Sunlight filtered through the willow trees along the riverbank, falling in scattered patches across the fair, beautiful face of the woman washing clothes. Her skin seemed to glow under the sunlight, drawing the eyes of passersby who could not help but take a few extra glances.
The two women washing clothes and chatting only belatedly realized that another person had joined them. When they looked back and saw that it was the Widow Shen from Qingshi Alley, they both rolled their eyes. Seeing passersby stop to stare at her, the women became even more disdainful and let out a contemptuous scoff.
Shen Qingyin heard them, but her thoughts were entirely occupied with figuring out how to make money, so she paid them no attention.
She absentmindedly beat the clothes against the washing stone while thinking about the original owner’s noodle stall.
That noodle stall was not an ordinary street stall. It was one of the stalls set up by the government, and the monthly rent was five hundred won. With the government backing the stalls, even local ruffians and troublemakers did not dare cause trouble there.
The rent for the noodle stall had already been paid for this month, and there were still fifteen days left. She could not simply let that time go to waste.
Previously, Shen Yingniang’s noodle stall only brought in sixty or seventy a day. After deducting the cost of ingredients and rent, she actually made only six or seven hundred won in profit each month.
That would certainly have been enough for ordinary household expenses, but with a scholar to support at home, it was nowhere near enough.
She could not think of any other way to make money for now, so she could only continue running the noodle stall.
She did not know how to make noodles herself, but there was a complete process in the original owner’s memories. If she thought it through carefully and tried a few times, she should be able to get the hang of it.
Her noodles would certainly not be as good as Shen Yingniang’s, but she could improve the soup base.
By the time she finished thinking, the clothes had already been washed.
Shen Qingyin lifted the wooden basin and got up to leave.
When she reached the bank, the two women had not finished washing their clothes. They were still whispering among themselves, and she vaguely heard something about someone being “right next door to her.”
Shen Qingyin’s mind was focused on figuring out how to improve the soup base, so she did not think much about it.
After returning home, she began hanging the clothes out to dry.
The weather was good today, and the sunlight was warm and pleasant. By the afternoon, the clothes should be dry.
After hanging everything up, Shen Qingyin slung a basket over her arm, took twenty wen, and left the house.
Following the memories in her mind, she headed toward the vegetable market.
Shen Qingyin wanted to buy bones to make soup stock.
The original owner actually used bones to make soup as well, but she had been reluctant to burn too much firewood. As a result, the broth was never thick enough, and sometimes it even carried a slight meaty odor. That was the reason the business had always been so inconsistent.
In ancient times, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar were the essentials of daily life, with firewood listed first. One could imagine how much of a burden it was on the household expenses.
A bundle of firewood cost fifteen wen. The Lu household had only two people, and they also had to run a business, so at most they could make one bundle in the last seven or eight days.
But if they were unwilling to use enough firewood, they could not produce rich, milky white bone broth. Without good broth, they could not attract more customers, and without more customers, they could not make more money.
The ancient vegetable market seemed to be hardly any different from a modern one. There were shouts from vendors, people haggling over prices, and crowds moving about in a lively, bustling scene.
If there was any difference, it was simply that there were not as many varieties of produce.
Shen Qingyin went straight to a vegetable stall and looked at the thoroughly cleaned marrow bones.
“How much are these bones?”
“Marrow bones are two wen per jin. Fan bones are three wen for two jin.”
Shen Qingyin asked for three large marrow bones. After they were weighed, the total came to exactly three jin.
She would start making rich broth that evening, and by tomorrow morning she could open the stall.
After buying the bones, she also bought several liang of meat.
Although she was short of money at the moment, she could not allow herself to ruin her health.
The Lu family had not had meat for a long time because they had been trying to scrape together Lu Jinyou’s tuition money. She felt that this was probably how the original owner’s body had been worn down.
She needed nourishment now, and Lu Jinyou needed some as well.
When she had seen him that morning, his complexion had already taken on a bluish tinge.
She had spent twelve wen in one go. Then she spent another five wen on some greens, a handful of chopped scallions, and several pieces of ginger.
The twenty women she had brought with her were almost completely gone, so she headed home.
She deliberately took a detour to look at the original owner’s noodle stall, so that she would not get lost when she came in too much of a hurry tomorrow morning.
After returning home, Shen Qingyin went to the kitchen and began making noodles.
Perhaps practice had made the body remember what to do. Before her mind had even processed the next step, her hands had already moved on instinct. The noodles she made by following the original owner’s method turned out surprisingly well.
She placed the freshly made noodles on the drying rack. By tomorrow, they should be partially dried.
At noon, she boiled some noodles in water and added a little fried minced meat. The taste was quite decent.
Perhaps because she had been busy all morning, her body was beginning to feel exhausted, so she went to take an afternoon nap.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder startled Shen Qingyin awake.
She remembered the two sets of clothes hanging in the courtyard. If they got wet, she would have nothing left to change into.
She hurried outside, only to discover that the sky had already darkened and the wind had begun to blow.
Just as she was about to gather the clothes, she watched helplessly as a headscarf was blown away by the wind.
Fortunately, it had only landed on the branches of a dead tree leaning against the wall between the two courtyards. She could retrieve it with a ladder after gathering the clothes.
She hurriedly collected the clothes and then went to the storage room to bring out a ladder.
Trembling slightly, she climbed up. Just as she was about to reach for the headscarf on the branch, she suddenly froze when she caught sight of the breathtaking scene in the neighboring courtyard.
There was a man in the courtyard.
A man who was bare chested and wiping himself down.
It was only April, and the weather was not hot. In fact, there was still a slight chill in the air, yet the man was covered in sweat.
The beads of sweat glistened over his undulating, well defined bronze colored skin, making it impossible to look away.
His sturdy arms, slightly bulging chest, and clearly defined waist and abdomen seemed to contain an astonishing amount of strength.
Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, a powerful chest, and a firm abdomen.
Her gaze traveled downward, where his thin black trousers seemed to have been dampened by water and clung to his skin, making it obvious at a glance that he had been exceptionally well endowed.
A vulgar thought surfaced in Shen Qingyin’s mind at the most inappropriate moment.
Just from looking at him, this man clearly knew how to plow a field.
And he was the kind who could plow until foam came out.
Shen Qingyin was unconsciously swallowed.
The half turned man moved. He turned around and looked up.
Shen Qingyin still had not realized that she had been caught red handed.
When their eyes met, she was actually still marveling that the man’s physique was impressive enough, yet somehow his face was even more intimidating.
The man had thick eyebrows and strong, sharply defined features. His piercing eyes carried an imposing authority that made people feel intimidated even when he was not angry.
His dark eyes narrowed slightly as his sharp gaze fell upon the person perched on the wall. He slowly opened his mouth, his voice deep and cold.
“Have you seen enough?”
Shen Qingyin had worked as a respectable office worker for several years, and she had also seen plenty of dramatic scenes in art films, so she was still able to maintain her composure at this moment.
Without blushing or losing her breath, she pointed toward the headscarf on the branch.
“I’m picking something up.”
With that, she reached out to take it. She did not spare the man another glance, and after grabbing the headscarf, she immediately climbed back down.
Once she was off the ladder, Shen Qingyin touched her chest.
Her heart was pounding rapidly.
Of course her heart would be racing after being caught staring at someone.
She exhaled and returned to the main room, where she poured herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves.
Halfway through her tea, she suddenly paused.
According to Shen Yingniang’s memories, the house next door had been rented out many years ago, but the tenants had moved away at the beginning of this year.
Could the new occupants have just moved in?
For some reason, she suddenly remembered the gossip she had heard that morning while washing clothes.
The last thing she had heard had been, “Right next door to her.”
They had been talking about the house right next to hers, hadn’t they?
Thinking about it carefully, that man certainly did have an overwhelming presence. There was also a chill surrounding him, as though he genuinely carried a murderous aura.
His eyes were cold as ice, making him seem frightening.
Perhaps he really was the Zhou family gentleman who had returned from the battlefield.
Still, whether he was or not did not seem to have much effect on her. At most, he was simply pleasing to the eyes.
Shen Qingyin quickly put the matter out of her mind. She looked up at the sky, which was covered in dark clouds, and wondered whether Lu Jinyou had brought an umbrella.
Thinking carefully, she remembered that he had not taken an umbrella when he left that morning.
Before she could decide whether she should take one to him, the sky that had just been rumbling with thunder gradually cleared, and rays of sunlight appeared through the clouds.
The sky had cleared before the rain even arrived.
Now she no longer had to worry about whether she should deliver an umbrella.
What a strange day.
Shen Qingyin went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
The noodles had already dried halfway. She would boil them in clear water, drain them, and then make scallion scented noodles with minced meat.
As she was boiling the noodles, Shen Qingyin suddenly caught the smell of something burning.
She lowered her head and looked at the pot of water boiling vigorously.
It certainly was not anything burning in her own kitchen.
A few days earlier, she had still been confined to bed, her mind hazy and heavy, yet every evening around mealtime, she could smell something burning.
She had no idea whose household was wasting food like this by burning their meals every day.
After draining the noodles, she ladled out the noodle broth and began frying the minced meat.
The meat she had bought that day had a little fat attached to it, so after brushing a thin layer of oil over the bottom of the pan, she put the meat directly into it and began frying.
After frying it for a while, she poured in a little less than half a bowl of water thickened with starch.
When it was almost done, she added the chopped scallions.
Before long, the rich aroma of meat drifted out of the kitchen and spread through the narrow alley, making people’s mouths water.
Even passersby could not help taking deep breaths through their noses.
Lu Jinyou pushed open the outer gate and walked inside. He raised his nose and sniffed enthusiastically.
“Sister in law, what are you making? It smells so good.”
Shen Qingyin poked her head out of the kitchen and answered, “Noodles topped with scallion scented minced meat. They’ll be ready soon. Go wash your hands first.”
The Lu family were all scholars and also paid attention to cleanliness, so they washed their hands before meals.
The sister in law and brother in law sat down at the dining table, each with a bowl of noodles that looked exceptionally appetizing.
Lu Jinyou picked up his chopsticks, lifted the bowl, and took his first bite.
After pausing for a moment, he began eating even faster.
Before long, he had finished an entire bowl of noodles, and all traces of his earlier scholarly refinement had disappeared.
He put down the bowl and looked at his sister in law with satisfaction.
“These noodles are so delicious! How come I’ve never seen you make them before?”
Shen Qingyin replied, “I just came up with them on my own.”
“By the way, what did your teacher say about the tuition?”
Lu Jinyou answered, “The teacher said it was fine.”
Hearing this, Shen Qingyin unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
There were only fifteen days left in the month. She not only had to earn Lu Jinyou’s tuition, but also had to make enough money for next month’s stall rent.
That would require at least one gun of money.
Right, she had not even counted the cost of paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones, or their daily expenses.
She carefully calculated everything in her head.
In ancient times, one jin was six hundred and forty grams, and one jin of rice flour cost six wen. That amount could make four bowls of plain noodles.
A bowl of plain noodles cost four won. After deducting all the various costs, she could only earn three won from every two bowls of noodles.
She would have to sell at least fifty bowls of plain noodles just to barely break even.
For a moment, Shen Qingyin felt as though she had returned to the time when she had just graduated from university. Back then, she had earned only a little over two thousand yuan a month and spent every month worrying about rent, food, and commuting expenses.
While she was lost in thought, Lu Jinyou helped clear the table.
He was about to carry the bowls outside to wash them when he suddenly remembered something and stopped. Turning around, he reminded her, “Sister in law, the people from the Zhou family next door have returned. I heard they’re not easy to get along with. From now on, let’s avoid him when we see him.”
Hearing that he was talking about the man next door, Shen Qingyin’s mind, which had been worrying about money, was immediately occupied by the man’s breathtaking physique.
There was no denying it.
That man really had something.