Qin Zhao didn't dare to tell Cao Xi about being slapped by his master. His red and swollen palms were always hidden in his sleeves, and Cao Xi avoided holding his hand.
She didn't think much about it. Qin Zhao was usually a little stubborn and wouldn't let her hold hands, especially during the day.
When he got home, Li Feng had bought all the ingredients for the next day and piled them at the entrance of the courtyard waiting for Cao Xi to come back. Cao Xi opened the door and helped him take the ingredients to the yard.
"You put it there and I can get it myself. Come into the house quickly."
As Li Feng spoke, he picked up all the ingredients and carried them into the courtyard.
Qin Zhao followed behind and took a lot of ingredients, but because he was young and weak, he was not as capable as Li Feng in doing the work. Looking at the tall figure walking in front, Qin Zhao secretly vowed to eat more and grow taller and stronger than him.
Today was the same as usual, Li Feng handled the ingredients, Cao Xi cooked and Qin Zhao was responsible for reading. Now that his master was beating him up, he did not dare to appear in front of Cao Xi for fear of exposing himself.
Qin Zhao lowered his head and looked at the red palm, picked up the pen and started copying. He thought that next time he stretched out his hand, he must extend his left hand, as his right hand would be easier for others to notice.
After the rice was put in the pot, Cao Xi came to the well to help Li Feng handle the fish. The fish balls sold the fastest, and the meat was always the most popular no matter what time it was.
The two people processed it much faster. They removed the roots and stems of the vegetables they bought, sprayed them with water and covered them with gauze. This was a preservation method developed by Cao Xi.
After the rice was ready, Cao Xi made scrambled eggs with green onions, a cold dish, and soybean curd, all quick dishes.
Cao Xi put the food on the table and said, "Brother Li, it's time to eat. I'll be cooking after eating."
Looking at the dishes on the table, Li Feng joked: "If I keep eating like this, I will have to pay for the food."
"What are you talking about? You are my brother, why don't you have some food?"
When she came to this world, the only person she knew and trusted was Li Feng.
"It's time for Qin Zhao to eat," Cao Xi shouted towards Qin Zhao's bedroom.
Qin Zhao walked out slowly and sat down at the table. Cao Xi found that Qin Zhao was eating very slowly today, and his hand holding the chopsticks was not strong enough.
"What's wrong with your hand?" He said and stretched out his hand to look.
Qin Zhao hurriedly put his hands behind his back, not daring to take them out. Saying "It's okay, it's okay" is not a lie.
Cao Xi didn't talk nonsense to him and directly pulled his hand over and "open your hand."
Qin Zhao had no choice but to open his palm and show it to Cao Xi. Exposing his red and swollen palm to Cao Xi made her heartbroken.
"What happened?" Cao Xi kept blowing into his red palms, as if he could blow away the pain.
"I recited the Analects of Confucius today, and I stumbled a bit, so I got slapped on the hand by the master." Qin Zhao was tickled by Cao Xi's blow, and he kept retracting his hand, but failed.
When Li Feng saw how much Cao Xi treasured Qin Zhao, the food in his mouth no longer tasted good. How could a troublesome guy who couldn't do anything deserve Cao Xi's favor?
Cao Xi: "You can't fight then. I'll go find your wife tomorrow."
"No, don't go. I didn't memorize it well. I won't do it next time."
Cao Xi's idea was too terrible. Master's discipline was something that others could only ask for. How could she go to settle a score with Master for this?
"I told you not to read carefully yesterday and look around. After dinner, you can go back to the room to review." Cao Xi glared at him angrily, got up and went to the kitchen to get him a wooden spoon.
Qin Zhao ate the food served by Cao Xi with great pleasure, and glanced at Li Feng from time to time.
Li Feng silently said "childish" to Qin Zhao.
Due to the incident of Qin Zhao being beaten, Cao Xi deprived him of the right to listen to stories tonight, so Qin Zhao could only read dryly.
In the afternoon of the next day, Li Feng and Cao Xi closed their stalls early and came to the Tutu Temple.
The earthen kiln was completely dry. Cao Xi put all the wood into the earthen kiln and ignited it according to the method he remembered. When it was halfway burned, he asked Li Feng to block all the pores. Everyone squatted beside the earth kiln, waiting for the results.
When the temperature of the earthen kiln dropped down, Cao Xi asked them to open the earthen kiln. A wave of heat hit his face, and Li Feng carefully took out the burned charcoal.
"Did you succeed?" Cao Xi couldn't see the result behind him and was a little anxious.
"It's successful, but the effect is not as good as the one I bought." Li Feng's eyes were filled with excitement, and he would have jumped up if he hadn't had the charcoal in his hand.
"Let me see, let me see." Dayong and Da Zhuang both gathered around.
"It's really successful, it's great." Da Zhuang hugged Li Feng excitedly.
"This is the first time we have done it. The effect is not normal. Just do it a few more times and it will be fine." This batch of charcoal gave Cao Xi a lot of confidence.
Da Zhuang said with confidence: "I believe that we will be able to burn the kind of charcoal we buy outside."
Everyone's face is filled with longing for a better life in the future. They have gone from just stretching out their hands to beg to being able to live by their own efforts, which has undergone a qualitative change.
.................................................................
Time just flowed silently. The flowers of the jujube trees in the yard blossomed and fell, and the fruits were harvested one after another. The two small figures in the yard turned into two big figures.
Cao Xi no longer sets up a stall on the street. Although it took a long time to research the charcoal, they finally succeeded. Li Feng is responsible for selling the charcoal burned in the earth kiln, while Da Zhuang and Dayong are mainly responsible for firing. Since the technology comes from Cao Xi, she can get 10% of the income without having to work.
Now only two brothers, Da Zhuang and Dayong, live in Tutu Temple. The others have moved to the town. Li Feng bought a shop in the town. He doesn't know where he got so much money.
There were a lot of pirated Chuan Chuan on the market. Although the taste was not good, it had some impact on their business. Cao Xi gave up the business and turned to Malatang.
The Malatang shop belongs to Li Feng, so most of the profits go to Li Feng.
Qin Zhao has grown very fast in the past two years and can already go to the academy by himself.
Today was the same as usual. Just as he was about to pack his schoolbag and go home, he was stopped by Qi Qige. Qi Qige had become good friends with Qin Zhao, but he still didn't like to go home and always liked to hang around Qin Zhao.
"A new spicy hotpot opened recently. It's said to be super delicious. Let's go try it."
Qi Qige sat across from Qin Zhao and watched him pack his schoolbag. He also had a schoolbag that he bought from Qin Zhao at a high price. His heart ached when he thought about it. The business was so dark that even his friends’ All money is earned.
"Are you paying?" Qin Zhao asked casually
"Of course I'll pay for it." Qi Qige had never seen Qin Zhao pay for anyone.
His classmates called him Qin Xiaoji because the schoolbag he carried was light and convenient. Everyone wanted to ask him how he did it, but he asked everyone to wait for him for a day.
The next day, the good guy brought a bunch of schoolbag drawings of different styles and sold them out for fifty cents each.
In the past, he was famous in the academy because of his good grades, but now because of his stinginess.
Qin Zhao picked up his schoolbag and walked out the door. Halfway through, he turned around and found Qi Qige still sitting there stupidly.
"Didn't you say you want to eat Malatang? Why don't you leave?"
"Okay." Qi Qige stood up and caught up with Qin Zhao. He even tried to put his arm on Qin Zhao's shoulder, but failed in the end.
The two of them walked to the center of the street together, and saw a lot of people lined up outside a shop in the distance. The plaque read "Han Style Mala Tang?" Why is this cold style? Qi Qige was a little confused.
Qi Qige laughed and said, "This word is very similar to the one you wrote, just as ugly."
Words are Qin Zhao's lifeblood, and Qi Qige is better than Qin Zhao only in words, and he always shows off his skills from time to time.
Qi Qige's handwriting is really good. Even his master praised him for his style. Qin Zhao's handwriting is not ugly, but compared with Qi Qige's handwriting, it is still far behind. If it was really ugly, how could Cao Xi dare to use his handwriting? plaque.
Qin Zhao was too lazy to ignore the peacock, got up and walked inside, but was dragged back by Qi Qige.
"Didn't you see everyone queuing up?"
Qi Qige motioned to Qin Zhao to look at the eyes of the people around him, and he was about to tear them both apart.
Qin Zhao looked at the crowd and then looked in, but this time he didn't rush in.
"Wait for me here, I'll get the number plate," Qi Qige ordered and went to the counter.
In the store, Cao Xi is responsible for collecting money and issuing number tags, Xiaochuan greets guests and cleans the table, Li Feng and Buffalo are responsible for cooking noodles, Xiaorui washes vegetables in the kitchen, and occasionally helps Xiaochuan.
Qi Qige came to the counter and said, "Get me two number plates." Just after saying this, she found that the person in charge was Cao Xi.
Qi Qige was stunned. He looked at Cao Xi and then at the door. He didn't know whether to go or stay, or what to say.
Cao Xi looked at his embarrassed expression and asked, "Do you want to take it away or eat here?"
Qi Qige replied blankly: "Eat here."
Cao Xi handed him two number plates. Qi Qige looked down at number 13 and said, "There are twelve more people in front of me?".
Qi Qige couldn't believe that she had to wait for so long. He usually didn't have to queue up to eat. He was rich and everyone knew him in every major restaurant.
Qi Qige didn't want to queue up, so he tried to get close to Cao Xi. "Sister, I am Qin Zhao's classmate, Qi Qige."
"I know you" Cao Xi wanted to laugh.
Qin Zhao has been able to talk to him for a few years, so how could she not recognize him? It is said that his family environment is not very good, and there are many unpleasant things happening overtly and covertly. I don't know how he developed such a cheerful character.
"Haha" Qi Qige touched her head in embarrassment.
"Want to jump in line?" Cao Xi asked him with a smile.
"Haha, Qin Zhao and I came here together."
Qi Qige was a little embarrassed. He really wanted to jump in line. There were too many people.
Cao Xi: "Call him in."
Qi Qige: "Okay, let's go now" and walked out quickly after saying that.
Qi Qige: "Qin Zhao, I saw your fiancée working inside, and she let us in."
Except that Cao Xi is his fiancée, Qin Zhao has not told him anything about his family. Judging from his usual behavior, Qin Zhao's family should not be very wealthy. Now that his fiancée is working here, his suspicion is even more confirmed.
"Let's go then" Qin Zhao said and walked in ahead of him.
The people queuing outside stopped and stood up and shouted to Cao Xi, "Why did they jump in line?"
Cao Xi and Feng Xiaoyu explained: "This is my brother, not a guest. They are going to the backyard."
When Qin Zhao heard this, he looked at Cao Xi, leaned close to her ear and whispered in her ear, "It's my fiancé." After saying that, he walked towards the backyard without looking back.
Cao Xi was tickled by Qin Zhao's hot breath and reached out to touch his ears. There was a faint pink color on his face. Li Feng had already seen Qin Zhao when he came in, and he had a clear view of their interaction.
Buffalo looked in the direction of Cao Xi, "Brother Li, do you like Sister Xi? What about Sister Qiu Ju?"
Qiu Ju is the maid in charge of the magistrate's family. She is capable, shrewd and cruel. She met Li Feng when he was thirteen years old. Because it is inconvenient for the wealthy family to go out, Li Feng is their spy outside, and the contact person is Qiu Ju.
Li Feng worked neatly and without making mistakes, and his remuneration became more and more generous year by year. This made Qiu Ju look at him differently, and the two of them had an inexplicable relationship.
"Don't talk nonsense when you're working." Thinking of Qiu Ju, Li Feng shook the colander in his hand irritably and continued working.
In the past, he only focused on making money and wanted to be a master. He would make friends with anyone who could bring him benefits. Cao Xi had many ways to make money in his life, so he helped her intentionally or unintentionally and gained her trust.
But I don't know since when, Li Feng gradually became jealous of Qin Zhao and couldn't stand how good Cao Xi was to Qin Zhao. He always wants to drive Qin Zhao away and replace him, just like a person walking in the cold wind who suddenly enters a warm and comfortable house and wants to drive away the owner of the house and take the house as his own.
But everything changed since that night. It seemed that he was not qualified to squeeze Qin Zhao away, nor could he live in a warm house. He was unwilling and helpless.
