Qiao Jinniang knew that her mother often coughed up blood these days. She heard from the woman who took care of her parents that her mother often coughed at night and woke up, so she didn’t want to drag this on any longer.
But looking at the men introduced by the matchmakers, she couldn’t even find a tall man among the short ones.
After much difficulty, she finally settled on a man who was the son of the second son in the family. His parents were in poverty and were seriously ill.
Sister-in-law and brother did not want to take money to cure the illness. The younger brother was still studying in the academy and wanted to obtain a title.
He had no choice but to agree to marry into the Qiao family. His appearance was average, and he was not tall. He could not read a single word, but he was hardworking and willing to work.
Qiao Jinniang happily told her parents about this matter, and the waiters in the Hundred Savory restaurant also heard about it.
Just as the Qiao family came to make a scene, Qiao Jinniang left with the workers of the Hundred Savory restaurant with brooms in hand.
Dog Qiao said, “I heard from the matchmaker that you have been looking for a husband for the past few days, but you haven’t been able to find one. For the sake of being a relative, I advise you to have some self-awareness!
“The family has chosen a son for you. For thousands of years, there hasn’t been any mention of a daughter inheriting the family business!”
Qiao Jinniang held a rolling pin and said, “There’s no need for that. I’ve already found a son-in-law. If he marries into my Qiao family, he will become a member of my Qiao family. There’s no need for you to meddle in other people’s business. If you don’t leave, I’ll report it to the authorities.”
The Qiao family’s relatives left dejectedly. Qiao ergou felt indignant as he walked, so he went to matchmaker Wang’s house together.
Matchmaker Wang was a matchmaker for the people of Lin ‘an. She knew many people of all walks of life, so she was naturally not afraid of the Qiao family’s relatives. She said in a cold voice,
“Qiao Ergou, you are really shameless. You are still alive, yet you want to eat your way out of the family. Bah!”
Qiao Ergou’s family was making a scene. Matchmaker Wang’s husband could not stand it any longer, so he told Qiao ergou about Qiao Jinniang’s son-in-law.
Qiao ergou went to their house to make a scene. When he heard that it was someone whose parents were seriously ill and had to take care of their younger brother, he thought that the money that should belong to the Qiao family’s Hundred Savory restaurant would be given to this little bastard.
He also took out the son of the prefect to threaten her. This man was weak to begin with. When he heard that the son of the prefect was interested in Qiao Jinniang, how would he dare to be Qiao Jinniang’s son-in-law? He immediately went to matchmaker Wang to reject the marriage.
..
In the evening, the restaurant was bustling with activity. Qiao Jinniang hid in Lu Chen’s house and rolled two eggs.
Lu Chen looked at the red and swollen palm print on Qiao Jinniang’s face and looked at her aggrieved eyes. He felt inexplicably uncomfortable. “You really are too much. The husband and wife are fine. How can you persuade a pregnant woman to get a divorce?”
Qiao jinniang said aggrievedly, “Her child was just born not long ago, and she was pregnant with another one. Her husband either beat or scolded her, blaming her for not being able to give birth to a son.
While pregnant, she still had to serve the whole family and eat. She was even beaten and scolded by her husband. So what if he persuaded her to get a divorce? Instead, she beat me up.”
Qiao Jinniang rubbed the white egg and said, “Don’t tell anyone about me hiding here and laying eggs, especially the anise, star anise, and glutinous rice. If father and mother find out about it, they will inevitably be worried.”
Lu Chen replied, “Okay.”
He did not say much. He looked at the account book while Qiao Jinniang rubbed the wound on her face with the egg and looked at the account book.
Then, the little glutinous Rice’s voice came from outside. “Master, are you inside? Matchmaker Wang came and said that Qiao Ergou and the others went to look for the future son-in-law. The future son-in-law doesn’t want to marry into the family.”
Qiao Jinniang opened the door. “What?”
“Besides, Qiao Ergou and the others came back and left Qiao Wei in the small courtyard. The Old Master and Madam are worrying in the small courtyard!”
Qiao Jinniang looked in the mirror and saw that the swelling on her face had subsided. She applied lead powder to cover the bruise on her face.
It was the busiest time in the Hundred Savory restaurant. Qiao Jinniang could only bring Lu Chen and a broom to hand to Lu Chen.
“Listen to my orders later. If I tell you to fight, fight. I’ll give you an extra tael of silver this month!”
Lu Chen:”…”
In the small courtyard of the Qiao family, Qiao Wei, who had triangular eyes and was brightly lit, was sitting in the hall. When he saw Qiao Jinniang, he called her sister.
Qiao jinniang frowned and said, “Who’s your sister? Go back to where you came from. Our family won’t take you in.”
Qiao Wei knelt in front of father and mother Qiao and said, “Uncle and aunt, you can keep me. If I go back, father and mother will beat me to death.”
Father Qiao coughed twice. Seeing Qiao Wei crying miserably, he said, “Forget it, forget it. You can stay. But you’re not an heir. Just go to the kitchen of the hundred flavor restaurant and help out. I’ll give you a silver monthly salary every month.”
Qiao jinniang said unhappily, “Father, why do you want to keep him here?”
Father Qiao said to Qiao Wei, “Go to the backyard of the Hundred Savory restaurant first and find an empty courtyard to live in.”
Qiao Wei left happily. Father Qiao said helplessly, “Jinniang, the Doctor said that Father and mother don’t have much time left. He has to leave a way out for you. If you really can’t find a husband to marry into, you can only rely on Qiao Wei.”
Qiao jinniang pouted and said, “Who needs her? Just those people. Last year, when the son of the prefect asked me to be a concubine, that Qiao ergou even took a large sum of money.
“If it weren’t for the lady of the Xie family helping me find the prefect, I would have long been sold by Qiao Ergou to the son of the prefect to be the 12th concubine!”
Mother Qiao said sorrowfully, “It’s all my fault. I didn’t give birth to a brother to help Jinniang.”
“Mother, please don’t think like that. Your daughter will definitely be more successful than your son!”Mother Qiao said, “I will let the world know about the Hundred Savory Restaurant!”
Mother Qiao’s eyes were filled with worry and tears.
Lu Chen looked at the three of them and felt a little touched..
After Qiao Wei stayed in the Hundred Savory restaurant, he treated himself like a young master. When Lu Chen was collecting the money, Qiao Wei went straight to the drawer of the accounts room to take the silver.
One day, Qiao Jinniang happened to catch him.
“How dare you steal the silver from the Hundred Savory restaurant. The Hundred Savory restaurant can’t keep people like you. Hurry up and return the silver. Go back to your own house!”
Qiao Jinniang was furious when she saw Qiao Wei take a full one tael of silver. She knew very well the character of the Qiao family’s relatives. When she was young, those relatives of the Qiao family wanted nothing more than to take everything from the Hundred Savory restaurant.
If the restaurant was given to Qiao Wei and the Qiao family, they might lose it.
Qiao Wei saw that there were more people around and reluctantly put the silver back into the distance. He hummed a tune and returned to the room in the backyard of the restaurant.
Lu Chen was bored at night and strolled around Lin ‘an city. When he returned to the restaurant, he saw Father Qiao.
“Benefactor, your body is not good. Why did you come to the restaurant so late?”
