From Folly to Fortune：I Rewrite My Life After Rebirth!

”Old Mu’s wife, tell me, did you do something shameful? How come you suddenly afford new clothes?

Did some rich man take a liking to Xia? Speaking of which, our Qing girl looks good too. If that’s the case, I might as well call her up and marry her off!”

Mrs. Lin asked mysteriously.

”You’re the one who did something shameful! Aunt Lin, why do you speak so unpleasantly?” Mu Xiaxia retorted irritably.

”Hey, what’s wrong with you today, girl? Why are you always contradicting me? Have you forgotten I’m your elder? How dare you yell at me, don’t you respect me as your aunt?” Mrs. Lin got angry and scolded Mu Xiaxia.

”If Aunt Lin treats me well, I will naturally respect you, but you immediately accuse me of doing something shameful. How can I speak nicely to you then?”

Mrs. Lin felt extremely uncomfortable; she felt Mu Xiaxia was just like Mu Shuangshuang, who never respected her.

She wondered if that troublemaker taught Xiaxia to speak to her this way!

To get to the bottom of it, Mrs. Lin softened her tone and asked, ”Old Mu’s wife, this fur coat you’re wearing must be worth quite a bit, right?

And Xiaxia’s cotton-padded jacket, your family has always been so poor, where did you get money to buy these things?”

Mu Xiaxia listened to Mrs. Lin’s words, along with what her uncle and fifth uncle had said before.

She realized these people were jealous of her household’s current prosperity!

Indeed, when her family was in such bad shape, apart from the third branch and Shuangshuang, who would be willing to be kind to them?

And who would secretly give her father money to save face, and discreetly hand over two taels of silver?

When leaving the county, who gave her silver and warned not to use it?

No one!

”Aunt Lin, don’t say I didn’t tell you, our family indeed has some money, but it’s ours and we can’t give it to you, so you might as well give up on that thought!” Mu Xiaxia glanced at Mrs. Lin and said.

Mrs. Lin was hopping mad at these words.

”I say, girl, why is it so difficult to talk to you?

We’re all family, for heaven’s sake, and we’re all part of the Old Mu Family, how can we not help our own?”

”Aunt Lin, stop saying that and get to work! If we delay dinner, Grandpa won’t spare you!”

Mu Xiaxia didn’t want to continue arguing with Mrs. Lin, knowing exactly what kind of person she was!

Mrs. Lin felt so angry she could almost vomit blood, but remembering Mr. Mu’s current methods, she had to swallow all her grievances!

Mrs. Liu took over the task done by Qin Xianglan and started chopping the meat, Mu Xiaxia took out the Guihua fish, scaled it, and gutted it, quickly preparing the whole fish.

Since Mu Dade brought dishes from Jiu Si Xuan, there wasn’t a need to cook many more.

But each dish had to be plentiful, so everyone wouldn’t devour them all immediately.

Especially the dumplings; this time Mr. Mu bought three pounds of flour. Enough for the whole family to eat well and feel full!

Mrs. Liu marinated the chopped meat with various seasonings, while Mrs. Lin kneaded the dough.

After letting the dough rest a bit, Mu Xiaxia started cooking.

Although Mu Xiaxia’s cooking skills were nowhere near Mu Shuangshuang’s, she could still cook a dish without much trouble.

Once the fire was lit in the stove, she added oil to the hot pan. When the oil was hot enough, she put the fish in.

After browning both sides, she poured water into the pan along with various seasonings.

This was the simplest way to cook fish.

Mu Xiaxia used this method, and soon the fish was ready!

Next was the red-braised pork; slicing the pork, Mu Xiaxia noticed today’s five-flavor pork was different, with clearly defined layers of fat and lean meat.

Even the sound when the meat hit the pan was different.

She didn’t realize Mr. Mu had spent a lot to buy it.

When the dishes were prepared, the dough was ready.

Mrs. Lin felt lazy seeing both Mu Xiaxia and Mrs. Liu working, so she didn’t want to do anything.

She kept running to add wood to the fire, then went to the kitchen counter, drooling over the cooked dishes.

She wanted to sneak a bite, but with Mu Xiaxia and Mrs. Liu watching, she couldn’t overdo it, afraid they might complain to her father.

Seeing this, Mu Xiaxia and Mrs. Liu decided not to let the lazy trickster Mrs. Lin make dumplings.

Mrs. Liu rolled out the dumpling skin, while Mu Xiaxia filled the dumplings.

With skin thin and filled generously, the dumplings were finished quickly thanks to their division of labor, and the finished dumplings were placed on the cutting board.

Mrs. Lin saw the small dumplings and actually touched them with her dirty hands, saying, ”Look at how these dumplings are made. They’ll sure taste good later!”

”Aunt Lin, if you truly have nothing to do, could you heat the water?

When the water’s ready, we’ll cook the dumplings and have our meal!”

Mrs. Lin reluctantly got to work!

As Mu Xiaxia said, once the water boiled, the first batch of dumplings was ready.

The dumplings were put into the large iron pot, and after adding cold water twice, the first batch was fresh out of the pot.

Subsequent batches followed, second, third...

Once all the dumplings were cooked, Mrs. Liu and Mu Xiaxia exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.

”Mom, your skills are amazing! These skins are rolled so well, better than the chefs in the restaurant!”

”Our Xiaxia’s dumplings are pretty good too, better than mine! In previous years, it was me and your Aunt Yu making dumplings, she’s really skilled.” Mrs. Liu recalled and burst out laughing.

Mrs. Lin chimed in, ”Old Mu’s wife, what do you mean you and Yu Si Niang made dumplings? Didn’t I help?”

Mrs. Liu glanced at Mrs. Lin.

She did help, but she grabbed a piece of dough, stuffed it with meat with careless spoonsful.

Finished one dumpling, then ran off.

With her mother’s praise, Mu Xiaxia blushed.

Suddenly, she remembered something and cautiously asked, ”Mom, do you think cousin Shuangshuang can eat dumplings out there?”

Mrs. Liu paused, then nodded after thinking for a while, ”She can, probably can, Shuangshuang can cook on her own. Get some flour and meat filling, making a pot of dumplings isn’t hard, right?”

Though Mrs. Liu said this, she wasn’t sure.

After all, they’re in the Northwest now, and they don’t know what people eat there!

”I really hope cousin Shuangshuang can have a good New Year and eat a pot of steaming hot dumplings!”