“Not angry wife”
Cheng Yun brought Cheng Baoe’r into the living room. During this period of time, he would recall the memories of his original self. By now, he could remember many things clearly.
He knew that Cheng Bao’er was a timid person, and in the past, Cheng Yun had always been the one supporting him in the family. With their mother, who loved to educate people, and Cheng Chuan, their father, who loved to meddle, Cheng Bao’er, as the youngest in the family, was always at home and seldom spoke up.
The idea of having Cheng Bao’er sell sour plum soup in town was twofold: first, to make some money to improve the Cheng family’s living conditions, and second, to make him more independent by exposing him to more people outside the family.
“Have you had breakfast?” Cheng Yun poured a glass of water for Cheng Bao’er and asked. Seeing him nod, he continued, “Did Mom tell you why you’re here today?”
“Mom said you’re going to teach me how to make soup that we can sell in town for money,” Cheng Bao’er answered in a low voice. “Brother, what soup is that? Can we really make money from it? Mom also said, also said…”
“What did she say? That I earned a lot of money at Yueqiong Tower?” Cheng Yun smiled and said, “Yes, the owner of Yueqiong Tower, whom you also know, is Liu Wen, the son of Doctor Liu in our village. I first went to see Doctor Liu and asked him to introduce me to Liu Wen. Later, we worked out a deal.”
Cheng Yun briefly told Cheng Bao’er about his cooperation with Liu Wen, and Cheng Bao’er listened with great interest. His eyes were sparkling, and even the way he looked at Cheng Yun was different.
Cheng Yun had a preliminary idea in mind. He would take the lead in this matter, but Cheng Bao’er and his family would handle the subsequent transactions. The money they earned would also be theirs to keep. Since it was not appropriate to give money to them directly, he thought it was better to show them a clear path to earn money.
He took out the sour plum soup he had made yesterday, scooped a few cups, and let Cheng Bao’er taste it for himself. Then, he carried two cups to the front yard.
Before entering the room earlier, Cheng Yun had been thinking about Yang Hongjin. He had deliberately spoken those words, yesterday he was embarrassed in front of Wang Liang and he couldn’t let the same thing happen in front of Cheng Bao’er today, or else where would he put his face as the big brother?
But as soon as he finished speaking, he regretted it a bit. He had never used such harsh words to speak to Yang Hongjin since coming here. Although the fool didn’t know any better, he was sensitive and could keep his displeasure buried in his heart.
However, when Cheng Yun walked into the front yard, he was surprised to see that the two men were still working with their heads down, seemingly unaffected by what had just happened. This turn of events was unexpected for Cheng Yun.
“Ahem.” Cheng Yun coughed a couple of times, pretending to clear his throat, and the two men working in front of him turned their heads at the same time.
“I’ve poured you a cup of sour plum soup, it’s right here. Remember to drink it if you get thirsty later.”
Cheng Yun spoke while looking towards Yang Hongjin, and the fool’s face showed no difference. When he saw Cheng Yun, his eyes still shone brightly, and he sweetly called out “wife”, which made Cheng Yun, who was already prepared to coax him, feel a bit sad.
Cheng Yun touched Yang Hongjin’s head and saw him enjoying himself, helplessly laughing and shaking his head while pinching his face. He asked Wang Liang to bring the sour plum soup inside as he wanted to talk privately with Yang Hongjin.
Cheng Yun felt that any conflicts should be resolved first and not buried in his heart to become a bigger problem. He didn’t know what this fool was thinking during the incident just now, but he still couldn’t get over it. He was afraid that Yang Hongjin would think that he disliked or didn’t like him.
He held Yang Hongjin’s hand and sat down, unconsciously squeezing his big hand with both hands. After thinking for a while, he said, “I scolded you so loudly just now, are you angry with me?”
Yang Hongjin’s hand was being held by his wife, and he felt a tickling sensation in his palm and his heart. When he heard Cheng Yun’s question, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum.
Cheng Yun squeezed his hand again and asked, “Really? You’re not angry?” He thought for a moment and explained, “Bao’er is my younger brother. You met him before when he got married. He’s not a stranger, so I just wanted you not to be too nervous…”
“Not angry, wife is good.” Yang Hongjin squeezed his wife’s palms and wrapped his hands around his hands. Looking at their hands overlapping, he smiled happily.
Cheng Yun looked at Yang Hongjin’s expression seriously and felt that he seemed to be telling the truth. He finally felt relieved. Then he found out that this fool was secretly playing with his hand.
Cheng Yun was almost amused by his own worries. He couldn’t believe that this fool was so easy-going. He was so angry that he raised his hand and bit Yang Hongjin’s hand, and then he saw that Yang Hongjin’s face, which was just happy a moment ago, suddenly became panicked as he reached out to touch Cheng Yun’s stomach and nervously asked, “Wife, does your stomach hurt?”
Cheng Yun took a few seconds to realize what he meant and felt both warm and helpless in his heart. He touched his head and said, “It doesn’t hurt.”
“But I haven’t washed my hands,” Yang Hongjin was still worried.
Cheng Yun smiled and fooled him, “But I haven’t put anything in my mouth.” After saying that, he stood up, patted Yang Hongjin’s head, and let him continue working obediently.
Yang Hongjin sat there watching Cheng Yun’s back, leaving a thoughtful look on his face.
Cheng Yun walked into the room and saw Wang Liang and Cheng Bao’er sitting on one side of the table, facing each other and silently drinking sour plum soup. Wang Liang occasionally stole a glance at Cheng Bao’er, who remained motionless and maintained a pose as if frozen in time.
Cheng Bao’er was the first to notice Cheng Yun’s arrival, and upon seeing a familiar face, he breathed a sigh of relief and put down his cup of sour plum soup, calling out “big brother.”
Wang Liang followed suit, putting down his cup and shouting “big brother” as well. When Cheng Bao’er turned his head to look at him, he immediately blushed as realized his mistake and scratched his head, saying, “Oops, my bad, it’s Cheng-Ge’er.”
Cheng Yun chuckled and sat down between them, asking Cheng Bao’er, “How do you like this drink?”
Cheng Bao’er’s eyes lit up, momentarily forgetting about Wang Liang as he replied, “It’s really good!” But then he shrunk his head and whispered, “But, but can we really sell this in town?”
“Definitely!” Wang Liang quickly responded upon hearing his doubts. However, the other two looked at him, and he awkwardly closed his mouth.
Cheng Yun gave Cheng Bao’er a positive answer, “I will talk to Boss Liu about this. When the time comes, I will let you sell sour plum soup directly at Yueqiong Tower. I have already figured out the plan: one cup of sour plum soup sells for two wen, and for every cup sold, you will give one wen to Yueqiong Tower. This means you are just borrowing their place, and we will make the goods. It won’t affect their business.”
“A cup of sour plum soup can sell for two wen?!” Cheng Bao’er was surprised upon hearing this, but he remembered his mother telling him that his elder brother earned fifty taels of silver by selling recipe books. He didn’t know what fifty taels of silver meant, but he knew it was a lot of money. With this in mind, he felt that selling a cup of sour plum soup for two wen was not impossible.
“Yes, that’s the preliminary plan,” Cheng Yun said. “But we will need to discuss the pricing details with Boss Liu later. Now let me teach you how to make it. Once you have mastered the technique, you can make it at home and sell it without going through me.”
He then turned to Wang Liang and said, “And you, Xia’er (second child), come and learn with us. You can teach your sister how to make it when you go back, so she can drink it whenever she wants.”
Wang Liang nodded happily and couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Cheng Bao’er, before quickly looking away again.
There was no time to waste, and Cheng Yun immediately began teaching them how to make the sour plum soup. He first separated half of the ingredients they used at home yesterday and taught them the steps to make it. After they had memorized the process, they started making a demonstration.
“If the ingredients are soaked for a long time, you can reduce the boiling time. If they are soaked for a short time, you need to boil them for a longer time to bring out the flavor,” Cheng Yun said while adding the ingredients. “So it’s best to soak the ingredients the night before and cook them the next day, but you have to cool it down afterwards and you have to know when the right time to do so is.”
Cheng Bao’er watched carefully as Cheng Yun worked, silently repeating each step to himself and occasionally asking a few questions.
On the other hand, Wang Liang seemed distracted compared Cheng Bao’er.
He watched Cheng Yun work, but couldn’t help sneaking glances at Cheng Bao’er, who was diligently learning how to make the sour plum soup. His eyes were drawn to the boy’s murmured words.
Somehow, an idea popped into Wang Liang’s mind. He just felt that Cheng Yuner’s little brother is really, really…
A person who loves to learn!
Author’s note:
Wang Liang: The pain of having a limited vocabulary, I hate it!
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