Great Imperial Merchant

In the winter of the 16th year of Apocalypse, the new year is approaching.

Fumanlou, which just opened this year, is preparing to close its doors for the winter.Although there are restaurants and restaurants in Quzhou that opened during the New Year's Eve, Cheng Weizhe and the others still closed their dine-in business ahead of time, leaving only tea and wine for sale, because it wasn't too busy, so only the money shopkeeper and Xiaoshan Lishu were guarding outside the first floor. The window for sale is planned to last until 27th and then completely close.

Before the beginning of the new year, the family stopped worrying about things in the shop and started buying new year's goods instead.

After all, this is their first New Year in Quzhou, so it is natural to have a lively and joyful time.

Yang Zhongyuan has been around for more than seven months, and he already looks chubby, but when he puts on a thick cotton cloak, he looks more like a ball. Cheng Weizhe is busy with him at home every day for the New Year, and the smile on his face never stops.

That didn't mean that Yang Zhongyuan was funny, on the contrary, he felt moved and satisfied.

This person is willing to bear children for two people, willing to add new happiness to this family.He never complained about the hardships and hardships of the pregnancy process. Instead, he was full of energy every day. Even Cheng Weizhe, who had been worrying about him, gradually calmed down and prepared for the New Year with him.

Because there is no busy business, the two of them rarely have leisure time, and often get together to study new recipes and tea products for the coming spring.

The winter snow in November brought Quzhou the worst winter in ten years, and also delayed the blooming of this year's wintersweet.

Cheng Weizhe accompanied Yang Zhongyuan for a walk in Qingzhi Garden one day, and happened to see wintersweet blooming in the garden. He couldn't help thinking of the New Year's banquet in Wanxi last year.

In that New Year banquet, there was a plum blossom dew, which was boiled with plum blossom petals and honey. It tasted sweet and refreshing, very pleasant. At that time, he thought of other ideas, thinking of making it himself in winter.

It's just that he has been busy since he arrived in Quzhou, but thanks to the late winter plum blossom season this year, he remembered this matter again.

The wintersweet in Qingzhiyuan is a unique variety in Quzhou, called Sajin wintersweet. This kind of plum blossoms are yellow like wax, and the double petals are dotted with red spots, which looks very beautiful.Moreover, it has a strong fragrance, and it can relieve summer heat, produce body fluid, smooth Qi and relieve cough. It is quite pleasant to drink a cup in summer.

Cheng Weizhe originally thought of making whole plum blossom tea, but now that the golden wintersweet here in Qingzhi Garden is about to open, he didn't care about it, and said to Yang Zhongyuan: "Xiao Yuan, I want to make a scented tea, so I use this Sprinkle the flower buds of wintersweet, what do you think?"

Yang Zhongyuan originally just went out with him to relax, but he didn't expect him to be thinking about tea, so he couldn't help laughing: "You are in charge of the tea at home, you can do whatever you want, anyway, you are not busy at the end of the year, but you can do some elegant things like picking flowers .”

Cheng Weizhe was excited about the idea he had in mind, and he couldn't help being even more happy to hear him say that. He put his arm around his shoulder and kissed him vigorously on the cheek, making a "boo" sound.

It is rare for them to show such intimacy outside, even though there are almost no visitors in Qingzhi Garden at this moment, it still makes Yang Zhongyuan blush instantly: "You...you!"

Seeing his blushing, Cheng Weizhe felt even more happy, so he became even more brazen and pulled him to kiss him again.

Yang Zhongyuan hadn't recovered from his senses just now, but this time he was hit by him again, so he patted him on the shoulder twice angrily: "The sky is bright and white, what nonsense?"

"We're married, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, there's no one here, you just have a thin skin." Cheng Weizhe smiled and took his hand, walking all the way to the main building of Qingzhi Garden.

Qingzhi Garden is not a private property, because there are many foreign tourists, so the governor of Quzhou contacted several Qu merchants to donate money to build this garden. At that time, all the Qu merchants who donated money had their own attic yards inside, which can be regarded as thanks to them Contribution to Quzhou.

Today's Qingzhiyuan is managed by the Water Transportation Department of Quzhou and the Quzhou Chamber of Commerce, so last time something happened in the shop, Cheng Weizhe never suspected that it was Qingzhiyuan's leaked letter.

As soon as the incident happened last time, Xia Junran told them that Jinxiu Garden was gradually being neglected in the chamber of commerce.The Quzhou Chamber of Commerce is the result of the hard work of dozens of Quzhou merchants of several generations. They can't tolerate any sneaky things. Boss Guan thinks he doesn't know what he's doing, but in fact, everyone knows it.

It was only because of his face and the century-old name of Jinxiu Garden that he was not directly removed. However, it will be difficult for him to speak in the Quzhou Chamber of Commerce in a short time.

Cheng Weizhe discussed the price of wintersweet with the people of Qingzhi Garden, and immediately sold two plum blossom trees in a relatively remote location, planning to come early tomorrow morning to pick up the flowers.What scented tea needs is freshness, and he himself wants to make different effects, so he is more cautious.

For the first attempt, they should always do their best. As for whether they succeed in the end, it is beyond their control.

However, Cheng Weizhe was very confident about this. Although Han Shiqian didn't dabble in scented tea much, he still had a solid background in other teas, so he couldn't get away with them.

Sure enough, after returning home in the evening, the family had dinner and had tea together. Cheng Weizhe shared his idea with Han Shiqian, and Han Shiqian immediately applauded: "Weizhe, this idea is really good. If it works, you will definitely not need it in the next year's branch." I'm worried."

The decoration inside the branch has not yet finished. The workers have gone to their homes for the New Year. They will not be able to start work until after the Lantern Festival. It will be good if they can be completed before February.

But they are not in a hurry, they work slowly and carefully, and the store there is much bigger than the main store, so it is impossible to be careless.

It was rare for Cheng Weizhe to be praised by his master, and he immediately became alive when he heard it.He studied it carefully with Han Shiqian for a long time, and finally called Yang Zhongyuan to discuss it.

What he wants to do is actually plum blossom soup, which is to take the plum blossoms that have not bloomed in the cold winter and marinate them with salt. After about a cold winter, when the winter plums fall, they will take them out and wash off the floating salt, and then brew them directly with boiling water.

Because the flowers were about to bloom when they were marinated, but now they are stimulated by hot water, and they may not be able to bloom slowly in the cup. If they can be made, the scene must be beautiful.

Yang Zhongyuan is a chef, so he is naturally very familiar with these methods of storing food. After hearing this, he added: "Salt needs to be fried, but we are not very familiar with it. Sprinkle salt and wait until the beginning of spring to see which one becomes the end of the year."

After hearing this, Han Shiqian nodded straightly: "It's still Zhongyuan's thoughtfulness, then tomorrow you will take the servants to pick flowers, and your father and I will clean all the jars at home."

Yang Zhongyuan nodded, and called Changqing to buy thirty catties of salt tomorrow, and then rested.

At this time, there were not many pedestrians on the road, and in Qingzhi Garden, there were almost only local people hanging out in the sunny afternoon. They got up early and got up early. Cheng Weizhe waited on Yang Zhongyuan to get dressed, and stared at him as he finished his breakfast. Only then did he take a carriage all the way to Qingzhi Garden.

The work of picking flowers is not tiring, and the plum blossoms are fragrant, and the Qingzhi Garden has a beautiful scenery, so it is good to let Yang Zhongyuan go to play.

They took Zicao Ermao and Li Yi, and when a group of five people arrived at Qingzhi Garden, they saw that the gate was closed, and only a young boy was waiting for them at the door. Seeing them coming, the boy rubbed his eyes and looked listlessly Open the gate, let them in and close it again.

Because everyone had discussed it the day before, the boy took them to find the two plum trees, and the whole family began to pick them.

In order to prevent the plum blossoms from spreading, all the flowers picked are half-flowered with heads attached to the stalks. In this way, the carefully folded flowers cannot be thrown into the flower basket at will, but arranged carefully one by one and placed gently.

Yang Zhongyuan had trouble walking, but he also picked the flowers on a small branch. He didn't try to be brave, and picked slowly, which was quite fun.

Regardless of whether the tea can be made in the end, just the process of everyone talking and picking flowers together makes people happy, and the result does not seem to be so important.

The five of them moved very quickly, and they all finished picking before the golden crow was bright. Cheng Weizhe asked Ermao and the others to bring the flowers back to the carriage, and then he dragged Yang Zhongyuan to the main building.

"What are you doing? What have you not said?" Yang Zhongyuan asked.

Cheng Weizhe smiled, and his voice was very gentle: "I just saw that you like this flower, why don't we buy a few seedlings and go back to plant them. If the tea is made, we can pick it at home in winter. If not, we can also enjoy the scenery. Kill two birds with one stone."

What he said was reasonable, Yang Zhongyuan also laughed, and bought ten plants together.

Now is a good time to plant new trees. Cheng Weizhe and the others only need the pure variety of plum trees. Qingzhi Garden is quick to do things, and they directly agreed to send a gardener to plant them the next day.

When they got home, they took a brief rest for a while and then started to get busy again.First heat the salt and let it cool, and then marinate it in three proportions, one is one-two flowers and a half two-salt, the other is one-two flowers and one-two salt, and the last one is naturally one-two flowers and one-two-and-a-half Salt is divided into three kinds of jars to marinate in. First, put the flowers in the jar, then sprinkle salt according to the ratio, and finally seal it with several layers of thick paper, and put it in a cool place.

Yang Zhongyuan is very experienced in pickling food, so there are more one-to-one ratios, and the one with less salt is the least, only one jar.

It is indeed cold in winter, but it is easy to spoil if there is not enough salt. This is the first time they have done it, but they are not completely inexperienced, and they are trying to make new ones.

After all the flowers are stored, the moon is already in the sky.

The family got together again for supper, and then went back to their room to rest.

He was a little tired today, so Cheng Weizhe ordered someone to boil water and made fragrant plum blossom soup with Yang Zhongyuan.A lot of petals fell during the day, but they are now in use.

Yang Zhongyuan sat in Cheng Weizhe's arms, feeling drowsy.

Cheng Weizhe was rubbing his hair carefully, and seeing that he was about to close his eyes, he couldn't help calling him: "Xiao Yuan, wait until you finish washing before going to bed, or you will be ill."

Yang Zhongyuan barely opened his eyes, and murmured: "I'm sleepy..."

The voice was soft and soft, as if a light goose feather swept across Weizhe's heart, Cheng Weizhe couldn't help but feel a little emotional, and hugged him carefully and tenderly for a while, Yang Zhongyuan was also a little excited when he teased him, he became more sober, and gradually Got fun.

When the clouds and rain had just rested, Cheng Weizhe carried him to the bed and carefully wiped his hair with a towel.

Yang Zhongyuan sat lazily in his arms, and suddenly said in a hoarse voice: "If the tea can be made, it should be called dark fragrance soup."

"En, good name." Cheng Weizhe kissed him lightly on the lips, his face was full of tenderness.