Chapter 175 Sending Watermelon to the Photo Studio
It was not until all the potatoes were harvested that everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed.
In order to reward everyone for their hard work during this period, Shen Zhi and the cook used the newly harvested potatoes to make several dishes to improve everyone's meals. She made the most common sour and spicy potato shreds, salt and pepper potato cubes, potato stewed with pork ribs, crispy potato cakes, dry pot potato slices, braised potatoes, etc. Although most of these dishes were vegetarian, everyone ate them with gusto.
"These potatoes taste really good. Different cooking methods bring out different flavors. The potato shreds are crispy and delicious, and the potato cubes are soft, sticky and sweet. I originally thought that such a high-yield grain was just used to fill the stomach, and the taste must not be very good. I didn't expect it to be so delicious." Lord Sun said with emotion while eating.
"Yes, this dish is so delicious! The braised potatoes are soft and chewy. I can eat two bowls of rice just with the soup." Lord Jiang also echoed.
"Sir Sun, you can't eat too many potatoes. They are like staple food. Eating too much is not good for your diabetes." Shen Zhi saw Sir Sun eating potatoes non-stop and hurried over to remind him.
Lord Sun's face drooped instantly. He couldn't eat this or that. What was the point of living like this?
After finishing the work at Baiyun Villa, the next thing was handed over to the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture. Shen Zhi took He Jin's family to Bibo Villa. Wang Hu had already harvested all the potatoes with his men, and according to Shen Zhi's request, he buried some of the potatoes in dried fine sand to preserve them as seeds for autumn sowing.
"Miss, our potatoes have been loaded into the cart, and the watermelons have been loaded into two carts as you requested." Wang Hu came over to report to Shen Zhi.
"Okay, ask the guys to bring the potatoes and watermelons back to Shitou Village with us. Uncle Wang, please arrange for someone to send some potatoes and watermelons to the photo studio so that everyone can taste them." Shen Zhi arranged.
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Wang Hu agreed with a smile, but he had other plans in mind. He hadn't seen his son and daughter-in-law for a long time, so he took this opportunity to bring some things to see them. So he turned around and said to Shen Zhi, "Miss, I want my wife to go back with me and visit my son and daughter-in-law. Is that okay?"
Shen Zhi naturally would not refuse, and readily agreed: "Of course, you can go ahead."
After getting Shen Zhi's permission, Wang Hu began to make arrangements and had people prepare potatoes and watermelons to be sent to the photo studio. He also arranged a carriage and prepared to go to the city with his wife to visit his son and daughter-in-law.
Shen Zhi led everyone towards Shitou Village.
He Jin and his family separated from Shen Zhi halfway on the way. They were going to visit an old acquaintance in town and made an appointment with Shen Zhi to return to Shitou Village in a few days.
Here, Uncle Wang returned to his hut with great joy. Before he even entered the door, he shouted, "Old lady, pack up quickly. Let's go see our son and daughter-in-law."
"What's wrong? Why are you making so much noise?"
Hearing the voice, Li hurried out of the house. Seeing that it was her man, she couldn't help but complain: "You're such a grown-up, but you're still making such a fuss!"
Wang Hu scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Hey, I'm in a hurry. Guess what? Just now the girl asked me to arrange for someone to send some potatoes and watermelons to the photo studio for them to taste. When I heard that, I thought it was perfect. We can take the opportunity to go see Feng'er and Yurong, so I volunteered to take on this job!"
After hearing this, Li smiled immediately, "Really? That's great. We haven't seen Feng'er and Yurong for a long time." After saying that, she turned around and went back to the house to pack her things.
After a while, Li came out with a bundle and said to Wang Hu, "I'll go pack some pickled plums. Yurong likes them the most."
The couple excitedly packed for a long time, wishing they could bring all the good things in the farm to their children to taste.
The carriage was soon filled to the brim. In addition to watermelons and potatoes, there were also wild fruits picked by the servants on the mountain, and various vegetables produced in the farm. Li even packed a few jars of pickled vegetables. The two children loved to eat the pickled vegetables she made. When they were in the Meng Mansion, the masters of the mansion also liked to eat them. After all these things were loaded, there was no room for more people in the carriage, so the old couple had to sit on the frame and set off in the carriage.
The carriage swayed for more than half an hour before arriving at the Memory Photo Studio. Wang Hu drove the carriage in from the backyard.
Zhan Yurong was feeling a little uncomfortable at the moment, so Shen Zhen asked her to go back to her room and rest for a while. As soon as she entered the backyard, she saw her parents-in-law driving over in a carriage.
"Dad, Mom, why are you here?" Zhan Yurong ran forward happily.
Wang Hu stopped the carriage, jumped off the frame, helped Li down, turned to his daughter-in-law and said, "Yurong, how have you been recently? Your mother and I have been missing you a lot recently. So, the girl asked me to send some potatoes and watermelons over for everyone to taste, so we came here in person."
"We are fine, Dad and Mom. It must be hot on the road. Please go sit inside first. I will pour you some cold tea and call my husband over."
Wang Hu hurriedly stopped Zhan Yurong, "Don't call him. I heard the photo studio is very busy. Don't disturb him at work. I'll go unload the things."
"Dad, we're not busy today. My husband is idle in the hall." After saying that, Zhan Yurong went to the hall.
Hearing that Wang Hu was coming, everyone left one person in the front hall to guard, and the rest went to the backyard to help. They and Wang Hu were basically servants of the Meng Mansion before, and they had worked together for many years and had some feelings for each other.
When Li saw her son coming over, her eyes turned slightly red and she took her son's hand to ask about his well-being.
"Mom, I'm fine. You see, I've gained a lot of weight." Wang Feng said, patting his chest.
Li scolded, "You have gained weight, but Yurong has lost weight. You need to nourish Yurong."
"Auntie Li," Meng Ting came over holding Lan Xue's hand. She had just taken Lan Xue to the street to buy candied haws. When she heard that Wang Hu and his wife had arrived, they used to be loyal servants in the Meng family and treated Meng Ting and her brother better than their own children. So Meng Ting immediately rushed to the backyard.
When Li saw Meng Ting, she couldn't hold back her tears and said, "The young lady has lost weight, why is the young master not here?"
Meng Ting's eyes also turned red, and she hurriedly comforted him, "Auntie Li, don't cry, I'm fine. Things are different now, don't call me Miss anymore, just call me Sister Ting like everyone else. My little brother has gone to school, and the young lady asked someone to find a very good school for him at the beginning of the year, and now he is studying with Lan Tian."
Li nodded. She was too excited just now. She must not cause trouble for the young lady. The young lady looked unhappy. She was probably thinking about the lady again. This time last year, the Meng family was still fine. The lady said that she would take her to the farm to pick lotus in the summer. But now things have changed. The lady has passed away and the master is also exiled in Lingnan.