Jiang Yanyi knew that she now had the identity of a future princess, and if the new emperor sneaked into the city, he would definitely target her.
In order not to cause trouble to Feng Shuo, she stayed at home on the pretext of being sick for the next few days. She rarely went to Ruyi Tower and asked Yang Xiu to handle everything.
Because Feng Shuo never ate on time, Jiang Yanyi would prepare meals for him at mealtime and watch him finish eating before returning.
Seeing Bing Shaoneng being able to run the noodle shop on his own, Yang Xiu had been with her for so long, and with him watching over Ruyi Tower, nothing would go wrong. Jiang Yanyi was thinking that after she got some money back, she would still have to discuss the porcelain kiln business.
Although Feng Shuo meant that the porcelain kiln business was not easy to do and that no money could be made in the short term, how would one know if one did not try
After all, in the world where she originally lived, porcelain was very popular in foreign countries.
If Yang Xiu is willing to continue to work with her, Ruyi Tower will have to hire a manager to manage the daily affairs of the building; but if Yang Xiu wants to stay in Ruyi Tower, she will not force him. It's just that Yang Xiu is reliable and smart, no matter what it is, Jiang Yanyi will always feel more at ease to let him do it.
When Chu Shubao and Chu Jiabao heard that Jiang Yanyi was ill, they brought Chu Huibao, the youngest child of the Chu family, to visit her.
"Everyone in the mansion has ordered two sets of new clothes for the New Year. I came here not only to see you. My sister-in-law asked me to bring back your and Yan Gui's measurements so that the embroidery workshop can make them before the New Year." Chu Shubao held Chu Huibao's hand to prevent her from touching the walnut cakes on the plate, and said to Jiang Yanyi, "Grandmother has caught a cold these days, so I asked you to dress warmly."
Jiang Yanyi, who pretended to be sick, couldn't help feeling a little guilty. "I want to save my life. Grandma is old, so I want her to take care of herself. When I get better from the cold, I'll go see her."
Chu Shubao said, "It will be New Year's Eve soon. When the time comes, you and Yan Gui will come back together and stay there. You can come back here after the New Year."
Before she knew it, Chu Huibao had already picked up an orange from the fruit plate, peeled it and started eating it.
Chu Shubao said with a headache: "Huibao, didn't you just eat two strings of candied haws on the way here?"
Chu Huibao looked at her elder sister, then at Jiang Yanyi, her round face looking so innocent: "Tanghus doesn't make you full."
Chu Shubao said, "Leave some room for dinner later."
Chu Huibao held the other orange tightly and refused to let go: "Oranges are full of water, so eating them won't take up any space in your stomach."
The sisters were all amused by her words.
Chu Jiabao threatened her: "Huibao, you are so greedy, be careful to meet a bad mother-in-law who won't give you food in the future."
Upon hearing this, Chu Huibao showed a look of fear and put the orange back into the fruit bowl.
Jiang Yanyi said with a smile: "Don't scare Huibao."
Chu Shubao said, "Ayi, don't spoil her like your second brother. She already has two rotten teeth in her mouth. She will be in pain sometimes."
Chu Huibao looked unconvinced: "The nanny said that new teeth will grow after those two teeth fall out."
Chu Shubao pinched her chubby face and said, "Wait until you have replaced your teeth. If your teeth are damaged, they will never grow back."
Chu Huibao felt guilty and scared, and made an angry face at her sister.
Chu Shubao held her forehead and said to Jiang Yanyi with a sad face: "Look, I have to worry about the rouge business in Ruyi Tower, and I have to be irritated by this little girl when I go home. I have spots on my face from worrying so much."
It is called a spot, but in fact it is just a small black dot that cannot be seen at all unless you look carefully.
Jiang Yanyi stood up and said, "I made a can of honey grapefruit tea myself. It is said that drinking it regularly can remove freckles. I'll make you a cup to try."
She had bought some grapefruits before and made this for herself because she was craving for it.
Chu Shubao was very excited when she heard that it could remove freckles. "There is also this good stuff. Ah Yi, go get it and show it to us."
Jiang Yanyi quickly brought a small porcelain jar and removed the oil paper sealing the jar. An aroma that was sweet and a little citric instantly wafted out.
Several sisters gathered around in an instant.
In the white porcelain jar, the golden syrup is as viscous as honey, and the filamentous grapefruit peel inside is golden and translucent, which makes people's appetite increase just by looking at it.
Jiang Yanyi boiled a pot of water in a small clay stove in the room, poured it into a small white porcelain bowl with gold edges, added cold water to lower the water temperature, scooped a full spoonful of honey and grapefruit syrup and put it into the warm water to dissolve.
The reason for using warm water is that high temperature will destroy the nutrients in honey.
As the syrup melted, the small bowl of tea turned into a beautiful light golden color.
Chu Huibao took a sip first. She smacked her lips, as if she didn't taste it clearly. She buried her head and gulped down the whole bowl of water. Then she said, "It's sweet, but a little sour. It tastes good."
She looked eagerly at the remaining syrup in the porcelain jar and asked Jiang Yanyi, "Second sister, can I eat this directly as a snack?"
Jiang Yanyi was embarrassed to say that he often ate this like jam. When he was in the mood, he would toast some bread, slice it and spread the sauce on it, which was also a pleasure.
She coughed twice and said, "Of course you can, but you have cavities in your teeth, so you can't eat it."
Chu Huibao looked depressed instantly.
Chu Shubao and Chu Jiabao both exclaimed in amazement after drinking the honey sleeve tea.
Chu Shubao asked, "Ayi, why don't you sell this tea in Ruyi Tower?"
Jiang Yanyi said anxiously, "Grapefruit is only available in autumn and winter, and honey is not cheap either."
After she said this, Chu Shubao understood.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Ayi, I'll give you 30% of the profit from the rouge sales. You teach me the recipe and I'll ask the chef in the mansion to make it and see if I can sell it among the ladies of prominent status. Do you think it's feasible?"
Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "If you want to use the recipe, just take it. You don't need the dividends."
Chu Shubao said seriously, "That won't do. Thanks to your Ruyi Tower's large number of customers, my rouge business can continue. I felt bad that you only collected rent and didn't give me any dividends before. I have to accept it this time, otherwise... otherwise I won't go to Ruyi Tower to sell rouge."
Rouge was run by her and Chu Jiabao, and Jiang Yanyi couldn't bear to ask them for so much dividends, so she said helplessly: "One percent is enough."
Chu Shubao refused to do anything, and Chu Jiabao followed suit. Finally, they both took a step back. In addition to the rent, Jiang Yanyi took dividends from the two of them and wrote the recipe of honey sleeve tea to Chu Shubao.
The method of making honey sleeve tea is simple. After washing the grapefruit, use a knife to peel off the yellow-green skin. Try to make it as thin as possible and do not scrape the white flesh, otherwise it will taste bitter.
This step tests knife skills and patience. The peeled skin is cut into thin strips. Jiang Yanyi is good at knife skills, and if he wants to show off his skills, he can cut it as thin as a hair.
Sleeve skin is a kind of medicinal material that can eliminate phlegm and relieve cough. Drinking water soaked with sleeve skin has the same effect.
Peel and core the pomelo pulp, mash it and put it into the pot together with the shredded skin, add sugar and cook with water, bring to a boil over high heat, and then simmer over low heat.
When the pulp becomes viscous, stir it constantly. If it gets stuck in the pot, the sleeve tea will be bitter. When the orange peel turns translucent golden yellow, you can turn off the heat.
When the fruit puree has cooled, add honey and mix well. Honey is a natural preservative, and the fruit puree can be stored for a long time. However, to be on the safe side, Jiang Yanyi only makes a small amount each time, soaking it in water and eating it as a snack. He can finish a small porcelain jar in a few days.
The third sister of the Chu family happily had a meal at her place, and went back in the afternoon with the recipe for honey sleeve tea.
Although the Chu family would make two sets of new clothes for her and Chu Yangui, Jiang Yanyi still asked Chen Niang from the clothing shop to make two sets for Chu Yangui as well. What the Chu family made was Madam Chu's care for them, and what she asked someone to make was her own gift to her brother.
The material and lining were both selected by Jiang Yanyi himself, the fabric is Hangzhou silk, and the lining is duck down.
The employees in the noodle shop and Ruyilou also had to be given new clothes during the Chinese New Year. Ordinary cloth and cotton wool didn't cost much, and such small favors during festivals not only increased their loyalty, but also made them feel proud. After all, other families didn't get such treatment.
It is not so easy for other restaurants or noodle shops to poach people. Some ordinary people are even proud to work as waiters in Ruyilou.
Mrs. Chen from the clothing store next door often joked with Jiang Yanyi, "My business is only able to survive because I make clothes for the guys in your store."
When Jiang Yanyi has free time, she will go next door to learn embroidery from Chen Niangzi, just as a way to improve her self-cultivation.
Her embroidery skills were average. She had spent a lot of effort on the knee pads she made for Feng Shuo on his birthday, but the finished product was not satisfactory. In her heart, Jiang Yanyi still wanted to wait until her embroidery skills were up to par so that she could make a piece of clothing for Feng Shuo herself.
What made her laugh and cry was that He Xingniang, who owned the jewelry shop across the street, heard that Jiang Yanyi's Ruyilou business was booming and that the shop owners who rushed to rent stalls from her were making a lot of money, so she also became interested. One of the people who used to be at odds with Jiang Yanyi in every way, saw that Jiang Yanyi was getting close to Chen Niangzi, so she shamelessly squeezed over with an embroidery frame and tried to find something to talk about.
Among the ten sentences she said, nine were flattering Jiang Yanyi, and one was belittling Lai Fu Restaurant.
"The Lai Fu Antique Soup Shop is thicker-skinned than a city wall. What's wrong with trying to learn from you? Your Antique Soup Shop has now opened a big restaurant, and fewer and fewer customers go there." When He Xingniang spoke, her tone was like singing, with quite a bit of intonation.
"If you ask me, Shopkeeper Jiang... Oh, look at my mouth. You are Shopkeeper Chu now, and you will be the Princess of Liaonan soon. You are the one who will make a lot of money. Oh, when I saw you for the first time, I felt that you had an extraordinary demeanor. I wondered which family could raise such a beautiful girl..."
Jiang Yanyi seriously suspected that there was something wrong with her memory. When Xingniang had ridiculed her in the past, the words she said were so harsh, but now she acted as if nothing had happened and praised her to the sky.
She looked at Madam Chen, who was holding the needle and thread, quickly moving it across the material. She shook her head and smiled helplessly at Jiang Yanyi.
He Xingniang talked for a long time, her throat almost smoking, but Jiang Yanyi just ignored her and pretended not to see her.
He Xingniang was also very flexible. She was ignored by Jiang Yanyi for such a long time, but she didn't get angry, and she didn't even look embarrassed at all: "Manager Chu, please give me a word. I want to rent a place in your Ruyi Building to sell jewelry."
Jiang Yanyi politely declined: "It's already been rented."
"Hey, this... how come it's already rented out? There's a notice for rent posted downstairs of Ruyi Building..." He Xingniang wanted to continue nagging, but Qiu Kui came over: "Hua... Boss."
Aunt Guo had told Qiu Kui that when outside, she had to call Jiang Yanyi "boss" or "shopkeeper", and Qiu Kui has slowly changed her way of addressing her now.
Seeing Qiu Kui's anxious and hesitant expression, Jiang Yanyi knew that she must have something to say to him, so he said goodbye to Chen Niangzi. After she stood up, He Xingniang wanted to chase her to talk about renting the house, but Jiang Yanyi said politely but distantly, "I have something to do at home. I will talk to Manager He another day."
This sentence blocked all conversations with Xingniang, but no one knew when this "some other day" would come.
Jiang Yanyi took okra back to the shop.
Qiu Kui had a basket in his arm, obviously he had just gone out to buy vegetables.
Jiang Yanyi asked her: "What's wrong?"
Qiu Kui pinched the corner of her clothes, glanced at Jiang Yanyi nervously, and asked, "Huahua, you said before that all my wages were deposited with you, how much do you have now?"
The monthly wage for an ordinary kitchen helper in Xizhou is five hundred coins. Jiang Yanyi has been paying Qiu Kui one string of coins from the beginning, and only three months have passed.
She said, "Before I sold you antique soup, I charged you one string of silver per month. Now that you are running the shop by yourself and selling noodles and oden, I charge you one string of silver and five cents per month. By the end of this month, you will have four ounces and five cents in my bank account."
"Why? Are you going to buy a new house? Silly girl, if you don't have enough money for such an important event, just tell me. I have prepared a lot of boxes for your dowry."
Jiang Yanyi took care of Qiu Kui's food and accommodation, and also provided her with snacks. Qiu Kui had never asked Jiang Yanyi about her wages, but when she suddenly asked about it today, the only thing Jiang Yanyi could think of was that she and blacksmith Luo were going to buy a new house.
Qiu Kui shook his head: "I'm not looking to buy a house."
She seemed to be afraid that Jiang Yanyi would be violent towards her, and after hesitating for a while, she said, "On my way to buy groceries, I met a girl who was selling herself to bury her father, and I... I wanted to buy her."
After Qiu Kui said this, Jiang Yanyi understood. Qiu Kui had a kind heart, because when her own parents died, they didn't have a coffin, let alone a straw mat. This has always been a thorn in her heart, so when she saw someone selling herself to bury her father, she could easily empathize.
Jiang Yanyi asked her: "Could he be a charlatan?"
Qiu Kui shook his head like a rattle: "I squatted on the street corner and watched her for a long time. She is not a liar. The girl has a big birthmark on her face. No one is willing to buy her. They say she is unlucky."
Jiang Yanyi sighed, took out five taels of silver from his waistband and gave it to Qiu Kui, "You take this silver to the girl and let her bury her father properly. I will pay for this money, and if there is any left, let her keep it for her own travel expenses."
In troubled times, human lives are worthless. She runs a small business and cannot help everyone in the world, but if she encounters a problem, she will still help if she can.
Qiu Kui took the silver and her eyes were red: "Thank you Huahua."
Jiang Yanyi said, "Just think of it as a good deed, go quickly."
Okra nodded, put down the basket and trotted out.
***
Jiang Yanyi thought that the matter was over, but unexpectedly, when Qiu Kui went to open the shop door early the next morning, he saw the "snowman" standing at the door of the shop.
When Jiang Yanyi heard Qiu Kui say that the girl who sold herself to bury her father yesterday came to his house, he went out to take a look and was shocked.
The girl's head and shoulders were covered with snow, and no one knew how long she had been standing outside the shop.
She was petite, like a little bean, but she carried a huge sword on her back that didn't match her body shape at all. Her hair was messy, with a lot of hair hanging down and covering most of her face. The birthmark on her face was partially covered, but there was still a large red mark extending from the left cheek to the neck. Her clothes were tattered, and she looked like a beggar.
When Jiang Yanyi was looking at her, she was also looking at Jiang Yanyi, but her gaze was different from any gaze Jiang Yanyi had ever encountered before. Just by looking at someone, this girl could make people feel the weight of her gaze.
That heavy feeling can only be described by weight.
Jiang Yanyi smiled at her politely and said, "It's snowing hard outside, let's go inside and talk."
The little girl went into the house carrying her big knife on her back. Aunt Guo heard the noise outside and came out. When she saw the knife on her body, she instantly became alert.
The little girl seemed to have the sensitivity of a wolf. She also glanced at Aunt Guo. When her eyes fell on Jiang Yanyi, she asked, "Did you buy me?"
Her voice was a little hoarse, and she didn't know if it was due to injury or natural.
Jiang Yanyi nodded slightly, "Yes."
The little girl said, "Before my father died, I swore that if anyone paid to bury my father, I would be his slave for ten years. From today on, I will follow you."
Jiang Yanyi felt that this little girl might be a bandit, so he said, "I don't lack servants here. Now that you have buried your father, you can go find your relatives. If you don't have enough money, I can give you some more."
"I have no relatives anymore."
The little girl's voice was very hoarse when she said this, and her hair covered most of her face, so Jiang Yanyi couldn't see her expression clearly.
"I made an oath before my father died, and I cannot break it."
Jiang Yanyi had a headache and asked, "How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
Jiang Yanyi looked her up and down. Her skinny little body didn't look like she was seventeen years old.
She continued, "What's your name?"
"My father never gave me a name. He always called me a girl."
Jiang Yanyi glanced at the big knife on her back and asked, "What did you do before?"
"Follow my father as a bodyguard."
Jiang Yanyi was a little surprised and asked: "Is your father a bodyguard?"
The little girl nodded.
Jiang Yanyi and Aunt Guo looked at each other. If an escort agency wanted to survive, it had to have connections with both the officialdom and the outlaws.
Aunt Guo knew more about this than Jiang Yanyi, so she asked, "What's your father's name?"
The little girl uttered three words in a hoarse voice: "Huo Linshan."
Jiang Yanyi didn't know who Huo Linshan was, but Aunt Guo knew that he was one of the best escorts in the capital.
When the world is in chaos, merchants naturally have to flee to places where there is no war. If they cannot take their valuables with them, they will ask the escort agencies to send them there. The common people can't even eat, and there are many bandits who occupy the mountains and become kings. It is common to kill people and rob goods in order to rob escorts.
After Aunt Guo whispered this to Jiang Yanyi, Jiang Yanyi looked at the little girl and asked, "Do you know martial arts?"
The little girl nodded and said, "The guy next to you is no match for me."
Aunt Guo could tell from the girl's breath after she entered the room that she was quite skilled, but such arrogance still made Aunt Guo a little unhappy. She said to Jiang Yanyi, "Boss, I can give this girl a try."
This is an extraordinary period. A little girl who knows martial arts suddenly appeared. Jiang Yan wanted to keep her, but he was also wary of fraud. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Let's go to the back yard. There's more space there. Call Uncle Zhong out as well."
Feng Shuo sent shadow guards to watch the surroundings of the house. Aunt Guo and the little girl were fighting in the yard, and the other shadow guards must have noticed the movement here, and if anything happened, they would dare to come over in time. Chu Zhong was also called to prevent the little girl from having ulterior motives. If something really happened, Aunt Guo and Chu Zhong would have a better chance of winning if they joined forces.
Chu Zhong was called to the yard outside and stood beside Jiang Yanyi. Aunt Guo and the little girl were already fighting in the yard.
Jiang Yanyi was an outsider and couldn't understand the moves, but Aunt Guo had been able to protect her from a group of assassins before, so she still trusted Aunt Guo's kung fu. Every move of the little girl was powerful and although she looked thin and small, she was very strong. She broke several blue bricks in the yard.
Jiang Yanyi only felt that Aunt Guo and the girl were fighting hard, so she asked Chu Zhong: "How is it?"
Chu Zhong whispered, "That girl's breath is more stable."
What this means is that in the end, if nothing unexpected happens, the little girl will have a better chance of winning.
This result really surprised Jiang Yanyi.
In the end, Aunt Guo failed to win the fight with the girl. Jiang Yanyi stopped them and asked them to wash their faces and have breakfast together.
Chu Zhong asked Jiang Yanyi privately: "Miss, do you want to use this girl?"
Jiang Yanyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's put it over at the noodle shop first."
Putting the person under her nose, the other party is highly skilled in martial arts. If he really has ulterior motives, she would be inviting a wolf into the house.
If she goes to the noodle shop, Bing Shao will be watching over her and she won't be able to cause any trouble.
Chu Zhong also agreed with Jiang Yanyi's approach.
**
Perhaps Qiu Kui felt that the girl shared the same suffering as her, so she took extra care of her.
When Aunt Guo finished washing her face and went out, Qiu Kui saw that the girl's hands and face were dirty, and she didn't know how long it had been since she had washed them properly, so she secretly handed her a piece of soap: "Don't be afraid, Hua... The Dong family is very good, Aunt Guo and Uncle Zhong are also good people."
The little girl held the soap to her nose and sniffed it before using it on her body. I don't know if she was curious about the scent or wanted to use her sense of smell to determine if it was poisonous.
She knew she was dirty, so she said to Qiu Kui, "I want to use this water to wipe my body."
Qiu Kui misunderstood and quickly went back to her room to get a set of her own clothes and gave them to her, but the little girl refused to wear Qiu Kui's clothes.
However, Qiu Kui accidentally saw a sheepskin scroll in the outer robe she took off.
She curiously asked the little girl: "What is this?"
The little girl tied her hair up because she was washing her face. Half of her face was covered with scary red spots. I don’t know if it was because Qiu Kui helped her to get close to Qiu Kui, or because she saw Qiu Kui was silly and had no defense against her. She said, “Someone asked my father to take this convoy. My father and the owner of the goods are dead. I don’t know what this thing is.”
Qiu Kui watched her fight with Aunt Guo and saw how powerful she was, so she said, "You are so powerful, your father must be even more powerful."
"Of course!" The little girl's eyes were red, and her lips were tightly pursed: "If it weren't for that female itinerant doctor giving me the drug, my father wouldn't have lost!"
**
Breakfast was mushroom and chicken porridge with soy sauce pancakes.
The porridge was very thick and the chicken was torn into shreds, fresh, tender and boneless.
The dough for the sauce-flavored pancake is kneaded many times, so it not only has thousands of folds inside, but also has seasoned pork stuffing stuffed into it. A thin layer of oil is brushed on the bottom of the pan, and the pancake is flattened and fried until both sides are golden brown. The meat stuffing inside is also cooked, and it is sprinkled with chopped green onions and sesame seeds to enhance the flavor.
Jiang Yanyi likes spicy food, so she will spread hot sauce on the cut sauce-flavored pancakes. A bite of chicken porridge is soft, sticky and thick, while a bite of sauce-flavored pancake is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, spicy and appetizing.
Except for Chu Yangui and Duke Chen who were having their meal in the inner courtyard, everyone else was sitting around a table in the shop to eat.
The little girl looked at the bowl of porridge in front of her and saw that it contained not only rice but also meat. She almost wolfed it down, finishing nearly half of the bowl in one mouthful. She had never smelled the fragrance of the sauce-flavored cake before, so she took a bite of it directly with her hands.
It's like a hungry animal that suddenly has two bowls of meat in front of it and doesn't know which one to eat first.
Jiang Yanyi originally made an extra portion, intending to give it to Feng Shuo after finishing the meal. However, after the meal, she discovered that this little girl had an amazing appetite and ate most of Feng Shuo's portion.
The author has something to say: Feng Shuo: Waiting for breakfast
Jiang Yanyi: ... No more food