Open the box.
Inside was a contract and a handwritten recipe book.
"Mother? What is this?"
Chang Yu was puzzled. She looked up at Yan Xia and asked blankly.
"Your mother bought you a three-story waterside pavilion in the town, located in the middle of the city by the river. It used to be a restaurant with very good food, but it closed down for some reason and put the pavilion up for sale at a brokerage. Your mother bought it for more than three thousand taels of silver. Your mother thought it wasn't right to always have you busy in the backyard of the pastry shop. You are seventeen this year."
"Your mother hopes you will do what you love. And this handwritten cookbook—I copied it myself—must never be revealed. The chef must be someone you trust. From now on, the restaurant's affairs are in your hands. Whether it's opening the business or managing the restaurant, your mother won't interfere. Everything will be up to you. Whether you go into business or get married, whatever you do, your mother will support your choices."
Yan Xia handed the recipe she had copied herself to her second daughter.
This recipe isn't thick.
These are her carefully selected dishes, a hundred in total.
That's enough for a restaurant to operate for decades.
Her words were like a tearjerker, moving Chang Yu to tears as she hugged her.
The crying attracted Chang Yi as well.
Looking at the contract and recipes, she also clamored to help her second sister open a restaurant together.
After all, she's a foodie.
I have no dreams, and I'm tired of the food from the pastry shop.
She wanted to try all the different restaurants.
"Okay, you help me." Before Yan Xia could speak, Chang Yu agreed with a sob in her voice.
"You silly child, I was planning to give you another shop for your birthday next year, but now you've stuck with your second sister again. So be it. You two sisters are always in the pastry shop, it must be so boring. Why don't you try your own way out? It's okay if you lose money, you can just come home and I'll take care of you for the rest of your lives!"
Yan Xia spoke boldly.
"Yes! Mother is the best mother in the world. I am so happy, Mother—"
"I want to hug my mom too."
The two sisters each held Yan Xia on one side.
Yan Xia felt like she couldn't breathe.
"Alright, alright, go back to your rooms. I still need to deliver gifts to your eldest brother. Go to sleep early."
Yan Xia broke free, grabbed an unopened box from the table, and ran away.
She only breathed a sigh of relief after passing through the archway.
She smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes and went straight to her eldest son's room in the three-courtyard house.
"Changfu—"
Before the person arrived, their voices entered the house first.
"Hey, mother——"
Chang Fu came out to greet him.
Yan Xia stepped over the threshold and went inside.
"Changfu, do you like the birthday present your mother gave you?"
After handing the box to her eldest son, she sat down on the edge of the bed, took her granddaughter, who was still awake, from her eldest daughter-in-law's arms, and held her carefully.
His eyes were full of love.
"My little dumpling, your tummy is all round and full. You have to grow up quickly, and when you grow up, Grandma will take you to play everywhere."
Children change every day.
The dumpling has grown even bigger.
They've gotten so chubby from eating that Yan Xia looks like she's having a hard time holding Xiao He.
"Tuanzi usually eats a lot. The milk from the two wet nurses is barely enough to keep her full. But it's not good for her to get too fat. I'm thinking of reducing one milk feeding for Tuanzi in two months and replacing it with rice cereal."
Shi Xiaohe suggested.
"Whatever you say. You're Tuanzi's mother, so you get to decide," Yan Xia replied, kissing Tuanzi's chubby cheek.
As a mother-in-law.
All you need to do is pay money and put in the effort.
Mind your own business.
"Mother, is this the estate?"
Suddenly, Changfu shouted loudly, startling Tuanzi so much that she flinched.
"Oh, oh~ Tuanzi, be good, Tuanzi, don't be afraid, oh, oh—" Yan Xia quickly patted her granddaughter's back to coax her.
That's why I didn't cry.
"You silly boy, what are you yelling about? You scared Tuanzi."
Yan Xia glared at Chang Fu.
Changfu scratched the back of his head, grinning awkwardly with a simple-minded expression. "Mom, I'm just too shocked."
"What's so shocking? It's just a manor. I've already asked Jinyu to send people to repair it. Once it's done, you can take Xiaohe and Tuanzi there to play often, so they won't be bored staying at home all day. There's a small temple outside the manor where you can burn incense, Xiaohe. There's also a peach orchard. When the peach blossoms are in full bloom in spring, it's a beautiful pink scene. When the peaches are ripe, you can pick them and have fun. There's also a small river in the manor with lots of fish. Changfu, didn't you used to love running to the river with your friends from the village? Now you can have your fill of fun."
Yan Xia smiled faintly.
Tuanzi had fallen asleep under her patting.
Yan Xia gently placed Tuanzi on the bed.
Xiaohe helped her daughter cover herself with the blanket.
"Mother, thank you..." Changfu said softly, his head bowed.
His voice trembled slightly, as if he were crying.
"Thank you so much. I'll work hard and run the shop well. I've bought a restaurant for your second sister to run, and Chang Yi will also help her. From now on, you'll have full control over the shop."
Yan Xia yawned.
Feeling sleepy, she decided to go back to sleep.
After saying that, he stood up.
He walked up to Chang Fu, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.
As she crossed the threshold, she heard Changfu whisper to her back, "Mother, I'll do a good job, don't worry."
"Um."
Yan Xia gave a soft "hmm".
We left through the three courtyards.
After returning home, she washed up and went to bed with Xiao Ji's help.
I didn't shower today.
The weather is getting colder, and I'm so tired that it's okay to shower every two days.
Anyway, I wasn't sweating.
Early the next morning.
Someone banged on the door of the brothel in Shuangqiao Town.
"Here they come—"
The thug, still half asleep, opened the door.
"The girls haven't served any customers yet, come back later."
Seeing that it was a man, she assumed he was coming to the brothel early in the morning, so she politely asked him to come back later.
After all, the girls haven't gotten up yet.
"I don't want to play with girls, I want to find my mother."
The madams here are all called "mama".
If Yan Xia were there, she would probably burst out laughing and call for her mother.
They really think they're tadpoles.
"Mom? Okay, I'll call her for you." The thug guarding the door thought the man had something important to say to his mother, so he didn't dare to delay. He squinted and went to his mother's room to wake her up.
I waited for a while.
Liu Chunlai finally got to see the brothel's mother.
He immediately offered the silver coins with a fawning expression.
“Madam, my family sent me here to buy some aphrodisiacs. My uncle’s younger brother has been mentally damaged since childhood and is about to get married, but he doesn’t know anything about sex. He’s their only son, and they’re worried that he won’t be able to consummate the marriage and have children. That’s why they’ve resorted to this desperate measure and sent me to this brothel to buy some aphrodisiacs from you. Please be lenient and help me out.”
Liu Chunlai is definitely not telling the truth.
He thought about it all night before coming up with this excuse.
You know what?
Mom actually believed it.
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