Chapter 169: A Competitor Appears

Within the span of just two days, Xia Yan’s tea eggs had gained a modest reputation at the vegetable market and the residential compound, attracting quite a few regular customers. As a result, the time she spent tending her stall in the late afternoon had become much shorter than in the mornings.

When Xia Yan finished packing up her things and returned home, she saw Chen Qiumei bent over, busy in the kitchen.

"Mom, what are you up to?" Xia Yan walked in carrying the large basin used for the tea eggs, setting it down on the floor as the rich aroma of spices drifted through the air.

Chen Qiumei smiled and said, "Yanyan, isn't Mom just trying to help you out a bit? Watching you boil the tea eggs these past two times, I followed every single step of yours. Come on, taste this and see how it is."

Xia Yan had not expected her mother-in-law to start making the tea eggs herself so soon.

She stepped forward, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and dipped them into the seasoned broth to sample it. "Mom, have you ever made tea eggs before?"

"No, not at all. Is it really bad?"

Seeing Xia Yan's expression, Chen Qiumei assumed she had messed it up. This batch involved a full five catty of eggs, and for a moment she was at a loss, looking at her age like a child who had done something wrong.

Xia Yan laughed, "It's because it's so good! Although it's a tiny bit light, the flavor is already wonderful. Really."

Chen Qiumei let out a long sigh of relief, patting her chest. "Oh you, you scared me to death! I thought it tasted awful, and if it did, these five catty of eggs would have gone to waste in my hands."

Hearing her daughter-in-law say it was a bit light, Chen Qiumei added some more salt. As she did, she cast an inquiring look, only stopping when Xia Yan nodded, committing the exact amount to memory.

That way, in the future, once her daughter-in-law went out to sell the tea eggs, she could help prepare them at home.

"Yanyan, leave the rest to Mom. Go and rest."

"But Mom, dinner..."

"Dinner is taken care of with Mom here. You must be exhausted from being out all day. Go rest quickly."

Xia Yan picked up an apron, tied it around her waist, and glanced at the vegetables in the kitchen, ready to pick up the knife. "Mom, to tell you the truth, I'm really not tired. I couldn't be happier these past two days, how could I be tired? I'm full of energy right now, I'll take care of tonight's dinner."

Chen Qiumei understood; if it were her, making money every day would give her plenty of energy too.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bustled about the kitchen in high spirits.

Chen Qiumei poked her head out from behind the stove. "Yanyan, how about starting tomorrow, Mom takes the morning shift at the stall, and you take the evening one?"

Xia Yan remembered discussing this with her just yesterday; why was she bringing it up again today? "Huh? Mom, our business is just getting started these past two days, and I've only just become a familiar face around there. I was thinking we could wait until after the New Year, when the weather warms up a bit."

Early in the morning, the weather was quite chilly. This little old lady had only recently come from the south; how could she endure that?

In truth, Chen Qiumei had her own motives. If her daughter-in-law got up so early and worked both morning and evening shifts, she would undoubtedly be exhausted by nightfall, and then those medicinal tonics she had been brewing would be completely wasted.

"Yanyan, Mom is mostly thinking that you and Lin You need some alone time so you can give the Lin family a few chubby grandsons sooner."

As she spoke, Chen Qiumei glanced toward the doorway and lowered her voice to ask, "How are the medicinal tonics Mom brewed for you working out?"

Xia Yan: "......"

*Ahem, ahem...* So her mother-in-law had been waiting right here for her, though it was understandable.

Half-jokingly, Xia Yan said, "Mom, how do you know they'll definitely be chubby grandsons? What if I only have girls?"

"Girls? Girls are fine too. Mom isn't the type to favor boys over girls. But Mom calculated it for you and Lin You—your destiny definitely includes a son!"

Hearing this, Xia Yan burst out laughing. "Mom, this is the new society now, why do you still believe in fortune-tellers?"

Chen Qiumei waved her hand dismissively and said with a straight face, "That was a truly gifted master! Incredibly accurate."

With Chen Qiumei's help, Xia Yan finished early that evening and went back to her room. Before she stepped inside, Chen Qiumei handed her two bowls of the 'tonic'.

And truth be told, drinking this 'tonic' actually seemed to have some effect. Xia Yan felt that her energy and spirits had been genuinely good these past couple of days; perhaps the medicinal brew really was useful.

Inside the room, Lin You looked at Xia Yan walking in with the bowls, amused and helpless.

"Husband, drink your medicine!"

"Mom really is..."

"Stop talking so much, I've already drank mine!"

Xia Yan brought the medicine to Lin You's lips, watching him gulp it down in one go before happily climbing under the covers. She thought of what Wang Guilan had told her during the day.

"Husband, I ran into Aunt Guilan today, and she talked to me about our house catching fire."

Lin You put down the book in his hand. "When I went to the barracks today, a public security officer mentioned it to me too, but... those footprints don't really prove anything. None of the children in the barracks would have such malicious intentions."

Xia Yan repeated the analysis her eldest son had shared with her.

"Zhu Daqiang? Zhu Pengfei's eldest son?"

Lin You shook his head as he spoke. "Qian Yuxiang is unreliable, but Zhu Pengfei is quite strict in his conduct. He's that way with his subordinate soldiers, so he should be the same with children..."

"Then should we just let this matter go? There aren't any real clues anyway, we might as well just treat it as an accidental fire."

"Is that what you think?"

Xia Yan picked up the book from the bedside table. "What else? There are no clues right now, and there are no surveillance cameras in this era. Where are we supposed to go looking for a suspect?"

Surveillance? Cameras?

What on earth were those?

Lin You was baffled; his wife always came out with terms he had never heard before.

"You don't need to worry about this matter, just trust the public security comrades."

Xia Yan suddenly felt her toes brush against a large foot. This man...

Meanwhile, Chen Qiumei had helped Xia Yan prepare the tea eggs and was now chatting with Lin Hai.

"Our daughter-in-law is truly so capable! She cooks wonderfully, and her business skills are even more amazing. You know, she's made around twenty yuan in just these past two days! Did you know, it takes her less than an hour every day to sell out all the tea eggs? If she stayed out longer... she could make a lot of money in a month."

Lin Hai was also surprised, but he remained rational. "You're overthinking it. Didn't Yanyan say she needs to control the quantity? Even if preparing too many sells out, what about the next day? No matter how delicious something is, people will eventually get tired of it."

"There are so many people in this town, are you really afraid they'll get tired of eating them?"

"What you say makes sense, old woman. Whenever you have time normally, go help Yanyan out," Lin Hai instructed.

"Did I need you to tell me? Today's tea eggs were braised by me."

Of course Chen Qiumei knew she needed to cherish her daughter-in-law. If she didn't cherish such a wonderful daughter-in-law, she would truly be lacking a conscience.

Early the next morning, Xia Yan woke up just as she had the previous two days. After packing everything up, she pushed her little cart to the entrance of the compound... and only went to the vegetable market to pick up more eggs after she finished selling out.

Yet when she arrived today, she was surprised to find that someone was already there selling tea eggs.

She hadn't expected the competition to arrive so quickly—in just a single day!