The Return of the Noble Abandoned Consort: Chapter 12 - Doing Business

Aunt Luo hadn't discussed this with Qiao Wei in advance, so she was worried that Qiao Wei would be unhappy. In fact, her worries were completely unnecessary. Qiao Wei was helpless; it was fortunate for her to meet elders like Aunt Luo. But in ancient times, it was a big deal to recognize each other. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Aunt Luo, should I discuss this matter with Uncle Luo first?" Aunt Luo patted her hand and said, "Don't worry, he listens to me in everything. I mentioned it to him. He is also worried about you and tells me to take care of you more." Qiao Wei said with emotion: "Uncle Luo is also a good person." Aunt Luo gave her an angry look: "Still calling Uncle?" Qiao Wei's face was slightly embarrassed. "Godfather." Aunt Luo pointed to herself: "What about me?" "Godmother." Aunt Luo smiled contentedly. The matter of kinship was settled like this. In the evening, Qiao Wei filled the table with dishes and invited Aunt Luo for dinner. Aunt Luo's husband works in the county office and only returns once a month. The eldest son got married and moved out. The younger son is studying art in Beijing. Most of the time, she is alone. Although she recognized Xiao Qiao as goddaughter out of pity for the mother and kids, Aunt Luo had been very lonely before meeting them. Xiao Qiao invited her for dinner and treated her generously. Perhaps they followed the scent of food, the children came back before the meal was ready. They saw Aunt Luo, who was arranging dishes in the hall, and called out sweetly, "Grandma Luo." Qiao Wei brought out a bowl of mutton vermicelli soup from the kitchen, and when she heard the call, she smiled and said, "Don't call Grandma Luo from now on, just call Grandma." In the heart of the child, it is not too big for multiple surnames and one surname. But they obediently agreed. Qiao Wei thought, "I should find a time to talk to the children about titles so that they know that Grandma Luo is different from other grandmas. Qiao Jingyun took the initiative to go to the yard and wash his hands. There was a well in the yard. The children knew how to draw water from the well, but Qiao Wei covered the well just in case. So, usually, they only used the water in the tank. The siblings washed their hands and went to eat in the house. Qiao Wei made four dishes and one soup. Green pepper scrambled eggs, braised pork with carrots, fried potato shreds, stir-fried cabbage, mutton vermicelli soup. And for dessert, there were red bean glutinous rice cakes steamed on the stove. Aunt Luo has never tasted Xiao Qiao's cooking, but she thought they looked delicious when she saw the dishes. She took some dried potato shreds: "What is this?" Qiao Wei laughed and said, "Potatoes." "There are potatoes?" Aunt Luo took a bite. It was spicy and refreshing, oily but not greasy, salty but sweet, and tasted good. After that, she tasted eggs, braised pork, and cabbage in turn. The more she ate, the more surprised she was. When she drank the lamb vermicelli soup, she could no longer hide her surprised expression, "Xiao Qiao, you can cook really well!" Qiao Wei smiled unavoidably: "Just so-so, I used to cook as a kid." "Cook when you were a kid?" Aunt Luo seemed to think of something and said dubiously: "Then what about when you first entered the village? You couldn’t even wash the vegetables." Can't even wash vegetables? Was the original owner a pampered lady? Qiao Wei smiled calmly and said, "I didn't do it after I was pregnant. It was a little strange. I picked it up again in the past two years." Aunt Luo didn't doubt her and happily had a meal with Qiao Wei. The mutton vermicelli soup is newly learned, but the children said it is better than what they had in town. Aunt Luo also thinks that her family’s Xiao Qiao does not put on airs, but can actually cook such delicious dishes. After the meal, Qiao Wei brought out the red bean and glutinous rice cake. The children loved her dessert most. Even a carnivorous animal like the little ferret ate a bit. Three small paws repeatedly slid towards the plate. Aunt Luo actually couldn't eat it anymore, but the glutinous rice cakes were made into small white rabbits. They were so beautiful that she couldn't help but eat one, one, and another. She was embarrassed in the end. She's not a greedy person, so how come at Xiao Qiao's place, she acts like she hasn't eaten in 800 years? After dinner, the children and Little Ferret went to play in the yard. Aunt Luo stayed to help Qiao Wei tidy up the kitchen and talked about her future plans: "What are you going to do? Keep farming or..." Qiao Wei washed the bowl while saying: "I will continue to plant in the field. When the weather is good, I will go into the mountain to hunt." "Look at you, what did I tell you? You are not allowed to enter the mountain alone." Aunt Luo gave Qiao Wei a stern look and said: "I've thought of something, but I don't know if you’ll like it or not." Qiao Wei smiled warmly: "Please tell." Aunt Luo took the bowl Qiao Wei had washed and wiped it with a clean cotton cloth: "When I ate the radish cakes you gave last time, I felt that your cooking is good. You’ve gone to the market, right? How do you think what you made is compared to their’s?" Qiao Wei thought for a while: "The color, fragrance, and taste should be passable.” “Come on." Aunt Luo squinted: "Passable? You really look down on them!" Qiao Wei smiled, embarrassed by the praise: "So Godmother is suggesting that I cook and sell it?" "Yeah.” Aunt Luo nodded. Qiao Wei thought that this is indeed a good plan. Farming cannot make ends meet, so it cannot be counted as a means of earning a living. Hunting makes some money, but you may not encounter prey every time. She really needs a relatively stable source of income. Qiao Wei was quick in putting things into motion. She only got the idea in the evening, but she has already prepared necessary things early the next morning. Since the materials they bought at the market were limited, she only made red bean glutinous rice cakes and crispy carrot cakes. Not for sale, but for herself and the children. At dawn, she went down the mountain with the children with two baskets of snacks. The children loved this day of "running around" with their mother. Mother used to only stay in the yard. Apart from farming, they didn't go down the mountain at all. Most of the time, they were also asked to remain in the yard. They were so lonely. Although they could go down the mountain by themselves, the feeling of going with their mother was, of course, very different! Aunt Luo accompanied Qiao Wei, and the small group took Shuan Zi's carriage. Qiao Wei is now the daughter of Aunt Luo, who is respected in the village. So Shuan Zi’s rate was a bit cheaper than the previous day’s. Adults were still charged ten coins per person, but the two children were not charged. The four of them didn't go to the bazaar. The stalls there were rented monthly, quarterly, and yearly, and there were no extra stalls for Qiao Wei. Qiao Wei came to the place where she had lunch yesterday. The flow of people here was good, and the stalls were rented daily, with 20 coins a day. Qiao Wei paid the rent and set up a small table and stool with Aunt Luo’s help. The two children sat in the back obediently, not making noise or disturbing, trying to understand what was going on.