Chapter 90: Chapter 090: Government Officials
Translator: 549690339
She brought with her some freshly-collected duck eggs, beans, and two other people.
These two people were familiar to Zhuang Qingning, both from the same village. One was Mrs. Zhang, a relative-in-law whom Zhuang Qingning had to address as sister-in-law. The other was Mrs. Qian, a young wife from another family in the village who, due to age and relationship, Zhuang Qingning also had to call sister-in-law.
These two people had been found by Zhuang Yonghe and Mrs. He, to come and work at the tofu shop in the evenings.
Zhuang Qingning knew these two women to be diligent, honest, and well-thought-of in the village.
The details of the work and wages had clearly been discussed by Zhuang Yonghe and his wife. All Zhuang Qingning needed to do was to set the start date, and they could begin working immediately.
After some thought, Zhuang Qingning decided that they would start the next evening.
She needed to inform Zhang Yongchang the next morning that the tofu would be available for pick-up in the county town. This would align perfectly with their work schedule.
“Sister-in-law Zhang, Sister-in-law Qian.” Zhuang Qingning respectfully greeted, “I’m grateful for your help in the future events.”
“Miss Ning, your words are too formal! Isn’t it normal to earn money for work? Rest assured, I’m strong and can handle the work. You don’t need to worry, I promise to do a good job.”
Mrs. Qian had an outgoing personality. She was loud, with a deep voice, and physically robust, somewhat resembling a man in looks.
Mrs. Qian was famous in the village as a ‘manly woman’. She was strong, fast, and diligent. Her husband spent most of the year working in the county town, but she managed her household flawlessly, down to the last detail.
“That’s right, Miss Ning. Just entrust the work to us, and rest easy,” Mrs. Zhang agreed.
Mrs. Zhang was also an active person, but compared to the outgoing Mrs. Qian, she was quite introverted. She did not have the physical robustness of Mrs. Qian, but she was well-known for being meticulous and clean, keeping her home tidier than anyone else’s.
Zhuang Qingning’s eyes continued to crinkle in amusement.
She was extremely satisfied with these two women. After some further instructions and arranging the time for them to arrive at the tofu shop the next evening, she saw them off.
Once they had helped her gather up the eggs and such, Zhuang Yonghe took the beans to the tofu shop, leaving with Mrs. He.
As per their usual routine, Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui went to the tofu shop after dinner that evening.
Today, though, Zhuang Qingning arrived somewhat earlier than usual, bringing along some scallion pancakes she’d cooked that evening to give to Mrs. Wen.
Mrs. Wen, as ever, accepted them without complaint. But she raised an eyebrow and asked, “I noticed that Zhuang Yonghe delivered more beans today than usual. Are you planning to open a second tofu pot?”
“I meant to discuss it with you yesterday, but I got up late and figured you’d have already gone to bed by the time I came by. And this morning, I had to leave early and didn’t get the chance to talk to you.”
Zhuang Qingning chuckled, “The county town probably needs around two hundred pounds of tofu per day, so I think one pot might not be enough. I was thinking of opening up the second one as well.”
“Not bad. You’ve managed to sell tofu all the way in the county town, and it looks like this business will only get bigger in the future.”
Mrs. Wen glanced at Zhuang Qingning, “You’ve got some good luck. It remains to be seen if it will continue in the future.”
“Who knows what the future holds? We’ll just take it one day at a time.” Zhuang Qingning’s lips twitched in a smile, “Back in the day, we never thought we’d reach a point where we had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, right?”
“You’re certainly optimistic,” Mrs. Wen retracted her gaze and continued cleaning the water spinach and peeling garlic cloves. She slipped into the kitchen to stir-fry the vegetables.
Zhuang Qingning, meanwhile, went into the tofu shop and got back to work.
The next day, when she went to the town, Zhuang Qingning first sought out Zhang Yongchang. She informed him that everything was ready and that they could begin grinding the tofu for the county town. By early the next morning, it could be delivered.
“You’re quick.” Zhang Yongchang laughed, “Later in the afternoon, I’ll go to the county town and let them know they can pick up the tofu from your place early the next morning.”
“If there are any changes in plan, I’ll inform you in the evening. If I don’t come looking for you, then just continue to produce the tofu as normal.”
“Got it,” Zhuang Qingning nodded understandingly.
“Right.” Zhang Yongchang stopped Zhuang Qingning as she prepared to leave, “Last night, I finally made that soy sauce-flavored bone recipe. It really tasted better than what I used to cook. Your recipe is indeed good.”
“Yesterday, you left the town early in the morning and didn’t have a chance to try the soy sauce-flavored bone. Stay a little later today to have some before leaving. It won’t make you late.”
“If Uncle Zhang says so, I’d like to give it a try.”
Xiaowu had praised this soy sauce-flavored bone recipe, and even Zhang Yongchang’s joyous expression showed that the flavor was indeed very good.
This made Zhuang Qingning interested in tasting the delicacy.
“Alright.” Seeing Zhuang Qingning agree, Zhang Yongchang chuckled, “You and Miss Sui should come later for lunch. We’ll let Lian Rong make pancakes for you. Lian Rong’s cooking skills are average, but her pancakes are always good. You should try them.”
“Alright,” Zhuang Qingning nodded in agreement.
“Miss Zhuang, Miss Zhuang…”
As they were talking, Lian Rong ran up, panting, “You must hurry and check this out. There are government officials at your tofu stall. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think Little Miss Zhuang is crying…”
Government officials?
Zhuang Qingning paused, then bolted away.
No matter what was happening, Zhuang Qingsui had probably been terrified. If there were any issues, they should ask her, not a little girl who wouldn’t know what to do anyway.
“What really happened?” Zhang Yongchang paused too, pulling Lian Rong aside to quickly ask, “Why would government officials come all of a sudden?”
“Err…” Lian Rong wiped the sweat off his forehead, “I really don’t know. Someone from outside saw and said that government officials had arrived. I looked and saw that they were near Miss Zhuang’s tofu stall, and Little Miss Zhuang seemed to be crying. I rushed over to tell Miss Zhuang.”
“So after all that, you don’t really know anything”. Zhang Yongchang slapped Lian Rong’s forehead, “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go with me to check it out.”
If there really was trouble, there would be someone present to help. It would spare the two orphans the trouble of having no one to speak for them if they ran into any issues..
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