They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 67 Go with me
Whether the steamed buns are delicious or not is completely irrelevant to the Zeng family; they have no shortage of food.

Besides, isn't the gift meant to convey a meaning?

Zeng Xiaoyan was overjoyed and hugged Xu Zhichun tightly, extremely surprised and delighted. "Sister-in-law Zhichun, what's this noodle dish called? I think it's perfect, let's make it."

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "This is called dough figurine. When you send it as a birthday gift, you can call it a birthday noodle gift. Since that's the case, I'll make it. I'll have it ready a day in advance so you can come and pick it up."

"Hmm, how much flour do you need? I'll buy it and bring it over. If you need any help, just let me know, Sister Zhichun."

This is clearly a craft, including the dyeing process. Zeng Xiaoyan knows about it, so she wisely didn't ask any questions or offer to help.

Which family's skills aren't passed down through generations, a means of livelihood? How could they possibly let outsiders learn them so easily?

Xu Zhichun hadn't thought that much about it. Hearing her say that, she breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll let you know if I need your help."

It's impossible to say, since she took it directly from the harbor warehouse space.

Making these flower-shaped steamed buns requires skill, and Xu Zhichun himself didn't know how.

It's not impossible to force yourself to learn it, but it takes a lot of time and patience.

Xu Zhichun briefly described the shape of the birthday flower bun to Zeng Xiaoyan.

The seven-tiered pagoda-shaped structure, roughly half a person's height, features beautifully shaped dough figurines symbolizing good fortune, prosperity, longevity, and wealth, such as gourds, lucky bags, auspicious rolls, and gold ingots, all adorned with exquisite flowers of various colors. The penultimate tier consists of small peaches pieced together, while the top tier holds an enormous peach atop the smaller peaches.

The second layer of small peaches has four characters in the very center of the outer edge of the front. Each character is pasted on a piece of dough dyed bright red, and together they spell "May you live as long as the Southern Mountain".

To support this enormous mountain of noodles, Xu Zhichun specially asked Uncle Qitian to make a wooden base and a wooden box to cover it, so that it would be easy to move later.

Zeng Xiaoyan repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Sister-in-law Zhichun for her thoughtfulness.

The birthday gift issue is finally resolved. These past two days, her mother-in-law has been following her with a look that seems to ask, "Have you thought it through yet?" She's so scared that she pretends not to see it at home and doesn't dare to look up.

Now I can finally stand tall and hold my head high.

With this grand finale, everything else becomes much easier. Things like tea, longevity noodles, eggs, and brown sugar can be reasonably priced at around 300 coins.

Anyway, given their own family's resources, no matter how much they give, it won't be enough for the Zeng family to notice.

Why waste it?

Thinking of her stepmother and stepsister, Zeng Xiaoyan couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Then, a brilliant idea struck her: "Sister-in-law Zhichun, why don't you go too? Come with us!"

Xu Zhichun was stunned: "How can this be!"

Zeng Xiaoyan thought about it more and more and felt that her idea was absolutely brilliant, and nodded quickly: "Of course, of course! It's a birthday banquet, the more people the better. I'll bring a sister-in-law from the village, what's wrong with that? We'll just go for a meal and come back. That's what my parents-in-law are planning too. I'm really annoyed with my older sister, and I'm afraid she'll scheme against me again. With Sister-in-law Zhichun around, she can always remind me. Besides, with Sister-in-law Zhichun there, maybe they'll have some self-respect and won't cause any trouble?"

Since neither of them had a high opinion of each other, and she was just a nobody, an illegitimate daughter, whose family was poor and who was embarrassed to stay overnight and cause trouble for her family, people would only say that she was sensible and that she wasn't single-mindedly thinking of leeching off her family to support her husband's family.

Xu Zhichun couldn't help but feel a little tempted.

It wasn't that she wanted to curry favor with the Zeng family; she had never seen such a lively scene in ancient times before, and going to see what the excitement was like seemed like a good idea.

Furthermore, she was doing business with Zeng Xiaoyan, and if the business grew bigger and bigger in the future, she would probably have to deal with the Zeng family sooner or later. It would be good to observe from the sidelines beforehand.

Well, even if you get bullied or mocked and fall out with them, it's fine. That way, when you deal with them again in the future, you can successfully occupy the moral high ground and say whatever you want without hesitation.

Is this really, really appropriate?

"Perfect, perfect, of course it's perfect!" Zeng Xiaoyan exclaimed with delight. "Sister-in-law Zhichun, then it's settled."

"All right."

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "I'll go see how lively it is and maybe even get a free meal."

Zeng Xiaoyan quickly added, "If anyone says anything unpleasant, don't mind them. They're all directed at me, it has nothing to do with you, so don't take it to heart."

"it is good."

Zeng Xiaoyan got Xu Zhichun's idea and was finally able to explain to her mother-in-law when she got home. She described in detail how she had prepared the grand finale birthday gift.

Aunt Liang couldn't imagine how beautiful that longevity noodle gift was, but it was such a big thing, with so many different styles and colors, it sounded festive and impressive.

It must be a good thing.

More importantly, she really had no idea what to give as a gift to the wealthy Zeng family, her in-laws, and dared not make any decisions for fear of making a fool of herself. Her daughter-in-law was a member of the Zeng family, so she must know more than she did. Since her daughter-in-law said it was appropriate and seemed so satisfied with her, then it was definitely the right thing to do.

Aunt Liang was relieved and became happier as she listened. "Good, good, that's great! Let's do it that way. Did Zhichun help with it? That's really too much trouble for her. We should thank her properly. You need flour to make this, right? I don't know if we have enough at home. We'll buy some more tomorrow."

Zeng Xiaoyan was also very happy: "Don't worry, Mom, I will buy the flour."

"Then you go ahead and buy it. Just tell me how much it costs. This is a public expense, so I can't let you pay for it."

How could a daughter-in-law be allowed to use her own savings to give as a birthday gift to her father-in-law? The Liang family would never do such a thing.

Zeng Xiaoyan didn't refuse and happily agreed.

She then took the opportunity to mention that she had invited Xu Zhichun to go with them.

Aunt Liang was taken aback.

Zeng Xiaoyan simply said, "I'm a little scared. Mother probably doesn't know, but my elder sister and I have a grudge. I'm afraid she'll cause me trouble, so I asked Sister Zhichun to come with me to give me courage. If anything happens that I can't think of, she's thoughtful and can remind me."

Aunt Liang laughed and said, "That's fine. We don't mind having a lot of people for the birthday gift. Just say it's from our village, from our family, and from our sister-in-law's side."

"Ok!"

Zeng Xiaoyan was overjoyed.

The next day, it finally stopped raining, although it was still a bit gloomy and looked like it could rain again at any moment.

As usual, Xu Zhichun and his group went into the city to set up their stalls. Today, Liang Mingxuan also went; he was going to the county school to register for the children's examination.

Before she finished speaking, Xu Zhichun felt a little nervous. "Mingxuan, do you really want to try? Actually, you're still young. You can wait two more years before you go on stage."

The more Xu Zhichun learned about the preliminary examinations, the more worried she became. What if the child failed and was hurt in self-esteem? In modern times, this child would be about the age of a fifth grader. It would be more appropriate for him to wait until he is at least the age of junior high school.

Liang Mingxuan naturally refused, saying, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I can do it."

"Okay, okay, that works too."

I can't say any more, or I'll really hurt his pride.

(End of this chapter)