Zhulan thought for a while about who Qi was. "She was the daughter-in-law of the Xu family, our neighbor in the capital?"
Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, it's her, mother. I thought she had forgotten me."
It has been almost a year since they last contacted each other. She feels sad that she has lost this rare friend!
Zhulan was puzzled, "Why did you give me the letter she gave you?"
Mrs. Li was so happy that she almost went crazy. "Mom, mom, didn't I make a sausage flavor that's not available on the market? Mrs. Qi wants to do this business, and she said she's going overseas. She asked me if I want to sell the formula or take a share of the profit. She suggested I take a share of the profit. What do you think, mom?"
Zhulan asked, "Can I take a look at your letters?"
Li felt that there was nothing to hide from her mother-in-law. Instead, her mother-in-law felt relieved after seeing her. "Mother, this is for you."
Zhulan took the letter. It was only two pages long and contained very little content. There was no nonsense on the two pages. It started with a few pleasantries and mentioned the New Year gift to Li, and then mentioned the prescription.
After Li made the recipe, he never sold it. He thought he could sell it after he passed the imperial examination. However, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went to the capital city, and he was busy all the time. When they arrived in the capital city again, Zhou Shuren was busy studying and was delayed again. Then he rushed to Lizhou City.
Lizhou City has been busy so much that Zhulan has forgotten the recipe. I guess Li herself has forgotten it too.
Li's sausages are indeed good. This year, Zhulan also prepared sausages as a New Year gift for Mr. Chen and others. Qi wrote a letter to Li, saying that this was not just Qi's idea. Selling the sausages overseas must be approved by Qi's in-laws, the Xu family.
To put it bluntly, this letter was written to Zhou Shuren. The Xu family wanted to use Li's prescription to acquire shares to test the Zhou family. If the Zhou family agreed, the Xu family would want to further establish a relationship with the Zhou family. To put it bluntly, the Xu family was optimistic about Zhou Shuren and hoped to rely on the Zhou family in the future.
Zhulan took the letter and said, "I'll discuss it with your father tonight and tell you."
She herself felt that it was not a good time to contact the Xu family!
Li was much smarter now and knew that Qi's letter was not simple. "Mom, where is the New Year gift from Qi? Look at my brain. I only thought about getting the letter, but not the gift list."
Zhulan smiled and asked, "What did Qi send?"
Li remembered the food clearly, "She sent all food, some bacon, ham, yes, and some frozen persimmons and pears. She said she wanted to send fresh fruit, but it was too far to send and a lot of it would go bad, so she sent frozen persimmons and pears."
Zhulan saw it in the letter, "These gifts are specially given to you by Qi family over the years, you can decide for yourself."
Li asked, "Mother, should I return the gift?"
Zhulan said: "Of course I have to go back, you should prepare first."
Li sighed and thought about what to bring back. Mutton and beef are both good. There are butcher shops owned by foreign merchants in Lizhou City. Mutton in Lizhou City is much cheaper than in the mainland. She can buy more and then send some vermicelli.
Li had thought about the return gifts and how to distribute the annual gifts. Her parents must be honored. As for the other branches, Li didn't want to give anything to any of them except her fourth brother.
In her heart, the two younger brothers and sisters were no longer good to her. After the experience in Pingzhou City and the fact that Zhao hurt her heart as soon as she came to Lizhou, she had a bottom line even though she did not bear grudges. She still had to give some face to her second and third brothers.
In the afternoon, Zhulan received Li's filial gift. Li brought all the meat over and said, "Mom, eat the bacon and ham together. Mom and dad like frozen pears and frozen persimmons. I'll bring half of them."
Zhulan looked at Li's cheerful expression and brought all the meat. She understood that all parties had small kitchens and didn't open the stove. She also brought half of the frozen persimmons and pears, which was a bit too much. "Why don't you leave some more?"
Mrs. Li touched her belly. She wanted to leave a little more, but the baby in her belly would not allow it. Yu Shuang was still young and could not eat anything too cold. Ming Teng and Ming Yun could eat it, but they did not live in the yard, so they had to take the food out to share. After thinking it over, she decided to honor her mother-in-law!
Lee shook his head, "I saved half of the rest so it's enough for us to eat."
Zhulan was happy when she saw that Li had brought half the amount. The ruthless Hanhan was angry because Zhao and Dong had hurt Li. "I accept your filial piety."
In the evening, after dinner, Zhulan thawed the frozen pears and sat on the kang with Zhou Shuren, peeling pine nuts and talking about the Xu family. Zhulan asked, "I have said everything I should say. What do you think?"
Zhou Shuren put the peeled pine nuts in front of Zhulan. "If Pinggang wasn't a place where various forces were fighting, the Xu family would have come over. But now I can barely be considered the emperor's confidant. I don't know how many forces are watching me. I dare not move easily, especially in Pinggang, the most chaotic place."
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "So, the Li family and the Qi family should get along, but the recipe cannot be used as a share, so it can only be sold."
Zhou Shuren curled his lips, "Yeah."
The next morning, Zhulan announced her decision, "It's easier to sell the recipe, but the price will be determined by the other party."
Li was obedient, but she was not as smart as her mother-in-law and father-in-law. If her mother-in-law said to sell it, then it would be sold. Moreover, her mother-in-law asked the other party to make an offer, which was also a disguised way of compensating her, because her mother-in-law knew that the price offered by Qi would not be low.
Li grinned, "Yeah."
Zhulan motioned to Li to sit down. Soon, Mr. Chen's wife, Ms. Hua, and Mr. He's wife, Ms. Miao, arrived. The two of them had agreed to come together.
Hua and Miao arrived at the same time. Ever since Hua had tested Zhulan's depth, she had not made any more trouble. Hua sat down and said bluntly, "We two are waiting for you to come back."
Miao continued, "We are waiting to see the jewelry that Mr. Zhou carved for my sister-in-law. Today, we came uninvited. Sister-in-law, can you take it out for us to see?"
Zhulan had already prepared it. Liuya was instructed to bring it over. Zhulan smiled and said, "It's all here!"
Hua's family had money, and she had seen many good things, including a lot of fine jade. She regretted coming to see it, and felt even more upset. The emperor's reward was naturally the best, and the jade in her hands was of the best quality. Hua said faintly, "Sister-in-law, I really envy you. You can obviously carve it into a family heirloom, but Lord Zhou was willing to carve it into jewelry for you."
Miao sighed and thought that even if she forced her husband to buy jewelry, he would not be able to afford such expensive jewelry. "Sister-in-law is so lucky."
Zhulan was also vain, especially when she let everyone know that Zhou Shuren loved her, she was happy in her heart. Zhulan took a sip of tea and said, "He didn't just carve jewelry for me, he also carved some for himself."
Hua asked, "We really haven't heard of it. Do you mind telling me about it, sister-in-law?"
Zhulan thought of the thick scrolls at home and squinted her eyes and said, "I don't mind. He used the material from carving bracelets to carve a lot of jade pendants and hairpins for himself to match my jewelry."
Hua: "... ..."
Miao: "... ..."
The two of them were obviously drinking tea to relieve the greasiness, but it made me feel sick just by listening to it.
Hua thought to herself that the master didn't like Lord Zhou and scolded him whenever he got home. She finally understood the master's feelings. Now Yang was even more annoying than before.