The next moment, the aroma wafted into everyone's noses, followed by a series of gulping sounds.
"Gulp!"
"Gulp!"
They exchanged glances, all lowering their heads in embarrassment, not daring to look at Zhang Liunian's face.
Even the village chief, Zhang Laoshi, was so tempted by the aroma that he couldn't stop swallowing.
"The weather is hot now, and it won't keep until tomorrow. One bowl per person, you don't need to be polite with me," Zhang Liunian said, seeing everyone's hesitation, to break the ice.
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, unable to resist the fragrance.
The reason was that it was too fragrant. Up close, the scent was magnified a hundredfold. Who could resist such temptation?
"I don't have many bowls, so please return them after you're done," Zhang Liunian asked his younger sister to bring the bowls over. He served one bowl to each person, which was just enough to finish the dishes in the basin.
The village chief was the last to leave. Holding the fragrant dish, he looked at Zhang Liunian and encouraged him, "Liunian, your cooking skills are excellent. You'll make money."
"Thank you, Chief," Zhang Liunian smiled and saw the chief off.
The chief returned home with the bowl of dishes given by Zhang Liunian. Before he could catch his breath, his entire family surrounded him.
"It smells so good, Dad, what are you holding?" The first to speak was Zhang Laoshi's eldest son. After speaking, he saw the fragrant dishes in his father's hand, reached out, pinched a piece of potato, and the next moment, his eyes lit up as he praised it, "Delicious, it's so delicious."
The other family members heard this and joined in. After they tasted the dishes, they all exclaimed that the food was too delicious.
And it wasn't just the village chief's family who thought so; the dozen or so households who received the dishes felt the same.
When they finished eating and returned the bowls to Zhang Liunian, they all gave him a thumbs-up.
"Liunian, your cooking is too delicious. If you sell it, it will definitely sell."
"Liunian, are you planning to start a private business, selling the dishes you just made? You'll have customers because your cooking tastes really too good.
Let me know when you start selling, and maybe I can come and buy some to try."
"I'll support you too, what you make is too delicious."
"..."
All these people were captured by Zhang Liunian's braised dishes.
Zhang Liunian smiled and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you all for your support. If you want some, you don't need to go to the county town. Just come to my house. Plain dishes are five fen per bowl."
The price of five fen was not high at all. When people heard this, they were overjoyed, their eyes beaming, and they all called Zhang Liunian generous.
Given the taste and portion size from before, a bowl for five fen was truly not expensive.
This Zhang Liunian must have given them the cheap price because they were neighbors.
Everyone was not foolish and quickly understood Zhang Liunian's intentions.
Because of this incident, everyone suddenly realized that Zhang Liunian was not as bad as the villagers said, nor was he as unbearable as they had seen him before.
"Then I'll be waiting. Five fen is enough for our family to eat one meal."
"I'm waiting too. When will you start cooking?"
"Yes, when will you start cooking?"
Hearing the villagers asking about the time, Zhang Liunian smiled and said, "I'll start cooking tomorrow afternoon when I get back."
Everyone was very happy to hear that they could eat tomorrow.
Just then, someone else asked Zhang Liunian about taking the college entrance examination. Zhang Liunian smiled and said he wouldn't. Everyone quickly comforted him, saying it was okay not to go to college.
About fifteen minutes later, Zhang Liunian stood up and personally escorted them out of the main hall.
As soon as the door was closed, a fragrant, soft body pressed against him from behind. Zhang Liunian stopped, placed his hands over the small hands around his waist, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Qingqing buried her face in Zhang Liunian's back, her eyes red, and said, "Liunian, you know that no matter what you want to do, I will always support you, so you don't have to worry about me and the child."
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian sighed inwardly. It seemed she had overheard their conversation and thought he still had ideas about taking the college entrance exam. He turned and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. "Didn't I say it before? I just want to give you and Hua Bao a better life. Now that I can be a private entrepreneur, I can let you and Hua Bao eat meat every day, and let you live comfortably and happily. This is what I seek."
"Liunian." Jiang Qingqing's heart trembled upon hearing this, her voice trembling. She pressed her face tightly against Zhang Liunian's chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, which gave her peace.
The next day, Zhang Liunian was still practicing boxing and throwing shrimp shells to catch lobsters. The difference was that when he returned home, many people around him started greeting him.
These were all people who had eaten his braised dishes last night.
Zhang Liunian liked this change, but his smile quickly vanished when he saw Tu Meili's sinister gaze.
"Qingqing, be careful of Tu Meili when I'm not home," Zhang Liunian instructed his wife as he walked into the house and sat at the dining table.
Jiang Qingqing placed the porridge on the table and nodded, "I will."
After the family had breakfast, an hour passed, and the mute person did not come. Zhang Liunian became worried.
No one knew the mute person's situation better than he did. His elder brother was a ruthless bastard who ate people without spitting out bones. The mute person hadn't helped him with work for two days. Had he laid hands on the mute person?
Thinking of this, Zhang Liunian couldn't sit still. He instructed his wife and then went to the mute person's house.
Coincidentally, he ran into the mute person's elder brother, Zhang Guangtou. He had a ruddy complexion and dark hair, not looking like a 40-year-old middle-aged man at all.
"Zhang Liunian? What are you doing here?" Zhang Guangtou did not know that his second brother had been at Zhang Liunian's house for the past two days. Seeing Zhang Liunian arrive, he stopped and looked confused.
"I'm looking for the mute person," Zhang Liunian did not have a good impression of Zhang Guangtou either, and as he spoke, he walked straight in.
Zhang Guangtou was stunned, turned around, and grabbed Zhang Liunian, "What are you looking for the mute person for? I don't think you are friends, are you?"
They were indeed not friends, but now they were in a cooperative relationship.
"I hired him to work for me, and he didn't show up today, so of course, I have to find him." Zhang Liunian knew that by having the mute person help him, he would inevitably interact with Zhang Guangtou.
"What? You hired the mute person to work and paid him wages? How much?"
Zhang Guangtou's interest was piqued upon hearing this.
If Zhang Liunian offered a high wage, he wouldn't mind letting the mute person earn the money.
But then he thought about it again. Zhang Liunian was a poor and lazy person, owing half the village. How much wage could he offer even if he hired the mute person?
Perhaps this person had the same idea as him, wanting the mute person to work for free.
That wouldn't do. The mute person was his brother. If anyone was to work for free, it should only be him, not outsiders.
"Zhang Liunian, you are a learned person. You don't mean to let my mute brother work for you for free, do you?
There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
Zhang Guangtou, being such a person himself, instinctively thought of Zhang Liunian in the same way.