Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
She had a clear preference of whom to pick. She was going to make the leader manage the rest.
When the bamboo sticks were done, Qiao Xuan asked Chunyu, Chunfen who were on duty to join herself and Taotao to plant betel nut taro and spring watermelons.
She gave the seeds to her mother-in-law so that she knew when to plant them.
She kept one betel nut taro and sliced them into pieces so they could be deep-fried and steamed later, which went perfect with braised pork belly. She kept two spring watermelons which could be used for cold dishes at dinner.
Qiao Xuan cut the mutton and made the seasonings, which were better than those done by others.
They had the meat marinated for two more quarters, and had them all put onto the sticks.
Generally, there was a small piece of fat sandwiched between two pieces of lean meat, which was suet. Roasted lamb could not be all lean, it had to be sandwiched with small pieces of lamb fat. The lamb fat was roasted so that the oil was browned, sprinkled with pepper, salt and pepper noodles, and when it was bitten together with the lamb and the lean meat, the freshness and the tenderness of the sheep oil melted in the mouth. It was so delicious that people could not extricate themselves from the enjoyment.
Along with the mutton, other vegetables and mushrooms were also skewered.
The fish balls that Qiao Xuan had squeezed fell into the water one by one. They could just boil them whenever they felt like eating some.
When the sun was setting down, they set up the grill shelf and Qiao Xuan asked Taotao to invite Ms. Yan over so they could all eat together.
Ms. Yan often ate at the first section of the family, and Ms. Niu did not care anymore. She wished that she could eat often at the first section of the family so the food at home could be spared.
On Ms. Yan's visit there, she kept Ms. Xu company and taught Taotao to do needlework. She always had the excuse to come over. So, she was never there for food specifically.
Ms. Zhang felt so jealous of her, but there was nothing she could do.
She was not the one who was welcomed there.
The maids were not with them for the kebab. But they were served enough food.
Ms. Fang, Eldest Uncle, Shao Sanlang and Shao Dalang as well as Ms. Xu all needed to eat something else. Grilled meat was not enough.
There was a bowl of stewed pork ribs, fish head with chopped pepper, fish ball soup with coriander and green onion, fried yam and fungus, vinegared
The maids had one large rib bone and two fish balls, vinegared cabbage as well as yams and wooden ears.
They were so shocked when they got the food. The well-cooked and delicious stewed ribs and the fresh and tender fish balls gave them endless aftertaste. They had not expected that they would be provided such good food in the countryside.
The grilled mutton was tasty and tender, fresh too. The mushrooms and vegetables had amazing taste. The fish ball soup removed the oiliness from their mouths.
The apricot blossoms in the flower field were blooming just in time, and the peach blossoms were also almost ready to open. The trees were full of dense buds.
It was time for them to make lipsticks.
There were not many peach and apricot blossoms, and the beeswax left was not enough from last year. So, they would only manage to make at most 200 to 300 lipsticks, including the limited version.
That was enough for the maids to learn.
Qiao Xuan did not go into the city to pay the rest of the money to the land agent. She discussed it with Shao Yunduan and they gave the money to Qi, so he could go into the town to do the needful.
Qi was very happy to be entrusted with such an important mission. He carefully folded the note into his arms and promised in a serious tone that the money would be given to the land agent safe and sound.
Qiao Xuan showed a lot of confidence in him, which made him happy.
Qi was not young any more.This was just delivery of money, not such a difficult task to accomplish..