Although the villagers said so, Pei Xia kept to the principle of one thing for one thing and paid the wages in full without fail.
Before long, the news spread to several neighboring villages, and people there were eager to come and work for the Pei family.
However, there were quite a number of people in Baiyun Village. There were hundreds of men, young and old, and many industrious women. They were dexterous and their work outshone that of many men.
The people of Baiyun Village monopolized the factory work of the Pei family, leaving those from the villages around Yinwan sighing in envy from afar.
The wages were secondary. The most important thing was that they wanted to eat the food cooked by Jiao Niang!
It turned out that during the past half - month, while Pei Xia was in charge of building the factory, Qi Jiao was also busy. She had taken on five or six orders for catering services, for house - raising ceremonies, ground - breaking ceremonies, and even funerals.
Apart from cooking for banquets, whenever Qi Jiao had free time, she would cook for the workers. There were always three dishes and one soup for each meal, with generous portions that were both filling and delicious.
Sometimes when she worked late, Qi Jiao would even prepare a late - night barbecue for them. They would build a fire on the beach, catch fresh seafood and roast it on the spot. The aroma would spread for miles.
Who could resist such temptation?
For a while, just for the sake of this delicious food, everyone worked with all their might.
With everyone's joint efforts, the duck farm was soon completed.
On the day of the completion, Qi Jiao specially cooked two large tables of dishes to reward the villagers who had worked on the project, and by the way, to reward Pei Xia, too.
The meal was served in the Pei family's small courtyard.
The table was filled with braised chicken, stir - fried pork with dried tofu, salt - and - pepper mushrooms, sweet - and - sour poached eggs... These were all home - style dishes, served in small basins.
Counting the days, the salted duck eggs pickled before were just right.
Qi Jiao took a knife to open the jar. She made a dish of salted egg yolk baked chicken wings with the salted duck eggs and also a large portion of noodles with salted duck eggs.
Tang Guiniang had picked a lot of wild chestnuts on the mountain, and Qi Jiao made some cool and sweet chestnut cakes.
When she finished cooking and came out, she found that everyone was sitting there chatting while cracking sunflower seeds, and the food on the table remained untouched.
A few kids were so tempted that they couldn't help reaching out their hands.
Aunt Cai slapped her grandson's hand away and scolded in a low voice, "Such bad manners! You can't start until your Aunt Jiao sits down."
Qi Jiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She took off her apron and said with a smile, "Everyone, there's no need to wait for me. This is just a simple meal to thank you all for your hard work during this period. Please start eating quickly."
"Everyone won't feel at ease eating without you."
Pei Xia pulled her to sit down. His slender fingers tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and his calloused fingertips quickly brushed across Qi Jiao's cheek.
A tinge of numbness and tenderness.
Qi Jiao gave him a sideways, coquettish look. Pei Xia had a faint smile in his eyes. There seemed to be a certain kind of emotion surging between them at the dinner table.
Pei Li sitting beside them was completely stunned.
What was going on between these two? Didn't their eyes get tired?
For the villagers, the whole table of dishes was a sumptuous feast, but the appearance of the salted duck eggs successfully caught everyone's attention.
"Try it. It's salty, and when you chew it, the yolk turns into sand."
"Yeah, it's really good! It tastes much better than ordinary egg yolks!"
...
Aunt Cai stuffed a salted egg yolk chicken wing into her grandson's mouth. She took a sip from the chopsticks herself, and her eyes lit up. She asked with a smile, "Jiao Niang, how did you make these salted duck eggs? I'll try it when I get home. A Hu's grandma sent some duck eggs, but no one in the family likes to eat them. If I can make them like this, it won't be a waste."
Qi Jiao smiled, "The method is very simple. I'll tell you, Auntie. You'll surely master it. Maybe you'll even do better than me."
Aunt Cai's face was full of wrinkles from smiling, "I don't dare, I don't dare."
Qi Jiao said it was really not difficult, so she told them several ways to make salted duck eggs. "Salted duck eggs go well with meals. They're very flavorful. I like to eat them with plain porridge the most. They're oily, salty and fragrant, not overly salty at all."
Someone in the crowd couldn't help but slurp their saliva, which made everyone burst into laughter.
Seeing that Qi Jiao had shared the recipe with everyone without any reservation, Tang Guiniang pulled Qi Jiao aside after everyone left and said, "Jiao Niang, by telling everyone how to make salted duck eggs, every family will be able to make them in the future. When the duck farm produces duck eggs and processes them into salted duck eggs, they won't be rare anymore, and it will be hard to sell them."
Things are precious because of their rarity.
Qi Jiao understood Tang Guiniang's concerns, but for a side dish like salted duck eggs, she never intended to make it a unique recipe from the very beginning.
So she explained with a smile, "You're right. Let me give you an example. It will be at least next year when our duck farm produces the first batch of salted duck eggs. Even if we sell salted duck eggs, it's just a single - line business. The output of our factory is limited anyway. We can't make a fortune just by this. It's better to share the profits with the villagers and achieve common prosperity. It will be much more convenient for us to buy raw materials and recruit workers in the future."
Tang Guiniang thought about it and realized she was right!
Jiao Niang had her own ideas and the courage to take action. What was she worrying about? She just needed to support and encourage her.
After saying that, Tang Guiniang asked Qi Jiao to go into the house. She took out two sets of newly - made clothes and compared them against Qi Jiao's body. "I finished making these a few days ago. You've been as busy as a spinning top, so I didn't have a chance to give them to you. Try them on and see if they fit."
Besides the new clothes, there were also two pairs of new cloth shoes. They were made of the same - colored cloth with elegant orchids embroidered on them.
Qi Jiao felt a warm current in her heart. She stepped forward and hugged Tang Guiniang. "Mom, thank you. You're so good to me. Sewing is so eye - straining, yet you made so many things for me..."
It was the first time Qi Jiao had called her "mom" since she came to the family.
A big stone in Tang Guiniang's heart finally fell. She squinted her eyes with a big smile and patted Qi Jiao's hand. "As long as you and A Xia get along well, what's it for me to make a couple of clothes?"
Qi Jiao tried on the clothes in Tang Guiniang's room. They fit perfectly.
Since it was late autumn, there was a layer of cotton lining inside. With these clothes on, she wouldn't be afraid of getting cold during the cold mornings and evenings.
Holding the new clothes and shoes, Qi Jiao secretly vowed to work hard to earn more money in the future and buy more and better clothes and accessories for Tang Guiniang.
The completion of the duck farm was a major event, but there were still many things to be done later.
But they could take a day or two off.
Qi Jiao took a hot bath in the bathroom and felt completely relaxed when she came out.
She was about to go back to her room and have a good sleep under the quilt.
There were dark clouds in the sky tonight, but the moonlight was as bright as snow.
The clouds half - heartedly covered the moonlight, and the ground was covered with a layer of white frost.
Pei Xia was standing under the corridor of the west wing, looking at her.
Qi Jiao was startled. The oil lamp in her hand fell to the ground.
She covered her chest and huffed, "What are you doing standing here silently? I thought I'd seen a ghost."
Pei Xia: "..."
The moonlight in the courtyard was clear and bright.
Qi Jiao bent down to pick up the oil lamp on the ground. She was wearing a moon - colored single - layer dress. Under the moonlight, her clavicles, as delicate as ice and jade, were even more prominent, looking slender and charming.
She had just taken a bath and didn't expect Pei Xia to still be awake.
There was no one in the courtyard. For convenience, Qi Jiao didn't wear a chest binder. She just wrapped herself in a single - layer dress and loosely tied the belt before coming out.
Now, when she unconsciously bent down, her figure was quite alluring.
In just a split - second, a glimpse of her fair chest caught Pei Xia's eye. He couldn't help but swallow hard. He felt a surge of intoxication, and the wine he had drunk in the evening seemed to have gone straight to his head.