Chapter 221: Chapter 218: Wanting to Be Mrs. Jiang’s Son-in-Law for Guihua Pastries

“You can eat it, but there’s something else planned for today. Don’t be like that, I guarantee you’ll love it.” Jiang Mingyue couldn’t resist pinching Xiao Ran’s small face, thinking to herself, it feels so nice. Somehow, Yan Jinzhi’s charming face appeared in her mind, and she had a sudden urge to pinch it too.

What a pity!

When she woke up in the morning, that person was no longer in the space.

The weather still wasn’t good today, but at least it wasn’t as bad as yesterday’s torrential rain. By around ten o’clock, it started to drizzle.

Today, because payday had arrived, most of the villagers were on holiday, but quite a few families, overjoyed after receiving their money, went to town to buy things with introduction letters, while some headed to the supply and marketing cooperative in the commune.

As for the Third Branch of the Jiang Family, Jiang Jian Country headed to the commune as well, mainly because Mrs. Jiang had freshly baked her own osmanthus cakes and ordered him to deliver some to Cousin Yueyue.

Remember, it’s not the commune chief, but Cousin Yueyue.

Jiang Jian Country couldn’t tell the difference, but since his mother said so, he listened.

These osmanthus cakes were truly a rare treat. There were more than ten osmanthus trees mixed among the pine forest at the foot of Wuyun Mountain. In previous years, no one picked them, but this year they were picked clean.

The villagers were curious as to why the secretary’s family liked those flowers. While they smelled nice, they couldn’t be eaten as food, so what use was their fragrance?

Shen Fanghua, amidst the villagers’ looks as if she were silly, would go and pick osmanthus flowers whenever she had a moment. Initially, it was just her and Jiang Zhenmei, but a few days later, the team grew larger; Ming Yue also brought Xiao Ran, Xiao Hui, and Xiao Meng to join. A few days after that, Yun Di and Jiang Jianjun joined in, and even Aunt Jiao would lend a hand.

So those few osmanthus trees, whether hundreds or just decades old, had no fragrance to smell beneath them this year, as all the flowers had been picked clean.

Mrs. Jiang was quite frugal and wouldn’t even let worm-eaten or dog-bitten flowers go to waste. She picked them all and brought them home, sorting them out with a winnowing basket. The best ones were used as pastry filling; a small portion was made into Grade A osmanthus tea by Yueyue, and the rest became Grade B osmanthus tea.

A jar of Grade A was sent to Yan Jinzhi, and another jar, together with the osmanthus pastries, was sent to Xu Modun today.

Xu Modun was quite astonished when he received the gift from Jiang Jian Country.

Yin Zhen pondered, “Mo Chen, could it be that Jiang Jian Country is trying to curry favor with you? Now that Qingshan Village is doing so well, if things continue like this, Jiang Jian Country will surely be promoted in three years. Can’t he even wait three years?”

Lian Fengyi, the accountant, thought for a moment, “I don’t think so. Jiang Jian Country doesn’t seem to be the type to curry favor. They call him cousin, which sounds like they are following Yueyue’s lead.”

Rong Ling, who had replaced Uncle Hunchback Wang as the guard, did not participate in their conversation. His mind and eyes were only on the fragrance wafting from the basket.

With quick reflexes, he grabbed a pastry, took a bite, and then… his eyes narrowed into a slit.

“This… this, this is too delicious, isn’t it?” The outer layer was crispy, the inside had a fragrant osmanthus flavor, with a genuine sweetness that was not at all cloying, the kind of sweetness that was just right.

“Tsk! To make something this delicious, they must be a master. Now I’m genuinely curious about Cousin Yue’s real mother. This is nothing like what I imagined a country housewife would make. Just for this wonderful taste, I’m a fan. Mo Chen, later you ask this aunt if she needs a son-in-law?”

Xu Modun’s handsome face instantly darkened, “Get lost!”

“No, come on! Aunt Jiang has a daughter, doesn’t she? Though I’m not sure if she’s pretty, with Jiang Jian Country looking quite decent, the Third Sister should be pretty too. If I marry in, I don’t ask for much, just to be able to frequently eat my mother-in-law’s osmanthus cakes.”

This time, everyone went silent.

All three others gave Rong Ling an indescribable look.

Though Rong Ling was rather shameless, he always had a discerning taste. If he said something was delicious, it must be indeed delicious.

None of the others wasted words and all went to get a share, and soon found they couldn’t stop eating.

Yin Zhen, who was the first to speak out of turn, reached for the tea jar again, only to have his hand slapped away.

Yin Zhen looked at Xu Modun in disbelief, “What, Mo Chen, I can’t even have a taste?”

With a pitiless response, “The other two can, but not you!”

That was a total blow!

Yin Zhen suddenly recalled what he had said earlier, looking utterly incredulous.

“Well! You, Mo Chen, I see how it is. Previously, Cousin Yue was number one in the world, and we were second. Now it’s Cousin Yue first, and all her relatives second, and we’re third now?”

Xu Modun continued to assail, “No, you’re not even third, you’re last.”

Yin Zhen: “……”

On Jiang Jian Country’s side, after completing the task of delivering the goods, he didn’t linger for a moment, with all his mind focused on the items his sister wanted him to buy, like salt, vinegar, and soy sauce, things he had now committed to memory, unlike before when he had no clue.

Only on his way back after shopping, when he reached the Liu Village boundary, did he encounter a bit of an unexpected situation.

Liu Village

Today, with the persistent drizzle, the village had called off work. It felt so good not to have to work, but Xia Xiaosi was anxious.

No other reason, just worried that the distributed grain might not be enough to eat. The summer harvest was complete, and in a few days, the village would hand over the public grain at the commune. After that, grains would be distributed in the village according to work points. When they first arrived, they were given a month’s supply of grain as a subsidy, and the rest would be temporarily supplied by the village, to be deducted when grain was distributed.

But she didn’t know how to farm when she first came, so even if she worked hard, she could only earn half the work points. Things were better now, as she could earn the full ten work points like the old men in the village. But she still felt it wasn’t enough. Earlier, Yueyue had sent her and Fang Tao many things, and she couldn’t just take advantage without giving back. But this was her dilemma; she wanted to give Yueyue the best, but… she couldn’t offer anything.

Xia Xiaosi decided to discuss with Fang Tao how to earn some income today without working.

“Are you talking about Fang Tao? He was called away by the village committee.”

“Do you know why the village called him?”

“How would I know? But it seems like something good. That kid knows quite a lot, even about raising pigs. He knows more about farming and composting than the local elders. I guess he’s been called for some further exploitation?”

Xia Xiaosi felt relieved; she didn’t think it was exploitation. It was good that someone was of use, contributing more to building the village.

Well then, she was on her own, with no one to consult.

Xia Xiaosi decided to walk the mountains to see if she could find some bird eggs or maybe, with luck, catch a wild rooster to bring back, and then give it to Yueyue.

The wishes of Xia Xiaosi were hopeful, but once she entered the mountain, she got lost, turning about for a long time without being able to tell east from west or north from south. Luckily, she ran into two educated youths, who were familiar faces.

The girl was named Bai Meimei from Yun Dian, and the boy was from Beijing, named Yu Qiuqiu. Xia Xiaosi, being naturally oblivious, did not question why a man and a woman were up in the mountains, only thinking that at least she had been rescued.

“Xia Xiaosi, you’re just in time. We’re chasing a deer. Come, let’s chase it together, and then we can split it among the three of us.”

Xia Xiaosi swallowed back her explanation. If she were more observant, she would have noticed Bai Meimei’s evasive and even panicked look, and Yu Qiuqiu didn’t seem much better.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep