Stocking up on ingredients

"There aren't many customers right now. Go upstairs and rest for a bit." Song Qi looked a little tired.

Shen Moxi waved a hand. "While it's quiet, I'll teach Second Brother and Sister-in-law how to coordinate outfits, so they can hold down the fort when we go take our wedding photos in a couple of days."

Song Qi nodded. "Mm, I'll learn too. From now on, when it's quiet, you can go rest. I'll keep an eye on things."

Shen Moxi called Shen Yuan and Wang Xiaoxia over to teach them how to coordinate clothes. Wang Xiaoxia took out a pen and notebook and earnestly wrote things down. Shen Yuan glanced at her, then took out a pen and notebook to take notes too.

Generally, an outfit should have no more than three colors from head to toe. That was the most basic thing they needed to know.

Which colors couldn't go together, what heavier people shouldn't wear, what shorter people shouldn't wear, and so on.

After she went over everything three times, the two of them had more or less memorized it. Seeing that it was past four, Shen Moxi told them to watch the shop while she went upstairs to cook. Business had been good today, so she would make some extra tasty dishes to celebrate.

Once on the second floor, she first put the new clothing designs she had made that afternoon into the workshop to be produced gradually, then went to the kitchen, thinking about what to cook.

She selected ingredients in the system while planning the dishes in her head: corn and pork rib soup, Sichuan boiled pork slices, vinegar-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and peppers, and moo shu pork-five dishes.

First, she took steamed buns out of the fridge to heat up, then washed, chopped, and stir-fried the vegetables. Once all the stir-fried dishes were done, she took out a clay pot to simmer the corn and pork rib soup.

Shen Moxi sat on a stool and took a drink of water as she rested. Thinking about the empty fridge, she needed to buy some ingredients to put inside. Otherwise, there was no way she could fool the others while cooking every day without buying groceries.

Fortunately, the two brothers hadn't been paying attention to the kitchen. Ever since arriving, they had focused entirely on the shop and had no idea what was in the kitchen. Wang Xiaoxia had cooked once, but even the vegetables she used had been taken out and left there by Shen Moxi beforehand.

She opened the system and bought ten jin of pork belly, ten jin of lean pork, five jin of ribs, and five jin of large pork bones.

For vegetables, she bought some that were in season, then bought some dried goods: wood ear mushrooms, dried tofu sticks, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, laver, goji berries, and red dates.

She also bought all the cooking supplies she needed, along with a large bag each of rice, glutinous rice, assorted beans, and flour, as well as a few pumpkins and sweet potatoes.

She bought every ingredient she might need for cooking, packing the fridge full.

Thinking of Xiao Xuan staying here, she also needed to buy some snacks and drinks for him. That would save Shen Tao and the others quite a bit of money.

She bought two cases of orange soda, four tins of malted milk powder, and a few packets of biscuits and White Rabbit milk candies. Shen Moxi also bought plenty of other snacks available in this era. She found a cardboard box and filled it to the brim, until it could barely close.

"Ah, it really isn't easy. Thank goodness I have such a huge, huge golden finger. Otherwise, I'd have to scrape by on bran and vegetables like everyone else." Shen Moxi pressed her palms together. "Amitabha. Thank you, heavens."

She put the snacks and soda beside the fridge. She would take out a tin of malted milk powder for Wang Xiaoxia later, so she could regularly make some for Xiao Xuan to drink.

Once she finished, she checked the ribs in the clay pot. They were nearly done. Seeing that it was already half past six, she tidied the kitchen, took out and unfolded the dining table, and set out all the dishes.

She glanced at the soda beside her and, after some thought, decided not to open the cases. Instead, she bought six bottles from the system and took them out, one for each person. This stuff was expensive, and they normally couldn't bear to spend money on it.

Shen Moxi, however, had no qualms about it at all. There was plenty of money in the system. After all, she had a huge bug like Song Qi; auctioning off a few rare treasures brought in plenty of silver.

Once everything was ready, she went downstairs to call them to dinner. "Eldest Brother, close the door and come upstairs to eat."

"Coming! We finally get to eat. I could smell it earlier." Shen Yuan patted his stomach and hurried upstairs.

Song Qi got up to close the shop door, while Shen Tao picked up Xiao Xuan. "Off we go, time to eat! Your aunt made meat for you. Daddy could smell it."

"Meat... eat... eat." The moment Xiao Xuan heard there was food, he perked up, waving his little hands back and forth.

"Haha, Xiao Xuan is just like Second Brother. They're both foodies. Once they hear there's food, nothing else matters," Shen Moxi said with a laugh.

"A good appetite is a blessing. Our Xiao Xuan is a blessed little boy." Shen Tao pinched his little cheek.

When they reached the kitchen, they saw Shen Yuan holding chopsticks and picking up a piece of Sichuan boiled pork to eat, as though he hadn't eaten in a month.

"Second Brother, wash your hands before you eat. Are you that hungry?" Shen Moxi walked over and took his chopsticks.

"It's because your cooking is so delicious, Little Sister. It's brought out all the greedy worms in my belly." Shen Yuan scratched his head sheepishly and went to wash his hands.

"Little Sister, why did you make so many dishes tonight? Several meat dishes, too. If anyone saw this, we'd definitely get subjected to a struggle session." Shen Tao swallowed as he looked at the table of food.

"We're eating behind closed doors. How would anyone see? You all worked hard today, too. Now that we can finally sit down to a proper dinner tonight, of course we should eat something good." Shen Moxi turned off the heat under the ribs, took out several bowls, and ladled out a bowl for each of them.

"A bowl of pork rib soup for everyone. Nourish yourselves properly. Only with healthy bodies can you work harder and earn more money. Your body is the capital of the revolution. The great leader's words make sense."

"Little Sister, you can't spend money like this. How much money would be enough for us to squander?" Shen Tao pointed with a pained look. "Look, there's all this soda too. Did you go rob someone?"

Shen Moxi glared at him. "Yes, I robbed a bank. I have more money than I can spend. Hurry up and eat. Don't worry about anything else. Just eat well and work hard."

Wang Xiaoxia was inwardly speechless. Her sister-in-law was far too free with her money. What sort of family could afford to eat like this? Not only did they have meat at every meal, they even had several meat dishes in one sitting. This was better than what her family ate at New Year.

She was utterly tormented inside, yet she couldn't say anything. After all, everything had been bought with her sister-in-law's money.

Comparing yourself to others really could drive you mad. She couldn't think about it, couldn't think about it. If she kept thinking about it, she felt she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Xiao Xuan didn't care about any of that. As long as he had meat, he was happy. He gnawed on a rib in each hand, getting grease all over his mouth.

Seeing her son eating so happily, Wang Xiaoxia felt an aching tightness inside. Their family hadn't exactly lived well before, but even then, they had only eaten meat once every month or two.

Recently, Xiao Xuan had noticeably filled out in both his body and face, all thanks to the tasty food his aunt bought to nourish him.

From now on, she would work hard too, do more work and do it well, and earn more money so her son could eat and dress well.

Shen Moxi took out a bottle opener and opened their orange drinks. "Come on, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Sister-in-law. Let's have a toast to our successful opening today. May business keep getting better, and may we all have made plenty of money by this New Year."

They all picked up their bottles and clinked them against hers, laughing heartily. "Cheers! Let's make lots of money together!"