Chapter 120 - 120 This is the Best Cake I’ve ever Eaten
120 This is the Best Cake I’ve ever Eaten
Qi Lei agreed right away and promised, “How about this, I will get you a female sheep from the prefectural city. I promise that I will get one by tomorrow. Tomorrow, when you go into town to get your woks, you can also bring back the sheep.”
“Ah, you can get it that quickly?”
Qi Lei nodded, “People from the prefectural city love to eat lamb so there are lots of sheeps there. I will get you a female one that produces milk.”
Lu Jiao was very excited to hear that, “Great! Thank you for doing this.”
Qi Lei wasn’t a fan of her reaction, “Master, you don’t need to be so polite with me.”
Lu Jiao smiled, “I won’t in the future.”
Satisfied, Qi Lei walked out with her. As they walked, he remembered something suddenly and asked, “Master, do you think the Qinghe District is suitable to plant medicinal herbs?”
Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow, “Planting medicinal herbs? Why do you want to plant medicinal herbs?”
Qi Lei was embarrassed to admit, “To make money.”
Lu Jiao was shocked, “There are so many ways to make money, why must you plant medicinal herbs to make money?”
Qi Lei lowered his voice, “We want to build a large-scale pharmacy, which would require plenty of medicinal herbs. If we import the herbs, our cost of goods sold would be too high. If that’s the case, we won’t make much money. So we are thinking of producing our own herbs.”
Qi Lei stopped suddenly and looked up at Lu Jiao, “Master, you just said there are many ways to make money?”
Lu Jiao nodded and several ideas popped into her head. Before, she had thought of opening a large-scale pharmacy. Since she had spiritual stream water, she could add that to her medicine, which would make them more effective. That would greatly benefit the nation.
Who knew Qi Lei was cooking up a similar idea? Ah no, likely the owner of Baohe Tang was thinking of opening a pharmacy. She wondered if he would want to work together.
Lu Jiao was tempted. When she heard Qi Lei’s question, she nodded, “That’s right. There are plenty of ways to make money. A pharmacy won’t make you any money short-term. You need to first establish a brand for the pharmacy before you can make any money.”
Qi Lei was excited, “Master, you have lots of ideas to make money?”
Lu Jiao nodded, “That’s right. Lots of ideas.”
Such as soap, vinegar, soy sauce, and clothing design… after all, she came from an era where lots of information was readily available.
Qi Lei was so thrilled by the prospects he tried to grab her hands.
Lu Jiao dodged his attempt. Though he was her apprentice, she needed to be careful when she was outside.
Qi Lei was embarrassed as he retreated his hands.
“Master, if you want to start a business, would you be willing to team up with our owner? Master, you’re smart enough to know that to make big money, you must have someone powerful supporting you. Without that safety net, people will always keep an eye on you. In the end, you may not make any money and your family may get hurt in the meantime.”
Of course, Lu Jiao was aware of that reality. The reason why she hasn’t tried anything was that she had four weak and one handicapped boy at home.
What if she teamed up with the owner of Baohe Tang?
Lu Jiao asked Qi Lei, “Is the owner reliable?”
Qi Lei was about to answer when the Chen family, who was already waiting in the horse carriage, called out, “Dr. Qi, it’s time to go.”
Qi Lei had no choice but to postpone this conversation, “Master, come by Baohe Tang tomorrow. We can have a chat together with the owner. Don’t you worry, the owner is a very reliable person. Trust me.”
Lu Jiao nodded. Once Xie Yunjin heals fully, she will need to move out of the Xie family. She agreed to be an on-call doctor at Baohe Tang because she needed to make herself independent. In this era, it was extremely difficult to be a divorced woman. Without any power or position, others will take every chance they get to hurt her.
Since she was already entangled with Baohe Tang, they might as well work together long-term.
“Alright.”
Qi Lei was exhilarated to have heard that “alright”. He reminded Lu Jiao, “Master, you have to show up tomorrow.”
Lu Jiao smiled, “Okay.”
She went up to the horse carriage to say bye to the Chen family again, “Master, Lady Chen, once Yunjin’s legs heal, he’ll for sure bring the kids and visit.”
“Okay, come with him.”
Lady Chen’s gaze softly landed on Lu Jiao. Though she once hated this woman, she realized Lu Jiao wasn’t fully responsible for the death of her daughter.
By saving her Husband, Lu Jiao also saved her. The knot in her heart had untangled. Now, when she looked at this chubby girl, she felt warm.
“You come with them.”
Lu Jiao pretended to agree, “Okay.”
Qi Lei got onto the horse carriage and they rode off.
Nearby, Lu Jiao’s neighbor, the Second Grandma, and Lady Zhao came out and asked caringly, “Yunjin’s wife, how’s Master Chen?”
Master Chen had always been kind and generous. Many children within Qili town sent children to study under him. Therefore, Lady Zhao and the others didn’t want anything bad to happen to Master Chen.
Lu Jiao smiled, “He’s fine. I wrote him a prescription. If he takes that regularly and is careful with his lifestyle, he will be fine.”
“That’s great. That’s great.”
The Second Grandma stared at Lu Jiao lovingly, “Jiaojiao, thank god for you. You truly have saved the Xie Village.”
Lady Zhao nodded in agreement.
Lu Jiao chatted with them a bit before she returned back to her yard. The moment she entered, she saw Xie Xiaojun and Lin Chunyan exit the kitchen. They smiled at Lu Jiao.
“Third Aunt, we’ve made you lunch. Hurry and eat. We’ll go home now.”
Only now did Lu Jiao realize how late it was. Xie Yunjin and the four little ones haven’t even eaten.
Thankfully, Xie Xiaojun and Lin Chunyan cooked for her. Or else they wouldn’t be able to eat anytime soon.
Lu Jiao wanted to ask the girls to stay, “Why not have lunch with us today?”
The two women had long escaped.
Lu Jiao was helpless and went to the kitchen.
Xie Xiaojun and Lin Chunyan cooked them white rice and two dishes – steamed eggs with green onion and fungus vegetable stir fry.
As Lu Jiao scooped the rice, she thought over her conversation with Qi Lei. She was ecstatic. On top of that, she was getting two woks and a sheep. This put her in an even better mood.
Outside the kitchen, the four little ones skipped their way inside. The First Born was holding onto a piece of osmanthus cake. This was a gift from Xie Yunjin’s classmates. Other than the one she gave the Lu family, Lu Jiao had stored the rest in her space. Every day, she would take out a few pieces to give the four little ones as a snack. Today, only a small piece was left.
“Mommy, you must be hungry. Have this.”
Lu Jiao didn’t expect the four little ones to offer her cake.
She shook her head, “I’m not hungry. You guys eat.”
Sadly, the First Born was persistent.
The other three were also determined as they stared at her, “Mommy if you don’t eat this, we are not going to let you go.”
“You must be hungry from treating patients.”
The Fourth Born hogged onto Lu Jiao’s legs and behaved in a spoiled manner, “Mommy, eat it. We’ll only be happy if you eat it.”
Lu Jiao’s heart felt extremely sweetened by this. She truly wanted to pack these four little ones to go once it was her time to leave.
However, she could only dream.
She felt a little sad but she didn’t show it.
“Okay, then let’s eat together.”
She took over the piece of osmanthus cake and bit into it. She exclaimed, “This is the best cake I’ve ever eaten, all because my sons saved it specifically for me. It’s tastier than everything else I’ve ever eaten.”
The four little ones’ faces lit up brighter than the Sun.