Chapter 119: Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: A Tattered Book
“Uncle, I won’t lie to you, I plan to sell some braised delicacies. With the New Year coming, ordinary families usually have more cured meats, and braised ones are too troublesome to make—a large pot at a time, so not many households do it.”
Xia Chuyi didn’t hide her intentions and laid out her plans.
“If I sell braised delicacies, those with a bit of financial ability would be willing to spend money to try something new, while also adding some variety to their New Year dishes.”
A look of surprise flashed in Uncle Xia’s eyes. He looked at her and said, “Chuyi, you seem to have a good head for business, but when it comes to cooked food, it all comes down to taste. Are you confident? The Old Xia Family’s braising method isn’t anything special.”
Chuyi smiled and lowered her voice, “Actually, there is something, Uncle, Aunt Xia, Xiao Gui, I’m telling you this here, but you mustn’t tell anyone else.”
Seeing how secretive his niece was, Uncle Xia became incredibly curious: “Eh, what is it?”
Aunt Xia and Zhao Xiaogui were equally curious.
Chuyi calmly asked Uncle Xia, “You know that my grandparents used to be servants in a landlord’s house, don’t you?”
She continued, “When that landlord’s house was raided back in the day, my grandparents secretly hid some things. Of course, many items were turned over to the authorities, sold, or wasted in the past years, so there’s hardly anything left.”
“But one time, when we were doing a big cleanup at home and clearing out old items, I found an old, tattered book that nobody in the Xia Family cared about. I flipped through it, saw that it was a recipe book, found it interesting, and decided to keep it.”
“I made a friend when I previously went to the Provincial City—a foodie… well, someone who loves to eat. She told me that the recipes in this book are all essences.”
“After coming back, I thought it would be a waste not to use this recipe book, and that’s why I decided to open the shop.”
Zhao Xiaogui listened in amazement and blurted out: “Ah, such a thing exists? Where is the recipe book?”
Young people love these kinds of magical tales the most.
With a slight smile and a thought flashing in her heart, Xia Chuyi took out a book from her chest that wasn’t too big or too small, yellowed and missing corners, with pages damaged beyond repair, and passed it along for everyone to see.
“…It really is a wreck of a book,” Zhao Xiaogui murmured.
Not only the Xia Family looked down on it, even a junk collector might not think highly of it.
Meanwhile, Uncle Xia carefully took the recipe book, but his hand shook inexplicably, as if the book was about to fall apart.
“Forget it!” Uncle Xia handed the book back to her, saying, “You better keep it.”
He felt that the fragile book would crumble at a single touch.
Chuyi took back the “wreck of a book” with a beaming smile and tucked it back into her chest.
No one noticed that as soon as the book was put away, it transformed into a jeweled book with a cover embroidered with mountain and water landscapes—the very Heavenly Book Recipe.
The Heavenly Book now looked more glamorous than before, only, due to the presence of others, it refrained from shining. Otherwise, it would have surely manifested a radiant aurora.
Truly, it, being a magnificent Heavenly Book, was indignant at having to masquerade as a wreck of a book, an insult to its dignity!
With the help of the Heavenly Book’s concealment, Uncle Xia readily agreed to Chuyi’s thoughts.
“Speaking of which, such a treasure and the Xia Family were blind to it, only for it to end up in your hands,” Aunt Xia laughed, “It really must be the heavens protecting you!”
“Mm, perhaps it’s the spirit of your father in heaven who saw his precious daughter being bullied and specially sent this to you!”
She caressed the Fake Heavenly Book around her neck and thought to herself: This Heavenly Book, wasn’t it a gift from her father?
Her rebirth, perhaps, was also given by her father.