Chef Hua
Chapter 227: Episode 138: Hua 2 Niang is pregnant

Chapter 227: Episode 138: Hua 2 Niang is pregnant

In mid-July, Pan Ping’an, as always, returned from Provincial City on time. He brought Hua Xiaomai six strings of cash and also came with good news.

"Antai Garden is no longer giving me a hard time. Our business has finally found its sales channels!" he said joyfully, sitting in the Jing Family’s small courtyard, shaking his head and wagging his fingers, "Now, inside Provincial City, every restaurant knows your sauce tastes good and is fairly priced. Several more have approached me to buy it! Next month, we might earn even more money, but that means, little Xiaomai, you’ll have to work harder. Look at this order I brought back. The amount and types of sauces requested by these restaurants and eateries are no small matter!"

Earning money, Hua Xiaomai naturally wouldn’t refuse. She cheerily agreed. When Pan Ping’an left, she brought the strings of cash to Hua Ermu and chuckled, "Sister, look at this. Uncle Ping’an really wasn’t generous! When he bought sauces and candied fruit from our place, he used to give us no more than four and a bit strings of cash each month, pocketing all the profits himself. Luckily, now we split profits evenly with him, or we really would have suffered a great loss!"

But Hua Ermu seemed a bit distracted, took the money, put it away, and told Hua Xiaomai, "In the future, we just need to make sure he doesn’t take advantage again. Anyway, having him manage the sauce sales in Provincial City saves us a lot of trouble."

"Right?" Hua Xiaomai agreed and then noticed her apparent lack of energy, waving her hand in front of her, "What’s wrong?"

"I was just thinking..." Hua Ermu paused, as if swallowing the words she was about to say, and smiled, "I was thinking, tomorrow is the Ghost Festival. Even though we aren’t in our hometown, shouldn’t we also offer some paper money to our parents? I bet Hua Dashan and his wife have completely ignored this, and wouldn’t spare a thought for our parents. Let them be heartless, but we can’t let our parents be neglected, right?"

"Oh, sure." Hua Xiaomai hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Although those two weren’t actually her parents, it was only right for her, as their youngest daughter, to fulfill her filial duties to them.

The next morning, Hua Ermu went to the village and bought many items like ingot candles and paper money. In the evening, she and Hua Xiaomai went to the village entrance, drew a circle on the ground with charcoal, and inserted incense candles into the dirt.

"Drawing the circle lets our parents know this paper money is for them, so no one else takes it." She explained to Hua Xiaomai and then ignited the yellow papers in her hand, tossing them into the circle.

"Dad, Mom, your youngest daughter has come to live with me. Ah, you won’t believe it if I tell you, she used to not know anything, but now she’s become proficient in cooking. Thanks to her, Taihe and I have more breathing room day by day, and we even bought two acres of land! Now, she has also found someone she likes, and it won’t be long before she gets married. Now that we’re free from that shameless Hua Dashan, we sisters are only going to live better lives. Don’t worry about us."

Hua Xiaomai tossed a stack of paper money into the circle.

The genuine Hua Xiaomai had likely long since passed on to Hell, and though it’s unclear what exactly had transpired, one way or another, her current life was obtained through hers.

"I’ll take good care of my sister, don’t worry." Hua Xiaomai muttered in her heart, slowly exhaling a long breath.

The sisters quickly burned all the ingot paper money. Hua Xiaomai stood up, stamping her feet which had grown numb from crouching, and was gathering the stuff by her side, ready to go home, when Hua Ermu suddenly grabbed her.

"Little sister, there’s something... I want to talk to you about." She appeared slightly troubled, dragging Hua Xiaomai under a tree, biting her lip and lowering her head, yet she didn’t speak.

"What’s wrong?" Hua Xiaomai craned her neck to look at her face, "You’ve been down these past few days. What’s the matter? I am your sister, why hesitate to tell me anything?"

"I..." Hua Ermu glanced at her quickly, "I told you that since taking the medicine prescriped by Dr. Xing, my periods have always been very regular, off by no more than three days. But... but now it’s been over a week, and I still haven’t..."

"Ah?" Hua Xiaomai was startled, her eyes widening in shock, almost involuntarily rushing to support her arm, "Oh my goodness... you really... you’re more than a sister, you’re my ancestor! I’ve told you before not to do heavy work, but you just wouldn’t listen, and now look... no good, I must quickly tell my brother-in-law. We can’t delay this; tomorrow we’re going to the County to find Dr. Xing!"