After shopping, Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zhengāan went to Uncle Huangās house. Huang Amu, who opened the door,was both happy and worried when he saw it was them.
āHuang Amu, Uncle Huang.āZhong Ziqi greeted them with a calm face, as if nothing had happened.
āQi Geāerā¦ā Huang Amu looked at him with a desire to say something.
Zhong Ziqi knew he couldnāt hide it from them: āYouāve heard about that matter, right?ā
āAlready know! ā Uncle Huang sighed, the whole pier was noisy and tumultuous with the news, most of them were ārejoice in other peopleās misfortuneā, only few were regretful.
āQi Geāer, this Chang Shun restaurant is not a good place to mess with, it has the backing of the magistrate. We,as ordinary people, canāt afford to mess with them. If you canātājust sell the recipes!ā Huang Amu said worriedly.
Zhong Ziqiās heart was warmed, knowing that these old couple were genuinely looking out for him.The old couple, who had only had one son all their lives. This son had been drafted into the army the years before. Now almost three years have passed.The first two years, he would write to them, but this year, they didnāt receive a single letter, which made them very anxious, but they couldnāt do anything about it. The appearance of Zhong Ziqi and his friends diverted their attention. The four energetic figures gave them something to look forward to. Their hearts were full of love.The worries about their son were also diluted.
āAmu, Uncle, donāt you guys worry, Iāve already put the recipe āsold.ā Zhong Ziqi said plainly, but it startled those who were listening.
āSold it? Who did you sell it to?ā Huang Amu and Uncle Huang froze.
āSold it to Jin Hua Restaurant.ā
āJin Hua ā¦ this ā¦ Qi Geāer, although Jin Hua is good, but, thisā¦in case, what if Chang Shun comes looking for trouble?ā Uncle Huang frowned and asked.
Zhong Ziqi smiled a nice smile, āJin Hua promised to help me settle the matter with Chang Shun, so, now you can put your hearts into your stomach!ā
āHey ā¦ā¦ thatās good! .āĀ The worry on Huang Amuās face immediately disappeared. Jin Hua restaurant in their hearts was on very high status, very powerful.The fact that Jin Hua has been in business for so many years and no one dares to get into trouble is a testament to this.
āThat is also good, what are your plans for the future, Qi Geāer?ā Uncle Huang asked.
āI havenāt thought about it yet.ā Zhong Ziqi replied honestly, āI came to tell you that Iām not going to rent the booth for some time until Iāve decided what to do.ā
āOkay, then you ā come and visit us if you have nothing to do.ā Huang Amu said reluctantly. It seemed like there was only this little bond between them.
āI will, I wonāt forget Uncle Huang and Huang Amuās help.ā They were the only people who were strangers to each other yet still willing to help him so he would not be ingratitude.
When he came out of Huang Amuās house, he took away all the miscellaneous things that belonged to him, although it was heavy on his back, but Zhong Ziqi felt a lot more relaxed, mentally and spiritually. He had been mentally tense for half a month. Now he finally could rest a little.
āThis Fu Lang, buy some chicken!ā
Zhong Ziqiās confused emotions were brought back to life by a greeting. It turned out that he had come to a place where chickens, ducks and geese were sold. There were the live ones,the dead ones, the big ones, and also little chicks which just broke out from their shells, fluffy, huddled together, chattering, and super cute.
Zhao Zhengāan was already squatting there watching with great interest, occasionally reaching out to touch and scare away a large group, amusing him, making him keep giggling.
āHow much for one?ā Zhong Ziqi asked.
Zhao Zhengāanās eyes glowed as he looked at him, Zhong Ziqi noticed that whenever he was happy, his eyes would light up like two big bulbs, so that one could not help but be attracted to them.
Although he has little experience in farming, he can learn, right? In this day and age, eggs are very expensive, so he might as well raise the chicken himself.
If the chickens live, they eat eggs, if they die, they eat chicken meat. Itās worth it, anyway, moreover chickens are easy to raise.
You can throw some grass at it every day and it will grow big in a flash =_=.
āSmaller ones cost 2 wen each, bigger ones cost 3 wen each, which one do you want?ā
Of course Zhong Ziqi wanted to buy a bigger one, the smaller ones hadnāt broken from their shells long ago and were not strong enough.It would be a pity if he,as a novice, caused the smaller chickens to die so the bigger one would be betterā one that can withstand being toss from side to side.
āBig brother, I want to buy a big one, can you give me a cheaper price?ā
āThis is really a super low price.ā The big brother selling the chicken also said with difficulty.
When Zhong Ziqi saw that there was a chance, he bargained with him.In the end,he successfully bargained with him for the price of 5 wen for two chickens. He finally bought ten chickens, eight hens and two roosters, as well as a small nest made of straw.
Zhao Zhengāan was carrying a lot of things on his back,yet he was snatching it from him to hold the nest with ten chicks in his hands, with a foolish smile on his face. It was clear that he was happy and not afraid of being tired.
āZhengāan, the chick will be taken care of by you to serve, okay?ā When Zhong Ziqi saw that Zhao Zhengāan liked it, teasing him.
Zhao Zhengāan nodded his head with a serious face: āWhat do they eat?ā
āThey eat grass, and worms.ā
Zhao Zhengāan nodded while he had taken note of it in his heart, thinking that in the future, if the hens laid eggs, he would give all to his wife to eat.
When they got out of the city gate, they found Uncle Zhao. They immediately put their things there before they jumped into the carriage. Zhao Er Shu didnāt ask them what they were doing, he just said, āSit tight!ā Then they set off with the carriage and walked away.
When they arrived at the village, Zhong Ziqi handed the money to Zhao Er Shu and went home with Zhao Zhengāan.
When they opened the door, Da Hei and Xiao Hei, who were playing in the yard, immediately ran over and barked happily. They were already familiar with each other in the past few days, and were not being overcautious anymore,the dogs were very enthusiastic so they would toss from side to side.
Zhong Ziqi smiled helplessly, he had forgotten that there were two of them at home, so he had to put a fence around it as soon as possible, otherwise the chicken would be eaten by the dogs before they grew up.
He put the nest with the chickens on a chair, unloaded the bamboo basket on his back to take out the spices, pots, pans, bowls, ladles, pots, etc, inside to the kitchen cupboard, all in a good order.
After this, Zhong Ziqi asked Zhao Zhengāan to stay home to watch the house while he went to Zhao Amuās house.
Zhao Amu had obviously heard the news from Zhao Ning and Zhao Sheng. He was thinking of going to Zhong Ziqiās house at noon to ask about his plans, but neither of them was home.
Zhong Ziqi already came here so he did not hide the situation, said: āI just went to sell the recipe to Jin Hua, the largest restaurant in town, they promised me to take care of this,so you do not have to worry.ā Then he paused for a moment: āZhao Amu, from today onwards, donāt take any more vegetables, Iāll take the rest home.ā
The three of them (mother and sons) were clearly still in shock,so they had not yet recovered. It was Zhao Bao Gen who said in a muffled voice: āCome back, and get down to farming! ā
Zhao Baogen, as an honest farmer, had no great ambition, no great ability, and had never left for another town beside Qing Shui town in his life. He had only felt that farming was the safest and most comforting thing in his life.
Zhong Ziqi did not retort, just said he will think about it. He had thought about farming but one of his future plans was to become a big landlord, buy a lot of land and rent it out to others, how carefree!
But it was still early, so it was time to push on while the momentum was there.
After a long talk at Zhao Amuās house, Zhong Ziqi went home. When he reached the center of the village, he turned his feet as he went to his familyās field. He had been so busy for so long that he had forgotten about how it was.Following the memory of the last time,he walked to the land that belonged to their family, where the rice was already very high. It would probably be harvested in a monthās time.
In her last life, Zhong Ziqi was a true city man to the core.Apart from his written knowledge and the school trip to the countryside experience when he was at school, he had never really been exposed to farming, but one thing he knew was that it would be very tiring.
When he got home, Zhao Zhengāan was feeding the chicks with grass but the chicks ?? didnāt give a damn about him, yet he didnāt get impatient and still tried to get their attention. (Tl: lol ???)
Zhong Ziqi watched for a while, suddenly he realized that Zhao Zhengāan was really attentive unlike other men who were carelessly and haphazardly negligent.
Whenever he was unhappy, he would be the first to notice, when he ate little, he would give himself a bowl full of dishes, when he is tired after work hard, he would snatch work from him to do, just for his own good.
It seemed like the best, a normal person could do, right?