The Fan family.
"Mother, I heard that Xia Chunmei is a very good cook. Did you know about this?" Fan Baoyun asked.
Madam Fan: "I know, her skills are indeed excellent. She hosted Wang Dagui's birthday banquet. Her whole fish feast and longevity peach buns are already famous. Recently, many people have asked her to host their banquets. I guess she's made a lot of money. Why are you asking about this?"
"Mother, haven't you ever thought about learning her skills?" Fan Baoyun said softly. "My younger brother's schooling must have cost a lot of money, her skills are a treasure trove."
"Of course I've thought about it, but that girl isn't so easy to fool. We're at the crucial point of breaking off the engagement right now, and I don't want to cause any more trouble."
“She’s just a country bumpkin with no experience. How could she be so hard to fool? I’ll handle this. I’m a married woman. Even if I fail, it won’t affect my younger brother.”
...
In the afternoon, Fan Baoyun brought ten eggs to Yijia Village.
“Chunmei is my future sister-in-law. She has no parents and spends the holidays at home with her younger sisters. It’s quite lonely, so I came over to bring her some eggs.”
Fan Baoyun arrived in a high-profile manner, after all, she was there to deliver gifts to her future sister-in-law; if she didn't make a big show of it, how would others know how good the Fan family was?
"A few days ago, Fan Baowen delivered ten catties of grain, and today she came to deliver eggs. It's really good to have the Fan family on our side."
"Chunmei is a lucky girl."
"If our daughters can find husbands-in-law like this and have sisters-in-law like this in the future, that would be wonderful."
...
Everyone in the village envied them.
Hearing these words, Fan Baoyun felt secretly pleased, thinking herself very clever. This way, if anything happened to Xia Chunmei in the future, who would suspect her and the Fan family?
"Chunmei, are you home?"
"Who's looking for me?" Xia Chunmei had just returned from Tian Cuiya's house when she ran into Fan Baoyun, who had come to visit.
"Chunmei, do you still remember me? I'm your sister Baoyun."
"Fan Baowen's sister"
"Yes, it's a holiday today. We thought it would be a bit lonely for you and your sisters to celebrate, so we brought you some eggs to add to your dishes. My Baowen originally said he was going to come, but I thought we haven't seen each other in a long time, so I took his place."
The original novel's side story mentions this woman in front of us. Don't be fooled by her gentle and kind smile; she is actually the worst person in the Fan family!
It was she who instigated the Fan family to break off the engagement. Fan Baowen also met Du Lanlan through her introduction, and thus made up his mind to break off the engagement. Fan Baowen thought of using Xia Xiumei in order to protect his reputation.
However, she didn't have a good ending either. After the original owner turned evil, she hired a junket operator to contact her husband and lure him into gambling. Later, her husband squandered all their wealth and even knocked her unconscious and sent her to his creditor's bed to pay off his debts with his body.
But what is she doing here today?
They're trying to fool her by giving her eggs, like she's a three-year-old.
"Sister Baoyun, you're too kind. Please have a seat." Since the two families haven't completely fallen out, Xia Chunmei certainly wouldn't risk her life to embarrass them.
Where are your three younger sisters?
"Dongmei took Yaomei to dig for earthworms, and Qiumei went fishing."
"I've heard that you sisters are doing well now, and I'm happy for you."
Xia Chunmei didn't respond, waiting to see her continue her performance.
Fan Baoyun continued, "I heard that Chunmei, you now take on banquets and have excellent cooking skills. This is your livelihood, so you can't easily let outsiders learn it."
Fan Baoyun acted as if she was thinking of Xia Chunmei's best interests. If Xia Chunmei hadn't had a body swap, she might have been fooled by her acting skills.
Having said that, Xia Chunmei knew the real purpose of her visit.
"Sister Baoyun, don't worry, I won't pass on this skill to outsiders. In the future, I will only teach it to my three younger sisters and my own biological daughter. I won't teach any other people with different surnames."
Hearing this, Fan Baoyun felt a lump in her throat.
He then laughed and said, "But now you're bringing outsiders to banquets every day. Who knows if they'll secretly learn from your sister? Let me tell you, if you're not family, you'll never be of one mind."
"So, sister, you mean..."
“Next time you cook, Baoyu, Baoli, and I will go with you. The three of us sisters will accompany you, and no one else needs to go. That way, no one will learn your skills.”
Xia Chunmei had to admit that Fan Baoyun's plan was really clever; she actually thought that all three sisters would come and secretly learn the craft.
“Sister Baoyun, Aunt Lihua and Grandma Ming’s family have been very kind to me. They’ve become familiar with me, so it might be inappropriate for me to suddenly tell them not to do it anymore.”
Moreover, my three younger sisters will be living here, and we'll inevitably need the neighbors to look after them in the future, so I absolutely dare not say anything to stop them from doing it at this time.”
Fan Baoyun didn't expect that Xia Chunmei was really not stupid; despite her young age, she was quite far-sighted.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re all real relatives. If you hire a true relative to do the work, you won’t find any fault with the water anywhere. If you’re worried about your sister, bring her to live with the Fan family. We’ll build two rooms in Fan’s Ao for your three sisters to live in.”
Xia Chunmei pretended to be happy: "Really? Can I really bring my sister over? Sister Baoyun, you're so kind. You know I don't have much money for building the house, so I'm entrusting the house construction to you. Once the house is finished, I'll let my sister move in. Then I can legitimately tell the neighbors that I won't ask them to do any more work, and they definitely won't make things difficult for me."
Fan Baoyun: "..."
"No, Chunmei, you've misunderstood. There's no rush about the house..."
"Of course the house is urgent. I also want to take Sister Baoyun and the other two sisters from the Fan family to run a kitchen and earn some extra money. But I'm definitely not comfortable with my sister still living here. But it'll be different once the house is built. We can move out and it won't be awkward if we don't invite them. So, Sister Baoyun, you need to hurry up with the house."
Fan Baoyun was so angry she almost vomited blood. What does it have to do with me that I'm trying to save the house?
“Actually, I’ll be of marriageable age in a little over a month. According to the agreement between our two families, we’ll get married after that. Baowen and I will get married before the New Year, and my sister can move in before the New Year too. That would be a double celebration! In the future, I will definitely work with my sisters to earn money so that they can save up a lot of savings before they get married, so that they will have more confidence in their husband’s family after they get married. What do you say, Baoyun?”
I said, I said nothing at all!!!
Fan Baoyun then realized how annoying Xia Chunmei was.
It turned out that my decision to match my younger brother with Miss Du Lanlan was absolutely correct.
"Chunmei, are you saying that if we don't build a proper house, you'll insist on bringing outsiders and not us?" Fan Baoyun's expression changed, and her tone was no longer as amiable as before.
"Yes."
Fan Baoyun choked.
They clearly hadn't expected Xia Chunmei to be so straightforward and direct.
Fan Baoyun was speechless; it was the first time she had ever encountered someone like Xia Chunmei.
Fan Baoyun tried to calm herself down and said, "Chunmei, we're practically family now, why are you being so petty?"
“Sister Baoyun, I’ll be of marriageable age in a little over a month. According to the agreement between our two families years ago, we will get married after I reach this age. It’s only a couple of months away, so why are you in such a hurry? If you’re in such a hurry, then I’ll go and call Grandma Ming and Aunt Lihua over. You can tell them that I’m not good with words and I’m afraid I won’t be able to say it.”
After saying that, Xia Chunmei got up to call for help.
"Come back here!" Fan Baoyun quickly stopped her; she didn't want to be the bad guy.
"Chunmei, these are pears I brought back from my parents' home. Give some to your sisters to try." Aunt Pear Blossom arrived, carrying a basket of pears.
"Thank you, Auntie. You've come at the perfect time. This is Sister Fan. She has something to say to you."
Aunt Pear Blossom was taken aback: "Why are you talking to me like this?"
Fan Baoyun was so angry she almost vomited blood. She forced a smile and said, "Actually, it's nothing. It's just that Chunmei is very grateful for your care. I wanted to thank you, Auntie."
"Hey, it's not us taking care of Chunmei, it's Chunmei taking care of us," Aunt Lihua said with a smile.
"Well, it's getting late, so I'll head back now. Chunmei, take care of yourself." Fan Baoyun said politely before leaving.
Turning around, Fan Baoyun's face was gloomy, and she cursed Xia Chunmei's ancestors dozens of times in her heart.
Xia Chunmei, since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me!
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