Everything about the rabbit heads was well - arranged, and Ye Zhinan was very happy.
Night fell.
She lay in bed, too excited to fall asleep. It was a rare moment of good mood since she came to the Northern Border.
Why was she so happy? Maybe it was because she was about to make money!
Money could make people happy, money could make people joyful, money could make people forget their sorrows. Money was all - powerful!
With money, she could build canals. With money, anything was possible.
She had never been so eager for money before. As she thought about it, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and gradually she drifted into dreamland.
In her dream, she was sitting around a pile of rabbit heads and marinated ducks, extremely happy.
"These are your rabbit heads!"
"No, these are yours!"
While Ye Zhinan was shoving, she suddenly stumbled and fell off the bed.
When she opened her eyes, Han Xiangmei was looking at her with a puzzled face.
"What were you mumbling about?"
It must be because she had talked too excitedly in her dream that she had rolled off the bed.
Ye Zhinan quickly put on her clothes, casually tied her hair into a bun with a wooden hairpin, and got out of bed.
Han Xiangmei watched her daughter's departing figure and shook her head worriedly.
"She doesn't look like a young lady at all. How is she going to get married in the future!"
"Children have their own fortune. Our daughter has her own plans."
Ye Shenyan stood beside her, leaning on his walking stick, his eyes full of hope.
As soon as Ye Zhinan walked out, she saw Lu Yanlai rushing towards her excitedly.
"Has something happened?"
Ye Zhinan instinctively thought that something had gone wrong again.
Lu Yanlai might have been in a hurry, for there was a faint blush on her face. Coupled with her hearty smile, Ye Zhinan realized that she might have been too nervous.
"Slow down. Don't be in a hurry."
She took out an apple from her waist and handed it to Lu Yanlai.
"Have some fruit and take a break."
"How many things are you hiding on you?"
Saying so, Lu Yanlai was about to search her.
"Come on, you didn't come just to rummage through my things, did you?"
Lu Yanlai smiled slightly, a curve forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Just now, Inspector Qin gave me the list of the shops selling rabbit meat in the town. Guess how many there are?"
"Ten?"
"Fifteen!"
Lu Yanlai gestured excitedly. "Now we don't have to worry about not having enough rabbit heads."
Her eyes sparkled, and Ye Zhinan was infected by her enthusiasm. She took out another apple and stuffed it into Lu Yanlai's hand.
"You'll have a hard day today. I'll come to your place after I'm done with the farm work."
The two said goodbye to each other, looking forward to their meeting in the evening.
Ye Zhinan never thought that Qin Yihuai would act so fast. He seemed to be a man of action.
While hoeing the ground, Ye Zhinan was looking for a familiar figure in the field.
On normal days, Qin Yihuai would always help the farmers with their work, but today, even Chen Zhenhai was nowhere to be seen.
Ye Zhinan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Huh? Where did this feeling come from?
Before she knew it, evening came. She came to Lu Yanlai's house as promised.
Little Tiger was playing at the door. When he saw her, he put down what he was holding and rushed over.
"Hello, Aunt Ye. Will there be rabbit meat today?"
"You little glutton."
She tapped the child's red nose and took out a piece of maltose from her waist.
"There will be rabbit meat today, but you have to wait a bit. Have this piece of candy first. But don't eat too much sugar!"
"I know. Thank you, Auntie!"
Saying that, Little Tiger ran away with the candy. Hearing the sound, Lu Yanlai came out to greet her.
"You're here. Come and see what I've got."
As soon as she entered the room, Ye Zhinan saw a pile of papers and a big parcel on the table.
Lu Yanlai pointed at these things and explained one by one.
"This is the agreement signed with the tavern at the east street intersection. This is from the butcher shop at the end of the west street. And this parcel contains the rabbit heads from the rabbit meat shop on the west street. And..."
Lu Yanlai rambled on for a long time. While she was talking, Ye Zhinan was taking notes. When she finished, Ye Zhinan had filled a whole booklet.
"For those with agreements, we'll give them priority when placing orders. I've chosen three shops. We'll pay the deposit first. And for that rabbit meat shop, I'll go and meet the boss one day. I like people who are straightforward in doing business."
"I heard from Inspector Qin that the rabbit meat shop has been in business for three generations. The boss is a pure - blooded person from the Northern Border."
Ye Zhinan's eyes flashed. "Did Inspector Qin go with you?"
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you? Oh, it's my fault. I might have been too excited."
Lu Yanlai's eyes twinkled, and a look of guilt welled up in her eyes.
"He had something to do at that time. He waited for me in the town with Feilong. After we visited a few shops, they went to handle other things."
"Oh, I see."
Ye Zhinan's eyes darkened. An inexplicable feeling of uneasiness welled up in her heart, but she didn't show any emotion on her face.
"I'm relieved then. Actually, I was worried that it would be inconvenient for you to handle these things. It was my lack of consideration."
Lu Yanlai waved her hand repeatedly. "It was you who gave me this opportunity. Otherwise, Feilong and I would still be bandits on the mountain!"
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and picked up the parcel of rabbit heads.
"The boss's surname is Su, Su Daqiang. He said he could provide the rabbit heads for free, but I still paid him according to the amount you set."
Saying this, Lu Yanlai carefully observed Ye Zhinan's reaction.
"You did the right thing. There's no such thing as a free lunch in the world."
Hearing this, Lu Yanlai let out a long sigh of relief. "I remember you said that we should be clear about money matters. I was afraid you would blame me for being self - assertive and wasting money."
"Do you think I'm that stingy?"
Ye Zhinan pouted and crossed her arms, looking angry.
Lu Yanlai quickly picked up the teacup.
"I'm apologizing to you. You're the most generous person, girl."
"By the way, I came today to try out rabbit heads with different levels of spiciness. These are the sauces I made with different flavors. Can I use your stove?"
"Wow, there will be rabbit meat to eat!"
Little Tiger had been playing with the sand on the ground quietly. Hearing this, he suddenly stood up, his eyes shining.
Ye Zhinan walked over and stroked his head.
"Then I'll trouble Little Tiger to taste the flavors for us later."
Little Tiger nodded repeatedly, not caring that the sand on his hands got all over his body.
Ye Zhinan and Lu Yanlai were busy in front of the stove for a long time. Finally, they made several kinds of rabbit heads.
Then they sorted them out, arranged them on plates, and placed them on the table.
At this time, Li Feilong came back. Seeing the table full of rabbit heads, he was startled at first.
"If I didn't know in advance what you were doing, I would have thought you were making an offering to the underworld looking at this scene."
Saying so, he was about to reach out his hand, but the next second, he was hit hard by Lu Yanlai.
"Wait a minute. It's not ready yet."
Lu Yanlai placed several small signs behind the plates.
Li Feilong took a closer look. They were written respectively: Braised, Slightly Spicy, Medium Spicy, Hot, and Super Spicy.
"Super Spicy!?"
Li Feilong pointed at the last sign, his pupils dilated. "What does it mean?"
"You'll know when you eat it."
While saying this, Ye Zhinan tore the braised rabbit head into small pieces and put them into Little Tiger's hands.
"Let's start eating!"