for as long as possible. As for whether it will be discovered in the future, he has accumulated a lot of money and can't control it.

So the most important thing now is how to buy saltpeter without people thinking of him.

It was still early, and as summer was approaching, the daylight hours were getting longer and longer.

Lin Zhen looked up at the sun in the sky, squinted his eyes and came up with an idea, but this matter had to go back to do it.

After going out, he got the news about goat milk and successfully found saltpeter. Lin Zhen was satisfied. He turned to the tea shop and bought five kilograms of medium-to-high-quality tea and set off on the way back.

Suddenly, just when Lin Zhen was about to reach the shop, he saw a familiar figure walking out of a box with a big bag on one shoulder.

"Zhong boy?" Zhong Yan was too thin, and such a big bag hanging on his shoulder seemed to pull him to the ground.

Lin Zhen quickly caught up with him and asked him, "Where are you going? Why are you carrying such a big bag?"

Zhong Yan was still wearing the same washed-out clothes today, and his slightly yellowish hair was tied up with a new headband. Even though he was carrying such a heavy thing, he still looked calm: "Uncle Lin, my mother has made five sets of clothes and asked me to send them to you to see if you are satisfied. If there are any places that don't fit, take them back for modification."

"So fast?" He had only taken the cloth for a few days, and he had already made five sets.

Zhong Yan nodded.

These days, his mother was busy from morning to late at night, and her eyes were red and swollen from staying up with her grandmother who was suffering from a cold, and she only rushed out five sets of clothes.

His mother said that Uncle Lin was a kind man, and he paid the money before the clothes were finished, so it would be better if they were finished earlier.

Zhong Yan knew the truth, but looking at his mother and grandmother who were exhausted for money, the string in his heart trembled again. He doubted the truth he learned from books. The word "noble" must be opposed to taking ill-gotten gains, but he didn't take it, and his mother and grandmother were so hard-working.

The cost of studying was too high. The money he earned from copying books and writing letters was just enough to pay for his tuition. All the expenses of the family depended on his mother.

And he planned to go to the capital city for the imperial examination next year. Where would the money come from?

Lin Zhen looked at the young man and said, "The lights are dim, and it will hurt your eyes if you stay there for a long time. Go back and tell your mother not to be so anxious. My shop will open in five or six days."

"This is my shop. Come in." Lin Zhen walked in front with a basket on his back. As soon as he entered, he saw Lin Xiaoyao and Lin Shitou fetching water to clean the tables, chairs and benches. Gu Shuanzi and Lin Zhuzi were not there. They were probably working in the back.

When Lin Xiaoyao saw Lin Zhen carrying a backpack, he ran over to take it. However, he didn't expect that the ground in front of him was wet by the water they carried. He slipped and fell heavily on Zhong Yan who was next to Lin Zhen.

Zhong Yan's skinny figure couldn't stop him. He slammed on the door panel behind him with a bang and a muffled groan came out of his throat.

Lin Xiaoyao was stunned. He looked at this skinny boy whose head was only as high as his mouth. His face suddenly became hot. He hurriedly got away from Zhong Yan: "Yes, I'm sorry."

He was a boy, and a boy who was of marriageable age. If he hadn't come to the town to work with his third brother, he couldn't even look the boy in the eye when talking to the boy in the village, and he tried to avoid the boy he didn't know.

Now he actually fell directly on a boy.

Lin Xiaoyao looked at Zhong Yan's cold and delicate face, and felt his heart beating so hard that it seemed like it would burst out of his chest in the next second.

Zhong Yan's shoulder blades and lower back hurt so much that they almost broke, but he gritted his teeth and said, "It's okay."

"Ah?" It's okay. Lin Xiaoyao didn't react to what he meant at first. After a while, he realized that he should just do what he could. He took the bag on Zhong Yan's shoulder and retreated to Lin Zhen's side.

All this happened too fast, so fast that Lin Zhen couldn't pull it back. He looked at Zhong Yan: "Zhong boy, are you okay? Do you want to go to the clinic?"

"It's just a little bump on the skin. Just apply some medicine when you go back. I have some at home."

"Uncle Lin, take a look at the clothes."

Since the child said so, Lin Zhen naturally couldn't say anything else.

He asked Lin Xiaoyao to put the bundle on the clean table, and after opening it, he saw the clothes inside. These five pieces of clothing were all made of light green cotton cloth, with fine stitching and neat workmanship. Lin Zhen shook out one piece and found that it was exactly his size. He compared it and couldn't find any faults.

The same was true for the other pieces, none of them were bad at all.

He put the clothes down happily: "Your mother's craftsmanship is just as the cloth shop owner said, it's perfect and doesn't need to be modified."

"As long as Uncle Lin thinks it's good, I'll go back. My mother is still waiting at home." Zhong Yan folded the cloth that wrapped the clothes and held it in his hands, clasped his hands and was about to leave.

The two families had no relationship except for making clothes, so Lin Zhen naturally had no reason to keep him, so he followed him and sent him outside the shop.

Lin Xiaoyao, who was standing next to him, suddenly said, "Why is he so thin? He doesn't look like a boy at all. If there was no pregnancy mole on his face, he would look like a boy."

"Boys develop later. He may be taller than you in two years."

"Really?" Lin Xiaoyao still felt that Zhong Yan was too thin. He was all bones and would hurt people.

Lin Zhen nodded, "More or less. By the way, I bought some candies and a few pounds of sugar and tea."

"Take out the candies and share them with the kids. I'll keep the sugar and tea and use them to make milk tea."

"Okay, brother." Lin Xiaoyao picked up the backpack. He was stronger than Lin Zhen and it was not difficult at all. Lin Zhen picked up the clothes and called Lin Shitou, and the three of them went to the backyard.

Chapter 52

In the right wing, Gu Shuanzi stood by the door, looking at Lin Zhuzi who was sitting on the bed. His pupils were darker than those of ordinary people and he looked at Lin Zhuzi: "Just answer me if I want to learn carpentry from Carpenter Ma."

His voice was flat and straightforward, as if he was saying that the weather was very good today.

But it didn't sound right to Lin Zhuzi. He had felt that Gu Shuanzi was different from them a long time ago. When Gu Shuanzi first came to the Lin family, he wanted to take care of Gu Shuanzi like a brother because he heard his mother talk about what happened to Gu Shuanzi. But Gu Shuanzi was full of thorns and would not allow anyone to touch him.

But Lin Zhuzi thought it didn't matter. As long as he treated Gu Shuanzi well and shared delicious food with him, he would take care of him one day.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the thorns on Gu Shuanzi's body to soften a little. Although he still wouldn't allow him to touch him, at least he would respond to him with one or two words.

When did he realize that Gu Shuanzi was different and he slowly stopped getting close to Gu Shuanzi?

Lin Zhuzi thought about it, probably since the Lin family sat together, Gu Shuanzi's eyes never fell on other people, except for Xiao Zhengu.

He felt that Gu Shuanzi was isolated from everyone else, and only Xiao Zhengu could let him rest for a while. Others might die in front of him, but he would not be moved.

This idea was terrible. Lin Zhuzi had never told anyone about it. He felt that Xiao Zhengu might not have noticed that he cared about Gu Shuanzi as much as they cared about them, and treated all children equally.

Lin Zhuzi didn't dare to look him in the eye, "I think."

After getting the answer, Gu Shuanzi turned around and left without hesitation. That was it. Lin Zhuzi's personality was really not suitable for being here. Instead of having an accident because of him in the future, it was better to send him to Ma Carpenter, far away from Lin Zhen.

This was not difficult.

Gu Shuanzi had just turned around and walked a few steps towards the shop in front when he bumped into Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao.

He stood where he was, looking at Lin Zhen walking towards him with a pile of light blue clothes. When he saw him, his slightly round eyes showed his usual smile: "Shuanzi, where is Zhuzi? You two come over and get your clothes."

Gu Shuanzi said, "I'll go call him."

"Well, yours will be finished first with the robe. I don't know what you'll look like in it yet. You must try it later."

Gu Shuanzi turned around and called Lin Zhuzi who was still sitting on the bed: "Just pretend you didn't hear what I said just now."

"..." Lin Zhuzi nodded and followed Gu Shuanzi out. He really wanted to be a carpenter. As long as he could learn the craft from Carpenter Ma, he would listen to Gu Shuanzi.

When everyone was gathered, Lin Zhen compared the sizes and handed the clothes to them: "Mrs. Chen's craftsmanship is really good, she makes it quickly and well. You can go inside and try it out and stretch your hands. You can send it back for alterations in the next two days while the shop is not open yet."

When Lin Zhen made these clothes, he thought of using them as work clothes for the shop employees. Not only should the tables, chairs and benches be neat, but the workers should also be neat, so as to create a good impression for customers as much as possible.

The atmosphere is a very wonderful thing. Sometimes it helps customers make choices unconsciously.

Even Lin Zhuzi, who was in a bad mood, couldn't help but feel happy to get new clothes during the holidays, not to mention that the fabric of the clothes was very good cotton, much better than what they usually wore. Several people couldn't wait to go back to the house to try them on.

Lin Zhuzi's was a short brown, with a shirt on top and pants on the bottom. He also made a matching belt, which could be tied with a knot.

Gu Shuanzi's was a long robe, with sleeves wider and longer than their short browns, from collar to heels, a wide and large piece.

Lin Zhuzi saw Gu Shuanzi, who had frightened him inexplicably, struggling with his robes. He had put them on but still couldn't figure them out...

Lin Zhuzi looked at them for several times and felt strange that Gu Shuanzi didn't know how to wear clothes. After thinking for a while, he went out and said to Aunt Xiao Zhen, "Aunt Xiao Zhen, Shuanzi doesn't know how to wear new clothes."

"?" Lin Zhen looked at Lin Zhuzi, who had already put on a light blue short brown and was in high spirits. He walked to the left wing and stood opposite the door and said, "Shuanzi, do you want me to help?"

Gu Shuanzi, who was struggling with his clothes in the wing with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, heard Lin Zhen's voice outside and pursed his thin lips into a straight line.

But he looked at the disobedient clothes, lowered his head to make sure that his inner clothes were neat and tidy, and said, "Yeah."

Lin Zhen walked in. As soon as he entered, he saw Gu Shuanzi standing by the bed in his white inner clothes, with the new robe spread out on the bed. Looking at his son's pursed lips, he understood that this was a long robe that he had always worn before, and he couldn't figure out.

He picked up the robe and looked at it, and asked Gu Shuanzi to open his arms, and put his left arm through the sleeve first.

After he put it on, he knew why Gu Shuanzi had trouble. The sleeves of the robe here were really wide, almost reaching his knees, and the sleeves were long, about one and a half arms long.

He put both arms through Gu Shuanzi, asked him to lie flat to prevent the sleeves from slipping off, squatted in front of him, tied the laces inside the left clothes to the small hole on the right first, then pressed the right collar on the left collar, and then tied the long thin belt.

Lin Zhen stood up and took a look, and found that although the robe was a little troublesome, after putting it on, Gu Shuanzi had a scholarly air?

Especially Gu Shuanzi, who was tall for an eight-year-old child, with a long neck, straight shoulders, a straight back, long arms and long legs.

Looking at him, he felt upright and agile, not thick at all, and the proportions were amazing.

"It looks good!" Lin Zhen did not hesitate to praise him. He took Gu Shuanzi's hand and walked out. "Go and show it to Zhuzi and Shitou. Is it suitable?"

The others were all wearing comfortable short browns. They were all in the yard looking at their own and others' new clothes and talking happily.

Lin Zhen took Gu Shuanzi out and pulled him in front of him. He stood behind him and put his hands on Gu Shuanzi's shoulders. "Shuanzi, isn't it very different to wear a long robe than a short brown?"

The eight-year-old Gu Shuanzi was wearing a light green robe that reached just below his chest. The wide sleeves overlapped at his wrists and the belt was tied to show his flexible waist.

It was still the same face, with long eyebrows, a high nose, and thin lips. His hair, which was no longer so dry and yellow, was still combed into a child's bun, but it looked different from before.

Lin Zhuzi felt that Gu Shuanzi looked even more unapproachable than before.

Lin Xiaoyao also had an inexplicable feeling.

Only the thick-skinned Lin Shitou didn't notice anything, and answered Lin Zhen very seriously: "It fits."

Lin Zhen smiled and lowered his head, and approached Gu Shuanzi from the side: "Isn't it? I'll make a few more for you in the future, and I can change other colors."

The new clothes were all said to be good after they were tried on, so there was no need to take them back to Chen Niangzi for alterations. Everyone took them off and put them away, waiting to wear them on the official opening day.

Gu Shuanzi's clothes were specially made for him to wear while studying, so he naturally didn't participate in this.

Lin Zhen rested for a while, then sat in the backyard and told Lin Xiaoyao about his trip tomorrow, then said: "Goat milk is necessary for making milk tea. I don't know when my work will be done tomorrow. Go to Sanchakou and find a carriage with people from the same village, and ask your eldest and second brothers to go to Wayao Village and find the Shi Niangzi family who delivered bamboo tubes to our family, and ask them to take you to ask about goat milk."

"Remember, sound out the sheep farmer first. It would be best if you can make a deal quickly. If he has no intention of selling goat milk, you can try to bargain for more. For a bucket of goat milk like our water bucket, the maximum you can get is 200 coins."

"If the sheep farmer asks for more than this, you come back and I'll go ask around."

"I see, Third Brother, then what you're going to do tomorrow shouldn't be dangerous, right?"

Lin Zhen rarely kept things from Lin Xiaoyao. This time he was vague, so Lin Xiaoyao couldn't help but worry.

Lin Zhen smiled at him, "It's okay. It's just that the one thing you need to buy is in the recipe that can't be known to others, so I'm going to keep it a secret."

"Remember, your safety is very important. Don't save the money and walk back. You must find someone familiar in the same village before you can walk."

It's a journey of several hours, and it's a mountain road without any surveillance measures. It's true that he doesn't worry.

But Lin Zhen is even more worried about Gu Shuanzi and the other children going to do things. Xiaoyao should also gain some experience, at least he should be able to stand on his own when he is not around.

Lin Xiaoyao listened to Lin Zhen's repeated instructions, and felt warm in his heart: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely get things done and come back."

After setting up the stall in the morning and going out to inquire about the news in the afternoon, Lin Zhen was also a little tired. After explaining the matter to Lin Xiaoyao, he felt a little drowsy.

But he didn't want to go to bed, and he had to eat later, so he was too lazy to get up from the bed.

So he simply dragged the chair back a little to block the sun that was still a little hot in the evening, crossed one leg, hugged his hands, and leaned his head in the chair.

Lin Xiaoyao saw his closed eyes, stretched out his finger and asked the three little ones to speak more quietly, then got up and went to the kitchen to wash the pot and cook quietly.

After coming to the town, they still ate rice mixed with sorghum and rice, but the sorghum was much less, and rice accounted for most of it.

The two kinds of grains that had been washed were placed in a bamboo winnowing basket to drain the water, and after the water in the pot boiled, poured in, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking to the pot. The rice is not considered

cooked until the core of the rice can be crushed with fingers, then it should be taken out, drained, and steamed again.

These are the processes that Lin Xiaoyao is familiar with. While stirring the rice, he looked at Lin Zhen who was closing his eyes in the yard.

Suddenly, from his sight, he saw Gu Shuanzi in the wing room on the left. He had taken off his long robe and was sitting at the desk reading in a short brown suit.

Occasionally, he would look up at Lin Zhen in the yard with dark pupils.

Shuanzi is really different from when he first came to the Lin family.

Lin Xiaoyao thought that his relationship with his third brother was finally better.

Chapter 53

A busy day passed, and they went to bed after dinner.

The next day, Gu Shuanzi, Lin Zhuzi, and Lin Shitou stayed at home to look after the shop, while Lin Xiaoyao went to Sanchakou to find oxcarts and mule carts to return to Liyu Village to finalize the delivery of goat milk as soon as possible.

Lin Zhen smeared a layer of soot on his face, neck, and hands to make his skin several shades darker, and then covered his head with a tattered straw hat, and went to the west, which was the farthest from Zhazi Street.

This place has almost nothing to do with the town. It is a complete residential area for ordinary people. Most of the low houses are thatched houses at a glance, and only one or two neat tile houses can be seen occasionally.

Lin Zhen was like an honest and thin man. When he saw an old woman pouring water, he quickly started a conversation: "Grandma, I want to ask if there is a family with the surname She here?"

The old woman's hearing was not very good, and she misheard what he said: "Young man, there are no snakes in my house, so you don't need to catch them!"

Lin Zhen raised his voice: "I'm not a snake catcher, I just want to ask grandma if there is a family with the surname She here?"

The voice was like thunder. The old woman with poor hearing finally understood and poured out the water in the basin: "No, there is no one with the surname She here. Young man, have you come to the wrong place?"

"No, the person who said he wanted to rent a house to me said his surname was She and he lived in the west of the town."

"But there is no one with the surname She here. I have lived here for decades, and there is no one I don't know."

Lin Zhen's face showed anxiety: "What should I do! The goods purchased by the owner are about to be delivered. If I can't get things done, I will definitely be in trouble."

He painted his face black with soot from the bottom of the pot, and his voice was hoarse, so that people could not tell that he was a man.

The old woman was about to enter the house, but when she heard him say that he wanted to rent a house, she stopped and turned around: "Young man, do you want to rent a house?"

Lin Zhen said "anxiously": "The person who wanted to rent the house to me was too unreliable. I also paid a deposit of five cents. Now, the house is not rented and the deposit is not available for return."

He looked at the old woman with his head hung: "Yes, grandma, my master is in business. He just happened to import some goods from outside and asked me to rent a house to store them. I didn't expect to meet an unreliable liar. He said his surname was She and he lived with you. It's a pity that I trusted him so much and gave him a deposit in advance."

"Young man, if you are in a hurry, you can rent my house. There are only me and a little grandson in my house, and it's spacious inside."

"This..." Lin Zhen showed a smile on his face, as if he didn't expect such a sudden turn of events. He scratched his head "honestly", "This seems to be okay."

"Okay, you can come in and take a look." The old woman stepped aside to let Lin Zhen look inside. Lin Zhen hesitated for a moment and walked in with a backpack on his back.

There were two rooms inside the simple courtyard wall. They looked very shabby, but they were cleaned up. A five or six-year-old child was running around in the yard. Seeing Lin Zhen, a stranger, he hid behind the old woman in fear.

The old woman rubbed the child's head and said to Lin Zhen, "There are only me and him in this house. No one comes here on weekdays. Put your things here and keep them safe."

The old woman's life was obviously tight. The child's clothes were patched up so much that there was no place to patch them up. It looked like they were pieced together.

Lin Zhen looked at the house where no one lived and only piled up miscellaneous items, and said, "There is enough space. My master's goods cannot be eaten or used. They are just some worthless things dug from the mountains. If it weren't on the way, he wouldn't want to take it."

"I rented this house. Grandma, how much does it cost?"

The old woman didn't expect that she would have such an opportunity when she went out to pour a basin of water. Her house was ordinary here, and it was everywhere. It was a great fortune to be able to rent it out and make some money.

She said uncertainly, "I haven't rented a place before. You are often out and about, so give me a suitable price."

Lin Zhen said, "I just rent a place to store things, and I will take away the things soon after they arrive. I will trouble you to look after them for a few nights. How about renting it for 15 cents each time? If someone delivers goods later, I will pay each time I take them out."

"Okay, I'll do as you say." The old lady was not stupid. Lin Zhen just brought things here to put them. He would get money each time he put them there. Anyway, the house would be useless if it was left there. There was nothing better than this.

Seeing that she agreed, Lin Zhen said, "Then I guess someone will deliver goods today or tomorrow. When the time comes, you can look after it, and I will come to pick it up in a day or two."

After leaving the old lady's house, Lin Zhen pulled the basket on his back to his shoulders and praised his acting skills.

Okay, the next step is to go to the three-way intersection to buy Glauber's salt. There is a transfer point, which can at least paralyze some people.

The consumption level of Sanchakou and Zhazi Street can be seen with the naked eye. Farmers in the surrounding towns put baskets and backpacks on the ground and sell all the agricultural products they can get from their homes, from food to daily necessities, all kinds of things, which is completely different from the orderly Zhazi Street, and has a stronger atmosphere of fireworks.

Lin Zhen carried a backpack and pretended to be a market man, strolling along the three streets of Sanchakou. Soon, he found the shop he was looking for.

He walked into the grocery store and asked the busy waiter running around with a hoarse voice: "Do you sell Glauber's salt here?"

"Yes!" This is the largest grocery store in Sanchakou, and even in the town. Almost everything you can think of is available here. Farmers around the town will also bring their own things here to ask the shopkeeper if he will accept them, making this place like a small market in the big market of Sanchakou.

The waiter looked for something for another customer without even looking up and asked Lin Zhen, "How many pounds do you want?"

"Two hundred pounds."

"How much?!" The waiter thought his ears had exploded, and he looked up at this skinny, short man wearing a rotten straw hat.

Lin Zhen said in a hoarse voice, "Two hundred pounds."

The waiter was sure he had heard it right this time, but he still looked at Lin Zhen, "What are you going to do with so much Glauber's salt? You can't eat it or drink it."

People who buy Glauber's salt usually make firecrackers or use it as medicine. The former are almost all the shopkeepers of firecracker shops, and the waiter already knows them. The latter buy less, and several medical clinics in the town don't even use ten pounds of Glauber's salt in a year.

And this man in front of him, who had never seen him before, wanted two hundred pounds right away, which would surprise anyone.

But there is no reason not to do business, and Glauber's salt is not something that cannot be sold. The waiter raised his hand and called another waiter: "This customer wants to buy 200 kilograms of Glauber's salt. Go to the warehouse and see if we have enough in the store."

Now is not the season of New Year or other festivals, and there are not many people buying firecrackers, and the firecracker shop also buys less, so there is not much in the store.

The waiter who was called was also surprised to hear that Lin Zhen wanted 200 kilograms of Glauber's salt, but said to Lin Zhen: "Wait a moment, sir."

"Okay." Lin Zhen looked at the servant who was busy entertaining him, and sighed that it was fortunate that he came to such a place with a large volume of goods, otherwise the quantity he wanted would definitely not be available.

He looked at the full store, and also went in to pick some that could be used. He was also surprised to buy the raw material for making pearls in pearl milk tea, cassava flour.

Lin Zhen is rich and free in modern times, and he is also picky. He makes whatever he can eat by himself.

Pearl milk tea is the best drink he knows how to make, especially the pearls. Even he thinks it is well made, chewy and fragrant.

With a wave of his hand, he bought all the cassava flour in the bag in the grocery store, and then bought some dried fruits, some sour and some sweet.

The waiter who went to the warehouse to check how much Glauber's salt there was also came out. Seeing the things Lin Zhen had bought at his feet, he smiled and said, "Dear customer, the Glauber's salt in our grocery store is just enough for the amount you want. Can you see if we can carry it out for you now, or what?"

Two hundred kilograms of Glauber's salt is not light, and Lin Zhen is thin and small. The waiter didn't think that Lin Zhen could carry the Glauber's salt back.

Lin Zhen, who had already made arrangements, said, "Please find someone to help me carry the Glauber

's salt outside, and I will find a mule cart to bring it back." "Okay." Since the things were in the warehouse, they naturally had to be carried out. The waiter turned around and found two people to carry the Glauber's salt in the sacks out.

Lin Zhen paid the silver and patted the two sacks, not bad.

Next, according to Lin Zhen's arrangements, he found a mule cart at random, followed the mule cart to the west of the town, and got off when he was about to reach the rented house, told him to deliver the things there, hid in the dark and watched the old woman open the door with her own eyes and let the driver carry the Glauber's salt in before he felt relieved.

Now I am just waiting to get the Glauber's salt tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

I just wonder if Xiaoyao is going well?

The matter was handed over to Lin Xiaoyao. It was useless to worry. Lin Zhen went back with the full backpack on his back.

As soon as he entered the backyard, Gu Shuanzi came up to take the backpack from his back. Lin Zhen carried one side and let him carry the other side. As they carried the backpack into the house, he asked: "How was your book today?" "

Only two pages left."

"Have you memorized the first part?"

"Yeah."

"Not bad, kid." A book of Thousand Characters, from recognizing words to being able to memorize, this speed is not slow.

Lin Zhen walked all the way with the things on his back, and he couldn't stand the heat. He waved to Gu Shuanzi: "I'll boil some water... wash your face, you go read your book."

It was a close call, he almost said the word "bath".

They are stepfather and son, and he is still a brother. It would be embarrassing if he said those two words.

Lin Zhen glanced at Gu Shuanzi quietly and found that his expression didn't change at all. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was still a child and didn't know so many things.

Gu Shuanzi put down the backpack in his hand, nodded and went out.

Lin Zhen immediately opened his collar a little, wiped the sweat from his forehead, hummed a tune and added a handful of pine needles to the stove hole. After lighting it, he immediately added a large piece of firewood.

There are two stove holes on the stove, one for cooking vegetarian food and the other for frying vegetables. It is quite convenient to use.

Seeing that the fire was lit, Lin Zhen added water to the vegetarian pot, boiled the water, scooped it into a bucket, and brought it to his room.

Chapter 54

If there was anything that Lin Zhen couldn't get used to here, it was taking a bath and going to the toilet.

The former was too troublesome, as he had to boil water and there were no convenient containers. For more than a year, he still used a basin or a wooden bucket and had never taken a bath.

The latter...

forget it.

The power of the dry toilet was beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Lin Zhen mustered up his courage every time he went to use it.

He closed the door of the main room in the middle, found a set of clean clothes and pants from the closet, and threw the clothes that were sticky with sweat into the basket of dirty clothes. He wrung out the handkerchief and wiped his face several times, then covered his face with the handkerchief that was emitting a little heat.

"Well... so comfortable..."

Lin Zhen sat on a short stool, tilting his head back in enjoyment.

Without the cover of the coarse cloth clothes, his white skin was exposed.

With a slender neck and a thin back, his chest protruded forward a little as he leaned back, making his waist, abdomen and hips concave into a bow.

The heat from the towel, which was not much to begin with, had almost dissipated. He took it off and put it into the diluted water. He turned around lazily on the stool, revealing his round and fleshy tun that was very inconsistent with his thin waist and back...

After taking a bath for half an hour, his skin was rubbed red, and Lin Zhen finally felt clean. He changed his clothes and washed his hair with the remaining water. He grabbed the wet hair on his shoulders and said to Gu Shuanzi who was reading again: "What do you want to eat?"

Gu Shuanzi looked at him, frowning slightly: "Uncle Lin, your hair is still wet."

"Just blow it dry." Lin Zhen had just poured out the bath water. At this time, he felt refreshed, as if he had lost more than ten pounds.

He fiddled with his hair, "When I was boiling water just now, I saw some flour. Let's cook a bowl of noodles. Cooking takes too much time."

"By the way, where are the pillars and stones? Why didn't I see them?" His hair was really thick. Lin Zhen shook his head, thinking that it would be more difficult to take care of it if it grew longer, so it would be better to cut it shorter.

He couldn't let Lin Xiaoyao and the others see him, or they would definitely tell him about the importance of his hair. He said that his hair was given to him by his parents and must not be damaged.

Gu Shuanzi said, "Zhuzi is in the room. He has never come out except for when he came out for breakfast in the morning. Shitou just ran a few laps in the yard and said he was going to sleep."

After hearing what he said, Lin Zhen frowned. Although he was busy these days, he had been paying attention to Lin Zhuzi and felt that it was not good for Lin Zhuzi to continue like this.

Lin Zhen turned around and wanted to go and see, but Gu Shuanzi stopped him, "You'd better sit down."

"Zhuzi already felt sorry for you. The better you treat him, the more he feels uneasy

." "..." He had to admit that what Gu Shuanzi said was right

. For someone as sensitive and delicate as Lin Zhuzi, going there at this time would only increase his burden. He said to Gu Shuanzi, "You are about the same age. Talk to him more when you play with him. Don't let him get stuck in it."

"I will."

After finishing the things in his hands, Lin Zhen was free and just waited for Lin Xiaoyao to bring back news.

At night, wearing the clothes he had just changed into after taking a shower today, he lay on the bed and sorted out the things from the beginning.

He had to make Malatang, Malatang mixed noodles, and cold noodles. Originally, he wanted to think of two more similar foods, but with the addition of the milk tea business, these three were enough, and he couldn't bite off more than he could chew.

Malatang, Malatang mixed noodles, and cold noodles can be made by Xiaoyao with her children. The sour plum soup that was originally planned is also no problem. Just cook it in advance and scoop it out.

Only milk tea needs him to do it himself.

"Hmm..." Lin Zhen turned over, looked at the roof, and thought about how to sell milk tea.

According to his previous thoughts, milk tea should be a more high-end product than Malatang. Not only the packaging should keep up, but also the way of selling should keep up.

But it is too expensive to use porcelain to package it, and there are no cheap alternatives such as glass and plastic...

The weather is getting hot. If you don't open the window at night, it's so stuffy that people sweat, but if you open the window, there will be moths and ants, which makes Lin Zhen even more unbearable.

The two legs that had slipped out of his trousers were placed on the bed for a while, and the bed was filled with heat. Lin Zhen, who was confused, moved his legs to a place that was not heated by his body temperature, thinking, I should go and see if there is a bamboo mat one day, it must be cooler than the cloth bed.

! ! !

Bamboo mat.

Bamboo.

Lin Zhen suddenly got up from the bed and sat cross-legged on the bed. How could he forget that he had used bamboo for so long? Bamboo tubes are natural and good for holding things. If they are used to hold milk tea, they can be made more delicate.

And if bamboo tubes are used, the sales method can also be solved, blind boxes.

When making bamboo tubes, leave a section below the node, and put something that will arouse everyone's interest inside, which is not only delicious but also fun.

The more Lin Zhen thought about it, the more ideas came to his mind, so he simply sat up and took out his booklet and drew on it.

Soon, a three-dimensional bamboo tube emerged. In Lin Zhen's design, the upper half of the bamboo tube for milk tea does not need to be too high. If it is too high, the bottom will definitely fall over. Besides, if there is too much milk tea in one cup, he will not make much money.

Then there is the design on the bamboo tube. Lin Zhen unconsciously pinched the charcoal pencil in his hand and finally decided on two models.

One is a plum blossom bamboo tube cup with a plum blossom that is outlined with a few strokes. The other is a bamboo tube cup with a few swords and a back figure of a person who is only slightly better than a stickman.

Lin Zhen plans to have a full set. The blind box of the plum blossom cup is composed of fragments of stories related to plum blossoms, and the sword cup is a fragment of a story suitable for men to read.

People who buy milk tea get fragments of these two stories randomly. As for whether these fragments are repeated or not, it depends on luck. And collecting ten cups can be exchanged for a cup of milk tea.

Lin Zhen looked at the gradually improved plan in the booklet and couldn't help patting his head. After selling spicy hot pot for more than a year, he almost forgot that he was also a person who had received many years of cultural education.

However, such over-packaged milk tea naturally went away from most people and became a thing in the hands of the high-spending people in the town.

In this era, there are not many people who can afford to read books and understand words, and most of them are children of wealthy families.

Once the matter is figured out, the rest will be much smoother. Lin Zhen listed the things to be done in the next few days. First,

I have to go to Shi Niangzi in Wayao Village to order a batch of bamboo tube cups that meet my requirements, and take them to Ma Carpenter to see if he can make the shape I want. If he can't make it, I will come to the town to find a new craftsman. Second,

I have to write two stories about making blind boxes. I don't have to finish them, just have an attractive beginning. Third

, I have to find someone to copy two stories. Since milk tea cups are relatively expensive items, the unit price is expensive, and there will definitely not be too many people buying them, so there is no need to copy too many, just a few dozen copies will do. His chicken claw handwriting is definitely not good, he thinks it is ugly.

Just finished today and rested for a few hours, Lin Zhen found a lot of things to do for himself. Although he can get by a little bit, he still likes to toss.

I am too old to do anything, so I will try now.

In the next few days, Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao were very busy. The goat milk had been decided. Due to the long distance, it was difficult to transport, so the price was set at 120 Wen per barrel. They would send two barrels to try first, and then decide on the time and amount of milk delivery based on the sales volume of milk tea.

Then Lin Zhen made a special trip to Shi Niangzi's home in Wayao Village and asked the couple to cut the bamboo tube into the shape they wanted according to their own requirements and transport it to Ma Carpenter.

Ma Carpenter also looked at the drawings drawn by Lin Zhen. After listening to his description, he said: "It can be done. Just scrape off a shallow layer of green skin on the bamboo tube and bake it slightly on the fire to get a good effect."

Then he said: "The picture you drew is not difficult, and it's not a waste of effort."

However, it is a bit difficult to put the small paper roll of the blind box under the bamboo tube cup. If it is sealed, only thin wooden boards or bamboo strips can be used, but that is not conducive to opening and not convenient at all.

In the end, Lin Zhen scratched his head and simply used oil paper. The ginger-colored oil paper was cut into a just right shape and pasted on the bottom, but this is a careful job. It is not beautiful if it is pasted crookedly.

There is also the matter of copying stories.

Lin Zhen, wearing an apron, boiled water and sugar in the kitchen, then poured in the tapioca flour he had bought a few days ago, stirred it until it was almost done, and said to Lin Xiaoyao next to him, "While it's still hot, roll it into small balls, as big as the tip of your little finger."

Lin Xiaoyao immediately started to work, and Gu Shuanzi, Lin Zhuzi, and Lin Shitou also came over to help.

Mrs. Chen, who was pasting oil paper under the eaves, saw how busy they were and said, "Brother Lin, why don't I come over and help you with the rolling."

"No need, auntie, just focus on the work at hand," Lin Zhen said in a cheerful voice, his palms slightly red from being burned by the balls, he said, "Is Xiao Yan not here

yet?" "Not yet--" Mrs. Chen was about to speak when she saw Zhong Yan coming in with a stack of paper, and immediately said to Lin Zhen, "He's here as I was talking."

Lin Zhen, who was rolling pearls, heard that Zhong Yan was coming, and even put down the balls in his hand and walked out quickly.

Zhong Yan, who had walked for a while under the hot sun, was sweating on his face, but he still looked indifferent. He nodded to Lin Zhen: "Uncle Lin, the "Mei Niang" and "Xian Tu" copied by the other two classmates have been brought here."

That's right, Lin Zhen had written those two stories. The one with the plum blossom cup was called "Mei Niang" and the one with the sword cup was called "Xian Tu".

After writing the stories, he thought about it and found Zhong Yan with this job. Zhong Yan was already a scholar, so copying stories was no problem.

And Lin Zhen still remembers Zhong Yan's expression when he heard his purpose and agreed to copy them and got the two short stories.

Those cold eyes rarely showed a trace of doubt. The story was a good story, why was it written so... rough...

Looking at his expression, Lin Zhen touched his nose. He studied vernacular Chinese, and he couldn't write classical Chinese even if he tried hard. In the eyes of Zhong Yan, a genius who passed the examination for a scholar at the age of twelve, it was just rough.

Then Zhong Yan polished it for him. The current version is the one polished by Zhong Yan. After Lin Zhen saw it, he gave him a thumbs up on the spot.

Chapter 55

"Put it on Shuanzi's desk. There is water in the room. You can pour it yourself."

Lin Zhen bought the paper for copying the stories at the bookstore and cut it into similar sizes. It was just enough to write the first half of the two stories "Mei Niang" and "Xian Tu". They were all stuck at a point that made people crazy. Lin Zhen could imagine how people who liked these two stories would scratch their heads. After

talking to him, Lin Zhen went back to rub pearls. Zhong Yan put the copied paper on Gu Shuanzi's desk, came to Chen Niangzi, picked up a bamboo tube and pasted oil paper with Chen Niangzi.

Chen Niangzi didn't want him to do these things. She glanced at Lin Zhen, Lin Xiaoyao and others who were busy, and told him to put it down with her eyes.

Her Yan'er was a scholar. It was fine if no one saw him at home, but how could he let people see him doing these dirty work outside? He would be criticized in the future.

Zhong Yan leaned next to her and whispered, "Uncle Lin and his family are not that kind of people."

This made Chen Niangzi unable to refute. She was a very traditional girl. Before she married Zhong Yan's father, her family had enough food and drink, so she learned the rules very well and never left the house.

Zhong Yan's father was a student and his family was poor. After they got married, they did not live a comfortable life.

Fortunately, Zhong Yan's father had a good temper. Although he was educated, he was not spoiled. Chen Niangzi lived a good life with a few years of harmony.

Unfortunately, God did not have eyes. When Zhong Yan was only four years old, Zhong Yan's father fell ill and died in a daze. Only she was left to live with Zhong Yan and her mother-in-law. Chen

Niangzi could not do anything. She could only use her skills in making clothes to make some money to live. In order to support Zhong Yan's studies over the years, her eyes were almost blinded. Her hands were deformed and peeled due to years of washing clothes. Just looking at her hands, she thought they were the hands of an old woman in her seventies or eighties.

Lin Zhen was different from the boys, no, girls, that Chen Niang had seen before.

He obviously didn't look like the virtuous lady that Chen Niang liked, and made people feel uneasy at a glance, but his temperament was completely opposite, just like the sun in the sky, emitting heat every moment, making people feel warm. They didn't even dare to look at him for fear of burning their eyes.

Zhong Yan's fingers had been holding pens for years, and there were thin calluses on his thumb and middle finger, which made a slight sound when rubbing on oil paper.

He looked at Lin Zhen who was rubbing things with several children in the kitchen from the corner of his eye, and was still thinking about the two stories he had polished and copied.

He felt that Lin Zhen was really weird. He was a boy, but he could read and write a storybook that he thought was wonderful, but his handwriting was ugly...

Suddenly, Zhong Yan saw Lin Zhen's son from the corner of his eye. Shuanzi glanced at him, with no expression on his face.

He himself was a person with relatively few emotions and a light temperament, but the child's performance at this moment was different, at least it shouldn't appear in an eight-year-old child.

Lin Zhen didn't know that the kid was showing his little fangs to Zhong Yan. He led them to rub the pearls, roll them in a winnowing basket filled with cassava flour to ensure that the pearls would not stick together, and then put them into a boiling pot to cook.

"Okay, the pearls are cooked. After they are cooked, pour them into cold water to cool them down." The originally scheduled opening date was postponed for three days due to a series of preparations. Now, finally only the final finishing work is done.

He has been running around these days. It would be a lie to say that he is not tired. His calves are still sore now.

But when he thought that tomorrow was the opening day, he was full of energy again.

Lin Zhen walked outside and picked up a bamboo tube cup. He saw that the green bamboo tube with the outer layer scraped off was slightly beige in color, but because it was a fresh column, it was slightly glowing with a lazy green that made people feel comfortable.

The bamboo cup is about the height of a palm, with a plum blossom carved on the body of the cup. The bottom is as wide as three fingers, and the oil paper pasted on it already contains a small paper scroll of the story "Mei Niang".

The same is true for the sword cup, which is engraved with a simple back figure with a sense of immortality, and the oil paper contains a small paper scroll of "Xian Tu".

During this period of time, not only energy and time have been invested, but also a lot of money. Lin Zhen spent more than thirty taels of the remaining silver after renting the shop, and he only has a little left.

So whether to tighten the belt and live a life, or to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks, depends on tomorrow.

Putting down the bamboo cup in his hand, Lin Zhen said: "I will make some for you to try after the pearls are cooked. I will definitely not have time to take care of you tomorrow." Lin

Xiaoyao felt that the taste of milk tea must be delicious from the process of Lin Zhen making milk tea, and couldn't help drooling when she heard Lin Zhen say that.

The last batch of bamboo cups under Chen Niangzi's hands were already pasted. She felt embarrassed to stay here and eat and drink for free, so she quickly stood up and said, "Brother Lin, the cups are all pasted, so Xiao Yan and I will go back first. The remaining clothes can be delivered in three to five days."

Everyone was at home, so there was no reason to leave without eating.

Lin Zhen called her, "It doesn't matter if the clothes are finished in a few days. Madam Chen, watch your eyes, the darker it is, the more

you should stay." "Besides, Madam Chen, you are afraid that what I make is not to your taste, so you are in such a hurry to leave."

"No, no." Madam Chen saw it clearly just now. Lin Zhen put so much sugar in the pearls, how could it not be delicious, but...

Lin Zhen, who was good at keeping people, said, "If you want to sell it, you have to sell it to others, so why can't your family eat it? Madam Chen and Xiao Yan try it, and let me try the taste."

Madam Chen couldn't resist him at all. Looking at Lin Zhen with a smile on her face, she sat back in her previous position.

Lin Zhen took out the cooked pearls and poured them into cold water to stir them. He then boiled water on the fire to soak the fine tea leaves he had bought before, and then brought out the goat milk that he had cooked last night.

He poured goat milk, tea, pearls, and sugar into the simple bamboo tube cup that held the spicy hot pot according to the proportions he had figured out: "Shuanzi, bring a handful of bamboo straws."

The bamboo basket for the bamboo straws was right next to Gu Shuanzi, so Lin Zhen called out without thinking.

Gu Shuanzi grabbed a handful of bamboo straws and handed them to Lin Zhen, who inserted them into the quilt one by one, and then called Gu Shuanzi: "Take them to your Grandma Chen and Brother Zhong."

He himself called Chen Niangzi "Aunt Chen", so as his son, it was okay for Gu Shuanzi to call Chen Niangzi "Grandma" and call Zhong Yan "Brother".

Gu Shuanzi picked up two cups of pearl milk tea without blinking, walked up to Chen Niangzi: "Grandma, your milk tea."

Then he looked at Zhong Yan.

The distance between the two was only as close as an arm's length. This time, Zhong Yan saw more clearly than before that this child didn't like him.

But Zhong Yan couldn't figure it out, as if he had never done anything that would disgust him.

Moreover, Zhong Yan found that this child had no resemblance to his father Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen's eyebrows and eyes were extremely beautiful and tender, but this child was born with deep indifference.

Gu Shuanzi put the milk tea on the table next to him: "Brother Zhong, your milk tea."

"Thank you." On a hot day, Zhong Yan's arms were inexplicably covered with goose bumps.

After serving milk tea to the two of them, Gu Shuanzi returned to the kitchen. Lin Zhen handed him the last cup of pearl milk tea. He thought that his adopted son was so small and well-behaved.

He bent down and whispered in Gu Shuanzi's ear: "I added more pearls for you, try it quickly."

There is a word "true" in the word "pearl".

Gu Shuanzi took the pearl milk tea that he personally handed to him, held the straw with his thin lips, and took a slight sip. The smooth liquid made of tea, goat milk, and sugar entered his mouth, fragrant and refreshing, as well as the freshly made pearls inside.

Soft and bouncy, it burst out a wonderful taste between teeth.

"How is it?" Lin Zhen, who was standing next to him, asked.

Gu Shuanzi bit the pearls in his mouth: "It tastes very good," looking into Lin Zhen's eyes, he added, "Extremely good."

"Hehe, that's good," Lin Zhen was satisfied, he asked others, "Does it suit your taste? Is there too much sugar?"

The sense of happiness that sweetness brings to people is irreplaceable by many things. Whether it is Lin Xiaoyao, Lin Shitou, Lin Zhuzi, or the reserved Chen Niangzi and Zhong Yan, they were all conquered by the wonderful taste of milk tea, and they gave him expected feedback when he asked.

Lin Zhen picked up his own cup, now it's good, everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.

Chapter 56

April 21st was the day of the monthly market. The town was much more lively than usual, and the shops on Zhazi Street were crowded with people.

Lin Zhen, who was a little superstitious, bought several strings of red firecrackers and propped them up with bamboo poles. He said to Gu Shuanzi, who was holding a string of firecrackers, "Are you afraid?"

"No." Before Gu Da died, Gu Shuanzi would take a small string of scattered firecrackers to play around the village every New Year. The noise had no effect on him at all.

Lin Zhen was relieved, and smiled and said loudly to Lin Xiaoyao, Lin Shitou, and Lin Zhuzi in the shop, "Open the door and open for business!"

"Okay!" The four doors were taken down and put aside. Lin Zhen and Gu Shuanzi each carried a string of firecrackers and walked out. In an instant, the crackling sound of firecrackers merged into the lively Zhazi Street, attracting passers-by and the business of surrounding shops.

After the firecrackers were set off, Lin Zhen smiled and clasped his fists at the people who stopped to watch the fun, saying, "Good afternoon, brothers, sisters-in-law, uncles, and grandmothers. Our Zhenyouwei Snack Shop is opening today with a big discount. Anyone who enters the shop today, no matter how much they buy, will receive a refreshing sour plum soup. If you buy more than ten coins, you can also participate in the lucky draw specially prepared by the shop. The prize is a novel drink worth twenty coins specially prepared by our Zhenyouwei Snack Shop. I guarantee that you have never seen or tasted it. Come and take a look!"

He was a little boy, and he was so good-looking that he attracted a group of people just by standing there.

Looking at the half-grown children wearing the same green clothes behind him, and the neatly arranged tables, chairs, and benches, I couldn't help but feel a little curious about the things sold inside.

But the price was really expensive. Ten coins could buy two bowls of oil noodles.

Among the pedestrians there was an old customer who had eaten Malatang. When he saw Lin Zhen's shop was opened, he clasped his fists and said congratulations: "Brother Lin's shop is open, and he still sells Malatang?"

It was a good thing when someone talked to him. Lin Zhen smiled and said loudly: "Malatang is of course indispensable. We also have Malatang mixed noodles and cold noodles. There are spicy and stimulating ones, as well as refreshing and cool ones." It was exactly

noon, and the summer sun had officially arrived, making people sweat. The customer who asked the question didn't want to eat hot Malatang at first, but based on the good taste of Malatang, he trusted Lin Zhen's craftsmanship and became the first customer in the store: "Give me a bowl of cold noodles. By the way, give me some sour plum soup!"

It was so hot that day, so a bowl of sour plum soup was enough to cool down.

Lin Zhen nodded: "Yes, Xiaoyao, give this big brother a bowl of cold noodles and a cup of sour plum soup."

God knows how nervous Lin Xiaoyao was. Money was flowing out like water. It cost money for five people to eat in town. Now that the shop was finally open, he was relieved.

He immediately perked up and took Lin Shitou to the kitchen in the backyard. According to the order that Lin Zhen had taught him many times, he grabbed a bowl of cold noodles, then put in diced mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots, shredded fungus, and the seasoning.

Then he scooped a bamboo tube of sour plum soup that was eight-tenths full from the wooden barrel and put the two together on the tray.

Lin Shitou is an extrovert and a bit nervous. After a few days of training, he placed the cold noodles and sour plum soup on the tray in front of the customer in a very orderly manner: "Please enjoy your cold noodles. This sour plum soup is specially given by our Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant. If you like it, you can take a cup with you when you leave. It's only four cents."

The Lin family does not have the genes of crooked melons and jujubes. Whether it is boys or girls, they are all neat and tidy, and they look energetic.

The first customer felt comfortable inexplicably. He glanced at Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant and found that this small shop was really good.

He was uncomfortable with the heat, so he took a big sip of sour plum soup first. In an instant, the icy, cool, sour and refreshing liquid slid from his throat into his stomach. He felt so comfortable that he couldn't help but slap the table: "Why is it so cool! Did you add ice!" In

the middle of the night yesterday, Lin Zhen got up and put saltpeter in a large bucket with water, and then put the small bucket of water in the large bucket. He finally made a bucket of ice.

The purity of the current Glauber's salt is low, and it cannot be compared with the saltpeter of the industrial era. He did not master the amount at the beginning, and it could not condense for a long time. He added the amount twice before finally mastering the ratio of water and Glauber's salt.

Lin Zhen said to the first customer who came to the store: "The store has a new and unique drink, which must use ice, so I spent a lot of money to buy some ice."

"If it weren't for the opening today, I wouldn't be willing to use it in sour plum soup."

When Lin Zhen talked about buying ice, the expression of pain on his face was very vivid.

That was ice, and the people in the town who could afford it could be counted on their fingers. It was really a big deal for a small store like his to use it for business.

The first customer was so relaxed that he was full of energy. He said, "Brother Lin is so bold. I wonder what your new drink is like? You actually need ice?"

As he spoke, he mixed the cold noodles with mushroom cubes, bamboo shoots and black fungus shreds. When mixing, he found that the noodles at Zhenyouwei Xiaoshizhai were different from those outside. They were much thinner, and unlike the cuts that were inevitable when cut with a knife, they were uneven in thickness, and each one was almost the same. He took a full bite

, and the crisp taste of the bamboo shoots, mushroom cubes and black fungus and the fresh but not bland sauce complemented each other. In this hot summer, it was simply a relief to all the fatigue.

While eating noodles and drinking sour plum soup, the first customer quickly ate a cup of sour plum soup and a bowl of cold noodles.

He collapsed on the chair and patted his stomach: "Brother Lin's craftsmanship is great!"

He gave Lin Zhen a thumbs up. The previous spicy hot pot, the current cold noodles, and even the sour plum soup that is almost available in restaurants outside, tasted different.

He had a feeling that this small restaurant would definitely have a lot of customers in the future.

After eating and drinking, he walked to the counter in a good mood: "How much?"

Lin Zhen said: "The sour plum soup is a gift, so big brother, just give six cents."

"Only six cents?" Obviously, he wanted to buy things as cheaply as possible in the past, but for some reason, he felt that the things in the small restaurant were too cheap.

He remembered what the waiter in the store said just now, a cup of sour plum soup with ice was four cents. Although it was one cent more expensive than other places, it was worth it because it had ice.

Thinking of the three children at home, Luo Ping said: "Can I take the sour plum soup back? Brother Lin, do you have a bigger jar here? I will send it to you tomorrow after you finish it."

He was a local, his family had a small piece of land, and he often strolled on the street, so he was not afraid that he would not return the jar.

Lin Zhen said: "We have take-out bamboo cups in our store. How many cups would you like?"

"Three..." Luo Ping was about to say three, but when he thought of his wife and two elderly people, he simply said, "Seven cups."

After drinking the last cup, he wanted to drink more. One cup for each family member, how nice.

Lin Zhen nodded, but first picked up a bamboo cup on the counter: "Brother, let me tell you the price of take-out food from our snack bar. Look at this cup," he pulled off the lid of the bamboo cup and pulled a few small strands of hemp rope that were tied to a notch two thumbs wide from the mouth of the cup to ensure that it would not slip off. "It has a lid and a tie, and the labor cost is not cheap, so it will cost one cent more for take-out. See if you can accept it."

"Of course, if brother brings a jar from home to serve it, it will still be the original price."

Luo Ping looked at the cup and felt that it was a bit uneconomical, but he didn't lack the five cents, and he wanted his family to try the iced sour plum soup. After thinking about it, he said, "Buy it!" He

said to Lin Shitou, "Shitou, go tell your little aunt that the guests want seven cups of sour plum soup to take away. Zhuzi, clean up the table."

After that, he said to Luo Ping, "Brother, wait a moment. The seven cups of sour plum soup you asked for will be ready soon."

The sour plum soup was all cooked in advance. Lin Xiaoyao only needed to scoop it into the bamboo cup, add some chopped ice cubes, and cover it with the lid that was made at Carpenter Ma's place.

Speaking of this take-away cup, Lin Zhen was so upset that his head was bald. Drinking here was fine, and selling it for three cents would make a profit, but the cost of taking it out would rise, and only five cents would make a profit.

He didn't force people to buy or sell it. Drinking here was fine, and those who lived close could use bowls and jars at home to take it.

Soon, seven cups of sour plum soup were ready, all covered with lids and carried with straps.

Lin Zhen took the seven cups of sour plum soup from Lin Shitou and put them on the counter: "A total of 41 cents. Because your consumption exceeded our discount line today, you can still draw a prize. Try your luck."

Lin Zhen had already made the lottery box. There was only a hole on it that you could put your hand in, and inside were thin wooden signs with various small discounts and prizes written on them.

Luo Ping said, "Your shop has a lot of new things." If you don't take advantage of a bargain, you're a fool. He reached in and pulled the small wooden sign inside with his fingers. He took it out and looked at it. "Another cup!"

Luo Ping's eyes were round. "Another cup of sour plum soup?"

"Yes, congratulations, Shitou, go get another cup of sour plum soup for the customer."

Although he only paid thirty-five coins to buy seven cups, the joy of winning the prize for nothing was different. Luo Ping walked out of Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant with eight cups of sour plum soup in his hands, smiling.

From the time Luo Ping entered until he came out after eating, there were actually quite a few people watching secretly. When they saw him come out, they asked, "How is this new restaurant?"

When they saw the bamboo cup in his hand, they asked, "What did you buy? Can you finish it?"

Luo Ping picked up the sour plum soup: "Sour plum soup!"

The person who asked was very disappointed. He thought it was something good, but it turned out to be the sour plum soup that can be found everywhere.

Luo Ping continued, "It's iced!"

"Wow, that's a lot of money." Ice is expensive, and vendors who come here to sell it every summer make a lot of money. Now that summer has just begun, it's not the hottest time yet,

so people with less money will just bear with it for now and wait until they can't stand it anymore. Although Luo Ping had just finished eating, he was already missing the taste of cold noodles and sour plum soup. He said to this man who seemed to have plenty of money, "The taste is great. The spicy hot pot sold by this boss before was also very good. If you haven't tried it, you must try it."

Chapter 57

Whether the food in a restaurant is good or not can be judged by the reactions of the customers who enter. A passerby outside saw Luo Ping carrying seven or eight cups out, and then looked at the clean and refreshing snack shop and walked in.

The man who asked Luo Ping just now was not from the town, and didn't know what Malatang was, but he had a strong taste. When he heard the word Malatang, he felt that it would suit his appetite, so he directly asked Lin Zhen: "Boss, how much is your Malatang?"

Lin Zhen looked at the man in front of him who was wearing a short brown suit, but his skin was white and his hands had no calluses from work. He pointed to the small cart lane next to the counter with the baffle removed, which looked more like the style of the shop

: "The Malatang in our store is hot and ready to eat food. Vegetables are one cent a string, and meat is three cents a string."

The taste of Malatang is strong and overbearing. At first, Lin Zhen thought about whether to put it at the back, but that would not be conducive to customers seeing what ingredients are there, so he put it here.

The young man with short brown hair sniffed the alluring aroma in the air and said without hesitation: "Give me five skewers of each."

"Okay." Lin Xiaoyao was going to make cold noodles and sour plum soup in the back. If someone wanted to order spicy hot pot, Lin Zhen would make it. He would count out five skewers of vegetables and meat, boil them, put them in an open bowl, and ask Lin Zhuzi to bring it to the young man with short brown hair.

Three or five customers who came in before and after asked Lin Zhen, "Boss, what delicious food do you have here?"

"We have malatang, malatang mixed with noodles, and cold noodles. There is a discount today for the opening. Every customer can have a free cup of sour plum soup."

One of them had eaten malatang before, and happened to see the young man in short brown sitting at the table with malatang. The aroma aroused his appetite, and he immediately said, "Give me five skewers of mushrooms, five skewers of bamboo shoots, and ten skewers of pork."

Those who had never eaten malatang asked, "What is malatang?"

"How does it taste?"

The person who had eaten malatang and was ordering it had an inexplicable sense of honor that he was also a veteran, and told them in a knowledgeable manner, "This is the most famous food in Zhenyouwei Snack Shop now. There are dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, black fungus, radish, pork, chicken, and pig ears. Put them in the boss's secret soup and boil them. Hey, it's amazing!" As

he was talking, the young man in short brown had already started eating. The salty, fresh and spicy taste was so delicious that he couldn't stand it. He ate piece by piece, and his nose was sweating and he couldn't stop.

Gulp.

Several people who had never eaten it swallowed their saliva at the same time and ordered spicy hotpot according to their own taste.

"Boss, I want three strings of bamboo shoots, three strings of mushrooms, and five strings of pork."

"Boss, I want one string of chicken, one string of pork, and three strings of radish and fungus."

"Boss..."

The spicy hotpot smelled so good that it was hard for people who came in not to be attracted.

When Lin Zhen finished making spicy hotpot for them, Lin Shitou and Gu Shuanzi had already gone to the backyard to bring up the free sour plum soup. The reactions of several people were similar to Luo Ping's. The sour plum soup with ice was simply a magical tool to relieve the heat on such a hot day. It was hard not to love it.

Only the young man in short brown pushed the sour plum soup over and asked Lin Zhen: "Boss, do you have any other drinks in your store? If not, give me a bowl of cold water."

He explained: "I can't eat plums. It makes me itchy."

He was actually allergic to plums. Lin Zhen understood. He asked Gu Shuanzi to take the sour plum soup back and said to the young man in short brown: "We also have pearl milk tea, fruit milk tea, and gentleman's tea in our store."

Gentleman's tea is Hong Kong-style milk tea. Lin Zhen felt that it was a bit confusing to call it that, so he simply changed the name.

The young man in short brown heard the three new names and got curious: "Pearl milk tea? There are pearls in it. How can pearls be eaten? And what is gentleman's tea?"

He was born with a handsome appearance, fair skin, and not very old, about 18 or 19 years old. In modern times, he would still be a big kid who just went to college.

This was the first business of the day for milk tea. Lin Zhen didn't want to run away, so he said, "This milk tea is a unique drink in our shop. Customers may wish to order one to try. If you like something sweeter, it's better to order pearl milk tea or fruit milk tea. If you like something lighter, order gentleman tea."

The short-browed young man thought this was really interesting and said, "Give me a fruit milk tea."

"Okay, do you want mulberry fruit milk tea or cherry fruit milk tea?" The only fruits that can be found in this season are mulberries and cherries. Other fruits are either not ripe or have a bad taste when ripe. Most of the varieties that have not been improved are sour.

The short-browed young man said, "Cherries."

Lin Zhen immediately went to the backyard to call Lin Xiaoyao to the front. He quickly took the cherries placed next to the ice bucket, removed the pits of more than 20 cherries, and placed them in the sword cup and pressed slightly to let the cherry flavor come out. Then he poured in a certain proportion of goat milk cooked with almonds and removed the smell of mutton, as well as sugar water. After stirring evenly, he put crushed ice on top and inserted a hollow bamboo straw.

He brought a full cup of cherry fruit milk tea and placed it on the table of the short-brown young man: "Guest, this is your fruit milk tea with full of cherries."

"After you finish drinking, you can tear off the oil paper at the bottom. There is a little surprise hidden inside that is only for milk tea drinks."

The ice cubes floated on the milk tea, emitting a hint of cold air. Even without drinking it, just looking at it made people feel a little cool.

The short-brown young man looked at the straw inserted in the ice cubes and the few little people on the sword cup. He took two bites of the spicy hot pot that he thought was pretty good, and then stretched out his mouth to take a sip.

At first, he didn't care a bit. He had eaten and drunk a lot of good things. It was not easy to have this spicy hot pot that suited his appetite. This fruit milk tea could quench his thirst.

But the smooth tea and milk mixture and the thick cherry flesh collided in his mouth with a wonderful and comfortable taste, which made him drink a few more sips involuntarily. The ice on the milk tea sank at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Interesting.

He breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the drops of water condensed on the bamboo cup with a little man carved on it due to the ice, and felt that he had made the right decision to enter this store. God knows how long it has been since he had a comfortable meal.

Several people who ordered spicy hot pot nearby were also interested in this novel milk tea. They waved Lin Zhen to ask about the milk tea. They were shocked to learn that this small cup of drink cost twenty cents.

My goodness, it was equivalent to a two-course meal at a small restaurant outside.

Several people were reluctant to spend the money, only an old man who was about fifty years old and sitting by the window asked for a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea with a changed name, Junzi Tea.

There was a constant flow of people outside the store, young and old, men and women, and the sun was so hot that people's heads were about to smoke.

Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant has a longer table than the average table, which is placed against the wall. Chairs are placed along the table, and the space left in the middle is another long table, which can be sat on all sides.

In addition to the four or five other customers who came in first, a family of three came in later. Each person ordered a bowl of cold noodles, and they were also given three bowls of sour plum soup as usual.

The child, who was taken care of by his parents, ate the cold noodles and drank the sour plum soup with sparkling eyes: "Mom, it's delicious! So sweet and cool!"

"You can drink my sour plum soup, too." The woman touched the child's red cheeks and pushed her sour plum soup to the child.

The child shook his head: "Mom, drink it, it will be more delicious when I drink it~"

The people in the shop couldn't help but smile knowingly when they heard the child's childish voice, and felt that the spicy hot sour plum soup in their mouths tasted better.

Having finished a full cup of cherry fruit milk tea and the spicy hot pot in the bowl, the short-browed young man looked at the bamboo cup and tore off the oil paper underneath with interest according to Lin Zhen's instructions.

A small paper roll fell out, and he unfolded it...

The short-browed young man was completely attracted by the story called "The Journey to Immortality". An ignorant young boy went out and came back to see the bodies of his relatives scattered all over the ground, and his enemies disappeared without a trace.

The boy went to seek help from his uncle in great pain, but accidentally heard that his uncle, who had been friends with his father for decades, was also one of the murderers of his relatives' tragic death, all for a spiritual bead called Tianyuan.

And the spiritual bead that was not discovered by the murderer was hanging around his neck...

The story was cleverly stuck when the boy wanted to escape from his uncle's house to find a chance to avenge his relatives, but he accidentally stepped on a stone in the corner of the wall and made a sound.

The plot written by Lin Zhen, Zhong Yanrun, attracted everyone's attention at the beginning. Looking at the words "To be continued ", the short-browed young man was very regretful.

He stood up quickly, holding the small paper roll and asked Lin Zhen: "Boss, where is the gentleman who wrote this story!"

He wanted to know whether the boy escaped and how he escaped, and he was very anxious.

Lin Zhen didn't expect that the first cup of milk tea he sold would attract a customer with strong curiosity. He said, "Customer, the gentleman who wrote this storybook is an acquaintance of mine, but I don't know where he is. He just gave me three chapters of the storybook and taught me how to do this interesting business."

"Three chapters!" The young man in short brown was frustrated when he heard Lin Zhen said he didn't know where the gentleman who wrote the storybook was. When he heard that there were already three chapters of the storybook, he couldn't wait to ask Lin Zhen to sell the remaining two chapters to him.

Lin Zhen blinked: "I don't know which chapter of the storybook is in there, they are just randomly stuffed in. If the customer wants to collect all three chapters, he may have to buy a few more cups."

The short-browed young man then remembered that this was a restaurant, and the storybook he was reading was also a gift stuffed in there. He thought the boss was smart, and waved his hand: "Give me four more cups."

Lin Zhen smiled so hard that his teeth were not visible: "Okay, what flavor do you want, please?"

"I just drank fruit, you can make me something else, a cup of pearl milk tea, a cup of mulberry fruit milk tea, and two cups of gentleman's tea."

Including the last cup, he spent a penny on drinks alone.

Others in the store didn't expect that this milk tea was so expensive and still had people buying it. Two or three people raised their hands to try it.

The old man sitting at the window shook his head and drank the gentleman's tea, which was just to his taste, not too sweet, and with a strong tea and milk aroma. He also tore open the oil paper below, and the small paper roll inside fell down. Only the words "Mei Niang" were written at the beginning.

Chapter 58

Some die-hard fans of Malatang also went to Zhenyouwei Snack Shop to show their support to Lin Zhen. They ate the newly launched Malatang noodles and cold noodles, drank the free sour plum soup, and those who spent more than ten cents could draw prizes.

Some won discount cards, some won another cup, but most of them were thank you for your patronage.

Anyway, it was all free, and those who drew a good card would exclaim, and those who drew a thank you for your patronage would not be angry. After

a busy day, Lin Zhen led Lin Xiaoyao, Gu Shuanzi and others to clean the tables, chairs and benches. The ingredients that could still be used were put away for tomorrow, and those that could not be kept overnight were cooked for themselves. Then they took out the box of silver and shook it.

The copper coins and silver pieces inside collided with each other, which sounded joyful.

"Count how much money came in today, Shuanzi, go get my account book and see if it's right." It was really busy at three or four o'clock today. There were a lot of people eating cold noodles and drinking sour plum soup. Lin Zhen was really too busy to handle it, so he asked Gu Shuanzi to keep accounts by his side, using charcoal pencil. Although the handwriting was not good-looking, Lin Zhen had seen that the numbers were right.

So later he simply let Gu Shuanzi work as his accountant at the counter, freeing up his hands to work with Lin Xiaoyao.

Gu Shuanzi got up to get the account book. Lin Zhen poured the copper coins and broken silver in the box into the dustpan, separated the two first, and then counted them one by one.

When Gu Shuanzi returned to the backyard with the account book, he saw him mumbling and threading a copper coin into the hemp rope.

Gu Shuanzi put the account book in front of him, picked up another hemp rope, and counted it. In the end, there were five strings of copper coins, five hundred coins each, which was two taels and five coins of silver, and the remaining scattered coins were forty-one coins.

The silver was weighed on a small scale and it was seven taels and two cents.

Today, nine taels, seven cents and forty-one cents were sold, which was more than half of what he made in a single day selling spicy hotpot with a cart. After deducting various costs, today's net profit was seven taels.

Lin Zhen leaned back in his chair and felt that his hard work during this period was worth it. From a monthly income of more than twenty taels to about two hundred taels a month if everything went well, who would not be satisfied?

Gu Shuanzi was keeping accounts and knew how much silver he had earned today. He was already surprised.

Lin Xiaoyao, who had been busy in the backyard, was dumbfounded. He watched things being taken out of his hands one by one. He knew that the business was good, but he still didn't expect it to be so much. He

even felt like he didn't recognize silver.

Lin Zhen put the copper coins and silver back into the box and patted it: "Eat something and go to bed quickly. Maybe tomorrow will be even busier."

When Lin Zhen counted the things, he found that the best-selling items today were cold noodles and sour plum soup. The weather was hot, and people still preferred these cold things that could relieve the heat and stimulate the appetite.

Next came Malatang and Malatang noodles, and finally milk tea.

But the price of milk tea was high, accounting for half of the total revenue.

He estimated that the profit tomorrow and the day after tomorrow should be about the same as today, because there are three days in a month, and the profit will fall back a little after three days.

But the next day, Lin Zhen found that he had made a mistake in his estimation. There was actually a queue outside Zhenyouwei Snack Shop. Some people came to eat cold noodles and drink sour plum soup in ordinary clothes, and some people came to buy milk tea by name.

And he found that most of the people who bought milk tea were girls and boys, and they also specifically asked for plum cups.

???

What happened that he didn't know?

Lin Zhen was so busy that he didn't have time to figure it out, so he simply asked them to line up in two lines, one for eating and the other for buying milk tea and sour plum soup.

Then Lin Zhuzi was in charge of the food section, asking the guests what they wanted to eat, and went to the backyard to ask Lin Xiaoyao to make it and serve it to the guests. Lin Shitou was responsible for buying milk tea and sour plum soup, and told him that he would process it in the back. The burden of greeting guests and keeping accounts fell on Gu Shuanzi.

He didn't know that in a place he didn't know, seven or eight girls and boys were gathered together, fanning themselves and passionately discussing the first chapter of the story of Mei Niang.

The round-faced girl said, "The scholar shouldn't have noticed Mei Niang, a nerd, he didn't even know that the tea in his cup was less."

The melon-seed-faced girl said the opposite: "I think he noticed it, didn't you hear it? Didn't the scholar say that he was distracted by looking at the teacup at the end?"

"Ah, why haven't you bought it yet? These errand maids won't drink milk tea first before coming. I heard that milk tea is delicious." The one who spoke was a boy, who was a little taller than the girls, but looked cute and spoke like a spoiled child.

The boy next to him with a calm face said, "The restaurant is not far away, it should be here soon."

The cute boy kicked his legs and pouted his lips and said, "Sheng'er, this story is so interesting, why is Mei Niang not Mei'er?"

The literate Sheng'er couldn't help laughing, "Why, you still like that scholar?"

"Bah, who likes, a person on a piece of paper," he said, but the expression on the face of the cute boy was not like that. He whispered to Sheng'er, "It would be nice to have such a person, handsome, good at studying, and gentle."

They were all familiar with each other in the town, and their families were not short of hundreds or thousands of taels of silver. They were all about the same age, so they played together after a while.

It was a good time to discuss marriage, and it was inevitable that there were some thoughts in their hearts. Since Sheng'er got a cup of novel milk tea yesterday and saw the story of "Mei Niang" in it and shared it with them, everyone was attracted.

"Mei Niang" tells the story of a scholar who went to Beijing to take the imperial examination and rented a room to review his books. However, he did not know that the plum tree in the yard had become a spirit. He opened the window and recited poems and books to the plum tree day and night.

Mei Niang, the spirit of the plum tree, secretly watched the scholar. From time to time, she would read his books in the room when the scholar went out or fell asleep. It was not known whether Mei Niang's evil spirit affected him. The scholar actually had a dream. In the dream, he was a son of a noble family and married his fiancée who had been engaged for many years. The two of them lived in harmony. The wife in the dream was called Mei Niang...

The direction of the story is clear. The relationship between the plum tree spirit Mei Niang and the scholar is not simple. Moreover, the ambiguity between the two is written just right, transparent and heart-stirring, which makes these teenage girls and boys blush.

But the first chapter only wrote here. The three words "To be continued" made them want to rush to Zhenyouwei Snack Shop to buy the rest of the story that night.

At this morning, several people gathered together and asked their maids to buy milk tea, determined to see what was below.

Sheng Ge'er, the only one who could read, looked at his friends and said, "The milk tea with the storybook is delicious. You can try it later."

Several people were anxious to read the storybook, so they had no time to drink. However, Sheng Ge'er was the one with the best temper among them, and he was the only one who could read, so they nodded.

In fact, they all thought the same thing in their hearts. When the maid came later, they would ask Sheng Ge'er to open the storybook inside and read it to them.

Just as he was thinking about it, several maids and servants came in with more than two cups of milk tea in their hands. The cute-looking boy was the first to run out like a deer, took two cups of milk tea from his servant, and hummed, "So cold."

He was afraid of the heat, so he sat next to Sheng Ge'er and put the bamboo tube with a few condensed water droplets on his face. He shuddered with comfort. He was about to remove the oil paper underneath, but his hand seemed to have its own consciousness and opened the lid of the bamboo tube cup.

He saw a layer of ice cubes spread inside, faintly soaked by the light yellow juice below, and the rising cold air made him unable to help but put his mouth close to it.

The ordinary-looking servant inserted the bamboo tube straw neatly: "The boss said to use this."

"Oh," the cute boy took a sip with a straw. The sweet milk was chewy and bouncy. He held the bamboo cup in both hands and looked at Sheng with shining eyes. "It tastes so good!"

Sheng drank this yesterday and said to him, "This is called pearl milk tea. I got the "Plum Lady" from it yesterday."

"Let me see what's in your cup?" The cute boy came over to take a look.

Sheng used a bamboo straw to remove some ice cubes. He saw that the flesh was thick and the pitted cherries were underneath. The pink milk and the crystal clear ice made them look particularly beautiful.

The maid next to Sheng said with great insight, "The boss said that your cup is called a full cup of cherries."

...

Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant suddenly became famous in the town. There was sour plum soup with ice. In the store, it cost four cents for a large cup. If you want to take it away, it cost five cents for a cup.

There are also spicy hot pot, spicy hot pot noodles, and thin cold noodles that make people want to eat a second bowl after eating the first bowl. The

most discussed thing is the milk tea that costs 20 cents a cup. It is said that the milk tea process is extremely complicated and is made by the owner of the snack shop using the method in his dream!

Lin Zhen didn't know that he suddenly had the strange feat of obtaining cooking skills from dreams. After the three-day market, the business of the snack shop went from 7 taels of net profit on the first day to 10 taels of net profit on the second day, to 9 taels of net profit on the third day, and then back to 7 to 8 taels of net profit.

This made him very satisfied!

The business of Zhenyouwei Snack Shop stabilized. Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao, Lin Zhuzi, and Lin Shitou were busy from morning to night. Ma Mujiang, Lin Da Ge, and Lin Er Ge also delivered bamboo tubes and materials needed by the shop every few days.

Seeing that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, the sour plum soup in the shop was getting better and better, and Gu Shuanzi finally memorized the Thousand Character Classic.

Lin Zhen looked at Gu Shuanzi standing in front of him, and felt like his son could finally go to school. He said to Gu Shuanzi, "I'll take you to Mr. Chengdong tomorrow morning to see what he says."

Because the milk tea sold well, he wrote two more chapters this month. Zhong Yan and Chen Niangzi came to the shop more often. Lin Zhen sometimes simply discussed the plot of the story with Zhong Yan, so he got to know Zhong Yan better and knew that the boy was not an ordinary person.

He said to Gu Shuanzi, "Your brother Zhong also studied with Mr. Chengdong. If you don't understand something in the future, you can ask him. He is very knowledgeable and it doesn't hurt to ask more."

The author has something to say:

Gu Shoufu looked at Zhong: "Brother Zhong."

Zhong Yan: "..."

Gu Shoufu was famous for holding grudges, especially when those grudges were related to his husband.

Chapter 59

Early the next morning, Lin Zhen asked Lin Xiaoyao to look after the shop, and he and Gu Shuanzi went to the market to buy a bunch of celery, a bag of lotus seeds, a bag of red beans, a bag of dates, a bag of longans, and two strips of lean meat.

Celery means hard work and study, lotus seeds mean painstaking education, red beans mean good luck, dates mean early admission to high school, longans mean perfect merit, and lean meat strips are the students' feelings for their teachers.

In addition to these, there is also tuition money. Lin Zhen has learned from Zhong Yan that the annual tuition of Mr. Xu, the scholar, is five taels of silver, plus the cost of writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, it is almost ten taels of silver a year.

Now the monthly turnover of Xiaoshizhai is more than one hundred and two hundred taels, which is more than enough for Gu Shuanzi to study.

The east side of the town is inhabited by people with a small fortune, with blue brick and tile houses next to each other. Lin Zhen took Gu Shuanzi to ask for directions to the outside of Mr. Xu's yard. Before he got close, he heard the sound of reading aloud coming from inside.

Lin Zhen knocked on the door, and soon a young man in short brown stood in the door and looked at them: "Excuse me, what can I do for you two?"

Lin Zhen clasped his fists to him: "Hello, brother. I am from Liyu Village. I want to send my child to study here with Mr. Xu."

"Come in, the teacher is giving a lesson. You wait in the side room first."

"Thank you, brother." Lin Zhen followed the young man in short brown with Gu Shuanzi without looking away. I saw that Mr. Xu's house already had the prototype of a small courtyard.

There were wing rooms on both sides, and the main house was in front. The wing rooms were connected to the back by an alley. I think it should be the place where the women of the family lived.

The place for teaching was in the left wing room in front. When Lin Zhen and the young man in short brown went over, they took a look and saw that there were about eight or nine students, the older ones were like Zhong Yan, and the younger ones were five or six years old.

The short-browed young man took him and Gu Shuanzi to the side room and poured each of them a cup of light tea. Before they finished the tea, the sound of reading in the side room stopped, and Mr. Xu came in with a book in his hand. He was wearing a slim robe, which made people feel that he was different from most people in the town.

Lin Zhen and Gu Shuanzi stood up from the stools, "Mr. Xu."

Xu Youda nodded and sat in the upper seat: "Ada has already told me that you want to send your child to study here."

"Then you must know that there are three things I don't accept here. One, I don't accept those who can't recite the Thousand Characters, two, I don't accept those who are over eight years old, and three, I don't accept children from merchants."

Xu Youda's eyes fell on Gu Shuanzi, who was taller than his peers: "I think your child is not very suitable to study here. It's better to find another famous teacher as soon as possible to avoid delaying him."

When Lin Zhen heard what he said, he knew that he was rejecting Gu Shuanzi, and he showed his arrogance to the fullest.

In the town, there are only three people who have the title of scholar, one is him, one is Zhong Yan, and there is an old scholar in his fifties.

Zhong Yan was taught by him. If he is not arrogant, who is arrogant? Many people in the town want to send their children to him, but he has a high threshold for accepting students, which blocks a large number of people from entering.

Lin Zhen looked at the scholar without arrogance: "Mr. Xu, my child has never been exposed to books before. He has been raised in the mountains and fields. It was not until February or March this year that I thought of sending him to school."

"I heard that the students you accept must memorize the Thousand Characters, so I bought a book to teach him. Although it has only been more than two months, he can recite it backwards."

Xu Youda heard that Gu Shuanzi had memorized the Thousand Characters in two months, and he looked up to this child.

Most children of this age are not stable, and reading is boring. It is good to be able to read and understand 30% to 50%. It is rare to have a genius like Zhong Yan in a thousand.

Gu Shuanzi, who had quietly shaken hands with Xu Youda when he said that to Lin Zhen, bowed to Xu Youda who was sitting on the throne as soon as Lin Zhen finished speaking, with a blank expression on his face: "Yes, yes, it is a word. I mock you for being foolish and ignorant. I look around and wander around, dignified and dressed. I look up and down in the temple corridor, leading the way..."

Xu Youda didn't react at first to what Gu Shuanzi was reciting, and after a while he realized that it was the Thousand Character Classic in reverse. After reciting a paragraph, Gu Shuanzi changed again, this time reciting from the first character of every four characters in the Thousand Character Classic.

The Thousand Character Classic is the most common enlightenment book, but Gu Shuanzi is the first one who can recite so many patterns, and he did it within two months.

He raised his hand to stop, looking at this child with thin eyebrows and thin lips, so that he looked a little unfeeling: "How old are you this year?"

"Eight years old." Gu Da died last year, he was just eight years old, and his birthday this year has not yet arrived.

Xu Youda nodded, the age is not bad, it is within the range he specified.

He asked Lin Zhen again: "I wonder what your husband's family does?" Among

the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are the most cunning and sly. They make a living by stealing other people's money and are looked down upon by the world.

Lin Zhen naturally would not hide it and said: "I was originally from Liyu Village. I just came to the town to open a restaurant and sell some food. I am not a merchant."

Xu Youda frowned and was a little unhappy.

The corners of Gu Shuanzi's lips had become straight. He never liked reading, and he didn't like this teacher either. He learned a lot from following Lin Zhen these days. Even if he didn't go to this school to study, he could do some business and support Uncle Lin.

After a while, Xu Youda still couldn't let go of Gu Shuanzi, this good seedling. He said: "I accept this child, but for him, your husband must not be blinded by money and enter the merchant class."

Merchants are easy to enter but difficult to leave. However, if they are not included in the merchant class, small shops like Zhenyouwei Snack Food House will not only have to pay head tax and grain tax, but also pay 10% more taxes than merchants.

If the money earned exceeds the scope stipulated by the government, they will be forcibly included in the business register.

Xu Youda didn't want to bother teaching Gu Shuanzi himself, but in the end, because of Lin Zhen's business, Gu Shuanzi could not take the imperial examination, wasting his energy.

Lin Zhen really didn't think so deeply. He sent Gu Shuanzi to Xu Youda to study, just because he felt that the child's temperament had become a little bit strong due to the influence of Ma and Zhou Tao, and wanted him to know etiquette and not go astray.

But Gu Shuanzi's various ways of reciting the Thousand Characters and Xu Youda's attitude just now made him think of what would happen if Gu Shuanzi took the imperial examination in the future and his business was bigger than it is now?

Merchants within three generations must not take the imperial examination.

Lin Zhen suppressed the thought in his mind, thinking that he was thinking too far. Gu Shuanzi is only eight years old now. Even if he wants to take the Tongsheng exam, it will be two or three years later. Maybe he won't be able to study until then.

He had discovered a long time ago that the child was actually not interested in reading and learning to read.

On the spot, Gu Shuanzi paid his respects to Xu Youda and put the tuition he brought into Xu Youda's hands. Then Xu Youda helped him up from the ground, said some encouraging words, and told him to go home and come to class tomorrow. After leaving

the Xu's house, Lin Zhen turned around and looked at the slowly closing gate behind him, lowered his head and said to Gu Shuanzi: "I will take you here these days. When you are familiar with the road, you can go to school by yourself, okay?"

The houses in the east of the city are clean and tidy. At this time, you can already see the servants and maids coming out to buy things for the master's family, or pouring sewage into the ditch, a lively scene.

Gu Shuanzi has a good memory. He has memorized all the forks in the road during this trip with him, and even knows how many steps he has walked. But he nodded and was about to speak when he suddenly saw a figure he hadn't seen for a long time in the corner of his eye. His eyes suddenly turned cold and his hands were clasped together.

Lin Zhen noticed his abnormality and followed his gaze. He saw a crooked figure in the alley not far away. It turned out to be Ma's eldest son.

The boy also saw them, and instead of avoiding them, he walked towards them with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"Shuanzi, why are you here?"

"Oh, my aunt and father are here too. I heard that you opened a shop and the business is very good. Why don't you lend me some money to spend? I will return the pot to you in two days."

Although he was obviously a boy of twelve or thirteen, about the same age as Zhong Yan, Ma's eldest son was boneless and looked like a puddle of mud. His clothes had not been washed for a long time, emitting an indescribable stench, and his hair was greasy and shiny. His face, which was still quite decent, was covered with bruises and purples.

Gu Shuanzi couldn't help the violence in his heart when he saw him, and kicked Ma's eldest son in the stomach, killing him without any strength left.

Ma's eldest son had been fooling around outside for several days and had lost all the money he had. He had not eaten for several meals and was no match for Gu Shuanzi. He fell to the ground, holding his head and shouting: "Hit me, hit me, I'm going to sue the officials and make you pay me back!"

Gu Shuanzi's eyes slowly turned red. He was wearing a gentle and elegant robe, and the strength under his hands was getting stronger and stronger. At first, Ma's eldest son still had the strength to make a scene, but gradually his voice became smaller and smaller.

Lin Zhen noticed something was wrong and quickly hugged Gu Shuanzi's waist from behind and pulled him off Ma's eldest son: "Shuanzi! That's enough!"

Gu Shuanzi was still struggling while being held by him, his eyes fixed on Ma's eldest son on the ground.

Ma's eldest son just accidentally discovered Gu Shuanzi and Lin Zhen and wanted to extort some money from them. He didn't expect Gu Shuanzi to be so cruel and was afraid.

Seeing Gu Shuanzi being held by Lin Zhen, he covered his stomach and cried out: "Your son beat me like this. If you don't compensate me, I will go to the government to sue him and make him go to jail and eat a stick!"

Lin Zhen looked at this former relative who was bruised and swollen but still greedy, and raised his eyebrows: "The door of the government is open every day. If you want to sue, go ahead, but I tell you, don't think that the previous things are over. If you investigate, you can't escape the consequences of your family's actions."

Ma's eldest son stared at Lin Zhen in amazement. He used the trick of going to the government to deceive many people. Ordinary people were afraid when they heard the word government, and they wanted to spend money immediately to avoid disaster.

Lin Zhen picked up Gu Shuanzi, put one hand around his waist and the other around his hips, and walked away without even looking at him.

When he threatened people with the government, he didn't know where he was, and he was showing off his sword in front of Guan Gong.

Chapter 60

In the position that Lin Zhen held him, Gu Shuanzi's legs were pressed against his waist, and his hands were placed on both sides at a loss.

He lowered his head and said for a long time: "I have caused you trouble."

Ma's eldest son has been possessed by the gambling addiction. As long as he can get money, he will do anything. He just beat someone up badly, and Ma's eldest son will definitely not let it go.

Lin Zhen held him and walked forward, looking at the alley in front: "It's not a trouble. If it were me, I would beat him up first."

"But Shuanzi," an eight-year-old child, especially Gu Shuanzi, is taller and heavier than his peers, so Lin Zhen's arms are a little strained. He pushed up to prevent Gu Shuanzi from sliding down, and said, "The family of Ma and Zhou Tao is like a pool of mud. If you step on them, they don't care, but you get splashed with mud. It's not worth it."

In fact, Lin Zhen was also frightened by Gu Shuanzi's strength just now. If he hadn't called him, according to Gu Shuanzi's posture, Ma's eldest son today...

It was Gu Shuanzi's false appearance of peace during this period that deceived him, making him think that the child had come out a little.

Gu Shuanzi's lowered eyes were dim and unclear. When Lin Zhen talked about Ma and Zhou Tao, the light in his eyes was frighteningly cold.

He slowly reached out, hugged Lin Zhen's shoulders, and leaned his head on Lin Zhen's shoulders: "Yeah."

Lin Zhen was a little uncomfortable with his sudden closeness. Since he was taken back to the Lin family, this kid has always looked like he had thorns all over his body. Although he was a little closer to him, he had never been as close as he was now.

Lin Zhen's heart was a little soft. After all, he was still a child. I'm afraid he was also frightened by the sudden appearance of Ma's eldest son.

He patted Gu Shuanzi on the back: "By the way, I will buy you a few books later, and I will sew a bag for you to put the books in after I go back."

People in the alley saw a beautiful boy holding a child, and thought to themselves that this husband really doted on the child too much, and he was still holding the child even though he was so old.

But they couldn't help but secretly take a few more glances.

——After

being beaten by Gu Shuanzi, Ma's eldest son lay on the ground for a long time before lazily getting up. He hated Gu Shuanzi and Lin Zhen in his heart, and countless ways to make trouble for them appeared in his mind.

But he hadn't eaten for several meals, and slowly he didn't even have the energy to think. He spit out a mouthful of saliva and thought about going home, but this time he stole Ma's hairpin and sold it. If he went back, Ma would definitely nag him and annoy him to death.

Suddenly, just as Ma's eldest son was holding his stomach and preparing to go to the west of the town, a woman with an average appearance but wearing gold and silver blocked his way.

He said impatiently, "Who is the one who is looking for death and blocking my way..."

When he saw the jewelry and luxurious clothes on the young woman, he swallowed the rest of his words. He smiled and imitated the people in the town, giving the young woman a weird salute, with a greasy look on his teenage face.

Cai Jinzhu didn't want to deal with these lowly people at all. She waved her handkerchief and signaled the maid behind her to take out a piece of silver and hand it to Ma's eldest son.

Ma's eldest son didn't expect that he would encounter such a good thing. He hurriedly snatched the silver from Cai Jinzhu's maid, put it in his mouth and bit it, to make sure it was really silver and not a dream, and rubbed the silver with saliva on his clothes: "Thank you, madam, madam is the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, you will have great blessings!"

When he opened his mouth to bite, Cai Jinzhu saw his yellow teeth full of mud, and couldn't help but step back two steps and frowned and said: "Do you know the boy just now?"

Ma's eldest son, whose mind was full of silver, reacted for a while and said: "I know him."

Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant's business is very hot, and almost everyone in the town knows it.

He thought that the young woman who gave him the silver also wanted to buy that weird milk tea, so he thought: "How can I not know him, he is my relative."

"Relative, how..." Cai Jinzhu had been watching from the side just now, and only came out after Lin Zhen left with Gu Shuanzi.

She was not afraid of Master Qian in the first place. When Master Qian called Brother Lin again at night, she kicked Master Qian awake and asked him to tell her where Brother Lin was.

Master Qian had always liked Lin Zhen. If he had not obeyed his mother's orders, he would never have divorced Lin Zhen and married this tigress. He gritted his teeth and refused to tell her. The couple had a fight at home.

After not being able to get any information from the Qian family, she happened to meet that brother named Lin again. Cai Jinzhu became suspicious and came out to talk to Ma's eldest son.

Ma's eldest son touched his belly and said, "There was some misunderstanding with them before, but relatives don't have overnight grudges. I will definitely make up in a few days."

"Madam, you ask me this, is there something wrong? Just ask, I will tell you everything I know!"

Cai Jinzhu was afraid that his saliva would spray on her, so she took another step back and said, "Since he is your relative, you must know very well who is in his family. Why does that guy surnamed Lin go everywhere alone, and I have never seen his husband."

"My uncle died last year. He is a widower now. The brat next to him is my uncle's child."

"His husband is dead?" Cai Jinzhu frowned. Was she really too suspicious? When she saw a guy surnamed Lin, she thought it was the one before Young Master Qian, but that guy did look like a foxy guy, so Cai Jinzhu believed him when he said he could hook up with Young Master Qian.

Ma's eldest son nodded: "He's dead. My mother and my father went to pay their respects."

After hearing him say that, Cai Jinzhu didn't want to waste her time any more and turned to leave.

"But my uncle was also his second husband. Madam, you have seen the appearance of my aunt's father. There are many people who like him. His previous husband was the young master of the Qian family in town. My mother said that when the young master of the Qian family passed by Liyu Village, my aunt's father was bewitched and insisted on marrying him. However, he was divorced by the old lady of the Qian family after only one year of marriage."

Cai Jinzhu, who had already turned around, suddenly clenched the handkerchief in her hand. She turned around with a distorted expression on her face: "You mean, his previous husband was the young master of the Qian family in town?"

"Yes," Ma's eldest son was afraid that Cai Jinzhu would not believe it, so he pointed his finger at the house with a plaque of Qian's house behind Cai Jinzhu, "It's the young master Qian's house behind you."

"I heard that when Madam Qian divorced him, Master Qian almost went crazy and insisted on keeping him. It was only when Madam Qian said she would hang herself in front of Master Qian that Master Qian gave him up."

Ever since Lin Zhen smashed the house, Ma had hated him so much that she cursed Lin Zhen to death all day long, and told him stories over and over again. Ma's eldest son had naturally heard it many times.

Not only did he learn how to gamble when he came to town, but he also got a taste of prostitution, and he became more aware of that. Naturally, he knew how attractive his aunt-father was to men. It was understandable that Master Qian was

desperate for Lin Zhen.

The maid behind Cai Jinzhu no longer dared to look at her wife's face. She knew her wife's temper, and that Brother Lin was going to be in big trouble.

The skin on Cai Jinzhu's face was tugged, revealing an ambiguous look. She turned her head to look at the Qian family's house, no longer looking at Ma's eldest son, and turned away with the maid.

Ma's eldest son didn't expect that all his words were in vain. As soon as Cai Jinzhu left, he took out the silver and tossed it happily.

With the silver, he naturally would not go back, and he was determined to get his money back!

Cai Jinzhu was the wife of Master Qian, and the daughter of an official from the prefectural capital. As soon as she arrived, she sold off the maids that Madam Qian had taken as concubines, and replaced the maids that originally served Master Qian with servants. Master Qian

was weak-tempered and covered his head, pretending not to know. Madam Qian saw this but didn't dare to say anything. Cai Jinzhu was not Lin Zhen from Liyu Village, and she could control him as she pleased.

Seeing him coming back, Master Qian was like a mouse seeing a cat. He stammered and said that he was going to pay his respects to his mother, and turned around to leave.

Cai Jinzhu suddenly kicked the stool to the ground and pointed at Master Qian's nose: "There are several Qian Jingyuans. No wonder you treat me like a nose and eyes. Is he still in touch with that little bitch in front?"

"You gave him the money to open his shop!"

Qian Jingyuan was scolded by her eight times a day and had no intention of arguing anymore. He just drooped his shoulders tiredly: "What are you talking about again? Who did I give money to open a shop?"

"You're still pretending!" The more Cai Jinzhu thought about it, the more she felt that she was right. A village peasant, how could he open a shop if Qian Jingyuan hadn't secretly stuffed him with money? She slapped Qian Jingyuan in the face and said, "That bitch Lin Zhen is standing in front of me and you still want to hide it from me, right? I'm going to smash his shop tomorrow. I'm going to sue him for Lin Zhen hooking up with a married man like you. I'm going to put him in a pig cage!"

Master Qian Jingyuan was stunned by the slap in the face, and the name Lin Zhen made him unable to react.

He thought of Lin Zhen's face, and how his temperament was totally different from that of the tigress in front of him. He suddenly became furious, grabbed Cai Jinzhu's hair and knocked her head against the pillar.

The servants in the room screamed in fear and hurried over to hold the two of them...

Lin Zhen, who had left, had never thought that the couple was fighting because of him. He just felt his right eyelid twitching violently when he was picking books with Gu Shuanzi.

According to their saying, if the left eye twitches, it means good fortune, and if the right eye twitches, it means disaster. It is unlucky.

He rubbed his eyes and handed the books in his hand to Gu Shuanzi: "Buy these books first, and see if there are any other books you want, and buy them together."

Gu Shuanzi saw him rubbing his eyes, looked up at him: "Uncle Lin, are your eyes uncomfortable?"

"My eyelids are twitching violently." Lin Zhen's eyelashes were wet, but his eyelids were still twitching.

Gu Shuanzi pulled his sleeve: "Did dust fly into your eyes when you were holding the books?"

Lin Zhen was puzzled. Would dust flying into your eyes cause your eyelids to twitch?