Chapter 65: I just won't tell you

She put the items that were hard to cook in first, then picked up some meat and placed it inside.

"The meat needs ten breaths once it's in to be ready to eat. The cabbage and radish can be eaten as soon as they soften, but the others need to boil for a while. Everyone, don't be shy; there's plenty of meat, so eat your fill. Don't try to save any for me, haha."

As she put the meat in, she taught the children. Shopkeeper Lu picked up a chopstick-full of meat, dipped it in the sauce in her bowl, and put it in her mouth.

"Mmm, this meat is exceptionally tender, and this sauce is truly fragrant. The flavor is even better than what they have at Jingtai Restaurant."

Yuan Jiaqi was sitting close to the children, placing vegetables and meat into their bowls. He tasted a piece himself, then looked deeply at Qiao Mai.

Mutton is easy to buy, but beef is not. Who would have thought that Lady Qiao could actually get her hands on some.

And the mutton and beef slices were cut so thin—this knife skill is truly extraordinary. (This was cut by a meat-slicing machine; what knife skill? Knife my foot.)

It seems she had been preparing for this hot pot meal for a long time.

But where did she get these things from? Yuan Jiaqi ate without changing his expression.

Heavens, once these ingredients were cooked and dipped in this sauce, it really couldn't be any better.

"I just figured it out a few days ago when I had some free time."

Qiao Mai spread out the bedding on the kang, moved Ling'er out of her swaddling clothes, took off her outer garment, and tucked her into the quilt.

Perhaps it was because the environment had changed; she only cried like this because she felt it was unfamiliar. She rarely cried before.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Ling'er. After Qiao Mai pulled back the cotton quilt, Ling'er opened her big eyes and looked at everyone.

Before they had finished eating, Qiao Mai heard a child crying in the bedroom. She hurried over to take a look and found Ling'er sitting on the kang, wailing.

"Understood, Mother. That's great, that's great! Our family has a little sister now."

"That works too. After we eat, I'll go ask the Town Chief to see if anyone in town has lost a child."

"Are you hungry?"

Saying this, she walked out. When she reached the door, her figure paused; it seemed she heard a sound at the courtyard gate, so she walked over.

"Naturally. Our family has many men and few girls; it's nothing more than an extra mouth to feed. I can still afford to raise her."

"Did you make all of this yourself?"

This was only because it was this group of people. If Town Chief Qian came to eat this hot pot, he would definitely be able to figure out a few recipes.

At this moment, her consciousness was already in the space, wrapping Ling'er up thickly, bundling her up tightly so that only her eyes were visible.

"She's actually quite good-looking."

"Yes, pig blood, chicken blood, and sheep blood are all fine."

Qiao Mai shook her head. "I heard a sound at the courtyard gate, so I hurried over to look. I almost stepped on her when I went out."

"Why not wait a few days? See if anyone is looking for the child?"

"That works too."

No rush. You can't become a big fatty in one bite; take it slow.

"Indeed, only duck blood can be made this fine and smooth." Shopkeeper Lu suddenly felt a wave of nausea.

"Boy or girl?" everyone asked in unison.

Because she was bundled so tightly, the change in temperature did not affect her sleep.

"Look, I found a child. Someone threw a child at my door."

"It's not a burden; it's just one more bowl of rice. I have an income of several hundred taels a month; I'm not short of her share."

"No, there seem to be a few footprints on the ground."

"Are you going to eat or not? If it's good, just eat more. Asking this and that—I made all of this, and I just won't tell you how. Eat quickly, or it'll be gone soon."

Suddenly, she turned and buried her head in Qiao Mai's neck, looking a bit scared and a bit shy.

Just the duck blood and the wide noodles were two excellent recipes.

Shopkeeper Lu felt worried for her seeing her raising a bunch of children. If she didn't know that Qiao Mai had money and the ability to earn it, she really wouldn't want Qiao Mai to raise this child.

"Mmm!"

"No rush for now. I won't set up my stall for the next few days to see if anyone is looking for the child. If no one comes, it won't be too late to adopt her then."

"Didn't see anyone else?"

"A girl."

Shopkeeper Lu let the others continue eating. She and Qiao Mai went to the bedroom and opened the swaddling clothes to take a look.

Shopkeeper Lu saw her eyes were red and sighed.

"Then what about this one?"

"What's wrong with it? No one wants her."

"That's great! Our family was just missing a girl. We've become big brothers."

"Have you really decided to adopt her?"

"Looking at this child, she's about eight or nine months old, right?"

The two quietly exited the room, locked the door from the outside, and returned to the living room.

"Duck blood."

Qiao Mai dressed her, helped her relieve herself, changed her diaper, covered her with a small cotton quilt, and carried her to the living room.

"Yes."

"Yes, eight or nine months ago, that was when I had just had a premature birth. This child and I might be fated; my child was also a girl, and she didn't even have time to see this world before..."

No one here uses sweet potatoes to make starch, and no one makes starch sheets or noodles. These are all business opportunities.

The eleven people stood up with a clatter, stopped eating, and hurried over to surround them.

"In a few days, if no one comes looking, I will adopt her. From now on, she will be your little sister. You must love her and not bully her, do you understand?"

"No wonder they didn't want her; it turns out it's a girl."

"Hehe."

"Then what is this?"

Shopkeeper Lu gritted her teeth and said hatefully, "They must have heard you were kind-hearted and threw the child to you to raise?"

"I don't know. Sigh, this quilt and these clothes don't seem like they belong to a family that's struggling. Why would they throw the child away?"

Just as they were eating enthusiastically, Qiao Mai suddenly stood up. "You all keep eating; I'm going to slice a few plates of mutton."

She quickly looked left and right to make sure no one was there. To make it look realistic, she dabbed the swaddling clothes in the snow, then turned and ran into the house with Ling'er, shouting to everyone.

Many of these were things these people had never seen before, but they were thick-skinned; as long as it tasted good, there was no need to ask so much about the origin of the ingredients.

"How heartless. Throwing her at your door—what do you plan to do?"

"Mmm, mmm."

"Heavens, in this snowy weather, who could be so heartless to throw a child at your door?"

"Let's go, eat first. After eating, we'll go to the medical hall and have the doctor check if she has any ailments. If not, I'll accompany you to find Town Chief Qian to get her a household registration under your name."

Qiao Mai sniffled and shed a tear.

"If I found her, I'll raise her. What else can I do? It just so happens my family has more boys than girls, and the ratio is off. Having an extra girl for the boys in the family to dote on—isn't that great?"

Eat as much as you put in. Shopkeeper Lu said contentedly:

"This is the best hot pot I've ever eaten in my life. By the way, what is this?"

"Is that okay?"

"Wide noodles, made from sweet potatoes."

"Yes, you are the head of the household; you decide. I see she's so small, and as a man, it seems a bit inconvenient for me to raise a girl?"

"Go, go, go to your bedroom and see if it's a boy or a girl?"

Upon hearing this, Ling'er opened her little mouth, wanting to eat. Qiao Mai handed her to Shopkeeper Lu.

"Duck's blood?"

At this moment, Ling'er was sleeping. After dressing her, she immediately moved her out of the space.

"You, your heart is truly too kind. You found her, you decide."

"Don't be sad. Perhaps she is that child of yours. Just raise her as if she were her."

Everyone stopped talking and just kept picking up things from the pot to eat, their mouths never stopping.

"How did you think of this?"

"Adding another person, your burden has become heavier again."

The three children in the family were very excited, and Yuan Jiaqi looked at Qiao Mai thoughtfully.

When Qiao Mai reached the kang, Ling'er stopped crying immediately when she saw it was her mother, and then reached out her hands to be held.

"Can this also be made into such delicious food?"

"I'm going to steam a bowl of egg custard for her. You help me hold her for a while."

After Ling'er was handed to Shopkeeper Lu, she curiously looked at this person and that person. Everyone smiled at her, expressing their kindness.

One touched her little hand, another touched her little hand. She was so shy that she leaned against Shopkeeper Lu's shoulder and kept blowing bubbles, which delighted Shopkeeper Lu so much that she kissed her little cheeks several times.

I just don't understand. Isn't it just a cover story? She won't not tell Ling'er in the future, and she doesn't want to hide it from her daughter; it's just to prevent the Tian family from coming to cause trouble for her and the child. It's just a formality, why are the readers so picky? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, this person doesn't like this, that person doesn't like that. How else is this story supposed to be written? Are they all supposed to write the female lead like a god? Everything is right, everything is considered thoroughly, everything is... It's just a farming story. The female lead is just a special agent raised as an orphan, plus a space to help her suffer less after transmigrating. We are just mud-legged folks, okay? Important things said three times: we are mud-legged folks, we are mud-legged folks, we are mud-legged folks.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 66 =====