Chef Hua
Chapter 116: Episode 82 Going to the County

Chapter 116: Episode 82 Going to the County

Due to the heavy rain that had poured all day, the tarpaulin above was swamped with rainwater, making it appear exceedingly heavy. Hua Xiaomai exerted a lot of strength to flip it to one side, and as she lowered her head, she saw the wooden frame that had snapped in half, falling squarely onto a delicate bok choy. Not far from it were several chili plants that had originally grown thick and green leaves.

...Even if they weren’t directly hit by the wooden frame, just being pressed by that rain-soaked tarpaulin was suffocating!

She quickly removed the wooden frame, no longer caring about dirt, and directly lay on the ground, carefully checking each chili plant one by one.

Many chili leaves had fallen to the ground, but it was uncertain whether they had been blown off by the wind or beaten down by that tarpaulin cover; each chili plant seemed to be bent over from the pressure, and one of them had even snapped, its top half dangling down, almost touching the wet and sticky mud.

Hua Xiaomai felt an intense pang of distress, quickly thought it through, and hurried back to the main courtyard. She rummaged through cabinets in the hall and the kitchen for a long time, retrieving several large basins, small bowls, or jars, not caring what they had been used for before, and brought them all to the back of the house. She laid down thick soil and carefully transplanted each chili plant into them. It was only after she had properly settled them all in her western room that she proceeded to tidy up the other vegetables in the ground.

Although the vegetable patch behind the Jing Family’s small courtyard wasn’t large, it still took a lot of time and effort for one person to tend to it. Hence, when Hua Ermu and Jing Taihe rushed back from the old house, they found the courtyard gate wide open and a figure, caked in mud, bustling back and forth non-stop.

"Oh my heavens, what are you tormenting yourself with... Ah!" Seeing Hua Xiaomai in such a state, Hua Ermu became frantic and rushed over, grabbing her arm to drag her under the shelter of the eaves, "Are you out of your mind? Instead of staying properly inside during the heavy rain, you... Those vegetables aren’t worth much, and if you make yourself sick, I’ll have to spend money on your medicine. Don’t you have a sense of priority?"

Hua Xiaomai, soaked through and through with mud and rainwater, her clothes no longer showing their original color, even in May, couldn’t help shuddering as a gust of wind blew past, stammering, "Elder Sister, my chili..."

"Chili, my foot!" Hua Ermu yelled back, "Quit your babbling, I’m fed up with you right now!"

Before her words had finished, she had already charged into the kitchen and heated a pot of water as quickly as possible, yanked Hua Xiaomai into the bathhouse, shut the door, and stripped her clean in an instant, without a word dunking her into the bathtub. Then she hurried out again to help Jing Taihe prop up the shed at the back of the house, and frantically cleaned up the vegetable patch.

After a good deal of toiling, they managed to tidy up the ground, but as for the damaged vegetables, they had to wait until daylight to tend to them. The couple hurriedly bathed themselves, but Hua Ermu, still worried, pushed open the door of the western room and stepped inside, only to explode with anger the moment her foot touched the ground.

"What are you doing here, not hurrying to bed!" She walked over, lifted Hua Xiaomai, who was crouching down looking at the chili plants, slapped her forehead without any courtesy, and looked around even more infuriated, nearly ready to devour someone, stood in the middle of the room, and burst out scolding, "Look at this, just look! The floor is covered with the muddy footprints you’ve tracked in, there are even mud spots on the bed. After such prolonged rain, even if we wash the bedding, who knows when it will dry, if there’s no blanket to cover with tomorrow night, you can go sleep on the straw for all I care!"

Having said that, she stood with her hands on her hips, panting with exertion, waiting for Hua Xiaomai to talk back, ready to take another swing at her.

However, Hua Xiaomai, who had just been smacked hard on the forehead, didn’t seem to feel it at all, and with a pained expression whispered, "Elder Sister, do you think my chili will be alright?"

"...How would I know?" Hua Ermu was momentarily taken aback as if her punch had hit cotton, "Even if that thing is precious, isn’t it merely a plant? Is it really worth all this trouble to you?"

"You don’t understand..." Hua Xiaomai shook her head.

For a cook in this day and age, being able to use chili in cooking is of utmost importance. She had finally obtained these from Master Zhao with great difficulty. If anything were to happen to them, where could she find more seeds?