Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 84 Jiang Di's Help

Dai You quietly walked into the kitchen, looked at the busy Xia Lanyue, and coughed lightly twice, trying to get her attention.

Xia Lanyue noticed it as expected, turned around to look at Dai You, and smiled at him.

"You... like... who sent you flowers?" Dai You hesitated for a long time before finally saying what he wanted to say.

"Oh? You saw the flowers in my room? Jiang Di gave them to me, aren't they pretty?" Xia Lanyue answered Dai You's question while rolling out noodles. "Xia Yao said the flowers are called hollyhocks, and they're quite pretty."

"Hollyhock?!" Dai You was a little surprised.

Xia Lanyue turned to face Dai You. "What's wrong? What's the meaning of that flower? Is it strange?"

"The language of flowers?"

"It's nothing," Xia Lanyue said, not elaborating further. She disliked the contemptuous tone in people's voices when they talked about the flower; she cared more about Jiang Di's intention in giving him the gift.

"What are you doing?" Dai You asked, leaning closer.

"Braised noodles with green beans, Aunt Xia said she wants to eat it," Xia Lanyue said.

Actually, it wasn't entirely because Xia Huifang wanted to eat; more importantly, she wanted Xia Yao and Xia Lanyue to interact more. Xia Huifang had repeatedly asked Xia Yao to send things to Xia Lanyue, but Xia Yao always ignored her with a cold face. So, Xia Huifang decided to do some subtle things to Xia Lanyue to get the two closer. If they were interested in each other, then Xia Yao's marriage could be settled.

During dinner, Xia Huifang kept praising Xia Lanyue's cooking skills, and then pulled Xia Yao to join in. Gradually, the conversation started to focus on Xia Lanyue's preferences.

"What does A-Yue like to eat?" Xia Huifang asked.

“My sister likes to eat everything. You can tell she’s not a picky eater just by looking at her round face,” Dai You interjected.

"Pfft—" A-Cheng laughed.

Xia Lanyue glared at Acheng.

“This is just right for A-Yue, she’s not fat,” Xia Lanyue explained.

“Even A-Yue herself says she’s fat,” Dai You said.

Xia Lanyue couldn't believe her ears. Did Dai You really say that? She even suspected that Xia Yao had taught her.

"Heh," Xia Huifang laughed awkwardly, changing the subject, "A girl with a face like A-Yue is lucky and good at managing a household."

“She is indeed blessed, able to eat and sleep well, but whether she can manage a household is another matter. My sister has never been patient since she was little, and she is not good at arithmetic. She has no concept of money, and she buys whatever she likes. She can’t save any money. In addition, her needlework is not presentable,” Dai You said in one breath, and then gave an apologetic smile, as if to say that everyone had laughed at her.

Upon hearing this, Xia Huifang's smile froze. She nodded and lowered her head to eat.

Ah Cheng laughed out loud with joy, but Xia Lanyue could clearly sense the mockery in his smile and immediately rolled her eyes at him.

As for why Dai You spoke that way, Xia Lanyue roughly understood, but it was true that hearing her say that made her unhappy.

Xia Lanyue secretly glanced at Xia Yao. Just as she had expected, he was eating with a cold face, not saying a word. She didn't know if he had listened to Dai You's words that belittled her. Anyway, he had a cold look on his face.

Fortunately, Xia Yao's casual remark, "The noodles were delicious today," made Xia Lanyue much happier.

After the meal, Xia Lanyue followed Dai You to the river to wash the dishes.

"Hey, what's wrong with you today?" Xia Lanyue felt that Dai You was a stranger today.

“It’s nothing,” Dai You said.

"And what you said at the dinner table today..."

“It’s all true. Do you know how much money you have in your own pocket right now?” Dai You asked her.

Xia Lanyue suddenly felt guilty; it seemed she really didn't know.

“If your needlework is so good, why haven’t you mended the hole under your sleeve?” Dai You asked.

Xia Lanyue smiled awkwardly, "Alright, stop talking."

"Why did Jiang Di suddenly decide to send you flowers today?" Dai You asked seemingly casually.

"Hmm, maybe he wants to collaborate. He told me today that the owner of the candied fruit shop, Manager Wang, wants me to sell rice cakes in his shop. What do you think?"

"Your thoughts?"

“I think it’s a good idea. Jiang Di isn’t the type to hold grudges. People who can get along with him should be pretty good,” Xia Lanyue said.

“Then let’s do it your way, but we won’t be here for long, so you need to make that clear to them,” Dai You reminded them.

"Understood".

The second time, after selling all the rice cakes in town, Xia Lanyue went to Wang Xiang Candied Fruit Shop.

Manager Wang led Xia Lanyue to sit on the second floor.

"Manager Wang, I met Jiang Di yesterday. I think your proposal is quite good, and I'm willing to cooperate with you," Xia Lanyue said as soon as she sat down.

But to her surprise, Manager Wang paused for a moment.

Xia Lanyue was a little puzzled by his expression. Had he changed his mind again? Did he no longer want to cooperate? Or was he planning to cause some trouble like Manager Song had? Xia Lanyue remained silent, waiting quietly for Manager Wang to make his decision.

"What did Jiang Di say to you yesterday?" Manager Wang asked.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback for a moment, but still explained to him, "He said he wanted me to make rice cakes here, but he didn't say how we would cooperate or how we would split the profits."

"How does the young lady want to cooperate with me?" Manager Wang asked.

"Well... I came here today to hear what Manager Wang has to say," Xia Lanyue said without thinking about the details, but out of trust, she handed over the initiative.

"What I mean is, I have no objection. Just do whatever the young lady says," said Manager Wang.

"Huh?" This surprised Xia Lanyue. Manager Wang's words were unexpected, so she started to think about it.

Seeing her hesitant expression, Manager Wang offered a suggestion: "You can rent my backyard and make the products here, paying me rent. Alternatively, you can sell them here together and share some of the profits with me. If you haven't decided yet, you can rent the backyard first and then discuss other things."

How much is the rent?

"Six hundred coins a month," said Manager Wang.

“Okay, let’s settle on that then,” Xia Lanyue nodded, then remembered that she hadn’t introduced herself yet, so she said, “My name is Dai Xiyue, I’ll be troubling you from now on, Manager Wang.”

"No trouble at all, you can just call me Wang Xiang from now on," said Manager Wang.

"it is good".

So, he is Wang Xiang, Xia Lanyue thought to herself.

After a brief discussion with Manager Wang, Xia Lanyue left.

After watching her leave, Wang Xiang went to the backyard on the first floor.

Jiang Di was organizing the goods, and he had cleared a space next to him. When he saw Wang Xiang arrive, he said, "Did she go back?"

Wang Xiang nodded, and said sarcastically, "Hmm, you're quite diligent about her affairs!"

"Hehe, what did you tell her?"

"Rent the backyard, six hundred coins a month."

"What?! You want so much in this tiny space?"

"Heh~ Get out of here, I'm not renting this place anymore," Wang Xiang said, making a move to push Jiang Di out.

"Didn't you let her sell rice cakes here?" Jiang Di stood still.

"Brother Jiang, I heard that Manager Song from next door talked to Dai Xiyue, and it seems the conversation didn't go well. If that Song finds out that I let her sell these fruits here, he'll probably come up with some underhanded tricks to deal with me!" Wang Xiang sighed and shook his head.

"Why be afraid of him?" Jiang Di said dismissively.

"It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against a sneak attack," Wang Xiang shook her head helplessly.