Chapter 167

Shuiqing’s words were directed to her eldest son, Fan Jiang, but standing up along with Fan Jiang were Fan He, Fan Hu, and Hu Wenhua.

“Why are you following them?” Mother Hu pulled on her son’s shirt hem, indicating he shouldn’t go along.

This was his sister’s village, and it was already inappropriate for them, the family from the mother’s side, to stay here. Wandering around might invite gossip about his sister.

Hu Wenhua didn’t think much about it and replied casually, “The road is slippery; I’m going to look after the younger ones.”

In reality, he was tired of being cooped up by the rain and work over the past two days and desperately needed to go out for a breath of fresh air.

But his words carried the tone of an elder.

Mother Hu, looking at her tall and sturdy son, thought it might be good for him to follow.

She instructed him with concern, “Don’t cause any trouble, finish the task, and bring the younger ones back early.”

The four of them loudly agreed and then dashed off in a flash.

Mother Hu shook her head and sighed in frustration, “He’s about to get married, yet he still acts like a child, so immature.”

Shuiqing: ….. He is still a child after all.

Fan Jin comforted her gently, “Wenhua just hasn’t met the right person yet. Once he does, he will mature. Don’t worry, Mother.”

Mother Hu loved hearing this and asked excitedly, “By the way, are there any girls of suitable age in your village? Someone around Wenhua’s age, or even a bit older would be fine. They say a woman three years older is like a golden brick.”

Fan Jin stared blankly at Shuiqing, his dark eyes filled with confusion.

Shuiqing had no choice but to step in, responding with experienced assurance, “Mother, how would he know?”

Mother Hu realized the sense in this and laughed, “You must know, right? You know we’ve made some money from brewing wine, and we won’t let any good girl suffer. As long as she’s a good person with good character, it doesn’t matter if she’s tall, short, fat, or thin!”

Shuiqing: ….. Anyone who didn’t know better would think Wenhua is so old he can’t find a match, and they’d settle for whoever would have him.

“Mother, Wenhua is still young. We have time to find the right person.”

“He’s not that young anymore, already sixteen, and with this year more than half gone, he’ll be seventeen in a few months. If we don’t find someone this year, we’ll have to look next year, then fix the engagement, pick a date for the wedding, who knows how old he’ll be by then!

A man is considered old past eighteen, and all the good girls get engaged early. What will he have to choose from then?” Mother Hu counted on her fingers, growing more worried with each word.

Butcher Hu also looked somewhat troubled.

Shuiqing opened her mouth, wanting to question if age could really be calculated this way.

The tea room fell silent for a moment.

Shuiqing turned to look at Yan Qiuxing, Hui, and Zhaodi in the corner.

The three sisters were discussing how to make delicious dishes.

Xinghui proudly said to Zhaodi, “Mother’s braised pork is even better than what the best chefs in the city’s top restaurants make!”

Fan Zhaodi nodded emphatically, “Auntie’s cooking is the best!”

“We need to learn too, so we can cook better than restaurant chefs in the future.”

“We need to learn!”

Mother Hu watched the girls discussing cooking skills with amusement, thinking it was good.

“If we learn well, we can become chefs and earn a good amount each month, maybe even more than restaurant chefs!” Xinghui continued.

Fan Zhaodi quickly adapted and said, “Becoming a chef can earn us money, even better.”

Mother Hu blinked in surprise. These two kids were different from what she expected.

Learning to cook wasn’t for making meals at home, but for earning money?

But is it suitable for girls to become chefs?

“No, you two can’t think like that.” Yan Qiu, with the demeanor of an elder sister, stopped her two younger sisters.

Mother Hu breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Qiu gently taught them, “Working as a chef for others means being controlled and earning less. You should aim to earn on your own.

For example, since we can cook better than restaurant chefs, why not open our own restaurant and be the owners? Wouldn’t we earn more that way?

If we don’t have money to start with, it’s okay. We can first work as chefs and save up. But we shouldn’t be chefs our whole lives, understand?”

Xinghui and Fan Zhaodi were initially stunned, but then their thoughts seemed to open up, and they immediately nodded in agreement.

“Elder Sister is right. We should become owners ourselves in the future and hire others to do the work. Being an owner might be tiring, but what work isn’t?”

Fan Zhaodi had thought that becoming a cook and earning money was already a great idea, but she hadn’t imagined that they could even open a restaurant.

Their second sister also agreed.

Not long ago, she had been unable to get enough to eat. Now, following her two older sisters, she felt that opening a restaurant wasn’t an unreachable goal.

She believed that her two sisters could do it.

She wondered if she worked hard, could she do it too…

Shuiqing nodded in satisfaction.

Yan Qiu was doing a great job as the eldest sister.

Mother Hu was stunned.

How did the conversation turn this way?

She had thought that aiming to be a cook was ambitious enough, but now they were talking about opening a restaurant. Restaurants weren’t so easy to open; they required a lot of money.

She looked at Shuiqing and saw a warm, approving smile on her face. Her worries began to dissipate.

Kids were just talking about their dreams; it wasn’t something to be taken seriously…

Hu Wenhua, along with Fan Jiang, Fan He, and Fan Hu, quickly headed towards their home village, Shanshui Village.

As they approached, only Fan Jiang went inside, while the others dispersed to find their own playmates.

Hu Wenhua had visited Shanshui Village few times and didn’t have any familiar friends, let alone playmates. He walked along the village road, occasionally looking around curiously.

Having grown up in a town, he found the village life quite different and everything seemed novel to him.

The adults in the village mostly knew he was Shuiqing’s brother and nodded politely at him.

Children, seeing Hu Wenhua, who looked like a small mountain as he walked, instinctively hid behind their parents.

Even the half-grown boys, whom the village cats and dogs disliked, stayed far away from Hu Wenhua, not daring to provoke him.

There was no other way; although he was only sixteen, his burly and sturdy build made it seem like he could knock out several people with one punch. They were mischievous, not suicidal!

So Hu Wenhua walked unimpeded all the way to the far end of the village.

As he approached, he heard mocking voices:

“Ugly monster, did your mother give you herbs that lost their effectiveness over time? Why didn’t they work when we drank them!”

“Maybe there weren’t enough herbs, which is why they didn’t work. Is your mother still thinking of our brothers? My mother said if you provide herbs to cure her throat, she will accept you into the family!”

“Hey, are you deaf? Answer us!”

Hu Wenhua frowned deeply.

In front of him was a three-room mud-brick house at the edge of the village, without a courtyard. A girl was drying medicinal herbs, and the area around the house was filled with neatly arranged herbs.

The girl had her back to the shouting boys, ignoring them.

Hu Wenhua looked at the three boys shouting.

To be precise, two teenage boys were mocking her in front, while another stood behind with his arms crossed, pretending to be superior and smirking.

To his surprise, he recognized them!