Chapter 220: Wonderful Cook Chapter 222: Tidying Up

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

The little one who came was naturally Xiao Lian.

As soon as she got home, someone came out to welcome her, and Song Miao couldn't help but touch her little head.

Her hair was sparse, but soft, and felt good to the touch.

She smiled and pointed behind her, saying softly, "Look who's here."

Just as she was speaking, Liang Yan also jumped down from the carriage.

Xiao Lian looked up, was first stunned, then delighted, and called out, "Brother Liang Yan! Brother Liang Zi!"

Liang Yan was turning to take luggage from the carriage body, and hearing Xiao Lian call his name, he hurriedly said "Ai," then turned back and gave her a shy smile.

Seeing the cart driver, the dart escort, and Liang Yan all unloading luggage from the carriage, Xiao Lian suddenly felt a sense of crisis, let go at once, stood on tiptoe to take the bundle from Song Miao's hand, and said anxiously, "Let me take it, let me help Sister take it!"

Song Miao's bundle was quite heavy, and she didn't dare let go; she stepped aside and pointed to the carriage body behind, saying, "Go take that for Sister; inside are two small wooden boxes. Help Sister carry them into the room gently."

Xiao Lian, as if she had received the most important task in the world, crisply agreed, and indeed ran over, asking Liang Yan along the way, "Where are my sister's small wooden boxes?"

Liang Yan hurriedly pointed them out to her. Seeing Xiao Lian step on a stool to climb onto the carriage body, thumping along to look for the wooden boxes, but since the boxes were placed at the back and blocked by all the luggage, he felt uneasy, hugged the bundle, and followed her onto the mule cart.

The two little ones buried themselves in the pile of luggage, searching here and there.

Song Miao saw a dart escort guarding inside, and since the two children weren't mischievous, she had just turned with her luggage when she saw another person hurry out from inside, face full of joy, calling out, "Young Lady, you're finally back!"

She also reached out to take the luggage from her arms, saying, "Tired, right? Rest quickly, let me take the bundle!"

It was Cheng Erniang.

Not having seen her for a while, Song Miao smiled and called out "Er Niangzi," then said, "Thank you and Xiao Lian for watching the house these past days—I can carry it myself. You just show them the way so they can bring things in and arrange them."

Cheng Erniang, unusually, didn't reply immediately, but only stepped aside somewhat awkwardly, saying, "Without Young Lady's nod, I first tidied up the house myself—you take a look, and if it's not suitable, we'll have someone deal with it..."

Song Miao was stunned, then smiled and said, "I entrusted my home to Er Niangzi's care, which means I trust you completely. Since you've already tidied up, it must be proper. Let me see the capabilities of our Fuzhou Young Lady!"

Saying this, she stepped into the door.

When she looked up and saw the scene inside, although prepared, she still couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

After two months away, the furnishings and layout of the house hadn't changed at all, but upon entering, there was a feeling of "brightness."

Looking closely, nothing else had changed, only the walls had changed—the inner walls had been repainted white from top to bottom.

Song Miao stood still and examined it for a good while.

Cheng Erniang was leading people inside; seeing Song Miao staring at the walls with a surprised expression, she couldn't help but rub her hands, her ears turning red, saying, "I did it myself, didn't spend any labor money, just bought lime and hemp paper! If anywhere isn't painted well, Young Lady, please don't dislike it; we'll have someone fix it!"

Although she said this, her words were full of eager expectation for praise, impossible to hide.

Before leaving the Capital, because Cheng Erniang refused to take the monthly allowance for nothing, Song Miao had told her about her plan to repair the house and asked her to inquire about prices in the Capital, from materials to labor, so she could compare when she returned.

At the time, one reason was to make the other feel at ease taking the money, and another was that once the comparison was made, when the real work began, she would have some idea in mind.

Who would have thought that the Fuzhou Young Lady was indeed capable, could manage the household and handle affairs, actually giving such a big surprise!

She couldn't help but step forward to look.

The hemp paper had been cut and beaten very fine, mixed with lime slurry, and brushed onto the walls, white and smooth to the touch with no unevenness; visible to the naked eye, the "wall painter" must have put in great effort.

At this moment everyone was packing luggage, coming and going, so it wasn't convenient to talk about it, but the next time Song Miao met Cheng Erniang face to face, she still couldn't help but gently pat the other's arm.

"Er Niangzi, where did you learn this skill? This wall is painted exactly to my liking! Isn't it too good!"

As she spoke, her eyes kept looking at the wall; obviously she truly liked it, truly to her heart's content.

Cheng Erniang had originally been a bit nervous, but seeing Song Miao's reaction, all nervousness turned to joy; praised until the corners of her mouth split into a smile, as she walked, she actually seemed to float.

She first pointed for people to go to the Back Courtyard, then couldn't help but turn back to pull Song Miao's sleeve, saying softly, "The sky is a bit dark today, can't see clearly; Young Lady, look carefully tomorrow, maybe there are places not painted well! Then I'll come and fix them!"

—Although not young, she still couldn't help but act coquettish.

When Song Miao set out on this trip, she had many things: pots, bowls, ladles, basins, household items, and quite a lot of dried goods and food, filling half a carriage body.

Now returning, exchanging the old for the new, although some things had been eaten and used, she had also added things given by the kitchen Young Lady and Auntie, local specialty foods, and several jars of various pickled foods that Gong Chu insisted on stuffing for her, plus several large jars of green plum wine Song Miao had made in advance.

Even with four adults and two children working together, it took a long time before all the luggage was moved into the house.

Song Miao originally wanted to keep the dart escort and cart driver for a meal, but they were hurrying back to the Jingcheng dart bureau to deliver the dart and collect payment, saying they had food there, so after drinking a teacup of tea, they said farewell and left.

By now the sky was late; Song Miao and Liang Yan had been traveling for days and were very tired. Although it was dinner time, perhaps from being jostled in the carriage body for too long, neither had much appetite.

Liang Yan even said to Song Miao, "Song Jiejie, I'm not hungry; drinking a couple of mouthfuls of water at night will do!"

Naturally, it was impossible to only drink water.

Cheng Erniang also knew her cooking was ordinary, and hurriedly said, "I'll go outside to buy some cooked food to bring back, to welcome Young Lady and Xiao Yan!"

She took a basket and went out the door.

Song Miao thought for a moment, called Xiao Lian over, and said, "Your Brother Liang Yan is staying at home tonight; he'll need to wash up first. Will you help Sister look after him?"

Although she didn't know what was going on, it was rare to have a playmate at home, and being arranged a task by Song Miao, Xiao Lian was delighted, hurriedly agreed, and rushed out with her usual comb, wooden basin, soapberry, and other things, saying, "Liang Zi Ge, I'll let you use my things!"

When Song Miao finished washing up and came out in changed clothes, she saw Liang Yan still washing his hair, while Xiao Lian had moved two small tables to the front hall—one to sit on, one holding a sea bowl half full—and was fanning that sea bowl with a palm-leaf fan.

Hearing the noise, she looked up, saw Song Miao, and immediately stood up, pointing to the empty reclining chair beside her, saying, "Sister, Sister, quick! Quick, sit here!"

Seeing the child so anxious, Song Miao curiously sat down and asked, "What's wrong?"

The reclining chair had been repaired when Han Li came before, and a bamboo footrest that could be pulled out had been added underneath.

Xiao Lian pulled out the footrest and propped it up, letting Song Miao rest her feet on it, then brought over that bowl of water and placed it by Song Miao's hand. She took the small table from before, put it beside the reclining chair, took off her shoes, stepped up, and said in a small voice, "Sister, let me pinch your shoulders for you!"

She also said softly, "In the past, when Mother came back tired from work, I always pinched her, and she said it was so comfortable!"

"I asked Uncle long ago; he said it takes many days to come from Hua Prefecture, and Mother also said, Sister, you've had a particularly hard journey, surely your waist is sore and your back aches—try it, try if my pinching is comfortable!"

As she spoke, she indeed began to pinch and press Song Miao's back, then started pounding her legs.

She was small in stature and slight in strength; her fists pounding on legs were tolerable, but her palms pinching a back were barely more than a tickle.

But Song Miao immediately understood why Cheng Erniang had once said "so comfortable."

With such a considerate person kneading your shoulders behind you, who could say it wasn't comfortable?

The sea bowl she held contained Perilla Drink, specially simmered by Cheng Erniang before going out; Xiao Lian had fanned it for half a day, and when Song Miao took a sip, the temperature was just right, so she turned her head to thank the child.

"No need to thank!" Xiao Lian's face was red, as if she had mustered ten thousand years of courage; after a long while, she leaned close to Song Miao's ear and whispered softly, "Sister, you've been gone so long, I missed you so much."

Hua Prefecture was, after all, a foreign land; no matter how good the Yi Guan Guan, it was merely an inn.

Song Miao returned to Suanzao Alley, tidied up, ate a little casually in the evening, returned to her room, and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

The house, rooms, and bed most familiar to this body—lying on the bed, she could roll left if she wanted to roll left, stretch her arms and kick her legs if she wanted to stretch her arms and kick her legs, even her sleeping posture followed whatever was most comfortable to her.

She slept very soundly, waking only sporadically twice in the middle, lifting her eyelids with difficulty twice; though daylight was already outside, her brain wouldn't work, she thought it wasn't dawn, closed her eyelids, and fell asleep again.

By the time she finally woke up completely, it was already mid-Snake Hour.

Lying in bed, she heard her stomach growling, so she simply climbed up.

As soon as she pushed the door open and went out, Cheng Erniang, who was drying clothes in the courtyard, saw her and smiled, saying: "I cooked porridge water for the Young Lady, and bought steamed buns, oil cakes, mutton buns, and eggs; Young Lady, hurry and eat breakfast!"

Seeing such a scene, for a moment Song Miao felt somewhat dazed.

She seemed to have returned to her childhood.

She didn't know if it was three years old or four years old, an age when she really couldn't remember much; one morning, she overslept, and when she woke up, her parents, who were always by her side, had vanished without a trace; the room was empty, with only two large green pears placed beside her.

She didn't want pears.

For some reason, her heart was full of grievance at that time; she suddenly wailed loudly, climbed up, put on her shoes, hugging the pears and wailing as she ran out the door.

At that time, Auntie Fang was drying clothes in the courtyard; seeing her cry, she hastily tossed the short shirt in her hand aside, came over, and held her to comfort her.

"I left sweet porridge for our Miao Miao, cooked with rock sugar, and made millet cakes and small date cakes, plus mutton buns and vegetarian vegetable buns with shiitake mushrooms—I'll go eat with you; after we finish eating, your father and mother will be back!"

She still remembered the taste of millet cakes and small date cakes.

She also remembered her biological father being chased and beaten by Auntie Fang, running in a sorry state for nearly half a mountain.

Cheng Erniang was naturally not Auntie Fang, and there were no longer parents by her side at this moment.

There was no rock sugar in the porridge, no millet cakes or small date cakes on the table; but after waking up, someone had specially kept her in mind and prepared plenty of breakfast; when she sat at the table, a little girl ran in and out busily serving her porridge, happily bringing bowls and chopsticks.

Song Miao ate a hearty meal.

After a while, Cheng Erniang came out to ask about arrangements, and she said: "Rest for two days first; I have other matters to attend to."

Saying this, she asked again: "Has Cheng Er been free recently?"

Cheng Erniang glanced at the water clock and hurriedly said: "It looks like class is about to end; if the Young Lady has business with him, I'll go call him out in a moment?"

Song Miao shook her head and said: "That's not necessary."

She recounted the matter Han Li had entrusted to her, and said: "I trouble Er Niangzi to make a trip to Taixue first, ask Cheng Er to help inquire of Chen Laoxiansheng, and see on which day he is free; I will go to his door to deliver the letter."

"After this matter is done, please also pass by to find Zhu Shenzi on the way; ask her to inquire when Zhu Family's Old Uncle and Old Lady are free, and ask how many people are in the household, and how many children there are..."

Cheng Erniang already knew the capabilities of that Chen Laoxiansheng last time, wishing her own brother could have more opportunities to make contact; now that she had received Song Miao's orders and knew she had to run two places in succession, though she didn't know exactly what the matter was, she couldn't sit still for a moment, stood up immediately, and said: "I'll go right now!"

She added: "But I don't know on which day we will set up the stall—the Young Lady is truly exhausted this time, and has been traveling on the road; it would be better to rest a few more days?"

She said this with her mouth, but in her heart she was already silently suffering.

With Song Xiaoniangzi away, the shop's big door had been knocked until it was full of holes these past days; as soon as the door was closed, someone would knock and ask when "Song Ji" would set up the stall again.

But opening the door had its own problems; a whole group of people would come up to the door, almost trampling the threshold to pieces.

Every time Cheng Erniang went out and was questioned by people, she felt nervous in her heart; especially going to Food Alley once, she was almost surrounded and couldn't squeeze out.

But such words, she didn't dare mention a single one at this moment, fearing that Song Miao would hear and become anxious to set up the stall, unable to rest properly.

"I'll rest for two days; it's not certain yet; if anyone asks, just say it will probably be five or eight days."

Cheng Erniang responded and hurriedly left.

Only then did Song Miao go to pack her things.

There had been a great deal of luggage yesterday; she had wanted to rest and ignored it; now she took out the useful items and sorted them into categories; just as she had sorted half, she saw someone rush in anxiously and hurriedly; it was Liang Yan.

"Young Lady, Xiao Lian has left; two people came outside the door; I don't know them—they asked when you would return."

Song Miao put down the things in her hand and followed Liang Yan out.

As soon as she passed through the Second Gate, she saw two people standing outside the door; the one in front wore a full set of silk clothes, a jade crown on his head, half his hands behind his back, his face fixed on the direction of the Second Gate, his expression simply aggrieved and pitiful.

Seeing her appear, his two eyes "whoosh whoosh" lit up, and he shouted loudly: "Song Xiaoniangzi!! When did you return?? You've finally returned!!!!"