Chapter 409
Chapter 409: 403_1 Chapter 409: 403_1 “Enough for now, leave some room in your stomach, there are still many delicious things here, not just dumplings. I’ll take you to try more later,” even though Zhao Erhu had never been here before, to win his wife’s favor, he had asked around in advance and presented himself as if he really had experience.
Meanwhile, at a certain spot on the street, Abao carefully followed behind Huangfu Jing, noticing his master’s unchanging expression, he felt uneasy. He was tempted to suggest sending someone to search for that lady but feared he might have misread his master’s intentions, possibly invoking his ire instead.
Serving as a servant is truly a difficult job. Considering his master’s temper, it’s best not to guess at his thoughts. Seeing that the lady clearly wore the hairstyle of a married woman, how could his master of such status fancy a married lady? It wouldn’t be good for his reputation. If he were to be impeached by the officials over a woman, it would cause an even bigger headache. So things were fine as they were. Even if his master was preoccupied with thoughts of her, the Capital City was so vast, a sea of people—it wouldn’t be easy to find a married woman whose name was unknown.
“Forget it, I’m not in the mood anymore, let’s head back,” Huangfu Jing, having browsed around for a while without catching sight of that graceful figure, felt somewhat disheartened and lost interest in continuing to wander, deciding to head home.
“As you command,” Abao, upon receiving Huangfu Jing’s order and hearing the master was finally going back, felt a sense of relief. As the master seemed to have given up, he disappeared for a moment and then somehow had a carriage waiting in front of Huangfu Jing.
“Master, please get on the carriage.”
Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue ambled along the snack street for an entire afternoon. Lin Yue almost stuffed herself full and couldn’t finish all the snacks on the street, having to leave some for next time. The quality of the snacks varied; there were delicious and not so tasty ones. They encountered one or two places with dumplings as superb as the ones they initially had, truly a delight.
“Wife, you’ve eaten so much, does your stomach feel alright?” Zhao Erhu, a bit concerned, touched Lin Yue’s belly. He wanted to persuade his wife not to eat too much, but whenever she saw delicacies, she couldn’t stop herself and didn’t listen to him. Moreover, the little wife was very sweet, acting coy and pretending to be silly, which disarmed him completely, leaving him no choice but to share some of the food each time, lest his wife ate so much she couldn’t even walk.
“It’s alright, I’m just a little full, seems like I won’t need dinner tonight,” Lin Yue touched her belly contentedly. It had been a long time since she had indulged herself to such an extent, a touch of madness, seeing how worried Zhao Erhu was; the old man was just too caring. She wouldn’t really overeat to discomfort, she was just teasing him.
Upon returning to their rented courtyard, the servant rushed to Zhao Erhu as soon as he saw him, “Dongjia, Doctor Jiang has arrived and is waiting in the hall.”
Jiang Ziqi knew that Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were going to visit Chen Mansion today and also knew they would return after lunch, so he came over in the afternoon. He had waited quite a while, growing a bit impatient, before finally seeing Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue returning.
“Brother Jiang, I didn’t know you would come over this afternoon, otherwise I would have returned earlier. I’m sorry you had to wait so long,” Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue, having found out from their servant that Jiang Ziqi had been waiting for a long time, said with some apology.
“It’s fine, I didn’t have much to do anyway, and it gave me a chance to enjoy a few cups of good tea here. That pound of tea leaves you gave me, it all got confiscated by the old man, he didn’t leave me any,” said Jiang Ziqi as Lin Yue chuckled, having learned the character of Old Master Jiang from him. The so-called old childlike nature perfectly described Old Master Jiang, and hearing Jiang Ziqi lament brought her amusement.
“Brother Jiang, don’t be disheartened. I still have one pound of such fine tea here. I’ll keep half a pound for myself and give you the other half. Plus, I also have some slightly inferior tea leaves, which although not as good, are still decent. I’ll give you two pounds of those too. You better hide them well this time. If they’re taken by Old Master Jiang again, then truly I’ll have no more to give you,” Lin Yue offered.
“That would be wonderful, spending the afternoon waiting was worth it. However, where did you two go in the end? Weren’t you already out of Chen Mansion after lunch? Why only return now?” inquired Jiang Ziqi.
Both Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were unsurprised that Jiang Ziqi knew of their time of departure from Chen Mansion since every major family has its own network. They recounted their afternoon’s activities to him, eliciting a series of laments and complaints from Jiang Ziqi.
“You two really lack compassion, knowing I love food so much and not including me in your delicious jaunts, leaving me to waste an entire afternoon. Truly regrettable,” he protested.
Seeing Jiang Ziqi’s reaction, Lin Yue responded, “Brother Jiang, having grown up in Capital City, I thought you’d been there many times, which is why it didn’t occur to me to invite you. But there’s so much good food in the snack street that I didn’t manage to try it all this afternoon, so I will have to return. How about I bring you along next time?”
“That would be truly great. Honestly, I’ve been to the snack street countless times, but always alone, which is no fun at all. Good food should be shared with friends to be enjoyed. Next time I go with you, I know the place well—I know exactly what’s good, and I promise to satisfy you,” said Jiang Ziqi eagerly.
“Great, that way I won’t have to sample everything one by one. But Brother Jiang, you must have come over for a specific reason, right?” Lin Yue asked directly.
“You got me,” Jiang Ziqi said with a smirk, clearly impressed with the young girl’s understanding. “You’re right, those Fragrant Soaps aren’t available in the market, it must be something you whipped up, Xiaoyue. How come your mind is so clever? I want the recipe for making these Fragrant Soaps, to start this business. Of course, you’ll benefit too.”
“Brother Jiang, when have Erhu and I ever distrusted you? Let’s hear your plan,” Lin Yue spoke without beating around the bush.
Having discussed with Jiang Ziqi the details and arrangements for producing Fragrant Soaps and selling them through the Jiang Family’s general store, Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu spent the following days working on this project without going out.
Yet, in the place where Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue had lingered that one day, there was always a pair of master and servant wandering, seemingly in search of someone, but each time, they returned disappointed.