Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 52

The next morning, Shopkeeper Ding came with a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.

Shopkeeper Ding introduced, "Miss Zhong, this is Master Liu from the academy. I invited him to help us draft the agreement."

Zhong Ruyi nodded and called out "Master Liu". This Master Liu felt that his knowledge had reached the peak after he passed the examination for the title of Scholar. He thought that he would not be able to pass the examination for the title of Juren, so he never thought of taking the examination. He stayed in the town's academy to teach. His knowledge was just enough to educate these children.

The paper and pen were brought by Shopkeeper Ding, as Zhong Ruyi's shop did not have these things. Master Liu took the paper and pen and began to write the agreement. Zhong Ruyi and Shopkeeper Ding stood on each side and watched him write.

I quickly wrote one copy and gave it to two people to review. After confirming that there were no problems, I started writing the second copy.

After the two agreements were written, Manager Ding took out a seal from his bosom, stamped it with ink and then stamped it on the agreements. After both agreements were stamped, he handed them to Zhong Ruyi.

Zhong Ruyi took it and looked at it. Oh! The words engraved on the seal were: Manxianglou, and the small words next to it were: Xiangmantianxia. It was pretty good, but unfortunately she didn't have a seal, so she could only use her finger to print it.

After both of them had stamped their documents, Zhong Ruyi stretched out her hand. Shopkeeper Ding didn't understand what this action meant, but when he saw her stretching out her hand, he also stretched out his hand. Then his hand was grasped by Zhong Ruyi. Shopkeeper Ding was startled and almost shouted "molestation". After barely calming down, he saw Zhong Ruyi holding his hand, shaking it and saying "pleased to work with you".

A drop of sweat broke out on Shopkeeper Ding's forehead. It turned out that this was what Miss Zhong meant by this handshake. He was shocked, but fortunately he did not lose his composure.

Zhong Ruyi warmly invited Manager Ding and Master Liu to stay for dinner, but they both declined. It was only morning and there would be a long time before lunch.

"You can come over at lunch time or dinner time, Manager Ding, and try my cooking." Zhong Ruyi gave a meaningful smile.

When Shopkeeper Ding saw her smile, he felt that he would really miss something if he didn't come. After thinking about it, he said, "Then let's wait until evening, when I get off work." After saying that, he looked at Master Liu, who shook his head to indicate that he would not come.

Zhong Ruyi nodded: "Then I will wait in the store for Manager Ding to come."

Zhong Ruyi saw the two off. There was still half a pot of braised peanuts left from last night. She divided it into two portions, giving one to Shopkeeper Ding and one to Master Liu. Master Liu felt embarrassed to accept such a small favor, and his face flushed a little.

Zhong Ruyi didn't care about that and kept stuffing it into his hands. Master Liu had no choice but to accept it. On the contrary, Shopkeeper Ding at the side accepted it with a clear conscience and said, "Master Liu, if you don't want it, just give it all to me."

When the two of them left, Manager Ding tried to fool Master Liu, "Master Liu, these are just ordinary boiled peanuts. They are not very delicious. If you don't like them, you can give them to me and I will eat them for you."

Master Liu said sternly, "How can I give something given by others to others?"

Shopkeeper Ding was not annoyed when he was rejected. He thought to himself, he didn't know what delicious food Miss Zhong would prepare to treat him tonight. He worked in a restaurant and he had eaten all the dishes there. There was nothing new. He just hoped that Miss Zhong would not hide anything good.

Zhong Ruyi turned back to the store, and found a man standing at the door - Chen Dongzhi. What was he doing here? Zhong Ruyi walked up to him and called him "Brother Dongzhi". Coincidentally, Aunt Chen next door opened the store at this time. When she opened the door, she saw two people standing at the door. When she saw her open the door, they both looked over.

Aunt Chen was surprised: "What are you two doing standing here so early in the morning? Have you had breakfast?"

"I've eaten, auntie. Have you eaten?" Zhong Ruyi said with a smile, and then looked back at Chen Dongzhi, "I just happened to come out to take a look, and happened to meet Brother Dongzhi."

The two of them talked for a few words, and Zhong Ruyi said that she had to go in to work and they would talk again next time when they were free. When Chen Dongzhi saw her go in, he followed her in, leaving Aunt Chen with a thoughtful look on her face. She seemed to remember where she had seen this young man before.

Just after entering the store, Zhong's mother and the others were still busy in the yard. Chen Dongzhi followed behind her. Zhong Ruyi asked casually, "Brother Dongzhi, why didn't you come with my third brother?"

Chen Dongzhi pursed his lips and said, "I have something to tell you. It's about your third brother."

Seeing Zhong Ruyi stopped, he whispered, "I went hunting in the mountains with your third brother a few days ago. On the way back, I met a girl who said she sprained her ankle."

Zhong Ruyi stopped and looked at him, motioning for him to continue.

"The girl said her family lived in the neighboring Yangliu Village and asked if we could take her back. Your third brother said she looked about your age and it was pitiful that she couldn't go home after spraining her ankle, so we should take her back. When we arrived at the girl's door, her parents just came out and asked us our names and said they would visit us some other day to thank us."

Chen Dongzhi spoke for a long time, took a sip of the tea cup that Zhong Ruyi gave him, and continued, "From that day on, the girl came to your third brother from time to time, asking about your eldest sister-in-law's current braised food business. I told your third brother that the girl had ulterior motives, but he didn't believe it."

"Your third brother thought that girl was a good person. After he heard me say that the girl had ulterior motives, he and I stopped interacting. I heard from my mother that he wanted your mother to go to the girl's house to propose marriage, but he gave up because your mother happened to be in town. He just said that he would go to propose marriage when your mother came back."

Zhong Ruyi didn't expect that her third brother would make such a big splash and suddenly have a girl he likes. However, the more she listened to Chen Dongzhi's words, the more solemn her expression became.

"Brother Dongzhi, thank you for telling me these things. I will pay more attention to my third brother's movements and will also convey this matter to my parents." Zhong Ruyi thanked Chen Dongzhi solemnly. If the girl her third brother liked really came with ulterior motives, then she should be thankful for what Chen Dongzhi said today.

Chen Dongzhi shook his head. Zhong Laosan went up the mountain with him during those days, and he would meet the girl every time he reached the foot of the mountain.

After doing this many times, he knew that this was definitely not the coincidence that the girl said. He also kept hearing her asking about the braised food that Mrs. Zhong was currently doing and the business of Second Brother Zhong, the town's guardian. Chen Dongzhi understood in his heart that this girl came for the Zhong family's livelihood.

Just think about it and you will know that the pot of braised food sold by Mrs. Zhong every day is not only bought by people from this village, but also by people from neighboring villages.

Everyone said that this dirty pig offal became so delicious after being handled by the Zhong family. Mrs. Zhong sold a pot a day, but it was often not enough.

Sometimes people from the village would go to the town to buy things and pass by Zhongji. They would see a long line of people at the door and think that the business was booming. When they went back and told the villagers about it, everyone was envious.

Before, Zhong Laosan had met several girls, but they were all rejected in the end. Now, those who rejected Zhong Laosan are regretting it very much.