“Oh my god, Shushu, when on earth did you learn to cook? And your skills are so good! You could open a restaurant in our county with this! With this taste, business would be booming every day for sure. You’re definitely going to make a fortune—!”
Qiao Xia Hua from the Qiao Family’s second branch, who loved money the most and studied ways to earn it every day, looked at Qiao Shu with shining eyes.
The food was delicious, but it could not attract the money-grubber Qiao Xia Hua’s heart as much as the potential to make money.
In contrast to Qiao Xia Hua, who focused entirely on earning money, the other Qiao Family members sighed over how Qiao Shu had grown up. The ‘Lazy Girl,’ who had always hated doing chores the most, had actually gone into the kitchen to cook for them, and what she made was so tasty.
“Our family’s Shushu is amazing. Her cooking is even better than the head chef in our village!”
“That’s right. I reckon even the county doesn’t have skills like our Shushu’s!”
“No wonder she’s a grown girl about to get married. She’s become sensible.”
…
Listening to the Qiao Family’s endless praise, which flowed like it cost nothing, Qiao Shu felt a bit embarrassed. She could only smile modestly without saying a word, obediently lowering her head to eat.
Her demeanor only made people feel that Qiao Shu was truly different from the spoiled and willful ‘Lazy Girl’ of before. She had really grown up and become sensible.
This pleased Old Master Qiao greatly and satisfied him.
Yes, satisfied.
After all, Qiao Shu was the granddaughter who would marry Feng Xiao and enter the Feng Family to become a granddaughter-in-law to Elder Feng, who had once been his superior.
If she did not restrain her previous personality, and caused trouble after marrying into the Feng Family, he really would have no face left to show anyone.
That was why his initial choices had always been between Qiao Hui and Qiao Xia Hua.
Qiao Hui might not be as pretty as Qiao Shu, but her personality was better, and she was clever and educated. Though this granddaughter had been spoiled by the eldest branch’s wife from childhood and had never done farm work or gone into the fields, she was not as outrageous as Qiao Shu, who refused to do any work at all.
If she married into the Feng Family, she would have topics to chat about with Feng Xiao, who had attended a military academy, and she could even teach the two Martyrs’ Orphans he had adopted, taking better care of the children.
As for his other granddaughter, Qiao Xia Hua, though her looks were not as striking as Qiao Shu’s or Qiao Hui’s and could only be called plain, this granddaughter was quick and capable! No matter what farm work she did, she handled it effortlessly with strong practical skills. She was also the best cook among his four granddaughters.
If she married over, she definitely would not mistreat those two pitiful Martyrs’ Orphans. She could be a good stepmother and take perfect care of the two children.
The only drawback was that this granddaughter had not gone to much school, only finishing primary before dropping out. That was fine in the countryside, but if she married into the Feng Family in the Capital, she would likely be ridiculed.
He had always grumbled inwardly that it would be perfect if these two granddaughters could complement each other. He had agonized over which one to send to the Feng Family.
In the end, because he favored the eldest son’s family more, he had tipped the scales toward Qiao Hui and decided she would be the one to marry into the Feng Family.
Who would have thought that his second granddaughter, who had always seemed so eager and determined to marry into the Feng Family to raise children well, would suddenly back out.
And somehow, his youngest granddaughter, who had never taken the marriage seriously before, had become dead set on marrying into the Feng Family.
This had worried him sick. Fortunately, when he sent the letter, he had not specified which granddaughter it would be.
Otherwise, if their family went back on their word and swapped another granddaughter, people would think they were frivolous. They were already the ones reaching above their station, yet here they were being picky.
Before this midday meal, Old Master Qiao had still been wavering in his heart, thinking maybe they should call off the marriage with the Feng Family.
Though he wanted his descendants to have a chance to leap over the dragon gate by marrying into the Feng Family, he could not go against his conscience. Children and grandchildren had their own fortunes. He had already given up, but this display of his youngest granddaughter’s culinary skills suddenly made him feel… that this granddaughter of his was not so hopeless after all!
Though she was spoiled and willful, clumsy and useless at chores, his youngest granddaughter had one great advantage: she was beautiful!
And now she had these excellent cooking skills too…
Which man would not like a beautiful wife who could cook???
Even more importantly, the Feng Family was not like theirs, where they had to do chores. There were nannies for housework, so his top-beautiful, good-cooking granddaughter with a high school diploma was truly the best match among all his granddaughters to marry into the Feng Family!
Regardless of anything else, at least in terms of looks, she was in no way inferior to those city folk! She would definitely be a presentable wife for the Feng Family…
The more he thought, the more satisfied Old Master Qiao became with Qiao Shu. The way he looked at his youngest granddaughter grew kinder and kinder.
After finishing this exceptionally delicious midday meal, Old Master Qiao called Qiao Shu aside alone and specially instructed her at length.
“Shushu, after you marry into the Feng Family, you absolutely cannot be like you were at home—spoiled, willful, and doing nothing. You must be sharp-eyed and diligent. Do not just have a sweet mouth; you must know how to work too…”
Listening to Old Master Qiao’s earnest advice, Qiao Shu nodded obediently, looking as well-behaved as could be.
But in reality, she had already planned in her heart: after marrying over, she would just be a salted fish. Kids and husband were mere illusions; she only needed to do her duty.
Of course, Old Master Qiao could not hear Qiao Shu’s inner thoughts. Seeing his usually spoiled and willful youngest granddaughter so obedient and attentive as she listened to him, his face broke into wrinkles from smiling, his eyes squinting into slits~!
After finishing his instructions, Old Master Qiao went for his nap, thoroughly content.
Qiao Shu was also very satisfied. Her marriage to Feng Xiao was now set in stone and would not change~!
Just as Qiao Shu smiled broadly, preparing to return to her room, Qiao Xia Hua came to find her.
“Shushu, let me ask you something. Is there some secret recipe to your cooking? Why is it so delicious?!”
Qiao Shu had never met someone as straightforward as Qiao Xia Hua. There was no beating around the bush; her first sentence went straight to the point.
This instantly gave Qiao Shu a bit of fondness for this third cousin, with whom she had not spent much time—not even as much as with Qiao Hui.
Unfortunately, she could not help Qiao Xia Hua with her question.
The secret to her delicious cooking was the Spiritual Spring Water, but she really could not reveal that secret, nor could she.
“Maybe I used more oil and more seasonings? I’m not really sure…”
Qiao Shu blinked her eyes innocently, answering uncertainly with a puzzled look.
Seeing her bewildered and clueless expression, Qiao Xia Hua did not suspect a thing. She just sighed inwardly that this little cousin truly had a talent for cooking!
“Sigh, it’s such a pity there’s no secret recipe.”
Qiao Xia Hua frowned in frustration and said unwillingly to Qiao Shu, “If only Qiao Hui hadn’t gone back on her word and refused to marry into the Feng Family. Then she could have gone, and you wouldn’t have to. We could open a snack stall together and make tons of money!”
Hearing Qiao Xia Hua’s words and seeing the fire in her eyes, Qiao Shu felt a drive to strive that she had never possessed.
Recalling the original host’s memories of Qiao Xia Hua’s life, the two daughters of the Qiao Family’s second branch had it quite pitiful because of their extremely sexist mother who favored sons and supported her brother obsessively.
If not for Old Master Qiao, the two granddaughters of the second branch would not have names like Chunhua and Xia Hua back then; they would have been called something like Pandi or Youdi.
Because of that extreme son-favoring, brother-obsessed mother, Qiao Xia Hua had been fiercely independent since childhood, proving to her parents that even as a girl, she was no worse than a boy.
That was why Qiao Xia Hua had become the most capable girl in the entire Qiao Village, the ideal wife in everyone’s eyes.
But after interacting with the educated youths who came to the countryside, Qiao Xia Hua seemed to lose interest in marriage. What interested her more was making money and leaving the village…
Thinking of this, Qiao Shu admired her third cousin greatly. Seeing the flash of disappointment in her eyes, she pondered and decided to help her as much as she could.
Though she had no secrets for home cooking, she did have some for ‘little snacks.’
After all, being a homebody meant loving snacks, but her body was delicate, so for her health, she had learned to make ‘little snacks’ herself—some from online, some bought. She knew quite a few ‘secret recipes’~!
So—
“Sister Xia Hua, though I don’t have secrets for these home dishes, I saw some snack recipes in a book… Do you want to learn them?”
Qiao Xia Hua, who had been disappointed at not getting a secret recipe from Qiao Shu, lit up at these words.
“Yes! Of course I want to learn!”
Qiao Xia Hua nodded frantically in excitement, but then hesitated right after speaking.
“But… my cooking skills are just average. Can I learn them…?”
“Don’t worry, Sister Xia Hua. Those ‘little snacks’ are super simple to make—at least way easier than a really delicious home dish~!”
Qiao Shu said with a smile. After all, with her average cooking talent from her previous life, she could not have learned anything too hard~!
“Good! Shushu, in that case, we’re partners now! You provide the recipes, I’ll sell the goods! When we make money, we split it fifty-fifty!”
Seeing how casually Qiao Shu described it, Qiao Xia Hua relaxed and declared boldly.
At that moment, Qiao Shu, who had not taken the matter too seriously and only wanted to help this resilient girl within her means, had no idea that she would completely change a girl’s life…