Xia Chunmei didn't dare to look back. After walking for a while, she stopped and patted her chest: "I was so scared. Luckily, I was quick-witted and found a good excuse. I don't even know his name, and he's already going to propose marriage. It's terrifying."
Getting married or having a baby in secret seems to be an urgent matter.
When I got home, it was already dusk.
Xia Hongfen and several others who were hosting banquets elsewhere returned before her.
"Chunmei, this is the money you earned today." Xia Hongfen took out the money and gave it to Xia Chunmei.
Xia Chunmei didn't take it, saying, "Auntie, you're in charge of cooking now, so you can keep the money."
"No way, you have to keep it. Your aunt didn't even pay you to learn the craft from you, so how can I take your money?"
"But you did the work, I didn't go anywhere."
In fact, Xia Chunmei had said before that the money from the banquet that Xia Hongfen was in charge of cooking, apart from the wages paid to everyone, would belong to Xia Hongfen, and she would keep the initial deposit of fifty coins.
However, Xia Hongfen felt that she had wasted her time learning the skill. These recent cooking sessions were essentially covering for her niece, and how could she accept money for doing that?
“Aunt, please take it. I can’t go to the banquet these days because I have other things to do, so I’ll have to continue to trouble you. Your return home will have to be postponed. It’s fine if you help me once or twice, but I don’t want to keep making you work for nothing.”
"It's not hard work at all, but Auntie really can't accept this money. Although I was in charge of cooking, it was you who built up your reputation beforehand and got the orders. Auntie knows you're filial, but Auntie really can't accept this money. Auntie has already benefited greatly from learning the craft from you."
During this time, Xia Hongfen clearly felt that her waistline had become thicker. Not only was she eating well, but she was also saving food for her family. This was all thanks to her good niece, so she refused the money no matter what.
Xia Chunmei didn't refuse anymore, thinking that since her aunt didn't want it, she would give her a big pot when she went back.
To do something well, you must first have the right tools.
Since we'll be making a living from this job in the future, having a big pot, a few sharp knives and scissors will make things much easier.
When Xia Chunmei first started doing this, customers had to bring their own supplies, and they had to borrow them from various places, which made them unhappy because it was troublesome.
This has resulted in the loss of many customers. Sometimes, when customers couldn't borrow an iron pot, Xia Chunmei would use a ceramic pot to fry fish and cook fish balls, which takes longer to heat up.
...
After a night of careful consideration, Xia Chunmei decided to abandon her plan to buy men and instead approach Jin Yuntian directly.
Give him a way to make money in exchange for a safe and legitimate birth for your own child.
The gap between the rich and the poor is too wide in this era. If you want to make a lot of money, you can only make money from the rich. The New Year is just a few months away, and the most profitable business is sweets and pastries.
What Xia Chunmei is going to make is ginger candy!
Ginger candy only appeared during the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty. Although this was a dynasty that did not exist in history, fortunately, there was no ginger candy there.
There are many ways to make ginger candy, but Xia Chunmei only plans to make two kinds for Jin Yuntian for now, hoping to change their future.
Making this requires a lot of ginger and sugar. Since there wasn't enough sugar at home, Xia Chunmei sent Qiu Mei to the neighbor's house to buy five catties of ginger, while she went to the Wang family's house to buy some sugar.
As a result, they ran into Xu Qingfeng on the way.
"Miss Xia."
"Manager Xu, what a coincidence."
"We came here specifically to find you, but we didn't expect to run into you on the road by such a coincidence." After saying this, Xu Qingfeng said to the people inside the carriage with a stern face, "Come out and apologize to Miss Xia!"
Immediately afterwards, a beautiful woman and Xu Jiamin got off the carriage together.
Xu Jiamin walked up to Xia Chunmei and said, "Miss Xia, I was wrong yesterday. I'm sorry."
The beautiful woman walked up to Xia Chunmei and smiled approachably: "Miss Xia, I am Jiamin's mother. It is my fault for not raising my daughter well, which has caused you to suffer. Please forgive me."
After saying that, the beautiful woman took off the gold bracelet from her hand and put it on Xia Chunmei's wrist.
Xia Chunmei refused: "Since it's all in the past, I won't dwell on it anymore." Anyway, there won't be any further contact.
Xu Jiamin is indeed unlikable, but Xu Qingfeng is quite good. He is the manager of Sihai Trading Company and Jin Yuntian's right-hand man. He himself has not suffered any losses, and Xu Jiamin has not gained any advantage either. It would be better to make peace.
“I knew Miss Xia was generous. Since Miss Xia is about the same age as my Jiamin, I took the liberty of calling you my niece. Consider this bracelet a gift from your elder.”
Madam Xu smiled kindly and insisted on putting the gold bracelet on Xia Chunmei's wrist, so Xia Chunmei didn't stand on ceremony.
Out of consideration for the gold bracelet, Xia Chunmei reminded her, "Auntie, it's best not to travel far in the next three days."
Upon hearing this, Madam Xu's heart skipped a beat: how did she know she was planning to go on a long trip?
Madam Xu's younger sister married into Baoqing Prefecture, which is quite far from here. There is a Songshan County in between, and it takes three whole days to get there, even if the weather is good.
She received a letter a few days ago saying that her sister's newborn son had gone missing. Her sister was still in her postpartum period, and her brother-in-law was worried that she might do something drastic, so he wrote to ask her to go and keep her company.
Originally, Madam Xu planned to set off with Xu Jiamin tomorrow.
Xu Qingfeng knew that Xia Chunmei was quite capable in this area, so he immediately said to Madam Xu, "Listen to Miss Xia, you can go to Baoqing in a few days."
"Okay, I'll do whatever you say."
"I have something to attend to and must leave now. I won't invite you all to my house. I'm currently staying at my neighbor's house, which is inconvenient. Please forgive me."
Before leaving, Xia Chunmei said to Manager Xu, "I will be paying a visit tomorrow. Please tell Uncle Jin that I have a business deal that I need to discuss with him in person."
Upon hearing this, Xu Qingfeng and his wife were utterly shocked.
Xu Jiamin's first reaction was that Xia Chunmei had ulterior motives and wanted to climb the social ladder.
As the manager of the Sihai Trading Company, what kind of business couldn't she discuss with him, but instead had to talk to Jin Yuntian?
Xu Jiamin was very angry, but she didn't dare to say these words directly.
"I will certainly convey Miss Xia's words."
After Xia Chunmei left, Xu Jiamin said discontentedly, "Dad, I think she's just making a fuss and spreading rumors. Besides, we went to apologize, and she didn't even invite us to her house. She really doesn't know any manners and wants to act like she's the boss... I think she's..."
"Shut up!" Xu Qingfeng snapped. "From now on, you'd better get rid of your bad habits!"
Seeing her daughter being scolded, Madam Xu quickly came to her rescue: "Alright, Jiamin is still young, we can teach her slowly. Jiamin, you should also know that there are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people. Miss Xia can tell I'm going on a long trip just by looking at me. That alone is enough to prove her ability. She is also the young master's savior, so you should be more polite to her in the future."
"Okay," Xu Jiamin replied absentmindedly, her mind preoccupied with what Xia Chunmei wanted to discuss with Jin Yuntian.
Could it be that Xia Chunmei had designs on Jin Yuntian because he was handsome and Jin Wenyuan liked her?
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