The so-called rural express delivery, which aims to bridge the last mile, actually only reaches the town and doesn’t extend to every household.

However, for Qiao Wanqing and her family, sending packages used to be quite expensive.

Now, thanks to this project’s support, the cost of sending each package through their partnered courier service is only 3.5 yuan.

Otherwise, for individual sellers on Taobao in such a remote area, it would be impossible to offer such a large discount with low delivery volumes.

This is the advantage of the policy.

Following Gu Yanqing’s advice, Qiao Wanqing decided to set up the processing workshop next to their home.

In the beginning, with low sales volume, her second uncle would use a three-wheeled motorcycle to transport packages to the town’s rural delivery service.

If the business grows and the volume increases, couriers will directly come to pick up the packages, as their place is conveniently located by the highway.

Their kitchen is a standalone bungalow, and the adjacent room is a storage room.

Qiao Wanqing plans to clear out this storage room, renovate it, and turn it into the processing workshop.

Since she doesn’t have a business yet and isn’t sure of the demand, there’s no need to build a large facility.

If she did build a larger one, it would involve construction, which is unnecessary at this stage.

Rumors in the village suggest that Qiao Wanqing has become wealthy from growing vegetables and running a restaurant.

This year, more people are starting vegetable farms…

The rumors started because of the new greenhouse she built.

In the town, only the town itself has greenhouses for growing vegetables, and Qiao Wanqing was the first in the village to set one up.

Perhaps because it was too conspicuous and the villagers are fond of gossiping, the entire village thinks she has become very wealthy, leading to widespread speculation.

Talking about setting up another workshop was exhausting.

When Qiao Wanqing returned this time, people on the street called her “boss lady” and complimented her on being beautiful and good at business, which made her very embarrassed.

The saying “money brings status” was certainly true.

When she was single and worked on the land, even though she crafted good stories, there were still idle people gossiping about her and looking down on her.

Some people even asked if she was hiring for the greenhouse or restaurant because her offers were quite generous.

In winter, when farming was less profitable, many people were looking for work, and a job with a few thousand a month was quite attractive in the countryside.

It was considered as good as working in a business or government job.

This made Qiao Wanqing reluctant to leave her home.

Fortunately, they didn’t know she had an impressive husband.

They only knew he was from the city.

Gu Yanqing, after the initial flashy car visits, had now quietly switched to a Mazda.

Even though people speculated he was a big city boss based on his demeanor, Qiao Wanqing didn’t confirm it, and gradually, people lost interest.

With the cold weather, Qiao Wanqing planned to make a pot of firewood chicken to warm everyone up.

It was her first time making firewood chicken.

She followed online tutorials and prepared the ingredients.

After three hours of preparation, including getting the ingredients, killing the chicken, and cooking, the pot of steaming firewood chicken looked quite good.

On a cold winter day, everyone gathered around a pot of steaming firewood chicken, creating a very warm and cozy atmosphere.

Since the chicken was home-raised, it was cooked to perfection—tender, flavorful, and not greasy.

The dish also included potatoes, onions, green beans, carrots, and taro, which absorbed the chicken’s rich juices and were wonderfully seasoned.

Each bite was full of aroma, leaving a lingering taste on the lips.

The corn bread, crisped on the wall, was delicious when dipped in the chicken’s gravy, bringing pure happiness with every bite.

Yuanyuan took a bite of the crispy corn bread and happily said, “Delicious.”

Koukou, after eating some mashed potatoes, imitated Yuanyuan and said, “Yummy.”

Koukou really liked the soft, stewed potatoes and taro and wouldn’t even eat the diced chicken.

Yuanyuan had been feeling down due to some family issues, so it was rare for him to be happy about the food.

Qiao Wanqing served Yuanyuan a chicken leg and said, “Both Yuanyuan and Koukou should eat more.”

Koukou, being a little mimic, wanted to use chopsticks to serve Yuanyuan as well.

Even though he didn’t really know how to use chopsticks properly, he insisted on trying.

After a while of struggling, he finally got the hang of it and managed to pick up a piece of potato, presenting it to Yuanyuan: “Brother, brother eat.”

“Thank you, little brother,” Yuanyuan said as he ate the potato.

He knew how to make Koukou happy and exaggerated his response, saying, “Wow, it’s so delicious. This piece you picked is especially tasty and wonderful.”

Koukou happily laughed and then took a bite from Yuan Yuan’s used chopsticks, saying, “Yummy~”

Qiao Wanqing had given up on worrying about Koukai’s hygiene issues.

He would pick up and eat anything from the table, so it was no surprise he didn’t care about a bit of someone else’s saliva on the chopsticks.

Huang Daxian (Weasel) and Xiao Hei ( Cat )couldn’t eat this food, so Qiao Wanqing prepared cooked chicken breast, broccoli, and lettuce for them.

They loved it.

Recently, Huang Daxian and Xiao Hei had become inseparable, and the villagers thought it was quite a sight.

They often came to watch the cross-species “couple.”

For example, right now, Qiao Wanqing had divided their food into two bowls, but the two little ones insisted on sharing one bowl, eating from it together and then moving to the second bowl.

They were more affectionate than most people.

Qiao Wanqing didn’t quite understand this animal affection.

Moreover, these little ones sometimes ate at her house and sometimes at Aunt Li’s, which meant they might get double portions sometimes, causing them to gain weight rapidly.

Huang Daxian, who had been trying to lose weight for love, ended up becoming a chubby little guy with his love.

Ahem.

While they were eating, someone knocked on the door.

Grandma Qiao stood up and said, “My hands are clean, I’ll go answer it.”

Soon, Grandma Qiao returned with a woman in her 50s carrying a heavy cardboard box.

Qiao Wanqing saw her and stood up, asking, “ Aunt San, what brings you here?”

The visitor was Aunt San, the wife of Uncle Jianfeng, who sells pork in the village.

Qiao Wanqing and the others referred to her as Aunt San, following the local custom.

“You’re still eating? I’m sorry to disturb you,” Aunt San said, feeling a bit awkward as she saw everyone seated around the table.

Grandma Qiao closed the door to keep out the cold wind and said, “It’s fine. Have you eaten? Sit down and have some.”

“No, no, I’ve already eaten. I’m just dropping by,” Aunt San said as she set a box down on a stool. “This box has some navel oranges from a friend’s orchard that Jianfeng knows. They’re really sweet, so I brought a box for you to try.”

She opened the box to reveal the oranges, which were bright yellow and looked very tempting, with a delightful citrus aroma.

Koukou and Yuanyuan stretched their necks to look, and Aunt San gave each of them one orange.

In the village, it’s normal to exchange things with acquaintances, and Qiao Wanqing had previously given vegetables from her own garden to their family, so she accepted the oranges without hesitation and invited Aunt San to sit.

“No, no, I need to get back to cooking,” Aunt San said as she dusted off her hands and pulled Qiao Wanqing aside. “I wanted to ask if your restaurant is hiring any staff, like waiters?”

Qiao Wanqing was a bit taken aback and realized that Aunt San’s visit had an ulterior motive.

She felt a bit annoyed about the box of oranges, saying, “We’re currently managing fine and don’t need any extra staff. Sorry, Aunt San.”

“No worries,” Aunt San replied. “I’m just helping a friend who wants to find a job for her daughter-in-law closer to home. If you need anyone, I can recommend her.”

Even if Qiao Wanqing’s restaurant were hiring, she wouldn’t just take anyone without experience or the right attitude.

Hiring someone who might not work out and then having to let them go, especially someone known, could be a real hassle.

“Well, unfortunately, we’re not hiring at the moment.”

“Alright, I’ll leave now. You continue cooking,” Aunt San said.

“Actually, Aunt San,” Qiao Wanqing called her back, “I just remembered, we’re having this firewood chicken today, which is quite spicy. You should take these oranges back with you.”

She didn’t want to accept the oranges awkwardly if they weren’t given sincerely.

“No, no, I’m giving you the oranges as a friendly gesture, not for work. I was just asking for a friend. I’ll be going now,” Aunt San said quickly and left.

Qiao Wanqing felt helpless.

She couldn’t return the oranges now, so she planned to give Aunt San some cured meat when she made it in the future.

Seeing them whispering for a while, Gu Yanqing asked when Qiao Wanqing came back after closing the door, “Did she need something?”

Qiao Wanqing explained what had happened and sighed, “I didn’t expect to encounter this kind of situation in our small town.”

Gu Yanqing smiled and said, “There will be more of this in the future.

Just don’t accept things from people unless you’re sure of their intentions.”

He had seen many such situations.

Some people might appear friendly, giving gifts with a smile, but then spread rumors that you accepted their gift and didn’t help them.

So, it’s better not to accept gifts indiscriminately.

Qiao Wanqing stuck out her tongue and said, “Got it. I definitely won’t accept them in the future.”

She was used to exchanging gifts with neighbors, but now that someone was giving gifts with hidden motives, it felt like a rude awakening.

In the mundane world…

Yuan Yuan, who had been happily holding the oranges, listened to Gu Yanqing and Qiao Wanqing’s conversation.

As a child from a wealthy family, he understood that if gifts from adults didn’t work, people might try giving gifts or even red envelopes directly to him.

When Yuanyuan was younger, he had been punished by his father for similar reasons, so he remembered that people who gave gifts were often up to no good.

Now that he learned the orange he was holding was given as a bribe, he was immediately upset.

He threw the orange away and said, “I don’t want oranges from bad people!”

Koukai, who had almost bitten into the orange, was reluctant to throw it away.

After hearing Yuan Yuan’s words, he hesitated but then imitated Yuan Yuan, dropping the orange and saying in a childish voice, “Bad, bad person, no~”

He had thrown the orange so hard that it rolled off the table and onto the floor.

Koukou was distressed, but he tried to maintain a righteous expression, pretending not to care while sneaking glances at the orange rolling around on the ground.

In reality, he really wanted to eat it.