Qi Jiao carried two freshly roasted ducks, while Pei Xia carried two bundles of good wine as they returned to the Ye family's home.
Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye were overjoyed to see the young couple coming back, their smiles so wide that their mouths could hardly close.
The three Ye brothers also lined up to welcome them, their faces beaming with joy.
Jiang Yuniang stood at the door to greet them, her belly bulging round. Qi Jiao quickly stepped forward to support her. "Sister - in - law, you'll be giving birth in just over a month. Go inside and rest quickly."
Jiang Yuniang smiled. "It's okay. I'd rather walk around more. Otherwise, I might not have the strength when the time comes."
Qi Jiao nodded with a smile and handed the roasted ducks to Ye Geng.
The Ye family's dinner that day was very sumptuous.
With the addition of the roasted ducks Qi Jiao brought, it was like adding flowers to the brocade and enhancing the flavor.
Qi Jiao sliced the shiny, maroon - colored roasted ducks into willow - leaf - thin slices. Ye Pa stared at her intently, counting as he watched. One slice, two slices, three, four slices...
At the end, he was extremely surprised and shouted, "I've really opened my eyes... There are actually 108 slices!"
Qi Jiao neatly arranged the duck meat on a large plate, then looked up and smiled. "108 slices are the standard for slicing a duck. What I've done is just a basic skill. It's not the most outstanding."
The Ye family noticed that there were also small dishes of sweet bean sauce and dried chili powder on the plate. Qi Jiao then brought out a plate of hollow sesame pancakes and explained, "Dip the duck meat in the sauce and wrap it in the pancakes. It tastes fat but not greasy."
Pei Xia followed Qi Jiao around every day and already knew what she would do next.
His knife skills had also improved a lot. He sliced scallions, cucumber strips, and green radish shreds. "Adding these will refresh your palate and relieve greasiness. You can also dip it in sugar."
Everyone took a try and found the duck meat tender, with a rich flavor, crispy and delicious, and fat but not greasy.
The roasted duck received unanimous praise!
Qi Jiao immediately included the roasted duck as one of the signature dishes of her new store.
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The fine rain was like silk, and the willows were gently swaying.
Tomb - sweeping Festival was a good time for ancestor - worshiping and spring outings.
On this day, Qi Jiao and Pei Xia prepared incense, candles, and paper money to visit the ancestral graves.
They not only went to Pei Baoyan's cenotaph but also to the graves of Qi Jiao's parents in Biwu Village.
Qi Jiao prepared an extra set of sacrificial offerings for the original owner.
Pei Xia carefully cleared all the weeds and swept away the dead leaves in front of the graves.
After the two devoutly paid their respects, they left hand in hand.
On their way back, Qi Jiao heard a faint meow.
She turned around and found a skinny calico cat following them. It was covered in dust and looked so pitiful.
Only its big, bright cat eyes seemed to be filled with tears.
Pei Xia squatted down and waved his hand under the cat's nose.
The calico cat twitched its nose, sniffed his scent, and then trotted over to Qi Jiao.
Qi Jiao thought it was cute and also squatted down to gently stroke the cat's head.
She said, "It's been following us. I don't know if it's a domestic cat or a wild one. Let's take it home."
Pei Xia smiled. "There are dogs at home, but no cats. It's fate that we met it today. Let's go."
They walked side by side, slowing down their steps. The cat nimbly trotted after them and went home with them.
The first thing they did when they got home was to give the cat a bath.
Qi Jiao was even more excited than when she first brought Huanghuang and the others home.
Who didn't like cats?
After giving the cat a nice bath, her sweet appearance was revealed, which attracted the whole family to come and play with her.
The cat had a very good temper. She leisurely enjoyed the caresses from everyone and didn't growl or be fierce.
Occasionally, she let out a soft meow, which made Qi Jiao's heart melt. She immediately prepared fish, shrimp, and shellfish for her.
Pei Jin and Pei Li took out their fish - shaped snacks to feed her.
Tang Guiniang and Aunt Zheng also vied to hold the cat.
In contrast, Huanghuang and the other two got a bit less attention.
Qi Jiao named the cat Huahua.
From then on, Huahua was part of their family.
Tomb - sweeping Festival was an important solar term when the spring grass was just emerging.
Qi Jiao picked fresh wormwood leaves, mashed them into green juice, and mixed it with glutinous rice flour to make dough as green as jade.
She steamed two large bamboo steamers full of green rice balls. There were sweet red - bean paste, lotus - seed paste, and salted - egg yolk fillings.
Green rice balls were also known as Tomb - sweeping cakes, cotton - vegetable steamed buns, thorn - shell rice dumplings, Tomb - sweeping pastries, wormwood cakes, wormwood steamed buns, Tomb - sweeping fruits, Tomb - sweeping dumplings, wormwood pancakes, wormwood cakes, Tomb - sweeping rice dumplings, warm - mushroom buns, etc. (There were too many names).
They tasted savory, soft, and glutinous, and the smell of spring lingered on the lips and teeth.
The green rice balls she made were not only shared among family members but also distributed to neighbors and relatives.
Tang Guiniang and Aunt Zheng also rolled up their sleeves and made steamed cakes and colorful eggs themselves, symbolizing "getting rich" and "perfection".
The Ye family, being in - laws, sent a basket of sticky and sweet glutinous rice cakes, wishing Pei Xia and Qi Jiao a sweet and happy life.
It happened that Pei Jin and Pei Li had a holiday from school. The whole family happily went out for a spring outing and had a picnic in nature.
The climate in Yinwan was warm and pleasant. At this time, many spring flowers were blooming one after another.
The elegant and fragrant primrose jasmine, the bright purple bougainvillea, the lush and fiery red kapok, the weeping cherry blossom with soft vines fluttering in the wind, not to mention the rhododendrons all over the mountains...
Everywhere was a beautiful sight.
Pei Xia secretly broke a branch of elegant cherry blossom and hid it in his sleeve.
After waiting for a while, when he saw that Pei Li and the others were laughing and playing in front and no one was paying attention, he handed it to Qi Jiao.
Qi Jiao took the flattened cherry blossom and laughed so hard that she was out of breath.
A faint blush rose on Pei Xia's face. His thin lips moved slightly. "The flower got crushed. I'll find you a nicer one."
Qi Jiao held his arm and played with the flower with one hand. Her smile was as bright as the spring breeze. "No need. This one is the best."
Pei Xia put his arm around her. Looking deeply into her eyes, he felt that no matter how lush the spring scenery around them was, the person in front of him was more beautiful.
They played around. The clouds drifted slowly, and the sun gradually sank into the sea.
The tall and lush palm trees by the sea were bathed in a warm halo.
On their way back, passing by a broad and green forest, Qi Jiao suddenly caught a glimpse of an olive tree in the setting sun.
She quickly walked over to take a closer look.
Sure enough, there were already tiny yellowish - white flower buds on the stipules. It was definitely an olive tree.
It was as if fireworks were going off in Qi Jiao's mind. She could already envision a happy future lying on a pile of money.
Pei Xia pressed Qi Jiao's hand. "Jiaoniang? Jiaoniang!"
Zheng Huier also asked, "Sister - in - law Jiao, is there anything special about this tree?"
Qi Jiao came back to her senses, smiling mysteriously. "You'll know when the time comes."
After Tomb - sweeping Festival, Qi Jiao made all the arrangements for the later - stage production.
Mainly, Aunt Ye was in charge of production, and Tang Guiniang was in charge of personnel to ensure a continuous and high - quality output.
Next was the matter of choosing a lucky day to open the store.
Qi Jiao planned to use the original business name - Jiao Niang's Handicrafts.
Pei Xia suggested that she come up with a more comprehensive name since they were also going to serve food and drinks.
Qi Jiao never intended to follow the same path as Zhenxian Lou.
She couldn't train so many high - level chefs in a short time, so she decided to take the route of delicate private - kitchen cuisine and be the head chef herself.
If she had the energy, she would then develop a more mass - market business.
So she came up with the signboard "Jiao Niang's Restaurant", which would be the mother brand.
The signboard was still custom - made in the An family's workshop.
It was a black - background signboard with gilded characters. Although it wasn't very big, it was extremely elegant.
Hanging above the two - story, four - room store, the whole place instantly looked more imposing.