Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 484 Lu Lang's Concern

"She said she wanted to talk to Madam and Miss Yuzhi about something. They are drinking tea in the front yard right now."

"The restaurant is busy right now, and I can't get away, so I had to ask Doctor Sun to stay there with me."

"That mother was so imposing that I was so scared that I didn't even dare to look up at her, let alone ask her what she wanted to see you guys about."

When Li heard this, she realized that it was the personal mother of Madam Lu whom Qixi had mentioned in the morning, and she couldn't help but become nervous.

She quickly cheered herself up and asked Zheng Sanniang and Zhou Dalang to look after the restaurant. The group hurried to the main hall in the front yard.

As soon as the four of them entered the door, they saw a short old lady with kind eyes and gentle features sitting in the guest seat stand up, and behind her stood Qi Xi with a respectful look on his face.

Her clothes were not gorgeous, but they were finely made and made of soft fabrics.

Although his face still showed a little fatigue from the journey, he kept his back straight without any sign of slackness, and his demeanor was dignified and showed the air of a great man.

Li hurriedly led the two sisters forward to pay their respects. Madam Huang was quite polite. She introduced herself and said that she had brought a message from Madam Lu.

When Doctor Sun saw Li coming back, he was about to leave, but Madam Huang smiled and said, "Although Doctor Sun is not Miss Yuzhi's uncle, he is still an elder. Why don't you sit by and listen to it and be a witness."

Before Huang's mother could continue speaking, Shen Yu hurriedly took out the small cloth bag that Jiang handed over and placed it on the table next to Huang's mother.

She knelt down and bowed, then said solemnly, "Mother Huang, I was ignorant this morning and mistakenly accepted the gift from the Madam. I apologize first."

"I am a country girl, crude and ignorant to begin with. I also forgot a lot of things because of my injury. I was completely unaware of the customs of the Shangsi Festival. After I got on the bus, I asked my mother and then I learned the meaning of adding makeup."

"My family runs a restaurant and an inn. No matter which son of the Lu family the Madam is betrothing for, the daughters of merchants would not dare to marry him."

"Please take the hairpins back and explain the whole story to Madam Tai. Thank you for your kindness, Madam Tai. I am unworthy of it."

Then he bowed deeply again and stepped aside.

Mother Huang took a look at the small cloth bag and was not surprised. Instead, she showed admiration in her eyes and nodded with a smile, saying, "No wonder our fourth young master is obsessed with Miss Yuzhi. The young lady really deserves it."

Huang turned to Li and said with a smile, "Madam Li, please take a seat first. Let me explain the whole story."

Seeing that Mama Huang was approachable and did not put on the superior attitude of a personal nanny from a wealthy family, Li felt relieved and smiled, asking everyone to sit down.

Seeing that Huang Mama was ready for a long talk, Jiang said something hurriedly to Li and went to the kitchen in the backyard to prepare tea and snacks for everyone.

Yutao knew she shouldn't be there, but since this was her sister's lifelong event, she was very concerned and ignored Li's look, pretending to be stupid and stayed.

Mother Huang didn't care and just slowly talked about Lu Lang's return to the capital.

Since Lu Lang followed his father to Anping County, he has been concerned about everything. Together with his two legal advisors, he has managed the affairs of Anping County in an orderly manner.

After returning to Beijing, his grandfather praised him highly, saying that if he became an official in the future, he would definitely be a good official who loved the people like his own children, much better than his lazy father.

Thinking that he was working very hard in Anping County, his grandfather allowed him to rest at home for a while during the New Year holidays instead of rushing to study.

He also specifically instructed the lady to keep an eye on the small kitchen and make more delicious food to nourish his grandson.

In the past, Lu Lang was not picky about the food prepared by the lady’s small kitchen and he enjoyed everything.

But this time when she came back, she always complained that this dish tasted wrong, that dish tasted bad, and she was very picky about it. The old chef, who had worked in the mansion for twenty years and whose cooking skills won the madam's favor, kept responding to her complaints, and cold sweats broke out.

This made the old lady secretly wonder in her heart, could it be that the Anping County Government had found a good cook, but she didn't hear the second son mention it in his letter.

When the old man was not at home, Lu Lang called Qi Xi over and secretly made fried stinky tofu for the lady in the small kitchen in the backyard. He also watched Qi Xi make a dish of authentic southern-style braised pork with preserved vegetables.

The stinky tofu was different from the one the Madam had eaten before, but the taste was also very special, and the Madam smiled brightly while eating it.

When asked where Lu Lang bought the stinky tofu, Lu Lang mentioned Miss Shen who opened a restaurant in Anping County.

It is also said that the recipe for this dish of Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables was written by Miss Shen and taught to Qixi.

Lu Lang was so carried away in his speech that he praised Miss Shen to the skies. By the time he realized he had said too much, it was already too late.

The old lady had also been through the youth, so it was easy for her to not understand when she heard her grandson praising a girl like that.

After some questioning, Lu Lang, who had a lot on his mind but no one to talk to, just started to spill the beans, telling how he met Shen Yu and how he got wrongly imprisoned because of Shen Yu.

Later, he told her how Shen Yu had helped him with many things, even how Shen Yu didn't give him any Laba porridge because he was an old customer.

At the end, Lu Lang said disappointedly: "Grandma, Miss Shen doesn't seem to like me. She only treats me as a regular customer. Sigh."

The lady looked at her grandson who was worried about losing something, and couldn't help but laugh. "Why, do you want the girl to tell you that she likes you and wants to marry you?"

Lu Lang blushed at being teased by his grandmother, and stammered, "Of course not. Miss Shen is not the kind of snobbish and frivolous woman who rushes to get close to a man as soon as she sees that he has a good family background."

"If she really did that, I would definitely ignore her."

"Miss Shen didn't rely on others. She started from scratch, from setting up a stall to opening a restaurant, and made her family live a good life."

"Besides, after the Chinese New Year, her inn will open, and business will surely be good."

"If she were a man, she would definitely achieve great things."

Seeing that Lu Lang was serious, the lady stopped joking and said, "Little Fourth, have you ever thought that no matter what your grandfather and parents think, if you really marry a merchant's daughter like this, you won't get any help from Yue's family at all."

"And if you become an official in the future, your wife will be looked down upon by your colleagues as she is the daughter of a merchant."

Lu Lang said indifferently: "I have thought about these things a long time ago. A good man should achieve success through his own abilities and knowledge."

"Relying on the relationship with my family or Yue's family, does it sound good if I tell others about it?"

"My wife is going to live a good life with me, and I will naturally do the rest."