Chapter 49: The lives of family members are the most important

"I see. I have nothing to do anyway; I usually spend my days at home copying books, and the child is young and cannot be away from me. If you don't mind, Lady Qiao, I will accept this task."

"Good, then it's a deal. From now on, you are the teacher for my two sons."

"There is no need for a formal apprenticeship; let's just teach like this for now."

"Good, shall we start after the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"Let's teach in the morning. The best time of the year is the morning. After breakfast, I will bring my son over. One hour every morning is enough; any more and the children will grow tired of learning. In the afternoon, let them take a nap, play for a while, and do some chores. They are at the age where they are growing."

"No problem, it's settled then. Is there anything you need to buy? Just let me know."

"Do you have any primers?"

"I do."

"Just prepare the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone."

"Understood."

The matter was quickly settled. Both felt that discussing things with the other was quite straightforward, and their impression of each other improved a little more.

When Yuan Jiaqi returned home, Chuan'er was in the room eating a mooncake.

"Father, did Aunt Qiao have something to discuss with you?"

He flicked the child's little nose. "Yes, something good, something very good."

"What is it?"

"Your Aunt Qiao invited us to eat at her house tomorrow, and she also asked me to teach her sons to read in the future."

"That's great! I can eat those delicious fruits again."

"Your Aunt Qiao's cooking is also very good."

"Mm-hmm, the dumplings are delicious, and this cake is also delicious. Maybe the dishes Auntie makes are delicious too."

"You little glutton."

"Hee hee."

Chuan'er broke off a piece of mooncake with his hand and placed it in his father's hand. "Father, you eat too. Don't just look after me; you should eat more too. You've lost weight lately."

"Father doesn't like sweet things."

"This isn't sweet. Won't you try it?"

Unable to resist his son's pestering, he took a bite and tasted it.

The fragrance and sweetness of the mooncake, along with the soft and glutinous filling, immediately conquered him. Yuan Jiaqi was stunned; he hadn't expected this cake to be so delicious.

The fragrance that wafted out yesterday must have been from making this. It really was hard to tell; she, who was usually so busy with business, actually had such a skill.

With such a skill, why set up a stall to sell those other things? She should just open a shop to sell this; it would definitely sell very well.

If those pastry shops found out about her skill, they would definitely come to buy her recipe. If they couldn't buy it, they would try every means to force her to submit. Should he warn her?

Yuan Jiaqi's brows furrowed tightly. He hadn't even realized that this was the first time he had worried about things for a woman.

After thinking it over, he still felt it was better to warn her.

So, holding Chuan'er, he went back over there.

Qiao Mai was surprised to see him, thinking he had changed his mind. She blinked her eyes and looked at him with a face full of confusion.

"Lady Qiao, there is something I would like to tell you."

"Please go ahead, Brother Tian."

"The mooncakes you made are too delicious. This skill has never appeared in our Great Ming Dynasty before. If it is known by someone with ulterior motives, I fear it will be detrimental to you."

"So that's what it is."

"I had already thought about it. If someone wants to buy the recipe, I'll sell it. As long as the price is right, I don't have high demands."

"You aren't opening a shop?"

"No. Opening a shop is too troublesome, having to hire people and all. How can it be as relaxed as a small stall? If the weather is good, I set up the stall; if not, I rest at home for a day and do some embroidery. No one is jealous either. Isn't that better?"

"I didn't expect Lady Qiao to have thought it through so thoroughly."

"It's alright."

"It was Yuan who overthought it."

"You thought very correctly, but I see this very openly. I won't cling to a recipe and let the lives of my family be threatened. In my eyes, the lives of my family are the most important."

These words deeply moved Yuan Jiaqi.

That's right, many families have lost their lives just to guard a single recipe.

A recipe—how can it be worth more than a life? Once they say it's passed down from their ancestors, they won't say it even if they die. If you lose your life, what is there left to pass down?

What he didn't know was that regarding recipes, Qiao Mai had the internet and could obtain all kinds of recipes. In her era, once a new thing appeared, food critics would immediately analyze it. What recipe? It would have been published on the internet long ago.

It was just that the pace of life there was fast, and many people were lazy and didn't want to try making it themselves.

That was why such delicacies appeared on the market. As long as you put your heart into it, you could make anything.

Qiao Mai once thought she might not have a talent for cooking. Now that she thought about it, it wasn't that she lacked talent, but that all her time was spent on missions and learning, and she didn't have that much energy to cook.

Isn't it quite good now? Wherever you put your energy, as long as you aren't a fool, you can do it very well. It just depends on whether you put your heart into doing it.

Sometimes she would even praise herself; she was a top student after all, and she could learn to do anything well.

Not to mention how busy Qiao Mai was at home, let's talk about Yuan Jiaqi returning to the room and looking at his son who was eating on the kang.

"Shall we go back to your grandparents' house?"

"Father, can we not go back?"

"We cannot. They are, after all, Father's parents and your grandparents. The word 'filial piety' can crush a person. Even if it's just for show, we have to go back."

"Alright then. But Father, I won't bring anything. Can you help me put all these delicious things in the cabinet?"

"Alright, we'll eat them when we get back." 【60】 The father and son locked the door, bought a roasted chicken and two bags of pastries in town, and took an ox cart on the official road.

The father and son locked the door, bought a roast chicken and two packs of dim sum in town, and then hired an ox cart on the main road to leave.

Yuan Jiaqi was from Xinghua Village, fifteen miles south of the town. There were five brothers in the family, no sisters, and he was the youngest.

His older brothers were all married, and the whole family had always lived squeezed together. He was the best-looking and smartest one in the family.

Unfortunately, they were too poor to afford to send him to school. But he loved learning very much, always sneaking to the school to eavesdrop, and whenever he saw words, he would stop to recognize them.

When the teacher at the school heard about it, he didn't charge him tuition and just let him sit on the side and listen, learning as much as he could.

Just like that, he studied for five years. The family needed him to earn money to support them and wouldn't give him time to go to school, forcing him to go up the mountain to cut firewood, forcing him to go down to the fields to farm, and then forcing him to marry a wife.

Although he didn't like this wife, she had already married him and was wholeheartedly good to him, so he accepted her.

Until his wife had a difficult labor, the family wouldn't even pay for a midwife, saying that giving birth to a child didn't require a midwife and that the village wives all gave birth at home. Chuan'er's mother fought for her life, used all her strength, and gave birth to Chuan'er.

But she suffered a hemorrhage, and in no time, her life was gone.

Chuan'er didn't even have the chance to open his eyes and look at his mother. From then on, Yuan Jiaqi took Chuan'er and left the Yuan family.

They only returned during the New Year and festivals, but every time it would end unhappily, and they would be driven out without even a meal.

This time was the same. Yuan Jiaqi was holding Chuan'er, and as soon as they entered the Yuan family courtyard gate, they were met with the insults of Yuan's father and mother.

It was as if they were waiting for Yuan Jiaqi to enter the gate, waiting to insult him. In fact, they were waiting for him.

"You still know how to come back? For so many years, you've been like this every time, bringing some junk to try and dismiss us?"

Yuan Jiaqi had long been numb to this. "Father, Mother, don't you have any idea why your son left in the first place? If she had had a smooth delivery, that would have been that.

She was in labor for three days and three nights, and you just watched, indifferent no matter how much your son begged.

That was a human life, a human life! You look at Chuan'er; are you worthy of his mother?

Are you worthy of this child? She married into our Yuan family, not sold to the Yuan family. You asked your son to marry, and your son married. You coveted her dowry,

tricked her dowry into your hands, and you couldn't even treat her well? The child's mother didn't have a single good day in our house. She was deliberately worn to death by you. You are bullying people, do you know that? If Chuan'er's mother had brothers and sisters, would you dare?"

"Bah! Which daughter-in-law didn't come through like that? She didn't have the life and left early. If you want to blame someone, blame herself. Let's not talk about the past; let's talk about you now. Although you haven't eaten the family's food,

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====