The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 218 The Blind Man is Sick (9)_1

Chapter 218: Chapter 218 The Blind Man is Sick (9)_1

"I’m not your mother, why should I cook you a bowl of noodles!?" Pei Qin shot her a look. "Even if I were your mother, it’s not for you to command and expect me to work for you!"

Pei Qian looked on, hoping to see Pei Qin tidy her up.

"While you all visited relatives for just a few days, you treat me like this!" Fang Fang sat to the side, hugging her flat belly and sobbing.

She thought that her crying would get Pei Qin to coax her and give her lots of food.

But little did she know that Pei Qin’s biggest pet peeve was wailing and crying; having prepared the noodles and topping, she was ready to go out and set up her stall.

Pei Qian clicked the door lock shut, ensuring there was not a single edible thing left in the yard.

With a look of aggrievement on her face, Fang Fang followed them out, calling out that she was hungry. And as customers arrived and a freshly boiled serving of He Le noodles was presented to them, she snatched it away, "I’m starving! I don’t care! I’m eating this bowl. You can cook another!"

Pei Qian’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot in an instant, "Hurry back to your own house! Stop freeloading here!"

Pei Yuan pulled her aside; after all, they were relatives. Even if they didn’t want her to stay, they shouldn’t be so blunt.

However, Pei Qin disliked beating around the bush; unless necessary, she always spoke her mind.

Two days later, Lady Yu couldn’t rest easy and came over with a half-basket of bamboo shoots, calling for Fang Fang to return home. Pei Qin said straightaway, "Our house has more than just noodle stalls; we’re also frying peanuts to sell. We really can’t look after our cousin here."

She’s such a grown-up; what’s there to look after? Surely it was just troubles being caused. Lady Yu’s face turned slightly red with embarrassment, and seeing Fang Fang also complaining, she pinched her ear. Nobody knew her own daughter better than she did. Staying here meant simply looking for more food and less work, away from the eyes of her grandparents and her mother who can’t oversee her. The day she left, Lady Yu dragged Fang Fang all the way back home.

Fang Li was dissatisfied, "Fang Fang was living just fine there, why did you bring her back!?"

"Do you not know your own daughter? She was nothing but trouble for Qinqin, causing disruption!" Lady Yu spoke sternly, her face taut, and upon seeing Fang Fang complain to Fang Li again, she was utterly vexed and her chest ached with frustration. She decreed that her daughter was to go nowhere and work at home from then on, with meals half-eaten, not a bite more.

Fang Fang wailed at the order, ready to protest, when she caught sight of Old Scholar Fang returning from outside and immediately didn’t dare to howl.

Pei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, and Pei Qian’s face finally brightened, "We can’t let her come over again! She’s like a pig! Raising a pig can make you money, but all she knows is to eat and drink! We owe them nothing; why should we!?"

This was why Pei Qin was always used to handling things herself and sought help from others only when she truly couldn’t manage. When encountering people or things she didn’t like, she could flatly refuse without hesitation. As for offending people? Offending ten was the same as offending a hundred. Pei Qin was already beyond caring about more trouble.

The days grew hotter, and soon it would be time to harvest the wheat. Landlord Chang had ordered quite a few hand carts and wheelbarrows, and the Wang family had also reserved a batch.

Sun Tiezhu and Zou Xing were too busy by themselves, so they had to find Carpenter Kong in town to join them and work together.

Pei Qin changed from selling hot noodles to Lao Mian, the cooled noodles. The boiled noodles were rinsed with cold water and served with cooled broth, warm but not scalding to the mouth.

The noodle stall business was booming, and Chang Yonglin had almost perfected his skateboarding skills, while his little friend had not been over for a long time.

Pei Qin told Yonglin he didn’t need to come anymore, to just practice. Besides, with the imminent heat, running back and forth, he might suffer from heatstroke.

The little servant helping with the fire was crying internally with gratitude. The young master wouldn’t be coming anymore, and he wouldn’t have to help with the fire!

Yonglin ran back and forth because he didn’t want to be cooped up at home studying.

"I’ll send you some delicious zhongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival!" Pei Qin sent him away cheerfully.

Eating zhongzi was more of a Southern custom, and the North didn’t have much of a taste for it; if they ate it, it was pure glutinous rice zhongzi, dipped in white sugar.

Pei Qin ran up the mountain ahead of time to pick two bags of zhongzi leaves, soaked the glutinous rice, and took a whole day off from her stall to make zhongzi at home.

Salted egg yolk zhongzi, honey date zhongzi, red bean zhongzi, chestnut zhongzi, pork zongzi, orange peel beef zongzi, chicken zhongzi, fish zhongzi, with a variety of flavors, tied with different colored threads as markers.

Once the zhongzi were out of the pot, Mo Heng followed the scent over.

Separated by just two alleys, and strictly speaking, between them were three households. From that direction, if Pei Qin cooked something with a distinct smell, Mo Heng could pick it up in his yard and follow the scent over.

The zhongzi weren’t very big; he devoured three in one go.

Pei Qin didn’t mind how many he ate, keeping the cooked zhongzi for her family, and took the rest to Yuanyang County. She delivered a bag to the Wang family, another to Chang’s house, and sold the rest to Ju Xian Building, letting Boss He get creative. Anything edible could be packed into zhongzi. With the hot weather, he was to innovate with drinks; in the heat, both adults and children crave an icy bowl or a cold beverage.

Boss He was very thankful and gave her a bag of salted duck eggs and two large boxes of pastries in return.

Pei Qin didn’t hesitate and accepted them.

Coming home, she packed a few salted duck eggs and took a bag of zhongzi to Sun Tiezhu’s house.

Yet outside Sun Tiezhu’s house was a horse-drawn carriage.

Pei Qin observed it with confusion, called at the door, and entered carrying the items.

"That’s Xiao Pei! The skateboard, hand carts, and wheelbarrows are all designed by Xiao Pei!" Sun Tiezhu’s introduction had barely finished.

Pei Qin felt a darkness before her eyes and was suddenly engulfed in an embrace.

"My fellow villager! I’ve finally found..."