In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

The Deputy Commissioner of Taxation returned to his residence that evening, locked the door, took out a stack of Xuan paper from a hidden compartment in the wall, opened the first page, pulled out the second page, ground ink, and continued registering the remaining pages.

June 29th, the eleventh year of the Hongzhi reign

The owner of the Song family restaurant purchased the Huang family residence at Taoye Ferry for 600 taels of silver.

Purchased 400 taels of silver for porcelain stored in the Huang family's residence.

Full tax

Huang's porcelain was valued at 300 taels.

Song offered 400 taels

Furthermore, Song took out intact silver from the kitchen, which was cast during the Chenghua period.

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Beijing.

With the Party Founding Day approaching in July, it was Old Wu's turn to organize a gathering with his old comrade-in-arms, Ouyang Jinxiu. As usual, the names of dishes were announced in the group chat, with each person bringing one dish, and the host preparing the rest.

Old Wu only sent four words in the group: I brought rice.

Ouyang: ...

Fan Jianguo: You old Wu, you're getting stingier and stingier.

Helan: Old Fan, you never learn your lesson.

Li Kangmei: Exactly, what kind of killer weapon has Lao Wu prepared? Let's chat privately, can you give me a hint?

Ouyang: Pshaw, telling you this in private is the same as letting the whole world know.

Ouyang@LaoWu: Tell me, what kind of water should I prepare to cook your rice?

Qi Weihong: Porcelain Treasure is still the best.

Wu Zhenglei: Prepare what you consider to be the best water, otherwise don't bang on the table again.

Ouyang: Got it, Brother Lei.

Yes, Mr. Wu's name is quite shocking.

At an ordinary gathering, rice became the best-selling "dish," and this meal brought the atmosphere of the gathering back to that special era.

"Don't say I'm hogging it all. I had to shamelessly beg 10 jin from those kids." Old Wu had his secretary hand the pre-sorted bags from the trunk to his old friends. "Next month it's my turn to host. Don't say Brother Lei didn't warn you. Save your appetites for a different kind of treat."

"No, Brother Lei, only 10 pounds? That's a bit stingy, isn't it? This isn't like you at all!"

"Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, give it back. I can have a few more meals."

"Look at you, you're getting angry. I didn't say no."

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The house we bought needs to be renovated slowly, but the small restaurant still needs to open for business every day.

Early that morning, Song Xiaoyi and Miaolan were selling steamed buns at the door. The two worked together, one carrying the steamer and the other packing the buns and collecting money, doing everything with ease.

When the crowd thinned out, Lan'er saw a ragged woman across the street leading a child of about five or six years old, squatting in a corner. The woman was stroking the child's head and saying comforting words, while the child's eyes were fixed on the steamer.

Lan'er took a bun out of the steamer and gestured to the child. The child's eyes lit up, and he leaned forward as if to rush over, but stopped abruptly and looked up at his mother.

The woman hesitated for a moment, then silently shook her head at the child.

Song Xiaoyi, who was tidying up the steamer, also saw this scene. Seeing Lan'er still gesturing, he said, "Hey, you little Lan'er, you mean well, but this isn't right. Give it to me."

Song Xiaoyi took three buns out of the steamer, wrapped them in oil paper, snatched the buns from Lan'er's hand, stepped out the door, ran to the other side, squatted down in front of the child, grabbed the child's hand, and pressed the four buns wrapped in oil paper into the child's hand.

"Don't be afraid, child. Eat as much as you want. There's more if you're still hungry." Then, she stood up and said to the child's mother, "Sister, judging from your demeanor, you must be going through some tough times. Everyone has their share of hardships, but having backbone is one thing, and having enough to eat is another. Don't let your child go hungry. We have free tea in our shop. Why don't you come in and eat?"

The child clutched the bun tightly in both hands, swallowed hard, but still looked up at his mother first. When his mother nodded, an excited smile appeared on his slightly dirty face. He carefully took out a bun from the oil paper package and handed it to his mother first.

Upon seeing this, Song Xiaoyi felt a strange stirring within him.

This little child had clearly been hungry for at least a night and a morning. With food right in his hand, he still knew to ask his mother's opinion first. After his mother nodded, he managed to suppress his own desire and hand the steamed bun to his mother first!

Song Xiaoyi decided, "I'll take this child!" He then picked up the child and said, "Come on, let's go to Uncle's shop to eat."

After finishing speaking, Song Xiaoyi didn't care whether the child's mother agreed or not. He went straight back to the shop, put the water on the table closest to the kitchen, and said, "Child, this water is cold, you can drink it. Eat less of these buns, and Uncle will cook you a bowl of noodles."

"Lan'er, don't just stand there, go and pull his mother in."

Lan'er dragged the child's mother into the restaurant, saying, "Sister, come, sit here. Don't be afraid, would our little shop possibly harm you?"

Perhaps it was Lan'er's words that triggered something, and the child's mother's last line of defense collapsed instantly. The tears she had been holding back finally broke free, and she burst into tears.

Song Xiaoyi felt he couldn't handle the situation, so he quickly went to the kitchen to cook noodles. "Keep crying," he said, "you'll stop when you're tired of crying."

When the child saw his mother crying, he put down the half-eaten bun in his hand, jumped off the stool, and went to comfort his mother.

When Song Xiaoyi came out with two bowls of mushroom and chicken noodle soup, the child's mother had calmed down and was sitting at the table with her child, eating small bites of steamed buns. Seeing Song Xiaoyi come out, the child's mother stood up, moved aside, and gave a polite bow.

Song Xiaoyi became even more certain that this must belong to a wealthy family that had suffered a disaster.

Moreover, Song Xiaoyi knew that his encounters were very strange. The first ancient person he met after returning from a strange time travel was Zhu Zhishan, and later he met Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming, who helped him write the signboard. According to his metaphysical understanding, he judged that the deputy tax commissioner was not an ordinary person either, and he had been paying attention to him for a long time.

This child and his mother may also have other identities.

The irresistible aroma of the mushroom and chicken noodle soup is irresistible. The children let their guard down and ate happily, sipping the soup as they ate.

"Child, what's your name?"

"Brother, my name is Shifu."

"A restaurant?"

The child didn't mention their surname, and I'd never heard of "Shifu" before. It's probably a homophone; I'll go upstairs and look it up on my phone later.

Having decided to take in the child, Song Xiaoyi would not go back on his word. Whether the child was a family member of a convicted official or a runaway, it wouldn't affect him much.

After the child's mother finished her noodles and soup and calmed down, Song Xiaoyi sat down opposite her and got straight to the point, "Ma'am, my name is Song Xiaoyi. Seeing how young and sensible the child is, I'd like to take you in. You're probably not much older than me, so how about we temporarily change your surname to Song, and we can address each other as brother and sister? The child will be my nephew, okay?"

Shifu's mother stared at Song Xiaoyi with wide eyes, a mixture of shock and panic in her eyes, without saying a word.

"I don't care if you're the family members of convicted officials or fugitives, nor do I care where you're from. My shop may be small, but I, Xiao Yi, am quite capable and not afraid of any of that, so you don't need to be afraid, elder sister."

"If you accept, you will be Xiao Yi's older sister, and your surname will be Song. As for the child's surname, you can decide for yourself. This is Xiao Yi's sworn sister, Zhang Miaolan, Lan'er."

……