The Lucky Heiress

Nurse Zhang was skeptical, but she saw Xiumei get off the carriage and surprisingly gave two taels of broken silver to the old man selling seafood.

Then, without waiting for the accompanying guard to help, Xiumei single-handedly moved the basket of seafood onto the carriage.

After blanking out for a while, Nurse Zhang guessed in her heart that Wei Ruo probably got this money from the gift that the old man from the Capital City had given Wei Ruo a few days ago.

Thinking to herself, even if the money came from the old man, it should not be spent like this. Wei Ruo simply did not know how to be thrifty.

Once back at Tingsong Garden, Xiumei moved the basket of seafood into the garden.

“Meimei, how about…” Wei Ruo’s eyes were shining as she looked at the basket of seafood.

“Miss, you want to eat hot pot, don’t you?” Xiumei at once saw through Wei Ruo’s thoughts.

“Yes, yes, Meimei, you really understand me!” Wei Ruo hadn’t even opened her mouth yet, but Meimei had guessed it all.

“Miss, your thoughts on other matters are hard to guess, but on this matter, as soon as you look at me, I immediately know what you want to do.”

“Very well, some of it will be used for a seafood hot pot, the rest will be processed and dried.”

A spicy pot bottom and seafood as ingredients, just thinking about it, Wei Ruo’s mouth was watering.

“But miss, you seem to have forgotten, we don’t have a kitchen or a pot, we can’t cook a hot pot.”

“Doesn’t the neighboring Yanzhu Court have a small kitchen? Perhaps, we could use it,” suggested Wei Ruo.

“Yes! The neighbors have a small kitchen!” Xiumei suddenly realized something after saying this. “Miss, don’t tell me you buttered up the Second Young Master with soy sauce just to get to use this kitchen?”

“Huh? Did I? Do you see me like that?” Wei Ruo looked guilty.

Xiumei nodded wisely.

Yes, you definitely are like that, Miss!

“Well, that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that we have a place to cook our hot pot. Meimei, get ready and gather the ingredients. We’ll go to the neighbor’s to cook.”

“Then I’ll go to the room to check and see how much of the spice mix you made earlier is left.”

Xiumei turned and entered the storage room that Wei Ruo had been using.

When she came back, she was holding a white cloth bag.

During this era, there were no hot peppers, and many types of spices did not exist yet. Wei Ruo, whose taste buds had been nourished by various spices, occasionally missed those stimulating tastes. So she collected all types of aromatic spices that she could find in this era.

Sichuan pepper, dogwood, pepper vine, cinnamon, mustard seed, blending these together after repeated trial and error, she found the perfect ratio to create a blend of spices that was to her satisfaction.

After mixing them, Wei Ruo would package them separately into cloth bags, ready to be used anytime needed.

“There’s only one spice bag left. If you want to eat more in the future, we’ll have to figure out how to gather those spices again,” said Xiumei, bringing back the spice bag as well as some not-so-good news.

Those spices were not easy to come by, and Wei Ruo had had to put in quite a bit of effort to gather them in the first place.

Wei Ruo nodded, “Once we’re more settled, not only will I gather more spices, I’ll also have to stock up on medicinal herbs.”

With that, Wei Ruo instructed Xiumei to stay in the Tingsong Garden to prepare the ingredients, while she went to knock on the door of the Yanzhu Garden.

The door opened, and Xiaobei, the servant boy, asked in surprise, “Miss, what can I help you with?”

“I’m wondering if I could borrow your small kitchen. As a thank you, I’ll treat you to a seafood hotpot! My Meimei’s cooking is superb, I guarantee you won’t lose out!”

“Miss, I… I can’t make that decision. I’ll have to ask the young master.”

“Then go ask your young master.”

“Alright, Miss, please wait a moment. I’ll go ask right now.”

Xiaobei turned and went inside the courtyard.

Wei Ruo peeked in. Just like last time she came, Wei Jinyi was still sitting in the Octagonal Pavilion reading. He seemed to really enjoy reading in the courtyard.

From a distance, Wei Ruo couldn’t hear his conversation with Xiaobei, but she could see his expression darkening after Xiaobei spoke a few words. He then looked towards the entrance where his eyes met Wei Ruo’s.

Wei Ruo responded with a grin and gave Wei Jinyi a wave.

However, her smile seemed to darken Wei Jinyi’s expression even further.

What happened? Was her smile not warm and friendly enough? She thought her smile was pretty decent, even Meimei had told her that her smile was beautiful!

Wei Ruo couldn’t hear what Wei Jinyi said to Xiaobei, but he looked uncomfortable when he walked over and said, “Miss, the Young Master suggested that if you have something specific you want to eat, you should have the main kitchen prepare it. Our small kitchen doesn’t have much space or any special ingredients. It’s really not suitable.”

“I’ve brought my own ingredients and seasonings, and I don’t need anything from you. I just need a place to cook. The main kitchen is inconvenient, and I’ll be cooking for a long time.”

Xiaobei looked troubled. “But, Miss…”

“Please, please.”

“But the Young Master…” Xiaobei turned to look at Wei Jinyi. He was in such a difficult position – the Young Master had asked him to refuse, but he didn’t dare to offend the Miss.

“I’ll go talk to your Young Master myself!”

Realizing the problem, Wei Ruo skirted around Xiaobei and headed straight for the Octagonal Pavilion.

“Second Brother!”

At the sound of the phrase “second brother”, Wei Jinyi quickly furrowed his brows.

“Second Brother, I’m going to borrow your small kitchen for a bit. We’re cooking seafood hot pot. You should have some too, I promise it’ll taste great!”

Wei Jinyi looked at Wei Ruo. Her eyes were twinkling, full of expectation.

After a moment, Wei Jinyi compromised. “Do as you wish.”

“Thanks a lot!” Wei Ruo happily thanked him and then ran back to Tingsong Garden.

Xiaobei returned to Wei Jinyi’s side and said in a low voice, “Master, Miss is truly different from the others in the manor…”

Others in the manor would avoid their Young Master at all costs. But the Miss, she came over the last time with soy sauce, and this time, she’s here asking to use their small kitchen to cook hot pot…

“Let her be. With the way she’s behaving, it’s difficult for you to get through to her.”

Wei Jinyi didn’t like wasting words, and since Wei Ruo was new to the Wei family and didn’t understand many things, attempting to reason with her would be futile.

Not long after, Wei Jinyi saw Wei Ruo enter his courtyard with a maid.

The mistress and maid carried a plethora of things into the small kitchen, in varying sizes and dishes.

In the small kitchen, Xiumei was cooking, while Wei Ruo was helping stoke the fire.

When the pot was ready, they put in lard. Once the milky-white lard melted, they poured in the spice mix that Wei Ruo had prepared.

The strong aroma of the spices was dominant. When stirred in hot oil, it filled the entire small kitchen and wafted out into the courtyard.

“Young Master, what’s this smell? It smells really nice,” Xiaobei sniffed and sniffed, confirming that it was a smell he had never smelled before.

“Grinding ink.”

Wei Jinyi answered with a poker face.

Xiaobei quickly came back to his senses and continued to grind ink for Wei Jinyi.

Wei Ruo dashed out of the small kitchen and ran over to Wei Jinyi to ask, “Second Brother, the bamboo shoots in your yard look pretty good.. Would you mind if I break off a few to chop them up and put them in the hot pot?”