100 – New Room Exclusive for Summer
Brought to you by MCJohnston <3
Qin Mian asked, “Do you know why Eldest Young Master made you kneel?”
Little Young Master spoke while smiling, which meant he and Eldest Young Master was not seriously criticizing him. Lei-Qin Le nodded his head, “I understand. Eldest Young Master wants to tell me that a loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble.”
“Good if you understand.” Qin Mian walked to the stone table and sat down, enjoying the gentle cool breeze.“Get up.” Lei Tie shot a glance at Lei-Qin Le and walked to his wife.
“Many thanks, Eldest Young Master.” After that, Lei-Qin Le shouted to Qin Mian, “Many thanks, Little Young Master!”
Then, he left like a wisp of smoke, still in that lively appearance.
He was a smart man. Qin Mian believed that he would be more cautious in the future.
He leaned on Lei Tie, groped his chin, and teased, “Next time, I play the role of the villain. Otherwise, everyone will be more afraid of you.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Lei Tie hugged him, unconcerned.
Qin Mian had people sent a letter to Double Xiang House. Five days later, Double Xiang House launched new desserts and drinks. When Manager Sun received the news, he naturally released it.Uncle Fang was right. Four days later, one-third of the honey peaches were ripe. The red fruits on the trees looked as if they were smeared with rouge, really beautiful. And not only each of them was big, but it was also heavy.
Qin Mian plucked a peach and peeled it. The flesh inside was bright red in white. He took a bite. it was moist and sweet, that could make his heart sweet. Although it was not as good as the one in the space, it also tasted awesome.
“It’s delicious. A-Tie, taste it too.”
Lei Tie lowered his head and took a bite near the nick he had bitten. He nodded, “It’s delicious.”
Qin Mian was speechless, “I was asking you to pick another one.”
“Aren’t they all the same?” Lei Tie said with a puzzled expression.
Qin Mian’s lips twitched, “There are so many fruits on the tree, must you grab mine?”
“Save those to sell.”
Qin Mian wiped his sweat.1 Had he fallen to the point where he couldn’t support his man?
Lei Tie’s head leaned over and took another big bite.
Qin Mian opened his mouth and took a bite on the man’s lips, leaving a tooth print.
Lei-Qin Le saw it. He hurriedly stepped back a few steps and reported loudly without squinting, “Eldest Young Master, Little Young Master.”
Lei-Qin Shun and a few others behind him, carrying baskets and ladders, very perceptively lowered their heads.
“En,” Qin Mian quickly pushed Lei Tie’s head away, “Pick the reddest fruits for two baskets and make peach jam later.”
“Yes.”
Lei-Qin Hui, Lei-Qin Jian, Lei-Qin Li, and Lei-Qin Yuan carried the baskets, while Lei-Qin Gong, Lei-Qin Shun, Lei-Qin Cheng, and Lei-Qin Xin climbed up the ladders to pick peaches.
The villagers who were building the wall in the distance could vaguely see the peach-picking happening here and felt a little regretful. Now that Lei Tie Family had bought so many people, there was no need to ask the villagers to pick fruits.
“Oh, this old man is too late. You’re already picking them.” Uncle Fang strode with a vigorous pace.
“Uncle Fang is here. I’ve agreed with the wine house to deliver fruit jam tomorrow, so we have to make it today.” Qin Mian picked a big honey peach from the tree and gave it to Uncle Fang along with a small fruit knife. “Taste it. Half of this is your contribution.”
“This old man doesn’t dare to claim it. I’m merely doing my duty.” Uncle Fang took the peach and the fruit knife, “But I still want to taste it.”
His hands were very dexterous. The fruit knife flexibly turned on the peach for a few laps before it was completely peeled. Not only that, the peeled skin that fell on the ground was whole.
Uncle Fang took a bite and praised without cease, “Mm! It is juicy and sweet! Good!”
Lei-Qin Shun and the others inwardly drooled.
Qin Mian handed the fruit knife from Uncle Fang to Lei Tie.
Lei Tie silently took the fruit knife, picked the reddest and biggest one, and also peeled off the whole fruit skin before handing the skinless peach to Qin Mian.
Qin Mian patted him on the shoulder in praise.
Uncle Fang watched them to the point he laughed.
After plucking two large baskets of peaches, Qin Mian let Lei-Qin Le give two peaches to each of the servants. He picked up a basket of peaches based on the number of people in Uncle Fang’s family to give him and then told Uncle Fu to send a basket to Li Zheng.
The method of making peach jam and cherry jam was practically the same. There was no secret. After Qin Mian showed it to Aunt Fu once, he gave her the task of making peach jam and assigned Lei-Qin Shun to watch the fire for her.
Early the next morning, the couple personally delivered peaches and peach sauce to Double Xiang House.
Manager Sun bought some ice cubes in advance and chilled the peach jam. After having the staff squeezed the peaches into juice, it was also served with ice cubes.
No more than a quarter of snake hour2, the number of customers increased. As soon as the customers entered the door, they were attracted by the round table in the middle of the lobby. In the center of the round table was a huge round tower-shaped steamed sponge cake. There were six tiers. From below to top order was yellow, brown, pink, purple, red, and white. The top layer was painted with a bright and attractive peach jam with unique patterns. There were flowers and birds. It was both artistic and unique. There were eight dessert plates placed around the cake. Each plate was filled with different colored sponge cakes cut into different shapes, such as triangles, parallelograms, squares, and circles. What these sponge cakes had in common was that each piece was laden with pink peach jam. It made people want to swallow and taste as soon as they saw it.
There was also a ceramic glaze cup on the round table with peach juice, filled inside until 70% full. One could vaguely see the ice cubes inside. Now that the weather was getting hotter, wouldn’t it be a pleasure to drink a refreshing drink right away after coming in from under the sun?
Qin Mian and Lei Tie deliberately chose a two-person dining table closer to the door. On the table were two meat dishes, a vegetarian dish, a soup, two plates of dessert, and two glasses of peach juice with ice. It looked simple but their carefree dining manner made eyes attracted to their table as if it was a great enjoyment to have such a meal.
Immediately, the impatient customers hurriedly took a seat, ordered a few dishes, and added a few desserts and a glass of peach juice.
Dean Huo brought a woman into the door. Upon seeing that there were no empty seats in the lobby, he inwardly clicked his tongue. Madam Huo saw the sponge cake tower and walked over in surprise.
“Husband, this Double Xiang house is very extraordinary. This is the first time I have seen this kind of dessert. Just looking at it like this makes me feel great.”
Dean Huo laughed, “Hahaha. After you have tasted the dishes here, you will feel that this trip is even more worthwhile. Madam, since there are no seats in the lobby, let’s go to the private room.”
Qin Mian and Lei Tie saw them. The two did not go to welcome them in person but avoided them. Lei Xiangzhi was still studying in the academy. They had better avoid arousing suspicion when they ought to.
When Dean Huo and his wife went to the second floor, Qin Mian instructed Manager Sun to give them the same desserts as theirs and a small basket of fruit. The basket was small and exquisite, which could hold three to four peaches.
“The response is good,” Lei Tie said to Qin Mian.
“Yes. I heard from Manager Sun just now that the private rooms on the second floor are almost full.” Qin Mian looked pleased, “Afterward, we don’t have to come in person to send the fruits and jam. We can just be the arm-flinging shopkeepers3.” Ever since Double Xiang House sold cherry jam and cherry juice, there had been wine houses in town and county town imitated them, but the taste was very different. Moreover, Double Xiang House did not specifically set a high price. Thus, they did not cause a significant impact on Double Xiang House.
“If you don’t want to come afterward, I will.” Lei Tie led him to the lounge.
“En.” Qin Mian nodded with a smile.
A week later, the new room was built. Besides paying the helpers enough wages, Qin Mian gave two big and red peaches to each of them. The helpers all left happily.
On the occasion of having a newly built room, Qin Mian had Uncle Fu distributed three peaches to each of the servants.
Since it was just an addition to the house, there was no need to host a house-warming party this time. After the new room dried, the couple placed the furniture one by one.
A passage about 1.5 meters wide was made inside the original bedroom. At the end of the passage was a half-room-sized entrance hall. On the left side of the entrance hall was the guest room, and next to the wall on the right was a wooden ladder leading to the second floor.
On the second floor, there was a small reception hall, which acted as a buffer area between the stairs and the large room. It would be a bit awkward when one climbed the staircase and directly saw the bedroom’s door. The layout of the small reception hall was mainly simple with only a set of settees and two potted plants.
The big room on the second floor was precisely Qin Mian and Lei Tie’s bedroom, so they emphasized on it.
The floor was covered with wood, the door was in the north, and there were floor-to-ceiling windows with white curtains on the north and south walls. The indoor was both airy and bright. A large wardrobe inlaid with a full-length mirror leaned against the north wall; the headboard of the double bed was also next to the north wall with its end faced the south. A tall bookshelf leaned against the east wall, with a total of six layers – there were not many books on it at the moment. Two rattan chairs and a rattan table were placed in front of the bookshelf, making it convenient to read here.
The south floor-to-ceiling window could be opened by sliding to the left or right, which also could be used as a door. Outside was a balcony with two clothed lounge chairs, a round wooden table, and a few potted flowers. In the summer evenings, it couldn’t be more relaxing to drink tea, chat, and cool off here.
Also, the original bathroom was demolished, and the original utility room was converted into a bathroom because a large storehouse was built.
That night, Qin Mian and Lei Tie moved to the new bedroom. In summer, the south wind blew. They didn’t have to paste papers on the hollow carved windows. Not to mention, it was pleasantly cool.
Qin Mian had just taken a shower. He threw off his shoes and fell on the soft bed with his limbs wide open as he let out a pleasing sigh. He smuggled out this king-size bed out of the space and put on a bedsheet so that no one would notice the difference in the bed itself. Besides, no one would dare to come into their bedroom. If he had clothes, bedsheets, or quilts to wash, he would put them downstairs in advance.
He turned his head and beckoned Lei Tie, “Come. Try it.”
Before he could say the third sentence, Lei Tie pounced on him. He turned him over, easily grabbed a large pillow, and placed it under his wife’s waist.
“Woah! The throw-pillow is not used like that.” Qin Mian was like a frog on its back, unable to get up after struggling for a good while.
“Isn’t my wife saying to be diligent and thrifty? Make the best use of everything.” Lei Tie faintly said and lowered his head to start eating.
“Awoo?”
Lei Tie turned his head to look.
White Spot opened its mouth, and the wolf’s lair it bit fell to the ground. Its wolf’s lair was designed by Qin Mian and he commissioned Lei Chuntao to make it. It was made of brown soft cloth and cotton. It looked like an upside-down shiitake mushroom without the pedicle. White Spot silently used its two forelegs and pushed the “mushroom”. After carrying it to the side of the big bed, it looked at Qin Mian and Lei Tie with innocent eyes.
“Hahaha…” Qin Mian was overjoyed.
Lei Tie expressionlessly jumped out of bed. The index and middle fingers of his right hand clamped the mushroom, and with a quick throw, the mushroom flew out of the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Awoo!” White Spot howled at him before it bravely chased after it and bit the shitake in midair. Then, it landed smoothly and looked up at Lei Tie in triumph.
Lei Tie faintly glanced at it, then he closed the floor-to-ceiling window and the door.
Qin Mian lay down on the bed and sympathized with White Spot, who was locked outside. But soon, he no longer sympathized with it.
“Ah… gently… uhm…”
Woohoo! It’s the 100th chapter! Thanks, MCJohnston!
Also, a million thanks to SadieWoods!
Note:
Footnotes
- it meant to be speechless (out of helplessness, embarrassment, etc)
- 9-11 a.m
- sb who asks others to work but does nothing himself
