After having dinner with her colleagues in the dungeon, Gong Xiaohua tidied up and went home.
By the time she got home, it was already late.
Gong Xiaohua walked into the yard. Dad Gong and Gong Xiaonan were there, and the three of them were doing their own things in the small yard.
Her mother was by the well in the yard, washing clothes.
Her father was holding a teacup in his hand, leisurely sipping it while instructing her cheap younger brother next to him.
Her cheap younger brother, on the other hand, had a long face and was miserably practicing boxing.
"Dad, Mom, Xiaonan, I'm home."
"Sis, you're back."
Madam Gong looked at her daughter coming over, stopped what she was doing, came over, and curiously asked Gong Xiaohua, "Xiaohua, why are you carrying a bundle back home this time?"
"Oh, Lin Prison Chief said to let me go home and rest for two days."
Hearing this, Dad Gong had a puzzled look on his face and said, "How could you get time off for no reason? All departments should be busy everywhere and short of people these months!"
"I'm not very clear either. It may be related to the fact that I entered the internal selection competition!"
"Oh, entered the finals... What, what did you say?" Dad Gong reacted and shook the teacup in his hand, spilling all the tea on his chest. He doubted whether his ears had some problem that was causing him to have auditory hallucinations now!
He turned his head uncertainly to ask Madam Gong for confirmation, "Wife, what did you just hear Xiaohua say?"
"It seems to be that she entered the selection competition!" After speaking, she looked at Gong Xiaohua with her eyes to confirm whether she had misheard it too.
Gong Xiaonan next to them rolled his eyes, ready to get up, but was scolded by Dad Gong when he saw it, "What's your business? Stand properly!"
"Dad... Am I still your son?!"
"If you weren't my son, I wouldn't even give you a glance. You're a disgrace, got eliminated in the first round. It would be embarrassing if people found out!" After speaking, Dad Gong was too lazy to pay attention to this dumb son of his.
Instead, he turned his head and looked at Gong Xiaohua with hopeful eyes as big as copper bells.
Gong Xiaohua was speechless. It was just entering a selection competition, why was everyone so surprised?
So she explained the reason for her vacation again.
Dad Gong and Madam Gong were extremely shocked by their daughter's achievement. They knew it would be difficult to stand out among the crowd with their martial arts skills, let alone for a young lady.
"But Xiaohua, when did your martial arts become so good?"
Dad Gong said, and Madam Gong nodded in agreement next to him.
Gong Xiaohua's heart thumped. Could she be found out?
She pretended to be calm and thought for a while before replying to Dad Gong and Madam Gong:
"It must be the blessing after surviving a great disaster."
"During the period of training in the Ministry of Justice, I racked my brains every day to create some martial arts techniques, and unexpectedly they worked quite well."
"Oh, so that's how it is. No wonder the blind fortune teller said when you were little that you would have a catastrophe in your life, and as long as you get through it, your future life will be prosperous."
Madam Gong said joyfully.
Gong Xiaohua didn't expect that all her abnormal behavior in the future could be perfectly explained away by a blind fortune teller.
If Dad Gong and Madam Gong knew that their daughter had entered the internal selection competition by defeating the head of the Capture and Arrest Division, someone who was likely to place in the national finals, they would probably be shocked for nights and unable to sleep well.
"You must be exhausted from the competition these days. Have a good rest at home." After speaking, Madam Gong was about to take the bundle from Gong Xiaohua's hands.
"Mom, I'll do it myself, you go busy with your things." After speaking, she prepared to put the bundle in her room.
Seeing his sister about to go back to her room, Gong Xiaonan thought of the stew she had made last time. Ever since eating it that day, he had been thinking about that taste every day.
So he had been looking forward to his sister coming home, hoping to eat the stew every day.
Today his sister finally came back, and even had two days off. She must let his sister make it again.
"Sis, I want to eat the stew you made last time again. I've been craving that taste!"
Hearing stew, the eyes of Dad Gong and Madam Gong also looked at Gong Xiaohua full of hope. Don't blame them, the stew last time was just too delicious, and they had been craving it every day too.
Seeing those three pairs of shiny eyes staring at her unblinkingly, Gong Xiaohua amusingly nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go out with mom tomorrow to buy more ingredients and make some vegetable stew too. The taste of stewed vegetables is no worse than meat. I'll also go see if the potter has finished the one I ordered last time."
"Yeah, stew more, and give some to your uncle's side too. A few days ago he sent someone to ask if there was any more of that stew, saying Young Master Qin Fifth really likes eating it."
Gong Xiaohua raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect that a beauty like Celestial Immortal would also care about the desires of the palate.
She put the bundle back in her room, and when she came out, she saw that Madam Gong was still squatting in the yard washing clothes.
There were only a few people in the Gong household, and three of them worked outside. The people at home were simple, plus they didn't come back at noon when they worked outside, so Madam Gong was relatively free in the middle of the day, only busy in the morning and evening.
Stew was also one of the most popular foods in modern times. If sold here, business would certainly be on fire. I wonder if her mother would be willing to go into this business?
"Mom, have you ever thought about doing stew business during your free time?" Gong Xiaohua asked.
Madam Gong looked at her pair of children. They went out to work at a young age, and Dad Gong desperately wanted to climb up to give the children better protection, although he had sat in the position of prison chief, this was also his limit.
The family could afford to eat, and most of the money at home was spent on food. There was simply no extra money to provide better resources for the children and husband.
She had also thought about doing some small business, but the laws and regulations of the Da Ye Dynasty strictly prohibited families of government officials from doing business. Violators would be completely removed from office.
Madam Gong told Gong Xiaohua about this statute.
Gong Xiaohua knew officials had been prohibited from doing business since ancient times to prevent abuse of power, corruption, and market disruption.
She just didn't expect that even low-level petty officials could not engage in commercial activities in the Da Ye Dynasty. There was no way, she could only regret missing out on this good way to make money.
At this time, Dad Gong said, "Xiaohua, although our family cannot do business, what if I say to hand this business over to people on your grandpa's side to do it, would you be willing to teach them?"
Gong Xiaohua didn't expect her dad to mention grandpa's side. She hadn't seen anyone from grandpa's side since coming here over a month ago.
"Grandpa's side? Dad, if you think it's okay, I can teach them."
Dad Gong was overjoyed to hear that his daughter was willing to teach.
Thinking of those people in his hometown, busy all year round, still destitute. People dying from natural disasters was nothing unusual.
He knew firsthand how difficult life was for commoners.
"Okay, I'll send a letter to your grandpa's side tomorrow to see if anyone is willing to come over."
The next day, early in the morning, Gong Xiaohua and her mother went to the vegetable market in West Market and bought a lot of vegetables and meat. Vegetables like lotus root, white radish, baby cabbage; meat like a pig's intestines, pork head, pig ears, five jin of pork belly, four pig's feet, cost nearly 500 wen, almost Gong Xiaohua's monthly salary.
After buying the ingredients, the two of them carried their bags big and small to the pottery factory. Fortunately, the shallow pot they ordered was ready.
It basically met Gong Xiaohua's requirements. She happily paid the balance and couldn't wait to go home and try out this pot.
Back home, Madam Gong and Gong Xiaohua stewed all the ingredients. Part of it was kept for their family to eat, part was sent to her paternal grandfather's house, and part was sent to the Qin family.
The lunch Gong Xiaohua made was stir-fried lotus root slices and stir-fried pork slices with baby cabbage in the newly bought pot.
Although the stir-fried dishes didn't have as many seasonings as modern ones, they were still like gourmet dishes at this time.
By the time all the stew was done, it was noon, 2 pm in modern times.
She sent the stew for her paternal grandpa's house today, and prepared to send the Qin family's stew tomorrow.
