“Considering you bought four recipes from me last time, I’ll weigh it today and settle the payment for you.”

No wonder Aunt Yang had said the shopkeeper was a good person. After this, Shen Xuezhu felt the same and immediately thanked him.

The shopkeeper continued, “In the future, just hand over the cured meat to Chef Li, and he’ll arrange for the weighing.”

Then, the shopkeeper took out a new ledger from behind the counter, handed it to Shen Xuezhu, and said, “Let me go to the kitchen and give him the instructions.”

Shen Xuezhu nodded. “Alright.”

She thought to herself that Chef Li was quite interesting. It would be easy and pleasant to work with him in the future.

With that, Shen Xuezhu, along with her two daughters, went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the shopkeeper handed the ledger to Chef Li Qingshu and gave him a few instructions before leaving.

Chef Li immediately arranged for someone to weigh the cured meat that Shen Xuezhu had brought.

“It’s a total of twenty-two pounds of cured meat,” Chef Li told her.

He wrote a few numbers in the ledger, handed it to Shen Xuezhu, and explained, “Every time you deliver cured meat, first go to the shopkeeper to get this ledger, then come to me.”

“After we weigh the meat, I’ll note the amount in this ledger and sign it. You can then take it to the counter to settle the payment with the shopkeeper.”

Shen Xuezhu replied, “Alright, thank you.”

With the ledger in hand, she and her two daughters went to the counter.

After receiving the silver, which amounted to thirty-four wen, Shen Xuezhu felt even happier.

Lu Xiaoyue and Lu Xiaoli both kept their eyes fixed on her money pouch.

After bidding farewell to the shopkeeper, Shen Xuezhu was ready to head to the town entrance. She was planning to buy a lot of things again today, and it would be more convenient if she could hire an ox cart.

She shared her thoughts with her two daughters, and they were both happy to cooperate, agreeing to go to the town entrance first.

Just as they exited the restaurant, Shen Xuezhu paused.

She instructed her two daughters, “Don’t mention the money on me when we’re outside.”

The two girls, understanding, nodded.

Lu Xiaoyue thought for a moment and added, “What if a thief hears about how much money we have on us? They might try to steal it.”

…

Shen Xuezhu had to admit that she was lucky.

When they reached the town entrance, she saw Zhao Er, who had just gotten off his ox cart.

“Zhao Er Ge, I’m going to buy a lot of things again today. Can I use your ox cart, like last time?”

“No problem. Come on over,” Zhao Er said.

Shen Xuezhu, along with her two daughters, got onto the cart.

Zhao Er was a man of few words. He didn’t ask why Shen Xuezhu needed so many things this time. Instead, he simply waited for her to tell him where to go.

“Zhao Er Ge, let’s go to the blacksmith’s shop first,” Shen Xuezhu said, looking ahead.

“Alright,” Zhao Er replied.

The ox cart slowly started moving and then gradually picked up speed.