The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 211 - 204: Selling Goods During New Year

Chapter 211: Chapter 204: Selling Goods During New Year

The two stepped out of the compound and headed to the farmers’ market, where Lu Jingqiu bought over ten pounds of intestines, three pounds of meat, winter bamboo shoots, potatoes, cabbage, daikon radishes, leafy greens, and some dried vegetables.

Gao Qing purchased three fish, two chickens, and some pork as well.

On their way out, they saw a stall selling ’youtiao’ (fried dough sticks), and Gao Qing bought five pounds of ’youtiao’ and some pastries.

Upon returning, Gao Qing helped Lu Jingqiu process the chicken and fish, while Aunt Gao even brought over a few pounds of oil.

Why not do this at the Gao Family’s home? It’s just that there were many brothers; if Aunt Gao had stayed at home to deal with fish and chickens, they’d probably all be gone by the time she finished.

Lu Jingqiu fried the chicken and fish, and made part of the meat into small crispy bites; the remaining meat was wrapped with bamboo shoots to make meat buns.

They were busy from morning until afternoon, each eating a meat bun at noon.

While busy, Gao Qing went home to tidy up some daily clothes and basins for her brother.

Lu Jingqiu also went to her aunt’s house to pack up some items her second cousin would need while outside.

By the time both had everything ready, Second Cousin and Fourth Brother Gao came to pick up their things.

Seeing the two baskets of food, they were both surprised—one basket brimming with buns, bun-like pastries, and ’youtiao’, the other filled with meat and vegetable dishes.

Yang Mingchao laughed, "Sisters, do you think we’re going to be outside for a month or what? This is too much."

Gao Da felt somewhat guilty and said, "Qiuqiu, Qingqing, I’ve troubled you both this time."

Gao Qing, holding Gao Da’s arm, said, "Fourth Brother, you are my brother; what trouble? We should be thanking Second Older Brother Yang and Qiuqiu. Qiuqiu started early in the morning, preparing until now, not to mention Second Older Brother Yang, who has to accompany you during the New Year."

Gao Da knew very well that he indeed needed to thank them both properly this time.

Mingchao was a good brother, no need to say more. But he definitely owed Jingqiu a special thanks, "Qiuqiu, this time your brother truly owes you thanks. Rest assured, when you and Nanzhou have your wedding, Fourth Brother will definitely give you a big red envelope."

"Fourth Brother Gao, we’ve grown up together since we were little; there’s no need for such politeness, but..."

Gao Qing smiled, "But what?"

"But when I get married, I definitely won’t be shy about accepting a big red envelope from Fourth Brother Gao."

With that, the mood lightened considerably. Yang Mingchao said, "Qiuqiu, rest assured, when the time comes, I’ll make sure he doesn’t skimp on your red envelope."

In the end, Lu Jingqiu and Gao Qing helped them load their belongings into the car and watched them drive away before they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gao Qing, weary, went straight home to rest, while Lu Jingqiu also collapsed onto her bed.

After a busy day, once they had a moment to relax, all their energy seemed to drain away. Lu Jingqiu fell asleep soon after lying down, and when she awoke, it was already past nine in the evening.

She felt a bit hungry but didn’t want to move. After tossing and turning in bed for a while, she fell asleep again.

The next day, she woke up naturally and went to the farmers’ market to buy some meat, vegetables, tofu, glutinous rice, and some dried winter bamboo shoots.

She prepared some for Grandpa Jiang in Capital City, some for the Shen Family, and mailed the rest to her father’s old comrades-in-arms.

This year, as she was on her own, she steamed a pot of buns and another of steamed bread, hung the meat in the kitchen to cook for the New Year, and saved a chicken and a fish.

By the time she finished her preparations, it was already the 29th of the year. Xu Li from across the way only returned her bicycle this morning.

It was done sneakily, and after returning the bike, she didn’t go home but made a point of telling her not to let her mother know she had been back.

Lu Jingqiu said nothing, simply nodding her head. She naturally wouldn’t meddle—knowing how Aunt Cuihua would react if she found out that Xu Li had borrowed her bike.

Fortunately, the Xu Family had been busy with New Year’s preparations these days and hadn’t gone out much.

This year for the New Year, Lu Jingqiu decided to have dumplings; although she had spent only a short time in Ten-miles Village, her favorite was still the dumplings from there.

It was just herself, so there was no need to cook several dishes and waste food, so she decided on cabbage and pork dumplings it would be.

On the thirtieth, the sky was overcast, looking like it might snow, as Lu Jingqi was in the kitchen preparing the dumpling filling.

Gao Qing specifically came over to ask her what she was eating, "My mom asked me to see if you wanted to come over for dinner today. I refused without your consent."

Knowing that Gao Shu and Xia Lin would certainly be coming today, Lu Jingqiu looked gratefully at Gao Qing, "Please thank Aunt Gao for me, saying that I am eating very well by myself."

"I knew you definitely wouldn’t come. I guess my mom just mentioned it casually. With my Fifth Brother and Xia Lin there, it would be pretty awkward, right? What are you making there?"

"Dumplings from the north," Lu Jingqiu replied.

Gao Qing pursed her lips and said, "I’ve had them, they’re very tasty."

Seeing her like that, Lu Jingqiu smiled and offered, "Why don’t you come over tonight and keep me company for the New Year’s Eve dinner?"

Gao Qing said, "Just save me some, and I’ll definitely make room."

"Alright, how about I start preparing around eight? If you come over, I’ll stir-fry a couple more dishes."

"No, make a stew pot. How about I stay over tonight and keep you company?"

"That works. What have you been up to these past few days at home?"

"Helping look after my nephews and nieces."

"Haven’t gone out to meet your friends?"

"How dare I go out? If Wu Zhengran can’t get in touch with me, he’ll come looking for you. Lucky you were home yesterday. If you had been out, you’d definitely get caught by him to pass messages."

"You hide over here and in Capital City too. How long are you going to keep hiding like this?"

"I don’t want to either, to be honest. I don’t dislike him now, and it would be fine to be normal friends."

Lu Jingqiu gave her a helpless look. There was nothing she could do about this, unless Wu Zhengran developed feelings for someone else.

In her previous life, Wu Zhengran had only fancied Gao Qing, and he never really got involved in anything romantic with other women. If anything, his infatuation was quite real.

In such a situation, she didn’t know what to do either.

After Gao Qing left, Lu Jingqiu spent an hour wrapping dozens of dumplings.

In the afternoon, she boiled two eggs and some chicken innards for Hua Hua and Hua Guoguo—this was their New Year’s Eve dinner.

Around five or six, firecracker noises started to echo through the courtyard; Lu Jingqiu stood on the second floor balcony, watching the crackling fireworks from each household and suddenly missed her parents.

She wondered what her dad was doing at the moment, whether he had eaten New Year’s Eve dinner, and she also worried about Nanzhou—whether it was safe or not.

After worrying for a while, Lu Jingqiu came back to her senses amidst the sounds of the firecrackers lit by Aunt Liu, let out a light sigh, and went downstairs.

Seeing that it was only a little past seven, Lu Jingqiu first went to her aunt’s house and set off a string of firecrackers in the yard.

Close to eight, she also lit a string of firecrackers in her own courtyard.

Gao Qing showed up at about 8:20, and by that time Lu Jingqiu was already in the kitchen boiling dumplings, "I thought you weren’t going to come today."