The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 320 - 319: Qin Jinlian’s Little Scheme

Chapter 320: Chapter 319: Qin Jinlian’s Little Scheme

"I’ve asked Xiaoyu about it, and hiring you would cost sixty a month. Instead of giving that money to someone else, why not give it to me? I’ll stay to take care of the child for you," she said.

A few days ago, out of curiosity, Qin Jinlian had inquired about Xiaoyu’s salary and, upon realizing it was sixty a month, she felt quite envious.

She was only about a decade older than Yu Hong; she knew how to do all the chores that Yu Hong did every day. If Yu Hong could earn sixty a month, why couldn’t she?

Since there was no work to be done in the fields during winter, it seemed pointless to go back home just to idle around. It would be better to stay in the city to help her daughter with the child and earn sixty a month. In two months, she could earn a total of one hundred and twenty.

Once spring arrived, she could go back to farming without having missed anything.

Qin Jinlian was quite pleased with her plan. However, she didn’t consider that after working for two months and leaving, Shen Mingzhu would need to find someone else to replace her.

Although Shen Mingzhu felt speechless, she wasn’t too angry.

She preferred Qin Jinlian wanting to work and earn money to simply asking her for it.

After thinking it over, Shen Mingzhu said to Qin Jinlian, "If you want to stay in the city to earn money, I can think of a way for you, but there’s no chance I’m letting Xiaoyu go in favor of hiring you."

...

Seeing Qin Jinlian’s return, Shen Jianguo uncrossed his legs from the sofa, put on his shoes, and called out to her, "Pack your things. It’s time to head back."

Although the elderly couple had arrived in the city empty-handed, during their stay, the two Shen brothers and Pei Yang provided them with plenty of food, clothing, and necessities.

"You go back by yourself, I’m not leaving," she replied.

Upon hearing this, Shen Jianguo got heated. "Not leaving? Do you plan to mooch off your daughter and son-in-law for the rest of your life?"

Qin Jinlian proudly boasted to her husband, "I’m staying in the city to earn money. When it’s time for New Year’s, I’ll go back with Chaobei and the others. You go back first."

Shen Jianguo was stunned.

He went to the city and now was about to leave his wife behind?

Following Shen Mingzhu’s suggestion, Qin Jinlian set up a small stall outside the noodle shop run by the two Shen brothers, selling fried stinky tofu and starch sausages.

In the cold winter, once the stinky tofu was fried in the oil and became crispy, then topped with a special sauce, it attracted foodies from the entire street.

The starch sausages were also enticing, fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, then dusted with cumin and chili powder, making the neighboring children drool.

From then on, Qin Jinlian busied herself early and late with the snack stand, earning money without having spare time to bother Shen Mingzhu.

...

Before long, the day of Minor Snow arrived.

Shen Mingzhu finished her work for the morning and then headed to the market to pick up a lamb hind leg she had previously ordered from the butcher.

With the cold of winter setting in, she planned to invite Zhong Qing and Yan Yi for a mutton hot pot meal.

Given her current capabilities and financial situation combined with the context, ingredients like chicken, duck, fish, and shrimp were all she could buy. For households like Zhong Qing’s and Yan Yi’s, such ingredients seemed rather mundane.

Having mutton hot pot was at least a relatively novel dining experience in Fengcheng.

After lunch, Shen Mingzhu began preparing the lamb leg.

She first removed the meat from three parts—the lamb’s higher cuts, cucumber strips, and ground meat—placing them in the freezer to be easily sliced into thin pieces once they were frozen hard.

As for the lamb bones and other cuts of lamb, they were stewed over a low flame with pork bones, chicken, and herbs until the broth turned a milky white color akin to cow’s milk.

For the mutton hot pot, not only was there a variety of side dishes, but the essential soul of the dish—the dipping sauce—could not be missed.

Sesame paste, chive flowers, fermented tofu, fried sesame seeds, sugar, chopped green onions, and cilantro; it had to include everything.

Actually, when Shen Mingzhu used to have mutton hot pot, she also liked adding a bit of bird’s eye chili.

It’s a pity that it’s not available here, and she’s also breastfeeding, so she can’t eat spicy food.

To properly enjoy the lamb hotpot, you need to eat as you cook, so Shen Mingzhu even went out of her way to purchase a round table with the center hollowed out and an iron frame welded to the bottom to accommodate a charcoal-fired copper pot.

Pei Yang also left work early to come home to help set up and prepare the side dishes.

Around 7 o’clock, Zhong Qing and Yan Yi arrived as they had promised, and Ning Yuan came along as well.

Ning Yuan was as nonchalant as ever, joking with Shen Mingzhu as soon as he stepped in, "Mingzhu, that’s not very nice of you, hosting a dinner without inviting me. Lucky for me, I have thick skin and just showed up on my own."

Shen Mingzhu smiled, "Alright, my bad. The main reason was that I didn’t have any special dishes to offer, afraid that young master Ning wouldn’t be satisfied."

"You’re being modest now. I can’t speak for others, but when Shen Mingzhu prepares a meal, it’s bound to be extraordinary."

Ning Yuan, born with a silver spoon, had grown tired of all the exotic delicacies, but Shen Mingzhu’s cooking always peculiarly suited his taste.

While talking, Ning Yuan had already followed the scent to the dining room, and, upon seeing the billowing steam from the snow-white soup base in the copper pot, rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Wow, lamb hotpot, huh?"

As Shen Mingzhu showed Zhong Qing and Yan Yi to their seats, she laughed and explained, "It’s gotten cold, and there aren’t many good ingredients in the market, so I thought we might as well have lamb hotpot to warm up a bit."

Zhong Qing returned her smile with a beaming one, "It’s been two years since I last had lamb hotpot, perfect timing to have some."

Once everyone was seated, Shen Mingzhu brought out various condiments, each in its own little bowl.

The array of condiments was even richer than the authentic lamb hotpot Ning Yuan had tried in the Capital.

With Shen Mingzhu’s guidance, everyone mixed their own preferred flavors.

Lamb slices as thin as paper were put into the white hot soup, and after a few seconds, they were fished out and dipped into the sauce, the tender and juicy meat melting in the mouth with a mellow flavor and none of the gaminess – it was the ultimate satisfaction.

Besides the lamb hotpot, Shen Mingzhu had also prepared honey-glazed pork chops and roasted squab.

Because Pei Ziheng didn’t like lamb.

After the meal, Pei Yang cleaned up the bowls and dishes while Shen Mingzhu showed Yan Yi and Ning Yuan around the new house, and Zhong Qing played with Little Guoguo on the living room sofa.

Zhong Qing had visited several times during Shen Mingzhu’s postpartum confinement, so she was already more than familiar with Shen Mingzhu’s new home.

After the tour, everyone sat in the living room sipping tea and chatting.

Although Wang Hongcheng had been punished and the food factory had resumed production, losing the cooperation with the two state-owned department stores was also a significant loss for Shen Mingzhu.

When Yan Yi asked if she needed help reinstating the cooperation with the two state-owned department stores, Shen Mingzhu politely declined.

With the reform and opening-up and the shift in economic models, state-owned department stores would decline quickly, eventually either undergoing restructuring or shutting down.

Her initial plan was to use the reputation and popularity of the state-operated department stores to break into the market and then move on to owning her own store at the right time, for a more secure footing.

But now that the cooperation with the two state-owned department stores had fallen through, she simply decided to open her own store directly.

Over the next few days, aside from her daily work, Shen Mingzhu devoted all her other time to market research, as well as scouting for store locations.

After some time investigating, Shen Mingzhu had her eye on three places.

After considering various factors and the advice of those around her, Shen Mingzhu rented a storefront in the downtown business area.

The total area of the store was about eighty square meters, and Shen Mingzhu planned to partition it into a sales area and a baking area.

The products would be made and sold on the same day, with the partition wall made of transparent glass, allowing customers to see the food being made and served.

Just when Shen Mingzhu was busy with the design and decoration of the store, Shen Chaobei’s noodle restaurant ran into trouble.