CH 86

Zhulan and the others went back to the main room once Grandma Xu and Eldest Zhou went far away. She also had a lot of snow on her body. She changed her clothes and washed her hands. She took the cooked chicken soup to see Zhao shi.

Zhulan estimated the time, and it was getting dark. Zhao shi gave birth smoothly in about two hours. She was now lying down to watch the baby without rest. Zhulan said: “The Second child feed your wife the chicken soup first so that she can rest a bit.”

Second Zhou took the bowl, “Mother, you’ve been tired all afternoon, I’m here. Mother, you go back and rest first!”

Zhulan was not tired physically but mentally. She had been worrying the whole time. Sitting on the side and looking at the sleeping child she gestured, “I will wait until your wife finishes drinking the chicken soup.”

Zhao shi’s mouth was always smiling, and her heart was completely at ease after giving birth to her son. Her daughter will have a brother to rely on in the future. If she had a brother, then her mother couldn’t have been sold, and people plotting against her had to think twice. Ultimately, survival was incredibly challenging for women.

Zhulan waited for Zhao shi to drink the soup and said to her Second son: “Look at your wife, Yushuang will live with her gūgū, (1) and let’s wait for your father to return to name the child.”

Zhou’s second son was stunned for a while, “Yun, Teng, Zhiyu just follow the names of his elder brothers.” (2)

Zhulan said, “Isn’t it the same sound as Changzhi, and the rain is not in season, so let’s wait for your father to come back to name the child!”

Second Zhou did not oppose anymore, “Mother, please go and take a rest. I will take care of her and the child tonight.”

In Zhulan’s memories, it was also the second son who took care of Zhao Shi when she gave birth to their first child. She couldn’t help but admire her husband for being so caring towards his wife. Zhulan didn’t want to show off her capabilities, so she simply said, “Alright, I’ll leave it to you then.”

Zhulan returned to the main room only to remember that Li Shi said that she made sausages that were better than Wang Ru’s. So she sat up and put on her shoes and went to the Eldest’s room, “Li Shi. “

Li shi trembled and thought that Mother had come to settle the score. “Mother, I was wrong. I won’t be so jumpy in the future.”

Zhulan snorted and said, “Don’t just talk, take action. Thankfully, Zhao Shi’s due date fell within these days. Otherwise, there could have been a danger. If anything happened to Zhao Shi and the baby, let’s see if Changyi would spare you. Tomorrow, you’ll personally buy a hen and four pig trotters out of your own pocket and apologize to your siblings.”

Li shi wanted to say why, wasn’t Zhao shi and the child all right? But she closed her mouth when she met her mother-in-law’s gaze, “Mom, I understand.”

Every time she said a word, her heart throbbed, it cost her money!

Only then did Zhulan say, “Give me a taste of the sausage.”

Li Shi didn’t dare to sneak a bite and placed the homemade sausages aside after tasting them. She replied, “They’re in the kitchen.”

During these days, Li Shi somehow managed to get hold of some sausages from Wang Ru’s family and had already replicated them. However, the profit margin for sausages was higher compared to simple dishes like kimchi. The stakes were lower for dishes without significant profit, and nobody would inquire much about them. But with the sausage recipe being different, it involved larger financial interests and potential complications.

Selling the original recipe was something that Li shi couldn’t afford to do and neither could her family as they didn’t have the background. If it touched the interests of those in power, it was possible to really frame her to steal the recipe and kill her. The sausage made with the original recipe can only be eaten at home. Li shi had worked hard to research new ones and was so devoted to making them, that she didn’t even look at the excitement in the village.

Zhulan’s eyes lit up after breaking off a piece of it and eating it. It was indeed more delicious than the sausage sold by Wang Ru. It tasted more mellow and tasted better. “Not bad.”

Li shi smiled brightly, the new recipe was money.

Zhulan’s mood became complicated. Wang Ru already had reservations about Li Shi, and for the sake of her future development, there was a possibility that Wang Ru would take drastic measures. It would be better for them to maintain a low profile until their family had enough resources. Li Shi’s capabilities were indeed commendable, but they also made her a person to be wary of. If her abilities were exposed, she would either face death or lose her freedom. However, Li Shi also needed encouragement. “You did well. We’ll discuss it further when your father returns,” Zhulan said.

Li Shi was aware that she wasn’t particularly clever in anything other than cooking. However, she felt that she deserved a reward. “Mother, we also have some sausages stored at home. Can we take out a portion of the early batch to enjoy?” she suggested.

Zhulan felt happy with the addition of a grandson. “Alright, tonight we’ll slice up two plates of sausages, have the leftover pancakes from lunch, and make some corn porridge. That should be enough,”

Li shi said: “Ok, Mother.”

Zhulan came out of the kitchen, the snowfall gradually stopped, and Zhulan was relieved that there was no snow disaster.

Li shi stopped making sausages at home and started to go around the village again, bringing back gossip from Wang Ru’s house, and Wang Ru made new sausages again.

Zhulan counted the flavors and realized that in less than a month, Wang Ru had successfully replicated the modern flavors. This demonstrated the ruthless pursuit of profit by the merchant class, leaving behind any sense of gratitude for saving their lives. The surname Shi was squeezing Wang Ru for all he could. As for whether Wang Ru was aware of it, Zhulan believed that Wang Ru had a clear understanding, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it.

Wang Ru sighed with regret. If she had known that Shi Qing had such malicious intent, she would have rather sold her recipe directly instead of asking Shi Qing for a 20% stake in the profits. She had naively believed that Shi Qing wouldn’t betray her, considering the debt of gratitude she owed.

She had forgotten the plot of the novel, but she had some impressions of some characters. The Shi family belonged to the imperial merchants, with a rich family background and a wide network of connections. Shi Qing was shu-born,(3) but also the only son, and had already taken over part of the family property.

She couldn’t believe that Shi Qing only gave her fifty taels of silver for her sausage recipe in a month. It was clear that Shi Qing was treating her like an ignorant village girl. She realized that if she couldn’t come up with new recipes, Shi Qing might easily kick her out and she would lose all the future profits from the partnership. She started to worry about the situation and understood that selling her recipes directly for a few hundred taels would have been a much better decision.

T/N I was on a short holiday so couldn’t post for the last few days. Hopefully will try to post two chapters a day till I catch up on all the pending chapters.

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