Rebirth: The Courtyard Bride Is Cool and Radiant

Chapter 223: Chapter 223 Repaying a Favor

Yunyi delivered the news and didn’t stay long.

In any case, the Branch Secretary’s family had been very kind to her during her time in Songling Village, so she considered this repaying a favor.

Leaving the Branch Secretary’s house, she headed straight for Zhao Guihua’s. ”Auntie.”

Zhao Guihua looked up, saw it was Yunyi, and smiling, hurriedly went to greet her. ”Chu Zhiqing, what brings you here today?”

Yunyi saw no one else was in the courtyard. ”Auntie,” she said, ”I came to chat with you for a bit.”

Zhao Guihua was shrewd; from Yunyi’s words, she understood something must be up. ”Come, come inside and sit with Auntie for a while.”

The two chatted idly as they walked into the house.

Upon entering, Zhao Guihua gestured her to the warmest spot on the kang. ”Chu Zhiqing, please sit. Auntie will pour you some water.”

Yunyi quickly stopped her. ”Auntie, please don’t trouble yourself. I have something to tell you. You sit down too.”

Zhao Guihua took an enamel mug that was placed upside down on a tea tray on the cupboard. ”Last time you came, you didn’t even step inside. You’ve finally come for a visit; how could I not even offer you a glass of water?”

Her movements were swift. She took a sugar jar from the cupboard, scooped two spoonfuls of sugar into the enamel mug, and then picked up a thermos to pour hot water into it.

She brought over the prepared brown sugar water. ”Here, drink this. It’s nice and sweet.”

Since the water was already poured, it would be impolite to refuse. She accepted the water and thanked her. ”Auntie, I came to tell you something.”

Zhao Guihua immediately thought someone in the village had been causing her trouble. ”Did someone in the village bully you?”

Seeing the misunderstanding, Yunyi quickly explained, ”No, no, I’m the one who has something to discuss with you.”

Zhao Guihua also sat down. ”Go on, what is it?”

Yunyi didn’t dally, as dinnertime was approaching. She repeated what she had told the Branch Secretary.

Zhao Guihua was also surprised. ”There’s such a good opportunity?”

Yunyi nodded. ”I don’t know if there’s anyone suitable in your family to take the exam, but I thought it was a good thing, so I came to let you know.”

Zhao Guihua shot to her feet. ”You’ve done Auntie a huge favor! We don’t have any children in our immediate family who attended high school, but my nephew from my maiden family just graduated this year. He hasn’t found a job and is currently at home, working in the fields for work points.

”For generations, our family has toiled the land, faces to the earth and backs to the sky. We don’t have the connections to help the boy. This is wonderful! Whether he succeeds or not, it’s still great news. Thank you so, so much!”

Yunyi heard the sizzle of vegetables hitting a wok in the kitchen just outside. ”Auntie, I’ve delivered my message, so I should be heading back now.”

Zhao Guihua tried to make her stay. ”Why are you leaving? Dinner’s almost ready. Just eat at Auntie’s place before you go.”

With that, she took a few steps to the doorway and called out to her eldest daughter-in-law at the kitchen entrance, ”Eldest Daughter-in-law, fry up another plate of eggs for our guest!”

Yunyi quickly intervened, ”Auntie, Sister-in-law, please don’t! I have rice cooking on the stove at home. If I don’t go back soon, it’ll burn the pot!”

They went back and forth for some time. Zhao Guihua, seeing she truly couldn’t persuade Yunyi to stay, finally said, ”Since you won’t stay for dinner, at least take this piece of tofu with you. You absolutely can’t refuse this!”

Yunyi had no choice but to accept, leaving with the piece of tofu.

Originally, she hadn’t planned to cook that evening, intending to eat some dishes previously prepared and stored in her space. But with the tofu now in hand, she suddenly craved fish braised with tofu.

Inspired, she decided to act on the craving immediately.

After returning home and closing the main gate, she entered her space and retrieved a bighead carp. She skillfully cleaned and prepared it, cutting it into pieces. Then, she fried both the fish and the tofu blocks. As she didn’t have any chili bean paste, she added some dark bean paste from the Northeast instead, and the flavor turned out to be quite good.

After setting aside her portion for the evening, she stored all the leftovers in her spatial warehouse.