allonlinenovel Chapter 153 Urging Marriage
Chapter 153 Urging Marriage
Aunt Li was the first to try it. The rabbit meat, after being deep-fried, was especially chewy, fragrant, and spicy. She quickly scooped up a big mouthful of rice.
"It smells so good! With this dish, I'll eat two more bowls of rice." Aunt Li said, but her hands didn't stop moving.
When everyone heard Aunt Li say that, they all picked up their chopsticks. The village chief took a bite of meat and a sip of wine, and his expression was so smug.
"Jiaojiao, this dish is so delicious, are you still planning to sell it to Sifanglou?" Aunt Li asked, remembering that in the past, whenever Song Jiaojiao made a new dish, she would sell it to Sifanglou.
"I'm not selling this time, I'm keeping it for myself. To be honest, I bought a shop in town recently and plan to open a barbecue restaurant. I plan to sell this dish at the barbecue restaurant."
Song Jiaojiao explained, thinking that the food stall would open in three days, and she still needed to buy a lot of things in the village to take with her.
"No wonder I haven't seen you for more than half a month. It turns out you bought a shop in town," Aunt Li said with a sudden realization.
"Is the shop ready? When do you plan to open it?" Aunt Li then asked.
"It'll be open soon, the day after tomorrow. It's near Sifanglou, called a food stall. Auntie can go there for fun when she has time," Song Jiaojiao said.
"Okay, I'll definitely go when I have time. I haven't seen Mu Qing lately, she must be helping out in town!"
"Yeah, Mu Qing basically set up this shop, I didn't have to do anything," Song Jiaojiao joked.
"The child is growing up and knows how to share your burdens, which is a good thing. Muqing will be fifteen soon, right? Jiaojiao, do you have any good suitors in mind?"
Aunt Li thought that Mu Qing was almost fifteen, and it was time for her to be introduced to someone. She thought of her own nephew, who was about the same age as Mu Qing, and wondered if they were destined to be together.
Song Jiaojiao was taken aback by Aunt Li's words. This was something she hadn't considered. At this age, she was still a minor in modern times. Song Jiaojiao had never even thought about it.
However, in ancient times, it was indeed the age when one should be looking for a partner.
"It's still early. I want to keep Muqing for another two years. Life was tough before, but now it's finally getting better. Muqing should enjoy some happiness. I plan to wait until Muqing turns eighteen before we talk about it."
Aunt Li didn't expect Song Jiaojiao to arrange a marriage for Mu Qing so late. By then, she would be an old maid, and all the good men would have already been chosen.
Then she thought about how, a few years ago, before Song Jiaojiao had separated from the family, Wang's family had made Song Jiaojiao's family suffer a lot. She should stay at home and think about getting rich. Who knows if getting married will be good or bad?
"That's true. Muqing is becoming more and more capable. She'll definitely find someone better in the future. Maybe she can even marry into a wealthy family and become a lady!" Aunt Li thought that with Song Jiaojiao's current achievements, maybe her two girls would do even better in the future.
"It doesn't matter whether he marries into a wealthy family or not, as long as he has good character and treats Mu Qing well. If that doesn't work out, we can find a husband for him," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile, not taking the matter to heart at all.
Everyone was startled by Song Jiaojiao's words; they hadn't expected her to have this idea. But thinking about it...
Given Song Jiaojiao's current earning power, finding someone to come to her door would be no problem at all.
"Let's not talk about Mu Qing anymore, Jiao Jiao. Your eldest son is already sixteen. That's the important thing. Don't you want to take a look first?" Aunt Li thought about how Wang Hefan was getting on in years, and those who got married early already had children.
"Auntie, it's not that I don't want to look for him, it's just that I haven't seen He Fan for more than half a year. He's working at a security escort agency now, traveling all over the country all year round. How can I let someone else's daughter suffer!"
Song Jiaojiao said with a wry smile, thinking that Wang Hefan was probably still in the north, where the ground might not have thawed yet.
Aunt Li thought for a moment and said, "That's true. It's been almost a year since I've seen He Fan. Jiao Jiao, you really shouldn't have sent the child to the escort agency. You're not short of money, so why make the child suffer like that?"
At this point, Aunt Li really couldn't understand why Song Jiaojiao did this.
Song Jiaojiao smiled wryly and quickly explained, "Auntie, you're wronging me. My original intention was to send He Fan to a martial arts school to learn some martial arts. At his age, no academy would accept him if he went to learn calligraphy. I thought he should have some skills of his own. Who knew he would choose the escort agency in the end? I had no choice!"
Hearing this, Aunt Li finally understood the reason. "Oh, I see. I really wronged you. It's just that the Wang family keeps saying you're messing with He Fan. After hearing that so many times, it's become a rumor..."
"Auntie apologizes to you, Jiaojiao, please don't take it to heart." Aunt Li said guiltily, "I shouldn't have listened to hearsay, knowing full well that the other side had ill intentions."
“Auntie, we’re so familiar with each other, don’t I know what kind of person you are? I know you’re doing this for He Fan’s own good. I’ve heard the rumors in the village, but I won’t take them to heart. You’re not a fish, how can you know what a fish is doing?”
Song Jiaojiao said with a smile that Xu Fang had told her about these things in the village a long time ago, but Song Jiaojiao hadn't taken them to heart at all. She was so busy every day, she didn't have time.
"Oh, by the way, Auntie, remember to collect the eggs when the villagers come to sell them. The big ones are 2 coins a pound, and the small ones are 1 coin a pound. Put the small ones separately. I need to take these to town."
Song Jiaojiao took the opportunity to make arrangements for what followed, and Aunt Li happened to be there.
"Okay, I got it. I reckon someone will come to sell the eggs tomorrow. Everyone's been busy digging for eggs these past few days!" Aunt Li nodded with a smile.
"I guess so too. Spring planting is just around the corner, and everyone's time is very tight."
Song Jiaojiao thought for a moment and then asked, "Auntie, have the escort agency brought in a lot of mung beans and soybeans lately?"
“They used to come every five days, but now even a single trip isn’t much. If this continues, it’ll probably stop in about two more months.”
Aunt Li thought that the amount of mung beans and soybeans she had brought in had been decreasing lately, and she guessed that there were probably no more left in other places.
"It's alright, the ground eggs have just been collected, so it's perfect timing. The method for making potato starch is the same as for sweet potato starch, and the yield is about the same. We can make that next time. When the escort agency comes, tell them to help us buy some potatoes, that is, ground eggs."
Song Jiaojiao thought that since they had already harvested here, other places should also be starting to harvest soon.
"Okay, I'll remember that." Aunt Li nodded with a smile.
……
After dinner, everyone went off to do their work.
Song Jiaojiao also went for a walk. The hillside is now planted with many saplings and is no longer as bare as it was at the beginning.
Thinking about how there will be plenty of fruit to eat next year, especially grapes, and with the barbecue restaurant opening, we'll need a lot of wine, so we'll have to plant a lot of grapes.
And then there are peaches. This year we'll have peaches to eat, and peach blossoms can also be used to make peach blossom wine.
Song Jiaojiao looked at the peach tree that was beginning to form flower buds. It would bloom in mid-February.