stingy landlady

Chapter 72 Wild Vegetables (1)

Guizhi, having heard that there were so many ways to cook green wheat, suddenly had a brilliant idea! She ran to the door and called out:

"Mother! I remember now!"

Let's harvest some green wheat, grind it into flour, and make dumplings to sell! We'll make two kinds of wrappers, one with green wheat flour and one with regular wheat flour! Let's see which one is more popular!

Li put on a stern face:

"Hey! You scared me! You're so jumpy! If you remember, just remember! Why are you yelling? You're a grown woman, aren't you afraid people will laugh at you!"

Guizhi chuckled and quickly went back inside to wait.

Gui Xiang entered the room and whispered to Gui Zhi:

"Look at you, you got scolded again! You know your mother's temper! I just don't like your unreliable behavior!"

"Hehe! Big sister! I had forgotten! I was just thinking that I had another way to make money!"

Look, we harvest our own green wheat, grind it into flour, and that saves us money on buying it! If people like it, we can sell it for almost a month!

After entering the room, Li nodded to Xu Hong, and then spoke to her daughters:

"I'm so busy every day! I don't even have time to go up the mountain to pick vegetables!"

The bracken fern on the mountain! The Cantonese vegetables are all in season now! It's deep in the mountains, so kids can't go. If someone took Siya there, I'd love to go too!

Guizhi asked:

"Mother! Do you dare to go by yourself?"

Li shook her head.

"Once you go into those deep mountains and forests, it's pitch black. It's scary just looking at it. I wouldn't dare go alone! I used to go with your dad and the others!"

Everyone's been so busy this year, they can't find a moment to spare!

"How about we collect some more wild mountain vegetables? We can take them to town and ask around; maybe they'll sell well?" Guizhi asked uncertainly.

Li rolled her eyes at Guizhi:

"Only you would consider it a treasure! That mountain is so big, we don't have time, but plenty of people do! They say it's hard to sell! People don't recognize it, saying they won't eat it!"

After thinking for a moment, he added:

"Go find your Aunt Zhou later and ask her to bring Xiao Qiong over. Tell Xiao Qiong and Siya to stay home and watch the house. Your Aunt Zhou and I will go to the nearby mountains to pick some willow shoots and celery. We'll all have a taste of the fresh produce today!"

Gui Hong also wants to go:

"Mom! Shall we go this afternoon? I'll go with you!"

"No need, we won't go far, we're right here! If you go, we'll have to keep an eye on you, that won't do! It would be more appropriate for your older sister to come along!"

I'm thinking of taking her there a few times, so she can get to know the things on the mountain! That way, even after she gets married, she'll feel comfortable going up the mountain with someone!

Dazhu entered the room at this moment, and said in a moment of conversation:

"In the future, if anyone gets married and wants to go up the mountain with someone, that's no joke! Without someone to guide them, how will they ever come out?"

Don't listen to your mother's nonsense! She only took her up the mountain a few times, and she thinks she can do it! None of you can go!

Li pursed her lips.

"Fine, I won't go! Let's eat on the table!"

Dazhu said to Xu Hong:

"Xu Hong, get on the kang! Come on, eat!"

Then he turned to Guizhi and said:

"Today, let your Uncle Xu Hong come to town with you! Find that clothing shop and buy him two sets of clothes and shoes!"

Your mother and Guixiang have already gone to a lot of trouble making clothes for all of us! Your Aunt Zhou and Xiaoqiong are also busy taking care of those people over there. Who knows when it will be your Uncle Xu Hong's turn!

Buy two ready-made sets! I'll use the money I've earned these past few days to buy a little bit each day, and gradually buy more fabric!

Let those women stay home and sew clothes when they have time! That way they won't have to think about all sorts of things! They're already thinking about going up the mountain; tomorrow they'll be thinking about going down to the river, won't they?"

Li placed two large bowls of porridge on the table, while Guixiang also placed some green vegetables and sauce on the table.

"Oh! I wouldn't have remembered if you hadn't mentioned going to the river! I'm the best at stewing fish in the river! I can make half a basin of fish in one meal!"

Take a few large bowls, cover them with a white cloth, make a hole in the middle, and smear some sauce around the hole. The fish will swim in by themselves! Once, a bowl was half full, all dry; it was really funny to think about!

Dazhu laughed.

"I'll take you out for a fish feast sometime when I have time!"

Li nodded quickly:

"Okay! We'll take the blankets apart and wash them over there while we stew the fish! It won't delay anything!"

The couple chatted away, oblivious to everyone around them. Both wore expressions of reminiscence and longing.

Going up mountains and down rivers must be a wonderful memory shared by the two of them!

When Lin Xiaoyun arrived in his carriage, Guizhi and the others hurriedly loaded the food boxes onto it. The bean sprouts and pickled garlic for Xiangmanlou, as well as the greens for the Zheng and Liu families, were already loaded onto the carriage!

Lin Xiaoyun simply nodded when he saw Xu Hong.

Xu Hong saw Lin Xiaoyun standing next to the carriage, dressed in brand-new coarse cloth clothes, which could not hide his tall and elegant figure and imposing presence!

Xu Hong paused, slowly walked towards the carriage, and asked:

"This horse is nice. Can I touch it?"

Guizhi came over to Lin Xiaoyun and said:

"Lin Xiaoyun! This is Uncle Xu Hong! Uncle Xu Hong will be our bodyguard from now on!"

Xu Hong asked:

"Lin Xiaoyun! Hmm! Guizhi, who is he to you?"

Guizhi raised the corners of her mouth and said:

"He's my adopted brother! We don't have any boys in our family right now, so I've adopted a brother who will be my support when he grows up!"

Xu Hong's lips twitched.

"You're quite something! You think things through very well, going so far as to recognize an older brother and find guards! You're just worried someone might bully you, aren't you, Guizhi!"

Lin Xiaoyun said seriously:

"Third Sister! I can protect you now! Zhou Xing and I practice martial arts every morning!"

Guizhi said earnestly:

"Yes! You two need to keep up the good work! You'll be even better in the future!"

Xu Hong nodded, "Not bad! Young man! I'll come see how your practice is going tomorrow morning!"

The group boarded a carriage and headed straight for Xiangmanlou.

Li Caiban and Gui Hong weighed the vegetables and settled the bill. Gui Zhi then said:

"I'll go check on Uncle Shopkeeper!"

After saying that, he dashed into the inner hall.

Manager Qu looked at Guizhi who ran in and said with a smile:

"Guizhi hasn't seen me for several days, does she miss me?"

The cassia branch stood firm, raising its smiling face:

"Uncle Shopkeeper! I just missed you! That's why I rushed over here whenever I had a spare moment!"

Manager Qu turned around, took a box of pastries from the cabinet, and handed it to Guizhi:

"Guizhi has such a sweet tongue! Here! Uncle will reward you with a box of pastries I bought from the county town!"

Guizhi quickly took it and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, Uncle Shopkeeper! Uncle Shopkeeper! The wild vegetables from the mountains are now available; do you accept them at your restaurant?"

"I've bought them at the market before, but they're only available one day and gone the next. Some customers hear there are wild vegetables, come over, but there aren't any to sell. It's bad for the restaurant!"

If the wild vegetables are not picked in time, people living near the mountains will go up the mountain when they have time, and won't go if they don't have time.

People living far from the mountain dare not go up! Doing business requires a long-term plan; you can't rely on just one or two meals! There's no way to do business like this!

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Guizhi and his eyes lit up:

"Does Guizhi's family live at the foot of the mountain? Is there any way to supply her for an extended period?"