The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Chapter 179 Aunt Li Runs Away in a Hurry

Seeing that Hu Zi from the village chief's family was standing there motionless, Aunt Li glared at him, then went to the main room and got two stools, intending to sit between Xiao Qiao and Xiao Qi.

"You child, how can you be so inconsiderate? Move over and sit somewhere else. Don't you know to make room for your elders?"

After saying that, she pushed aside the small bridge and sat down on a stool.

Xiaoqiao stumbled from being jostled by her and almost fell off the stool.

Shen Wan, who was standing nearby, quickly helped her up and muttered softly, "How could you do this?"

Aunt Li's expression changed; a child dared to talk back to her.

She turned around to see whose child was being so inconsiderate.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be an acquaintance.

When she saw Shen Wan, her expression darkened slightly. Where did this girl come from? She's quite pretty, fair-skinned and chubby.

She and her grandson are quite a good match.

Aunt Li didn't recognize Shen Wan. The Shen Wan of today is no longer the naive girl she was back in Stone Village.

She not only took off her patched clothes but also put on a soft silk padded jacket and skirt.

Her face was no longer sallow; it was fair, plump, and rosy.

With two little pigtails, she looks even prettier than a New Year's picture doll.

"Your little girl is quite pretty; she could be my grandson's wife."

Hearing her words, her grandson walked up to Shen Wan and reached out to touch her face.

Shen Wan was so frightened that she immediately burst into tears.

Seeing the chubby boy about to touch his second sister's face, Shen Qing, who was standing next to Shen Wan, pushed him away and protected Shen Wan behind him.

Aunt Li's grandson was pushed aside, but he only staggered a couple of times before regaining his balance.

But no one had ever treated him like this before. He pouted and burst into tears.

When Aunt Li heard that her beloved grandson had been made to cry, she quickly stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth, chewed it twice, swallowed it forcefully, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

He rolled up his sleeves, ready to beat up Shen Qing.

But before she could make a move, she heard a familiar voice.

“Aunt Li, it’s been a long time. The first thing you did upon meeting me was to ask my younger sister to be your granddaughter-in-law without even asking any questions, and you even tried to hit my second brother.”

"What? Are you taking advantage of my younger siblings because they don't have any elders to stand up for them?"

Aunt Li was taken aback at first, then remembered the owner of the voice, and turned around blankly as if she couldn't believe it.

"Shen... Cao!"

"You actually came back."

She looked at the two children more closely and realized they were a girl and a boy from the Shen family.

She regretted what she had just said, but then she thought that no matter how capable Shen Cao was, she was still just a young girl. She was prepared to leave with her grandson without holding a grudge.

Unexpectedly, she saw the young man in white standing next to Shen Cao.

Isn't this Shen Jia Dalang?

She was so frightened that her legs started to tremble.

Ever since Shen Chen was taken in as a student by Grand Tutor Zhou, news of Shen Chen has spread far and wide among the villagers of Stone Village.

He has already passed the provincial examination, making him a genuine Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination). Even if he wasn't directly assigned an official position, he was someone that Grand Tutor Zhou had taken a liking to.

I won't have to worry about not getting an official position in the future.

Ever since her husband found out, he's been looking at her with disdain, saying she's offended everyone.

If it weren't for her, her daughter wouldn't have been divorced.

Even the county magistrate wouldn't dare offend Shen Chen, let alone a country woman like her.

Before Shen Chen could even speak, she walked tremblingly to her grandson. Always doting on him, she actually pulled him up and slapped his bottom a few times.

"Crying, crying, crying, all you do all day is cry."

Before her grandson could react, she picked him up and ran toward the door, as if some wild beast was chasing her.

"Aunt Li, aren't you going to stay and have something to eat?" The village chief smiled as he watched Aunt Li run away in a hurry.

The others laughed and joked, even though they didn't know Aunt Li, they had all seen what had just happened.

That old woman, taking advantage of her age, dared to bully the child at will.

No one is willing to speak up for someone who acts like a senior citizen.

After this little incident, everyone happily resumed their feast of slaughtering pigs.

After finishing their meal, the village chief and the others saw off the people who had helped them, and finally had some time to entertain Shen Cao and the others.

"Nephew Shen, Cao'er, I'm really sorry for neglecting you today."

"No, we've already taken good care of them."

In the middle of the main room of the village chief's house, there was a large iron basin with some charcoal inside.

A group of people huddled around an iron basin to keep warm.

“Uncle Village Chief, your life is getting better and better.” Shen Cao said, looking at the bright and spacious main room, which was completely different from before.

"This is all thanks to you, Cao'er. You've made a lot of money selling bamboo shoots, chili peppers, and dried mushrooms."

"Your aunt has been talking about this main room for years, and now we finally have the money to clean it up."

"Tiger will be getting married in a couple of years, and I'm planning to build him a separate house in the yard."

As he spoke of the days to come, the village chief's eyes were filled with hope.

Next year, he plans to plant chili peppers on all his land as well, keeping enough farmland for his own consumption and planting the rest on chili peppers.

The taxes of the Great Xia Kingdom are divided into two types: one is paid directly in grain, and the other can be paid in silver.

In the past, they had no choice but to grow grain and pay taxes every year. Now, they have a way to make money. Chili peppers are more valuable than grain. When they sell them, they can not only pay taxes but also save some money.

Aunt Ma couldn't stop smiling when she talked about these things.

His family had two sons, but no one had ever considered them before, simply because the family was poor.

His family's life is getting better and better, and recently people have been coming to inquire about Tiger's marriage.

Shen Cao was very happy about the changes in the village chief's family. After thinking for a moment, she told him about what had happened at the dock.

"Uncle Village Chief, there's something I'd like to tell you."

“My friends and I have rented out the vacant land at the dock in Xin’an County.”

"We plan to build food stalls, which should be completed around next year."

"Then the stall can be leased out. I wonder if you'd like to?"

Village Chief Shi thought for a moment, then hesitated, "Cao'er, you know my family doesn't know how to cook, so there's no point in taking over your food stall."

"Don't worry about that. We'll teach you how to do it and provide the ingredients."

"As for the taste, it has to be at least as good as what I make."

"Moreover, the food I sell is definitely unique. I have divided up a total of 300 stalls, and each type of food can only be sold on a maximum of two stalls."

"You know how food is. Some things that everyone likes to eat, so naturally people will buy better ones."

"Therefore, it is necessary to make a decision as early as possible."

"Of course I'll consider my own people first."

"There are many laborers at the dock, so finding customers is definitely not a problem."

"To be frank, this is definitely a more profitable business than growing chili peppers, but you need to prepare some money in advance."

"So I was just wondering if you'd like to give it a try?"

The village chief looked at his wife, then at his son, and hesitated. "Cao'er, I want to ask, you said you need to prepare money, approximately how much money do you mean?"

"It will cost at most two taels of silver."

Two taels of silver is not a small amount for an ordinary family. My family did earn some money this year thanks to Shen Cao, but it was less than ten taels of silver.

The house repairs cost more than half of the money, and now they only have three or four taels of silver left. They originally planned to spend one tael of silver to have a good New Year, and save the rest for Hu Zi to get married in the future.

This year's autumn rice harvest yielded about three taels of silver, and he needs to prepare two taels of silver. He needs to discuss this with his family.

"Cao'er, give me two days to think about this."

Fearing that Shen Cao might think he didn't trust her, he quickly added, "I definitely believe you. It's just that the county town is a bit far from home. If I go to the dock to do business, I definitely won't be able to take care of the land at home."

"Besides, we've never run a food business before. My wife and I will discuss it and give you an answer in a few days, okay?"

Shen Cao nodded, she fully understood the village chief's concerns, "There's no rush, you should all think it over carefully."

"I will definitely teach you how to make food step by step. I guarantee that you can make money, but you must do as I say at the beginning."

“Doing business is not just about the beginning, but also about the future. You have to learn these things yourselves. I definitely can’t teach you.”

Whether you can make money in the end depends on whether you can manage the business well.

The village chief nodded. He knew that there were many tricks to doing business. At most, Cao'er could only teach them how to cook, and the food she taught them would definitely make money.

However, how much money you can make depends on how well the person running the business operates it.

After seeing Shen Cao and the others off, the village chief and his family moved closer to the stove.

"Wife, what do you think?"

Aunt Ma smiled and nodded, "I think it's a good opportunity."

“Look at Cao’er, just by opening a restaurant, she has brought her whole family to the county town.”

"The key is the business of the Shen family's restaurant; who wouldn't be envious?"

“I often hear people in the village say that the food at Shen’s Restaurant is not only delicious, but also cheap.”

“Then Mr. and Mrs. Shen seem to have changed completely.”

"The people Cao'er knows are all very capable."

“She said that, so she’s bound to make money. We’re not the kind of people who would take advantage of a small thing.”

"Besides, we're all in the county town. If any problems arise, I'll swallow my pride and go to Shen's mother. As long as it can be resolved, it's not a big deal."

After listening to his wife's words, the village chief immediately understood many things.

However, there's the issue of money.

Aunt Ma noticed her husband's concerns and mysteriously pulled a wrapped handkerchief from her pocket.

Carefully open it to reveal what's inside.

"Here is two taels of silver, and I've exchanged all the previous money for silver notes, which totals ten taels."

“I was thinking of setting up a stall for each of our two sons and letting them run it themselves.”

"If we make money, we make it; if we don't, we can always come back and farm with us again."

"It's Tiger. The matchmaker is planning to arrange a marriage for him. If he uses the money for business, the marriage might not be finalized this year."

Tiger looked at his parents and said, "Mom, I'm still young. My affairs aren't urgent."

The village chief thought for a moment, "It won't make a difference if we make a year or two. If we really make money, will Tiger have any trouble finding a wife?"

“That’s right, my brother will definitely find a wife. If he makes money in the county town, we can buy a house there too, and maybe he can even find a girl from the county town to marry.”

Tiger glared shyly at his younger brother Ergou, "What are you talking about? I just want to make more money now so that Mom and Dad can enjoy a good life later."

Aunt Ma knows her son well enough: "Your mother knows how filial you are. Your parents are just waiting for you to make money and enjoy your retirement."

“But we still have land here. What will happen to this land if they go to the county town?” The village chief didn’t actually want to give up farming, as growing chili peppers was still quite profitable.

"We'll do the farm work ourselves, and we'll deal with it if things get too busy later."

"We've been farming all our lives, how can we not be busy with that little bit of work?"

Er Gou excitedly said, "Dad, Mom, you don't need to worry about the work in the fields. At worst, my brother and I will stop the business for a couple of days, finish the work at home, and then resume the business."

"Exactly, you're not as clear-headed as your son."

"Alright, let's keep this loose change and have a good New Year. We'll buy some nice gifts to thank the Shen family properly later."

"This grass is grateful. I feel a little ashamed when I think about what I did in the past, but thankfully it doesn't care about those things."

"I'll exchange the remaining silver notes for cash after the New Year to help Tiger and Er Gou with their business."

"I've figured it out. If a person relies on that small plot of land for their entire life, they'll never make any money."

"We still have to do business," Aunt Ma said calmly as she distributed the money in her hand.

The village chief nodded. If he weren't the head of the village and had to manage its affairs, he certainly wouldn't have had those worries.

He usually has to worry about village affairs, so he can't help much with the farm work.

He looked at his happy wife beside him and said, "Thank you for your hard work, wife."

Aunt Ma knew that once her son left, she would have to do most of the farm work herself, but she was happy to do it.

She looked back at the village chief and gave him a reassuring smile.

As long as a family works together with one heart, their lives will definitely get better and better.

After discussing their own affairs, it was already late.

At night, the village chief tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

"What? Are you thinking about telling the villagers about this?"

"Wife! How did you know?"

"I know you well enough. When something good happens, the first person you think of is Murakami."

"I'm asking you, why did Cao'er tell you this?"

"Because our two families have a good relationship."

Stop trying to glorify yourself.

"Cao'er is such a kind-hearted girl, she's better than most people."

"Then why did she tell you this herself instead of having her parents tell you?"

"And to say it before the New Year, they could have waited until after the New Year."

"She told you before the New Year that you should spread the word so that interested people wouldn't spend all their money during the New Year."

"Besides, since she told you herself, she's not afraid of you telling anyone. Moreover, we didn't hide it from the children when we discussed it yesterday."

"Even the main room door was open, and those who were tidying up could hear everything."

The village chief was somewhat excited after hearing what his wife said.

"you say……"

"Stop talking nonsense, we can talk about everything tomorrow, go to sleep."