Cui Hongyu had no idea about Shen Ziyan's ulterior motive. All she knew was that Chen Xiaobei wanted to return quickly, so she looked to Chen Xiaobei for guidance.
Chen Xiaobei, of course, understood Cui Hongyu's meaning. He smiled and nodded, "Then let's go. I'll call you when I've finished shopping."
Unexpectedly, Shen Ziyan continued, "When you're done shopping, come over for lunch. Since you've come all the way to my home, I must at least offer you hospitality."
Huang Ying, standing nearby, immediately beamed with joy. She picked up Chen Qiaoer and said, "That's right, that's right! Brother Xiaobei, why don't you stay for lunch? Or you could even stay the night."
Chen Xiaobei instantly understood. Shen Ziyan's intention was clearly to keep them for lunch, and her talk about discussing embroidery techniques with Cui Hongyu was just an excuse.
Chen Xiaobei delivered the vegetables and apples and then hurried to Li's General Store.
Li Han, the shopkeeper, was delighted to see Chen Xiaobei. He was a big customer.
"Brother Xiaobei, please come in and have some tea."
As he spoke, he gestured to a young shop assistant, who took the reins of Chen Xiaobei's donkey cart.
Li Han invited Chen Xiaobei into the backyard, and soon a young shop assistant brought them tea.
The tea at this time was similar to that of the early Tang Dynasty, brewed with many seasonings. If eggs were added, the resulting tea eggs would be exceptionally flavorful and aromatic.
"Brother Xiaobei, what goods are you looking to purchase this time?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled calmly and held up a finger. "First, I'll order one hundred jin of saltpeter. And by the way, could you give me a bit of a discount on the price?"
Li Han chuckled heartily. "Brother Xiaobei, we've been doing business together for quite some time. You can rest assured about the prices I give you."
Chen Xiaobei smoothly presented his second order.
"I'd also like to buy some iron."
"Iron!" Li Han's eyes widened in surprise, and he lowered his voice. "Brother, this commodity is strictly controlled by the imperial court."
Chen Xiaobei knew that Li Han was only trying to drive up the price. He smiled calmly and took a sip of the rather unappetizing tea. "If Shopkeeper Li finds it difficult, I can look elsewhere."
"After all, I'll be accompanying Magistrate Hu to the prefectural capital in a few days."
Upon hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Li Han quickly forced a smile.
"Brother, don't worry. The iron I'll get for you is the kind used in military camps to forge weapons."
Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaobei didn't appreciate it. Instead, he smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Li, actually, I don't need such high-quality iron. Ordinary iron will do."
"It doesn't matter if it has sandholes. I'll be using it to make some rough items."
Li Han looked at him with a puzzled expression. "So, you're looking for pig iron."
"But pig iron can't be used to make farm tools, nor kitchen knives, nor cooking pots. I wonder what you plan to make with it."
Chen Xiaobei thought to himself, "I want to make hand grenades and landmines, but how can I explain that to you?"
"Oh, I'm just making some crudely crafted items."
Li Han knew that Chen Xiaobei didn't want to explain himself, but there were principles in business. He couldn't pry if the other party didn't volunteer information.
"This is simple enough. Do you have any other requests? Perhaps I can help you with them."
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "I do have other requests, but let's discuss them after I've seen the pig iron."
After cupping his hands in farewell to Li Han, Chen Xiaobei headed to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant.
Tian Wen, the proprietor of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, greeted Chen Xiaobei enthusiastically.
"Brother Xiaobei, you've arrived just in time. Stay for lunch today. We've hired a new chef recently, so you can try his skills."
Chen Xiaobei placed a piece of broken silver on the counter.
"Trying the chef's skills is fine, but I can't eat here. I have guests at home and need to take something back."
Tian Wen chuckled and pushed the silver back.
"Alright, you can keep the silver. Since you've come all this way, how can I accept your money?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head and pushed the silver back again. "Shopkeeper Tian, let's keep things separate. I've earned quite a bit of silver selling fish and vegetables to you."
Tian Wen chuckled. "Alright, you're running a small business. Besides, those are vegetables and fish from your village. When did they become your own merchandise? Then I wouldn't hesitate to accept your money."
Chen Xiaobei knew that further insistence would be pointless. He put away the silver.
Tian Wen ordered some peanuts and snacks to be served to him and then went into the kitchen to busy himself.
By the time Chen Xiaobei arrived at Shen Ziyan's house with the vegetables, he could already hear bursts of laughter from inside before he even entered the courtyard gate.
Looking through the main gate, he saw Du Juan and Xiao Hua playing games with Chen Qiaoer in the courtyard.
The laughter was coming from the three of them.
After all, Du Juan and Xiao Hua were only thirteen or fourteen years old, still considered children.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, Chen Qiaoer ran to him with a skip in her step.
"Brother, brother."
Xiaobei patted Chen Qiaoer's head and then gestured to the donkey cart.
"There are vegetables on the cart. I'll carry them down first, then I'll play with you."
Seeing this, Xiaohua and Du Juan quickly came forward to help.
Chen Qiaoer also reached out to pick up a cold dish and called out loudly towards the house, "Sister-in-law, brother is back."
Hearing the shout, Cui Hongyu came out of the house.
I went to Chen Qiaoer's side, took the cold dish, and smiled as I said, "This is not our home, so you can't say 'back'."
Chen Xiaobei was momentarily stunned, surprised by Cui Hongyu's meticulousness with words.
But when he saw Shen Ziyan, who emerged last, her face flushed, he suddenly understood. Something must have been said by the three girls inside.
Shen Ziyan bowed to Chen Xiaobei and said apologetically, "Brother Xiaobei, I am truly sorry. We agreed to keep you for lunch, but we got so caught up in conversation that we lost track of time."
Then she turned to Xiao Hua and said, "You child, you were too busy playing and didn't start the fire to cook."
Xiao Hua looked wronged, but lowered her head and dared not say a word.
Huang Ying, standing nearby, spoke up. "Sister Ziyan, you can't say that. You were the one who asked us to play with Qiaoer in the courtyard, and now you're not admitting it."
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei quickly changed the subject. "I didn't know. What are your favorite flavors? Shopkeeper Tian of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant said he has a new chef, so I asked him to make a few signature dishes."
Upon hearing that the dishes were from the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, Huang Ying couldn't help but laugh. "Great, great! I love the dishes from the Drunken Immortal Restaurant the most."
Seeing her happy like a child, Chen Xiaobei felt that this Huang Ying was simply too innocent, open about her emotions and opinions.
In comparison, Shen Ziyan was more reserved and appeared more composed.
After the dishes were arranged, Shen Ziyan gestured to Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua went into the inner room and brought out a jar of wine. Su Dan Novel Network.
"Sister Hongyu, Brother Xiaobei, you've come all this way to have a meal with me, and you even brought your own dishes. This is really inexcusable. I'll drink three penalties first."
What, Chen Xiaobei was instantly stunned.