After this cooperation, Jiang Zhou finally knew about the chicken farm in the Yanghe Village and Lu Dalang was the one who managed the business for his villagers.

In the ancient times, the production and technology weren’t good. But Lu Dalang happened to have good brain for business, without him, many people wouldn’t be able to eat chicken and egg every day. In addition, there might be a competition between the villagers if they sold the chicken and egg on their own. They would lower price against other villager to ensure their selling would be better, this could make their profit turned lower and lower until there was nothing much left; with Lu Dalang helping them managing the chicken farm, the villagers could peacefully raise their chicken

Lu Dalang originally thought about developing the chicken farm to have other business, luckily, he encountered Jiang Zhou who was selling sponge cake. This way, he could have a fixed channel for egg selling, but had another business reselling sponge cake. He truly killed two birds with one stone

It was getting late, Jiang Zhou looked at the sky and knew it was time for dinner. He had to cook and asked Lu Dalang, “Do you want to try my cooking today? Uncle Yu will be here later too, let’s have a drink together.

Uncle Yu was the old bachelor and had spent most of his life on the water. Back then, he always lived in the boat and rarely went to the land; his meal was a pot of sake and white fish soup. But since he worked with Jiang Zhou, he began to visit Jiang Zhou’s house for dinner

Lu Dalang already tasted the sponge cake; he knew from it that Jiang Zhou’s skill must be not bad. So, he had some expectation, he immediately agreed with this dinner

Jiang Zhou went inside the house and took the remaining ingredients; most of it was meat, two pig’s ears and rice noodles. Since he planned to have a drink together, he should make a food that went well with the wine. He thought cold pig’s ears dish wasn’t bad

There were some peanuts left by the villager in exchange for the wild boar; he fried a large plate of them and left it aside for later use

The wild boar was fat and its ears were very big. Jiang Zhou mixed salt and vinegar, washed the pig’s ears to remove fishy smell and scalded them with a boiling water. He put some dried fruits, seasoning and spices in a water and put the pig’s ears to be stewed

Next, he also made a plate of mushroom and green vegetables dish. The mushroom here was called tree chicken, they were picked by the villagers inside the mountain after it rained. Most of them were dried, but luckily it rained two days ago and the villagers gave Jiang Zhou tree chicken which wasn’t dried yet

He carefully cut off the root and washed them, then he blanched the tree chicken with a hot water. Once done; he mixed it with minced garlic, ginger, sesame oil and other seasoning before poured hot oil over them

Jiang Zhou wanted to make some vegetables dumpling but he noticed the greens weren’t fresh enough; the dumpling wouldn’t be delicious. So, he just mixed it as cold salad

While Jiang Zhou were busy cutting the pig’s ears, uncle Yu had arrived. He wrapped today’s earning in a box and gave it to Jiang Zhou. He sat down and chatted with Lu Dalang

Jiang Zhou listened to their talk while cooking

“Uncle Yu, do you know where the magistrate came from?

Uncle Yu was good at talking and listening, he was the informant among the villagers, “I heard he is from Qingzhou, his surname is Liu. Some said he had a merit and the area of Qingzhou had been chaotic these days. I don’t know what kind of merit that got him transferred all the way here to our Pingrao County.

Lu Dalang shook his head, “Anyway, the merit had nothing to do with us. I’m worried about the new policies he might make after he take over.

In the past, it was Magistrate Qiu, he was very kind to the villagers. As long as it wasn’t a big crime, he might turn a blind eye. When his village started the chicken farm, few people would clean up the barren lands to make spaces. Magistrate Qiu reported it to the court and their taxes were reduced as a compensation for their newly made business

As the two were chatting, Jiang Zhou suddenly thought that this newly magistrate had something to do with him, the spice merchant who deceived the traveler back then was a man surnamed Liu

However, it was a big taboo for an official to be engaged in a business. They would be demoted or even dismissed and their descendant wouldn’t be allowed to participated in the imperial examination. But if they were a merchant from the start, they might participate under the recommendation of others

Therefore, the idea of Magistrate Liu related to his spice business only crossed briefly in Jiang Zhou’s mind. It was truly impossible

Jiang Zhou made another pork dish using a pork belly. He cut it into square pieces, poked a hole in the center and stuffed salted egg yolks inside, tied them tightly then simmered with soy sauce for a long time until the sauce became thick

The evening breeze was blowing, the village looked more magnificent than usual in this autumn season. The sunset was poured half into the river casting a beautiful shadow, a fog already formed on the water; it gave a warm hazy feeling

The three of them exchanged cups with each other in the setting sun. The pig’s ears were crispy, the tree chicken was refreshing and the stuffed meat was rich in flavor. This dinner was quite a feast for the guests

Jiang Zhou couldn’t drink well; his face was red after two cups. He listened dazedly to uncle Yu’s stories about the passengers. He also explained about the river routes around the villages. Then he turned around to the half-drunk Jiang Zhou, “Speaking of it, back then, I haven’t seen you go to Bashan Village for a long time but I often see Wen Yan take a boat to Xiaohe Village.

Jiang Zhou wasn’t clear-headed, he only replied with a hum, “Yeah…

Uncle Yu took a piece of pig’s ear and stuffed inside his mouth, he savored the taste and said, “I asked him curiously, he only said he was looking for someone. But he never stays overnight, he often left shortly then take a boat back to Bashan Village.

Jiang Zhou was startled and woke up from his drunkenness. Apart from him, who else would Wen Yan find in this Xiaohe Village

But in his memory, there was no knowledge of Wen Yan coming over. If he didn’t have good relationship with uncle Yu, he probably never know about Wen Yan secretly visited him for a whole year. How many times have he been here? Wen Yan sneaked in again and again to observe, only to find out it was still the traveler and not his husband. How sad he must be

Jiang Zhou’s mind recalled the sad and uncertain gaze in Wen Yan’s eyes when he delivered the sponge cake. He seemed to be given up about his husband and didn’t want to struggle with him anymore

Uncle Yu confirmed his thought, “Wen Yan came frequently a year ago. At that time, it wasn’t obvious that he was pregnant. Later, when the pregnancy couldn’t be hidden anymore, he rarely took the boat. The last time he came was a month ago, I think. Fortunately, you have woken up and know how to coax your wife. I remembered, he came to the boat with a big belly and I couldn’t stop him. It scared me to dead, I feared he might be bumped in the boat.

Jiang Zhou couldn’t hear what uncle Yu talked anymore. All he could feel was heartbreak and regret. He just wanted to reach out and hugged Wen Yan, he wanted to let him know that his husband was back and he didn’t have to be scared anymore

But now, it wasn’t the time yet. He couldn’t

He suddenly understood the story that Wen Yan told him back then, the cowherd and the weaver girl facing each other across the river.

…”..?”””……..”””………..”..cing each other across the river.

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