The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“If you don’t accept this, I’ll have to go and buy more stuff to give you.”

“Moreover, this is also my mother’s wish. If you don’t eat this stewed chicken, I don’t know how she might scold me when I get back home.”

Seeing that Zhuang Yutian was speaking like this, Zhuang Qingning had no choice but to agree: “Alright then, this pot of stewed chicken is enough, there’s no need to go to any more trouble.”

“Auntie was kind enough to rent us the tofu shop before, that was a great help to both of us. Now, it’s just a small gesture, not even enough to repay her initial kindness, it’s really too much to accept your thanks.”

Zhuang Qingning persuaded him.

Not to mention, there was also the element of the system task at play, Zhuang Qingning felt that she really couldn’t accept Zhuang Yutian’s gratitude too much.

This was a life-saving grace, how could a pot of stewed chicken be enough?

Zhuang Yutian, of course, still wanted to thank Zhuang Qingning with something else. Hearing her speak like this, he swallowed back what he was going to say.

There was still plenty of time, there was no need to rush at this moment, nor was there a need to say everything upfront.

“The stewed chicken is still hot, it’s fine to eat it now. If you’re waiting until after the noodles, it’s best to heat it up again. The stew is made with an old hen, it’s a bit greasy, it won’t taste good when it cools.”

Zhuang Yutian lifted his foot: “Then you guys hurry up and prepare to eat lunch, I need to rush home to prepare the afternoon medicine.”

“Uncle Yutian, take care…” Zhuang Qingning saw Zhuang Yutian out the door, returned to the courtyard, and lifted the lid of the clay pot.

The clay pot was big and deep, and what was inside was full to the brim. Clearly, an entire chicken was in there, and judging by the soft and tender meat, it had been stewed for quite a while.

This kind of stewed chicken was the most flavorful to eat.

Zhuang Qingning found a porcelain basin in the kitchen, scooped out half of the chicken with a large spoon, covered the pot, took a cloche and handed it to Zhuang Qingsui: “What I’ve scooped out is enough for us to eat. The rest can be sent to Uncle Yonghe’s house, I’ll make the noodles at home.”

Yesterday night, Zhuang Yonghe was called on to fetch the doctor, and in the morning he went again. Running back and forth twice like that must have been exhausting. Sending the chicken over was like presenting Buddha with borrowed flowers.

“Alright.” Zhuang Qingsui readily agreed, picked up the clay pot, and walked outside.

With a rush of wind under her feet, she walked away quickly.

“Slow down, careful not to trip.” Seeing Zhuang Qingsui’s hasty appearance, Zhuang Qingning reminded her.

“I know…”

Far away, Zhuang Qingsui’s crisp response drifted back.

Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but smile, took out the big rolling pin, and placed the well-rested dough on the chopping board.

Rolling the dough, folding it, cutting it into strips…

Smooth as flowing water, thin hand-made noodles were born under Zhuang Qingning’s hands. A thin layer of cornmeal was sprinkled to prevent sticking, and Zhuang Qingning added a handful of firewood to the stove.

After boiling the noodles and just as she had covered the pot, Zhuang Qingsui returned. She still held the clay pot from earlier, and judging by her posture, it seemed she hadn’t lightened her load.

“Uncle Yonghe and Aunt He do not accept it?” Zhuang Qingning asked with surprise.

“Hmm.” Zhuang Qingsui nodded, wiping the sweat off her forehead, “Uncle Yutian also sent them a pot of chicken stew, we can keep this pot for ourselves to eat.”

Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but curl her lips slightly at the corners.

Originally, she thought that Zhuang Yonghe and Mrs. He refused their chicken dish out of consideration for her and Qingsui, hoping that they could have more to eat. However, it turned out it was because Zhuang Yutian had already expressed his gratitude by taking a chicken dish to their house.

Previously, Zhuang Qingning was worried that Zhuang Yutian might forget about reciprocating, and she didn’t think it was appropriate for her to remind him. She thought about expressing gratitude on his behalf by offering Zhuang Yonghe and Mrs. He a meal, believing it would ease their minds. Little did she know, Zhuang Yutian had every obligation in his mind.

It seems that she has overestimated herself and underestimated others.

At their age, any of them could handle the worldliness more tactfully than she could and hence she doesn’t need to spend so much time worrying about it.

“Okay then. You can quickly wash your hands, smash up the cucumbers, boil the noodles, warm up the chicken stew and we can have it for lunch along with smashed cucumber. It will be quite refreshing.”

Zhuang Qingning said, “We can have the leftover chicken with a hot pancake for dinner.”

“Great.” Zhuang Qingsui’s eyes curved with a smile, and she hurriedly went off to wash her hands and fetch the cucumbers.

It took the sisters two meals to finish the large clay pot of chicken stew. After dinner, they had to remember to return the clay pot and were also concerned about Mrs. Wen’s illness, Zhuang Qingning then went over to Mrs. Wen’s house to check on her.

Mrs. Wen was looking much better: she had eaten a considerable amount for both lunch and dinner and had taken her medicine early in the evening.

Perhaps it was because the medicine contained some calming herbs, Mrs. Wen began to feel sleepy after taking it. After speaking a few words to Zhuang Qingning, she started to yawn.

Seeing this, Zhuang Qingning cut short their conversation and told Mrs. Wen to go to bed early, to which Mrs. Wen didn’t object. She simply called for Zhuang Yutian to attend to Zhuang Qingning.

Zhuang Yucheng’s family had temporarily gone back to their house, while Zhuang Yutian’s family had been staying here for the past few days to keep a closer eye on Mrs. Wen’s condition. In a few days, they would have Zhuang Yucheng’s family come and take turns caring for her.

Mrs. Meng had not spent much time in the village and was not very familiar with Zhuang Qingning, but after hearing about the recent events from Zhuang Yutian, she was very enthusiastic towards Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui, engaging them warmly in conversation.

“Thank goodness for you, Qingning, for helping my mother-in-law during her illness. I’m not good with words and don’t know how to thank you properly. But you should know that your Uncle Yutian and I run a cloth shop in the county town. If you ever need any fabric or have anything to do in the county town, please come and find us,” she warmly offered.

Mrs. Meng laughingly added, “We also sell purses and ready-made clothes in our shop. We didn’t bring any back this time because it was a rushed trip, but next time when we come back, we’ll bring you some trendy purses.”

“Considering your practical nature, you might not fancy the pink or red ones, so I’ll prepare some with bamboo green or bean green colours. It’s always pleasant to look at these cool colours in hot weather.”

Zhuang Qingning hadn’t had much contact with Mrs. Meng and didn’t know what kind of person she was, so faced with her warmth and friendliness she didn’t know if it was genuine or just polite talk. Therefore, she didn’t readily accept the offer, but rather declined modestly and politely.

After chatting about everyday life for a while, it was getting late. Workers from the tofu shop were coming in one after another and Zhuang Yutian and his family had been busy all day and were getting tired. Zhuang Qingning decided she wouldn’t impose on them any longer and went to check the tofu shop with Zhuang Qingsui.

Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng tidied up after the children had gone to bed and then went back to Mrs. Wen’s room to check on her.

Mrs. Wen was sleeping very deeply and her breathing was steady, indicating that she was out of danger.

However, due to the unexpected high fever she had last night, they didn’t dare to be careless. They decided that Mrs. Meng would watch over her during the first half of the night and Zhuang Yutian would take the second half, thus ensuring someone was always keeping an eye on the patient, in case of any mishaps.

The weather was getting warmer and there was no need for quilts. But because there were no beds available, they found a couple of soft pillows and made do with lying on the table..