“A-Zhen, it was Mother who was mistaken. I’ll never do this again. I’ll hold up the family from now on, so don’t worry.”
Mrs. Song wiped away her tears and pushed all the copper coins toward Su Zhen. “You’ve worked hard setting up the stall and running the business. Keep all this money for yourself! And when you’re in the city, don’t hold back if you’re hungry or thirsty, and don’t overwork yourself. Your health is the most important thing.”
She thought of her late husband, who had worked himself to exhaustion trying to earn money and eventually fell ill from overwork.
Having lived two lifetimes, Su Zhen had never expected much from family affection, but a mother like this still warmed her heart.
She put the money into her purse, leaving only about twenty copper coins behind. “Mother, we’re a family, and you’re the head of the household. Of course, you should be the one keeping the money. Keep this for now. We’ll definitely pay off the Gao family’s debt very soon!”
They had already earned half a tael of silver today. If they could keep this up, the five-tael debt would be nothing.
Su Zhen was still thinking about the business with Yingkelai. At most, she’d have to wait another two days before someone from Yingkelai would come looking for her.
Mrs. Song hadn’t been idle at home either. She had leveled the empty space in the yard and divided it into several sections.
After lunch, the family sat in the yard chatting. Mrs. Song pointed at the plot of land with enthusiasm. “A-Zhen, don’t you need peanuts and red beans for your porridge? We can grow these things ourselves—it’s much more cost-effective than buying them. I’ve thought it through. We’ll plant peanuts here, red beans here, and over here, we can grow some mung beans and vegetables. What else do you need? Tell me, and I’ll grow it for you!”
Mrs. Song had grown up helping her parents farm, and she was an expert at planting crops and vegetables. Any land she tended would thrive.
Since her father’s passing, this was the first time Su Zhen had seen Mrs. Song so full of energy. She couldn’t help but be infected by her enthusiasm and joined in planning.
The family sat together, chatting and laughing, happily sketching out their future.
With the foundation laid on the first day, business on the second day went exceptionally smoothly. Many customers, while returning their bowls, bought another bowl of porridge to take home and taste. Others helped spread the word, bringing along their neighbors, friends, and relatives.
All three jars of nutritious porridge sold out in less than two hours.
An auntie who arrived too late couldn’t help but feel regretful. She grabbed Su Zhen’s hand and asked, “Young lady, will you be here in the afternoon? Oh, it’s too far to come back? Ah, you must keep selling porridge at your stall! I’m sure it won’t be long before you can rent a shop in the city to do business. When that happens, I’ll come drink porridge every day—three meals a day, and I won’t get tired of it!”
Su Zhen felt both delighted and amused. She also hoped to earn enough money quickly, preferably to rent a shop in the city and move Mrs. Song and A-Qiao there to live, so they wouldn’t have to see the Su family in the village and feel upset.
Early on the third morning, the two sisters arrived at the stall carrying their baskets, only to find many people already waiting to buy porridge.
The two took out the jars, arranged the baskets, and worked seamlessly together—the older sister collecting money and the younger sister ladling porridge.
Halfway through the busy morning, Su Zhen felt as though someone in the crowd was watching her. She looked up and, sure enough, spotted Steward Lin’s smiling face in the line of people waiting to buy porridge.
He’s finally here!
Su Anyu also noticed Steward Lin, and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. He muttered quietly, “Sis, why is Steward Lin here? Could it be… could it be that he wants the money back?”
Such delicious nutritional porridge was only selling for ten wen a bowl, yet that worthless dried tangerine peel and hawthorn water had cost them a whole tael of silver. For the past three days, he hadn’t been able to sleep well, dreaming of Manager Qian and Steward Lin waving kitchen knives and demanding their money back.
Now that he saw the real person, he felt that Steward Lin’s smile hid a knife—the next moment, he might pull a kitchen knife from behind and come swinging at his neck!
Rubbing his chilly neck, Su Anyu quickly hunched his long neck, his words stumbling out.
Su Zhen had no idea that in just this short while, her brother’s mind had already raced through countless thoughts.
She continued collecting money and greeting customers, smiling as she replied to her brother, “Don’t worry, Steward Lin is here to give us money!”
Su Anyu curled his lips, thinking his sister must have gone mad with greed. He had already made up his mind: if Steward Lin caused trouble later, he would smash the double-eared jar over his head, then strike his stomach and the back of his knees—all tricks he had learned from fighting since childhood!
Steward Lin didn’t approach them immediately but patiently waited until all the customers had left before cheerfully walking over. “Miss Su, what a coincidence. Luckily, I heard someone was selling exceptionally delicious nutritional porridge here and found you, or else I would have made a wasted trip to Su Village.”
Su Anyu planted his feet firmly in a horse stance, hugged the jar tightly with both hands, and stared intently at Steward Lin’s hands, waiting for him to pull out the kitchen knife.
Su Zhen tidied up the items on the stall while exchanging pleasantries with Steward Lin.
After a long while, Steward Lin finally showed a troubled expression, his tone tinged with earnestness. “Miss Su, to be honest, I came to find you today because I have a favor to ask. That… the digestive tea recipe you sold to Yingkelai, did you write it down wrong? The digestive tea we made ourselves doesn’t have the same good effect!”
His words were tactful, but in reality, the past two days had been a living hell. Because of this recipe, he had been mocked by Yingkelai’s cooks and staff for days. Even Manager Qian had taken a dislike to him, finding all sorts of reasons to scold him sixteen times just yesterday!
Sixteen times! In his eight years at Yingkelai, he had never been scolded so many times!
Why? Of course, because everyone thought Steward Lin had colluded with Su Zhen to swindle Yingkelai’s silver and had passed off a fake recipe to fool them.
If it weren’t for his trust in Old Village Chief’s character, Steward Lin would have thought Su Zhen was a fraud too. That’s why he wanted to bring Su Zhen back to prove his innocence—to show that he was truly an honest man, not a swindler!
“Steward Lin, I absolutely did not write the recipe wrong. As for the digestive tea not having the desired effect, perhaps your people’s culinary skills are lacking?”
Yingkelai’s food was widely recognized as the best in Ping’an Town, with many outsiders traveling from afar just to eat there!
Steward Lin felt Su Zhen’s words were too bold, and he grew both anxious and somewhat frustrated. “How about you come with me to Yingkelai again? That way, you can see for yourself what went wrong.”
Su Zhen lowered her eyes and smiled. Of course, she knew what the problem was. The same recipe, the same heat, the same ingredients—but because the person making it was different, the result was different too.
Because Su Zhen had a Golden Finger! Anything she made with her own hands, whether it was taste or effect, could be enhanced tenfold!
“Alright! Steward Lin, since you and Old Village Chief are good friends, I certainly can’t put you in a difficult position. Let’s go, we’ll head to Yingkelai right now!”
Su Zhen hoisted her basket onto her back, grabbed the still bewildered Su Anyu, and walked briskly toward Yingkelai.
No, to be precise, she was walking toward money!