Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 264 - Chapter 264 Chapter 253 Home Cooking

Chapter 264: Chapter 253: Home Cooking Chapter 264: Chapter 253: Home Cooking Xiao Qiu brought back a basket full of groceries and bumped into an old lady at the alley entrance, “Whoa, buying so much food today, is there some kind of celebration?”

Having lived here for so long, she’d grown familiar with everyone in Radiance Alley. The residents, who faced a shortage of housing, were quite envious of them for having such good relatives. Of course, there were also some sour comments, but neither Second Sister-in-law Lu and her husband nor Xiao Qiu paid them any mind.

“My auntie has come back.”

The old lady was surprisingly shocked and echoed the same sentiment as Second Sister-in-law Lu, “Isn’t the university entrance exam in July? That’s little more than a month away, why come back now? That spiteful mother and daughter duo ruined her chance at university the year before last, and now she needs to study even harder to get into a good university, to not let the bad experience mess with her aspirations.”

Xiao Qiu said with a smile, “No, my auntie finished her exams. The exams in Hong Kong are different from here; they finished a few days ago.”

It was at this moment that Fatty Aunt spotted her, “Xiao Qiu, your auntie just bought some incense and candles, she must have gone to pay respects to your Third Aunt.”

“Right, your auntie is quite the big spender now, even hailed a cab to go to the gravesite. Her Aunt spoils her so much, why can’t I have relatives like that!”

Not just Fatty Aunt, but the entire Radiance Alley was envious of Jiaxin.

Xiao Qiu didn’t want to chat anymore and said, “My auntie likes drinking chicken soup. I won’t keep you any longer, I need to go back and cook the chicken soup for her.”

When Second Sister-in-law Lu came back at a little past three, she didn’t find Jiaxin at home, “Where did your auntie go?”

Xiao Qiu replied, “From what Fatty Aunt said, right after my auntie came back, she bought incense and offerings and must have gone to visit Third Aunt’s grave. Fatty Aunt mentioned that she took a taxi!”

Taxis are expensive now. Just getting from the Forty-nine City to the airport costs a fortune, and ordinary folks can’t afford it.

The color drained from Second Sister-in-law Lu’s face, and she said anxiously, “She’s neglecting her college entrance exam, she must be bullied. This won’t do, I have to call your uncle.”

Xiao Qiu grabbed her arm and said, “Mom, don’t worry, I just called uncle, and he said that the exams in Hong Kong are earlier than ours, they finished five days ago.”

Right away, Second Sister-in-law Lu’s worry turned to joy, “So, you mean your auntie did well on the exams.”

“What?”

Second Sister-in-law Lu, all smiles, said, “Silly girl, your auntie must have done well, so she hurried back to bring good news to your Third Aunt. Come on, let’s get cooking quickly. We’ve invited your uncle and the rest over for dinner tonight to celebrate for your auntie.”

“Mom, the results haven’t come out yet.”

Second Sister-in-law Lu playfully smacked her on the head, scolding with a laugh, “You’ve been to school yourself; don’t you know if you’ve done well or not? Enough chit-chat, let’s get to work.”

The mother and daughter busied themselves in the kitchen.

Jiaxin returned from the cemetery to the Forty-nine City and had the driver take her to Shichahai. Due to Guh Xiuxiu’s request to restore everything to its original state, the workload was enormous, and the project was still not finished.

The large residence with five courtyards had its first three sections completed, and they were now working on the fourth. The foreman said that including the back garden, it would take another three months to finish.

Guh Xiuxiu left all the expenses to He Bin without meddling. She figured such a beautiful residence, after airing out for a year once construction was finished and waiting until spring came around, would be a perfect place for Aunt to stay for a while.

Between the thirty million and the house itself – just the residence in the future could be worth ten to twenty billion, and that’s if you could even put a price on it.

Wenfeng looked at the elaborately carved pillars and asked curiously, “Who used to live here before? They had such extravagant tastes.”

Lu Jiaxin said with a smile, “This residence used to belong to a prince of the previous dynasty. When my Aunt bought it, she spent eighty-eight thousand, and she got it because she used greenbacks.”

After making a round with Lu Jiaxin, Gu Wenfeng had one impression, “There are too many rooms, if he slept in them in rotation, it would take three to four months to sleep in them all.”

Lu Jiaxin laughed heartily, “In the old feudal society, wealthy men had multiple wives and concubines. A prince like him would have at least a dozen, both official and lesser wives. These wives and concubines would bear children, and there needed to be servants to wait on him, his spouses, and his children. You think this residence is very big, but because there were so many people to serve, even the maids would have to sleep three or four to a room, which was still crowded.”

Gu Wenfeng said sincerely, “I’m glad it’s a new society now. If it were that era, farmers like us wouldn’t have had a chance to get ahead.”

Lu Jiaxin also felt that the new society was better. In feudal society, a woman lived under her father’s roof before marriage, followed her husband after marriage, and her son if her husband died, with no status of her own. Now, although there are many restrictions, as long as you are willing to fight and dare to strive, you can still carve out a career for yourself.

The two chatted as they walked and found the taxi still at the gate when they arrived. The taxi driver stepped forward and voluntarily said, “Taking you on this trip is enough for me today. After I drop you off, I’ll call it a day and go home.”

The fare for hiring the taxi was sixty greenbacks, and including an extra twenty greenbacks, it amounted to more than one hundred sixty Hua currency. He didn’t want to take any more passengers and was looking forward to getting home early.

“Ten bucks?”

“Sure, sure.”

Nowadays, there are few vehicles in the Mainland, so the taxi ride to Radiance Alley was very quick. As soon as she entered the alley, Lu Jiaxin was surrounded by enthusiastic neighborhood sisters and aunties, asking whether she really had finished her college entrance exams.

Lu Jiaxin didn’t like such enthusiasm, but still answered their questions politely and amiably.

Gu Wenfeng knew Jiaxin’s temperament. He stepped forward to push the crowd away and protected her as they entered the Lu Family home. As soon as they were inside the courtyard, he immediately closed the door.

Xiao Qiu saw Jiaxin and happily rushed over to hug her.

Lu Jiaxin retreated two steps when she smelled the fishy odor on Xiao Qiu and asked, “Have you been killing fish?”

Xiao Qiu nodded and said, “Yeah, I just killed a fish. Mistress, don’t you like to eat steamed fish? I’ll make some for you in a bit.”

Lu Jiaxin felt a warmth in her heart.

Thinking of Jiaxin’s visit to the graves, Xiao Qiu said, “Mistress, there’s chicken stewing in the kitchen that’s been cooking for over three hours. If you’re hungry, have a bowl to fill your stomach. Don’t worry, I’ve skimmed off the fat, it won’t be greasy.”

Lu Jiaxin found the maid more and more endearing. She had walked a lot today, and after only having a quick meal at noon, she was quite hungry now, she said with a smile, “Then ladle out a bowl for me.”

“Right away.”

Lu Jiaxin stopped her, “You go wash your hands first in the bathroom with soap, to get rid of the fishy smell.”

Xiao Qiu felt that the mistress was still as fond of cleanliness as ever. While she went to wash her hands, Second Sister-in-law Lu brought out the chicken soup from the kitchen.

Lu Jiaxin thought Xiao Qiu was the only one at home, so she greeted the newcomer immediately.

Second Sister-in-law Lu placed the chicken soup on the table, looking at Lu Jiaxin with sympathy, “You poor thing, how did you get so thin? Don’t you like the food over there?”

Lu Jiaxin touched her face and felt it strange; she had been eating nourishing foods like bird’s nest and fish maw every night. After the exams, she’d lost five pounds, and she had no idea where all the food had gone.