Dongdong talked about his birthday.

This is exactly what the Jiang family is thinking about.

His birthday is September 15th, and he is officially five years old.

Zhou Zhaoqin, who is about the same age as him, is also five years old. The third prince is thinking about choosing a study partner for his son. He wants to win over some suitable ministers, but these children cannot be selected from families whose families have already been determined. Wouldn't that be duplication?

Naturally, he used this reason of companionship to select two families of people who were loyal to him.

Among the several princes, Jiang's father chose the third prince because the third prince took the initiative to show his goodwill to him and was the only one besides the deposed crown prince who had the eldest grandson. The children of the other princes were either too young or they didn't even have any children.

Jiang's father attaches great importance to his descendants. If something had not happened at home that forced him to seek help from the Xiao family, how could he agree to let his son marry into the family?

After his son's death, he was very regretful, so he wanted to put his grandson back in the family tree. The third prince also supported this very much, making Jiang's father feel that he had a soulmate.

Moreover, he has a daughter at home. Although she is only thirteen years old and a little young, she is very pretty. If she marries the third prince in the future, coupled with the benefits brought by Dongdong's return to the Jiang family, his daughter will at least be a concubine.

After that, if he worked hard, it would not be impossible for him to become the father-in-law of the emperor.

For this reason, he was determined to establish a good relationship between Dongdong and the second prince.

There are two enlightenment classes. Originally, the two children were not in the same class. Thanks to his relationship with the third prince, the two children were assigned to the same class. Unfortunately, such thoughts did not bring the two children together, and their relationship has always been unsatisfactory.

The main reason was that the Xiao family had always given the Third Prince the cold shoulder. The Third Prince would occasionally lose his temper at the Xiao family, and his son would see him and remember it. Naturally, his attitude towards Dong Dong couldn't improve. Dong Dong was not someone who would respond coldly to a cold reception, so the two sides had been so lukewarm until now, with the help of delicious food, the situation had only eased a little.

When Jiang's mother first agreed and let Dongdong come back to the Jiang family on his next day off, it was because she had calculated that Dongdong's birthday would be on the next day off.

The birthday was approaching, and the Jiang family began to prepare.

Although the Jiang family is weaker than the Xiao family, many people will come to celebrate Dongdong's birthday even for the sake of the Xiao family's face.

Therefore, when the time was almost up, the Jiang family started to send invitations to some target families.

But after the post was published, it received an unexpected reply, catching the Jiang family off guard. Jiang's mother was furious: "How is this possible? Dongdong clearly said that he would come back with me this time!"

Nanny Ji said in embarrassment, "The Third Prince's Consort said that it was the Second Prince's grandson who said that the young master invited the Second Prince to the Xiao family for his birthday. So she asked me to come back and ask the master which of the two families would celebrate the young master's birthday, so that he would not go to the wrong place."

Jiang's mother's face turned pale, and Jiang's father's face was also not good: "How do you do things?! You have lost face!"

Mother Jiang didn't dare to say anything, but she couldn't sit still either, so she went out and said, "Let's go to the Xiao family and ask them clearly!"

They had tolerated it when they had lured the child over before. It was clearly agreed that the child would come back after Mu Xiu, so how come he still stayed in the Xiao family?

She didn't think it was Dongdong who took the initiative to invite!

Listen to this word, it must have been said by an adult, Dongdong was just fooled.

I heard that Mrs. Jiang was coming.

Unfortunately, Yan Qiushu was invited to discuss the project plan with Xie Qingyun.

The other party expressed support for her idea. Although the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, and business are not looked down upon by the nobles nowadays, which family does not have some private property?

Although the Xiao family is a wealthy family, in fact, compared with the early years, after the death of General Xiao, the broken leg of the eldest young master Xiao, the death of the second young master in battle, etc., the only two people who are still receiving salaries from the court are Xiao Huaiwu and Xiao Huaiting. They still have the titles, but they don't have much money.

Fortunately, the Xiao family owns many shops, so they can still make ends meet. But if you say you don’t care about money, you are a fool.

Especially the business plan given by Yan Qiushu. Although it was not comprehensive, the way to make money was right in front of him. After reading it, Xie Qingyun estimated the feasible methods in his mind and personally investigated the consumption of ordinary people. He confirmed that the premise for feasibility was to raise a sufficient number of chickens in batches.

Chickens are easy to raise and can basically be released from the cage in a month. If you want to raise them professionally, the Xiao family also has a farm, so she invited Yan Qiushu to discuss the details of the cooperation.

Yes, cooperation.

Xie Qingyun felt that it was unfair to Yan Qiushu to invest solely for her technology. Without her technology, the plan could not be implemented at all.

Yan Qiushu naturally declined. She just wanted to repay her gratitude and do business. She had other ideas in her mind. After all, she was from the future.

The two sides were discussing heatedly when someone announced, "Mrs. Jiang from the Jiang family is here to visit."

Xie Qingyun:?

She subconsciously said, "It's not a festival, why is she here?"

The nanny shook her head, but added, "Mrs. Jiang doesn't look well."

Why is that?

Although Xie Qingyun was puzzled, she knew that this was the in-law of the fourth young lady of the Xiao family, so she couldn't treat him casually. She apologized to Yan Qiushu and said, "Let's discuss this tomorrow. I'll go and entertain the guests first."

"Okay, there's no rush." Yan Qiushu followed her out.

The two were discussing in the inner hall of the backyard. At this time, they went out, one to the front hall and the other to another courtyard in the backyard. However, they did not expect that Mrs. Jiang would rush in directly and meet Yan Qiushu.

Madam Jiang was stunned for a moment, then looked at Xie Qingyun, who seemed to have just left the house. She snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "Mrs. Xiao, what a breeze! I have to announce my presence here?"

Behind her followed a little maid who tried to stop her but failed.

Xie Qingyun frowned slightly, looking rather displeased. "Mrs. Jiang said she was coming to visit, but it's strange that I haven't received a visiting card yet. Could it be that one of the maids accidentally left it out?"

Mrs. Jiang's face turned pale, a little embarrassed, but she quickly scolded him, "This happened suddenly. I just want to ask you, Dongdong clearly promised me that Mu Xiu would come back home with me this time. It happened to be his birthday, and my Jiang family had already started sending out invitations, but I heard that your Xiao family was the place where he would celebrate his birthday, and even his classmates were invited. This is really fast, it makes my Jiang family so embarrassed!"

After retorting together, she sarcastically said: "Ever since Sister Shen stopped taking care of things, the Xiao family really has no rules!"

Xie Qingyun was confused. What birthday?

Even though Dongdong's birthday was approaching, his family hadn't suggested a birthday party, let alone inviting Dongdong's classmates.

But despite this, the Xiao family would not tolerate her slander. Xie Qingyun immediately said, "Madam Jiang, please make it clear that our Xiao family has no plans to hold any birthday party, let alone invite Dongdong's classmates. Moreover, Madam Jiang, even if my mother doesn't intervene, we will not tolerate your presumptuous behavior!"

She had a bright and dignified smile, but when her face was dark, her voice was particularly cold and harsh.

Mrs. Jiang was frightened, but she felt that she was quibbling, so she sneered and was about to retort again.

Yan Qiushu, who hadn't had time to leave yet, stood up with a headache and said, "Mrs. Jiang, I think this is a misunderstanding. Dongdong invited his classmates to the Xiao family to celebrate his birthday."

Dongdong asked her, but at that time she thought that this was something the Xiao family had tacitly agreed to, so she did not take the initiative to tell the Xiao family. After all, she was just a guest. Who knew that it was the child's own decision.

Maybe it was because every time she cooked something delicious and had free time, she would ask Dongdong to invite Wan'er, which made him form a habit and he would invite his friends as well.

Mrs. Jiang, who had never opened her eyes to look at her, finally looked over. Her eyes raised, but she didn't respond. Instead, she asked, "Who are you?"

Yan Qiushu: "..."

She finally knew who Nanny Ji learned this from.

Xie Qingyun stepped forward and said, "This is a guest from my Xiao family. Her surname is Yan, and she is also the adopted sister of my sixth son."

Madam Jiang's expression softened as she said, "You said Dongdong invited him himself? Impossible! He promised me that Mu Xiu would return to the Jiang family this time!"

Yan Qiushu said calmly, "May I ask Madam Jiang, how old is Dongdong?"

Mrs. Jiang choked, thinking the woman was being very rude, but because she asked so urgently, she subconsciously answered, "Five years old."

"How good do you think a five-year-old child's memory can be?" Yan Qiushu said with a smile: "Didn't you also take Dongdong with you and forget to send him back to the Xiao family once in half a year?"

Madam Jiang: “…”

At this point, she knew what was going on. She was annoyed that Dongdong had broken his promise, but he was just a child, and whether he could remember it or not was another matter. It was not good to be too harsh on him, but the important thing was the invitation from the Jiang family.

Her expression changed and then softened, but she still glanced at Yan Qiushu, as if she had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

Yan Qiushu understood and said goodbye and left.

After walking a few steps, I heard someone saying something in a low voice over there.

Then Xie Qingyun said in a low voice with an ugly expression: "Dongdong is my Xiao family's child! You personally agreed to your son marrying into the family, and you took the benefits. Now you want to take the child back. How can it be so easy?"

The two sides exchanged a few more words, but it seemed they hadn't reached an agreement. Madam Jiang lost her composure and roared in anger, "How many people have been killed by the word 'Xiao' in your family? Are you going to kill my grandson too?"

"Show the guest out!" This sentence completely angered Xie Qingyun. She didn't say anything to her. She waved her hand and asked the nanny to carry the person out.

Mrs. Jiang had never expected to be treated like this. As she was being carried out, she was still shouting angrily, "Xie Qingyun, you are so bold! You are so bold..."

Yan Qiushu walked a little slowly and saw only the tail, but she roughly guessed what was going on and found it a little funny.

She was bored and chatting with Dongdong before, and she heard a little that the Jiang family didn't want him to come back. She didn't expect that Mrs. Jiang was using this as a reason. It was too much.

Even if the Xiao family had nothing to do with her, Yan Qiushu would find it unbearable.

Not to mention that the Xiao family treated her very well.

Yan Qiushu thought that she had to keep Dongdong in the Xiao family forever!

Both Nanny Huang and Shui Yu had mentioned to her casually that after Dongdong came back, he often visited Madam Xiao, which caused Madam Xiao to feel less sentimental about her relatives. They all thought that it was Yan Qiushu's cooking skills that attracted Dongdong to stay, and they expressed their gratitude to her in their words.

Having children makes the home less dull.

Moreover, although the Xiao family seems to be in danger, but... according to the plot, after Xiao Huaiting's death, the Xiao family has not yet been devoured alive, because the new emperor came to the throne and treated the Xiao family with special favor in order to win over the hearts of the people and military power. Dongdong is not in danger staying here.

So what she did was what everyone expected, and it wasn't her own decision!

Yan Qiushu thought about it, her steps becoming more brisk. She returned to her place and rushed to the kitchen without even taking a rest. "Shui Yu, help me light the oven."

"Okay." Shui Yan left.

Yan Qiushu continued, "Madam Xu, could you please hire two strong and patient men for me? I'll pay them ten cents each."

Ten cents, for an ordinary slave, this amount of money is quite a lot just for doing a small favor for the gang.

Aunt Xu nodded quickly and went out to find someone.

Yan Qiushu started beating the eggs.

She wanted to make a cake, and it just so happened that the Xiao family's farm sent her a lot of excellent peaches, which could be used to make peach jam.

After a while, everyone in the yard was running around under her command, and the two people brought by Aunt Xu were also beating egg whites frantically.

Because they were paid, they worked extra hard.

Yan Qiushu was making low-gluten flour. She put ordinary flour into the oven for a cup of tea, took it out, sifted it with gauze, and then added an appropriate amount of corn starch.

Then comes the most basic steps of baking, which are beating the egg whites, beating the egg yolks, and adding sugar in batches. After everything is done, add milk and an appropriate amount of low-gluten flour to the egg yolks, stir evenly, mix with the beaten egg whites, pour into the prepared mold, and put it into the oven that has been heated for a long time.

In the remaining time, Yan Qiushu started to fry peach jam. This step required adding a lot of sugar. As she was frying, she could smell an extremely pleasant and sweet aroma coming from the oven.

Shui Yu smelled such a fragrance for the first time, and was so dizzy that she exclaimed, "Girl, what's that smell? It smells so good!"

Yan Qiushu was also a little exhausted and looked at the oven eagerly: "It's the smell of cake..."