Chapter 29: Clingy
While sleeping, Su Xiaoxiao realized something interesting. Including tonight, the three little ones had slept with her for three nights.
The first night, it was Dahu who slept next to her. The second night, it was Erhu. Tonight, it became Xiaohu.
The three children actually knew how to take turns.
Dahu and Erhu had already fallen asleep. Xiaohu still tried to open his eyes wide and move his little head left and right.
Su Xiaoxiao asked him, “What’s wrong?”
Xiaohu said, “Xiaohu won’t sleep.”
He was the youngest. It was not easy for him to be with his mother. He did not want to sleep. He wanted to be awake.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Xiao Hu stopped answering.
How could Su Xiaoxiao know what he was thinking?
She turned off the light and lay down beside Xiao Hu. She said sternly, “Close your eyes!”
Xiaohu obediently closed his eyes, but he still did not sleep.
“Mother.”
Xiaohu called her.
Su Xiaoxiao pretended to sleep.
Xiaohu stopped calling her after three times. It would be a huge mistake to think that he was finally going to sleep.
A small bump appeared in the blanket of the three little ones.
Soon, the small bump moved towards Su Xiaoxiao.
Xiaohu got under her blanket.
Sleeping with his mother!
Not telling Dahu and Erhu!
Coincidentally, Dahu and Erhu did the same.
—
The first thing Su Xiaoxiao did when she woke up was look for children. There was one at the head of the bed, one at the end of the bed, and one in the corner.
After arranging the three of them, Su Xiaoxiao went to Father Su’s room to wake him up.
There were a lot of things to do today, and she couldn’t handle it alone.
When Su Ergou came to the kitchen, Little Wu was also there.
He looked startled.
Little Wu hurriedly explained, “I… I have nothing to do. I came over to help.”
Su Ergou looked at his sister, who did not object.
“Oh,” he said and accepted.
At first, Little Wu was a little nervous, but Su Ergou only focused on work and ignored her. She gradually relaxed.
Su Ergou mainly did menial work while Little Wu helped to wash, cut, and knead the vegetables.
She was clean and efficient. Su Xiaoxiao only needed to tell her once before she remembered.
With Little Wu and Su Ergou helping… it was mainly due to Little Wu’s help that they completed twice the workload as yesterday.
Su Xiaoxiao was satisfied.
“My mother is awake. I have to go over.” Little Wu kept an eye on her family.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Alright, go first. I’ll talk to you about your salary when I come back from town.”
Little Wu shook her head. “You’ve already given it to me. That’s twenty coppers.”
Her husband, Liu Ping, worked hard in town. He could not earn so much even if he worked hard for a day. If he was lucky, he could earn ten to five copper coins. Most of the time, he only earned two meals.
“I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”
She turned around and left through the back door of the kitchen. Then, she thought of something and turned back. “You don’t need to pay me!”
Su Xiaoxiao burst out laughing. “Okay.”
“I’ll take care of the children for you too.”
She sneaked back a second time.
Su Xiaoxiao almost laughed to death at her sneaky actions.
Before leaving, Su Xiaoxiao went to Wei Ting’s room. His wound was healing well, and she could remove his stitches tonight.
Then, she left a message for Father Su.
She originally wanted to leave a note, but sadly realized that the family of three was all illiterate.
“I write in simplified Chinese. Father Su would not be able to read it even if he was literate.”
After muttering, she said to Wei Ting, “When my father wakes up, tell him to learn how to grow vegetables from Auntie Qian.”
—
Su Xiaoxiao first went to the market with Su Ergou.
The young butcher had just set up his stall.
He had been scammed and was in a bad mood, but life had to continue.
Su Xiaoxiao came to the stall and asked him with a smile, “Have you thought about it? Are you going to split the profits with me or are you going to supply me?”
Butcher looked at this little fat village girl who had ruined him and turned his face away sadly. “Split the accounts.”
If they lost money this way, it would be on her. If they earned money, he would have a share.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “Okay.”
The butcher frowned at her. “You’re not surprised at all. You knew I would choose to split the profits?”
Su Xiaoxiao spread her hands. “Because there’s no need to take the risk. You’ll have a share if we earn, and I’ll take the loss.”
“But I want three-seven,” Butcher said.
“Twenty-eight! Also, sell me half of your meat at half price!”
“Half? That’s too much!”
“Just treat it as a wholesale price. The goods I offer can be sold for a price. Do the math and see if you can earn it back!”
The butcher finally agreed.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “In that case, let’s try it out for a day. Happy cooperation.”
—
After leaving two big jars, Su Xiaoxiao went to Jin Ji with Su Ergou.
Although they had only set up their business for two days, news of Su Xiaoxiao’s Wife Cake had already spread in Jin Ji.
“Aiya, it’s not that I want to say this, but can’t you change your pastries? They’re so expensive, and they’re always the same. A small village girl’s pastries are better than yours! The name is also novel. It’s called… Wife Cake!”
The complainant was a regular customer of Jin Ji.
When Manager Sun heard this, he didn’t mind. “They went to buy it because that girl saved a child in Jin Ji. How can her pancakes be delicious?”
The head chef of Jin Ji had retired from the capital and had entered the palace to be a royal chef in his early years!
Would he lose to a little village girl?
“Yo, yo, yo, here comes the Wife Cake!”
The old customer said without hesitation, “Girl! Leave a few for me!”
“Wife cake, tsk, tacky!” Manager Sun went to the kitchen coldly.
A few chefs were gathered together to taste the pancakes. They had to taste the pancakes that they sold every day. They would only sell them after they passed the taste test. Otherwise, they would rather throw them away than sell them to customers.
They had recently been trying to improve their own shortbread.
“It smells so good.” Manager Sun walked forward and looked at the pancake on the table. “Is it new? It seems different from the previous formula.”
The cooks said nothing.
Manager Sun took a bite and his eyes lit up. “It’s soft and sweet. It’s much better than the ones we made before! Who made it?”
The cooks looked at each other.
One of them mustered his courage and said, “I bought it from outside… It’s that little village girl’s wife cake.”
Manager Sun was speechless.
—
At the alley near Jin Ji, Su Xiaoxiao finished selling the last Wife Cake on the tray and was about to close the stall.
“Miss, give me two stuffed red beans and a dried plum!”
A young woman came over and said.
Su Xiaoxiao said politely, “Sorry, I sold out today.”
The woman pointed at Su Ergou’s basket and said, “Isn’t there more inside?”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “These aren’t for sale.”
Su Ergou whispered into his sister’s ear, “Sister, there’s so much left. Why don’t you sell it?”
“You’ll know in a while.”
An hour later, the two of them stood at the entrance of Wutong Academy.
At this moment, the students had already started their classes. There were not many people outside.
The servant stopped them and asked, “What are you doing?”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “I’m looking for Shen Chuan.”
Chapter 29: Clingy
While sleeping, Su Xiaoxiao realized something interesting. Including tonight, the three little ones had slept with her for three nights.
The first night, it was Dahu who slept next to her. The second night, it was Erhu. Tonight, it became Xiaohu.
The three children actually knew how to take turns.
Dahu and Erhu had already fallen asleep. Xiaohu still tried to open his eyes wide and move his little head left and right.
Su Xiaoxiao asked him, “What’s wrong?”
Xiaohu said, “Xiaohu won’t sleep.”
He was the youngest. It was not easy for him to be with his mother. He did not want to sleep. He wanted to be awake.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Xiao Hu stopped answering.
How could Su Xiaoxiao know what he was thinking?
She turned off the light and lay down beside Xiao Hu. She said sternly, “Close your eyes!”
Xiaohu obediently closed his eyes, but he still did not sleep.
“Mother.”
Xiaohu called her.
Su Xiaoxiao pretended to sleep.
Xiaohu stopped calling her after three times. It would be a huge mistake to think that he was finally going to sleep.
A small bump appeared in the blanket of the three little ones.
Soon, the small bump moved towards Su Xiaoxiao.
Xiaohu got under her blanket.
Sleeping with his mother!
Not telling Dahu and Erhu!
Coincidentally, Dahu and Erhu did the same.
—
The first thing Su Xiaoxiao did when she woke up was look for children. There was one at the head of the bed, one at the end of the bed, and one in the corner.
After arranging the three of them, Su Xiaoxiao went to Father Su’s room to wake him up.
There were a lot of things to do today, and she couldn’t handle it alone.
When Su Ergou came to the kitchen, Little Wu was also there.
He looked startled.
Little Wu hurriedly explained, “I… I have nothing to do. I came over to help.”
Su Ergou looked at his sister, who did not object.
“Oh,” he said and accepted.
At first, Little Wu was a little nervous, but Su Ergou only focused on work and ignored her. She gradually relaxed.
Su Ergou mainly did menial work while Little Wu helped to wash, cut, and knead the vegetables.
She was clean and efficient. Su Xiaoxiao only needed to tell her once before she remembered.
With Little Wu and Su Ergou helping… it was mainly due to Little Wu’s help that they completed twice the workload as yesterday.
Su Xiaoxiao was satisfied.
“My mother is awake. I have to go over.” Little Wu kept an eye on her family.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Alright, go first. I’ll talk to you about your salary when I come back from town.”
Little Wu shook her head. “You’ve already given it to me. That’s twenty coppers.”
Her husband, Liu Ping, worked hard in town. He could not earn so much even if he worked hard for a day. If he was lucky, he could earn ten to five copper coins. Most of the time, he only earned two meals.
“I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”
She turned around and left through the back door of the kitchen. Then, she thought of something and turned back. “You don’t need to pay me!”
Su Xiaoxiao burst out laughing. “Okay.”
“I’ll take care of the children for you too.”
She sneaked back a second time.
Su Xiaoxiao almost laughed to death at her sneaky actions.
Before leaving, Su Xiaoxiao went to Wei Ting’s room. His wound was healing well, and she could remove his stitches tonight.
Then, she left a message for Father Su.
She originally wanted to leave a note, but sadly realized that the family of three was all illiterate.
“I write in simplified Chinese. Father Su would not be able to read it even if he was literate.”
After muttering, she said to Wei Ting, “When my father wakes up, tell him to learn how to grow vegetables from Auntie Qian.”
—
Su Xiaoxiao first went to the market with Su Ergou.
The young butcher had just set up his stall.
He had been scammed and was in a bad mood, but life had to continue.
Su Xiaoxiao came to the stall and asked him with a smile, “Have you thought about it? Are you going to split the profits with me or are you going to supply me?”
Butcher looked at this little fat village girl who had ruined him and turned his face away sadly. “Split the accounts.”
If they lost money this way, it would be on her. If they earned money, he would have a share.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “Okay.”
The butcher frowned at her. “You’re not surprised at all. You knew I would choose to split the profits?”
Su Xiaoxiao spread her hands. “Because there’s no need to take the risk. You’ll have a share if we earn, and I’ll take the loss.”
“But I want three-seven,” Butcher said.
“Twenty-eight! Also, sell me half of your meat at half price!”
“Half? That’s too much!”
“Just treat it as a wholesale price. The goods I offer can be sold for a price. Do the math and see if you can earn it back!”
The butcher finally agreed.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “In that case, let’s try it out for a day. Happy cooperation.”
—
After leaving two big jars, Su Xiaoxiao went to Jin Ji with Su Ergou.
Although they had only set up their business for two days, news of Su Xiaoxiao’s Wife Cake had already spread in Jin Ji.
“Aiya, it’s not that I want to say this, but can’t you change your pastries? They’re so expensive, and they’re always the same. A small village girl’s pastries are better than yours! The name is also novel. It’s called… Wife Cake!”
The complainant was a regular customer of Jin Ji.
When Manager Sun heard this, he didn’t mind. “They went to buy it because that girl saved a child in Jin Ji. How can her pancakes be delicious?”
The head chef of Jin Ji had retired from the capital and had entered the palace to be a royal chef in his early years!
Would he lose to a little village girl?
“Yo, yo, yo, here comes the Wife Cake!”
The old customer said without hesitation, “Girl! Leave a few for me!”
“Wife cake, tsk, tacky!” Manager Sun went to the kitchen coldly.
A few chefs were gathered together to taste the pancakes. They had to taste the pancakes that they sold every day. They would only sell them after they passed the taste test. Otherwise, they would rather throw them away than sell them to customers.
They had recently been trying to improve their own shortbread.
“It smells so good.” Manager Sun walked forward and looked at the pancake on the table. “Is it new? It seems different from the previous formula.”
The cooks said nothing.
Manager Sun took a bite and his eyes lit up. “It’s soft and sweet. It’s much better than the ones we made before! Who made it?”
The cooks looked at each other.
One of them mustered his courage and said, “I bought it from outside… It’s that little village girl’s wife cake.”
Manager Sun was speechless.
—
At the alley near Jin Ji, Su Xiaoxiao finished selling the last Wife Cake on the tray and was about to close the stall.
“Miss, give me two stuffed red beans and a dried plum!”
A young woman came over and said.
Su Xiaoxiao said politely, “Sorry, I sold out today.”
The woman pointed at Su Ergou’s basket and said, “Isn’t there more inside?”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “These aren’t for sale.”
Su Ergou whispered into his sister’s ear, “Sister, there’s so much left. Why don’t you sell it?”
“You’ll know in a while.”
An hour later, the two of them stood at the entrance of Wutong Academy.
At this moment, the students had already started their classes. There were not many people outside.
The servant stopped them and asked, “What are you doing?”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “I’m looking for Shen Chuan.”
