Chapter 7 Branding the Dove Su Zhihan was unaware of the relationship between Yinghong and her sister...

Su Zhihan didn't know the relationship between Yinghong and her sister, but she could tell that the girl named Xiuhe in front of her had ill intentions. On the surface, she said she wanted to treat the three of them to food, but in reality, she wanted to humiliate Yinghong's sister, Zhenzhu, and make Yinghong and Zhenzhu lose face and become a laughing stock.

If Yinghong refuses at this moment, it would be disrespectful to her. But if Yinghong agrees, it would probably be as if she had agreed to what she said, making it seem like Pearl was bullying her younger sister Yinghong, or that the two sisters' parents were biased.

In any case, there's bound to be some funny incidents.

Su Zhihan noticed it, and so did Yinghong. At that moment, she hated herself for being tongue-tied and didn't know how to refute, her face turning bright red.

Xiuhe added fuel to the fire: "Sister Yinghong, don't be so polite. Your sister and I live in the same courtyard. Maybe you'll be able to come to our courtyard in the future."

Seeing Yinghong's face turn bright red, Su Zhihan quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Sister Xiuhe. Actually, I felt bad that Sister Yinghong had just treated us to some snacks and wanted to buy some fried pigeons to thank her. But Sister Yinghong kept stopping me and insisted on paying. I had to persuade her to agree."

"I didn't expect that our discussion would lead to a misunderstanding with Sister Xiuhe. It's all my fault." Su Zhihan said, taking out a money pouch from her small bag.

Just as she was about to take out thirty copper coins to buy the dove, Sister Yinghong stepped forward, her slender hand landing on Su Zhihan's hand. Then she smiled at Su Zhihan and said, "Good girl, why are you apologizing? Since your sister Xiuhe has said she'll treat you to something, you should enjoy it."

Su Zhihan, Yinghong, and Yang Liu were all stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at Pearl.

Pearl laughed and said, "Why are you looking at me? Quickly thank your sister Xiuhe. She's always been stingy, but we can't miss such a good day for her to treat us."

Yinghong's eyes lit up: "Thank you, Sister Xiuhe."

Su Zhihan and Yang Liu stopped being polite and smiled at Xiuhe, saying, "Thank you, Sister Xiuhe."

As for Xiuhe, the smile on her face had already frozen.

She was just using Yinghong, Pearl's younger sister, who was clumsy with words and not good at speaking, to make fun of Pearl. She was sure that Pearl and Yinghong wouldn't be shameless enough to take advantage of her and wouldn't even spend a penny.

To everyone's surprise, Pearl actually agreed and even turned the tables, accusing herself of being stingy!

Xiuhe was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead, but no matter how resentful or hateful she was, she couldn't show any displeasure. After all, the other maids had heard what she had just said, and if she was unhappy, her reputation for being petty and mean would probably spread throughout the courtyard.

The servants in the manor only care about two things: appearance and dignity.

Xiuhe gritted her teeth and forced a smile: "You want to eat pigeons, right? Shopkeeper, pack me three pigeons."

"Alright." After listening to the gossip for a while, the shopkeeper picked up three small pigeons with tongs.

Xiuhe felt a pang of heartache. Although they were small, the three pigeons cost a total of ninety coins, enough for her to buy two ounces of silk thread.

Just as she averted her gaze, lowered her head, and reached for the money, Pearl spoke again: "Hey, hey, shopkeeper, what are you doing with the small size?"

Xiuhe's eyelids twitched, and she suddenly looked up. She saw Pearl smiling slightly at her, and then she turned to the other maids beside her and said, "Our Xiuhe sister said before that she only eats the large pigeons from Zhou's cooked meat shop that cost fifty coins. As for the small pigeons that cost thirty coins, they are not high-class and are really hard to swallow."

The other maids either covered their expressions with handkerchiefs, or lowered their heads and chuckled softly. Some even echoed Pearl's words, saying, "Oh dear, it seems that's true."

"I've also heard Sister Xiuhe mention it."

“I think—” Pearl glanced at Xiuhe with a half-smile, then looked at the shopkeeper: “Sister Xiuhe, you must be planning to buy the large size, right?”

Xiuhe held her breath and replied, "...Yes."

The shopkeeper first apologized, then put down the three small pigeons he was holding and took out three large pigeons from the oven.

The roasted pigeon, repeatedly roasted in the oven, has a brownish-red skin and a rich, sweet aroma, giving it an extremely tempting smell.

"Young lady, shall we cut it open?"

"Cut it open."

"Alright." The shopkeeper worked quickly, cutting the pigeon into large pieces with a swift stroke, putting them into a bamboo paper bag, and handing it to Su Zhihan and the other two: "Ladies, be careful, it's hot. It tastes better when it's hot."

"Thank you, shopkeeper. Thank you, Sister Xiuhe."

"No, you're welcome." Xiuhe paid the money without even glancing at the branded pigeon. She usually only boasted about it to Pearl and others, but when she went out to buy pigeons, she always bought small ones... Only a fool would buy a big one.

Xiuhe recalled her earlier words, and then thought of the 150 coins that had vanished, her heart bleeding. She could barely control her smile, silently chanting, "Just get out of here, get out of here, get out of here..."

Pearl glanced at Xiuhe, then turned to Su Zhihan and the other two: "Is there anything else you sisters would like to eat?"

Yinghong glanced at Xiuhe, then at her sister, and suddenly became quite clever. She called out in a clear voice, "Sister Xiuhe, I want to eat papaya syrup again."

Xiuhe: "…………"

The little brat of the Pearl family is just as annoying as Pearl herself!

…………

When Su Zhihan returned home, it was already evening.

Jiang Zhenniang stood at the door, looking left and right repeatedly, until she finally saw her daughter and breathed a sigh of relief. She jogged forward to greet her, hugged her daughter, and was about to speak when a glance out of the corner of her eye caught her gaze, which was immediately drawn to the bamboo basket hanging on her daughter's arm.

With just one glance, Jiang Zhenniang noticed seven or eight paper bags of various sizes in the bamboo basket, their aromas mingling together, making her stomach rumble with anticipation.

Of course, Jiang Zhenniang was more puzzled than anything else. Han Jie'er, like her, was also a thrifty person. She would give half of her monthly allowance of two hundred coins to herself for safekeeping and keep the other half. In two months, she only spent fifty or sixty coins, and that was only for treating others to food and asking for information.

"Han-jie, why did you buy so much stuff?"

"These... Hello, Granny Wang." Su Zhihan's expression was quite strange. She glanced at Granny Wang, who had come out to see what was going on after hearing the noise, greeted her, and then pulled Jiang Zhenniang into the house.

"That little girl, she makes it seem like I'm eavesdropping." Granny Wang grumbled as she went back into the house, realizing she wasn't getting any gossip.

"Mother, let me tell you something." After entering the house, Su Zhihan began to recount what had happened that day.

Pearl perhaps intended to teach Xiuhe a lesson, constantly urging her to buy all sorts of food. The matter only ended when Xiuhe couldn't take it anymore and made an excuse to go back to the mansion.

By then, they already had three or four kinds of food.

Afterwards, Pearl and the other maids led the three of them on a stroll, buying a few things here and there. In the end, they even gave each of the three a handful of copper coins and told them to play with them.

Su Zhihan placed the bamboo basket on the table, took out a money pouch from her crossbody bag, untied the drawstring, and showed it to Jiang Zhenniang: "Mother, look, there's even more money in here than when I left this morning."

Jiang Zhenniang was stunned, never expecting that her daughter would run into such a thing just by going out of the manor with someone. After a long while, she finally asked, "Will that Xiuhe hold a grudge against you?"

Su Zhihan couldn't help but chuckle: "How could that be?"

The one who drew the most hatred was Yinghong's older sister, Zhenzhu. Unlike Yinghong, Zhenzhu had a sharp tongue and could insult Xiuhe from head to toe without using a single swear word.

However, Su Zhihan took Jiang Zhenniang's words to heart and planned to ask Yinghong and others about Xiuhe's personality to avoid her being like Granny Zhao, who bullies the weak and fears the strong, and instead of daring to cause trouble for Zhenzhu and Yinghong, she would come looking for trouble for herself.

Having made up her mind, Su Zhihan put the matter aside for the time being. She reached into the bamboo basket and took out some food: "Never mind that for now, Mother, come and try some!"

"These dates are very sweet."

"There are also shortbreads, which are coated with a thick layer of sesame seeds, making them fragrant and crispy."

"And there's sugar cake... This sugar cake needs to be heated on the stove. When you bite into it, the glutinous rice and sugar inside will flow out. It's very sweet." Su Zhihan introduced each item as if she knew them by heart. The last item she took out was the brandy pigeon worth fifty coins.

When she announced the price, Jiang Zhenniang's eyes widened in shock, and she suddenly raised her voice: "Just a pigeon, how much? Fifty coins?! Why don't they just rob us?!"

"It's been baking in the oven for a long time."

"That's not worth the price." Jiang Zhenniang thought that sparrows and doves were common in the mountains and forests, and could be easily caught in all four seasons. People in the village often caught them to have a treat.

In the past, if she knew how profitable this stuff was, she would definitely buy a skewer, grill it, and sell it in town every day.

"It's not as simple as you think, Mother." Su Zhihan saw through Jiang Zhenniang's little scheme and was both annoyed and amused.

She took out the pigeon branding tools from the bamboo basket. The oil from the pigeon branding tools had seeped out, making the bamboo paper bag greasy. Even before it was opened, a wonderful and unique fragrance could be faintly smelled.

"The small ones are thirty coins, the large ones are fifty coins."

"Even at this price, many people come from all over the capital to buy it every day." Su Zhihan tore open the bamboo paper bag and poured the roasted pigeon into a plate. Although the roasted pigeon was completely cold, its aroma was still overwhelming.

"Oh my, it smells so good." Jiang Zhenniang couldn't resist and picked up a piece of breast meat and put it in her mouth.

The moment the meat entered his mouth, a rich, oily aroma filled his mouth. The breast meat, which should have been rather dry, was surprisingly juicy. With each chew, the salty and fragrant juices eagerly gushed out, recklessly flooding his mouth.

Jiang Zhenniang became more and more addicted to the food and urged her daughter to try some as well. Su Zhihan raised her hand and pressed the skin of the pigeon. She had heard the crisp sound of the skin breaking apart when the shopkeeper cut it open, but now her hand was covered in oil. "Mother, please eat slowly. Let me heat it up first."

Su Zhihan heated the clay stove until it was blazing, placed the sugar cakes aside to reheat them, and then took bamboo skewers, skewered the fried pigeon pieces on them, and hung them directly on the clay stove to heat them up.

After heating for a while, bubbles began to appear one after another on the skin of the fried pigeon, and the oil sizzled as it was roasted, turning the originally soft skin into a crispy crust again.

At the same time, the aroma became increasingly strong.

Old Mrs. Wang next door had already seen Su Zhihan carrying back a bamboo basket full of food, and then smelled that familiar aroma. She immediately became suspicious: "Young master, smell this? Why does it smell so much like Zhou's cooked meat?"

"Mother, you're joking. How could the Jiang family afford Zhou's food... Hmm?" Wang's wife was unconvinced until she opened the door and smelled the aroma, then she was stunned: "It really does, it really does smell a bit like it! And... it smells like roasted pigeon!"

"I knew it!" Granny Wang stood at the door, chewing on a licorice tablet without tasting anything, her eyes fixed on the Jiang family's gate. "Tell me, where did they get so much money?"

“That makes sense. That dove gets thirty coins.” Wang’s wife was also puzzled. Her mother-in-law worked as a maid in the Marquis’s mansion, earning two hundred coins a month. Her husband also worked as a errand boy for Sanlang, earning six hundred coins a month, plus two hundred coins for food, and occasional tips. All told, he earned at least twelve hundred coins a month.

Even with such an income, her husband and mother-in-law were reluctant to buy it often, only buying one to enjoy during holidays or when guests came to visit.

Jiang Zhenniang was a laborer, and so was her daughter. Together they earned only four hundred coins. How could they afford to buy this?

The more Wang's wife thought about it, the more suspicious she became. Leaning against the door, she stared intently at the Jiang family's gate.

If someone were to pass by and see this, they would probably think that the two people in front of them are mother and daughter, otherwise how could their movements be so similar?

Inside the house, Su Zhihan and Jiang Zhenniang were eating roasted pigeon. It was the first time Jiang Zhenniang had ever tasted such delicious pigeon; she couldn't bear to spit out even the bones, sucking on them carefully, not wanting to miss a single flavor.

Su Zhihan savored the taste. The outer skin was brushed with oil and honey and then slowly baked in an oven. As for the meat inside, it was savory and fragrant, and the flavor of many spices could be tasted immediately upon first bite.

No wonder it costs this much!

Su Zhihan squinted her eyes, savoring the whole pigeon with Jiang Zhenniang, and still felt unsatisfied after sharing it.

Jiang Zhenniang licked her fingertips, looked at the remains of the dove and sighed, "What a pity, this dove was worth fifty coins."

One is equivalent to a quarter of a month's salary!

I don't know when I'll be able to eat it again.

Jiang Zhenniang felt a pang of regret, but after glancing at her thoughtful daughter, she immediately changed the subject: "Although this fried pigeon is delicious, I still prefer Han'er's fried sauce the most. If that were sold, it could fetch at least fifty coins a bowl, no! One hundred coins a bowl!"

"Really?"

“…Um, um.” Jiang Zhenniang answered with a forced smile, feeling somewhat guilty as she looked into her daughter’s bright eyes.

Seeing Jiang Zhenniang sweating profusely and her eyes darting around, Su Zhihan couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Mother, you look so funny."

"Oh! You dare laugh at me!"

"Who told my mother that fried sauce could sell for a hundred coins?!"

“I didn’t say anything wrong!” Jiang Zhenniang’s eyes darted around, and she hugged her daughter with a smile: “That pot of fried sauce, if you blanch the pancakes and drizzle a spoonful or two on each, you can make at least a dozen or twenty servings.”

She became more and more confident as she spoke, and the more she boasted, the more excited she became: "With my daughter's skills, each serving would be so cheap at five cents that people would scramble to buy them. She could sell a thousand servings a day!"

Su Zhihan was overjoyed by what she heard. She casually picked up her chopsticks, flipped the half-baked sugar cake over, and then leaned forward to look at Jiang Zhenniang: "Speaking of this, Mother, do you want to get rich?"