Several people went back indoors. Zhuang Keqing wanted to go back to the kitchen to make some snacks, so he asked Shen Ling to come out to greet the guests.
The banker's house is not big, and several rooms are connected together, separated only by a wall. In addition, the earthen walls and wooden doors are not very effective, so the voice Zhuang Keqing just talked about business with several people in the main room was very good. It fell into the ears of Shen Ling who was studying in the back room.
He recognized Shopkeeper Hu's voice clearly, and the other two, one was a middle-aged man, and the other was a young man in his twenties.
Just listening to the man's gentle voice, speaking authentic Mandarin, and speaking in an unhurried manner, without being arrogant or impetuous, Shen Ling knew that this man must have been raised in fine clothing and fine food, and was taught by a master with both ability and political integrity. The one who grows up is the best son.
There was an inexplicable emotion in his heart for no reason, which made his chest feel a little tight.
"Aling, shopkeeper Hu and his boss are here. We just finished talking. Could you please go greet me? I have to make some food."
Zhuang Keqing entered the room and saw Shen Ling sitting at the table, concentrating on writing silently.
The young man had a calm profile and sat upright. Before she spoke, the hand holding the pen was firmly on the paper without any hesitation.
"Well, okay."
Shen Ling raised his head and saw the girl approaching gently, grinning at him, and leaned closer.
He couldn't help but froze, only to feel the other party's arm wrapped around his shoulders, and a plain hand quietly close to his ear.
"That uncle Zuo just now paid two thousand taels for our wine recipe!"
When Zhuang Keqing spoke, his warm breath sprayed on Shen Ling's ears, causing the young man's spine to go numb.
"Aling, you are really rich this time. Follow me and you will have meat to eat."
After saying that, the girl turned around, gave Shen Ling a look of joy, and then walked out the door.
He was left alone, and he stretched out his hand to touch one ear. After a few breaths, he calmed down his fever, and went to the main room to entertain Zuo Jin and the others.
Zhuang Keqing was busy in the kitchen for a while.
There was still the pork rib soup warming the morning risotto on the stove. She took a ladle of white flour and water and rolled out the dough. When the soup boiled, she cut the dough into square pieces and put them in the pot. Then she put them into bowls for the convenience of the guests. Eat with a spoon.
People from Beijing may be disgusted with noodles and vermicelli and eat Xilihulu, which makes their voices indecent.
But there is nothing that is easier to eat than noodles, comes faster, and is hotter and suitable for winter, so she changed the method and made soup cakes, which are noodles.
In the end, there was only a small piece of dough left. Zhuang Keqing's childlike innocence suddenly emerged. He found an animal mold that he had made for Aman when he had nothing to do. He also printed a bunch of ducks, piglets and other dough pieces, and sprinkled them into the bone soup together. .
The snow-white bone soup is boiling, the dough is mixed in and boiling, flip it over, and it's ready in a flash.
Zhuang Keqing took a bowl, filled it with three bowls of bone soup noodles, sprinkled enough pepper and chopped green onion, heated up the braised pork ribs and eggs, fried a few rice fish, put them all on a plate and carried them into the house.
Zuo Jin vomited once at noon and was already hungry. When he saw these dishes, although they looked ordinary, the aroma went straight into his nose. He didn't care about the image at that moment and just said: Feeling ashamed, I picked up my chopsticks.
The rice fish is crispy and salty, the braised pork ribs are rich in sauce, and even the eggs are countless times better than boiled. Finally, a spoonful of hot bone soup noodles will satisfy your stomach.
Zuo Jin's eating movements were graceful, but not slow, while the big shopkeeper and shopkeeper Hu were obviously not that particular. They just finished eating the ribs and rice fish, and finally filled the seams with noodle soup and ate them all. Face full of red light.
"I didn't know the girl had such good skills."
Zuo Jin finished his meal, took out his handkerchief and pressed the corner of his mouth.
He had just finished the bowl of bone soup noodles, and he didn't sweat at all. His cheeks were just slightly dizzy, and he looked better than before.
"Thank you for your hospitality. It's getting late, so we won't bother you. We'll come back to you in a few days."
Seeing that the matter was done and there was no need for them to stay any longer, the big shopkeeper said goodbye.
Zhuang Keqing smiled and said hello, and together with Shen Ling, sent a few people out.
Zuo Jin and the others got on the carriage. Just as the shopkeeper was about to call away, Lao Yu reminded him: "Master, there are some gifts on the back of this carriage."
Only then did Shopkeeper Hu remember that the generous gift he had prepared had not yet been handed over to the girl, which was extremely rude.
"It doesn't matter, we'll come back and deliver it in three days."
Zuo Jin opened the curtain on the lathe and saw the two people standing together at the door of the courtyard who had not yet returned, so he chuckled and said, "Let's go."
Lao Yu had been waiting outside and had already turned the horse's direction. After hearing his master's instructions, he raised his whip to urge the horse.
But before leaving, he took the time to look back, grinned a wrinkled smile, and waved to Zhuang Keqing.
The master was talking about something just now, and at the same time he had to watch the carriage, so he couldn't move.
Old Yu originally wanted to take out some dry food while he was resting, mix it with water and chew it dry to fill his stomach. Unexpectedly, the girl from this family actually took the time to bring him a bowl of hot soup noodles.
I followed my boss to so many places and visited so many houses, but I still didn't see any boss who could think of him as a coach driver and still bring a bowl of scalding hot soup.
It can be seen that this family is kind-hearted.
The carriage gradually moved away, and Zhuang Keqing let out a long breath.
"Aling, it seems we are going to the village chief's grandpa's house tomorrow."
"Um."
Shen Ling didn't ask why he wanted to go, but he just guessed that it might have something to do with the sweet potato workshop.
He lowered his head and glanced at the girl's small, reddish nose, which was slightly red from the cold, and his heart moved slightly.
It was indeed a bit cold when he suddenly came out of the warm room. After Zhuang Keqing finally couldn't help but shiver, Shen Ling put one of his arms around him.
"Go back to the house," he said.
"Hmm."
Zhuang Keqing was hugged to the boy's increasingly solid chest, and for no reason she thought of her mother's guesses and words yesterday. Then she couldn't help but think, when will she and Aling break through this layer of window paper?
She clearly felt that A Ling was also interested in her.
only……
Looking down at his bean sprout-like figure, Zhuang Keqing was discouraged.
That’s all, let’s talk about it in a few more years!
Shen Ling didn't know what she was thinking, but he just shielded the girl in his arms from the cold wind and went all the way back to the house.
The next day, Zhuang Keqing did not dare to waste time and set out with Shen Ling early in the morning to go to the village chief's home.
Although the matter of the sweet potato workshop has been settled with Wufu Ji, she has not yet explained it to the village.
The workshop didn't belong to her, so this time she had to try her best to convince the village chief, who then came forward to summon the villagers who worked in the workshop to discuss the matter.
The two of them walked in a hurry, and when they arrived at the village chief's house, they even shocked the village chief's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lin.
"It's icy and snowy, and the road is not easy to walk. How did you two get here?"
Mrs. Lin was about to go to the kitchen to clean up, but by chance she saw the two of them walking outside the yard and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello.
The snow has stopped, but it's getting colder. Along the way, the wind is also very strong, cutting people's faces like knives, and the snow blown away from the branches falls on one head and one shoulder, showing two faces. People are miserable.
Mrs. Lin ushered people into the house and asked them to wait while she went to call her father-in-law.
In this winter, it was so cold outside that I couldn't stretch out my hand. The village chief had kept his cat in the kang room for many days in a row and never left the house to eat or sleep.
At this time, the daughter-in-law came and called, saying that the dealer's girl was here, and she was also surprised.
He didn't even have time to put on his coat, so he just pulled on a pair of cloth shoes and entered the main room. Without saying a word, he pulled Zhuang Keqing and Shen Ling into the inner room.
"Come in and warm yourself up. It's so cold in this cold weather. You can't wait for anything. Why do you have to run around now?!"
The old man expressed concern in his words, and as soon as he entered the inner room, he put his hands on their shoulders and sat on the kang.
"Take a break first and take off your shoes to warm them up."
How could Zhuang Keqing really take off her shoes in other people's homes, not even the village chief?
She just smiled and thanked her, and then got down to business.
"Grandpa, village chief, I'm here to discuss the sweet potato workshop with you."
"Sweet potato workshop?"
She said solemnly, and the smile that had always been on her face disappeared, making the village chief involuntarily become cautious and couldn't help but listen carefully.
Isn’t the sweet potato factory running well?
It's just that it's been snowing these past few days, so it's inconvenient for everyone to go to work. When the weather gets better next year, we will definitely be able to continue working, right?
"Yes, I would like to discuss with you the sale of this sweet potato factory."
"Sell?"
"You said you sold the sweet potato factory!"
The village chief stood up hurriedly. He was obviously an old man with white hair and beard, but his momentum was not diminished at this time. His eyes looking at Zhuang Keqing were full of disapproval and incomprehension.
"right."
"Confused, girl!"
The village chief really doesn't know what's going on with this girl. She was the one who wanted everyone to build the workshop, but now she wants to sell the workshop that the villagers built themselves.
