Chapter 376: Chapter 363: Brother, I Understand You

He was planning in his heart to celebrate with a glass of wine at dinner.

“Right.” Chu Jinnian suddenly pulled the reins to slow down, “Send a message to Jinzhou, telling him I’ll celebrate the fifteenth of August with him.”

“Yes, sir.” Jing Zhao nodded vigorously, “I will carry out your orders immediately.”

Then he frowned, “But I’m afraid the Fourth Prince will complain again, saying that the elder son always disappears during festivals, he doesn’t even show up at the palace banquet…”

“Isn’t he used to this after all these years?” Chu Jinnian dismissed the idea.

Jing Zhao was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, ever since Chu Jinzhou was settled in Qingzhuyuan, Chu Jinnian would always spend the festivals with him, not even the emperor’s decree could stop him, let alone the nagging of the Fourth Prince?

There’s no denying that the elder son had a great deal of affection for his younger brother, the third son.

This was utterly envy-inducing.

Elder son, do you need any more brothers?

Perhaps the kind that can devour five bowls of food in one sitting…

Zhuang Qingning had been to Miao Village several days in a row.

Each day she would leave at dawn and return late in the evening.

She had finally taught the techniques for making sweet potato glass noodles. She also managed to streamline some of the processes at the workshop. The first batch of sweet potato glass noodles came out from the workshop.

There weren’t any significant issues regarding the craft, the rest was a matter of refining the processes and getting used to the work.

These things could only be left to time.

Zhuang Qingning and Miao Hongjin agreed that she would check in on the workshop every half a month. If there were any emergencies, they would call her.

Zhuang Qingning had given her all to the workshop these past few days, even losing sleep. Miao Hongjin noticed this and asked her to rest for a few days. He would watch over things at the workshop.

When she was about to leave, Miao Hongjin insisted on giving her almost half of the freshly made glass noodles from the workshop.

Part of this was for the spicy soup stall she had in town, while the other part was a special gift for Zhuang Qingning herself.

“There aren’t many fine things in the village that we can offer Miss Zhuang. The only thing we are proud of right now is these sweet potato glass noodles. You can choose to cither taste it yourself or give it to someone else,” Miao Hongjin said with a smile. “This is also what everyone agreed on. You need not feel embarrassed. In fact, everyone felt that we should give you more, as you are very deserving of it. In the end, I convinced them otherwise because without a baseline comparison, we wouldn’t know if our current product is up to standard.”

Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but laugh at his words.

The folks in Miao Village were honest and kind-hearted, not the greedy type at least.

“Then I’ll accept your kindness. I’ll leave the workshop in your hands from now on,” Zhuang Qingning said after agreeing to Miao Hongjin’s offer.

Zhuang Qingning also gave some pointers about important things in the workshop, such as only using good quality sweet potatoes to make the starch, to ensure the best taste and texture.

The storage must also be taken care of. The sweet potato glass noodles should be stored in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated place to prevent spoilage due to environmental influences.

After explaining these things in detail, Zhuang Qingning bid Miao Hongjin farewell, left Miao Village, and returned home with Shen Quan and Zhang Lin.

She mentioned to them that she would not go to Miao Village for a while, and the next time she goes would likely be after the fifteenth of August. Hence, they need not exert themselves to accompany her.

“I will go to town tomorrow to check on the stall. The spicy soup shop will be open in a few days, and from the eighth day onwards, whenever you guys are free, just go straight to town and have some spicy soup,” Zhuang Qingning said with a smile, “I’ll also pass on the Guokui recipe to Uncle Rong at the shop. You guys can try that too when it’s available.”

“Alright.” Shen Quan agreed immediately, promising to definitely eat a few bowls of the soup.

Zhang Lin, although happy about the spicy soup, the joy on his face couldn’t quite hide the disappointment in his eyes.

From now on, he wouldn’t know when Miss Zhuang would visit Miao Village, and it was unsure whether he would be asked to accompany her. If that were the case, there might not be any reason for him to come over…

Zhang Lin glanced towards the village.

Today, it seemed like Miss Zhou did not come to look for Miss Zhuang.

Should he go and check up on Miss Zhou? If he needed a reason…

He could just say that Master Ding asked him to check up?

That way, he could have some peace of mind?

While Zhang Lin was deep in thought, a bullock cart slowly drove by. The cart driver ‘yah’ed, and the cart stopped nearby.

“Little Sister Ning.” Zhuang Sifu jumped down from the cart and handed an oil-paper package to Zhuang Qingning, “Aunt Cao sent these buns that she dried, they’re filled with chives, egg, tofu, and river shrimp which are very fresh. Seeing that you haven’t had the chance to go to the shop lately, she asked me to bring some for you and Qingsui to taste.”

“Thank you, Brother Sifu.” Zhuang Qingning took the bundle, noticing a new washstand on his cart, she couldn’t help but joke, “Is this for Sister Zhou?”

There were only Zhuang Sifu and his father living in Zhuang Sifu’s home, so they naturally wouldn’t need such a refined item. It was clearly meant to be a gift for the Zhou family, and the only girl who could attract Zhuang Sifu’s attention was Zhou.

Zhuang Sifu’s face instantly turned red when Zhuang Qingning hit the nail, and he became a little awkward, “It’s not actually specially for Miss Zhou. She just mentioned that she wanted to buy a washstand, and asked me to look for it in the town. I thought this one was not bad, so I bought it.”

“But, I don’t think this item is for Miss Zhou, from what I heard, both Aunt Wen and Aunt Han are getting old with uncomfortable waists. They probably bought it for the two old ladies, as a way to respect and take care of them.”

Zhuang Sifu sat on the cart and smiled, “I’ll go deliver this item, then hurry back to prepare dinner for my father.”

“Okay, Brother Sifu, you go ahead,” said Zhuang Qingning with a smile.

“Miss Zhuang, you can go ahead, we’ll be on our way too,” Zhang Lin said. The forced smile on his face carried a hint of bitterness. Afraid that Zhuang Qingning would notice, he quickly lowered his head, jumped onto the carriage, whipped the horses, and headed out of the village.

The carriage wheels squeaked and turned, and Zhang Lin’s heart ached like it had been scratched by a cat.

Shen Quan patted Zhang Lin’s shoulder, exhaling deeply, displaying a demeanor of “Brother, I understand your predicament.”

Zhang Lin disdainfully removed Shen Quan’s hand from his shoulder, “You, as a dolt, who is dim-witted, understanding this?”

Why don’t they believe him?