Volume 2 Chapter 66: Procurement

  "Baizhou, you and Baigan arrange the table and stools properly, and wipe them with a cloth." Yebaiwei instructed.

  Old Master Ye had spoken yesterday, and the whole family had to come to help Zhen'er move house and hold a housewarming party. Ye Baihe and Ye Baiki were unwilling in their hearts, but they did not dare disobey Old Master Ye's words.

  Yeshi Wei took Yeshu Mu to borrow a stool, the courtyard was messy, someone had to help tidy up and wipe it clean.

  Ye Shiyan also took Ye Luyuan away to borrow bowls and plates. These need to be registered properly, so as not to get them mixed up.

  Mrs. Mao had arranged everything early in the morning, she took Zhen'er to the market to buy vegetables, Ye Baiji watched Hu Zi and Ye Suqi, and also took care of the carpenter delivering things. Du Yun was pregnant with a big belly, at that time people came and went, fearing that something would go wrong, so she didn't arrange for her to do anything.

  Sun's family has been much better these two days, besides, Zhen'er is coming to help with the move, she got up early and went to their own garden with Jiang's family to pick some fresh seasonal vegetables, and is now washing them by the creek.

  This group of people started bustling about in an orderly manner, and it was quite quick.

  There are ox carts in the village, which also take people to the market. As long as you pay a little car fare, you can get there. Qizhen'er took an ox cart for convenience and wanted to buy more things, so she booked it. Ye Shiwei had already made arrangements last night, and this morning he came to Ye's house to wait. After breakfast, Qizhen'er and Maoshi got on the ox cart and headed to the county town.

  The morning market is fresh and has a variety of goods, with many options to choose from. The two taels of silver that Qizhen gave yesterday have already been planned out by Maoshi, and meat is a must-buy, which will cost over 700 wen. As for the meat, Ye Lao had spoken about it earlier, saying he would cover the cost. Where can you host guests without meat? However, Qizhen was able to take out so much money, not just Maoshi, but even Ye Lao was surprised when he heard about it this morning.

  There's also the chicken and other dishes, if it were up to Mao's idea, Zhen'er's family background is well-known in the village, so there's no need for a grand banquet, just something simple would do. As long as there's wine and meat, it won't be too bad. But who knew that Zhen'er would splurge two taels of silver on this? This amount can easily host an upper-middle-class banquet in the village. At this point, Mao didn't hesitate much either. Six chickens were bought, one for each table.

  And then there's the fish, all two catties of crucian carp, either braised or steamed, one dish per table, just the whole fish served up, looking good and a bargain. Also makes those with ulterior motives in their hearts have some scruples. Zhen'er and her brother aren't people who can be bullied by just anyone.

  Also bought some fresh lotus root and some seasonings that were not available at home, as well as some vegetables. Although they have their own vegetable garden at home and grow a variety of vegetables, it's just enough for the family to eat, and if they distribute some, it will be barely enough to host these few tables of wine. Still need to buy more. Qizhen had never planned to use all the vegetables from Ye's house, so she had already included the cost of vegetables in her budget.

  Mrs. Mao looked at her almost empty purse with some embarrassment. Zhen'er gave her two taels of silver, and she really spent it all.

  Zhen'er didn't think that much. She gave the silver to Mrs. Mao just to let her handle the banquet well, and she didn't expect there would be much left over anyway.

  "Auntie, where can I buy rice wine? I want to make some sweet glutinous rice balls," Qizhen asked. Hu Zi likes to eat this dessert soup, and since he hasn't had the chance before, she might as well satisfy his craving now.

  Actually, it's the custom of the Qi family to have a banquet. On the table, there must be four cold dishes, eight hot dishes and two soups. Of course, this is also the most basic. Families with conditions are all eight cold dishes, twelve hot dishes, and the soup is added accordingly. Now that conditions do not permit it, and she does not understand the local customs of waiting for guests in Jiyang, so she just wants to keep the share of the soup. When she bought meat just now, she had already asked Ma Shi to buy some ribs, and when she got back, she would make a sour and spicy soup, so there would be two soups.

  Mrs. Mao knew that Zhen'er was a careful person in her heart, and she had heard people talk about this wine-steamed bun before, but they really didn't have anyone to make it here, because it was troublesome and expensive, usually when entertaining guests, they would serve silver ear soup instead.

  "Rou zi seems to be sold out." Mr. Mao thought for a moment and saw that Qizhen's face suddenly darkened, so he suggested: "Why don't we go to the rice shop and take a look? If they don't have any, we can buy some glutinous rice back home and make rou zi ourselves, it'll be quick."

  Qī Zhēnér listened with delight, this attention was indeed good.

  Went to the rice shop and asked, but they really didn't have any. Had no choice but to buy some glutinous rice flour. Qizhen saw that the prices of rice and flour in the shop were not expensive, white rice was eight cents a catty, white flour was six cents a catty, and miscellaneous flour was even cheaper, only two or three cents. Qizhen thought carefully, anyway these things would be used eventually, and today there was still a cow cart, so it's better to buy them all, maybe buying more could be cheaper.

  After leaving the rice shop, Mao took Qizhen to buy salt, sauce, vinegar, and pots and pans. After buying all these things and putting them on the ox cart, it was almost full. Fortunately, the ox cart was open-top, and Qizhen thought that the quilt could be squeezed in. She pulled Mao to the fabric store and finally bought the quilt. Mao also thought the quilt was a good deal, as it was made of the best cotton and felt very soft to the touch. The price of 400 coins wasn't expensive either.

  Stroking the soft and delicate white quilt, Qizhen'er smiled like a blooming flower, except for the shop door, she was smiling foolishly all the way. Ma Shi was also affected by her good mood and couldn't help but smile too.

  Across from the fabric store was an inn, where several horse-drawn carriages were parked at the entrance. Servants were busily loading things onto the vehicles. A young master and his attendant had just exited when they saw Qi Zhen'er standing across the street, hugging something and smiling foolishly. The young master softly exclaimed, "Huh?" and was about to have his attendant take a look when the steward arrived to attend to some business. By the time he finished with the steward and looked up again, Qi Zhen'er's figure had vanished.

  Let her run, Zhao Zhanming clenched his fist. After thinking for a moment, he knew that even if the monk ran away, he couldn't escape the temple, and since this little girl lived in this county, he would eventually find her one day. As they boarded the carriage, Zhao Zhanming shouted "Start!" The servant yelled at the top of his lungs, and the group set off westward with a flourish.

  All the way back, although her purse was empty, Qizhen's heart was still filled with joy as she looked at the full load of goods in the cow cart. Now they had bought everything from pots and pans to rice, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, even quilts. These things placed at home were the scenes of a happy life.

  Today is the day of our family's move, and Tuzi is excited like anything. He doesn't want to quarrel with Yeshuqi either. At this moment, the two are playing with stones at the door, and they get along quite harmoniously. Seeing the ox cart stopped in front of their own gate, Zhen'er jumped down from above, and Tuzi ran over excitedly.

  "Sister, you're back." Hu Zi's voice now carries a hint of sweetness when he speaks.

  Qī Zhēnér smiled and rubbed his head, took out two strings of sugar gourds from the outer package, handed one to him and Yè Sūqí, and watched them eat happily.

  Ye Baiji was picking vegetables at the door and taking care of Hu Zi and others. At this moment, Qi Zhen'er and others returned, she saw it at a glance, and took an arrow step to help unload things.

  The things in the car were all sorts of household items, kitchen utensils, room decorations, and even a quilt. Ye Baiqi looked at the contents of the car and thought to herself, "This is what moving house really looks like, not like this morning when I just carried a bundle and held a few baskets."

  A group of people, laughing and chatting, entered the door with a pile of things. Ye Baiji saw Qi Zhener return, rolled her eyes and stared at her, humming twice, Ye Baixiu pulled her back, and she retracted her staring gaze.

  Qizhen'er saw their little movements, but didn't take it to heart. She was in a good mood today after moving house, and such staring wouldn't cost her two pieces of meat, so why bother? Besides, if they followed the identity arranged by Ye Lao's old man for her, they should be distant relatives who had turned several corners. Of course, one should treat relatives with warmth like spring.

  Ye Baiji helped Zhen'er put the new bowls and chopsticks in the cabinet, pointing to the cabinet and saying to Zhen'er: "This new cabinet is good, right? It was just delivered by Carpenter Brother, look at the workmanship, it's so good! This part is still sealed with thick gauze. Carpenter Brother said that now it's popular to use thick gauze as a cabinet door for dishes, this way it's well-ventilated, even on hot days, the dishes won't spoil so quickly, and the smell is also smaller."

  Qī Zhēn ér pulled the cabinet door open and closed, closed and opened, trying it back and forth several times, nodding her head: "Really good, Carpenter Brother has put his heart into it."

  "Hmm?" Ye Baiji crossed her arms and gave Qi Zhener a sideways glance, humming a sound through her nostrils.

  Qī Zhēn ér smiled and looked at her, saying: "Bái zhǐ jiě also worked hard." Yè Bái zhǐ only then revealed a joyful smile.

  The little boy followed his sister from the moment she entered the house, and now he was excitedly saying: "Sister, I saw the bed, it's so big!" As he spoke, he drew a large circle with his hand to show his shock and delight. When their father was alive, they lived in their own room and had slept on a big bed before. After their father passed away, Liu Shi used the excuse that Qi Qiang was grown up and needed his own room, so she kicked them out to a small storage room. The room was low and dimly lit, with little space, and Liu Shi didn't even give them a bed, so the siblings had to sleep on a broken door board. At that time in Ye's house, Hu Zi had always dreamed of having such a big bed at home, and now his dream had come true, he was overjoyed.

  Qī Zhēnér and Yè Bái zhǐ were amused by him, after chatting for a while, they went out to busy themselves. Today, except for the old man of the Ye family who needs to take care of the medical room, everyone else came to help.

  Mrs. Mao washed the meat and ribs she had bought, then boiled them in water to make a broth. She was also busy preparing cold dishes, fortunately with Sun's help, so as not to be overwhelmed. Jiang was clumsy, usually even her family members found it hard to swallow when eating her cooking, let alone today when they were hosting guests from the whole village, she was only assigned tasks like picking and chopping vegetables.

  PS: Seeking first-order subscriptions~~~~ This should be the third update of today, and one chapter is still a public chapter, I'm really very kind~~~ Thank you for the safe amulet from Meat-eater Huanhuan, I will work hard to code words.