CHAPTER 193: CHAPTER 192: SOUNDS JUST LIKE COMPLAINING

Yu Changhe had some concerns, but Yu Xiaolian wasn’t worried at all. Chili plants are actually quite resilient, and they have strong resistance to cold. As long as the soil isn’t too poor, they can thrive.

Yu Xiaolian looked at Sun Fengshou, "Uncle, did you get the wood boards I asked for from the carpenter’s shop?"

Sun Fengshou pointed to the small pavilion outside the house, "I got them; they’re placed out there!

Getting such a large slab of wood as you wanted wasn’t easy. I visited several carpenter shops before I found one this size for you."

Yu Xiaolian nodded. She knew how rare solid cut wood boards were, but the blackboard she made last time was too simple and rough, and didn’t serve well.

The blackboard was made in haste last time, not only was it small, but the surface wasn’t polished smoothly, leaving it quite rough. That’s why Yu Xiaolian wanted to make a new blackboard that would be more pleasing to use.

"That wood board has already been polished by the carpenter as you asked, and the carpenter said that if it’s not smooth enough for you, you can polish it yourself with horsetail grass. I also got you some horsetail grass, but I think it’s already quite smooth, without any splinters."

Yu Xiaolian thanked Sun Fengshou and got up to check the wood board outside.

The board had been sawed into a square shape by the carpenter, roughly 1.2 meters in diameter. Yu Xiaolian reached out to touch the surface; it was indeed very smooth.

It can’t be polished any further; if it’s too smooth, it won’t hold the ink. This is just right.

While the sky hadn’t yet turned completely dark, Yu Xiaolian immediately began to apply ink to the wood board.

By the afternoon of the next day, Yu Xiaolian had already applied ink to the wood board three times, transforming it from an ordinary plank into a blackboard she was satisfied with.

Having decided to sell the braised meat recipe, they didn’t prepare any stock last night. So in the morning, when Yu Changhe went to the west side of town, Sun Fengshou stayed at the shop entrance, explaining to the people who came to buy braised meat.

Many people were puzzled; the braised meat shop’s business was quite good, so why did it close so suddenly?

Sun Fengshou explained that the braised meat recipe was sold to Meishan Building, and if they wanted to eat braised meat in the future, they could buy it at Meishan Building in the west of the city.

People felt a bit regretful; the braised meat was delicious and cheap, especially the spicy duck, which tasted even better than the braised meat and was a great dish to go with alcohol.

If they bought it from Meishan Building, it wouldn’t be at the same price; it would definitely be much more expensive.

Some even wondered in their hearts what kind of means Meishan Building used to forcefully take the Yu Family’s secret recipe, making it so the Yu Family’s braised meat shop couldn’t continue.

People came in groups of threes or fours, discussing among themselves, and soon the news of the Yu Family’s braised meat shop closing spread throughout the streets and alleys of the east city.

Yu Changhe returned from Meishan Building and handed a silver note worth a thousand taels to Mrs. Sun.

The reason it was a thousand taels was because when Yu Changhe arrived at the Zhao Family, they also wanted the spicy duck recipe. Yu Changhe firmly refused to sell two recipes for five hundred taels.

So the Zhao Family made up their minds and spent a thousand taels to buy both recipes.

After buying the recipes, the Zhao Family suddenly realized that they didn’t have any chili peppers, nor did they know what exactly chilies were.

Yu Changhe took out a small net bag of chilies he had prepared in advance, saying this was all the chili stock his family had and he would give it to them for free.

The Zhao Shopkeeper asked where to buy chilies if they ran out.

Yu Changhe replied that this is an overseas product, and there’s none in Great Liang.

However, his family is currently trying to cultivate it, and if successful, they will supply chilies to Meishan Building in the future.

Only then did Zhao Shopkeeper realize that the chilies Yu Changhe gave were just husks without seeds.

Chili is the core of the spicy recipe, and this small bag of chilies can probably only be used once or twice. Zhao Shopkeeper suddenly felt that spending a thousand taels was a bit of a loss, but what could he do? He could only hope that the Yu Family would quickly grow some chili peppers.

Zhao Shopkeeper learned about the delicious braised meat and spicy duck from Yu Family through his little grandson. Just coincidentally, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a culinary competition was to be held in the Capital, and he planned to use this recipe to compete. That’s why he spent a lot of money buying the recipe, seeking the unique spicy flavor as a novelty.

It seemed that he couldn’t use this little bit of chilies carelessly; if he used them up, they’d be gone.

Mrs. Sun didn’t expect the agreed-upon five hundred taels to suddenly become a thousand taels, and she immediately praised Yu Changhe.

Yu Changhe was just about to visit Taohua Village when the previously clear sky became cloudy, the wind blew fiercely, and soon it started pouring rain. Standing under the eaves of the braised meat shop, Yu Changhe thought he wouldn’t be able to go today.

Watching pedestrians hurrying on the street, scrambling to find shelter from the rain, he shouted loudly, "Come on, come in here to shelter from the rain..."

Yu Changhe’s shout drew quite a few people inside, and the originally small braised meat shop became crowded.

The braised meat shop had two tables and eight long benches, and Yu Changhe invited the people seeking shelter from the rain inside to sit down, "This rain came suddenly and heavily, it doesn’t seem like it’ll stop anytime soon. Don’t stand at the door; come inside and sit down. Wait a while for the rain to stop."

Yu Xiaolian had prepared gifts for the Village Chief of Taohua Village, but the sudden downpour prevented the trip to Taohua Village.

After the rain, the roads would be muddy. Since the roads are all dirt roads, it looks like they’ll have to wait a few days for the sun to dry them out before going to Taohua Village.

The rain was too heavy, and the strong wind blew the rain into the store. Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya quickly and chaotically set up door panels to prevent the shop’s items from getting wet.

This counted as rain rest, and after closing the front shop door, Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya took their oil-paper umbrellas and ran back to the backyard.

Passing by the small vegetable garden, Yu Xiaolian saw her chili seedlings swaying in the wind, and the large raindrops were knocking off quite a few chili leaves. But Yu Xiaolian couldn’t spare any concern for the chili seedlings; the wind was too strong, and even the oil-paper umbrella she was holding felt like it was going to be snatched away.

Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya quickly ran into the room, closed the door, and folded their oil-paper umbrellas, leaning them against the door.

Even though it only took two or three minutes to run from the front, both of their clothes inevitably got wet.

Yu Xiaolian changed into a set of pajamas herself and found a set of her clothes for Zhao Erya, telling her to change out of her wet clothes.

Zhao Erya pushed the clothes back, "I don’t need to change; only one shoulder got wet."

Yu Xiaolian started to forcibly strip Zhao Erya’s clothes, "You must change; it’s uncomfortable being damp."

Zhao Erya stepped back, her face turning red, "Honestly, I’ve got my period, so I won’t change..."

Yu Xiaolian paused, suddenly remembering Zhao Erya was two years older than her, now thirteen.

Yu Xiaolian asked, "When did it start?"

Zhao Erya replied with a flushed face, "Last night..."

"Oh my," Yu Xiaolian exclaimed, "Why didn’t you tell me? You shouldn’t be working during your period. Straining yourself or getting cold is no good. From now on, when you’re on your period, just rest in the house; you don’t have to do any chores."

Zhao Erya protested, "How could that work? There are so many chores at home; there are clothes to wash every day, firewood to chop. If you don’t let me work, how can that be?"

Yu Xiaolian pushed Zhao Erya onto the bed and handed her pajamas, "Change into these clothes first!"

Zhao Erya awkwardly changed into Yu Xiaolian’s pajamas. As she turned back, she held two packs of sanitary towels in her hands.

"You’ve been using plant ash-made menstrual cloth, right? You shouldn’t use that anymore. Use this. It’s clean, hygienic, and convenient."

Blushing, Zhao Erya said, "I’d better save these for you..."

"When I tell you to use them, you use them. Why do you have so much to say?

Also, I’ve neglected the fact that there’re many people in our family. It’s too exhausting for you to wash clothes for the whole household alone. After some time, I’ll hire two strong servant women to do those heavy chores. In the future, you’ll just help me with things at Taotao Residence."

Upon hearing she wouldn’t be working, Zhao Erya panicked. She always believed she earned her keep through labor, and besides, she didn’t think washing clothes was tiring work. Back at home, she used to wash clothes for a large family, much more than this.

After washing clothes, she had to go out to chop pig grass and dig wild vegetables, working nonstop throughout the day, without even getting to eat proper meals in the evening.

Recalling what she had just said, Zhao Erya was anxious, wanting to slap her own mouth. Upon reflection, didn’t the words she said earlier sound exactly like a complaint?

But that wasn’t what she meant; she meant that if she takes a break, no one would do the chores, so she shouldn’t, and doesn’t need to take a break.