Chef Hua
Chapter 196 - 122: Buying Land (2) (Second Update)

Chapter 196: Chapter 122: Buying Land (2) (Second Update)

Hua Xiaomai was slightly startled, then she suddenly understood and slapped the back of her head, slightly embarrassed, she pursed her lips, "Ah, I actually forgot about this..."

In the past few days, so many things had happened at home and outside, she had been so busy her feet barely touched the ground. Regarding Song Jingxi’s invitation to become the head chef in Provincial City’s Taoyuan House, she had not only yet to seriously consider it, but had utterly tossed it to the back of her mind. Now that Hua Erniang brought it up out of the blue, she really didn’t know what to say at the moment.

Taoyuan House was so famous, and becoming its head chef would naturally not be a bad thing for her, but... what about her own business right now?

Although her food stall did not make a lot of money, she had been running it for a long time and had grown somewhat attached to it. To be honest, she was somewhat reluctant to give it up suddenly.

Last time, Song Jingxi had said that she would come to find her again in a month. Time flew by, and that date was approaching fast. What should she do?

She couldn’t make up her mind at the moment, so she could only smile at Hua Erniang, "Erjie, does buying this land have something to do with whether I go to Taoyuan House or not?"

"Isn’t it related?" Hua Erniang slapped her thigh, "If you go to Provincial City, our current business by the river definitely can’t continue. If we buy the land and plant various vegetables and cabbages, which are mainly intended for your stall, what are we going to do with so many harvested cabbages and beans if you’re not home? Your brother-in-law and I can’t finish them all. It’d be such a waste to let them spoil!"

"Whether I’ll go or not, I haven’t decided yet, it’s a bit troubling." Hua Xiaomai simply spoke the truth, bowing her head to ponder, "But regardless, the land must be bought, and buying it now makes the most sense. If we wait until next spring, when everyone is busy with planting, who would still want to sell their land? As for your worry about not being able to finish eating the vegetables... hasn’t brother-in-law said it? Although we don’t rely on the produce from these one or two acres to make money, earning a few copper coins from them wouldn’t hurt us. If I do go to Provincial City, you can just sell the vegetables harvested from the fields without any wastage."

"Turning your words around sure is convenient, one or two sentences, and you’ve given me another chore." Hua Erniang muttered discontentedly, "By then I’ll have to go out and sell vegetables every day, do you think I’m not tired enough as it is?"

Jing Taihe chuckled softly, without a word, while Hua Xiaomai uttered an "Aiya" as she acted coquettishly, hugging her sister-in-law’s shoulder and nuzzling her head against her arm with a giggly voice, "We could also use it as experience gaining! We don’t have much money at the moment, we could only afford a few acres of land, but if we have more resources in the future, we could certainly buy more property, wouldn’t life be even better then?"

Hua Erniang’s clothes got wrinkled from her kneading, and although she felt amused inside, she feigned impatience and pushed her away, saying petulantly, "Ah, yeah, alright, stop causing a fuss—if you, Hua Xiaomai, don’t behave, I’ll beat you up! Tomorrow morning, you’re coming with me to find Zheng Yakuai and have him pick out one or two good acres of land for us to buy as soon as possible."

...

Having decided on the matter, Hua Xiaomai truly had a good night’s sleep that evening, feeling uncontrollably joyful at the thought that she could earn a good sum of money next year with the chili seeds. Of course, besides that, she also took the time to ponder whether to become the head chef at Taoyuan House. After much deliberation, she still couldn’t make up her mind and decided to put it aside for the time being, preparing to wait for Song Jingxi’s next visit to see what she would say before making a decision.

The next morning, after sending Jing Taihe off, Hua Erniang immediately took Hua Xiaomai to a farmhouse on the north side of Fire Knife Village to find Zheng Yakuai.

The man was a young lad of merely eighteen or nineteen, yet he had already been in the profession of property dealing with his father for four or five years. The villagers who wanted to buy or sell land and houses usually went through him - he was considered experienced.

Zheng Yakuai had a competent look and, being a native of Fire Knife Village, he was also quite familiar with Jing Taihe. Upon seeing Hua Erniang, he immediately greeted her with a beaming smile.

"Sister-in-law, what brings you to me today?" As he spoke, he glanced at Hua Xiaomai by her side, "Ha, isn’t this Xiaomai? Just a few days ago, I ate a bowl of noodles at your stall, really delicious, you must be making a good profit!"

Hua Xiaomai looked up, gave him a glance, seeing that he did indeed look somewhat familiar, and then smiled back at him, not saying much.