Chapter 108: Menu 2/2

The girl in Jin Xiaoye’s arms was in a daze, crying and calling out for her mother.

Jin Xiaoye didn’t know what to say. During the day, Jin Mao’er called her “mother” when she was delirious, and now this girl is calling her “mother”…

The two of them quickly arrived at the medical center. After knocking on the door, someone opened the door.

The doctor was still awake at this hour and quickly examined the little girl. After prescribing medicine, he gave the same advice as during the day, reminding Jin Xiaoye to give the child plenty of water and feed her a light diet.

Carrying the medicine and the child back home, Jin Xiaoye asked Li Qingzhi, “What should we do now?”

Li Qingzhi replied, “Let’s go back and have dinner first. I haven’t eaten my noodles yet.”

Jin Xiaoye was exasperated. “That’s not what I meant!”

Of course, Li Qingzhi knew she wasn’t referring to the noodles. “Let’s take care of her first. After we get back, give her a bath, and find some old clothes from Jin Mao’er and Jin Ermao for her to wear.”

“She’s running a fever. Can she take a bath?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“She can,” Li Qingzhi assured her.

Actually, even if the child were clean, she wouldn’t need a bath, but she was so dirty, and who knows how many germs were on her? It would be better to give her a bath to reduce her temperature.

On the way back home, the girls from the temple-front village had already finished sorting out the goods but hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Jin Xiaoye provided them with good food, but many of them… Many of them had never done needlework before and didn’t know how to work in the embroidery shop.

These girls felt embarrassed. It was already dark a few days ago, and they still wanted to continue needlework, but Jin Xiaoye scolded them for it.

Jin Xiaoye naturally wanted them to do more work for her, but it was late at night, and working with needles would hurt their eyes. She wouldn’t exploit a group of unmarried girls like that.

After it got dark, Jin Xiaoye didn’t let them work anymore, at most letting them help tidy up things.

“How’s Xiao Mao doing?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“She had the noodle soup and is feeling much better now,” someone said.

“Keep an eye on her. If she feels uncomfortable, come and tell me immediately,” Jin Xiaoye instructed them.

The girls nodded repeatedly, and Jin Xiaoye then took the girl in her arms to bathe.

Earlier, when they were cooking the noodle soup, Li Qingzhi had considered that he needed to take a bath, so he boiled some water beforehand. Now Jin Xiaoye could use it to help bathe the child.

As Li Qingzhi ate the noodle soup and talked with Jin Mao’er and Jin Ermao, Jin Xiaoye, carrying the girl who was sobbing with her eyes closed, came out from inside the house and said to Li Qingzhi, “Ah Qing, there’s a cookbook on this girl.”

“A cookbook?” Li Qingzhi was curious.

Jin Xiaoye handed him a book, and Li Qingzhi took a look. It was indeed a cookbook.

The cookbook was newly transcribed, without even a cover, but it looked quite substantial.

Li Qingzhi already had some understanding of the food of Daqi.

In this era, what ordinary people ate was completely different from what wealthy people ate.

Ordinary folks didn’t use oil in their cooking; they basically just boiled everything. Slightly wealthier households might use oil for stir-frying, but the seasoning was still very limited.

But for the truly wealthy…

Their food was exquisite, and they used a wide variety of spices and seasonings.

And this cookbook…

Li Qingzhi flipped open a page and saw names like “grass cardamom, grass fruit, cloves, cubeb, and sand ginger” written on it.

These were things he didn’t know how to use in cooking. The head chef at Zhu Qian’s house only used common spices like star anise and cinnamon, nothing like the ones listed here.

As far as he knew, skilled chefs in this era were usually reluctant to teach their skills to outsiders. Culinary knowledge was often passed down through generations, and having such a skill meant a steady livelihood.

In any case, this cookbook should be quite valuable.

Why would the girl’s uncle give away his niece along with the cookbook? Even if he sold it, he could make some money to support himself. Why?

“Dad, what’s a cookbook?” asked Li Damao.

“It’s a book that teaches people how to cook,” Li Qingzhi replied. “Damao, Ermao, don’t tell anyone about the girl having a cookbook, okay?”

He didn’t know where this girl came from… In any case, it was better not to make a fuss.

Speaking of cookbooks, Li Qingzhi suddenly remembered a man from his previous host’s memories. They used to work together, digging stones. He was said to be a cook.

Most of the people caught digging stones were commoners, but this man was different. He was plump and looked like he came from a wealthy family.

Out of curiosity, the original host talked to him and learned that his name was Chang Duan. He used to be a chef and owned a restaurant in Linhu County.

Chang Duan wanted to escape but couldn’t. Instead, he got beaten up a few times.

Like Li Qingzhi, Chang Duan was in good shape, which saved him from being beaten to death.

But later, as Li Qingzhi’s health deteriorated and Chang Duan was overwhelmed by heavy work, their communication decreased.

Then… When Li Qingzhi passed out for a while, the person in charge thought he was dead and threw him out, but…

He coincidentally regained his life and returned to Miaoqian Village.

As for Chang Duan… When the original host left, Chang Duan was still alive, but he didn’t know how he was doing now.

Thinking of Chang Duan and the people who worked with him, Li Qingzhi felt a bit heavy-hearted.

Li Damao and Li Ermao promised not to tell anyone about this matter and went to Jin Xiaoye’s side to see the little girl.

The girl was only about three or four years old. She had looked dirty before, but now that she was clean, they found that her skin was very fair and she was very cute.

“It’s a pity that the little sister is sleeping!” Li Damao felt sorry.

Li Ermao also asked, “Mom, can we wake the little sister up to play with us?”

Jin Xiaoye replied, “The little sister is sick and can’t play with you. It’s getting late; you should go to bed soon.”

Jin Xiaoye sent Li Damao and Li Ermao to bed before returning to the kitchen, where she saw Li Qingzhi feeding medicine to the girl.

The girl was drowsy and didn’t really wake up, but she obediently took the medicine. Jin Xiaoye asked Li Qingzhi, “I want this child to sleep in our room. Is that okay?”

The child was still young, so it was understandable that she fell into a deep sleep. But when she woke up later, she would surely cry.

Jin Xiaoye felt that it was okay for the unmarried girls to take care of Jin Mao’er, but it was not suitable for them to take care of such a young child. So, she had to take care of the girl herself.

Li Qingzhi smiled and said, “Of course, we have a couch in our room. It’s perfect for her to sleep on.”

Back in the bedroom, Jin Xiaoye moved the couch to the bedside and let the girl sleep on it. She then slept on the outer side of the large bed so that she could take care of the child if she suddenly woke up.

After settling down, Jin Xiaoye and Li Qingzhi finally had time to talk.

As for being affectionate… With a child lying nearby, that was out of the question.

Li Qingzhi held Jin Xiaoye’s hand and told her about his experiences over the past few days.

There were so many chaotic things happening in Linhu County. He had been busy with Magistrate Gou for twelve days, spending most of his time in the county town handling cases. They were unaware of the true situation in Linhu County.

The common people they encountered in Linhu County… didn’t really know much about the situation either. Taxes were increasing, and they simply took it as the government clerks and runners taking advantage of them.

Li Qingzhi talked a lot, and as he spoke, he unwittingly fell asleep.

He didn’t know how long he had slept when he was awakened by sobbing.

As Jin Xiaoye had expected, the girl cried in the middle of the night.

Jin Xiaoye hurried over to comfort her, but the girl seemed to realize something wasn’t right and cried even louder…

“I’ll take care of her,” Li Qingzhi said, taking the girl and using some of his abilities to quickly lull her back to sleep.

Since the child was sick, it was best for her to get more rest.

He had to go out tomorrow and entertain Magistrate Yan along with Magistrate Gou. He needed a good night’s sleep tonight.