Chapter 541: Fear And Respect
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The agent had recommended ten people, and she picked six out of them. All of them seemed like the right choice at that time.
Actually, it did not matter if they were wrong choices, either.
If they found that any of the maids were like how Liu Yan was in her initial stage, when she did not do any housework, Qiao Xuan would still not worry too much. She could just sell them and find better ones.
Qiao Xuan had already told them what they should do. She did not need to give them any lecture. She only summoned Taotao and Qi, who came to her side. "Your Fifth Brother will be heading into town today with me and we will buy some mutton. Let's eat mutton kebabs tonight. How does that sound?"
Taotao and Qi's eyes started sparkling. They nodded constantly.
"Yeah, okay, okay!'
"There is not much chili powder and pepper powder at home, we will grind some more today. By the way, grind some dried ginger powder, cumin, and cloves, too!"
Qiao Xuan smiled and said, "You lead Chunyu and Chunfen to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo, and let them chop them into kebab sticks after cutting the bamboo. Each of them will cut twenty pieces. You take them there, tell them how to cut it, and let them do the rest.'
Qi and Taotao were a little confused. They were fast and they could do everything flexibly.
But since the Fifth Sister-in-law said so, then she might have a reason for it. So they nodded.
Then Qiao Xuan said to the six maids, "Heard that? Each person cuts 20 pieces, and holds the cut ones in hands, don't confuse them with others. I will check them when I come back."
The six maids nodded.
Qiao Xuan added. "Our family doesn't have much housework, and my mother and sister-in-law do the work by themselves on weekdays. As for you, you just need to help. In this way, six of you will work in three shifts, two in one shift, and one shift a day to help with the work. Those who are not on duty can go back to the house to rest or do needlework. If there is something to do, whoever is called will go."
The six maids nodded again.
It seemed like a proper arrangement. The six maids felt assured and did not think that it would be messy as before.
They were not the type who wanted to serve masters or madams in high-ranking families so that they could become excellent maids in the future. After Qiao Xuan bought them, they could tell what their new mistress and master were like, after living in the province as well as experiencing the trip on the way home.
They felt lucky that they had a great mistress who was neither stingy nor strict, nor throwing temper at her will, and who offered them much food and clothes generously.
Most importantly, though they did not dare to peep at the encounter between Auntie Mao and Qiao as well as Shao Yunduan, they heard everything clearly.
Their mistress and master were nice and treated them well but they were definitely not weak.
So, the maids respected and admired them, and they would not cause any trouble.
Even though they might have had some strange idea before, the idea was long gone.
Qi and Taotao led Chunyun and the maids to chop bamboo. After that, they were offered breakfast, before going to chop them further into pieces.
The brother and sister were drooling for the oily and tasty mutton kebabs.
With six more maids at home, the breakfast portion needed to increase.
Qiao Xuan said to Ms. Fang with a smile, "Mom, If you make steamed buns, porridge, and noodles at home, let them eat it. For daily cooking, let them cook two dishes and one soup. Fry two dishes but let the quantity be more than usual, and serve them in another bowl..
Then she told her about the work in shifts and the housework that the maids should do as well as what others should do in the meanwhile, etc.
Rules needed to be set in the beginning, and people would be customized to it naturally.
Although Qiao Xuan did not care about rules, they needed to be set so as not to cause chaos.
Ms. Fang smiled. "Okay, that sounds like a good arrangement. It saves us a lot of trouble. You do not know how messy it was in the morning, when those six girls were surrounding me, wanting to get the work done."
Yang Xiaoni was quite frightened too. "Yeah! I am not used to that!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom, you can tell them what needs to be done. Same goes for you, Third Sister-in-law. Honestly, there will be more people around us in the future!"
The breakfast served on this day was white rice porridge, steamed buns and flower rolls, as well as kimchi and chopped bamboo shoots, sauerkraut, bacon and chili, and fried garlic.
The white porridge was fragrant and thick, the porridge rice grains were distinct and full, and the taste was smooth. The steamed buns were white and fluffy, the flower rolls were smeared with scallion foam, and the aroma was tangy. The kimchi was mouth-watering and attractive. The diced bamboo shoots, bacon and sauerkraut are stir-fried, and they were spicy and fresh to the extreme, making everything look delicious.
The breakfast was simple, and full of taste as well.
Qiao Xuan converted an empty wing room in the backyard into a dining room for servants to eat, and set up the square table and stools. Chun Yu and the others would eat there in the future.
They might not be used to cutting bamboos. So, they did not wait for them to eat breakfast. They ate first, and then Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went to the Zhang Village.
The couple was in a donkey cart.
As for Qu Shan, he left early in the morning.
He needed to join people from the Zhang Village and head back to the province. It could not be delayed.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan came to the Zhang Village and called some people from three families and let them plant the lotus roots in the pond.
The pond was dug years ago, but it only started storing water last month. All the trees that should be planted by the pond had already been planted.
There were two weeping willows, four peach trees, one pomegranate tree, one loquat tree, one elm tree, one locust tree and two mulberry trees.
Planting lotus roots was a rare thing. So, many people were attracted to come and watch the scene together. "Lotus roots? That doesn't look very good."
"So what? I heard they taste good!"
"l have seen the flowers before. They are beautiful!" "Can they be planted here? Planted in the pond?"
"Yeah, didn't hear that before!"
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yun ignored these gossips. They watched Lin Mian and Qiao Shisan planting lotus roots by the pond, but what Qiao Xuan saw were tender, green, pearl-like lotus seeds in autumn. They could be stewed in soup, cold dressed, stir-fried, ground into powder and steamed for eating. They could also be used as sweet-scented osmanthus lotus root, or lotus root powder. That would be such a great thing.
She never worried about whether they would survive.
When the lotus roots were planted, water chestnuts would be available for planting as well.
Water chestnuts could not be planted in the pond. They needed to be planted elsewhere. The seedling could be done first, then transplanted.
Qiao Xuan entrusted Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou to deal with this matter.
With lotus roots in the pond, and the water chestnuts on the way, fish and shrimps would come next.
They had to fetch the small fish and shrimps themselves.
They thought about getting Qi and the others to get some fish and shrimps from the river, after they reached home..
The fish could not be fetched with a net, because the fish carried in the net were mostly on the verge of dying, thus not being able to live on. If they passed away in the pond, pollution might be generated.
So, they had to use the scoop net.
But there were many kinds of fish in this era, and the fish and shrimps were for themselves to eat, not to be sold. So they did not need to worry about it.
The fish and shrimps, when raised in the pond, might reproduce many more after a couple of days.
Qiao Xuan believed that she would need to pick the good ones to be raised in the pond.
When the planting of lotus roots was done, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan, together with Ding Erzhu, took the three families to have a look around their home.
The transplanted tea trees were growing well, and had started to bud as well. The creeping figs were looking good too. By the time summer came, there was going to be a large patch of green.
The creeping figs grew the fastest.
With Qiao Xuan's superpower helping along the way, the speed was raised by three or four times.
Qiao Xuan visited the tea trees in the morning at their home as well. She used some superpower when they first budded, so they were flourishing, and had grown tall to more than one foot. Qiao Xuan planned to wait for one more rain so that she could do the transplantation.
After Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan checked the tea forest and the creeping figs, they returned to the yard and told Lin Mian and the others about what they ought to do.
The paddy fields did not need to be managed by them, and were planted by the tenants. They were responsible for taking care of the tea groves and scallops, including scheduling inspections every day, and reporting problems in time.
They were also responsible for weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
They all had some half- grown children so they bought six bulls for them to manage.
The six bulls were bought for the tenants' convenience. Moreover, bull dung was also used to fertilize rice fields. It was not good if they had none.
The fields would turn too useless, as years went by, without the bulls.
The tenants did not use them for free. They would rent them at a low price. A bull was calculated on the basis of three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon, and the rent was only three wen per day.
The cost was so low that it made tenants almost mental. Everyone was very willing to rent it.
When all the trivialities were done, it was already lunchtime.
Ms. Zhou and her mother made lunch for Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan, who were very well received. "It is a casual lunch, please but the food is very clean."
When the construction of the house was built, Qiao Xuan had noticed that she was a very nice, friendly, and warm, more social than Ms. Zhou. So, she hired her too by paying her one liang a month. In this way, she could be of some help as well.
She was not restricted by too much work and could go home if she wanted to.
Madame Zhou was very happy to accept the position.
So, she moved in with her grandchildren.
She could plant her own vegetables, raise chicken and ducks. All she needed to do was bring some grains. One liang a month was a lot for her. Only fools would turn down the offer.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan were not picky people. So, they accepted the offer and ate lunch.
There was one plate of scrambled eggs with chives, one plate of steamed sausage, and one plate of fried smoked meat with garlic sprouts. Simple and clean, the ingredients were good and the taste was not bad.
The couple ate lunch and hurried into the town to buy meat.
They had smoked meat, sausage, fish and duck, pickles, salted and preserved eggs at home. All they needed was fresh meat.
Qiao Xuan was greedy for mutton kebabs. So was everyone else. They decided to have a huge dinner that night.
They bought 10 kgs of mutton with both fat and normal meat, two sheep's feet, four pigs feet, a rib, and a piece of pork belly. The pork belly would be made into twice-cooked pork and braised pork the next day, and the rest would be marinated tonight itself..
They bought fresh meat and decided to head home. There was nothing more they needed for the moment.
Soon, they ran into the land agent, coincidentally.
The land agent's eyes widened when he saw the couple. He waved at them and smiled. "Young Master Shao and Mrs. Shao, what a coincidence! I was just thinking of you. I have got 70 mu of paddy field at the Zhang Village. Do you want it? If you do, please decide now. Or I will turn to someone else." Qiao Xuan exchanged a look with Shao Yunduan. They both nodded.
"Yes, yes!"
"70 mu or even more, we want it all!"
Continuous good fields were not very easy to buy, especially in the well-developed towns and villages.
Well, if one really wanted to buy some, they would need to pay a lot for that. It was a possibility, but not a very practical solution.
Qiao Xuan believed that it was indeed very lucky for this land to be offered at this moment. What a wonderful thing!
Shao Yunduan thought for a while and smiled. "The paddy fields should be alright, no? We have done a lot of business together before."
The land agent smiled. "Don't worry! I won't dare to sell any fields with problems. I need my reputation, don't l? I will never do anything to ruin my own name!"
That was true.
They passed on the business over generations, and needed to have a good, steady reputation over a long period of time.
If they did anything that ruined their reputation and got reported, the County Magistrate had the right to rip them off the position and replace them with someone else.
Anyone with a clever mind or in a good position would never do such a thing to ruin their well established business.
Assured, Qiao Xuan added. "But I don't have much money with me today." The land agent smiled. "Alright… how much do you have?"
The couple exchanged a look between themselves and pulled out the cash. "This much.'
Shao Yunduan touched his nose. "l have nothing."
He just had one liang with him, which was basically the same as nothing.
The land agent smiled. "Then you can give me 200 liang and write an IOU. You can give the remaining silver to me tomorrow, ok?"
The couple nodded.
Soon, they were taken to have a look at the field, and signed the contract after the visit.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "We have 310 mu of paddy fields, we are almost like a landlord family now! "
Shao Yunduan nodded in agreement.
It was almost four in the afternoon when they went back home. Qiao Xuan took a short break and went to prepare for the dinner.
Qiao Xuan was in charge of cooking, with a lot of people helping along the way. So, everything was ready very quickly.
Shao Sanlang burned the fire to wash the meat, put it in a pot with marinade and stewed it. Yang Xiaoni chopped the mutton finely. Ms. Xu's stomach was not too big, so she went to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables.
They were going to eat grilled meat with some vegetables to avoid it from getting too oily.
Qiao Xuan thought about it, and made one bowl of fish ball soup.
There were fresh large grass carp in the pool, two of which weighed 4 kgs and 4-5 kgs respectively. The fish bones were stewed in soup. The fish heads were made with pickled sour peppers. The round snow-white fish balls were boiled in a clear water pot, sprinkled with green onion and coriander. It turned out to be delicious!
They were going to eat grilled meat, drink a bowl of fish ball soup each and eat some fish balls. Everything was made out of fresh ingredients.
Qi went to catch and kill fish, removed the bones and took the meat.
Qiao Xuan checked the bamboo sticks which the maids had made. She understood what she should do next.
She needed some careful people to help her with lipsticks. Not every maid was like that. She needed to pick the best one and that's why this task had been given to them this morning..
She had a clear preference of whom to pick. She was going to make the leader manage the rest.
When the bamboo sticks were done, Qiao Xuan asked Chunyu, Chunfen who were on duty to join herself and Taotao to plant betel nut taro and spring watermelons.
She gave the seeds to her mother-in-law so that she knew when to plant them.
She kept one betel nut taro and sliced them into pieces so they could be deep-fried and steamed later, which went perfect with braised pork belly. She kept two spring watermelons which could be used for cold dishes at dinner.
Qiao Xuan cut the mutton and made the seasonings, which were better than those done by others.
They had the meat marinated for two more quarters, and had them all put onto the sticks.
Generally, there was a small piece of fat sandwiched between two pieces of lean meat, which was suet. Roasted lamb could not be all lean, it had to be sandwiched with small pieces of lamb fat. The lamb fat was roasted so that the oil was browned, sprinkled with pepper, salt and pepper noodles, and when it was bitten together with the lamb and the lean meat, the freshness and the tenderness of the sheep oil melted in the mouth. It was so delicious that people could not extricate themselves from the enjoyment.
Along with the mutton, other vegetables and mushrooms were also skewered.
The fish balls that Qiao Xuan had squeezed fell into the water one by one. They could just boil them whenever they felt like eating some.
When the sun was setting down, they set up the grill shelf and Qiao Xuan asked Taotao to invite Ms. Yan over so they could all eat together.
Ms. Yan often ate at the first section of the family, and Ms. Niu did not care anymore. She wished that she could eat often at the first section of the family so the food at home could be spared.
On Ms. Yan's visit there, she kept Ms. Xu company and taught Taotao to do needlework. She always had the excuse to come over. So, she was never there for food specifically.
Ms. Zhang felt so jealous of her, but there was nothing she could do.
She was not the one who was welcomed there.
The maids were not with them for the kebab. But they were served enough food.
Ms. Fang, Eldest Uncle, Shao Sanlang and Shao Dalang as well as Ms. Xu all needed to eat something else. Grilled meat was not enough.
There was a bowl of stewed pork ribs, fish head with chopped pepper, fish ball soup with coriander and green onion, fried yam and fungus, vinegared
cabbage.
The maids had one large rib bone and two fish balls, vinegared cabbage as well as yams and wooden ears.
They were so shocked when they got the food. The well-cooked and delicious stewed ribs and the fresh and tender fish balls gave them endless aftertaste. They had not expected that they would be provided such good food in the countryside.
The grilled mutton was tasty and tender, fresh too. The mushrooms and vegetables had amazing taste. The fish ball soup removed the oiliness from their mouths.
The apricot blossoms in the flower field were blooming just in time, and the peach blossoms were also almost ready to open. The trees were full of dense buds.
It was time for them to make lipsticks.
There were not many peach and apricot blossoms, and the beeswax left was not enough from last year. So, they would only manage to make at most 200 to 300 lipsticks, including the limited version.
That was enough for the maids to learn.
Qiao Xuan did not go into the city to pay the rest of the money to the land agent. She discussed it with Shao Yunduan and they gave the money to Qi, so he could go into the town to do the needful.
Qi was very happy to be entrusted with such an important mission. He carefully folded the note into his arms and promised in a serious tone that the money would be given to the land agent safe and sound.
Qiao Xuan showed a lot of confidence in him, which made him happy.
Qi was not young any was just delivery of money, not such a difficult task to accomplish..
If the notes were stolen or dropped, it was fine too. They had more money to offer.
Shao Yunduan was studying at home. He had two articles to write and in three days. he was going to visit Master Ynn.
Qiao Xuan and Taotao, as well as Yang Xiaoni, went into the flower field with the six maids.
They were going to extract some oil.
They had been relaxed during the whole winter and were only working on cooking different dishes. So when it was time to work, Taotao and Yang Xiaoni felt somehow expectant and excited.
They loved delicious food, but they loved making lipsticks to earn some money.
They felt so eager to earn the money. So did Ms. Xu.
She could not help but mention it to Qiao Xuan. "It is just flower picking and grinding. These are just light tasks. We are not some spoiled town women! When I was pregnant with my first two children, I was still doing housework when I was almost about to give birth to them!"
30 wen a day was the salary from the generous Qiao Xuan, who would also offer them a bonus after the sale. In this way, they could earn ten or twenty liang altogether. Now her husband was recovering from the wound, and he could not do heavy work. She was free but there was no income coming to their family. So, she was very anxious.
In Qiao Xuan's opinion, pregnant women needed to be taken care of very well. They had money and laborers at home, and all Ms. Xu needed to do was sweep the flowers, feed the roosters and wash her own family's clothes… She did not need to do any other tasks.
That was what Ms. Fang told her too. After all, their daily life had been improved.
So, Qiao Xuan could not possibly allow her to work in the flower field.
What if…
What if she fell or something happened. That would be a huge deal.
Qiao Xuan also knew that Nis. Xu wanted to earn money. So, she did not turn her down entirely but smiled after thinking for a while. "Elder Sister-in-law, I have got the maids. Now, what we need to do is to make sure that they work accordingly. We don't need to do the labor personally. After you have the child and finish the first month, there is a lot of work for you to do! If you are bored, could you please make some shoes for me?"
Shoe-making was a relatively easier and safer job.
What Ms. Xu was worried about, above all, that Qiao Xuan would replace her with someone else. So when she heard this promise, she smiled and nodded with a smile. "That is good! Fifth Sister-in-law, you can ask me for any kind of help in the future. I have very little work to do, so I will make you the shoes when I am free.'
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Thanks, Elder Sister m in-law!"
Ms. Xu started to work on the shoes, without thinking about anything else.
Qiao Xuan was a very generous person. She would not let her do the work for free. What she needed to do was to make the shoes.
When Ms. Xu was settled, Qiao Xuan and Taotao headed to the flower field with the maids.
Before they walked into the field, Qiao Xuan warned the six maids not to mention anything about what they saw in the flower field to anyone. They were not even allowed to speak of it while casually chit chatting with anyone, or they would be fined half a month's salary.
Worse, they could even be fired, if they spilled anything.
The maids got very nervous. They put on a serious look and nodded constantly.
When they went into the flower field, they were all shocked.
What caught the eye most was the rows of shrubs as high as half a person, with a wooden frame for climbing and standing in the middle, and bushes with buds on both sides of the wooden frame..
Apart from these, there were also rhizomes of unknown plants that were less than a foot high, and took up a large area in the field.
There were trees in the distance, some had grown leaves, some had yet to sprout. There was also a patch of faint crimson, which should be sporadic peach blossoms and flower buds that could not be opened.
The patch of pink color was apricot flowers.
The maids were shocked.
What?
Mrs. Shao told them not to reveal anything… about this?
Qiao Xuan did not care what they were thinking. She led them into the middle of the land, where there were rooms on the left and right with the front and back being transparent.
When they took out the key to open the door, Taotao and Yang Xiaoni cheered up. They went to fetch the baskets proficiently.
The two of them had ventilated and cleaned the room yesterday. As long as
there are raw materials, Qiao Xuan could start making lipstick immediately. The two of them waved at Qiao Xuan and went to pick flowers with the maids.
Qiao Xuan was walking around, checking the flowers. She poured her superpower into the flowers so they could grow better and blossom more in a wilder color.
There were many deserted lands in the neighboring area. With six more people added to the labor, they could expand the harvested land and plant more flowers. All of these would be under her charge.
Qiao Xuan felt very pleased.
Working with flowers, surrounded by them was indeed a very pleasant experience!
In addition to the main colors of Chinese roses and ordinary roses, there could be more like peach, apricot and plum flowers. Other types could also be added, such as cannas, Chinese trumpet vine, safflowers, chrysanthemums and so on.
By mixing various colors in different proportions, they could get richer colors and produce lipsticks in more shades.
Apart from flowers, they could also try extracting colors from other objects that were not toxic, which could be applied to the lips. Her space had a lot of area and they could definitely be stored.
Maybe she could even have reclaimed land for planting. That would make everything much easier!
Taotao and Yang Xiaoni told the maids to be careful when picking the flowers, so that the petals would not be destroyed, and the flowers could be maintained in the original way.
They would pick the flowers in full blossom and half blossoms, so the two flowers would not be mixed up.
They needed to work fast, because the flowers had to be cleaned and the petals should be carefully handled. That was a painstaking task.
The peach blossoms and apricot blossoms were not as big as roses. The petals were thick and easy to remove. This was the first time for Taotao and Yang Xiaoni to deal with such small flowers.
But the peach blossoms were delicate and the apricot blossoms were enchanting. They were both very beautiful colors. They must look good when made into lipsticks. The women really looked forward to the result.
The maids nodded and started to pick the flowers.
Lixia could not help but approach Taotao, asking curiously. "Miss, what are we picking these flowers for? Can you tell us about it? We can be more assured if we know what they are going to be used for."
Since Mrs. Shao took them into the flower field, she had not planned to conceal the secret from them.
That was why Lixia dared to ask.
Upon hearing the question, everyone pricked up their ears. They stopped whatever they were doing and looked at her.
They would know about it sooner or later. Hence, there was no need to conceal it from them.
Taotao smiled. "These flowers are very precious.. They are used to make lipsticks! "
"So, you have to be very careful when picking the flowers. The colors would fade, if the petals get crushed."
"Lipsticks!" Lixia's eyes widened. She got so astonished that she had no idea what was going on for a moment.
The others were shocked too.
They were trained at the agency before they were sold, so that they could be sold at a good price.
They had heard about the lipsticks, and when the agent talked about this, she spoke highly of them. They still remembered the admiration of the agent.
That was something the noble ladies in the province loved. It was said that only Young Master Yuezheng had them in his store and that it was sold nowhere else.
The reputation of lipsticks had spread beyond the province.
No one knew where Young Master Yuezheng got the lipsticks from. So… they were from this field of flowers in this small village?
Everyone felt that they were delusional.
"Lipsticks… the ones sold in the province?"
Lixia's eyes were about to pop out. She still could not believe what she had heard.
dazed.
But the lipsticks… could not be the ones sold in the province.
Taotao was even more surprised when she heard the question. "Anyone else is selling something called lipsticks?"
Lixia. '
That was true…
They all gasped.
They ended up being in an amazing mistress' home!
She was the one who was making the lipsticks. She was going to make a huge fortune. Alos, Young Master Shao was the Cultivated Talent and he was going to participate in the imperial examination in autumn…
Maybe he was going to become really promising in the official government.
"Miss! We will definitely be careful about the flowers."
Lixia made a promise in a serious tone. "We will never mention anything about it after we step out of the flower field!"
The other maids brought themselves back and made the promise too.
"Me too!"
"I promise to be careful!"
Taotao blinked her eyes and exchanged a confused look with Yang Xiaoni, not knowing what to say.
"Just… pick the flowers!'
"Okay, Miss!"
The maids were so motivated that they held their breath as if they were about to do something really important.
More than an hour later, they had three baskets of apricots, and one and half baskets of peach flowers. They all went to Qiao Xuan when they were summoned.
They picked off the petals, removed the stamens, then washed and drained the water slightly. Then, they put them into a small hand mill made of white jade. One person put the petals in and the other turned the millstone.
They had four mills, enough for them to work at the same time, which made the process faster.
The red flower pulp slowly flowed out, gathered into a thin stream, and flowed into the next bowl with a big belly and a narrow mouth.
The bowl was covered with a double layer of muslin gauze sewn into a small pocket.
The flower pulp flowed into the small pocket. After grinding, the small pocket was twisted lightly, and the flower juice seeped out. After filtering twice, the clear flower juice could be obtained.
Next, it was Qiao Xuan, Taotao and Yang Xiaoni who would finish the remaining task in the room.
Yang Xiaoni wasn't that adept. She was just helping Qiao Xuan and Taotao.
After the mold was done, they needed to be left there. There would be 46 pieces made out of this.
When the mold was removed, they would continue with the rest.
The process would take more than two hours, after which they could return home for lunch..
After lunch, they could make one more batch in the afternoon.
The molding tools had increased in number, but there were not many flowers. Two batches should be enough in one day.
When Chinese roses and roses, as well as pomegranate flowers were in full bloom, they were going to make four batches a day, starting from early in the morning.
That would not be too difficult, when they had many people working together.
The maids were still quite confused how those flowers turned into lipsticks, when they left with Qiao Xuan.
But no one was stupid enough to ask this question.
That was the secret only the mistress knew about.
Qi returned in the afternoon and brought back the IOU note, which was given to Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan.
They had two batches of lipsticks finished by the end of the day. The day after they would be able to get some more flowers.
The next day, Qiao Xuan, Taotao, Qi, together with Chunyu and Xiazhi, went to the river to fetch some fish and shrimps.
Shao Yunduan did not join them. He needed to visit Master Yun every single day.
Master Yun had been fed up with living here. So one week later, he was going to start his trip down south.
Hence, Shao Yunduan had very little time left to be instructed by him.
Shao Yunduan felt his heart emptied. He felt quite sad when telling Qiao Xuan about this, who consoled him.
But Shao Yunduan also understood that Master Yun did not belong to this place. He was a very knowledgeable person, and Shao Yunduan did not even know where he was from till now.
What he needed to know was that Master Yun had discovered him and educated him.
He was not going to stop him from traveling down south.
He was just a junior who had been taught for a small period, and he was not his official disciple, thus not having the rights to intervene in his decision.
All Shao Yunduan could do was to ask Master Yun what he wanted to know and what he needed him to prepare for him. Money or other things would do.
Master Yun did not lack money, so he did not ask for that. But he was very interested in the small snacks from the Shao Family. So he made a long list, which included smoked meat, sausage, duck, fish, salted eggs, preserved eggs, chili sauce, diced bamboo shoots and mushroom sauce, dried plums, dried bamboo shoots, jelly seeds, and so on.
Shao Yunduan accepted the request readily and asked Qiao Xuan for help with the preparation.
Qiao Xuan believed that Master Yun was like a saint in heaven, just as Shao Yunduan had put it. Qiao Xuan trusted Shao Yunduan and she could not help but develop some sense of admiration towards the old man.
She nodded in agreement and expressed that she was definitely going to make proper preparation.
He had done Shao Yunduan a big favor and it was a favor to her too. He was her savior as well.
So, Shao Yunduan was barely at home in the past few days.
Qiao Xuan did not need to make much effort to get those things in the list ready. So, they went to fetch the fish and shrimp during the daytime.
Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang, together with the other maid, went into the vegetable field to plant another kind of vegetable.
Soon, the corn, taros and soybeans should be planted down as well.
The fish and shrimps scooped out of the river needed to be kept in the pond, so three buckets of medium size were taken along to carry the things.
There were many river shrimps there, and one casual scoop would lead to fetching abundant water creatures. There were loaches, small fish and crabs.
The crabs were thrown back into the river.
She knew that there were a lot of snails in the river. She managed to pick up two buckets and put them in to raise them. They could be eaten and even fed to the fish..
Chunyu and Xiazhi were a little nervous at the beginning, but gradually, they relaxed and started helping out happily.
Qiao Xuan could see fish and shrimps swimming between the water grass, some of which were really big. But she was not that skilled, so she asked Qi to help.
She gave him seven out of ten correct directions.
Before lunchtime, they already had three buckets filled with shrimps and all kinds of fish, most of which were wild crucian carps.
They rented the bull cart and headed towards the Zhang Village together. They poured the three buckets of fish as well as water grass inside the pond.
Ding Erzhu was very good at fixing the fish pond. He had cut a lot of thick pine branches from the mountain, sunk them into the pond and piled them up together, which could shade the fish and provide them a hiding place.
On the surface of the water, bamboo poles were used to form a square frame of medium size, and pillars were inserted into the bottom of the pond to fix the square frame. The fish would be fed in the four-square frame in the future.
Qiao Xuan did not intend to raise the fish for sale, and didn't provide them any feed. The tender grass, aquatic plants, and vegetable leaves, which were needed to feed them every fifth or sixth day were going to be available. With the basket framed, the vegetable leaves and grass leaves would not float around. Some terrier fish did not eat the rest, and they could be easily salvaged in one place.
Three buckets of fish were still too few. There was a river close to the Zhang Village, so they all headed there, seeing it was still early in the day. They wanted to try their luck to see what more they could get.
Ding Erzhu smiled as he asked Qiao Xuan. "Landlady, do you need eels, loaches and mussels?"
Qiao Xuan's eyes were sparkling, as she nodded. "Yes, all of them."
Those were wonderful and delicious things.
Ding Erzhu smiled. "Great, I will fetch them for you!'
In the ditch beside the rice field, there were a lot of eels and loaches. There were also mussels in there. When they went down to the pond, they could step on them with their feet.
Qiao Xuan smiled and thanked him. "This is great. Uncle Erzhu, fetch more when you have time!"
In this way, they made lipsticks one day and caught fish the next day. The process lasted for five or six days, and the pond was almost done.
The fish were also enough.
Those were for them to store. They could just scoop the fish whenever they needed. The good ones could be kept in the pond for later use.
The apricot flowers were blooming, and they could be picked after five or six days. Later, the peach flowers would be in bloom for eleven or twelve days.
It was getting very warm, and the grass was thriving and so were the flowers. The bees started to get really busy again after a silent winter.
Bees could be seen on almost every flower. When they stood under the tree, they could hear the buzzing sound.
Qiao Xuan was thinking about getting more bee boxes to raise more bees and fetch the wax.
The paddy field was watered, and soon, it was time for them to have the spring plow.
At this time, spring bamboos, mushrooms and all kinds of vegetables were growing, which was very appealing for everyone around.
The fresh and tender spring bamboo shoots were extremely sweet, whether they were fried with meat or fried, or used as stuffing for dumplings. It would all turn out to be delicious.
All kinds of mushrooms were picked, including the tenderest ones that had just emerged from the soil, and they had a fresh mountain flavor. They could be stir-fried with the meat and served on a plate, and the aroma would waft all over the kitchen after a short time..
Chinese toon sprouts, water celery, wild onions, wild leeks, shepherd's purse, dandelion seedlings, Iris lactea, bracken and more could be found with some effort. They could be brought home, blanched as cold salad, or used to make steamed vegetables, and even mixed with minced meat to make fresh stuffing.
Especially Chinese toon sprouts and bracken, which were the most appealing.
It was just a short window of time for them to get to eat those things.
Chinese toon sprouts with eggs, Chinese toon sprouts mixed with tofu, Chinese toon sprouts with fried bacon, fried Chinese toon sprouts wrapped in egg batter, Chinese toon sprouts omelet, and even pickled Chinese toon sprouts could be delicious. The plants could also be ground to make Chinese toon sprout sauce during this time.
Brackens could be fried with smoked meat and bamboo slices.
Apart from those wild vegetables, the small cabbage, small rapeseed, Choy sum and so on in the field had also grown, and they were very fresh.
There would be a lot of delicious food to eat in spring for the family.
Qiao Xuan and Qi as well as Taotao often visited the mountains and brought lots of food home.
Bamboos and mushrooms were the best example. There were so many of them that they could be sundried as well for later use.
There were also a lot of roosters, rabbits, and roe deer hunted. Compared with preserved meat, fresh meat had a better taste.
Qi even hunted one wild deer weighing 50 kgs, which cheered up the whole family.
They stored meat for three or four days, and only gave out a few to others, since the members at home had increased in number.
The deer meat was still fresh the next day after it was hunted. Qiao Xuan did another round of grilling with it. She marinated the meat for grilling, which gave it a very special taste.
Then, they also made some dried venison. After it was finished, it weighed about 2 kgs, so they kept it for themselves and ate it little by little.
While they were enjoying the delicious dishes of spring, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan did not expect that they had formed a grudge with someone accidentally.
Three days after Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan bought the land from the agent, the housekeeper from Zhao Guanghua's home ran into the agent and after some small talk, he asked. "Oh, the 70 mu of the Zhang Village…?"
"Sold already." The land agent smiled, sounding pitiful. "Old Master Zhao did not need it and Businessman He needed to sell the land as fast as possible, so someone bought it without saying much about the price."
The housekeeper looked embarrassed. He forced a smile. "Oh really? That is a shame…
The land agent smiled. "Well, this is how it is. The seller needed it to be sold as soon as possible, so I had to hurry up, otherwise I would ruin my reputation,
Housekeeper got so annoyed, but he still forced a smile. "True. To whom did you sell the land to?"
The housekeeper was very curious and distressed. This patch of land was close to the land of Old Master Zhao's. If he had bought the entire land, it would have made it easier for him to control the land together.
In this way, the land could be enhanced to a middle-class size.
But when he heard about the seller's urgency, he thought about getting some bargain.
Also, Old Master Zhao gave some presents to several friends who might have been interested and able to afford the land, telling them to spare the land for him.
After getting favors from Old Master Zhao, those people agreed, since they did not need the land so urgently.
Old Master Zhao was very proud and confident that he would be able to get the land, so he kept bargaining and did not want to retreat..
Eventually, the seller told the land agent that he will not sell the land to the Zhao Family, no matter what.
The Zhao Family was arrogant, and they were the County Magistrate's good friends, but so what? He was leaving the country soon, and he would be out of their control.
The land agent was very angry about the Zhao Family's behavior as well.
The good field was worth eight liang per mu, but Old Master Zhao tried to take it to five liang for one mu. That was blatant robbery!
The land agent had wanted to ask Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan about it and they ran into each other accidentally on the same day. That's how the land became theirs.
Since the Zhao Family was playing a trick, then the land was not going to be sold to them.
The land agent did not have any specific intentions towards Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan. Those who could offer the proper price would become the owner. So, he was being totally reasonable.
He had no idea what Old Master Zhao had done behind his back.
So, when the housekeeper asked him about that, he answered him calmly,
without trying to humiliate the Zhao Family.
The land agent would have told the housekeeper who bought the land if the buyers had not been Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan. But the couple had repeatedly stressed that the agent should keep the secret for them, and even entrusted him to sign the contract.
So, the land agent did not answer his question.
The agent said something vague, and the housekeeper asked no more.
The two of them waved each other goodbye.
The housekeeper had a stinky face as he headed back to the mansion with the news.
Old Master Zhao turned furious. He struck the table and cursed. "Who in the hell bought my land? Look into the matter and tell me who dared to steal my business!"
He said sinisterly, "l am going to make him pay!'
He had been so confident and done a lot of work just to make sure he could get the land. But now, it turned out to be totally opposite from what he had expected.
He had thought that the land agent would get anxious and try to sell him the land after being ignored for three days, so that he could be easily persuaded.
But someone else cut in.
Old Master Zhao was very wealthy and always had a very smooth career. So, he became really arrogant after making so much money.
Moreover, the land agent did not want to reveal the buyer, so he was sure that this buyer knew about his intention of buying the land, thus humiliating him by cutting in.
He was going to find him!
He was not stupid. He was very smart!
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan had always kept the secret about them buying land at the Zhang Village. But if someone wanted to look into this matter carefully, they would more or less be able to find out the answer.
Ding Erzhu and his team would not say a thing, and those from the Zhang Village would not think deeply if a story was woven and told to them.
Housekeeper did not delay and sent out his men to look into this matter on the same day.
After a few days, they finally found the accurate news.
The housekeeper learned about it on the day when Shao Yunduan accompanied Master Yun and his servants leaving the county. He told everything to his Old Master Zhao.
Old Master Zhao sneered. "Shaoding Village? Those poor people who make a small fortune… I think they should die! How dare they steal the land from me? A Cultivated Talent? Who does he think he is?!"
Old Master Zhao showed a look of greed.. "You said that they have more than 200 mu of good fields and one tea mountain of over 500 mu?"
"That's true, Old Master, I heard everything. That family has made some fortune recently and bought so many things behind people's backs. They are keeping it a secret!"
"Bah!" Old Master Zhao sneered. "Soon those places would be mine! If they know what position they are in, they would definitely give those things to me on their own so that they can save themselves some trouble. Otherwise, they will regret it for the rest of their life!"
Housekeeper flattered him. "You are right! How dare they steal your stuff, Old Master Zhao? It is only right that they pay it back to you!'
Honestly, when the housekeeper learned about the large amount of properties that belonged to Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan, he was shocked.
He also felt really jealous.
He had always looked down at poor farmers. But now, there was a farmer's family who made a fortune and bought so many properties. He felt that he had been put into the shade! He was really envious and angry. He looked forward to seeing bad luck happening to them.
He just did not like it.
So many fields and tea mountains! His master was going to take these over now.
After some discussion, Old Master Zhao and the housekeeper came up with one solution.
He had a concubine called Ding Qiuyue, and she was 21 years old. She looked really charming and was from the village.
Ding Jiahao was one of her side relatives, her uncle,
Ding Qiuyue became Old Master Zhao's concubine when she was 16 years old. She was just a concubine and could not go back to her mother's home as per the rules. Old Master Zhao had paid her family 10 liang and that counted as
buying her out.
She was spoiled. If she behaved well, she could get some presents delivered back to her mother's family during New Years time. But she did not dare to ask too much, else Old Master Zhao's wife would get really irritated and torment her.
The wife could just get her killed as easily as pinching an ant. After all, she was just a concubine without any background.
But this time, Old Master Zhao allowed Ding Qiuyue to return to her mother's family.
Ding Qiuyue was surprised. But she was scared too. When she heard that Old Master Zhao needed her to do some serious business, she felt much less worried.
Ding Qiuyue was wearing a turquoise embroidered dress, with silver hairpins and pink silk flowers on her hairpin. There was thin powder on her face, her eyebrows had been darkened. She had embroidered shoes on her feet, and a handkerchief in her hand. She got out of the wagon with the help of her maid Hongyu, and attracted the attention of a lot of people from the village. "Isn't that Qiuyue? Long time no see. You are getting prettier!" "Look at what she is wearing. She seems to be leading a nice life!"
"But she is just a concubine! That is not good at all."
"She is just a concubine and is still living well. Still it is much better to marry a poor farmer."
Ding Qiuyue's dad was called Ding Jiahuai and her mother was called Ms. Guan. Hearing those words, Ms. Guan glared at them and asked Ding Qiuyue to come into the yard, and she shut the door.
"Those villagers know nothing! Ignore them!"
Ms. Guan said as she observed her daughter. She was so well-dressed and pretty and that made Ms. Guan feel really satisfied.
She smiled. "You are looking so beautiful, almost as good as the noble lady from that big family.. Look at what you have on you…"
Ding Qiuyue forced a smile and withdrew her hands secretly.
Only she knew what kind of life she was living.
She was just a concubine and it was not at all a good life. People who were short-sighted would say so.
Zhao Ming was dressed well and was wearing all kinds of ornaments. That was what a noble lady was actually like.
On the other hand, she only had a few pieces of jewelry, and a few sets of garments that might lift up her spirit a little.
Even Zhao Ming's maid lived a better life than she did. Even her monthly salary was higher than hers.
But she would not dare to accept too much money given to her, otherwise Madame Zhao would punish her.
Old Master Zhao was an old man reaching almost 50 years… being a concubine for such an old man did not seem like a good life to her at all.
She had run into Old Master Zhao one day in the market and Old Master Zhao liked her instantly. Her parents approved of this marriage, what else could she do.
But that was still better than working in the farming field and not being able to get any meat to eat. She couldn't have tolerated that kind of life.
Well, that was what she said to console herself.
She had not been home for years and the mother and the daughter kept talking with each other.
But when it came to food, she saw plain vegetables and cabbage as well as one small plate of smoked meat only for her. Ding Qiuyue felt unhappy.
She ate much better at Zhao's mansion. There were always two dishes with one soup, each of which would contain some meat. Sometimes she could even eat more and better when Madame Zhao was in a good mood. Anything there was better than what she was being served here.
She just could not eat these things as she looked at them.
Ding Qiuyue emotionally reminded herself. She was not used to the old, bitter days after she spent so much time at the Zhao's mansion.
She forced herself to eat half a bowl of rice and put down the chopsticks.
Moreover, she could not get used to the accommodation.
Ding Qiuyue did not want to stay over any more. She was thinking about leaving directly after finishing the job…
On the day when Ding Qiuyue returned to the village, Qiao Xuan asked Taotao and Yang Xiaoni to make lipsticks with four maids, whilst she and Qi went to pull up the tea tree saplings from the garden with the remaining people. They tied them into bunches and carried them to the Zhang Village for planting.
Due to Qiao Xuan's superpower, tea tree seedlings had grown to more than half a meter high, and were very strong. The main stem was straight, the branches were full, and the appearance was very good.
No one from the first section of the family had done this before, and since it was in the garden which hardly anyone rarely visited, no one would wonder why the tree seedlings grew so fast.
The rain stopped, and the day was still cloudy. But Qiao Xuan knew that it was not going to rain on this day, nor on the next day. But the rain might come the day after tomorrow.
So, it was the best time to plant the tree seedlings.
They started to work even before dawn.
After breakfast, they transported the first patch of tea tree seedlings to the Zhang Village.
Together with her own maids, and twenty people she had hired from the Zhang Village, they planted the tree seedling. It would take three days to finish the work.
The seedlings would not take up all the land, and should be done in half of the area.
One more time of seedling the next year, and all would be finished.
After all, she knew where the golden sprouts and lavender were in the mountain. What she needed to do was to use her superpower to make them bloom, so the fruits were naturally harvested. She and Qi had visited the mountains just a few days ago..
Qiao Xuan had been busy with her work and when she came back home, it was still very late at night. Yang Xiaoni could not wait to share the gossip with her after seeing her coming home. They had also completed their job at the flower field.
Ding Jiahuai's daughter who was Old Master Zhao's concubine was back home…
It was not very strange that someone was a concubine. She was born to a concubine but she had never lived a life as a concubine's daughter. Nor had she seen anyone who was a concubine of someone.
But hearing this news… she more or less felt a little surprised. She also found it a little strange.
But she did not dwell on it for much longer. She just exchanged a few words with Yang Xiaoni, Ms. Yan and Ms. Xu.
This concubine had never been home for years, but now she was at home in an extraordinary manner. It was said that the Zhao Family even gave her a wagon to come home, and the Zhao Family gave her many presents to her parents. She even had maids with her… that was strange.
The tea tree seedlings grew fast and soon, the rest should be done after the transplantation.
Qiao Xuan decided to use her superpower to promote growth. In this way, the transplantation was definitely going to work out well.
Everyone was very busy. They had a lot of work to do every single day and were all very hungry by the end of the day.
Qiao Xuan was in charge of cooking.
Today she steamed the sausage, washed the smoked duck with warm water, chopped it into pieces, added garlic sprouts, shredded ginger, garlic cloves, and dried chili. Finally, she stir-fried it all together.
Then, she braised two big crucian carps.
There were still a lot of small river prawns that were dried the day before yesterday, and she cooked them all tonight. She fried the river prawns with fresh and tender leeks. The green and red colors were distinct, and they gave off a very nice smell.
She made another stir-fried dish of wolfberry sprouts, cold shepherd's purse, and that was it.
Dinner was the meal that the whole family looked forward to most every day.
The dishes were tasty, and they contained a lot of oil. So, even if they worked the whole day without stopping, they could still feel relaxed after having been served such delicious food.
Everyone took a warm bath at the end of the day and relaxed. After resting for one night, the energy returned.
The following morning, Qiao Xuan, Qi, Liqiu and Lixia went to pull out the seedlings and tied them into a bunch. After breakfast, they asked Qi to deliver one batch to the Zhang Village.
Qi left the house while Qiao Xuan and the others continued to pull the seedlings. They should be done today, and after one more delivery in the afternoon, they could start to plant at the Zhang Village the following day. No more deliveries would be needed.
The seedbed for raising seedlings was turned over and tidied up. Well, it was almost time to plant watermelons.
Moreover, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, pumpkins, wax gourds, chayotes could all be planted.
Qiao Xuan would not plant so many vegetables in the garden. Only watermelons and tomatoes would do. The others would be planted in the garden later.
There would not be any more fruits to add this year. The current ones would be enough.
The peaches, apricots, plums, and pears had all bloomed and born small, green bean-like fruits. The loquats had also bloomed and bore fruit. The fruits were becoming bigger and riper. The hanging ones were growing very well. In two more months, the tree would be full of golden yellow color and the fruits should be sweet.
In the yard, Ms. Fang was cleaning the yard whilst her grandchildren were playing on the ground next to the flower parterre when someone knocked at the door. Ms. Fang got up, dusted her clothes and went to open the door.
"Ms. Fang, hello!" It was a woman in her 20s, wearing pink silk embroidered clothes and her hair held in a bun, looking very
She had a maid next to her..
Ms. Fang found her familiar, but did not recognize her. She narrowed her eyes, sizing her up. "Who… are you?"
Ding Qiuyue smiled shyly. "You don't recognize me, Ms. Fang?"
Ms. Fang let out an exclamation and was reminded of the girl in front of her. "You are Qiuyue!"
Ding Qiuyue smiled. "It is me. Long time no see, Ms. Fang. You look stronger and younger than before. Also, you have such a wonderful house. You are living a better life than before. No wonder you look much better, too!"
Ding Qiuyue smiled and praised the house, as she walked into it.
She had been flattering Madame Zhao for years, and had developed the ability to praise. She had always been good at flattering people anyways.
That made Ms. Fang very happy. She smiled brightly. "Not really. Just that we have many people in our house and we saved some money to build the house…
Ding Qiuyue smiled. "But not every family with so many people like yours can afford this house. It must be because of your sons who helped with it, right?"
"True. They are all excellent!"
Ms. Fang laughed again.
But only now did Ms. Fang realize that Ding Qiuyue should not be here. She
She felt regretful as well.
Ding Qiuyue was a concubine of an old man in the town and Old Master Zhao was almost as old as her father. She should not have let her in, since that wasn't a very nice thing to promote.
Also, her family had never hung out with this girl earlier.
Ding Qiuyue was very surprised when she walked into the house.
It was better than hers.
Although it was not as glamorous as the Zhao Family's house, yet it was clean, bright, and neat. It was comfortable and spacious, equipped with every single thing needed.
Especially the glazed window… not every window of the Zhao Family's house was glazed.
What on earth did the Shao Family do that they became so rich, all of a sudden?
Ding Qiuyue almost blurted out the question. "Well… is there anything you want from me?"
Ms. Fang asked, coughing slightly.
Ding Qiuyue smiled. "1 haven't been home for years so I am just walking around. I passed by your place and decided to have a talk with you. Are you alone here? Where are your children?"
Ms. Fangs face sank, but she smiled. "They are out to do the labor work, they can't get lazy at this time of the year, can they?"
"True…" Ding Qiuyue smiled. "But… I can understand that except for one thing. I heard that one of your daughters-in-law is the County Magistrate's daughter… Is she also working in the field? That doesn't seem likely." Ms. Fangs face turned bad when she heard the question.
Qiao Xuan had a special background, so many people would ask about her every now and then.
Ms. Fang did not like it.
She was her daughter-in-law, and no one else was in a position to judge her.
Ms. Fang did not want to explain anything to Ding Qiuyue. So, she answered briefly. "Yeah, Ms. Qiao is always very diligent…"
Ding Qiuyue smiled. "That is very rare. You are lucky!"
Ms. Fang felt bad, and became kind of furious.
Ding Qiuyue was just an old man's concubine.
She was not in a position to comment on whether she was lucky or not regarding Qiao Xuan being her daughter-in-law!
How annoying she was.
Ms. Fang did not want to say anything more. "...Qiuyue, I am going to the garden soon, so..."
Ding Qiuyue knew that she was looked down upon by many people in the village, and even she herself thought lowly of herself.
Ms. Fang was one of the few friendly ones.
If she continued to stay, then it would be a problem.
Also, she had reached the purpose. She had witnessed what the Shao Family was like and how miserable Qiao Xuan's life was.
"Okay, I am off now, thank you!"
Ding Qiuyue stood up and left with Hongyu.
Ms. Fang walked her out and shut the door.
Hongyu pursed and said disdainfully, "Just a countryside woman. So arrogant!"
Ding Qiuyue threw a look at her and said nothing.
That was already a very wealthy household for countryside people. If she had the choice, she would choose to live in a family like that. It would be so sweet and nice.
Back at home, Ding Qiuyue asked Ms. Guan to hire the bull cart so she could return to the town. She did not want to stay here any more.
She was not used to life here at all. What was the point of staying here?
Ms. Guan would have liked that her daughter could stay longer, so she could share some gossip of those rich people, which she was not able to hear in her daily life.
But she could not stop her daughter, who insisted upon leaving quickly.
She repeatedly told Ding Qiuyue to serve the Old Master well so she could get pregnant soon, best get a son!
Ding Qiuyue got really impatient, and interrupted her.
The Old Master would turn 50 in two years and the eldest grandson was already 12 years old! How could he make her pregnant? That idea was totally hopeless!
On the way back, Ding Qiuyue kept thinking about how to tell her Old Master what she had seen.
Back at Zhao's Mansion, she was summoned by Old Master Zhao directly.
The housekeeper did not pry into the Shao Family deeply. He did not think that a countryside family would be worth looking into. Ding Qiuyue did not know much about the latest news after only living at the Zhao's mansion for so many years.
She only learned some more after speaking with Ms. Guan.
Old Master Zhao was surprised. So the disgraced concubine's daughter of Officer Qiao was married to one of the sons of that family!
"The fifth son's wife is the Second Miss of the Qiao Family. I didn't dare to make any decision, thus asking you what I should do later..."
She had to be very careful when she was dealing with the official's family.
Old Master Zhao nodded at her in satisfaction. "Good, you are right. How is Ms. Qiao's life in the Shao Family?"
Ding Qiuyue looked disdainful as she smiled. "Not very good. When I spoke of Second Miss, her mother-in-law didn't seem that happy. I asked her a few more questions. It seems that she still needs to work in the field!"
It seemed that the Shao Family never treated her as the daughter of the County Magistrate!
Old Master Zhao sneered and believed that was totally reasonable.
The Second Miss had been disgraced, and was even worse than the Third Miss. What was the point of wearing the title of an official's daughter?
Maybe when the Shao Family found that she was a discarded girl and no one to back her up, and that she could not bring any benefits for the Shao Family, she would have been bullied there!
As for the news that Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went to the Zhang Village a few times to buy properties, Old Master Zhao subconsciously believed that Shao Yunduan was the one in charge, whilst Qiao Xuan was just a plus one.
Old Master Zhao asked Ding Qiuyue what was going on with the Shao Family…
Ding Qiuyue told him the truth.
The Shao Family had a very large and luxurious house, with every piece of furniture totally new. All the windows were glazed as well.
Obviously, the Shao Family had made a fortune.
Old Master Zhao was surprised. All glazed windows? That cost quite a lot of money. Even their own family did not have it.
The Shao Family had not only made a fortune but had made a huge one! Otherwise poor countryside people would not have splurged like this.
In fact, the Shao Family would not have spent this much money in building a huge house like this, but for Qiao Xuan's proposal.
Qiao Xuan was disgraced, so her dowry must not have been a lot. So, what on earth did the Shao Family do that they made a huge fortune?
That seemed weird…
"Did you find out where the Shao Family got the money from? Any news in the town?"
Normally, this kind of thing should have been spread all over the village. Even though it might intentionally be kept as a secret, some people would have heard something."
Even if they did not want to admit a thing like this, the rumor would have originated from somewhere.
Ding Qiuyue shook her head, forcing a guilty and bitter smile. "Sorry, I didn't hear anything regarding this. There was no rumor in the village. Even my mother has no idea about the fields at the Zhang Village. But Old Master, don't worry, I did not tell anyone about this."
If the news that the Shao Family had properties at the Zhang Village, which later became the Zhao Family's, people would wonder how that would happen.
It was good that no one from Shapding Village knew about this.
The Zhao Family could definitely get the properties in his hands and make a fortune unexpectedly.
Old Master Zhao nodded his head. It seemed that the Shao Family was just lucky to have made a huge fortune all of a sudden.
That was why they did not say anything but started to buy land outside their own village.
As for the big house in the village… Old Master Zhao did not think that it was a big deal. Countryside people had never seen glazed windows, so how much that cost did not surprise them at all.
Even when they saw the Shao Family's big house, they would not think that would be worth a lot.
Also, no one would look into the house across the tall yard.
"Okay, you can leave now."
"Okay, Old Master."
Old Master Zhao did not consider giving up even though he learned about
Qiao Xuan's identity as County Magistrate Qiao's daughter.
He was not going to get humiliated by the Shao Family who stole the stuff that should have belonged to him.
She was just a concubine's daughter. Officer Qiao's wife would not defend her, so she would have no one backing her up.
He could steal stuff from the Shao Family, and in the worst case, he could just visit the Qiao Family and give them some presents, along with a few nice words. Then all would be fine.
Madame Qiao was not going to defend a concubine's daughter, was she?
Well, he had to be fast about the whole thing, and avoid making a scene. Otherwise it would be very difficult for Officer Qiao to stay away from the mess.
Old Master Zhao smiled sinisterly. He already had an idea about what to do.
He needed to make use of this concubine of his.
They spent half a day sorting through all the tea tree seedlings.
After lunch, the pile was loaded up for Qi to transport to the Zhang Village.
At noon, they made fish porridge, steamed white noodle buns, and cooked a pot of fish soup..
Thinly sliced fish filets were marinated with ginger, scallion, yellow wine, and salt. After the porridge was almost cooked, the fish filets were poured and dispersed with chopsticks.
The snow white fish meat soon turned pink and tender, as the fragrant smell flew out of the pot.
Chopped chives and lettuce were sprinkled over it, making it even more delicious.
Qiao Xuan asked Lixia to get Ms. Yan over for food. She needed to speak a few words with her afterwards.
Ms. Yan was a very understanding woman, and she had thoughts of her own after spending so much time with them.
The first section of the family had been so busy and Qiao Xuan, Taotao went
into the flower field all the time but Ms. Yan never asked anything about their purpose. Nor did she suggest that she should follow along.
If they did not want to tell her something, she would not pry.
Ms. Yan was the only person who knew how to befriend the first section of the family, and only she knew what to do and what not to do.
She must be the only clear-minded woman among all the other relatives in the second and third section of the family.
That made her a rare person.
Qiao Xuan did not want to waste such a clear-minded woman.
The first section of the family had already lived separately from the other sections of the family. So, unless the other sections of the family caused some tremendous trouble, they were still connected with bloodline.
Shao Yunduan had a long, promising future, and there would be many people who would be jealous of him, including those in the village.
There would be people who will try to cause trouble among the sections of the family. The first section of the family could protect themselves once or twice, but not always.
If someone with a clear mind could restrain the second section of the family, the third section of the family would not be able to cause any major trouble.
Also, but for Ms. Yan's information, Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan would never have found out anything about the real secret behind Shao Dalangs accident.
They would only have taken it as an accident.
Therefore, what more would that annoying couple do in secret again?
But for Qiao Xuan's superpower, Shao Dalang would have lost his leg and not been able to walk, let alone do any heavy labor work. So, that sinister couple was really ill-hearted.
One would never know what was coming next.
Hence, Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan owed Ms. Yan a huge favor.
It was time for them to pay that back.
Ms. Yan had to work in the field these days, so she could not spend too much time with Ms. Fangs family. But every evening on her way back home, she would come and exchange a few words with Ms. Fang and Ms. Xu.
So, it was very normal that Qiao Xuan sent her an invitation.
Qiao Xuan knew what Ms. Niu would think about this. So, she made sure the invitation reached them at lunch. Before Ms. Yan could say a thing, Ms. Niu quickly said, "Just go and have lunch there, so we don't need to cook your portion! "
Ms. Yan.
She had no choice but to nod casually, sighing inwardly. This was so embarrassing…
Ms. Niu believed that it was a free lunch that her daughter-in-law should take from the first section of the family, who had already started to buy servants. But Ms. Niu got nothing from them, which made her feel annoyed.
After lunch at the first section of the family, Ms. Yan sighed again. She felt that if she kept eating at the first section of the family, she would not be able to eat a thing at her own home.
If only they could move out. But it was not yet the time.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan asked Ms. Yan to have a private talk in their room.
Ms. Yan's heart started to throb. Suddenly, she had a feeling that it was going to be something good. So, she was both nervous and expectant..
Qiao Xuan smiled at Ms. Yan, and said earnestly, "Thank you for telling us what happened last time, Fourth Cousin-in-law. But for you, we would not have been prepared for what might happen afterwards."
Nis. Yan's heart skipped a bit… Yes…
It was indeed the matter regarding what the former Land Officer and Widow Sun did to others.
The couple was so fierce. So, their current situation served them right. But she was very scared and shocked by what they did to others.
"We have always wanted to repay you, Fourth Cousin-in-law, but it took a while before we could talk about this, sorry for the delay."
"No, no, it is okay, I did nothing big…"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Fourth Cousin-in-law, 1 heard that your family is into making tofu, so I have an idea here, which may be helpful for your family."
Noone from the second and third section of the family was capable of this task, and any kind of fortune making method would be ruined in their hands.
But Ms. Yan's family was very clever. What Qiao Xuan needed to do was to tell Ms. Yan, who could help her mother's family with this method. In this way, Ms. Yan could even help her husband to get a share. That would be enough.
That was the decision made by Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan.
Ms. Yan nodded with a smile. "Not just making tofu! My brothers can sell a lot of tofu every day! And everyone loves our tofu. Two restaurants in the town buy tofu exclusively from us!"
"That is great." Qiao Xuan said, "l have got a couple of ways to make bean products here, and I can find a way to send it to the province. If this thing is made well, we don't need to worry about them being sold. If your brothers and the others in your family are interested, we can go over and talk about it in detail. If they are willing, we can do this business together. We get 20 percent of the profit, and we will share the cost for that 20 percent. We will not interfere in the daily affairs, and your brothers are still in charge."
Ms. Yan threw a look at Shao Yunduan.
Shao Yunduan smiled briefly. 'E lt is your Fifth Sister-in-law's idea, so she has the say."
Ms. Yan smiled brightly and got very excited.
She said without hesitation, "You are all smart people, better than us. I trust your ideas. I will come up with a way to go back home and ask my family about it right away. I am sure that they will agree!'
Ms. Yan could see that the reason why the first section of the family could make a fortune was because Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan were smart people.
But Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma could not see that. They only wanted to cause trouble. No wonder they never got anything good happening to them.
Ms. Yan did not know much about what exactly was their idea. But she trusted them completely.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan did not need to set her up. There was nothing about her that was worth being set up for.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "That is great. We will be waiting for your news!"
"Good! I will be off. We'll talk later!'
After Ms. Yan left, Qiao Xuan smiled at Shao Yunduan. "Hope that the Fourth Cousin-in-law's family would not turn us down. In this way, the second section of the family should have someone in charge and the third section of the family would not be able to do anything alone."
Shao Yunduan took her hands and withdrew quickly before she realized anything. He smiled and said gently, "Thank you, darling!'
Qiao Xuan was startled. "l just… just want to live in peace."
She was not trying to help the first section of the family solve trouble. She could not be sure if he was going to be her husband for real..