Chapter 454: Living (Part 7)

Jiang Huiqin stayed in the kitchen until she saw the last step of steaming the yam cake. She originally wanted to wait for the yam cake to come out of the pot, but the eldest lady arrived early, and she had to go to the front hall to greet people.

Upholding the principle of "since I'm here, I'm here," Jiang Huiqin tasted a piece of the bean paste bun Zhao Chengan made before leaving, leaving behind an evaluation:

"Too sweet, and a bit hard."

It made Zhao Chengan jump on the spot in dissatisfaction, muttering in a low voice: "Where is the bun I made hard? Huiqin is slandering me!"

He had even learned to use the word "slander." It seemed Zhao Chengan had taken some cultural classes in the past two years.

Chen Qiusheng said faintly: "Her brother is Jiang Chengde, and her sister-in-law is Qin Wan. The signature of the Qin's Bun Shop is various buns. Isn't it normal for her to think your buns don't taste good?"

Zhao Chengan stopped talking, turned to stare at the yam cake in the pot, and asked: "Master Chen, such a large portion of yam cake, Miss Fen, a little girl, can't finish it, right? I have to go outside the city to steal things tonight and don't have time to squat. Can you help me squat for a while, pick it up the first time the yam cake is thrown on the ground, and bring it back for me to eat at night."

Chen Qiusheng:...

Qin Huai felt that Chen Qiusheng was already doubting life.

Chen Qiusheng was indeed doubting life, silent for a full 5 minutes, before asking slowly: "This year... so early?"

"Yes, I just received the news yesterday. There were many human traffickers gathered outside the city last night selling people. They changed places, but even if they changed places, I can find them. Even if they bury sweet potatoes underground, I can dig them out."

"I have already asked the steward for leave. I will leave the city as soon as it gets dark and try to come back before midnight. Master Chen, can you help me pick..."

"Impossible." Chen Qiusheng refused categorically.

Zhao Chengan turned around in disappointment, saw Xia Sheng coming back with two cabbages, and his eyes lit up again, greeting him: "Xia Sheng, do you have time to help me pick up yam cake tonight?"

"No." Xia Sheng didn't quite understand what Zhao Chengan was talking about. Obviously, he didn't want to understand either, so he refused directly and continued to work expressionlessly.

Zhao Chengan could only slack off in disappointment.

He was the most special dim sum chef in this kitchen, doing the work of a dim sum chef while only receiving the wages of a kitchen helper. Because the money he got wasn't much, and at the same time he was Chen Qiusheng's person, no one would force him to work if they saw him idle.

Plus, Zhao Chengan was actually the old lady's exclusive dim sum chef. Only the old lady liked the buns he made; other masters had normal tastes and felt it was too sweet. If they wanted to eat dim sum, they would specifically state not to let him make it, which led to Zhao Chengan actually being quite idle.

Qin Huai could see that Zhao Chengan really wanted to steal something to eat when he was slacking off, but his professional ethics made him hold back.

Zhao Chengan had a very good principle for stealing things—

Don't steal the employer's things.

With nothing to do and not wanting to do extra work, Zhao Chengan just watched Xia Sheng work next to him.

Xia Sheng and Zhao Chengan were simply two extremes.

The two received the same wages, but Xia Sheng was undoubtedly an all-around ox and horse, not only doing all kinds of work but also needing to do all kinds of work. If there was no work to do, he would create conditions to do it. He had a pair of eyes good at discovering work.

Zhao Chengan just watched Xia Sheng constantly cutting and preparing, burning fire, adding firewood, and occasionally needing to boil seasonings, take charge of the spoon, and watch the heat, which made Zhao Chengan couldn't help but ask: "Xia Sheng, aren't you tired?"

Xia Sheng looked at Zhao Chengan speechlessly, his tone even carrying a bit of earnest advice like teaching a child: "Take advantage of being able to learn skills to learn more things, how can you be tired?"

"You are living comfortably now because the master is looking after us, but what if the master is old and wants to return to the outside of the pass? People always have to think about the future."

"When Master Chen returns to the outside of the pass, I won't have to give him my wages. By then, Ping'an should have been admitted to university and can go to work for the government, and it should be Ping'an's turn to support me."

Xia Sheng:...

Xia Sheng couldn't help but say: "What if Ping'an didn't get into university? What if Ping'an didn't go to work for the government? What if one day we are like my family back then, with three years of drought in a row, selling all the land in the house, and having to hang ourselves with a rope just to save a mouthful of food?"

"That won't happen." Zhao Chengan said confidently, "Xia Sheng, don't worry. Not to mention that we don't have any land at all. Even if one day we are so poor that Master Chen sells all the firewood in the woodshed, we will definitely not be hungry to the point of having to hang ourselves. I have skills, I can go steal for you!"

"Actually, I can also steal from wealthy families. Before I knew you, I went to the Prince..."

Xia Sheng directly covered Zhao Chengan's mouth, signaling him not to say what shouldn't be said.

"What if you get caught stealing?" Xia Sheng asked.

Zhao Chengan hadn't thought about this problem, thought about it carefully: "If I was grown up and beaten to death, it wouldn't be a loss, but if I was beaten to death like this, it would be a bit of a pity. Right, Xia Sheng, what you said makes sense. If I want to steal, I can only steal from those human traffickers outside the city. I can't easily steal from wealthy families."

"Xia Sheng, you are really kind, considering me so much."

Xia Sheng didn't understand, but he was used to it, ignored Zhao Chengan, and continued to do his own things.

Zhao Chengan slacked off until the sun went down. During this period, the old lady's maid came to pass a message, informing Zhao Chengan of the dim sum the old lady wanted to eat tomorrow, and asked Zhao Chengan to prepare the ingredients in advance.

Zhao Chengan almost timed it, eating bean rice before the sun went down completely, and then ran wildly towards outside the city in high spirits.

Stole for a whole night.

Yes, Qin Huai just watched Zhao Chengan steal for a whole night.

If Qin Huai had to evaluate Zhao Chengan's stealing skills, Qin Huai could only say that under the cover of night, Zhao Chengan should be hard to find an opponent in this field. His stealing skills were much higher than his level of making dim sum.

Thanks to Chen Qiusheng and Xia Sheng managing Zhao Chengan over the years, otherwise, after the crazy lady, Beiping City would have another legend of a master thief in Beiping City.

After a night of hard work and struggle, Zhao Chengan could be said to have a full harvest. Maybe because he stole more and his vision widened, he didn't steal everything like before. Now Zhao Chengan stole things more to hone his skills and not let his craft rust, and he was relatively harsh in product selection.

Meat was definitely needed, whether it was offal or pig head meat, Zhao Chengan didn't refuse anyone. Rice bran was occasionally taken, sweet potatoes were picked large depending on the situation, wild vegetables were taken a few handfuls if fresh, and miscellaneous grains like black beans, soybeans, millet, and pearl barley were taken according to his ability.

And now Zhao Chengan wouldn't catch a human trafficker and fleece him to death like before. When stealing things, he would always leave some room, so as not to scare people away and have nothing to practice next year.

Finally, Zhao Chengan successfully dragged a sack and returned fully loaded before midnight.

No one in the Chen family slept, all lighting lamps and sitting in the main room waiting for Zhao Chengan to return.

The old servant of the Chen family was no longer there, probably passed away due to old age. Chen Ping'an had also grown from a child to a youth, not tall, only 1.6 meters, his skin was very white, even a bit pale, with a sickly face, and one could tell at a glance that his body was not very good.

"Ping'an, why haven't you slept yet? Don't you still have to go to school tomorrow?" Zhao Chengan dragged his full spoils back and excitedly dumped the things in the sack on the ground, "I stole a good thing today, a bag of pig head meat!"

"You take it to school to eat tomorrow." ===== CHAPTER 455 =====