Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

While the ladies were talking, footsteps could be heard from outside. Bai Wei came in and said, "Young lady, it's Master Wenxuan and the others who are back." Before she finished speaking, Wenxuan and the others came in.

"Sister, we have passed several county examinations." Wenxuan said slightly excitedly. The Xu family was originally a farmer and did not have so many rules. Although the Yue family was rich, it was just a merchant family. The people in the north are originally open and not so particular, so Wenxuan and the others went directly to her sister's room.

As soon as he entered the house, he found that his mother, aunt, and second sister were all there. Wenxuan and Wenchang came forward. "Mom, third aunt, second sister, why are you here?"

Ms. Xue held her son's hand, filled with joy, "Wenxuan, you just said that all three of you have passed the exam?"

"Well, brother Wenchang did the best in the exam. He was fifth, I was tenth, and Ziwen was seventeenth. They were all in front. Haha, mother, are we pretty good?" Wenxuan told his mother with a smile on the results of the three of them.

"Okay, not bad. They are much better than your elder brother. What do you want to eat for lunch? Mom will make it for you." Xue said excitedly.

"Anything is good. All the dishes made by my mother are delicious, and the ones made by my third aunt are also delicious. When our restaurant opens, we will definitely have a lot of customers." Wenxuan acted coquettishly next to his mother.

This old son has always been my mother's favorite, and Mrs. Xue is no exception. Although she is very good to the children in the family, she loves Wenxuan a little more. Seeing her son acting coquettishly with her, Ms. Mrs. Xue couldn't help but feel a pain in her heart, "Wenchang, come here, come to the aunt. My good boy, the aunt loves you just as much." Ms. Xue stretched out her hand and held Wenchang in her arms.

Ziwen watched from the side, but in his heart he wished he could go home quickly, because his mother would love him as much as Aunt Xue did.

Jinghan curled her lips and said, "You are already a grown man, and you are still acting like a spoiled brat. It's really embarrassing."

"Hahaha, second sister, are you jealous? Huh, you are already engaged. It looks like you are someone else's. From now on, if you just want to act coquettishly with my mother, there will be less opportunities. I am different, I am I'm fourteen, I can still stay at home for a few more years, and my mother will be my own from now on," Wen Xuan said calmly.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh after hearing what the propaganda said.

"Okay, it's already noon. I'll go see what's in the kitchen and cook you a meal. Your father and the others will be back later, and your father will be happy then." Mr. Xue stood up after saying that. Going to the kitchen.

"Mom, we have a cook at home, so you don't need to cook." Jingya said quickly.

"It's okay, don't I also cook at home? Didn't you hear what I just said in the propaganda, you want to eat the food I cook. If you are free, you are free. I can cook some dishes for you and so on." After that, Mr. Xue went out.

"Sister-in-law, I'm with you." Mrs. Zhu also went to the kitchen.

Wenxuan and the others were sitting in Jingya's room, and the siblings were talking there.

Zhixin and Zhiming went to the Lu family, and the old man, the second master and the third master of the Lu family happened to be there, and they all talked together for a while. The old man wanted to keep Zhixin here for lunch, but Zhixin and Zhiming politely declined. The two brothers came out of the Lu family and returned directly to Jingya.

As soon as Wenxuan saw his father and third uncle coming, he told his father about the exam situation. Of course Zhixin was also very happy and said he wanted to celebrate at noon.

Zhiming saw that Jingya's face was not good, "Jingya, are you vomiting badly?" Jingya had some morning sickness when she was still in the Xu family.

Jingya nodded, "Third uncle, it's okay, I can still hold on. I'll be fine in a while."

"Okay, the best thing is not to take any medicine, just keep it stable for a while, and it will be fine after three months." Zhiming nodded and felt relieved. What happened back then, wasn't it because that concubine was vomiting so much that she prescribed medicine to her? At that time, Zhiming also advised me that it would be fine after a while. But Mr. Qin wanted to hold the concubine in his mouth and forced her to prescribe some medicine, but something happened. Thinking about it now, Zhiming still felt a little depressed, so he advised her not to take medicine when Jingya was like this.

Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Zhu worked in the kitchen for a while and finished all the meals. It happened that Pengcheng came back at noon. Wenhan and Zixuan had arranged things and came back with them. Everyone had dinner together. Wen Han and Zixuan were also very happy when they heard that they had done well in the literary and publicity exams.

After lunch, Wenhan and the others went back to the county school, while Zhixin and the others went to the restaurant to have a look and discuss how to clean it up, how many people to hire, etc. Mr. Xue accompanied Jingya at home, and Ms. Zhu and Jinghan followed them to the restaurant. This time they also brought Guoxing and Anshun with them. These two boys were both smart, so Zhixin took them with them. The three Wenxuan people had just finished their exams and had nothing to do, so they followed along.

This restaurant was not built very long. The main structure is intact and everything inside is still there. Basically, it can be opened without much modification. Everyone walked around twice and felt that it was enough to just clean up the place. The most important thing is to hire a few chefs and waiters. If you just point to Zhu alone, that won't work.

"Sanye Lu told me today that he has found a few good cooks. When we finish cleaning up here, we will ask them to come over and cook a few dishes. Let's see which one stays for a long time." Zhixin said.

"Then I really have to thank Grandpa Lu. We are not familiar with the place in this county, so it is not easy to find someone. Dad, I think this restaurant is not small. Why not hire two cooks? I will look for you then. With a few young apprentices, things in the kitchen should be pretty much done. Let’s hire a few guys in the front, Guoxing and Anshun, one in charge of the front and the other in charge of purchasing. My third aunt will take care of the important things in the kitchen. In the hands of the family, nothing can go wrong." Jinghan made a suggestion.

"Okay, what you say is feasible. After all, we haven't established a firm foothold in this county yet, so we have to be careful about everything." Zhixin nodded.

Several people started to clean up together. The front was fine, but the tables, chairs and benches needed to be wiped down. The kitchen is a little more troublesome, and the stoves and other things have to be tidied up. Zhu and Jinghan led Guoxing and Anshun in the kitchen to tidy up the pots and stoves inside and outside. After a while, several of them became colorful faces. "Fortunately, I listened to my third aunt and came here wearing old clothes, otherwise I would have ruined all my good clothes."

It took everyone a total of six or seven days to clean up everything in the restaurant. The two courtyards at the back were inhabited before, and Zhixin means they are still inhabited. "Third brother, you and Wen Cheng still have to help out in the mountains in the summer, so let your younger siblings live here first, and let Wenhan and Zixuan live here to stay with your younger siblings. Jinghan also has to stay here for the time being, and he happens to be a companion. Waiting for the restaurant later Once the business is up, Jinghan will go back, and you, Wencheng, Jingwan and the others will come to live here in the winter. It’s not easy for a family to be separated all the time. If you find it too noisy here, we can wait until we have more money in two years. Just buy a yard nearby.”

"Hey, I listen to big brother."

On this day, Zhixin invited several chefs introduced by Lu Shaoqian to try their cooking skills. Guoxing had bought a lot of materials a long time ago. After everything was prepared, the kitchen became busy.

Zhixin invited the shopkeepers from nearby shops to taste it, including Lu Shaoqian, and finally selected two chefs who were excellent at cooking. Zhixin made a decision on the spot. In the first year, he would be paid eight taels of silver per month, and he would be responsible for food and clothing. There would be additional rewards during the New Year, and some bonuses would be given each month depending on the profit. If the restaurant's business is good, the salary will be increased next year. This price is not considered low, and the two masters are very satisfied.

Zhixin also asked the nearby shopkeepers to help find a few apprentices, who would take care of food and housing. If they were good at learning, they would be paid to start working. This is even simpler. Who doesn’t have a close family? There are always days when life is unsatisfactory and there are too many children in the family to support. If you send them here, you can not only fill your stomach, but also learn a craft, so I sent several of them within two days. Zhixin and Jinghan carefully selected four that looked relatively clean and kept them in the restaurant.

Because she was just starting out and didn't know what to do, Jinghan said she wouldn't hire a shopkeeper for the time being. There was no need to pay so much money. The salary of a big shopkeeper could equal that of several cooks. With Mrs. Zhu here and Jinghan, even if something happens, the two of them can make the decision. If the restaurant's business is good, it's not too late to hire people.

I'm so busy, February is almost over. Zhixin asked someone to check the date and found that February 29th was a good day to open the business, so he decided on that day.

The restaurant's plaque had already been ordered at a special place, and the restaurant was called Fulai Xishifu. Jinghan gave it to me. She said it was a happy name. On the twenty-eighth day, the plaque arrived, and everyone hurriedly hung it up.

"Hey, I thought it was some kind of god who bought this restaurant. He dared to compete with the Qin Mansion for business. I'm really tired of living. Brothers, smash it for me. I'll smash it all for him. I see him. I opened the business like this. Especially the plaque, I smashed it hard."

Everyone was happily hanging up the plaque when they heard a voice saying so.

Zhixin was holding the ladder while Guoxing nailed a plaque on it. Hearing this, Zhixin looked back at the speaker. I saw that the man was about forty years old, of medium height, and quite fat. The fat body is wrapped in fine silk clothes, and the whole person looks a bit like a ball. At this moment, behind that man, there were seven or eight men standing with sticks in their hands. They all looked at each other with evil intentions, and they didn't look like good people.