Chapter 116: Summoning a Deity Is Easy, Sending One Off Is Hard

"I'll give you a chance; make the most of it. As for cousin, he'll come along later. In the next two days I'll look for him around our Town to see if we can find him work. If you dare have close dealings with Qiao Shicheng, don't blame me for being harsh to you."

"Ah, ah, it won't happen, it won't."

The family heard this, their eyes reddened, and they escorted her to the car. The car drove far away; only after wiping their tears did they turn and go back.

Once in the car, Qiao Mai's complexion wasn't much better.

She was willing to do all this for the Original Host, after all they were her kin; even if they had only given her a sliver of warmth, she wanted to repay that kindness.

When the car entered the Town, she told the old woman to go back first, and she went straight to Jingtai Restaurant.

Shopkeeper Tong was tallying accounts behind the counter; she walked straight to the front, knocked on the counter, and the shopkeeper looked up, saw her, and his face instantly filled with a smile.

"Qiao Niang, a rare guest!"

"Could you arrange an assistant for me in your shop?"

Soon, a plate of fish‑fragrant shredded pork, a plate of mapo tofu, a plate of braised chicken pieces, and a plate of fish fillet were all cooked.

"Alright, I haven't had lunch yet; is the fire in the back kitchen out?"

She set aside the work in her hands and went to the courtyard gate. Yesterday she had agreed with Shopkeeper Lu that Liu Ye would stay with her, being provided food and lodging while she learned alongside Xiuhong, without receiving a wage.

"Go have fun; mother is tired, take a rest. Tonight I won't dine with you."

"How much is it worth? Give me a number."

"Alright, alright, now no one dares to bully us."

"It can be, but I have a condition."

"Speak?"

Shopkeeper Tong personally served her a bowl of rice, and she placed chopsticks on the back‑kitchen table.

Qiao Mai's eyes narrowed, "Alright, how much do you want to pay?"

"She is not even human,"

The day after tomorrow, the old woman reported that someone from the Liu Family had arrived.

The chef behind poked him and said, "Hand me the recipe; I'll try it right away, and tomorrow it can be added to the cookbook."

"Hmm, the dishes can be released by the end of the month, but there aren't many varieties; we hope to add a few more by the middle of the twelfth month."

"The child has caused you grievance."

"Anything else?"

After sending Yuan Jiaqi and the three children away, she lay on the warm kang and, closing her eyes, fell asleep after a while.

"Can you sell me a few recipes? I'll pay a high price."

"Goddess."

Liu Hai followed her to Jingtai Restaurant, set him down, said a few words to the shopkeeper, and left.

Shopkeeper Tong gave him a cold stare, "You're not even as good as Qiao Niang; look, in just over a year since arriving in Town she built such a huge mansion, befriended the mayor, is said to know important figures, and now even lives in her house."

"Alright, from now on mother won't give kisses; mother is busy, have you been practicing martial arts properly?"

"Indeed, it's been years since you last met, so naturally you don't understand."

He watched Qiao Niang eat so heartily, and also served a bowl of rice; bite of rice, bite of dish, and the two of them soon finished all four dishes.

"Delicious."

"It's fine; it's just a shortage of food and clothing, and we've already sent those away, haven't we?"

She deftly began handling the ingredients; her swordsmanship left Shopkeeper Tong speechless, truly impressive.

Shopkeeper Lu responded, and frankly, she was responsible for feeding and housing.

"Come whenever; I'm missing an assistant and haven't found one. Once you serve these four dishes, my shop's business will surely improve."

"That depends on what the dishes are."

"Girl, word's spreading around Town that this mansion is yours, not mine, and it's leaking—what should we do?"

"Yeah, we defeated them."

Liu Ye wore old clothes, though without patches, and was brought into the shop by Lu Sanniang.

"Cousin!"

"Who are you?"

"I sent my cousin to learn Embroidery Art from Sister Lu; it's a craft after all. Seeing her fate, I let my cousin become an assistant at Jingtai Restaurant, to help at least this far, and we'll judge their character as we go."

Both of them were provided food and lodging, saving the Liu Family at least two rations; one learns a craft, the other can bring home some household money each month, so this year shouldn't be too hard.

"It hasn't stopped a single day."

"You really are an old fox; go fetch paper and a brush."

That evening, Shopkeeper Lu came over.

She not only praised the children but also gave each of them a silver ingot.

"What you said makes sense."

"Is fifty taels per dish acceptable?"

Qiao Mai returned home, just taking off her outer coat, when Yuan Jiaqi and the others all came looking for her.

She didn't bring up Liu Ye's matter, but mentioned something else.

"Alright, alright."

"Is there any rice?"

Qiao Mai smiled, bent down, hugged him in her arms, kissed his little cheek, and Chuan'er's face flushed red.

"That's only for outsiders; with one's own family you can kiss, especially parents."

"Yeah, my family only has those few acres; the daily output can't be irregular."

She glanced over the ingredients and had a sense of the numbers in her mind.

"Hmm, after the New Year, you can pair up and spar; just punching isn't enough, you must learn to dodge, learn to strike the opponent's vital points, and once the year passes, Mother will teach you."

"Cross out the recipes sold to the Wang Family; this is a Small Town, there isn't that much big fish and meat, and stir‑fry is still the most suitable."

"How about it?"

"I sent you a diligent assistant, and also sold you four recipes; you're the most benefited one. Remember, if the seasonings listed in the recipes are missing, you can go to the apothecary to find them."

"In the backyard Playground, when they wanted to play, we yielded to them; when we went to play something else, they snatched it. We still yielded, but whatever we played, they snatched; they wouldn't even let us eat the food on the table, and a fight broke out."

"You did the right thing."

"No, there isn't."

She wrote down the four vegetable recipes, and Tong Shopkeeper gave her Two Hundred Taels of Silver.

"Alright, alright, I heard you grew Warm Shed Vegetable?"

"Or is it a fixed daily amount?"

"Then what is it?"

"No, in our house they are guests and we are hosts, we should yield, but if they don't consider themselves guests, we won't give them face."

"How's your aunt's family?"

Qiao Mai smiled, "Then it's settled; if anything comes up, tell my family's Niu Shopkeeper. If he can't handle it, tell me again."

"You really know how to make money—come to my place for a free meal, and you still earned a sum of silver."

"That's because you haven't ever played together with others."

"No one else's do either."

The ingredients were prepped, the fire door opened, oil heated in the pan; every step was that practiced, seeming like they don't cook at home much.

Qiao Mai took off her cloak, draped it over the chair back, then went straight to the back kitchen, with Tong Shopkeeper trailing right behind her.

"If it really doesn't work, just come over and stay, okay?"

Qiao Mai left, and Tong Shopkeeper sighed, looking at her back with self‑reproach.

"Haha, that description works; she truly is the woman from our Small Town's legend."

"Fine, I'll have the assistant go snatch early."

"Got it!"

"Come on, you try, I need to eat, I'm starving."

"Mother, we've played before, with Lu Aunt's children," Feng'er reminded.

Qiao Mai was startled, "How did you play?"

"Mother, Chuan'er is six after the New Year, and boys and girls don't interact closely."

"What about my cousin's matter?"

The Shopkeeper swallowed saliva, picked up chopsticks, and the seemingly ordinary home stir‑fry was astonishingly delicious at the first bite.

"Don't accept, you don't understand them; what would you accept? If it ends up like the Qiao Family, Tian Family, or your parents, you should know inviting a deity is easy, sending one away is hard."

Chuan'er looked at her, "Mother, you've been so busy lately, you've become thin from exhaustion."

"Let it leak if it will, I didn't plan to hide it long; just ignore those rumors."

"Was it me who let it slip?"

"You don't need to blame yourself; this thing can't stay hidden. If you don't admit it, I won't either; let them guess. Could it become proof that this Zhai is mine, and I have to produce a house deed or land deed?"

"Hehe, indeed, I'm just afraid those two families will trouble you."

(End of Chapter)