Chapter 8: Then call her Aunt Qiao?

"She has a hand for embroidery. Our embroidery manor can't always do these ordinary jobs. That doesn't earn much money."

"Are you trying to befriend her?"

"Yes, just buying those things today cost nearly ten taels of silver. That's not counting the house I rented to her."

"Mother, be careful she's an ingrate."

"She won't be. Mother's judgment of people is very accurate. If she were a bad person, she wouldn't have used this method to let Mother help her."

"Are you still going later?"

"Not going, I'll go tomorrow. You two hurry up and clean up, let's close the shop and go home for dinner."

Lu Ruxin said, "Mother, why not let daughter go over tomorrow to cook for her? Daughter happens to like quiet, and can trace flowers and do some embroidery over there?"

"Fine, then you come over for lunch, and after closing the shop, I'll take your sister to pick you up?"

"Okay, Mother!"

Taohua Village, Old Tian family, at dinner, the two tables in the room were unusually quiet.

Actually, one person leaving didn't affect their family. Qiao Mai stayed in the woodshed for three days, and their family lived the same way, right? Didn't see anyone worked to death, just someone doing a bit more.

It was just that the anger received from Qiao Mai today was too great, and the fire in their hearts truly couldn't be vented.

Old Tian Head kept a long face, picked up the bowl, and drank a mouthful of porridge before others dared to pick up chopsticks to eat.

"Whose maiden home in the village is in Lihua Village?"

"Zhou Laoguai's eldest daughter-in-law," Tian Li Shi said.

"That long-tongued woman?"

"Hmm."

"You go tell her when you are free. When she returns to her maiden home, give a hint to the Qiao family. Although we don't associate, the Qiao family is poor. After knowing their daughter separated, they will definitely find a way to get something from her. Daring to separate from Sanzhuang, then let her maiden home sell her again. Even if they can't sell her, they have to add some trouble to her."

Tian Li Shi knew her husband couldn't swallow this anger and wanted to discipline Qiao Shi. Her mouth curled.

"Who knows if someone like that can survive outside."

"Go if I tell you to."

"Got it!"

Qiao Mai, don't look at her sleeping soundly in the space, but she always kept two parts of alertness. This was a habit from being an agent for many years. She woke up as soon as the child cried, fed the child, and then slept, not eating anything all night.

As soon as the sky brightened, she came out from the space, dressed in a thick padded jacket, thick cotton pants, and cotton shoes, then went to the kitchen with the egg bowl and sugar water bowl.

Seeing the neatly arranged basins and jars in the kitchen, she took a deep breath. She would definitely repay this kindness.

In movies and on TV, she had seen people in villages burning stoves, and she herself knew how to start a fire in the wild.

Lifting the pot lid, she saw the millet porridge inside. She added a handful of wheat stalks to the stove, lit them with a fire stone, and then added a handful of firewood.

Then she went to the stove outside the bedroom and used the same method to burn the kang.

Just returned to the kitchen, intending to eat, the courtyard gate rang. Qiao Mai leaned her head to look outside. It was a girl a bit older than Ruyi.

"Who are you?"

"I am Lu Shopkeeper's eldest daughter, Lu Ruxin. My mother is busy at the shop and sent me to take care of you."

"You see I can move, no need to take care of me. You go back."

"No, my mother said, I have to guard you for at least ten days, and also, you can't catch a cold."

"That's too embarrassing, I can do it myself."

"It's fine, I'm used to doing these chores at home."

As she spoke, Ruxin girl entered the kitchen. "You go back to the room, I'll heat the porridge and bring it over."

"I'll eat here, it's the same after eating and going back."

"That's fine, you sit, I'll do it."

Ruxin put down the ground table for her, and went to the courtyard to move a stool for her. She peeled the eggs, put them in the pot, and added a few small spoons of brown sugar.

Qiao Mai originally wanted to eat like this too. She sat there obediently. Ruxin waited for the pot to boil, estimating that the eggs were also heated through, then scooped a large bowl for her and placed it in front of the table.

"Eat while it's hot."

"Have you eaten this morning?"

"I ate before coming. I'll eat with my mother and sister at the shop at noon."

Qiao Mai held the spoon and blew air into her mouth. Ruxin sized her up.

"You are truly thin."

"In my husband's family, two meals a day, each meal was rice soup, how could I not be thin?"

Ruxin looked at her chest, flat, not even a protrusion, then lowered her head to look at her own, suddenly her face turned red.

Qiao Mai saw her expression and laughed inwardly.

"How old are you?"

"I'll be fourteen soon, reaching womanhood in September. My sister is twelve. There are only us two sisters and my mother at home."

"Then where is your father?"

"He passed away while trading. My mother brought us two sisters and didn't remarry. Fortunately, my maternal grandparents treat my mother very well and support my mother, so no one in town dares to bully us."

"Hmm, you have a good maternal family."

"My grandmother is also good, just a bit far, more than two hundred li away. My mother wanted to be closer to her maternal family, and it happened that there was no embroidery manor in this town, so she opened one here."

The little girl loved to talk, her eyes clear and bright, her appearance beautiful, her fingers long and slender, looking like a clever and skillful person without any schemes.

After breakfast, she returned to the room and lay down. The kang was warm, Ruxin moved the kang table onto the kang, and put what she brought with her on the table.

"I don't know what to call you. You don't look old, but you call my mother sister."

Qiao Mai saw her tangled look and burst into laughter.

"Calling by name is also fine."

"Can't, my mother calls you sister."

"Then call her Aunt Qiao?"

"Afraid of calling you old."

"I don't mind, just call it that?"

"Then fine, Aunt Qiao. I am here to take care of you, not to monitor you. I will trace pictures on the table and won't disturb your sleep. You rest well."

"Slept for a whole night, where is there so much sleep? You trace, I can sleep if I can, if I can't sleep, I'll lie down for a while."

"Okay."

Watching her trace seriously with her head down, Qiao Mai stretched out her hands to look. Sure enough, they were much cleaner. Those who didn't know would think she had taken a bath.

It was a pity that her hands, feet, face, and neck were often exposed, the dirt was too thick, so it couldn't be cleaned for a while, but this was already not bad.

She was afraid of staining the quilt, and for a moment, her mild germaphobia flared up again.

She hurriedly checked the inside of the quilt, didn't see any dirt, and only then did she feel relieved.

Saying she slept for a night, she felt she had slept enough, but as soon as she entered the warm quilt, her sleepiness came up before long.

It was truly that her body was too weak, and she soon fell asleep again.

At noon, Ruxin made a bowl of dough drop soup for her, with several eggs inside.

Carrying it to the table, she whispered: "Aunt Qiao, wake up, time to eat."

Qiao Mai opened her eyes, feeling quite embarrassed. "You've worked hard!"

"Eat while it's hot. Although it's spring, the weather is still cold. Changed the flavor for you at noon. I'll simmer a pot of porridge before I leave at night, and boil eggs for you to put there. You just need to heat it and you can eat. After you eat, leave the bowl, I'll wash it when I come back."

Ruxin picked up the traced pattern, rolled it up, waved at her, and left.

Qiao Mai sat up, guarding the kang table, and quickly ate the bowl of hot dough drop soup, then flashed into the space.

The child needed to be fed, it had been humming for a long time.

After taking care of the child, she got up and searched in front of the shelves outside.

Her body was too weak, just being full wasn't enough. She remembered collecting several ginseng roots. Those ginseng roots weren't bought, but stolen while on missions.

She found them on the last shelf, six ginseng boxes neatly arranged. She pulled out the top one and looked at it.

She wasn't an expert on this, only knowing they weren't small. She heard that ginseng with years of age, just a few whiskers were very useful, so she pulled a few with her hand and stuffed them into her sleeve.

She went back to check on the child, saw she was asleep again, and flashed out of the space.

Coming to the kitchen, Ruxin had already washed the pot clean.

So she boiled half a pot of water, put brown sugar inside, simmered the ginseng whiskers for a while, and after drinking a bowl of red ginseng water, she broke into a sweat.

She knew this was the ginseng taking effect.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 9 =====