Blissful Days After Widowhood

    The house in Jinyi Lane was cleaned a few years ago, and it just happened to be returned to the owner, Mrs. Xu.

    The clothes in the house are soft and the people who are used to it have been packed up and put on the donkey cart.

    After two raids by officials, the Wang's old house not only has no valuables, but the door and walls of the house are also damaged. Fortunately, it has been repaired, and overall there is no change.

    Gu Yin got out of the car first, and found that something was not right after reading it. The plaque at the door was changed - from Wang's house to Gu's house.

    The plaque is naturally not as good as when Shiweitian opened, Mr. Wen sent it well, but the material is also smooth and smooth, and the word is very familiar, it seems to be from the old man.

    When Mrs Wang saw her staring at the plaque, she smiled and said, "What's the matter, my family dare not recognize it?"

    When she said this, Gu Yin guessed that she did it.

    "Before the house was repaired, you didn't let me pay money, saying that it was your house, so you should spend money, isn't it just right now? I secretly asked Feng Carpenter to do it, and I also asked The old man's words are beautiful, aren't they?"

    "Going to my new home!" Gu Ye jumped down, "I'll choose a house first!"

      So Gu Yin didn't buy anything else, but only said to give each person a new bed.

    At that time, Gu Ye was unhappy after hearing the first one, and muttered, "I think the kang is very good."

    The kang is spacious, and the two little guys have been sleeping with Gu Yin before.

     After muttering, he himself blushed. Because according to Fan Jinsong and Xiaopang, they wouldn't sleep with their parents when they could talk. He was embarrassed to tell them that he was still sleeping with his mother. So he didn't mess around anymore.

    Since he knew that he was going to sleep by himself, Gu Ye thought that he must choose a room closest to his mother.

    After saying this, Wu An also hurriedly jumped out of the donkey cart, "Wait for me, I want to choose too!"

    Gu Ye deliberately teased him, and while speeding up his pace, he said, "First come, first served!"

    The two little guys ran to the front, Wang asked Gu Yin to take care of them, and she and Song Shiliu took the salute at the back.

    As soon as they entered the door, they saw an old man with white hair and beard. It was the loyal uncle who had served Mr. Wang earlier.

    Uncle Zhong is no longer crazy, he cleaned himself up properly, and when he saw Wang behind him, he quickly walked up to him and cried, "Miss is back, old slave... I can't stop you."

    "Uncle Zhong, is this all right?" Wang Shi was delighted at first, but felt wrong when he heard what he said, "What do you mean by that?"

    Gu Yin let them go first and then talk.

    When they arrived at the main house of the Wang family, everyone put their salutes aside first, Uncle Zhong tremblingly knelt down to Mrs. Wang, "The old man and the old lady passed away unexpectedly earlier, and the eldest master and the second master hurriedly separated. The old slave felt that something was wrong with the family property. I wanted to check it carefully, but I happened to hear the second master and the second wife talking, saying that I might know something, so why not send me on the road with the old master and the old lady. The old slave was afraid, I don’t dare to check again, I’ve been pretending to be crazy for all these years…”

    Uncle Zhong had a dignified expression on his face, "When the case came to light, the old servant knew that the eldest master and the second master had occupied the property belonging to the young lady. If it weren't for me being greedy for life and fear of death, the young lady would not have to suffer those hardships outside. A dying person like this old slave has no face to see the young lady again, but knowing that the young lady has taken the old house back again, the old slave wants to apologize to the young lady in person. Be a cow and a horse with the old lady."

    This involved too many secrets of the Wang family, so Gu Yin took her two children and Song Shiliu to choose a house.

    She or Mrs. Wang must live in the main house. In addition, there are two wing rooms in the yard, and one with a back cover for everyone to choose.

    "It's so big." Gu Ye and Wu An exclaimed in unison.

    The whole is divided into three parts, and the middle is the place where guests and tea are served. On the left is the study, and on the right is the bed. However, most of the things were gone, only a walking bed, an empty Bogu shelf, a set of Eight Immortals table and chairs and a large desk were left. The rest of the things were naturally searched by the officials.

    "Let's sleep in one room." The room was empty, and Wu An felt a little scared.

    Gu Ye nodded and said, and looked at his mother again.

    Gu Yin naturally agreed, agreeing to let them sleep in a bed first, and then send it over after the new year when her custom-made bed is ready. Anyway, the room was so empty, and the bed she made was in the style of later generations, not the kind of complicated stepping bed commonly used by big families in this era, and there was enough room in the room.

    Then it was Song Shiliu, she hurriedly waved her hand and said, "It's enough for the slave to sleep in the human room."

      Being a maid is different. If you do something wrong, you will be scolded and beaten at most... Of course, the wife is the kindest. Although the old lady has a loud voice, she is also kind. The two young masters even play with her, and no one has ever beaten or scolded her. So Song Shiliu became more and more determined to keep this iron rice bowl.

    Gu Yin not only persuaded her once, but now she is too lazy to say any more, she just smiles: "There must be a lower house, but of course it is not in this yard, there are five people in our family. , if I look for you, don’t I have to go to find you specifically? Or do you want me to buy another maid and let other maids find you again?”

    That won't work, Song Shiliu only wanted to be Gu Ye's maid, but later on, she wanted to be the first maid in the family!

    "Then I will go to bed and cover the room, and it is convenient for the masters to find me."

    She hurriedly carried her small baggage to the back room to settle.

    "Slave for a while, mine for a while, she's fine..." Gu Ye sighed, seeing his mother's disapproving eyes, changed his mouth again, and said dryly: "She It's so confusing."

    Gu Yin helped the two children to put them back together, and after a while Wang Shi came back with red eyes.

    "Is your mother okay?" Gu Yin handed her his handkerchief.

    Wang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and said, "It's okay, don't blame him. He has been a servant all his life, and he is sold in the hands of the Wang family, let alone he can't find it. The so-called evidence, even if there is evidence to sue the government, the slave suing the master is a serious crime. We all know the behavior of my two 'good' brothers, and there is nothing they dare not do for money. Uncle Zhong is afraid of them. It's normal."

    Speaking of this, Mrs Wang sighed again, "He pretended to be crazy, but when we came here for the first time, he heard my loud voice outside the wall in the firewood room, and he screamed. He escaped with his life, just to open the door for me, and it can be regarded as helping us."

    "And then?"

    "He has nowhere to go if he has no children. I will let him act as our concierge."

    Gu Yin put her arms around Wang Shi, "I just wanted to say that there are few people in my family, and it's lonely living in such a big house. It's better if there are many people to help look after Gu Menting."

    Speaking of which, Mrs Wang took out another key, saying it was the key to a hidden cellar in the house that Uncle Zhong gave her.

    The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the cellar to see, there were many sacks, and the sacks were full of rice.

    In that year, these savings can still be exchanged for a lot of money. Unfortunately, because the age is too old, although the cellar is still dry, the rice exudes a strong musty smell.

    What was left by the second old man, the two of them didn't move it and kept it as it was.

    At the back, Wang and Gu Yin also allocated accommodation, Gu Yin lived in the main house, and Wang lived in another wing. Uncle Zhong lived in the front yard penthouse.

    It was the afternoon after the work was done, and the family put a string of hanging whips at the door, adding a touch of Chinese New Year atmosphere to the new home.

    New Year's Eve dinner everyone eats together for heaven, Wang's old house... No, now it is Gu's house, the location of Gu's house is good, and it is less than a quarter of an hour away from food for heaven , and everyone went on their legs.

    Manager Zhou and Chef Xu went out to buy something in the afternoon, and the New Year's Eve dinner was ready.

    "This is my honor to Master along with the kitchen knife and chopping board." Chef Xu politely presented a wooden box.

    Gu Yin opened it and saw that there was a set of small and exquisite ceramic seasoning jars, whether it was placed on the stove or carried around, it was both convenient and beautiful.

     Chef Xu rubbed his hands together and said, "We can't afford a heavy gift, and Master won't accept it, just a little thought."

    "That's good." Gu Yin picked up the seasoning jar and rubbed it with satisfaction.

    Following, Chef Xu also gave a gift to the shopkeeper Zhou, with a pound and a tael of tea. There are also Wang Shi, Gu Ye, and Wu An who also received gifts. Although they are not expensive, they are all heartfelt gifts.

    Especially Song Shiliu, Chef Xu gave her a sea bowl just like himself. The bowl was wide and deep. It was said to be a bowl, but it was actually more like a small basin. Both became people who only ate one bowl.

    What the shopkeeper Zhou prepared for everyone was a staggeringly sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, not the ones that are usually eaten in the store, but all the good dishes he bought and cooked this afternoon. .

    Sixi **** with thick oil red sauce, one is as big as a child's fist, hooked with thick soup, bite down with gravy overflowing, full of meat fragrance; crispy roasted duck, color and luster Ruddy, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it is fat but not greasy, and there is no duck smell; Fushou elbow, rosy and oily, the meat is crispy and the bone is rotten, it is also fat but not greasy...

    Any dish, it won't lose its share in the current court, there are always a lot of tables, even Gu Yin can eat it, let alone others, Chef Xu and Song Shiliu ate two large bowls of rice by themselves. After eating, Wu An and Gu Ye directly leaned on their mother, unable to move. Uncle Zhong's tears came out, and he apologized and thanked Wang Shi and Gu Yin in unison.

    "It's delicious, it's really delicious." Chef Xu saw that everyone had put away chopsticks, and took two more steamed buns, while giving one to Song Shiliu, while scraping the rest with steamed buns Eat with the soup base.

     "It's delicious," Gu Ye burped, "I really want to eat it."

    "What do you want to do?" Gu Yin rubbed his stomach amusingly.

    This New Year's Eve dinner is not manpower, just the ingredients, at least seven or eight taels of silver.

    "Can't our family sell these?" Gu Ye counted his fingers and asked, "These can make a lot of money."

    There must be more than he can count by now.

    In fact, this is what Gu Yin thought. Like Shopkeeper Zhou, she aspires to be a master chef, but not a canteen master!

      Just like how shopkeeper Zhou made fermented bean curd before, that kind of kung fu must be practiced frequently, and if it is sparse again, I am afraid that the craftsmanship will decline.

    In addition, Chef Xu and his two apprentices really did their best to learn, especially kitchen knives and cutting boards, they are very talented, and they can make other home-cooked dishes in the store. Got it.

    Gu Yin is nothing more than herself, and she really felt sorry for others by letting him watch Shopkeeper Zhou's craftsmanship decline.

    After the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone sat together to keep the New Year's Eve.

    Because there are no entertainment activities, Gu Yin asked Wu An to borrow two storybooks from Wen's family, and read them to everyone at this time.

    Wu An already knows a lot of characters now, and the words are usually written in vernacular with thick lines, so he doesn't have any trouble reading them.

    Wang's favorite is to watch dramas, and it is also good to read obedient books without dramas. When everyone heard the excitement, Gu Yin called shopkeeper Zhou aside and discussed with him: "We will pay back the income this year. Yes, I can cut taxes next year and earn more. I wondered, should we also eat more carefully?"

    If it wasn't for the suppression of the two big restaurants when they opened, they should have many senior customers now.

    Now that the affordable food business has established a solid foundation, and there is no strong competitor of Mochizukilou, it is a good time to expand the scale.

    The shopkeeper Zhou nodded and said: "I want to mention this even if the owner doesn't say it. And I also inquired, the lease term of the shop next door is in the end of spring. The taxation of the imperial court is high, and the business is not good. The next door will be vacant soon. When the time comes, let's rent it, open a small door, and set up a single room for entertaining VIPs."

    The two of them agreed to wait until the end of the year to inquire about it first, and it is best to rent it in advance before it expires.

    After the discussion, Shopkeeper Zhou sat back, and Mrs Wang touched her with a smile on her face again, as if she had something to say to her in private.

    "Son, tomorrow is the New Year... This is the eighth year."

    In the past, they lived together in Zhenyi Lane, Gu Yin and Xu Qingchuan met from time to time, but they did not develop any different friendship. Now that their family has moved away, if there is no longer a connection, this matter will definitely not be possible.

    Hearing this, Gu Yin is really big head, but also because in the past, she has never had a candid chat with Wang Shi, so she simply talked to her carefully.

    "Who do you like, Mrs. Xu?"

    "Qingchuan is very good, although he is a poor scholar, but the situation in the imperial court is unstable, so he did not continue the test, otherwise he may already be a master of Juren. And our two families know the bottom line, Your auntie also likes you."

    "What mother said is reasonable, but I don't like him."

    Wang asked her why, Gu Yin thought about it and said, "It's not why, it's just not suitable. Xu Gongzi likes to read books and discuss books. I was dizzy, the old man wanted to force me to study earlier, and I was more tiring to read in the afternoon than when I was busy in the kitchen all day."

    Because she told Wang Shi, Gu Yin didn't feel embarrassed, and continued: "Like the last time we went to the lantern festival, Xu Gongzi guessed the lantern riddles accurately, and it was not random guessing. , Every lantern riddle is well-founded. Many girls heard it and admired him. But I was not interested. I was wandering in the world at the time, just thinking about how much money our family could make during the Mid-Autumn Festival. What new food can be introduced after the festival. I heard that there are two kinds of music, one is very elegant, and the other is Liba, which is easy to understand. We are two kinds of music, barely together, I am afraid that we will not be able to say a few words in the future. talk."

    "Why are you not worthy, you are worthy of the emperor and prince!" Wang shi lowered his voice and glared at her, "Why do you say that about yourself?"

    Gu Yin smiled, "The mother said, what else do I deserve, Mr. Xu, I will go to the palace to be a mother."

    Wang patted her with a smile. After making trouble, she said sternly: "What about the other people? The young shopkeeper of the Wen family is also a businessman. I have something to say to you, right?"

    "The shopkeeper Wen is young and mature, and he is more serious than me. Of course, it's not that he is not good... or he doesn't feel it." Seeing Wang's gesture and wanting to raise her hand, Gu Yin quickly said: "Mother You can't count it like that. Could it be that those who are not married and my age should be matched with me? Then there are also Li Zhaotou, Bai Zixi from the Bai family..."

    "It's not bad!" Wang's eyes lit up, "The Bai family has a large population, so it's hard to get along with each other, and maybe they don't like our family. But Li Zhaotou is really good. Yu Xuan is proud and upright. Besides, there is only one arrester in his family, who is our Ono's master, isn't this just kissing and kissing?"

    Gu Yin quickly handed over and begged for mercy, "I'm a hustler, mother, please forgive me."

    Wang stopped teasing her and asked her what she liked.

    Gu Yin pondered seriously for a while, "Just be more down-to-earth, ordinary people like me, have something to say, can chat, love to eat the food I make, it is best to be in business or cooking Help me up."

    A person who has never thought about romance in two lifetimes, let her say it herself, it is naturally impossible to say why.

    Wang's resentful eyes fell on Chef Xu and Shopkeeper Zhou, making them both who were listening to Wu An's recitations.

    Gu Yin quickly pulled Wang's face back, "I didn't meet you! Mother, please stop thinking about people you know."

    Wang sighed worriedly, her daughter-in-law didn't want to get married again, why would she want to push her out? But she is also a woman, knowing that women are not easy, so she had to do this disgusting thing - now Gu Yin is young, but it will be twenty-one years old. Girls of this age are not good at choosing a son-in-law, let alone a married person.

    The husband and eldest son were away from home for years, until the daughter-in-law became capable in the past two years, Wang was the one who supported the door. No one knows better than she how much pressure a woman has to bear with a family on her own. She didn't dare to get sick, she didn't dare to be shaken and depressed, no matter how big the pain was, she could only swallow it alone. It will take ten years for the two children to grow up. In the past ten years or so, her daughter-in-law has to be in charge of the house. How can she be willing to let her daughter-in-law eat it again?

    She is very regretful now, why was she so selfish in the first place that Gu Yin and her son who was about to enter the battlefield became a relative. Otherwise, it would not be so eager to make up for it now.

      Go see someone else."

    "Is Xu Gongzi also willing?" Gu Yin asked.

    "It's definitely willing, he listens to your Aunt Xu."

    Gu Yin guessed that most of Xu Qingchuan was rubbed off by the parents, but since the two adults still didn't give up, she nodded and said, "Then try again, but just once, it will be embarrassing for more people. And we have to agree, if we still can't talk, we're not allowed to mention it."

    Like some parents in later generations, they force their children to get married, do they want to harm their own children? It's just that in their cognition, it's good for their children.

    Most of the children of later generations can't change their parents' thoughts, let alone Wang's people of this era. Although she is considered avant-garde and open-minded in this era, she still cannot escape the prison of this era. Gu Yin was not in a hurry to turn her thoughts around, and decided to slowly figure it out. Just like when she first passed through, the family was still in the environment of Wang's words, but didn't she also listen to her later?

    "Hey! It's the last time," Wang Shi immediately laughed, "I heard what you and Shopkeeper Zhou said, the year is busy. In the spring, you have to make a new shop and make new food. Then Just wait for the Dragon Boat Festival when you two watch the dragon boat race together, that one will definitely be able to talk!"

    …

    The new year is a year full of expectations for the Gu Yin family.

    Gu Yin and Shopkeeper Zhou thought about expanding the size of the store, Mrs Wang wanted her to start a family, Chef Xu and his two young apprentices wanted to support the business of ordinary customers in the store.

    However, none of these expectations came true. In the spring of the following year, the imperial court was defeated like a mountain, and the emperor fled from the palace with the Guards. The rebel army entered the palace, ascended the throne as the emperor, and established the country as Xi and the era as Zhengyuan.

    When the dynasty changes, for the common people, it means changing the sun and moon above their heads. In particular, the former emperor who was abolished still had tens of thousands of old ministries and fled south all the way. The new emperor issued an oath, sealing the rumored general with red scars on his face, like an evil ghost Shura, as the general marshal of the world's military and horses, and encircled and suppressed them all the way.

    Although the location of Hanshan Town is remote, unfortunately, it is the southern end of the capital.

      , those who do not move will also choose to stay at home.

    Gu Yin and the others didn't move. First, she and the Wang family came from outside. Hanshan Town was like a paradise. There are still people like the county magistrate, Guan Huotou, etc. Become a knife and fish meat. I haven't been to far away places, but there are bandits in the nearest state capital. The Emperor Abolished said that he was fleeing to the south, and the area to the south was getting bigger. Hanshan Town was considered the north side of the whole country.

    With two children at home, how can a five or six-year-old be able to withstand a long journey? Any kind of headache can have irreversible consequences.

    Mr. Wen also meant the same thing. He was afraid that Gu Yin would not be able to stand things when she was young, so he specially let people know that "moving is worse than being still".

    Although the court has changed, the old man is also a veteran of the three dynasties, and his knowledge in this matter is many times better than that of ordinary people. Naturally, he should listen to him.

    Shiweitian closed down, Gu Yin took all the employees to retreat to her mansion. Shopkeeper Zhou and Chef Xu lived in the front yard, while the female family members lived in the back yard. Arrange another watch every day, and watch the watch in turn.

    Although the incident happened suddenly, but fortunately, the restaurant is open, and he will hoard food, vegetables and firewood on a daily basis, which is not worse than the average big family. There are dozens of bags of rice noodles, and there is no problem with eating, drinking and chewing at home.

    Gu Ye is probably the one who is the most uncomfortable, from a bird without feet to a bird with broken wings.

    But at this time he was going to run out, his mother was so worried that he couldn't eat or sleep, so even though he was reluctant, he could only stay at home obediently.

    Fortunately, Gu Yin made playing cards—that is, cut paper into small pieces, and write the symbols of playing cards, without pictures. But there are many ways to play poker, such as fighting landlords, frying golden flowers, and playing thousand points.

    Gu Ye's best game is the Golden Flower, which is like opening a mind-reading plug-in.

    Of course I don't gamble by myself, that is, the winner can make a request with the loser the most.

    Unfortunately, the one who loses the most is Gu Yin almost every time. Every time he tries to steal, he will be caught by others. .

    Gu Ye won't make excessive demands with his mother, and he will eat a snack every time he wins. There is definitely no condition to make exquisite dim sum now, so I owe it first, and then supply it to him when this turmoil is over.

    In this case, after a month, half of the food in Gu's house has been eaten, and Hanshan Town has been quiet.

    Just when everyone thought it was just a rumor that the so-called Abandoned Emperor was dormant nearby, a group of people broke open the Wen family mansion across the street from Gu's house.

    "Master Wen, save me!" The arrogant young man who used to sit high on the dragon chair with eyes above the top knelt down in front of Mrs. Wen with tears in his eyes.