Chapter 120: Jin Cuicui 2/2

In her past life, she didn’t do housework well, and Li Qingzhi did a lot of the chores. At that time, she didn’t know what she was thinking and just kept complaining about Li Qingzhi’s lack of ambition.

Of course, what made her most upset was Li Qingzhi becoming the top scorer again in the prefectural examination.

Li Qingzhi would definitely pass the imperial examination in the future, and he might even become a jinshi. If that happened, Jin Xiaoye would become the wife of an official!

Jin Moli looked even more disdainful of Yao Zhenfu.

Yao Zhenfu was also angry—this woman looked down on him just because she had money!

While Jin Moli and Yao Zhenfu were mutually resentful, Li Qingzhi, after visiting the people he needed to visit and buying the ingredients for making braised meat, finally returned home.

He planned to try the braised meat recipe from the Chang family’s cookbook.

If he didn’t try it in advance, it would be troublesome if the braised meat he made tomorrow wasn’t delicious!

Li Qingzhi picked up a large pot and started making braised meat according to the recipe.

Each ingredient was put into the pot, and after boiling it over high heat, it was simmered over low heat… Of course, there was a large piece of meat inside.

As it cooked, a rich fragrance filled the air…

Li Damao and Li Ermao were going crazy: “Dad, what are you making? It smells so good!”

Zhao Xiaodou couldn’t help but drool, staring at Li Qingzhi eagerly.

Even Chang Cui couldn’t help but sniffle, standing by the pot and refusing to leave.

After the incident at the Chang family, although Chang Zhan would occasionally make some delicious food at home, he wouldn’t make anything too overpowering to avoid attracting attention from neighbors. Chang Cui had never tasted this braised meat before!

“Dad is making braised meat. You can eat it later,” Li Qingzhi said.

Not to mention the three children being greedy, he was too.

If it weren’t for the fact that the braised meat wasn’t ready yet, he would probably have already scooped some out to eat.

The Chang family’s braised meat recipe was really good.

“This meat smells so good. I’ve never smelled such a fragrant aroma in my life,” Li Laogen moved a chair and sat down next to Li Qingzhi, not planning to leave.

Not long after, the neighbors came knocking on the door, asking what they were cooking and why it smelled so good.

Chongcheng County wasn’t big, and the houses were close together. If one household cooked something delicious, the surrounding households could all smell it.

Jin Xiaoye had a good relationship with her neighbors, and now they all came over to ask… Li Qingzhi sliced some meat and added some braising liquid to give to them.

Li Laogen couldn’t bear to part with it: “There’s only so little meat, and you’re still giving it away…”

“We don’t just eat this once in our family,” Li Qingzhi said.

“Can we eat this every day from now on?” Li Laogen asked.

Li Qingzhi sighed helplessly, “Are you not afraid of getting tired of eating it every day?”

Li Laogen said, “I’m not afraid. I could eat this kind of meat for the rest of my life.”

“In that case, we’ll eat it more often in the future,” Li Qingzhi said.

Hearing Li Qingzhi say that, Li Laogen finally stopped complaining, but he kept urging Li Qingzhi to cut some meat for him to eat.

Seeing that the meat was almost ready, Li Qingzhi scooped out the meat and sliced it.

He first gave some to the female workers who hadn’t returned to Miaoqian Village, and then brought the rest to the table for his family to eat together.

The meat was really delicious. Tomorrow, when they served this braised meat at the banquet, the villagers would definitely love it!

Early the next morning, Jin Xiaoshu arrived in the county town.

Jin Xiaoye asked him to buy pork, tofu, and other ingredients, while she, Li Qingzhi, and the remaining female workers took two boats and returned to Miaoqian Village early.

The people in Miaoqian Village knew that Li Qingzhi and the others would be coming back today.

It wasn’t busy with farming activities recently, so many people were waiting at the pier early in the morning.

When they saw Li Qingzhi from afar, the villagers began waving and calling out, “The top scorer is back!”

“Li Qingzhi, what’s it like in the prefectural city?”

“Li Qingzhi, are you going to take the provincial examination next?”

Li Qingzhi hadn’t seen this group of people for a long time. He greeted them with a smile and said, “Let’s go to my house. Feel free to ask me anything you want to know later.”

With a cheer, the villagers followed Li Qingzhi.

This time, when Jin Xiaoye returned to the village, she brought back the two large pots from the shop. Li Qingzhi set up a stove while chatting with the villagers.

Of course, he didn’t do much work.

Li Qingzhi was a scholar; how could he do dirty work? The villagers were fighting to do the work for him.

They quickly built two stoves by bringing back some mud and bricks.

When Li Qingzhi said he wanted to boil some water, they quickly fetched water from the well and helped start the fire.

Li Qingzhi had bought a lot of ingredients and some medicinal herbs from the pharmacy yesterday, in addition to the materials needed to make braised meat. He also bought some other seasonings.

This was to avoid revealing the Chang family’s braised meat recipe to his hands.

Today, he not only brought back the leftover braising liquid he made at home yesterday but also the wrapped braising ingredient packs.

After the water boiled, Li Qingzhi threw the braising ingredient packs into the pot and added the leftover braising liquid from yesterday.

“What’s this? It smells so good,” the villagers asked curiously.

“It’s braising liquid. Since we’re having a banquet today, I plan to make some braised meat,” Li Qingzhi said with a smile.

While Li Qingzhi chatted with the villagers and made braised meat, Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Zhao Xiaodou had already started playing with the village children, including Chang Cui.

At this moment, they were playing with Yao Xiaobao.

Yao Xiaobao used to be managed by Jin Moli and rarely played with the village children, so he was a bit out of place.

But during this time, Jin Moli was busy and didn’t have time to manage him. Yao’s parents were also busy with farming and household chores, as well as helping Jin Moli, so they didn’t have time to take care of him either. As a result, he became more free.

Alright, he’s not really free either; his two-year-younger sister now has him in charge.

Yao Xiaobao’s skin has darkened by two shades, looking not much different from before, but his temperament has become much more cheerful.

Li Damao and Li Ermao each hold one of Chang Cui’s hands and bring her to Yao Xiaobao. “Xiaobao, look, we also have a little sister now!”

“Yes, we also have a little sister now, and our sister is even prettier than your sister!”

Yao Xiaobao wanted to say that his sister is prettier, but looking at the fair Chang Cui and then at his own dark-skinned sister, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

But even if his own sister isn’t pretty, it doesn’t affect him playing with Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Jin Moli got up early to prepare, and now she finally gets to take a break, coming out of the house while rubbing her waist.

Then she sees her son playing with Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Before, Li Damao and Li Ermao were dark-skinned, while her son looked nothing like a country person, but now it’s the opposite; her son is much darker than Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Just as she was unhappy, Jin Moli saw her son picking up a flower and handing it to a girl in a pretty dress. “Cui Cui, here’s a flower for you.”

Cui Cui? Jin Moli looks at the girl and sees a shadow of Jin Cuicui on her face.

In her previous life, Jin Xiaoye somehow picked up a little girl from somewhere and raised her with her own son and daughter.

When this girl grew up, she even let her son marry this girl…

They grew up together, and their relationship was indeed good, but many people at the time thought Jin Xiaoye was foolish.

Her family was so wealthy, and her son was even a scholar… Jin Xiaoye’s son could clearly have married a young lady from a wealthy family; why marry an orphan?

Jin Moli couldn’t understand it at the time.

What she understood even less was that she got a second chance at life, and Jin Cuicui appeared again.