Xu Zhi felt great pity for the mother and child, but she didn't dare to hire people of unknown origin in her home. She nodded to the matchmaker, who then led the mother and child out.

Xu Zhi said to the steward, "I'll have to trouble you to find out about this lady's situation. If she's really as the matchmaker said, then we can use her. We can't use people of unknown origin in our household right now."

The manager agreed and returned shortly afterward, though he didn't look too good.

It turned out that after Li Niangzi's husband died of a sudden illness, her husband's family wanted to remarry her so that they could get more dowry money. Li Niangzi was unwilling. If she wanted to marry out, her daughter would have to stay in her husband's family. Li Niangzi knew her husband's family's temperament very well. However, she wanted to take her daughter with her when she got married, but her husband's family wouldn't allow it. So the matter was at a stalemate.

Who knew that Li Niangzi's in-laws had colluded with the man who wanted to marry her, letting him into the courtyard in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Li Niangzi was always vigilant and heard the noise in the middle of the night. She used a stick she had prepared to smash the man's head open. For this, her in-laws had to pay the man a lot of money. Li Niangzi could no longer live in her in-laws' house and wanted to go back to her parents' house, but her sister-in-law was now in charge of her parents' house.

Li Niangzi's father's ancestors were all cooks, and the family had been working as head chefs in large restaurants until Li Niangzi's father's generation. Unfortunately, only Li Niangzi had the talent to cook. Li Niangzi's father carefully taught his two sons, but their talent was limited, and they could only become sous chefs in restaurants at most. But if they didn't work as cooks, the Li family didn't know how to do anything else. Li Niangzi's father often lamented that it would be better if Li Niangzi were a man.

Li Niangzi's father passed away not long after she got married. Thanks to the money he earned, the family was relatively well-off. Li Niangzi took her child home and stayed for two days, but her sister-in-law was unhappy about it. Li Niangzi had no choice but to rent a house outside with her child and go to Zhaixing Tower, the place where her father used to work, to help out.

Li Niangzi wanted to find a family to be her cook because her in-laws were still determined to find her a husband. Li Niangzi was annoyed by this and was also afraid that her in-laws would cause trouble at Zhaixing Tower. If she lost this job, she and her husband would basically have no way to survive. Li Niangzi had a good relationship with the matchmaker, so when she heard that Xu Zhi wanted to find a cook, she naturally brought Li Niangzi along first.

The steward sighed and said, "Originally, I shouldn't say much, but this family is really going too far. Madam Li can earn money to support herself and her child, yet they insist on marrying her off for that little dowry. What's the difference between this and selling Madam Li? Madam, Madam Li is a native of Luzhou. Both her husband's family and her own family can withstand scrutiny."

Xu Zhi knew that the steward wanted to help Li Niangzi, so she nodded. Seeing that it was almost dinner time, she said to the steward, "I'll have to trouble you to invite Li Niangzi over to cook some food for us. You know, our family is different from other families. We have many people eating three meals a day, and some of the adults don't usually show their faces. So we need to hire a cook who keeps her mouth shut. Please make sure to explain this to her. If she doesn't want to stay outside, I see there are two empty rooms in the kitchen. Please help clean them up and buy some daily necessities so that she and her daughter can stay in the mansion."

The steward nodded repeatedly. Bai Ying, having received the news, went over to help with the tidying up. Hong Gu was still a little worried and said to Xu Zhi, "This Madam Li has been renting a place to live on her own for the past two years. I wonder what kind of people she's been associating with."

Xu Zhi pondered for a long time and said to Hong Gu, "Then I'll trouble Hong Gu to keep an eye on things. After all, eating is a very important thing. If the cook has any ill intentions and makes unclean food, none of us will escape."

Hong Gu nodded and said, "That's exactly what I meant. I'll keep an eye on Lady Li when she arrives."

Li Niangzi took her work with Xu Zhi very seriously. As she walked out with the matchmaker, she asked nervously, "Sister-in-law, do you think this lady wants to use me or not?"

The matchmaker comforted her, "Don't worry, it's not easy for a wealthy family to hire a cook. You should let them inquire about you properly first. I think that lady has a kind face, and you are the most suitable person in Luzhou City. Don't worry, maybe they'll let you cook some dishes to try later?"

Li Niangzi felt a little relieved. She looked at her petite daughter beside her, gently stroked her hair, and said, "It's a blessing for Ying'er and me to be able to cook in this house."

Thinking of the hardships the mother and daughter had endured in the past, the matchmaker sighed and led the people back home.

When the manager went to find the matchmaker, Li Niangzi was still at the matchmaker's house. The matchmaker's family was well-off, and seeing how thin Li Niangzi's daughter Ying'er looked, she felt pity for her. Remembering the snacks her son had brought back for her a couple of days ago, she took Li Niangzi home and gave Ying'er some snacks to eat slowly. Li Niangzi was grateful. Seeing that the matchmaker's kitchen was a bit messy, she rolled up her sleeves and began to tidy up the kitchen for the matchmaker.

Just as they were busy, the manager came over. When she heard that she was to cook a few dishes and try them out, Li Niangzi was overjoyed. Even the matchmaker was extremely happy and took out a string of copper coins from her sleeve to give to the manager.

The manager quickly declined, saying, "This is unacceptable. The rules in my household are strict, and we servants are strictly forbidden from accepting money from others." Seeing the manager's strong refusal, the matchmaker put the copper coins away.