Chapter 154 Chen's Instructions
After coming out of Zuixianju, Qianhuan asked Ji Feng to drive the carriage to take her and Wenjie home.
Qianhuan did not allow the carriage to enter the village, but only sent it not far from the village entrance.
After Wenjie got off the carriage, Qianhuan whispered to Ji Feng: "Ji Feng, drive home first to take care of your mother. Come pick me up at the same place and time in the evening."
"Yes, boss."
Then Qianhuan took Wenjie to her aunt's house.
Qianhuan said to Wenjie as they walked, "Wenjie, there are a lot of things to do in the teahouse recently. I plan to stay in the teahouse tomorrow and not go back to the village. If you want to stay with me in the teahouse, I will tell your mother after I send you home. If you don't want to live in the teahouse, after you finish teaching the children in the teahouse, I will ask the driver to send you back alone."
"Sister Qianhuan, I have never left my mother's side at night. I will go home and ask my mother what she thinks. If my mother agrees, I will live in the teahouse with you."
Wenjie thought about it and told Chen his thoughts truthfully. In the past few years, they had depended on each other as mother and son. Except for this time when he went to study with Mr. Fan, Wenjie had never left Chen's side.
"Okay, then go home and ask your mother yourself, and give me an answer tomorrow."
"Ah."
After Qianhuan sent Wenjie back home, they entered the small courtyard and saw that the door was closed.
Wenjie shouted inside: "Mom, I'm back, please open the door."
Qianhuan also said, "Aunt, Wenjie has been safely sent home. I will go back first."
When Chen heard the sound, she quickly shouted through the door to the people outside, "Qianhuan, don't leave yet."
Qianhuan stopped and waited for Chen to open the door.
Unexpectedly, the door was still closed and only a heart-wrenching cough was heard from inside. After the coughing finally stopped, Chen's voice was heard.
"Qianhuan, I have something to ask of you."
"Well, Aunt, tell me, what's the matter?"
"The doctor said that the cold I caught is contagious, and I'm afraid I'll pass the disease on to Wenjie. I can't take care of him for a while. I've packed up Wenjie's clothes and other supplies and put them on the table in the lobby. Could you please help me take care of him recently?" Chen's voice was slightly pleading.
Qianhuan glanced at the table and saw a package on it.
Qianhuan asked quickly, "Aunt, have you caught the cold again? Did the doctor prescribe any medicine for you? Otherwise, Qianhuan will take you to the county town for a checkup. The doctors there are better."
"No need, Qianhuan, I've already got the medicine. As long as you agree to help me take care of Wenjie, I can rest assured and recover from my illness."
"Aunt, just rest assured and take care of yourself. I will take good care of Brother Wenjie. When you recover and see him again, I guarantee that he will be plump and fair."
Chen said gratefully, "Thank you, Qianhuan. Your words put my aunt at ease."
Then Chen told her son, "Wenjie, you must promise me that you will listen to your second uncle, second aunt, and sister Qianhuan. Study hard and strive to become a capable person in the future, and then I will be relieved."
"Well, mother, I understand."
Qianhuan also laughed and teased Wenjie, "Just now you said that you had to ask your mother before deciding whether to live in the teahouse with me tomorrow. Now, you don't have to ask your mother."
Wenjie also smiled and said to Chen through the door: "Mom, I want to tell you something, but you must not tell other people in the village. Sister Qianhuan bought a big yard in the county town, and she will open a teahouse and be the boss in the future. I will live in the teahouse in the county town with Sister Qianhuan tomorrow, and I will not return to the village for the time being. You must take good care of yourself at home."
When Chen heard her son say this with her back to the door, she couldn't help feeling relieved. Qianhuan was a very capable girl, and she could rest assured that Wenjie would follow her in the future.
"Okay, I know. Don't worry, I will take good care of myself."
"Qianhuan, I am really grateful. It is a blessing for Wenjie to have a cousin as good as you. I am useless and will not have any chance to repay you in the future. I will just have to wait for your uncle to come back from the army."
"Aunt, please don't say that. I'm looking forward to my brother Wenjie becoming successful in the future and taking me to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks."
"Well, if Wenjie becomes successful in the future, you will be his biological sister. Wenjie, did you hear me? You must treat Sister Qianhuan as your biological sister in the future."
"Yes, mother, I understand."
"Qianhuan, take Wenjie away as soon as possible. Be careful that Auntie might pass on her illness to you."
"Well, Auntie, we'll leave first."
"Mom, let's go back to Second Uncle's house first. When you recover from your cold, Wenjie will come back to accompany you."
"Okay, Mom is waiting for you."
When the footsteps outside the door were too far away to be heard, Chen finally opened the door, only to see her slumped on the ground, tears streaming down her face, with a pool of blood on the handkerchief in her hand.
Qianhuan and Wenjie first went to Carpenter Sun's house to pick up a wooden box for sand. The production process of the wooden box was very simple, and Carpenter Sun asked for a very cheap price.
Qianhuan thought that the workshop would be completed soon, so she ordered dozens of wooden racks from Carpenter Sun. When making soybean koji in the future, bamboo fences for the soybeans could be placed on these wooden racks.
Then the two of them went to the river and put some sand in each wooden box. Qianhua said to Wenjie, "With these wooden boxes filled with sand, you can teach those children to write tomorrow."
"Well, Sister Qianhuan, you are so smart. You can actually think of writing with sand." Wenjie admires Qianhuan from the bottom of his heart.
Qianhuan thought to herself, how could she be so smart? Using a sand box to write was invented by our ancestors. She was just borrowing it. Our ancestors were still wiser.
After Qianhuan brought Wenjie home, she immediately said to her parents, "Mom and Dad, my aunt has caught a cold again recently. She asked us to help take care of Wenjie for a while. Wenjie will sleep at our house tonight."
Liu immediately said happily, "Okay, your uncle and aunt came to visit us before, and they just bought a bed and quilt and set up a bed in the guest room. I'll go make the bed, and Wenjie will sleep in the guest room tonight."
She turned to Wenjie and said lovingly, "Wenjie, just treat your second uncle's house as your own, okay?"
"Well, thank you, second aunt."
"Mom, Wenjie and I have to go to the teacher's place to study every morning. It's a waste of time to run back and forth like this every day. Wenjie and I will only sleep at home tonight. Starting tomorrow, I will live directly in the auspicious restaurant I bought in the county town."
Liu asked worriedly, "Does the restaurant have bedding and other things? Is it convenient for people to live in?"
"Mom, don't worry. There's everything in there. It's very convenient. I've converted that restaurant into a teahouse. When everything is ready in a few days, our teahouse will be open for business. Then I'll take you and dad to have a look."
"Okay, your teahouse is about to open, so there must be a lot of preparations to be done. Do you want me and your father to help?"
"Mom, I have hired a lot of people to work in my teahouse, so we don't need any help. You and Dad just need to take care of the family. Our new house and soy sauce workshop will be completed soon, and you two will be very busy by then."
Liu was now very impressed with her daughter's abilities, and she obeyed her daughter's words almost every time. She nodded and said, "Okay, then your father and I will take good care of the house, and we will not care about the affairs of the teahouse, and leave it all to you to take care of."
"Well, Dad and Mom, my teahouse is now under the name of the Chu family. There are all kinds of people in the city. It will be difficult for us to survive if we don't have a backer, so don't tell others that the teahouse is opened by our family."
Liang Lao Er nodded and agreed, "Well, Qianhuan, don't worry, your mother and I won't tell anyone."