Zhou Shaojin had an almost instinctive feeling about Cheng Chi's affairs.
Cheng Chi was not surprised, but smiled and said, "You figured it out!"
The grip on his shoulder grew stronger.
"I think you will do this." Zhou Shaojin whispered, "I'm afraid it will offend a lot of people, right?"
"Yeah!" Cheng Chi sighed, "So before you do it, you want to know if it's right?"
"I'm afraid that's not right, right?" Zhou Shaojin said with a smile, "You want to take a break before the rainstorm comes, right?"
If he didn't do it just because he was afraid of offending people, he wouldn't be so embarrassed.
Cheng Chi laughed, pulled Zhou Shaojin's hand, and said nothing.
After that, Cheng Chi went out early and came back late. On New Year's Eve, he did not go out, but went to Xinglin Hutong early with Zhou Shaojin.
Yuan was checking the dishes for the sacrifice. Cheng Shao had already arrived and was sitting in the main hall talking with Old Madam Guo.
Cheng Chi smiled and whispered to Zhou Shaojin: "Come with me to meet my second uncle!"
Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment, then said, "After you and I meet my second uncle, let's go help my eldest sister-in-law. Today is New Year's Eve, and I am also a daughter-in-law."
Cheng Chi smiled and nodded, saying: "Our Shaojin has grown up!"
Zhou Shaojin glanced at him and said, "You're talking as if I don't even understand this."
Cheng Chi laughed softly.
The couple walked into the hall one after the other.
After greeting Cheng Xun and Mrs. Guo, Zhou Shaojin went to the kitchen.
Cheng Shao smiled and said, "Although Silang's wife is young, she is very sensible."
Madam Guo smiled with satisfaction and said modestly, "You are quite obedient."
Cheng Shao smiled and nodded, and told Cheng Chi about Yang Shoushan: "… I heard that his family is very poor. If you can help him, then help him. After all, we are colleagues."
Cheng Chi responded with a smile and winked at Cheng Shao.
Cheng Shao understood, and when they had sat almost all the time, he made an excuse to go to the study and left the hall accompanied by Cheng Chi.
The two walked slowly on the corridor, talking.
Cheng Wen and Cheng Nuo, a couple, were walking towards them.
Cheng Shao was stunned.
Cheng Chi had already guessed it, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid that my eldest brother and his wife invited Brother Wen and his family to come over for the New Year."
The New Year should be lively and festive. Cheng Jing and Cheng Wen are brothers after all. Now Cheng Wen is in Beijing with his son and daughter-in-law, so it is reasonable to invite them to come over for the New Year.
Cheng Shao nodded indifferently.
Cheng Wenze walked over in two steps.
"Brother and sister-in-law saw that we were all alone, so they asked us to come together to celebrate the New Year." He smiled and bowed to them, saying, "How are you, second uncle? I haven't seen you for a while." He added, "Zichuan, thank you for introducing those stores to me. Not only are their prices fair, but their people are also very nice. I rushed to put the goods on the shelves before the New Year, and it was a great success on the first day, earning more than ten taels of silver. If this continues, my business will have great potential! No wonder the elders are also looking for two good businesses!"
This is just the beginning, everyone is giving face and supporting us, but it is hard to say what will happen in the future. We still have to rely on ourselves to manage the business!
Cheng Shao and Cheng Chi exchanged glances. Cheng Chi smiled and said, "We are one family and we should keep our distance. I hope your business will flourish. Mother doesn't know you are here yet, right? My second uncle and I are walking around outside. Brother Wen, why don't you go and say hello to mother? I'm afraid she is still waiting for you to come over!"
Cheng Wen laughed and took Cheng Nuo and Wu Baozhang to the main hall.
Cheng Chi and Cheng Shao went to the study.
Wu Baozhang was also a daughter-in-law. Since she came to eat the New Year's Eve dinner, she was embarrassed to sit in the main hall and chat with Cheng Wen and Mrs. Guo. After sitting for a while, she found an opportunity to help in the kitchen.
The Cheng family's maid led the way.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw Zhou Shaojin sitting on a small stool by the door eating freshly cooked assorted rice cakes. Several of her maids surrounded her like stars around the moon. There was also a little maid holding a soup bowl beside her, and a woman was offering her courtesy beside her: "... I've heard that Chaoyangmen has invited a chef from Jiangnan. I wonder if this snack suits your taste? Try it! If there is anything that is not well done, just tell us directly and we will change it. The old lady will have to stay with us for more than a month! Although she never picks on the quality of snacks, we who are busy in the kitchen will lose face if the boss doesn't like what we make." She took the soup bowl from the maid's hand and brought it to Zhou Shaojin, saying: "It's jujube paste, red bean and osmanthus soup. Authentic Shandong jujubes, sweet but not greasy. The fourth wife will also help us try it and see if we should add some sugar."
Zhou Shaojin put his chopsticks aside and said with a smile, "This rice cake is very well made, but there are too many grapes, so it's a bit sour. The old lady is old, and her teeth can't stand sour food." Then he picked up the sweet soup and took a sip, saying, "There are too many dates, so it tastes rough. It would be better if there were less."
The mother-in-law at the stove nodded and said "yes".
Wu Baozhang watched and sneered in his heart.
Zhou Shaojin really doesn't know what's good for him. He actually commented on the cooking skills of the Cheng family's kitchen maid
She looked around but saw neither Yuan nor Qiu.
Wu Baozhang thought about it and decided to step forward and salute Zhou Shaojin.
As soon as Zhou Shaojin saw this, she knew that Yuan had also invited Cheng Wen and others to celebrate the New Year here. She did not stand up, but continued to sit there eating her cakes and drinking her sweet soup, and nodded to Wu Baozhang.
Wu Baozhang was unhappy, but he smiled and said, "Why aren't Aunt Jing and Aunt Wei here?"
Zhou Shaojin said, "Second sister-in-law is cleaning the ancestral hall, and eldest sister-in-law went to take a look."
He neither asked her when she arrived nor invited her to sit down and have a cup of tea.
Wu Baozhang had no choice but to continue to endure it, and said to the woman in the kitchen with a smile: "What kind of sweet soup is this? It smells so sweet!"
The woman at the stove smiled and said, "It's date paste, red bean and osmanthus soup." She quickly told the person at the stove to bring a bowl over.
Zhou Shaojin ignored her and ate the sweet soup gracefully.
The old woman fawningly brought over a small red porcelain bowl with a chicken drumstick in it and whispered to Zhou Shaojin, "Fourth Madam, we made beggar's chicken. Would you like to try it and see if it tastes good?"
Zhou Shaojin looked at it and smiled, "If you give me this chicken leg, won't the beggar's chicken be missing a chicken leg when it's served?"
The old woman smiled and said, "Look at what you said. We don't often make this beggar's chicken. We are afraid that if we mess it up, it won't look good on the table. We also made a few more chickens in case there are guests coming to our house. Just eat it. If you like it, I'll tear off another chicken leg for you."
When having breakfast at home, Cheng Chi forced her to eat two more soup dumplings, fearing that she would be hungry if she came late for lunch. It was okay to taste half a rice cake and drink a small bowl of sweet soup, but it was a bit difficult to eat a chicken leg. But the old woman came over with a drooling face. Everyone in the kitchen was watching. She was embarrassed to not give the old woman face, so she took the bowl with a smile, tore off two pieces and tasted them. The taste was really good. She smiled and praised: "No wonder you can manage the kitchen. If nothing else, your skill in making beggar's chicken is enough to make you stand out on your own."
The old woman was so happy after hearing this that she couldn't stop smiling, and went to tear a chicken leg for Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't stop laughing and said, "You want me to skip lunch!"
The old woman chuckled and said, "The old lady will have breakfast at 11:00 this morning, and the kitchen is busy preparing dishes for the sacrifice. I'm afraid lunch will not be served until 13:00. Please fill your stomach or you will be hungry later!" At this point, she remembered that Wu Baozhang was also there. After thinking for a while, she ordered the little maid in the kitchen, "Go, cut some chicken breast meat for Madam Nuo!"
Wu Baozhang was shaking with anger.
She wasn't a poor girl who had never eaten chicken before, so why did she let someone feed her chicken breast? Or was it Zhou Shaojin's leftovers...
"No thanks!" She said unkindly, "I'm not a child. Why would I go to the kitchen and eat something? No thanks!"
Zhou Shaojin didn't intend to pay any attention to her at all. He handed the small red porcelain bowl to Chunwan: "This beggar's chicken tastes really good, you guys should try it too."
Chunwan accepted it with a smile.
The old woman glanced at Wu Baozhang, and said to Chun Wan with a smile that showed her teeth: "There's more! There's more! If the girls think it's delicious, I'll go and get them a plate. How can I let the girls down!"
Chunwan and others thanked him with a smile, but in the end they felt it was not elegant, so one person took a bite and then put down his chopsticks.
Just as everyone was arguing, Yuan came over.
Zhou Shaojin called out "Sister-in-law" and Wu Baozhang hurried forward to greet her.
There were many things to do today, and Yuan didn't pay attention to the kitchen. She nodded to Wu Baozhang, said "No, niece-in-law is here", and said to Zhou Shaojin: "Sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law is busy over there, you can go over and give her a hand!"
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said "OK", then got up and went to the ancestral hall.
Wu Baozhang hurriedly asked, "Aunt, how about I go and help too?"
"No need!" Yuan said, "Those are for sacrifice, Shaojin can go over there. The kitchen is messy too, if you have nothing to do, just chat with the old lady!"
Wu Baozhang smiled and said "yes", looking a little embarrassed.
If we split up, we are no longer a family.
Zhou Shaojin was the eldest son's daughter-in-law, so she could help clean up the ancestral hall. Since she was a guest, she could only chat with the old lady.
She went to the main hall.
Mrs. Guo is testing Cheng Nuo's homework.
Cheng Nuo was sweating profusely after being asked this question.
Madam Guo sighed and said, "Brother Nuo, although your father plans to do business, there are different levels of business. There is a big difference between being educated and not being educated. You still have to spend some time on your homework in the future. If you really don't like it, remember to urge your children to study in the future. Our Cheng family has scholars from generation to generation."
Cheng Nuo wiped the sweat off his face and agreed.
Wu Baozhang felt very embarrassed and felt that he had brought shame to the capital.
She turned and walked out.
After walking for a while, I found myself in the East Courtyard.
The door of the Cheng family ancestral hall was wide open. Zhou Shaojin was setting up the altar while talking to Qiu.
Qiu was sitting on a small stool, wiping the utensils that would be used for the sacrifice, and responded to Zhou Shaojin with a smile.
Wu Baozhang felt as if a breath was stuck in his chest.
Isn’t Zhou Shaojin the new daughter-in-law
Shouldn't she be the one wiping the sacrificial utensils while Qiu sets the altar
Why did everything change when it came to Zhou Shaojin
She couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Where did Cheng Xu go
Things used in ancestral sacrifices should not pass through other people’s hands. Cheng Xu is the eldest grandson of the eldest son, so he should also clean the sacrificial utensils...
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Dear friends, please give more updates for TINALI.
Today's update is around ten o'clock in the evening.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)