Chapter 343 - Chapter 343: Chapter 330: Joking

Chapter 343: Chapter 330: Joking

“Construction is almost complete. We are able to move in now. We’re just left with the thick winter clothes and heavy quilts to pack away. We’ve been quite tired these last few days, let’s take a break for a few days and we can slowly tidy up the remaining. There’s no hurry.”

Mrs. Cao said with a smile, “We’re short of a large tank in the backyard. The old one is too small, fetching water back and forth is quite troublesome. Your uncle went to see the shop that sells water tanks and to arrange for a new one to be delivered.”

“Qiuyue rarely comes to town. It’s a novelty for her to see everything here. She has gone with your uncle to look around. They can also buy some vegetables on their way back. You can stay here for lunch.”

“Yes indeed,” Mrs. Liu agreed, nodding vigorously, “It’s been quite some time since we last saw Miss Zhuang. We must have lunch together and chat.”

It truly had been some time since Mrs. Liu last saw Zhuang Qingning. She was warmly clasping Zhuang Qingning’s hand and wouldn’t let go, chattering away, saying, “You seem to have grown taller since I last saw you.”

“But you’ve lost weight. You probably have been too busy to eat properly. I’ll cook you a fish dish at lunch to nourish your body.”

“My dear, if you’re too busy to cook on your own, just come and eat here. You’ll live here from now on, we’ll take care of each other. Though I’m an old lady and I can’t do much of the laborious work anymore, I can still cook decent meals. I reckon they’ll be to your liking.”

“Thank you, Aunt. I won’t hold back in the future then. Even if you may find my presence bothersome and want to send me away, you won’t be able to.” Zhuang Qingning teased, laughing merrily.

“Don’t be silly. We couldn’t invite you enough,” Mrs. Cao replied from the side, laughing.

Remembering the business in the shop, Mrs. Cao didn’t stay in the backyard long and went to manage the front shop with Zhang Qiuying. Mrs. Liu and Zhuang Qingning chatted in the backyard for a good long while until Zhang Xiangrong and Zhang Qiuyue came back, holding a slaughtered chicken and a decently sized fish in their hands.

“This chicken looks plump. It will go well with dried wood ear mushrooms and green peppers in a stir-fry. As for the fish, let’s stew it with tofu. It’s comforting to eat both soup and meat together.”

Mrs. Liu suggested, “Let’s also prepare a mixed salad, stir-fry some diced lotus root and steam some rice. Little Ning, how does that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, Aunt. I love everything you cook.” Zhuang Qingning responded warmly with a broad smile.

“Alright, let’s follow that plan then.” Mrs. Liu agreed with a smile and reached for her apron to put it on.

“Mom, you don’t need to cook. I’ll do it.” Mrs. Cao dashed forward quickly. “Xiangrong, you and Qiuyue go and attend the shop. I’ll get cooking.”

“Okay.” Zhang Xiangrong complied and walked to the front.

Mrs. Cao then proceeded to take over the apron from Mrs. Liu.

“No, no, no, you usually do the cooking. But today is different. I insist on preparing a hearty meal for Little Ning.” Mrs. Liu said as she moved towards the kitchen, not even letting Mrs. Cao lend a hand.

“I’m truly helpless against mom’s stubbornness.” Mrs. Cao came out of the kitchen helplessly and shrugged.

“Since Aunt is interested in cooking, let her be.” Zhuang Qingning giggled, “This will make her happy. That’s better than resting. It helps to live longer. If we insist on taking away her enjoyment, she may feel upset.”

“Yes, it seems we now always try to cater to mom’s whims.” Mrs. Cao also laughed. Suddenly, she slapped her forehead, “My goodness, I got completely carried away talking about the house move, I totally forgot that person who wanted to sell century eggs in the county town. He came two more times afterwards. I set the appointment the day after tomorrow, like you suggested.” “So, will we meet him in the shop or invite him directly to our house? Docs he need to look at the workshop?” Mrs. Cao asked.

Given that this is a business matter and the other party had repeatedly expressed a fair degree of sincerity, Zhuang Qingning thought it appropriate to show him the workshop where the century eggs arc made. On the day of the meeting, she could then verify the details of the other party’s shop. As long as they could agree on a profit distribution, they might then be able to finalize this business deal.

After some thought, Zhuang Qingning said, “Let’s invite him directly to the workshop so he can see for himself whether he wants to do this business.” Otherwise, it would seem like she was being secretive and not revealing any details about her role as a supplier, which might not be appropriate.

“Okay, I’ll send a message over. We’ll have him look for you directly at the appointed time.” Mrs. Cao agreed, nodding her head.

After chatting for a while and periodically assisting Mrs. Liu, lunch was rapidly prepared.

A mildly-spiced home-style stir-fried chicken dish, piping hot, with deliciously tender tofu stewed with white carp and served with soft, sticky white rice. Combined with Mrs. Liu’s enthusiastic food serving and constant urging to eat, Zhuang Qingning consumed half a bowl more than her usual intake.

She was so stuffed that when she returned home with Zhuang Sifu, she was still burping.

“Little sister Ning, what on earth did you eat to feel this full?” Zhuang Sifu joked as he observed Zhuang Qingning burping a few times.

Not wanting to relay her unfortunate tale, Zhuang Qingning made a face and rerouted the conversation, “Brother Sifu, haven’t you been fishing these last few days?”

“I’ve been busy with the fields these past few days, so I haven’t gone.” Zhuang Sifu replied innocently. “But do you want to eat fish? If you do, I’ll set out the trap tonight and when I catch a fish, I’ll deliver it to your house.”

“Don’t send it to my house, I am afraid I won’t have time to cook. Why not just send it to Aunt Wen’s house? Her sweet and sour fish is rather delicious.”

As soon as Zhuang Qingning finished her sentence, the meaning of her words dawned on Zhuang Sifu and his face turned beet red.

She wasn’t saying that she wanted to eat fish or that Aunt Wen really was good at cooking fish. She was implying that Zhou Daya liked to eat fish and that Zhou Daya was good at making sweet and sour fish.

She was clearly teasing him that while he had the pretext of delivering fish to Aunt Wen, he was, in fact, delivering fish for Zhou Daya to eat.

“… Little sister Ning, don’t…” Zhuang Sifu stammered, nervously adding, “Please promise not to tell anyone else.”

“I know, I know.” Zhuang Qingning giggled and responded, “I promise that when others find out about this, it definitely won’t be from me.”

Zhuang Sifu knew he could trust Zhuang Qingning to keep his secret safe.

However, having been reminded of this by Zhuang Qingning, his once calm heart felt as though a stone had been thrown into it, causing ripples to spread outwards, leaving him feeling disturbed.

He decided not to show his feelings, snapping the whip and continuing on their journey.

Zhuang Qingning saw all this clearly, but did not say a word, simply closing her mouth and smiling to herself.

When she returned home that evening, Mrs. He had sent over some vegetable buns. Zhuang Qingning simply mixed some salad to have with the buns. After an entire day bustling about, Zhuang Qingning went to bed early.

The next day, she woke up early, prepared breakfast, and got on with her day..