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ADUAAOR, IJWTF Chapter 23: Inappropriate

“Exactly.”

Li Shi sat down and took a sip of the tea served by Ai Cao, “Zhou’s medicinal materials store in the county is the family’s business. We have stores in nearby Qingyuan County and Anning County, as well as shops in Beijing.”

“It’s also because my family is in the medicine business, and I know that Miss Su is proficient in medical skills, so I brought some specially this time, including ginseng, deer antlers, lingzhi, etc., as well as commonly used pills. Come here, I hope Miss Su will not refuse.”

For Su Yujin, the previous matter was a piece of cake, but for Madam Zhou this time, it was a life-saving grace.

Su Yujin could understand Madam Zhou’s mood at this time, so she put all her shame away, but also gave some food as a gift in return.

“The sweet-scented Osmanthus in the courtyard bloomed very well this year, so I asked my servants to pick some and make some sweet-scented Osmanthus candy cakes. I also bought some fresh chestnuts on the street and made some chestnut cakes. I ate both of these and they still tasted good. It’s not bad. Don’t dislike it, Madam.”

“Thank you, Miss Su.”

Li Shi was overjoyed with the things her savior had given her and asked Lián qiáo beside her to put them away. She even said, “I heard that Miss Su is an excellent cook. The taste must be good. I started to like eating sweet things in the early years. These sweet-scented osmanthus cakes and chestnut cakes make me want to eat them just by smelling them.”

As she spoke, Li Shi couldn’t help but try a piece of chestnut cake.

Delicate and soft, not sweet or greasy, but full of chestnut flavor.

“It’s delicious.” Ms. Li said with a smile, “It’s even more delicious than the cakes sold by Yunzhizhai.”

Yunzhizhai’s chestnut cake was also delicious, but it was sweeter than this one, so after eating too much, it tended to feel cloying. On the contrary, this one didn’t have that cloying sensation. Instead, the more you ate, the more you wanted to eat.

Li Shi already had the urge to eat a second piece.

But in the end, she endured it in front of Su Yujin.

“As long as Madam doesn’t dislike it.” Su Yujin said with a smile, “If Madam thinks it tastes good, I will often make it and have someone deliver it to Madam.”

“It’s so embarrassing…” Li Shi hurriedly declined.

Su Yujin was Zhou Ruoyi’s savior. How could she bother her benefactor so much to satisfy her cravings?

“Madame’s family is in the medicine business. To be honest, if people eat grains, they will suffer from all kinds of diseases. From now on, they will inevitably come to Madam’s shop to ask for something. It’s just a courtesy, and Madam doesn’t need to be so polite.”

Li Shi felt Su Yujin was very easygoing and was not arrogant because of her kindness to the Zhou family. So she had a good impression of Su Yujin, “Then I will accept it shamelessly. The Zhou family’s business in Qinghe County is pretty good, and they have certain connections. Su Yujin, if you need help in the future, just send a message.”

“In this case, I won’t be polite to Madam, and I will come to you if you have any problems in the future.” Su Yujin made a joke.

Li Shi also smiled lightly.

After talking for a while, the two of them seemed to have a thousand words to say from the initial unfamiliarity to the end. However, seeing that it was getting late, Li Shi felt that she really shouldn’t disturb them too much, so she stood up and left.

“Madam, please go slowly.” Su Yujin said goodbye, “If you have time in the future, you can come and sit here from time to time.”

“This is natural; I will definitely disturb you more.” Li also wanted to invite Su Yujin to visit the Zhou family mansion, but considering the complex situation in the Zhou family, she swallowed those words and simply agreed to have her come here often. “Just, when the time comes, don’t find it troublesome, that’s all.”

“No, I couldn’t ask for more. “Su Yujin said with a smile.

The carriage was already waiting at the entrance of the alley, and Su Yujin watched Li Shi get on the carriage.

“It’s windy outside, you should go back quickly,” Li Shi said.

“Yes.” Su Yujin nodded. After a brief pause, he spoke hesitantly, “Speaking of which, that day, the servant who brought the young master to Su Ji for dinner, I remember it was Mother Zheng?”

“Exactly.” Li Shi nodded, “Mother Zheng is my wet nurse. She took care of me when I grew up. When I got married, she came to Zhou’s house with me. When I was busy with business, she was the one who took care of Ruoyi.”

Seeing Su Yujin’s somewhat serious expression, Li Shi was a bit surprised and asked, “Is something wrong?”

There was indeed something wrong.

The Zhou family had been making medicinal materials for generations. When they were chatting, Li Shi also said that she also knew something about medical science.

In this case, Mother Zheng, who took care of Li Shi growing up and now takes care of Zhou Ruoyi, should also know some common emergency methods for taking care of children.

Even if she didn’t understand, as a loyal slave who was not young and had taken care of two generations, Mother Zheng should have held the child in her arms and hurriedly found a doctor when that happened, instead of crying so hard that she couldn’t move her body.

Su Yujin felt a little surprised at that time, but seeing that Mother Zheng was crying so sadly and being so grateful afterward, it didn’t look like she was pretending, so she didn’t take it too seriously.

Today, Li Shi came and after talking for so long and getting closer to each other, Su Yujin thought of this matter again.

However, this was just something she subconsciously thought was wrong.

Whether Mother Zheng was just confused because she cared about the child, she didn’t know.

After thinking about it, Su Yujin said, “There is nothing wrong. I just feel that the young master is still young and is prone to dangerous things. It is better to send a few more people to take care of him regularly.”

“That’s what it is.” Li Shi pondered for a moment and nodded in response, “Don’t worry, Miss Su, I’ve written it down.”

After a few parting greetings, Li Shi’s carriage drove away, and Su Yujin returned to her yard with Ai Cao.

Mother Liu was counting the thank-you gifts brought by Li Shi and was going to register them and put them away first.

But the more she packed it up, the more excited Mother Liu became, “The quality of these ginseng and lingzhi are truly excellent. Each of them is worth at least a few hundred taels of silver, and, to be honest, the value is secondary. Medicinal herbs like these are often hard to come by; it’s not something you can buy just because you have money.”

Just like this ginseng and lingzhi, no matter how old it was, or how big the quantity was, you have to be very particular when using the medicine, and anything less was absolutely unacceptable.

“Miss, I didn’t expect that the child you saved that day was actually the young master of the Zhou family.” Ai Cao also looked happy, “The Zhou family is considered to be a big family, and we will be friends with the Zhou family in the future.”

“Yes.” Su Yujin nodded.

So just now she gave Osmanthus sugar cake and chestnut cake as gifts, hoping to bring the two families closer together.

Life-saving grace was at best a stepping stone, and it was something that cannot be mentioned often. If she wanted to have a long-term relationship between the two families and pave the way for her future career development, she still had to start from other aspects.

Now that there is a connection with the first two households that can be visited regularly, if there is a chance for collaboration in the future…

The relationship of common interests was often the most long-term and stable.

Su Yujin couldn’t help but make some plans in her mind.

On the other hand, the carriage Li Shi was riding in was slowly moving forward.


Found recipe for the two cakes mentioned. The Osmanthus one looked pretty authentic; but not sure about the chestnut one. Do let me know.

Don’t forget to turn on CC to see the recipe in English

2 responses to “ADUAAOR, IJWTF Chapter 23: Inappropriate”

  1. Clara Yu Avatar
    Clara Yu

    This chapter feels a bit disconnected from the previous chapter…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Chaitali Das (Chaitali's Musings) Avatar

      Yeah it is sort of filler chapter introducing a new character and her situation. She is an important character, so keep an eye!!

      Like

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