Jiang Yanyi was the last person left.

“The Great General has shown benevolence by clearing your grievances and restoring your legitimate status. You may return home now!” the little leader told them.

Next came the camp prostitutes burdened with criminal records, and Qiu Kui was among them since her pardon documents had not yet arrived.

As soon as the little leader said they could be sold, several middle-aged women from the nearby mule carts and ox carts sauntered over, their clothing and appearance somewhat disheveled, with sharp, harsh features that indicated they were formidable.

Jiang Yanyi knew that they were likely madams from a brothel.

Before the madam could approach, she pulled Qiu Kui in front of the little leader and said, “Sir, I want to buy her.”

Qiu Kui had a slightly darker complexion, a round face that was considered pretty, but her usual dull demeanor had diminished her looks.

Moreover, today, the other camp prostitutes had all dressed up, making Qiu Kui appear drab and unnoticed among them like a dull goose.

Now that Jiang Yanyi had her legitimate status, she had the right to buy and sell servants.

The little leader didn’t ask too many questions, simply letting her sign the purchase contract for the government’s criminal slaves, reminding her not to resell them lightly.

Even if she changed ownership, she would need to register with the government, and Jiang Yanyi agreed to all of it.

In the impoverished West Prefecture, there were hardly any buyers for criminal camp prostitutes, regardless of their height or build.

The set price was one thousand coins per person.

Jiang Yanyi bought Qiu Kui for one tael of silver.

When Qiu Kui saw the little leader hand over her contract to Jiang Yanyi, she felt both happy and sad, her eyes reddening.

Since being sold by her aunt, she had fallen into the mire, but now she could finally leave.

Jiang Yanyi’s striking appearance caught the attention of the madam, who looked her over a few more times.

Upon realizing that she was also buying someone, the madam concluded she was a woman of good standing and abandoned her thoughts of making a deal with her.

In the crowd, Chunxiang saw Jiang Yanyi buying Qiu Kui and became furious, realizing that she had deliberately ignored her last night to wait here!

Seeing the madam approach, Chunxiang quickly hid her malicious expression.

Her clothing was flashy, her figure alluring, and her makeup heavy; she was the most eye-catching in the crowd.

The madam immediately spotted her and, upon approaching, realized that Chunxiang was being supported by two camp prostitutes just to stand upright.

In a short while, she was sweating profusely, and her makeup couldn’t hide her pale face.

The madam scrutinized her.

Chunxiang hurriedly smiled and called out, “Madam, buy me back! I can make you a lot of money!”

The madam’s eyes were sharp; she glanced at her and snorted before turning to look for other camp prostitutes.

Chunxiang was utterly panicked and shouted, “Please buy me! I can really make you money!”

She lunged forward, trying to grab the madam’s sleeve, but the two camp prostitutes who had benefited from her were unable to hold her up.

She fell to the ground, injuring her backside, and while crying in pain, she crawled toward the madam, clutching her skirt: “Please buy me!”

The madam pulled her skirt away as if it had touched something dirty, her expression bitter: “Get lost! Don’t bring me bad luck with your pathetic self! Disgusting!”

While she spoke, the madam had already chosen whom to buy and went to the little leader to complete the sale.

Chunxiang was filled with despair.

She could barely stand up now; if no one bought her, she would be sent off to hard labor and would suffer to death.

She lay on the ground and cried loudly.

Jiang Yanyi had already walked a short distance with Qiuxiu when she heard the cries behind them.

Both she and Qiuxiu turned to look back.

Chunxiang was the kind of person who embodied the saying, “A pitiful person must have something to be hated.”

All of this was her own doing; she had nearly died from her and Liu Cheng’s schemes.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t bring herself to feel sorry for her.

She turned to Qiukui and said, “Let’s go.”

Qiu Kui nodded.

Head Zhao had rented an ox cart to wait for them ahead.

His nephew was eager to leave and had already gone to Jiangnan yesterday afternoon.

Today, Head Zhao took a day off to help Jiang Yanyi sign the lease for her shop and to take them there.

By the time they arrived at the shop, it was already late morning.

Jiang Yanyi signed the lease agreement with Head Zhao and paid three months’ rent in advance.

Since they hadn’t had a chance to tidy up, she didn’t invite Head Zhao to stay for a meal but said she would treat him once the restaurant officially opened.

Team Leader( Head ) Zhao readily agreed.

Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui quickly tidied up the shop and courtyard a bit.

Seeing that it was nearly noon and they hadn’t eaten breakfast, with the house having a cold stove, Jiang Yanyi decided to take Qiu Kui out to eat.

Qiu Kui lowered her head, nervously fiddling with the hem of her clothing, reluctant to go: “Huahua, you’ve already spent a thousand coins buying me, and you still need to save the rest for opening the shop. I see there’s some rice left in the jar; I’ll go start a fire and cook something. It won’t take long.”

Although the girl was a bit dull, she was actually quite sensitive and worried about being a burden.

Jiang Yanyi felt sorry for her and thought that even if she forced her to go out to eat, she probably wouldn’t enjoy it, so she said, “Then you go start the fire and boil some water.”

Lui Ji had just left yesterday.

The kitchen was stocked with all the essentials.

Before leaving, Team Leader Zhao had mentioned that these things would only attract mice if left unattended.

He lived far away, and it wouldn’t be convenient to move all this for such a small amount, so he told them to use whatever they wanted.

Jiang Yanyi checked the kitchen and found no fresh vegetables, but there were a few large yellow pumpkins piled in the corner.

An idea suddenly struck her; she could make a simple pumpkin rice dish, and with the leftover pumpkins, she could make pumpkin cakes!

Jiang Yanyi had Qiu Kui add two servings of rice into the pot, so they could just heat up the cold rice for dinner later without much hassle.

She picked up a large yellow pumpkin from the corner and used a kitchen knife to peel off the skin.

Because this pumpkin was relatively old, Jiang Yanyi intentionally peeled it a bit thicker.

One could tell how good a pumpkin was by the feel of the knife against the skin and the color of the flesh after peeling.

As she was processing the pumpkin, Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, “This pumpkin is definitely sweet.”

Qiu Kui, squatting nearby and cleaning out the seeds from the pumpkin flesh, looked up with a greedy expression.

She had orange pumpkin juice smeared on her face, resembling a little kitten: “Huahua?”

Sugar was prohibitively expensive in this era.

Ordinary families could hardly afford it throughout the year, while only wealthy households frequently enjoyed sweets and confections.

Jiang Yanyi nodded, washing the peeled pumpkin and cutting it into small pieces.

She reserved one-quarter for making pumpkin rice and planned to use the remaining three-quarters to make pumpkin cakes.

She said, “You should start a fire in the other stove. I’ll steam the rest of this pumpkin to make pumpkin cakes.”

Upon hearing about the pumpkin cakes, Qiu Kui hurried to the stove to build a fire.

There were three pots on the stove, and Jiang Yanyi was quite pleased.

A large pot could hold a steaming basket for vegetables, the medium pot was for stewing, and the small pot was for frying.

Between the medium and small pots, there was a water tank connected to the stove; when a fire was lit, the water in the tank would heat up, saving quite a bit of firewood.

Jiang Yanyi placed the cut pumpkin pieces into the steamer and then stirred the rice boiling in the medium pot with a large iron spoon.

The rice water was thick and white, and the rising steam carried a strong aroma of rice.

Jiang Yanyi had only seen rice cooked over a wood stove at her grandmother’s house when she was a child.

It seemed that rice cooked this way was even more fragrant than that made in an electric rice cooker.

Seeing that the rice still needed some time to cook, she finished cleaning the pumpkin seeds, rinsed off the orange juice, spread them on a sieve to drain, and set them out in the yard to dry.

Though the pumpkin seeds weren’t dry yet, Jiang Yanyi had already thought about how to fry them for snacks.

She also planned to keep some seeds for planting in the yard next spring so they could enjoy the young pumpkin shoots and flowers then.

Jiang Yanyi sighed, feeling that the pumpkin was a treasure all around.

When she returned to the kitchen, the rice was about 70% cooked.

Jiang Yanyi found a clean basin to place underneath, set the sieve on top, and began scooping the rice into the sieve with a wooden ladle.

The rice drained out, leaving behind thick and white rice water in the basin.

Qiukui was so greedy she couldn’t wait for the meal and drank two large bowls of rice water.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but laugh: “If you drink too much rice water now, you won’t be able to eat much later.”

Qiu Kui shook her head, holding her bowl: “I think I can still eat three large bowls.”

Jiang Yanyi found this silly girl amusing.

Perhaps it was because she had regained her freedom, but even though she was cooking, Jiang Yanyi felt much more relaxed and comfortable here than at the camp, feeling happy and energized in everything she did.

She washed the pot, drained the water, and added oil.

When the oil was hot, she crushed some garlic and sautéed it for fragrance before removing it, then poured the previously reserved quarter of the pumpkin into the pot, stirring it with just salt and no other seasonings, as the aroma wafting from the pot was already delightful.

She pushed the pumpkin into a mound in the pot, where the pumpkin pieces glistened with oil.

Jiang Yanyi carefully spread the drained rice over the pumpkin, covering it completely so the pumpkin’s sweetness would be locked into the rice.

As she circled the pot adding water, she told Qiu Kui, “Turn the heat to medium-low. If it’s too high, the pumpkin will burn before it’s cooked through.”

Qiu Kui nodded obediently.

After doing all this, Jiang Yanyi covered the pot.

When the pumpkin was fully cooked, the layer of rice above would be cooked through as well.

She didn’t need to remember the time; just watching the steam rising from the pot told her when it was time to turn off the heat.

At this moment, the pumpkin pieces in the steamer were also done.

Jiang Yanyi took out the steamed pumpkin pieces, mashed them, and mixed them with glutinous rice flour, kneading until it no longer stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

She then covered it with a clean, damp cloth to let it rest for a while.

Meanwhile, the white steam escaping from the lid of the pot had reduced, and if one listened closely, there was a faint “popping” sound inside, indicating that the rice grains sticking to the pot were starting to turn into crispy rice.

Jiang Yanyi hurriedly had Qiu Kui turn off the heat under this pot and move the firewood to the smaller pot on the stove.

She rolled the rested dough into a long strip and, with swift hands, pinched off small pieces, rolling them into little balls, then pressed them down on the cutting board to form flat, round pumpkin cakes.

Seeing the pot heated up, she added oil and placed the pumpkin cakes inside to fry until both sides turned golden brown.

The heat caused the golden crust to puff up, making them look quite attractive.

After taking the pumpkin cakes out of the pot, Jiang Yanyi had Qiu Kui give them a try.

Qiu Kui reached for one directly with her hand, got burned, and then switched to chopsticks to grab it, but it was still hot when she put it in her mouth.

Eating in haste, she stuck out her tongue, blowing on it.

“Eat more slowly; there’s plenty here.” Jiang Yanyi was worried she would burn her tongue.

“Delicious, I’m not afraid of the heat,” Qiu Kui replied, and sure enough, her tongue was now clumsy from the heat.

She handed a pair of chopsticks to Jiang Yanyi: “You should try it too.”