Chapter 64

The old man entered the courtyard, and Yuan Jiaqi led him into the living room and poured him a cup of hot water himself.

"Is your home far from here?"

"Yes, about ten miles away."

The old man wore patched clothes; one look and you could tell his family situation wasn't very good.

Qiao Mai had already arrived at the living room. Seeing her, the old man was about to stand up, and she hurriedly said.

"Sit, sit."

The old man didn't drink the water and hurriedly took the basket to his front, lifting the lid. Inside, on a pile of thick straw, two shivering little puppies were sleeping.

"They are just a month old today, take a look."

Qiao Mai picked up one of them with both hands. The dog smelled a strange scent, immediately opened its eyes alertly, saw a stranger, bared its teeth at her, and then started barking wildly.

"If there's nothing else, this old man will leave."

"To tell you the truth, these puppies have wolf bloodlines, and the breed is good. If you have more like this in the future, don't sell them cheaply. I'll give you five taels of silver for one, ten taels for two. What do you think, old man?"

"Good, good, then ten taels. Everyone says Lady Qiao is a good person; it seems it's true. Thank you. My family has no rice to cook, and I originally hoped this litter of puppies could sell for some money."

Bolting the door and returning to the living room, the three little ones were surrounding the two puppies.

The snow outside fell non-stop for three days and three nights. Yuan Jiaqi was afraid the house wouldn't hold up, so he tied a bamboo pole to a broom and climbed a ladder every day to sweep the snow off the roof.

"Mother, they are so small."

Several sets of small clothes were made but never used. It was warm in the space, a constant twenty-five degrees, so the children always wore thin clothes.

After saying that, she ran to the kitchen to get busy. Frozen tofu, wide vermicelli, duck blood, enoki mushrooms, tripe, lamb slices, and other hot pot ingredients were all stored in her space. She didn't have to worry at all; they were all fresh.

Every room was warm, the children were dressed warmly, and the Yuan father and son were living more comfortably than before.

Mother taught them martial arts, Father taught them to read and write, they ate well and dressed warmly, and did what they could every day. Mother and Father never scolded them, always encouraging and praising them, satisfying their self-confidence. There was no better life than this.

"Yes, Mother."

"Don't worry, this is a good family; they will definitely enjoy themselves here, better than following us."

"They are still young, so don't feed them bones, especially chicken bones. If they eat them, they will get stuck in their throats and die. Even when they grow up, chicken bones shouldn't be fed. Do you know?"

Yuan Jiaqi sent the old man out and saw a dog at the door, which should be the puppies' mother. The old man patted the dog's head.

He took it with both hands, wiped his tears with his sleeve, and then carefully put it into his money bag and then into his bosom.

Thinking of hot pot, she swallowed her saliva helplessly.

"Hmm, find a box and put dry grass inside. I'll find an old piece of clothing for them and spread it underneath."

"Understood."

When the guests arrived, the whole room was fragrant. Everyone took off their cotton capes, put them aside, and looked around the table.

This winter, the Qiao family lived very comfortably.

Foodies from Tianhe Town and Tiannan Town also occasionally came; they were truly determined to eat.

Then she arranged the dishes one by one on it, a full table, which stunned the children.

The Fengyun brothers felt a warmth they had never felt before. This father and mother, although not biological, were better than biological ones.

"Hmm, the snow is heavy outside, go home early."

Qiao Mai was also very happy. She thought there would be no business without opening the stall, but who would have thought her small stall was so famous that people ran to her house to buy things? It just so happened she could rest for a few days and open the stall again when the weather was better.

It was cold, so things were easy to store. She bought a lot at once and took them home to eat slowly.

Don't look at the snowy day; foodies still knocked on her door with umbrellas to buy things.

"Yes!"

After spreading it, she put the two puppies in. Watching the awakened puppies looking for milk, the three little ones immediately ran to the kitchen to boil rice soup for them, and Yunfeng also cut some meat cubes and threw them in.

She took out the copper pot, put it on a plate with water, and carried it to the table.

Thinking of her body, she was a bit worried about whether she could adapt to the temperature here after coming out of the space.

Every day their little bellies were round. Maybe because of the oil, they grew a circle in three days. The three children served them very well.

When she was tired of doing embroidery at home, she would make some snacks to relax, such as sugar-roasted chestnuts, salt and pepper peanuts, five-spice melon seeds, and sometimes fruit candy, hawthorn cake, and candied hawthorns.

"Something up?"

All things have spirits, and even tigers don't eat their cubs; even animals know this, but humans can do things worse than animals.

"Ah, they are raw. When everyone arrives later, Mother will tell you how to eat them. I guarantee you will love them."

Looking at their appearance, they should be a cross between a local native dog and a wolf.

It's best to have the hot pot on that day, as there are many people to witness it. Before the New Year, handle Ling'er's household registration. She doesn't need to go out all winter, and she will just accompany her at home to adapt to the environment and climate.

Qiao Mai smiled, took out a money bag from her bosom, counted ten taels of broken silver, and handed it to the old man.

Since crossing over here, she hadn't eaten much of what she liked in her previous life. Once the snow stopped, she had to have a meal no matter what.

Not only the snow on the roof but also the snow in the courtyard was cleaned very cleanly. The stable for the winter jujube was also clean, warm, and comfortable. Everything was packed tightly, which saved Qiao Mai a lot of effort.

Not to mention the twin brothers, even the Yuan father and son liked this atmosphere very much.

Just take them out and arrange them on the plate. In the living room, a large round table had already been cleared by the children.

She couldn't help but laugh, "So fierce, a good material for guarding the house."

"I'll keep both of these. How much does the old man intend to sell them for?"

When she made a lot, besides keeping some for her own children, she would also sell them to the outside. The children felt extremely happy.

Qiao Mai returned to the room and got on the kang, calculating that once the snow stopped, she would move Ling'er out of the space.

"Sit, sit, it's cold, I invite everyone to eat hot pot."

"Oh, the things are really complete, and there are some I haven't seen before."

Yuan Jiaqi sat to the side and watched with a smile. The children all liked small animals, especially dogs, and had long wanted to raise one.

"Woof, woof."

"Then I'll go to the kitchen to prepare, and we'll eat hot pot at noon."

Qiao Mai went to the kitchen to look at them and warned, "The porridge must be cooled before feeding. They are different from people and can't eat hot things."

"Hmm, then you guys tinker with it, Mother is going to work."

The old man's heart relaxed when he heard this, knowing the dogs could stay. Qiao Mai picked up the other one, and it reacted the same way as the first one.

"Brother Yuan, let everyone take a day off today?"

Fengyun found a wooden box, Yunfeng spread wheat straw, and Qiao Mai brought a piece of coarse cloth. The clothes were all new, and she couldn't bear to use them.

"Trouble Brother Yuan to take the children to invite people to our house for dinner."

The snow stopped, and it was already clean without anyone needing to reach out.

The two puppies were already used to this place. After waking up, the three children let them out to run around.

The old man wiped his tears and left with the black dog. The black dog looked back every three steps, and Yuan Jiaqi was very moved.

"Okay, I'll go right now."

She took out a piece of slightly spicy hot pot base from the space and put it into the copper pot, filled it with water, and lit charcoal under the copper pot. The children watched from the side, blinking their eyes.

As long as Mother goes to the kitchen, there must be something delicious.

So she put down her embroidery and ran out of the room, seeing Yuan Jiaqi teaching the children to read in the living room.

"Can sell for ten taels?"

"You look at it and give it. This is the first litter of my dog, and I haven't sold them before."

"Oh."

"Don't touch the copper pot, it's very hot."

"Mother, why is this vegetable raw? Can raw food be eaten?"

"Oh, I'm taking advantage of you."

Twelve people sat around together, and the fragrance had already made the children swallow their saliva non-stop.

Qiao Mai served the prepared sauce into the bowls in front of them.

"Let's start!"

(End of chapter)