Chapter 60: Hateful human traffickers

The three of them left, and Qiao Mai continued to clean the persimmons, preparing for tomorrow's stall.

They first went to send persimmons to Chen Shi. She was the closest. The children opened the door, and Chen Shi saw the green persimmons, her face not very happy.

"Auntie, this is the persimmon Mother soaked, peel the skin and you can eat it, crispy and sweet."

"Really, your mother is really capable."

"Of course. You get busy, I'm going to send a basket to Shopkeeper Lu."

Chen Shi saw Shopkeeper Lu's basket was so big, and hers was so small, her heart felt uncomfortable. Seeing Yuan Jiaqi following a few meters away.

Immediately piled up a smile. "Brother Yuan, out with the children?"

"Mm, not at ease with them. Sister Chen, you get busy, we're going to the shop."

"Good, good."

After they left, Chen Shi looked at Yuan Jiaqi's back, her face revealing a wronged look.

Shopkeeper Lu was very enthusiastic when she saw the persimmons. "Ya, you sent persimmons to me?"

"Yes, Auntie, hurry and taste it. Take a knife and peel the skin and you can eat it."

Shopkeeper Lu was very enthusiastic, let the three little ones sit in the shop, and on the spot let Xiuhong and Xiuyu peel the persimmons.

"Quick, everyone taste it together."

"We've eaten it, felt it was delicious, so Mother let us send it over."

Shopkeeper Lu took a bite. "Mm, delicious, I like both the texture and the taste. Your mother is really fierce. In previous years, when the persimmon season came, you had to wait until it was soft to eat. I don't like eating that kind, feeling like it's eaten by old ladies without teeth."

"Haha."

Everyone laughed, and Yuan Jiaqi laughed outside the shop.

The children stood up. "Aunt Lu, we have to go home. If we are out for a long time, Mother will worry."

"Go, go!"

The children came out of the room, jumping and hopping toward home, Yuan Jiaqi always following behind them.

At this time, a man rushed past behind him, and was about to take action against the three children. He was quick-eyed and fast-handed, bent down and picked up a stone and threw it.

It hit that person, and the person screamed, looked back, and immediately roared angrily.

"Why did you hit me?"

"It wasn't me who hit you."

"Then why is my waist so painful?"

"Don't know, maybe you ran too fast just now and flashed it."

As they were talking, the children stopped and hurriedly ran to Yuan Jiaqi's side. The man discovered that these three children were followed by someone, and immediately knew what had just happened.

It turned out to be exposed. This man knew what he was doing, so he used a stone to hit him.

Seeing he was taller and stronger than himself, this man gave a cold hum, covered his waist and left.

Yuan Jiaqi hurriedly told the three children. "In the future, don't follow adults, don't go out. The one just now was a human trafficker."

"Is it a flower-snatcher?"

"Yes. Going out alone is easy to be snatched away. In the future, you won't be able to see your father and mother again. It's too scary."

The three children were scared for a while and hurriedly expressed their stance. "Father, we won't go out in the future. We can't lose Father and Mother, it's too scary."

"Let's go, let's hurry back."

After returning home, the three told Qiao Mai about this, and Qiao Mai was angry.

"Brother Yuan, hurry to the Town Chief's house, tell the Town Chief about that person's appearance, and let their guards pay attention when patrolling."

"Mm, I'll go right away."

"Mm, whether you are at home or going out, you must pay attention."

"Don't worry, they will try not to go out in the future. Let me handle things when going out." 【60-4

If someone were targeting her, Qiao Mai ground her teeth, indicating that this body had recovered quite well.

She had regained sixty percent of her skills from her previous life; if anyone dared to touch her, they should see if their head could still stay on their shoulders.

She clenched her fists, "Sons, you must exercise well in the future and follow your mother to practice boxing. When you grow a bit older, ordinary people won't be able to touch you at all."

"Yes, Mother, we will definitely follow Mother and practice martial arts well."

Although she was a top student, her martial arts skills were also first-class; she could be considered a multi-functional talent with comprehensive development in both literature and martial arts.

Now Yuan Jiaqi taught literature and she taught martial arts, hoping the children would grow up strong and healthy.

If that really didn't work, she would install mini trackers on the children so that no matter where they were in the future, she could find them immediately.

Of course, this was a last resort, to be used only if absolutely necessary.

Before long, Yuan Jiaqi returned, "The Town Chief has sent guards to search the town for this person."

"Hmm, whether you are at home or going out, you must be careful."

"Don't worry, they will try their best not to go out in the future; leave the errands to me."

"That's the only way. Hateful human traffickers—if I catch one, I'll tear their skin off."

The news of human traffickers appearing in town spread instantly, and children in every household were locked indoors.

Fortunately, they all had courtyards, unlike the high-rise buildings of the modern era that made people feel stifled.

Qiao Mai opened her stall, and with her silver-tongued salesmanship, several vats of persimmons were quickly sold out.

According to her observations and what she had seen and heard, this dynasty focused mainly on grain and crops. There were some vegetable farmers, but vegetables were scarce in winter, and most people planted grain.

The south was a bit better, having vegetables in winter, but they would rot by the time they were transported here.

There were fruit farmers, but they were all on the estates of wealthy families; very few people planted fruit trees on a large scale.

Because it consumed a lot of manpower, material resources, and wealth, and was difficult to manage, even if someone put effort into planting them, it was to sell to the rich. These fruits rarely appeared in small places.

Ever since they started living together as partners, no one had come to disturb their lives.

Every day passed peacefully and warmly. At the end of the ninth lunar month, after a rain, the weather turned cold.

Wearing thin clothes was no longer enough. Yuan Jiaqi bought two sets of autumn clothes for every family member from the ready-to-wear shop, and Ruxin and Ruyi also prepared autumn clothes for Qiao Mai.

This was a filial gesture from apprentices to their master; it should be two sets per person for all four seasons, totaling sixteen sets of clothes.

Qiao Mai didn't want them to make them, as she couldn't wear so many clothes, but the two wouldn't listen, saying she didn't have many clothes and that they had to be filial to her for two years no matter what.

Shopkeeper Lu told her not to interfere and to let the children be.

During the rainy days, she stayed at home and improved the children's diet, also calling over Shopkeeper Lu and Chen Shi from next door.

In this season, the fish and shrimp in the river were at their fattest. She took out the pickled fish and three-delicacy spicy blood curd from the freezer, and also took out some popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, meat-on-bone skewers, and crispy chicken nuggets.

The first two dishes were heated up, and the rest were deep-fried. Although there weren't many dishes, the portions were huge.

The spicy ones were the most popular, and the children loved the fried ones best, though the adults enjoyed them too.

Drinking a little wine, she felt that life had more to look forward to the more she thought about it.

Especially Yuan Jiaqi; since coming to the Qiao family, he seemed to have gradually forgotten that he and Qiao Shi were just living together as partners.

He was earnest and sincere toward the household, the outside world, her, and the three children.

When he went out, he always called her "my wife" this and "my wife" that; in any case, Qiao Mai hadn't called him "husband" even once yet.

Some people had entered the play, while others were still outside of it.

Watching this family love each other so much, Chen Shi was incredibly jealous. She was angry at Qiao Mai and angry at herself at the same time, feeling very conflicted. She hid it well, and Qiao Mai had never noticed.

On the first day of the tenth lunar month, the weather was clear. Just as Qiao Mai opened her stall, the Town Chief strolled over with his hands behind his back, smiling like a Grey Wolf.

"Lady Qiao, opening the stall?"

"Yes, do you have business, sir?"

"Do you still remember what you promised?"

"The recipe?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't have any fresh food lately."

"How about that crispy persimmon?"

"That? It's too simple. It's free; I'll tell you right now."

The Town Chief looked left and right, "Keep your voice down."

"Just soak them in warm water for five or six days, seal them in a vat, and make sure no air gets in."

"It's that simple?"

"Yes, you must use hard persimmons, soft ones won't work. The best ones are those with a bit of green on top."

"Understood, it's too simple. This can't count, right?"

"It's a free gift for you!"

(End of chapter)