Chapter 107 - 107: Distributing rice dumplings
Chu Qingzhi leaned closer to Li Qingyu and whispered, “Mother, but I don’t want to marry anyone. Can you reject them?”
“You don’t like any of them?” Li Qingyu was a little surprised, but she felt that it was reasonable. This daughter of hers was knowledgeable. She knew how to read, draw, and do business. She had many ideas and had high standards. It was normal for her not to like the rough men in the village.
Chu Qingzhi nodded. “I don’t like any of them. Besides, Mother, Brothers and Sisters aren’t married yet. 1 can’t marry before them, right?”
“That’s fine. You can get engaged first and marry later.” Actually, Li Qingyu did not want Qingzhi to marry those people. It was not that she looked down on them. She just felt that they were really not worthy of her Qingzhi.
Chu Qingzhi shook her head. “Mother, go and reject them for me.”
Li Qingyu looked at her daughter lovingly for a while. “Since you’re unwilling, I naturally won’t force you.” She stroked Chu Qingzhi’s hair and turned to walk out.
Hearing this, Tang Jinghong slowly relaxed, and his heart calmed down. He turned his head and looked at Chu Qingzhi with a dark gaze.
Chu Qingzhi turned around and met Tang Jinghong’s eyes.
Their surroundings gradually turned blurry, and there was only each other in their eyes. Something was undergoing a qualitative change. An ambiguous aura spread, and an inexplicable feeling surfaced.
Chu Qingzhi felt her heart beat faster. She looked away and tucked her hair awkwardly.
She let out a low cough and asked, “Why are you looking for me?”
Tang Jinghong’s hand that was hidden in his sleeve tightened slightly. “I’m here to see how the preparation of the rice dumplings is going.”
Chu Qingzhi quickly walked towards the shed. “The rice dumplings are already done. I’ll bring you to take a look.”
Tang Jinghong followed. “Ok.”
In the central room, Li Qingyu tactfully rejected the matchmakers and sent them out one by one.
Matchmaker Chu stood at the entrance of the courtyard and watched as the group of matchmakers walked back in disappointment. She couldn’t help but want to laugh.
It was obvious that Qingzhi already had someone in her heart. How could she like the people from the villages? She had told the matchmakers, but they wouldn’t believe her.
Li Qingyu turned around and looked at Matchmaker Chu. The two of them laughed.
The news of ten matchmakers coming to talk about marriage at the same time was too rare, so it quickly spread throughout the surrounding villages. Some people who specialized in collecting anecdotes recorded it in books. Later on, when people read of this anecdote, they felt that it was fabricated and impossible.
In the following days, Chu Qingzhi focused all her attention on making rice dumplings until the fourth of May.
Starting from this morning, Young General Xu brought people to transport the rice dumplings. They transported them in carts until noon.
Tang Jinghong walked towards Chu Qingzhi and took out a stack of banknotes for her with a gentle smile. “Count it.”
There were 200,000 rice dumplings for 25 copper coins each. It was a total of 5,000 taels of silver. Chu Qingzhi nodded. “It’s just the right amount.”
Tang Jinghong smiled and looked at Chu Qingzhi intently. He invited, “Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival. The county will be especially lively at night. Do you want to go and take a look?”
Chu Qingzhi also wanted to relax, so she agreed. “By the way, our family will go to the Hongyan Restaurant in the county city for dinner tomorrow. We’ve already booked it. Come with us.”
Tang Jinghong looked at Chu Qingzhi’s sincere eyes and nodded with a faint smile. “Okay.”
Li Qingyu walked over. She knew that Tang Jinghong had been chased out of the house by his family and her heart ached for him. “Jinghong, come to Auntie’s house for lunch tomorrow.”
His father was really cold-blooded. It was true that having a stepmother meant having a stepfather.
Tang Jinghong glanced at Chu Qingzhi. With her head slightly tilted, Chu Qingzhi looked playful. His heart skipped a beat. “Thank you, Auntie. I’ll definitely come tomorrow.”
Li Qingyu smiled. “Alright, I’ll cook your favorite dishes tomorrow.”
A smile appeared in Tang Jinghong’s eyes. “Thank you, Auntie. I’m leaving.”
Li Qingyu said with concern, “Be careful on the way.”
“Yeah.”
Chu Qingzhi sent Tang Jinghong to the village entrance. She looked around and whispered, “Jinghong, you can let the soldiers eat the rice dumplings when you get back. I’ve already heated them up for you.”
It would take ages for the others to heat up so many rice dumplings, but for her, it was just a matter of spells.
“By the way, there are rice dumplings in the small box that I specially made for you. You must try them.”
In order to thank Tang Jinghong for letting her earn so much money, she specially made some unique sweet rice dumplings for him… Last time, she realized that Tang Jinghong liked to eat sweet things.
Tang Jinghong instantly felt that he seemed to like Chu Qingzhi more. He stared at her with a light in his eyes. “Qingzhi, thank you.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Let’s go.” Tang Jinghong brought the horse over and mounted it coolly. He glanced at Chu Qingzhi and rode away.
Chu Qingzhi looked at Tang Jinghong’s tall back as he left. She suddenly hoped that time would pass quickly and that he would come early tomorrow.
At the military camp.
The carts of rice dumplings were transported back and placed on the drill ground. This attracted the attention of everyone in the military camp.
When the drums sounded, everyone immediately came to the drill ground and stood in formation.
Tang Jinghong also arrived at the drill ground. He handed the matter of distributing the rice dumplings to the deputy general.
The deputy general walked up to the platform. “In order to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, the general prepared rice dumplings for everyone.”
“The rice dumplings are still hot. You can eat it straight away. Four for each person.”
“Now, line up and get it one by one.”
After the deputy general finished speaking, the soldiers immediately lined up. They had never heard of rice dumplings, seen them, or eaten them. What did they look like?
The first soldier to get the rice dumpling couldn’t help but drool when he smelled the fragrance. Because he would be on leave tomorrow, he wanted to bring it back and share it with his family. The weather was so hot now. He wondered if he could keep it until tomorrow.
He turned around and ran towards Tang Jinghong. He asked expectantly, “General, can we keep these rice dumplings for tomorrow?”
Tang Jinghong nodded slightly. “Sure, but not for more than three days.”
Qingzhi had told him that the rice dumpling could be preserved for three days… Chu Qingzhi had mixed a little spiritual energy in it. Otherwise, it would go bad very quickly on such a hot day.
There were also people who couldn’t wait to eat the rice dumplings, such as FangZerong.
After receiving the rice dumplings, he went straight to Tang Jinghong’s tent. “General, I brought some for you.”
Distributing rice dumplings would take a long time. Tang Jinghong watched for a while before returning to the tent.
When he heard the voice, he looked up at Fang Zerong. “No need. i have it..”