Ms. Niu regretted so deeply that she had not protested against this marriage.
Nothing good had happened after Ms. Qiao became part of the family.
Qiao Xuan did not care about her reaction. She even thought of an idea when she saw Ms. Niu's look.
She said, "Second Aunt-in-law, we are already in different families. We should care about our own business. Mom is right. You are just humiliating yourself by coming here! But, Second Aunt-in-law, if you are so busy, I can offer some help!"
She pointed at Liu Yan and smiled. "This is my maid, Liu Yan. Why not take home and make her do your work. You can do whatever you want with her. Maybe, she can be of some help to you!"
Ms. Niu, who had been so angry a few seconds ago, stopped as she heard the words. "Are you sure? You are going to let me use your maid?"
Ms. Niu could not help but turn to Ms. Fang, who snorted and looked unwilling, but she said nothing more.
Ms. Niu felt slightly better. She snorted. "That is good, you should never break your promise!"
Ms. Niu would never lose any chance of taking advantage of anything.
"Of course not!" Qiao Xuan said to Liu Yan, "What are you standing here for? Why don't you go home with Second Madame Shao. Listen to her order, otherwise she is going to punish you, got it?"
Ms. Niu felt so happy hearing herself being addressed as 'Second Madame Shao', as if she had already risen higher.
She glanced at the maid. "Liu Yan, just follow me!"
Liu Yan looked at Qiao Xuan, bit her lips, and followed Ms. Niu.
Liu Yan felt somehow proud inwardly. She believed that Qiao Xuan must have been scared by what she said, so she did not dare to do anything to her. So she drove her away, just to hide how humiliated she was.
Alright then! She could leave!
Ms. Fang sneered. "The maid is going to soon know what kind of hell she is going into!"
Qiao Xuan was not a hard-hearted person, nor was Ms. Fang. But they had the right methods to give Liu Yan a hard time. They just did not want to get themselves stuck with too much trouble.
Liu Yan would soon know how hellish life could be, when she ended being with someone like Ms. Niu.
What was she thinking when she put on a look of who she was?
Hearing what Ms. Fang said, Qiao Xuan understood that her mother-in-law knew what she was doing. "Mom, you know me well, that maid has to go through some difficulties so that she knows what the world is like!"
In the afternoon, Shao Dalang and the others came home for lunch. Qiao Xuan helped with dough making and noodle kneading.
A while ago at home, Qiao Xuan cut chili noodles, shiitake mushrooms, egg skins, pork belly into dices, and fried shrimp, minced garlic, minced green onion, minced ginger, fried peanuts, and put them into a large jar just to mix with noodles.
Apart from the noodles, she picked some beans, celery and scallions from the yard.
The beans and celery were chopped, blanched in boiling water, whilst scallions were cut into minced green onions as seasonings.
When the water was boiled, the noodles were cooked, and scooped up so the vegetables, sauce and sesame oil as well as vinegar were mixed with pickles from the jar. It looked tasty and appetizing.
The dish was simple, and the meal made people feel so satisfied.