Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 116: Visiting the Little Sibling

Chapter 110

Visiting the Little Sibling

The next morning, the father and daughter from the Tang household guided their ox cart out of the house, with the chubby child waving goodbye to her mother and younger brother standing at the front of the house.

Tianyu, the round little boy, cried and watched his sister slowly fade into the distance. Hui Ning had to quickly take him back inside to feed him, which finally stopped his crying, though he still sniffled with tears in his eyes because he wanted to go on an adventure with his sister too.

Tianrong stopped to check on the shop for a while before taking his daughter to Jiangnan’s governor’s manor. They carried a basket containing three large pieces of pork sausage. Xiaolin also brought a spicy sauce so they could have a ready breakfast.

The guards at the gate let the father and daughter in without inspection, as they were familiar faces. A servant came to meet them at the gate and helped carry their items.

"I’ll go inform the master and the young master," the elderly housekeeper said politely. Xiaolin looked at him curiously, as she didn’t get to see him often because of his declined health due to his age.

"Apologies for troubling you,"

Tianrong said respectfully. Despite being a servant, the man was elderly. Plus, Tianrong was just a simple villager who felt uncomfortable seeing the old man bow to him.

"Great-Grandpa Housekeeper, may I go to the kitchen to prepare food for Uncle?" Xiaolin asked, making the old man’s eyes widen as he waved his hands frantically.

"Please don’t call me that, Young Miss."

"But why not? You’re old, so what’s wrong with me calling you Great-Grandpa?" Xiaolin innocently replied, looking at him with wide, curious eyes.

The housekeeper glanced at Tianrong for guidance, who smiled and nodded. The old man sighed and nodded in agreement. Xiaolin grinned and jumped down from the bench, taking the old man’s hand cheerfully. He had no choice but to instruct the nearby servants to inform the master of the house while he led the little miss and her basket to the kitchen at the back of the house.

When they reached the kitchen, the chubby girl greeted the cooks with a bright voice. Everyone, busy with preparing breakfast, paused to look at the chubby, fair-skinned girl smiling widely beside the old housekeeper.

"This is Miss Tang. She is a guest of the master," the old housekeeper introduced her, causing the kitchen staff to hastily greet her with respect, making Xiaolin cry out in surprise.

"Just greeting me is enough," Xiaolin said. "I’m just an ordinary villager, not someone noble. There’s no need for such formalities."

The kitchen workers looked at the old housekeeper for guidance. When he nodded in approval, they relaxed and stood at ease. Xiaolin, pleased with this, smiled broadly and said,

"Today, I’ll just use the kitchen for a short while. Please continue with your work."

"If you need anything, just let us know," a maid quickly offered, her tone ingratiating, causing some of the others to roll their eyes and pout their lips in annoyance. Xiaolin blinked but then smiled.

"I just need a plate, a chair, a knife, and a cutting board, please. Thank you so much, beautiful sister," Xiaolin said sweetly, making the maid blush with pride.

"Of course, but are you sure about using a knife? You might cut yourself,"

"In that case, I’ll use a small fruit knife. That’s what I use at home,"

"Alright, I’ll get everything right away."

The servant hurried to fetch and clean a chair, cutting board, and small knife. Xiaolin dragged the chair to the side of the table and climbed onto it, causing the old housekeeper to gasp in fear of her falling. But seeing the little girl standing firmly and preparing her tools with confidence, he sighed in relief.

"Grandpa Housekeeper, I need a basket too, please," Xiaolin said, looking back at him.

"Here you go, young miss,"

With the basket in hand, Xiaolin took out the pork sausage wrapped in banana leaves, which she had steamed at home. She also had the spicy sauce prepared, needing only to slice the sausage and garnish with cilantro and onions.

Her small hands unwrapped the banana leaves and began slicing the sausage deftly, impressing the onlookers in the kitchen. They hadn’t expected such a young girl to handle a knife so skillfully, revealing that despite her modest claim of being a simple villager, she was no ordinary child.

"The plate is here, Young Miss," the servant said, placing a clean, porcelain plate on the table.

"Thank you. Here, I have a reward for you," Xiaolin said, offering a piece of the sliced sausage to the maid who had brought the plate. The servant blushed but opened her mouth to accept it, chewing with delight before her eyes widened at the unfamiliar yet delightful taste and texture.

"Is it delicious?" Xiaolin asked, popping a piece into her own mouth and not forgetting to offer some to the old housekeeper as well.

"It’s delicious!" the maid exclaimed, her eyes shining as she looked at the little girl as if she were a young mistress herself.

Xiaolin giggled, arranging several pieces of sausage on the plate beautifully. She poured the spicy sauce over them, garnished with chopped onions and cilantro, then nodded in satisfaction at her creation. She climbed down from the chair, making the elderly servant heart skip a beat, fearing she might fall.

"When it’s time for the meal, please bring this in, and keep the remaining sausage in the basket. Before cooking, steam it for fifteen minutes, and make sure to eat it all within today. You can stir-fry it with vegetables or fry it up," Xiaolin instructed the person who seemed to be the head chef.

"Yes, Young Miss," he replied firmly, eyeing the contents of the basket with interest.

"Let’s go back now, young miss. The master is probably waiting in the hall," the old housekeeper suggested. Xiaolin nodded and took his wrinkled hand.

"I’m  leaving now," the chubby little girl waved to the kitchen staff.

"Come visit again, young miss," the same maid said, sounding regretful. The young miss was truly adorable.

Inside the hall, everyone was already waiting except for the new mother, which Xiaolin understood. She greeted everyone cheerfully, and the three young men were still present.

"Long time no see, Xiaolin," Zhou Mingwang said with a wide smile, missing the food from his chubby little sister’s home the most.

"How about we visit Xiaolin’s house today?" Zhou Minglu suggested this to his younger brother and friends, who both nodded in agreement since there was nothing much to do at the house.

"Great idea! Xiaolin will have helpers for her work. Hehe,"

the chubby girl said, making everyone laugh. They chatted for a while until the old housekeeper came to call them for breakfast. The others looked curiously at the unfamiliar dish, while the father and daughter pair smiled and encouraged them to try it.

"It’s made from pork. It’s very delicious, so I brought it for you all,"

"What is it called?" Long Licheng asked.

He had received a letter from his father the previous evening, saying that the goods they had taken to sell were doing very well. He had already planned to visit the Tang household to discuss business with the chubby-cheeked girl. Now that she had brought a new dish to try, he was eager to start the conversation.

"It’s called pork sausage. I made a spicy salad for Uncle and my three brothers to try."

"Well then, let’s eat! I’ve missed Xiaolin’s cooking," Zhou Ming said, and everyone began to eat.

Xiaolin had been eyeing the braised chicken for a while and finally picked up a piece of the tender chicken to put in her small bowl of rice. The sweet aroma and melt-in-the-mouth texture made her cheeks swell with happiness.

Tianrong, seeing this, laughed softly and added more braised chicken to his daughter’s bowl, knowing how much she liked it. The chubby girl swayed happily as she enjoyed her delicious meal.

The pork sausage salad was so popular that it quickly ran out, prompting Xiaolin to ask the old housekeeper to bring more sliced sausage. Once the additional sausage arrived, the four young men eagerly continued eating while Xiaolin and Tianrong enjoyed other dishes.

After they finished their meal, Zhou Ming instructed his sons to take Xiaolin to visit her aunt and her two little sisters. The servants in the children’s room only allowed them to see the chubby-cheeked baby since the mistress of the house was not in a presentable state. Xiaolin watched the sleeping infant on the mattress.

"The baby is so tiny," she remarked, wanting to touch the soft skin but refraining since she hadn’t washed her hands and didn’t want to make the baby uncomfortable.

"It’s a pity we can’t stay to help take care of our little sister. Sigh," Zhou Mingwang said sadly, and Xiaolin turned to look at him.

"Are you going back to the capital soon?"

"Yes, in three or four days,"

"We can visit our little sister during the school holidays, right?" Zhou Minglu then gave a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Yes, big brother,"

"Shall we go to Xiaolin’s house then? Let’s let the baby rest. If disturbed, infants tend to cry a lot," Long Licheng suggested. He had younger siblings at home and knew how a crying baby could cause headaches.

"Let’s go then,"

The four children of varying ages walked out to the front of the residence, where Tianrong and Zhou Ming were waiting. The young governor had planned to discuss the management of the market with Tianrong at the seafood restaurant.

The children planned to return to Shenlin Village, so Zhou Ming instructed a servant to drive them there in a carriage. As they passed by a dried food store, Ling Heng spotted Xiaolin’s chubby face peeking out of the window and called out.

"Xiaolin! Wait!" Ling Heng ran after the carriage.

"Stop the carriage, please!" Xiaolin shouted to the driver. Once the carriage halted, Ling Heng approached his chubby niece.

"What is it, Uncle?"

"Several villagers have been asking if we will be selling tofu skin. They want to buy it for storage."

"That’s right! Since we started making noodles, we haven’t sold tofu skin. I’ll need to discuss this with Grandma first because we need more workers."

"Alright, I’ll let the customers know to wait for a bit,"

"Thank you, Uncle."

After finishing the conversation, Xiaolin turned to the three young men who were watching curiously. She smiled broadly and announced that they now had work to do, laughing heartily.

Once they arrived home, Xiaolin ran to find her grandmother and explained the conversation she had with her Uncle Ling Heng. Zhang Ruo then stopped working on the pickled scallions with Aunt Yao to go into the village and find workers for her granddaughter.

"Grandma, please find two men. We need them to grind soybeans. Making tofu skin isn’t as hard as other things,"

"Alright, I’ll take care of it. Do you plan to start today? We don’t have any grindstones left; they’re all at the noodle factory,"

"I’ll handle that, Grandma," Xiaolin said, pulling out some money to hire a driver to buy more grindstones and several sacks of soybeans.

"What is tofu skin?" Long Licheng asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. Xiaolin giggled upon seeing this.

"It’s made from soy milk. Just wait and see. If you’re interested, we can discuss it more later."

"How long can it be stored for?"

"Like other dried foods, it can last a long time if kept away from moisture,"

"That’s great! Do you know the goods I bought from you have sold very well? My father sent me a letter saying they were a hit. I was planning to place another order," Long Licheng said, deciding to discuss business with the little girl, who seemed to know all the details about her products as if she had created them herself.

"Let’s set that aside for now. Would you all like to eat roasted sweet potatoes? We grow them at my house,"

"Of course, we do!" The young men nodded eagerly like a chicken eating grains.

The four headed to the sweet potato field, now filled with only vines. Some villagers were digging up the smaller sweet potatoes to take home, as the Tang family only kept the larger, well-formed ones for long-term storage. The reset of the smaller ones was for the villagers to take home with no charge.

Xiaolin picked several sweet potatoes and asked her uncle, Weng Shui, to start a fire to roast them. Once they were ready, everyone sat by the fire, enjoying the roasted sweet potatoes. While they ate, Zhang Ruo returned with two men of similar age. The Zhou family’s coachman also returned with the purchased items, and Xiaolin paid him generously, making the servant smile widely.

"These are Grandpa Yong and Grandpa Wei, friends of your grandfather," Zhang Ruo introduced the two men. Xiaolin bowed deeply and greeted them cheerfully.

"Grandpa Yong and Grandpa Wei, thank you for your help," she said. The two men looked at the adorable child fondly and laughed.

"I thought you weren’t going to hire us, Xiaolin. Everyone else seemed to have found work already," one of the old men joked, pretending to be upset.

"I was just looking for the right job for you both, grandpas"

After briefly explaining their tasks, since the soybeans needed soaking, Xiaolin instructed the two old men to start work the next morning. Understanding their duties, they excused themselves. Seeing people digging up sweet potatoes in the field, they asked if they could join in.

Xiaolin returned to the young men, who were still enjoying their roasted sweet potatoes, and pondered what tasks to give them as they were dressed perfect for hard labor. Noticing her overgrown vegetable patch, she decided to have them help with weeding as they were too busy before.

"Are you ready to do some hard work before heading back to the capital?"

"Yes!"

"But let’s eat some more roasted sweet potatoes first," Zhou Mingwang added, making everyone laugh.

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