They're evenly matched, two innocent virgins, and they're even making fun of each other.
"You murdered your own wife!" Gu Fengyan pulled the blanket down and gasped for breath.
After finally calming down, she turned her head and smiled, "Mr. Huo, are you so sure I didn't?"
Huo Duan was guessing, and naturally dared not be certain.
"Do you have it?" he asked.
Gu Fengyan closed his eyes, facing the roof, and his laughter was so loud it was almost unbearable. "Guess," he said, "and I'll tell you if you guess right."
"I can guess it, do you need to tell me?" Huo Duan said irritably.
Could it be that Gu Fengyan really does exist?
He dares to do that, he really dares to do that... Who is his wife?
Huo Duan became increasingly agitated as he thought about it, and another sleepless night ensued.
Midnight:
Before dawn, the Huo family had already turned on their lights. They were going to the county to sell medicinal herbs today, and it would be too sunny if they stayed out too late. Besides, they still needed to prepare another batch of herbs in the afternoon, so they had to come back early.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan dared not oversleep and got out of bed early in the morning with huge dark circles under their eyes.
While they were packing medicinal herbs in the main room, Father Huo was busy preparing breakfast for the two of them in the kitchen.
After packing up and having breakfast, it was almost dawn. Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan knew they couldn't carry all the medicinal herbs, so they called on Ye Bixian and his son, who happened to be on their way to work in the county, to help.
The four men drove the earliest oxcart to the county.
Gu Fengyan divided the medicinal herbs into two parts: one part was for Xinglin Academy, and the other part was selected according to the written medicinal diet recipe and was to be sent to Dongfulou.
Ye Bixian and Ye saw the two off at the entrance of Dongfulou and then hurried off to work.
Today, Dongfu Restaurant was unusually quiet. The waiters were all dozing off at the counter, while only Manager Li was fiddling with his abacus, his eyebrows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.
"How are you, Manager Li?" Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan dragged several large bags to the threshold and greeted Manager Li. "We've come to deliver the prescription and medicinal herbs."
Upon hearing the voice, Manager Li looked up from the ledger and exclaimed with delight, "Saviors! We've finally been waiting for you two!"
He kicked the dozing waiter's stool again, "You have no sense of propriety, still dozing off! You probably don't even know when customers come and go, why don't you call a few people to help carry the things inside!"
The stool fell to the ground, and the waiter scrambled to his feet, draped a handkerchief over his shoulder, and hurried off to the back room with a grin, saying, "The manager is right, I'll go right now."
Manager Li thought for a moment, then grabbed the shop assistant back, "Wait a while, and call your Uncle Zhao over, say he has something to do... When you come back, please brew a pot of good tea."
The man noted it down and darted off to the backyard.
After making the arrangements, Manager Li invited the two into the main hall and seated them in a private booth by the window.
Huo Duan glanced around and noticed that there were only a few people eating at Dongfulou, and they were all ordering inexpensive vegetarian dishes. He then understood what was going on.
"Manager Li, where did you get this 'savior' title from?" he asked.
Manager Li sighed, grabbed the two men, and poured out his grievances, "Alas, it's all about business! Now that summer is here, all the restaurants and eateries in the county are starting to prepare refreshing summer dishes. Our Dongfulou is preparing a unique plum juice, which is sour and refreshing, and it's also cooling when soaked in water. I think our customers will be willing to buy it..."
He glanced at Yingchunlou across the street and gritted his teeth, saying, "The menu had already been changed, but who knew that Yingchunlou would snatch it away the day before the new product was launched... This plum juice was originally created by Dongfulou, and I don't know how they got the recipe."
"As you two know, the restaurant across the street and my Dongfu Restaurant have always been rivals. But as soon as this plum juice was served, all the customers went to the other side out of curiosity. It's infuriating!"
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan had a rough idea of what was going on, after all, when they passed by the shopkeeper across the street, he almost rolled his eyes to the heavens.
"I see." Huo Duan smiled slightly and looked at Gu Fengyan. "This wife of his can indeed be of help to Manager Li..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Fengyan spread out the medicinal diet recipe he had written in advance on the table, pointing to a spot with his fingertip. "Manager Li, please excuse my ignorance. I came up with a dish the other day that might be of help."
Shopkeeper Li followed his fingertip and saw that it read: Perilla, Peach, and Ginger. Use fresh perilla leaves, nearly ripe green peaches, and tender ginger...
"I've never heard of this dish before..." Manager Li pondered. "I know that perilla is a medicinal herb."
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan repeated what they had said before to Manager Li verbatim.
Manager Li thought it made a lot of sense, and said happily, "You two young men have a great idea. If it works out, I will reward you handsomely! But I don't know much about cooking. You can discuss it when Old Zhao arrives."
Just then, the curtain to the back room was lifted, and Master Zhao walked in, wiping his hands on his apron. He smiled at Manager Li and asked, "Did Madam call me?"
Manager Li stood up and asked him to sit down. "These are the two I told you about last time. They've come to deliver medicinal herbs and a prescription. You're the cook, so you can discuss it with them."
Zhao Dashi sat down, and Huo Duan handed him the prescription. "Master Zhao, please take a look. This is the prescription my wife wrote. If you have any questions, just ask."
Zhao Dashi took it, squinted at it against the light for a long time, and kept saying, "Good! Good! Excellent!"
As he was about to finish reading, he stared at one spot in deep thought for a long time. “But I’ve never heard of this perilla, peach, and ginger dish before. However, the ingredients are all readily available in the kitchen. Would you mind making a batch for me, sir?”
Gu Fengyan readily agreed.
Although the dish was simple, he trusted Chef Zhao's skills, but theory is no substitute for practice.
Both sides are at ease.
Manager Li stayed in the front hall to greet the guests, while Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan followed Zhao Dashi to the back hall.
The kitchen was messy, so Zhao Dashi didn't call the two people in. He just instructed the servants to take the utensils to the yard and then sent them to pick a few fist-sized, nearly ripe green peaches from the peach tree at the back gate.
"The place is simple, please bear with us," Zhao Dashi said to the two men.
Gu Fengyan smiled and rolled up his sleeves. "Master Zhao, you're too kind."
Then I started preparing the perilla, green peaches, and tender ginger... After the ingredients were mixed and marinated, I used the remaining perilla leaves to make a pot of perilla drink.
"Perilla dispels external cold, tender ginger stimulates the appetite, and the crisp and sour taste of peaches makes it an excellent appetizer or accompaniment to porridge... Master Zhao will know once he tastes it."
Zhao Dashi took a sip of the perilla drink, his expression subtle, then hid a bite of pickled vegetables... and another sip.
"Based on my years of experience, this dish is definitely better than the one across the street!" he concluded.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan exchanged a smile.
Zhao Dashi then went to the front hall and pulled Manager Li over to try it. The two of them actually finished the whole dish of pickled vegetables.
Manager Li couldn't contain his joy, "These two young men are truly the saviors of Dongfu Restaurant! Now we can finally hold our heads high!"
Gu Fengyan said, "I'm only a dabbler; whether I make money or not is another matter."
Manager Li, however, was quite certain, "Old Zhao and I have been running this restaurant for so many years, we can tell whether a dish is marketable and how many portions we can sell just by looking at it and tasting it..."
After chatting for a while, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duancai came out of Dongfulou.
This place doesn't make money. If the medicinal cuisine route were to actually be profitable, we'd have to wait at least a month.
Some of the medicinal herbs needed to be sent to Xinglin Academy, so Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan took the items and hurried over.
The doctors at Xinglin Hospital were already familiar with them. Several staff members carried the medicinal herbs into the back room, called the resident doctor to weigh them, and then paid the two men.
They sold a total of twenty strings of cash. Adding the three strings of cash from last time, and deducting the cost of three strings of cash, Gu Fengyan and his group made a net profit of twenty strings of cash.
Twenty strings of cash are enough for a farmer's expenses for almost a year.
Gu Fengyan was certain that he and Huo Duan were now considered middle-class families in Heqing Village.
However, when he went back this time, he would have almost nothing left after paying back the ten strings of cash he owed, and Gu Fengyan felt inexplicably pained.
Huo Duan had been absent-minded on the way to Xinglin Academy, and he even felt a little irritable when he received the money.
The system notification arrived right on time.
"Your task progress has reached 0.245%, please continue..."
Huo Duan didn't listen to the whole thing; he mentally cut off the system notification sound.
My vision was almost blurry, my mind was a complete blank, and I could only think of three words—too fast.
"President Huo?" Gu Fengyan, carrying money as if he had secretly eaten honey, was talking to Huo Duan about what he wanted to buy when he turned around and saw him looking dazed, seemingly lost in thought.
Huo Duan snapped back to reality, staring nervously at Gu Fengyan, afraid that he would ask that question.
"What's wrong?" Gu Fengyan asked, but he didn't.
She just tugged at his sleeve and said with a helpless smile, "I said it's still early, we can take a rare rest and buy the things for the holiday the day after tomorrow."
Huo Duan breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to take his hand, but in the end she only gripped his wrist. "Okay, whatever Young Master Gu says goes."
Although this is ancient times, the local customs are open, and there are couples holding hands in the street... But what does it mean to pinch wrists like that?
Gu Fengyan was both amused and exasperated. "Let's go to the front. It's almost a festival, and it's lively over there."
He broke free, grabbed Huo Duan with one hand, and held him as if nothing had happened.
Instantly, Huo Duan froze... Gu Fengyan's fingers were slender and delicate, slightly cool, and could be fully grasped in one hand.
He looked at Gu Fengyan and saw his handsome profile, his eyes and brows full of smiles.
Huo Duan was overjoyed beyond measure, a delicate and soft ache spreading from his heart... It was truly a life-and-death experience.
Since they transmigrated here, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan have been busy making money and living their lives. This is the first time they have ever strolled leisurely on the street like this.
Although Qianmo County is not a large town, it is a vital transportation hub connecting the two prefectures. Goods from both the north and south can be bought there, making it a relatively prosperous place.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, shops selling realgar wine and cloth hung up colorful woven ropes early in the morning.
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan bought a piece of fresh pork, salted duck eggs, red dates, and a grass carp along with vegetables... They didn't buy any rice since they already had some at home.
The bamboo shoot wrappers were readily available; he had saved some bamboo shoot wrappers from harvesting bamboo shoots in the spring, and now they were perfect for wrapping the bamboo to extract their fragrance.
After buying the items, Huo Duan carried them, and the two wandered around for a while, watching street performers.
"Wow, that really is like breaking a boulder on your chest!" Gu Fengyan exclaimed, clapping his hands.
Huo Duan wasn't particularly interested, because he noticed something else. All the young men around him seemed to be wearing earrings, some gold, some jade, and at the very least, silver.
So, it seems that any young man in the village with a little money would wear earrings. Jiang Xuerui also had a pair, which she wore every time she went out. They were small silver hoops with thin short chains hanging from them.
Why is that?
Huo Duan pondered deeply, and finally his memories returned. In this world, when a man took a fancy to a young man, he would present a pair of earrings as a betrothal gift. If the young man agreed, he would keep the earrings; if he refused, they would be returned.
These earrings are worn after marriage to signify one's status in the husband's family and also to warn other men not to be disrespectful to the young man; it is a form of protection.
Gu Fengyan also had one when he entered the family; it was passed down from the Huo family ancestors, but unfortunately, the family was too poor and eventually pawned it.
Gu Fengyan's ears were snow-white with pinkish earlobes; she would look beautiful wearing earrings...
Huo Duan felt a pang of regret.
"What are you thinking about? Don't you like watching?" Gu Fengyan pulled him.
The program on stage changed; it featured a dancer from another ethnic group, dressed in a gauze dress with red coral beads hanging around her waist, her face veiled by a thin veil, and bells dangling from her wrists and ankles.