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She had long heard that that man had started doing business in the neighboring town, but his business had never been doing well.

Given the chance, once she made something of herself, she would definitely go flaunt her success in the neighboring town, to let that man see how well she, whom he once looked down upon, was living.

After realizing this, Loudmouth immediately and cheerfully agreed to go to the town to help Lin Yuan mind the store.

Lin Yuan, of course, was thrilled, as she knew full well what Loudmouth was capable of, efficient and resourceful, she would certainly take good care of Rice Flower Fragrance.

With her help, Lin Yuan could rest easy and start managing Fuman Building. The thought of being able to resume her old profession and work in the restaurant filled Lin Yuan with energy as if she had taken a shot of chicken blood.

Loudmouth lived alone on usual days, with one son working in town and the other building houses with his cousin, rarely coming home. Hence, Lin Yuan got her a box of pastries and some food to eat over the next few days.

Since there was an excess of pork left at home, Lin Yuan planned to make it into cured meat. Although the weather was not too cold, it was still an appropriate time to air-dry it now.

No sooner said than done, after sending Loudmouth off, Lin Yuan cut the remaining meat at home into long strips, ready to be made into cured meat.

The kind she was making wasn’t the smoked variety, but the simplest kind which still tasted superb. It was essentially about curing the meat and then letting it air-dry in a cool place.

The best way to make cured meat is to use a large flat box, but Lin Yuan chose a big basin from her home instead.

She neatly arranged the strips of meat in the basin and then mixed soy sauce, salt, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, a little bit of white wine, and rock sugar, and poured the mixture over the pork belly.

She then covered the basin and shook it to ensure all the meat was coated with the sauce.

Like this, she let the meat marinate in the basin for three or four days; afterward, she would take it out to air-dry in a cool place.

Once the cured meat was ready, it would be glistening and look especially appealing.

The fatty parts, in particular, would become very translucent, tempting to the palate.

The finished cured meat could be steamed and sliced to eat directly, or steamed with rice to make cured meat rice, and could also be stir-fried with various dishes.

All in all, cured meat was not only attractive and delicious but also long-lasting.

After placing the basin with the curing meat in a cool place, Lin Yuan returned to the north room. Now they had truly moved from the old house to the new one, and looking at their home filled with that fresh feeling, Lin Yuan felt a wave of contentment.

Glancing at the old house they had lived in for several years, Lin Yuan actually found it hard to let go. Those three old rooms should soon be demolished to make room for the construction of the wing room.

She calculated that with Chief Sun’s speed, the construction of the wing room would proceed relatively quickly, taking at most half a month.

Conveniently, Lady Liu was more than twenty days away from giving birth, and by the time Lady Fan arrived to help with the confinement, the wing room would be built and ready for occupancy.

Having arranged with Chief Sun to start demolishing and building the next day, Lin Yuan suddenly remembered that when she had bought red bricks at Ma family Manor, the owner of the manor had personally delivered them to her.

Thinking back to the middle-aged man with a sincere smile and a friendly demeanor, that must have been Ma Junying and Ma Xiaonan’s father.

No wonder Ma Junying was gentle and refined, and Ma Xiaonan sweet and charming; with such an endearing father, it would be difficult for them to become cunning and deceitful.

Whenever she remembered Ma Junying, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile. If only she had such a wonderful brother to dote on and indulge her, that would be truly great.

As she pondered, suddenly a flick on the forehead brought her to reality, and Lin Yuan, holding her head and frowning, turned towards the culprit, "Xia Zheng, that really hurts, do you know that?"

Xia Zheng simply narrowed his eyes, leaning closer with a face just three centimeters away from hers. It seemed that if either of them moved even slightly, their noses would touch.

"Hmph, you know pain, do you? You were so absorbed just now. Who were you thinking about? And smiling so suggestively!"

Hearing Xia Zheng’s clearly displeased tone, Lin Yuan couldn’t help blushing a bit as she glared at him. Was it so wrong to envy Xiaonan for having a good brother? She wasn’t thinking about Ma Junying. Did he have to be so jealous?

But...

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, a mischievous idea forming in her mind.