Chef Hua
Chapter 381: Episode 213: Go Find Him

Chapter 381: Episode 213: Go Find Him

Chun Xi and La Mei were chatting zealously about various things when suddenly they heard Hua Xiaomai was leaving, quickly turning their heads in surprise, "What’s this about? You’re... not doing business today?"

"No more." Hua Xiaomai nodded resolutely, saying as she walked toward the door, "Not just today, for the next four or five days, we’ll temporarily close as I need to go to the Provincial City."

"Why..." Upon hearing this, Chun Xi became even more astonished, hurried up, and grabbed her, "Don’t go, don’t go, explain it first. Why are you being so impetuous? How can you, a woman, travel alone? It’s such a vast area in the Provincial City, where will you find brother Yuhuai? What if something goes wrong, wouldn’t that add to the problems?"

La Mei and Zhou Yunyun also ran over to help persuade her, mostly with arguments like "This isn’t appropriate, don’t be impulsive."

Was there a problem? She didn’t think there was any problem.

Having caused trouble that upset someone, rather than dawdling and waiting for him to get over his displeasure, it was better to go straight to him and resolve the issues early. After all, that was her own man, there was no need to feel embarrassed. She was, after all, a well-educated, promising young woman who managed two shops; if she didn’t have the courage to deal with this minor marital trouble, that would truly be an embarrassment to herself!

Hua Xiaomai knew these three were genuinely worried about her, so she gave them a radiant smile, patted Chun Xi’s hand, which was tightly clutching her arm, "Sister-in-law, don’t worry, I have my ways of finding him. Moreover, I’ve been to the Provincial City before, I can probably find my way around, not likely to bump around like a headless fly. I’ll hire a carriage to take me there, nothing should go wrong."

"But..." Perhaps seeing that she had made up her mind, Chun Xi seemed a bit at a loss, hesitating for a long time with a worried frown, "Even so, you don’t need to be in such a hurry! The Provincial City isn’t too far, but it still takes a whole day on the road, and look at the time now, even if you left immediately, you definitely wouldn’t be able to enter the city..."

"I understand all of that." Hua Xiaomai cheerfully said, "In any case, for the next few days, you all just rest. If you have time, I’d appreciate if you could find out if there’s any news at the gentleman’s banquet. I still need to stop by the Sauce Garden now, you all tidy up and go home too."

Having said that, she also lectured Zhou Yunyun a bit, asking her not to slack in the coming days and to practice diligently, then she immediately ran out of the hall without looking back.

Chun Xi stomped her foot behind her, shouting at the top of her voice, "We three can’t accompany you, at least take one of the workers from the Sauce Garden with you, even that little clever mouse would do, he’s quick-witted!" But before she even finished speaking, Hua Xiaomai had disappeared from sight and it was unknown whether she heard her.

Ever since returning to the village from the small restaurant, Hua Xiaomai hadn’t had a moment’s rest, bustling about the whole village and working up a sweat.

Zhenwei Garden was usually well managed by Mr. Lei and his wife, and Great Saint was always willing to help, so Hua Xiaomai didn’t need to worry. She rushed there, only to hurriedly entrust them with handling various chores, too rushed even to drink a sip of water before hastily heading back to the Meng Family compound.

Mrs. Meng was not easy to appease, and Hua Xiaomai was well aware of this. She had fully prepared herself mentally on the way there. Indeed, as soon as her mother-in-law heard she was going to the Provincial City, she exploded in anger.

"Are you sick, has your brain been pecked by a chicken?" Mrs. Meng’s face visibly displayed her discontent, sitting by the table in the courtyard, she said displeased, "As soon as Yuhuai leaves the house, you can’t sit still—men go out to handle big matters, what business is it of yours to follow? Without you in the house, who will manage my meals twice a day? Don’t give me excuses, if you’re capable, you would run off without telling me, since you’ve come back to discuss with me, I’m telling you outright, I don’t agree!"

Hua Xiaomai knew this hurdle would be tough, inevitably spending a good half of the day talking and making up an anxious plea, claiming that Meng Yuhuai had forgotten something very important that he needed, and since the Escort Agency couldn’t spare anyone, only she, as his wife, could quickly deliver it to him. Finally, she added with a laugh, "Mom, you won’t need to lift a finger for your meals in the coming days. Yunyun cooks daily for the Sauce Garden, and I’ve already spoken to her to take your portion as well, and have Great Saint deliver it to our house. You just wait to eat the ready-made meals."

Human potential is endless, if it weren’t for this confrontation with Mrs. Meng, Hua Xiaomai might never have discovered just how persuasive she could be.