Chapter 100: Contentment and Worry-Free

  Niu Xiaohua hastily replied, "Alright, Tuniu, just tell me what you want to do and I'll take care of it. Making clothes and quilts is my specialty, I won't let Auntie get tired..."

  "Alright," Shen Sisi said, pulling Niu Xiaohua's hand, "we're a family now, I won't be polite to you, and you don't have to be polite to us either. From now on, just do what I ask you to do, no need to rush, and if you need anything, just let us know, don't hesitate..."

  "Uh-huh, I know, Tuniu, I know your family has been good to me..." Niu Xiaohua smiled and said: "I'm really grateful now..."

  "Xiao Hua Jie's needlework is great, I'm most afraid of this, in the future if we need to do anything, it'll be a big trouble for you..." Shen Si Si said with a smile.

  "Uh-huh." Niu Xiaohua naturally responded with a smile, she was most afraid of having nothing to do and being idle, if she ate too much food, she would even feel guilty, besides the Zhong family treated her well, so she naturally felt grateful.

  "If you want to learn needlework, I'll teach you..." Niu Xiaohua said with a smile.

  "No, I'm most afraid of this. Mother promised not to let me learn needlework... " Shen Sisi mentioned this and got a headache, saying: "I really can't do it..."

  Niu Xiaohua thought for a moment and said, "You cook delicious food, you can stir-fry chestnuts, and you can braise meat. Whoever marries you will be the luckiest, so of course, there's no need to learn needlework anymore..."

  ...Although it was true, she didn't expect that even Niu Xiaohua would tease her about this, instantly becoming a head of black lines, extremely helpless.

  He Qiu naturally had this idea, now Niu Xiaohua's craftsmanship is good, I'm afraid that in the future, whether Tuniu marries Er Bao or San Bao, she will have to take care of the needlework, it seems that she has to curry favor with Niu Xiaohua.

  She came out of the kitchen and found Zhong Gensheng, saying: "Dad, from now on, don't rent land to farm. The three mu of land at home is enough. Renting land to farm doesn't make sense, there's too much tax and rent, and the harvest is really small. Dad, when you have free time, help us raise pigs, okay? In the future, when we have money, we'll buy some land to cultivate ourselves, it's more cost-effective..."

  Zhong Gen thought for a moment and said, "Alright, the few acres of land we rented are not worth it anyway. After paying taxes and rent, there's less than 20% left. Let's do as you say, once this harvest is over, we'll stop. By the way, about that pig, should we go buy one?!"

  "Go buy it, one head a day for now, but make sure to reserve it with the owner, in case of stockout...". Shen Si thought for a moment and said: "Also, let's hire a butcher to come every day to slaughter pigs, starting from tomorrow. We'll start slaughtering pigs tomorrow too. Sell meat in the morning and slaughter pigs in the afternoon. Today we'll buy meat from Zheng Butcher's house one more time, but after that, we can save money by buying and slaughtering pigs ourselves..."

  After all, the money earned from selling pigs and the money earned from selling meat are different, otherwise how would Zheng Butcher make a profit.

  "I'll go to the village and ask around, then I'll go to the next village and ask around. Don't worry, Dad will definitely take care of this matter. Besides, pigs are easy to buy..." Zhong Gensheng said, putting down his pipe and hurrying away.

  For family affairs and also earning money, Zhong Gensheng is extremely motivated, much more than working the land.

  Watching Zhong Gensheng leave, Shen Sisi took Da Bao to buy meat. Since Da Bao couldn't carry much meat back by himself, Shen Sisi also called Er Bao and San Bao over. After taking medicine for a few days, Si Bao's head felt much better, so he ran out on his own and said, "I'll go too..."

  Lost in thought, he smiled and looked at his wound, which had indeed healed a lot, so he nodded.

  Then, she took the four kids to Zheng Tufu's house alone. As soon as they entered the door, they scared Zheng Niangzi half to death. Seeing this situation, she was a bit flustered and her heart was racing with anxiety, so she said: "...... You, what are you doing?!"

  Shen Sisi rolled her eyes and said, "What else can I do but buy meat?!" She thought she was an idiot, but she had already smelled the braised meat and was definitely testing the flavor.

  Shen Sisi didn't mind either, and after finishing speaking, she ignored her and just called out: "Uncle Zheng, buy 150 catties today..."

  Zheng's daughter was taken aback, her eyes wide with surprise. How could this meat be selling so well? She became even more anxious all of a sudden.

  Zheng Tutu hastily came out of the house with a smile and said: "Here it comes, good business to do? Increased quantity again today?!"

  "Yes...” Shen Sisi watched as Zheng Tufu finished cutting the meat, she divided the meat into four portions and had them put it on their backs to prepare to head home. At the same time, she paid and said: "Uncle Zheng, this is my last time buying meat from your place, I won't be coming tomorrow, just letting you know ahead of time..."

  Zheng Tufu's smile froze on his face, and he hastily asked: "What's going on?! Is it that my meat is not good or what?!" He was so anxious that his face changed color, and Zheng Niangzi also looked complicated after hearing this.

  "It's not your problem......" Even if it was their family's problem, Shen Sisi naturally couldn't say it out loud, and only smiled: "Buying meat is not as cost-effective as killing a pig, anyway my family uses a lot of meat every day now, so in the future we'll just buy pigs back to kill..."

  After finishing speaking and laughing, he left with four people.

  Zheng Tufu looked at her back, he was so anxious that he couldn't help it. He had originally planned to slaughter another pig tomorrow, but now everything was ruined. This brief big business opportunity was lost, and he was extremely depressed. He didn't know who to blame, and could only silently sigh, saying to Zheng Niangzi: "You said you, alas... why did you have to provoke them? Such a big deal, they say it's gone, and now it's really gone..."

  Zheng Niangzi was secretly anxious, but she refused to apologize, and instead coldly sneered: "She had always planned it this way, you think it's really for me? I saw their business doing well today, sooner or later they'll have to slaughter pigs themselves..."

  "Even if that's the case, there is a pig butcher in the village, but they didn't invite me to go either..." Zheng Tufu said: "It's all because of you, now even the wages for killing pigs are gone..."

  Zheng Niangzi let out a cold snort, and didn't take it to heart. What really annoyed her was that the fabric she brought back today just wasn't right, no matter how she matched it...

  For a moment, Tuniu was gritting her teeth, and she didn't know how Fangzi had been paired with her. Even the spice shop couldn't do anything about it. Only then did she give up.

  Looking at the package of sauce in her hand, she was heartbroken about spending one or two silver coins a day. Looking at the 50 kilograms of well-cooked meat, she said: "Never mind, from now on you kill a pig, sell some, I'll cook some to sell, and earn some is some. Originally wanted to make a package of sauce, didn't expect to end up empty-handed, and wasted money..."

  Zheng Tufu let out a sigh of relief after hearing this. He had originally lost the business and was worried that even if he killed a pig, the meat wouldn't sell well. Now, being able to marinate some and sell it was a good thing. No matter what, although the cost was high, being able to make some profit was better than nothing. He comforted her by saying: "Don't think too much about it, having some profit is not bad either, don't be too greedy..."

  "Being greedy won't get you anywhere..." Zheng Niangzi sighed helplessly, "That country girl's brain is really something else, too formidable. It seems that even if I'm willing to spend another day or two silver coins, I can only offer this price. The Zhong family's profit from this one item alone will be enormous for the whole year! And with their braised meat business, they'll become rich!"

  His face twisted in a grimace as he gazed at the vast wealth that was right before his eyes, yet he couldn't get any of it and could only feel helpless.

  She wanted to buy more sauce packets, but unfortunately, Tuni was also absolutely unwilling to sell more, so Zheng Niangzi kept sighing.

  Zheng Tufu felt suffocated just looking at her. Originally, life was still pretty good, but people who are never satisfied, what happiness can they really talk about?

  Being content is the key to happiness, what good can come from coveting something that belongs to others?

  Shen Sisi returned home, the eggs were almost cooked, he took a spoon and cracked them one by one, to make them more flavorful, then covered the pot with a lid and simmered over low heat.

  Others have gone to wash the pork and offal, Shen Sisi then simmered the bones that were sent over. At night, they would make wontons to eat. After coming out of the kitchen, she saw Niu Xiaohua and He Ashu washing meat, so she smiled and said: "Mother, Xiaohua, you two go sew clothes, don't bother, it's fine with us here..."

  Upon hearing this, they all smiled and said: "Alright, let's go make clothes then. You guys be careful..."

  Shen Sisi responded with a "yes". He Axiu then took Niu Xiaohua's hand and entered the house, happily going to cut fabric and make clothes.

  After washing the meat, cut it into strips. Seeing that all the pots in the kitchen were full, she felt depressed. Later, if the business is to be expanded, at least two more large stoves will have to be set up for braising meat alone. The two stoves at home are really not enough.

  However, this house is really too small, so let's just make do for now. We need to save up money to build a new house first, and then we can expand the kitchen and have a big room specifically for braising meat, how great would that be?

  Thinking of a better life in the future, Shen Sisi then ladled out the bone soup and put away the five-spice eggs. Dabao washed the pot and braised the meat, and the familiar aroma wafted through the house again.

  Shen Sisi gave four eggs to Niu Xiaohua and He Axiu in the house to eat, and then ordered Er Bao to call over the two dogs and others. Each person was given two five-spice eggs, and he smiled: "Extra welfare, two per person, work hard from now on..."

  Two dogs ate delicious five-spice eggs and were so touched that they couldn't help but say: "It's really delicious, Tuniu, how do you make everything taste good..."

  Shen Si smiled silently, with a spatula in hand and the Food God Tower by her side. Her culinary skills would only continue to improve, and even if she were to burn a blade of grass in the future, it would still be incredibly delicious. The thought alone made her burst out laughing.

  She gave four to the four treasures, two each, and left two for Zhong Gensheng. The remaining four were all taken by her alone, and no one had any objections. She was originally the youngest, so it was natural that the best at home would be left for her to eat. Even if she ate a few more, no one dared to have an opinion. Moreover, San Bao's eyes lit up as he ate, "Tuniang, this is really delicious, so fragrant..."

  "Good boy......" Shen Sisi touched his head and said: "From now on, we won't sell eggs at home. I'll often cook them for you to eat..."

  San Bao smiled with curved eyes and said: "......Hm, Tuni, you're the best."