Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 219 It would be nice if I could stay with the lady every day

Yutao is in the backyard. If Zheng Sanniang needs something, Yutao will come out and get it for her.

Yutao also liked watching Zheng Sanniang sew clothes, not only because this first piece of clothing was sewn for her.

But Yutao said that Sanniang sewed clothes well and quickly, and her skills were much better than Li's, and she wanted to learn from her.

Shen Yu always pretended to be busy with tasks such as sewing clothes and embroidering, and tried to avoid them as much as possible.

Mrs. Li was very supportive, saying that as a girl, she must be good at needlework and cooking.

The shop is busy now, and she and Jiang have no time to teach Yutao. It is just right for her to learn from Zheng Sanniang now.

Everyone took turns to eat lunch, just like usual. When there were fewer people around, they would pick two plates of their favorite dishes from the steamer, take some food, and go to the long table in the corner of the store to eat.

When it was Qixi's turn, Qixi thought everything tasted good and didn't know which ones to choose. Li smiled and said, "Then you can take turns choosing. Eat these for this meal and choose other dishes for the next meal."

Li specially fried some more pork belly skewers, sprinkled some condiments on them and put them aside. He then served them to Qi Xi and asked him to eat them at the long table in the corner.

Qi Xi said happily: "Thank you, Madam. It would be great if I could be here with you every day."

After the midday rush, there were still customers, but they came in sporadically, unlike at noon, when more than a dozen people came in at once and had to queue up to get their food.

A few people were just thinking about taking a break when Cui came in with Xiaobao.

When she has finished her housework and has nothing to do, she often comes to the store. She helps wipe the tables and floor and lets Xiaobao play in the store by himself. They all know each other well.

It's just that she usually comes later on weekdays, and often comes to help when the market is closing and shops are packing up, and then takes Xiaobao back.

When Zhou Dalang saw his son coming, he went up to him, picked up Xiaobao and held him up twice, making the little guy giggle with joy.

Cui walked straight to Shen Yu and said with a smile: "Miss, the fine sieve at home is broken, I want to borrow yours."

Zhou Dalang was surprised when he heard this and said, "Aren't there two of them at home? How come both are broken?"

Cui smiled awkwardly and said, "Yes, I accidentally broke it."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Wait a moment, Madam Cui. I'll get it for you. There are several in the kitchen at the back. Do you want a big one or a small one? What do you want it for?"

Cui said, "I will go with the young lady. I want to steam some rice cakes. I want to pick the smaller ones."

Zhou Dalang was even more puzzled and wanted to say something, but Cui said, "Sir, please take care of Xiaobao. I will be there soon."

Zhou Dalang said "oh" and put Xiaobao down, then took him around the store.

Cui followed Shen Yu to the big kitchen in the backyard.

After entering the kitchen, Cui Shi saw that they were far away from the shop in front and the customers could not hear her, so she said, "It was Sister Liu who asked me to come here and tell the young lady."

"She said that at noon today, the owner of the gambling house sent people to Li Changgen's house to cause a scene, claiming that if the gambling debts were not paid, he would not be handed over, and would come to take over the house tomorrow evening."

"It was Mrs. Liu's mother-in-law and several neighboring ladies who saw it with their own eyes while standing at the gate of the courtyard."

"I also heard someone making noise at Li Changgen's house, but I was with Xiaobao and didn't dare to go out to see."

"After Mrs. Liu closed her stall this afternoon, she learned about this from her mother-in-law and asked me to tell you so that you would know what was going on."

Only then did Shen Yu understand why Cui came so early today.

She smiled and said, "Thank you, Madam Cui, for taking the trouble to make this trip."

After thinking for a while, he asked again, "Has Li Changgen been keeping an eye on Mrs. Liu these past two days?"

Cui shook her head. "Sister Liu said no. She said Li Changgen thought Zheng Sanniang had run away with Xiao Zhuzi, and was going around the wharf inns asking about it."

"Sanniang's mother-in-law kept scolding her at home, saying that her grandson was kidnapped by Sanniang and she would not live if she could not find him back."

Shen Yu frowned: "Li Changgen won't report it to the police, right? If he reports that Sister Zheng kidnapped the Li family's child, it will be troublesome."

Cui smiled and said, "I asked Sister Liu the same question at that time, and Sister Liu said that Li Changgen would not do that."

"Li Changgen was still thinking about finding Sanniang as soon as possible to settle his gambling debts. He didn't dare let others know that his wife was not at home."

"Once you report it to the authorities, the gambling house owner will get wind of it and will definitely come to take back the house to pay off the gambling debts."

"Their house is worth more than twenty taels, Li Changgen is reluctant to part with it."

Shen Yu felt relieved and said with a smile, "That's good. The harder the gambling house owner pushes, the more reluctant Li Changgen will be to give up the house. We will be able to negotiate terms with him tomorrow."

Cui nodded: "Sanniang and Xiaozhuzi are so lucky to have met a girl's family who are willing to help them, otherwise..."

Thinking about the noise she heard at noon, Cui showed a frightened look on her face: "At noon, I only heard Sanniang's mother-in-law crying. I think she was also being forced to suffer from the debt collectors from the gambling house."

Shen Yu did not sympathize with the two elderly people. She said calmly, "You didn't teach your own children well, so you can only bear the consequences yourself."

Cui looked reluctant, but she also felt that Shen Yu was right, so she smiled and said nothing more.

Shen Yu reached out and took down the fine sieve hanging on the wall: "I don't know which size is suitable. Even if I don't need it, I have to take one back as a sample."

Cui said a little embarrassedly: "I really want to borrow it, just this small one will do."

"Today, I put two fine sieve baskets on the shelf, and Xiaobao knocked the shelf over. As luck would have it, they were both crushed. If my husband knew about it, he would accuse me of putting things in a mess after use."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Zhou Dalang also loses his temper sometimes. Just say that Xiaobao broke it himself. Zhou Dalang loves Xiaobao so much that he will definitely not want to say anything about him."

Shen Yu winked playfully and taught Cui.

Cui understood what he meant, thanked him with a smile, took a small sieve, and went back to the shop with Shen Yu.

After seeing Cui off and waiting for the shop to close, Shen Yu and Zhou Dalang started making lasagna again after collecting the delivered ingredients and marinating all kinds of meat skewers, while Li and Jiang were busy preparing the dough and fillings.

Because there were two more people, Dun Dun and Yu Cheng, for dinner, Shen Yu prepared to make more and wait for Zhou Dalang to take some back when he returned.

This time, Shen Yu only prepared the filling, and Zhou Dalang made the dough and the base all by himself.

Shen Yu was in charge of the pancake maker and was only responsible for flipping the pancakes.

Unexpectedly, after just making two pots, Qixi said he knew how to make it and directly took over the job of flipping the noodles, leaving Shen Yu with nothing to do.

She thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Then let's pair it with some hot and sour egg soup. The thousand-layer meat pie will be even more delicious when paired with the sour, fragrant and refreshing egg soup.

Hot and sour egg soup is very simple to make. Soak some black fungus and shiitake mushrooms in warm water, then cut into shreds after soaking.

Cut some pork belly into shreds, add half a bowl of starch water, chop the green onion and minced ginger, and then you can start cooking.