Chapter 68 Chapter 68 Beginning of Winter. (First update)...
Madam Yu left full of fighting spirit, leaving Song Jiaoniang holding the father and daughter and muttering, "Madam Yu's sincerity has really been wasted!"
Lin Sen agreed: "I hope Madam Yu learns her lesson this time and doesn't let Madam Hua fool her again."
Madam Yu pushed the door open and returned to her shop. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
As soon as she entered, she saw Madam Hua sitting in the shop, holding a cup of hot date water. Seeing her return, she smiled and said, "Madam Yu, I was waiting for you."
Madam Yu's eyes were nearly blazing with anger, but she managed to hold her tongue. Madam Hua, however, didn't notice her unusual behavior, perhaps accustomed to her usual enthusiasm. She simply smiled and continued, "I was afraid you couldn't wait, so I came to tell you. My nephew's shop is fully staffed and there's no shortage of people for the time being. But he asked around for you, and he says the food shop next door is short of some braised rice wine. It's worth at least three or five strings of cash a month. I think it's a good option, so I came right away to tell you."
"Isn't it bad for the glutinous rice wine?" Shopkeeper Wu came out of the room, a look of hesitation on his face. The so-called glutinous rice wine ...
"What nonsense is Wu Lang talking about?" Hua Niang smiled, covering her mouth. "The place my nephew recommended must be—"
Before Madam Hua could finish her words, Madam Yu's face turned cold: "It's a filthy and garbage place, right?"
Hua Niangzi's smile froze instantly.
Madam Yu was already furious, and when she saw her trying to sell a common job, her eyebrows shot up and she scolded, "Your nephew's shop! Your nephew's shop! I wonder if the bookstore owner even knows he's got a new son!"
"You, you! How can you not know what's good for you!" Madam Hua's heart skipped a beat, but she pretended not to know and kept yelling.
"You still don't know what's good for you? You know what you did! And you still have the nerve to ask me to be your lobbyist, bah!" Madam Yu angrily pushed Madam Hua out the door. Turning back, she saw Shopkeeper Wu looking at her in confusion: "What's going on? Is there some misunderstanding?"
"I misunderstood you!" Madam Yu became even more furious and asked angrily, "What use are you in this shop?"
Let's not talk about how Madam Yu told Manager Wu about this matter, and how the two of them became motivated and determined to achieve some results to impress Madam Hua. Over there, the Linzhi family also started their business for the day.
Customers came and went, and soon the place was filled with laughter. Occasionally, someone would ask for a roast goose or roast chicken, and the Lin Sen couple would remind them, "Because our shop will only be open half a day tomorrow and will be closed in the afternoon, we suggest you give us your address. Once the food is ready, we'll have someone deliver it to your door."
The next day was the beginning of winter.
Unlike the people in Bianjing City who still had to go to worship their ancestors, the Linzhi family closed the door after sending out the roast goose and roast chicken they had ordered and began to take a rare rest.
The whole family gathered in the backyard, first lit incense on the side, then took out a stove from the house, put an iron rack on it, put a teapot on it, and had a leisurely and elegant tea-making ceremony around the stove.
The elegance lasted only a cup of tea, and the three of them adjusted their positions and went about their own business.
Linzhi grabbed some leftover fruit, rolled it into a ball, and threw it on the ground, teasing the two chicks. The chicks, which she had raised since the shop opened, had already shed their chickish down. Their feathers were now full and neat, and their bodies were stretched to their full height. One could vaguely see their future selves.
They held their heads high, flapped their wings, and circled around Linzhi, ignoring the small pieces of food scattered on the ground, and only wanted the big ones in Linzhi's hands.
Such wasteful behavior soon attracted the attention of sparrows. With the arrival of autumn and winter, the sparrows also began to prepare for winter. Each one of them puffed up its feathers like a ball of fluff and squatted on the eaves, watching eagerly.
Seeing that the two chicks were not paying attention to their surroundings, he rushed forward, grabbed the food and ran away.
The two chicks didn't notice it at first, but when they did, they became very angry and started flapping their wings and chasing the sparrow everywhere, until the sparrow flew up to the top of a tree.
Song Jiaoniang sat sideways, leaning against a pillar. Her eyes swept over her daughter and quickly fell on the cotton-padded shoes in her hands. She rubbed her eyes and continued to sew with great concentration.
"Mom, you've been working for a long time. Take a break. Your eyes can't stand it." Lin Zhi looked at the chickens and sparrows making a lot of noise, with the whole yard filled with clucking and chirping sounds. She quickly pretended that she had done nothing. The moment she turned around, she saw Song Jiaoniang rubbing her eyes.
She immediately sat up straight with a nervous look on her face. Song Jiaoniang's eyesight was not very good. She had no problem communicating with people in daily life, but if she looked at one place for a long time, her vision would become blurred, itchy and she would cry.
"Wait, wait, I'll be there soon. It will be done in a moment." Song Jiaonian hurriedly explained, her hands moving faster and faster.
Soon, she brought the shoes to Linzhi: "Here, take a look."
The shoes were meticulously stitched and stuffed with cotton, making them incredibly soft. Linzhi was even more surprised to learn that the surface wasn't embroidered with flowers and birds, but rather cute cat heads!
"Try it on and see if it fits."
"Okay!" Linzhi took off her shoes immediately and put them on happily to try them out.
She felt good as soon as she put them on. The thousand-layer sole was tightly stitched and it didn't feel hard at all when she stepped on the ground. The fabric was very delicate and fit the instep of her feet neither loose nor tight. The cotton wool stuffed inside made it feel like her feet were stuffed in a thick quilt that had been dried in the sun. It was warm and comfortable.
"How is it? Is the size right?" Song Jiaoniang asked worriedly as she hadn't made shoes for a long time.
Just then, Lin Sen came out with a plate of oranges. He saw his daughter lifting the hem of her skirt, revealing a pair of chubby cotton shoes. He couldn't help laughing: "Ji Jie, why are your feet wrapped like zongzi? There's even a cat head on them? Could it be that tiger-head shoes are out of fashion now, and cat-head shoes are in?"
Both mother and daughter rolled their eyes at him.
Lin Zhi ignored Lin Sen and said with a smile, "It's great, very hot, and very comfortable!"
"Really? That's good." Song Jiaoniang patted her chest, finally relieved: "Then I'll make you a few more pairs later, so you can change them when the time comes."
"Uh-huh……"
"Why make shoes? Just go buy them from other shops. Let's not save this little money." Lin Sen sat down next to Song Jiaoniang and muttered, "Besides, the shoes you made are not--"
"No what?" Song Jiaoniang looked at him with a smile, but there was no trace of smile in her eyes.
Linzhi glanced at her father with pity, then turned back to watch the sparrows and chickens fight.
Lin Sen belatedly realized something was wrong and subconsciously peeled an orange. He handed it to Song Jiaoniang flatteringly while racking his brains for what to say next: "No, no, it's not light enough!"
Lin Sen finally managed to organize his words and quickly continued, "Yeah, that's right. I was thinking, this round thing looks like a bear paw... er, no, it has a cat head on it. I'm afraid it would scare the chicks."
As soon as the words fell, the courtyard suddenly became noisy. Lin Sen was stunned for a moment, then looked up and his mind went blank. After a while, he exclaimed, "The shoes have become spirits!?"
Suddenly, a black and white cat appeared out of nowhere, startling the two chicks so much that they screamed, and frightened a group of sparrows so much that they ran around in panic. One of them even hit a branch and fell to the ground.
In an instant, the courtyard was in chaos.
The wild cat had a sparrow in its mouth. It was like a whirlwind, coming suddenly and disappearing just as suddenly.
"Dad has a bad mouth."
"Ah?" Lin Sen was stunned by the blame put on him by his daughter. He wanted to say that it was the cat-head shoes made by your mother that caused the trouble. Maybe it was the cat-head shoes made by Song Jiaoniang, and animals are attracted to each other, so the cat was summoned.
Of course, he could only think about the above, fearing that Song Jiaoniang would roll her eyes if he spoke out again, so he obediently peeled two more oranges and handed them to his wife and daughter: "Eat oranges, these oranges are so sweet!"
Lin Zhi casually placed the oranges on the iron rack, which immediately attracted the couple's attention. Song Jiaoniang put the previous incident aside and asked in surprise, "You can eat oranges roasted?"
"Yes." Linzhi nodded with a smile, then she cleaned the iron rack and put chestnuts, longans and rice cakes on it.
It didn't end there. She took some milk and poured it into the slightly hot but not yet boiling tea, then scooped in honey and rock honey, and stirred it slowly with a spoon.
As she moved, the snow-white milk gradually turned into light brown, and the aroma of milk and tea blended together, lingering and overflowing.
Lin Sen and his wife, who were sitting nearby, were stunned until Lin Zhi saw the milk tea boiling, picked up the small pot, and poured a cup for each of them. Only then did they come to their senses.
"Can milk be paired with tea?"
"...I've heard from people doing business in places like Khitan that they mix milk with brick tea to make Sutaiqie. However," Lin Sen hesitated, wondering if he had remembered it wrongly, "I remember they said salt was added."
"Huh?" Song Jiaoniang was shocked by what Lin Sen said before she got an answer to her previous question.
"Dad, I'm not mistaken. They drink salty milk tea." Lin Zhi thought salty milk tea tasted good, but she preferred sweet tea: "I think we prefer sweet tea here."
"That's true." Song Jiaoniang immediately accepted her daughter's statement. Nowadays, from the royal family to the common people, everyone loves sweets. Not to mention the endless variety of candied and fried fruit snacks, there are also main dishes such as sugar porridge and sugar crabs. Her family is no exception.
It's no use just talking. Song Jiaoniang picked up the teacup and took a sip. The milky aroma of milk and the fragrance of tea leaves, coupled with the mellow aroma of honey, tasted... a little light!
Song Jiaoniang added one spoonful after another, and only when she had added three spoonfuls of rock honey was she satisfied: "This sweetness is just right."
Lin Zhi felt a toothache just by looking at it. If we say that milk tea shops in later generations only add three parts of sugar to each piece of milk tea, without adding any extra sugar, then most people at that time, including Song Jiaoniang, would definitely be fans of full sugar or even double sugar!
She grimaced for a while, picked up an orange, and grimaced again because of the burnt skin of the orange.
The roasted orange peel is hot, slightly charred and wrinkled, with an aroma of orange peel.
Linzhi used a little force on her hands to peel off the skin, and the sour and sweet aroma of the orange flesh mixed with the hot air hit her face, which was particularly tempting.
“Oranges smell so good!”
"Hmm, like incense." Lin Zhi took a deep breath before picking up a tangerine segment and putting it in her mouth. The roasted tangerine flesh had become warm and soft, its original sourness less intense and its sweetness more pronounced, with a mellow sweetness and the unique sweetness of the fruit.
"Let me try." Lin Sen also came over and took a bite. But he quickly frowned and muttered, "I still prefer it unbaked."
Hot oranges always seem too soft and smooth.
Lin Sen thought that he still preferred to take a bite of the juicy, sweet and sour orange.
"Mom, you try it too."
"Hmm—hmm!" Song Jiaoniang took a sip, surprised. The seemingly dark dish of roasted oranges looked unpleasant at first, but once in her mouth, she was pleasantly surprised. The flesh was soft, smooth, and tender, sweet, warm, and incredibly comforting. "I think it's delicious, huh?"
"Is this true? Madam, please don't lie."
"Of course it's true, it's just that you have strange tastes."
The couple's peace didn't last long before they started arguing again. Lin Zhi listened to their quarrel, leaning against a pillar, almost dozing off. It took a while for her to come back to her senses amidst the words, "Sister Zhi, are you right?" and "Sister Zhi, who are you helping?" She yawned and said, "Let's have some barbecue later?"
"Why do you only know how to eat——"
"So, do you guys want to eat?"
"Eat?"
"Would you like to pack some more coins later?"
"Well, another bowl of mutton soup." Lin Zhi said with a smile, "It's been stewing since morning, it must be delicious!"
The family dispute came to an end.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
