Chapter 1 The whole family treated Qiao Mianmian like a treasure. ...

During the Grain in Ear season, it gets hotter every day.

A few days ago, there was a heavy rain, and one of the innermost mud walls of the Qiao family's house collapsed. The two Qiao brothers were busy rebuilding the wall.

His house has only three rooms; if they aren't built quickly, there won't be enough room for his family of eight.

Qiao Mianmian brought over tea, saying, "Big brother, second brother, please rest. The sun is scorching, and I'm afraid you'll get heatstroke."

"It's alright, your brothers are tough and thick-skinned, this little bit of sun is nothing to them." Qiao Jiawang took the tea his sister handed him, drank it in one gulp, and hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "But you, Mianmian, hurry up and stay under the eaves, don't let the sun tan you."

Qiao Jiaxing also said, "Yes, little sister, your brother and I are here, you go and rest."

"I have to bring Dad his meal, I can't rest." Qiao Mianmian put down the teapot, turned around and went into the kitchen. Her mother, Lin, handed her the wrapped lunchbox.

"It's hot, pork won't sell well. Tell your father to save his energy and stop shouting. He'll only waste tea if he gets hoarse." Lin was frugal and carefully instructed her daughter, "Come back after you deliver the food. I'll be waiting for you to eat."

The Qiao family only eats two meals a day. This is the morning meal. Qiao Mancang goes to sell meat before dawn, and his family delivers his meals.

Today we had braised rice with pork cracklings, with sweet potatoes added. It looked mushy and unappetizing, and it didn't taste very good either.

Qiao Mianmian glanced at the rice in the pot and sighed inwardly. She had been here for two days and could confirm that Lin's cooking skills were indescribable and could not be described as delicious.

She was unlucky; she had just quit her job and was preparing to open her own small restaurant when a car accident transported her to the ancient state of Da Ye, which wasn't in history books.

Fortunately, her parents divorced in her previous life, and no one cared about Qiao Mianmian. Even if she died, she had no one to worry about. So she transmigrated into this body. It's just that this condition makes one sigh a little.

The Qiao family has a total of nine members. Lin Shi and Qiao Mancang are an ancient version of a blended family, and Qiao Mianmian is the youngest daughter born after the blending.

As the youngest child, Qiao Mianmian was naturally pampered, within the limits of the Qiao family's ability to do so. However, this also caused her to develop a bit of a princess complex, refusing to do any housework and fantasizing about marrying a scholar and becoming a scholar's wife.

Just last month, a family moved into the alley. Their youngest son was a student who had passed the preliminary examination and was preparing to take the county-level examination.

The original owner fell in love with Xu Tongsheng at first sight and eagerly stole meat to send to him, but was rejected. Heartbroken and ashamed to face her family, she jumped into the river in a fit of anger, which allowed Qiao Mianmian to transmigrate into her body.

After agreeing with Lin, Qiao Mianmian went out with a wooden lunchbox, and just then she ran into her grandfather, who was returning from pulling the net, at the door.

"Why are you the one delivering the food? Let your brothers do it. My goodness, you've only been better for a couple of days. What if you get sunburned?" Qiao Youfu called out to his granddaughter with concern.

"My brothers are busy building the wall, and I just happened to have nothing to do, so I helped out. I'm all grown up now, so I should help out with something." Qiao Mianmian felt embarrassed to freeload at home. With the whole family busy and her lying around all alone, she couldn't relax and enjoy herself.

"Oh my, our Mianmian has grown up and knows how to care for her elders." Qiao Youfu smiled, his face full of wrinkles. "Sweetie, then slow down and walk close to the wall, don't let the sun burn you. Bring your dad your food and come back. Grandpa was lucky today and caught three fish. We'll save one for your mother to stew for you this evening."

He looked at his granddaughter with loving eyes. After Mancang remarried, he had a daughter, whom the whole family doted on. Now that his granddaughter was almost of marriageable age and growing more and more beautiful, they hoped she would marry into a good family.

Qiao Mianmian was nagged by her grandfather for a while, and when she went out, it was even hotter.

She lived at the end of the alley, and there were more than a dozen households along the way. They were all familiar neighbors, and they would greet each other when they met.

It was lunchtime, and those who had finished eating prepared to go out to work.

"Oh, it's Mianmian bringing the food today. Your dad will be so happy to hear that."

“Mian’er, my Chunsheng just came back from catching river snails yesterday. Take a bowl of them back with you later. Your father loves them the most.”

"Come to my house too. My sister-in-law sent over a basket of pears. You can take a few to try."

"And my home..."

It took Qiao Mianmian quite a while to walk from one end of the alley to the other. The neighbors were so enthusiastic that everyone who saw her had to say a few words.

When she passed the Xu family's house, Qiao Mianmian glanced at the tightly closed gate and quickened her pace, clutching her lunchbox.

In this alley, only the Xu family has moved in recently.

I heard that the Xu family had produced a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) and an official in the capital. Unlike ordinary people like them, Madam Xu always wore a veil when she went out, and no one in the alley had ever seen what she looked like.

Qiao Mianmian quickened her pace, turned two corners, and arrived at her father's meat stall. She called out "Dad" in a clear voice.

Upon hearing his youngest daughter's voice, Qiao Mancang quickly turned around. "My dear daughter, why are you here? Where are your older brothers?"

"They're busy building the wall." Qiao Mianmian glanced at the meat stall. Her father was a partner, each person getting half a pig, and they would go to the slaughterhouse every two or three days. It was already an hour into the day, and there was still more than half a pig left on the stall, not a drop of offal either, with flies buzzing around from time to time.

“Building the wall won’t delay delivering meals, how can I let you come?” Qiao Mancang looked at his youngest daughter with heartache. “Let your older brother run a few more steps, he’ll be faster than you. Be good, go back quickly, it’s too hot.”

Qiao Mancang was covered in sweat, with beads of sweat streaming down his arms. He was in such a state himself, and he was even more worried that his youngest daughter wouldn't be able to handle it.

Qiao Mianmian said she came on her own initiative, “I’m always staying at home, and I’m getting really bored. Besides, I’m all grown up now, and it’s time for me to help with the housework. Dad, please eat, I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”

Qiao Mancang laughed, "Do you know how to sell it?"

At this moment, the stall owner next to him asked if this was his daughter. Qiao Mancang said very proudly, "She is my youngest daughter. Look, she still brings me food in this hot weather. Daughters are more considerate than sons."

Qiao Mianmian thought to herself, she had only come once, and her father was praising her like this. He really dotes on his daughter.

Unfortunately, the original owner couldn't think straight and abandoned such good parents and family, actually jumping into the river.

However, since she has taken over a human body, she will live well for the original owner, and she is not afraid of her family being poor now.

As long as she's willing to work hard, she'll become rich sooner or later.

The stall owner next door glanced at Qiao Mancang and said enviously, "Mancang, you're so lucky. Your son is capable and your daughter is filial. Unlike my family, they all only think about themselves. Anyway, let's not talk about this. Can you watch the stall for me for a while? I'm going back to check why my wife hasn't brought me food again."

Qiao Mancang said okay, then urged Qiao Mianmian to go back, "Dad will take the lunchbox back, you should go back quickly."

Qiao Mianmian wanted to stay a little longer, thinking that her family was waiting for her to come back and have dinner, so she agreed.

Just as she was about to leave, the tax collectors arrived.

"Isn't it four coins?" Qiao Mancang frowned.

"The rule was just issued today; from now on, it's five copper coins a day. Stall owner Qiao, the notice was posted yesterday, didn't you see it?" A constable said, picking up a nice piece of fatty meat. "How much is this meat?"

Qiao Mancang doesn't set up his stall every day; he didn't come to sell meat yesterday, so he really didn't know about this. The weather is too hot, fewer people are buying meat, and the unsold meat can't be stored properly, so he has to give it away cheaply to restaurants, barely making any money.

Business was already tough, and now the stall fee has gone up. Even though it's only one penny a day, every penny counts. His wife is the most frugal person in the surrounding area; if she knew the stall fee had increased, she'd be heartbroken.

But since the officials had already said that, he, an ordinary citizen, could only smile and explain, "The mud wall at home collapsed, and I was busy rebuilding it yesterday, so I really didn't know about the notice. This meat would sell for forty coins to others, but you can give me thirty coins."

"Okay, cut it for me, I'll come pick it up later." The officials and the stall owners, including Qiao Mancang, were all acquaintances. The stall owners would give them discounts when they bought things, and no one wanted to offend them, otherwise their goods would be hard to sell.

Qiao Mancang deftly cut a piece of the fattest meat. "This piece is the fattest. I've wrapped it in a lotus leaf. You can come and get it anytime."

After seeing the two officials off, Qiao Mancang's smile vanished, and he muttered under his breath, "Officials get all the benefits, while we common folk struggle to even make a living!"

Hearing her father say that, Qiao Mianmian sighed silently and hurried home.

Before she went home, the aunts and brothers who had asked her to get things earlier had already prepared them. As she passed by, they ran out and stuffed the things into Qiao Mianmian's hands.

"Tell your mother not to skimp on the seasoning; snails taste best when they're loaded with seasoning." Chun Sheng's mother patted Qiao Mianmian's arm. She looked at Qiao Mianmian's fair and tender skin, and the more she looked, the more satisfied she became. With such a beautiful appearance, if she were to become her daughter-in-law, the grandchildren they would have would definitely be good-looking. Besides, they were neighbors, and everyone knew each other well—how wonderful!

However, Qiao Mianmian had not yet reached marriageable age, and there was an older sister who was not yet married. She was not in a hurry to arrange a marriage for her. She would wait until Qiao Mianmian reached marriageable age.

As Qiao Mianmian was pondering the overflowing joy in Chun Sheng's mother's eyes, her mother came running from the end of the alley.

"You silly girl, didn't we tell you to come back quickly? The whole family is waiting for you to come back for dinner." Lin held her daughter's hand and knew that the snails were a gift from Chunsheng's family.

Although she was frugal, she always reciprocated when visiting her neighbors. She smiled and thanked Chunsheng's mother, "Thank you for remembering that my Mancang loves to eat snails. I picked some bitter bamboo shoots, which are good to eat in the summer. I'll have Jiawang bring them to you later!"

Chunsheng's mother said there was no need to be polite, but she didn't actually refuse.

On their way back, the mother and daughter received gifts from both families before finally arriving home.

Before Lin married into the family, she had two daughters, and Qiao Mancang had two sons. Now that Lin's eldest daughter is married, there are four children and two elderly people left in the family, making a total of eight people.

Originally, the Qiao brothers were supposed to go out to work and earn money, but today they were all at home because they were building a wall. Only Qiao Mianmian's fourth sister went to the embroidery room. It was time to eat, so there were six people in the family including Qiao Mianmian.

When Qiao Youfu saw his granddaughter return, he said with heartache, "From now on, you should have your brothers deliver the meals. Boys are tough and not afraid of the sun. Look, your face is all red from the sun."

The Qiao brothers chimed in, "Yes, little sister, just let us go."

The whole family treats Qiao Mianmian like a treasure. If Qiao Mianmian said she wanted to make money, would they be willing to let her?

Qiao Mianmian looked at her family with a troubled expression when her stomach suddenly growled. She decided to stop thinking about it for now and focus on eating.

The world is vast, but being well-fed is the most important thing.

I absolutely can't let her mom cook the fish for dinner. Even a simple rice dish is awful made by her. (Want to cry jpg)