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“Why so nervous? I’m not going to eat you. Now that we’re closer, let me know if you need anything.”

“We understand!”

“Cousin, go to the kitchen and find Mama Zhang. I’ve talked to her. She’ll teach you to cook a few dishes. These days, you should learn from her. When you’ve mastered it, we can discuss the shop again.”

“I understand, Cousin!”

Qiao Mai placed ten taels of silver on the table. “Since you’ve chosen to stay at my place, you snould dress cleanly and properly. ‘l’ake tms silver to buy some fabric and make your own clothes. Also, there are bugs in your hair. Buy some medicine from the pharmacy to get rid of them.”

“Yes!”

Qiao Mai left. Madam Liu Qiao blushed as she looked at her family’s clothes and hair.

“Madam Sun, come with me. We can’t embarrass my niece.”

She happily picked up a silver ingot from the table and left with her daughter-in-law.

Five days later, Liu Hai finished his apprenticeship.

He found Qiao Mai and said, “Cousin, Mama Zhang has taught me four dishes.

I’ve learned them all!”

“Alright, let’s go take a look at the shop!”

Qiao Mai took him to the shop, where some of the disaster victims were still living there.

“Choose one. I’ll have them vacate it.”

“I’ll take this one. It’s closer to your eatery, which I think is better.”

“Yes, it’s not in vain that you spent some time with Shopkeeper Tong. You will benefit greatly from being close to my little eatery. Someone, have them move to the southernmost shop.”

Several maids went into the shop. After a while, someone came out carrying bedding and entered the southernmost shop.

Qiao Mai led him inside, but an unpleasant smell made her furrow her brow. Seeing the mess and even some feces in the shop, her anger flared up.

“Go fetch Mayor Qian!”

The servant saw her mistress was angry and immediately ran to Mayor Qian’s house to inform him. Even the guards were infuriated.

“Damn these troublemakers!” The guard captain didn’t wait for the town mayor to intervene; he immediately led his men to find those responsible for causing the trouble.

Qiao Mai stood with her hands behind her back, waiting by the side of the road.

The disaster victims who had been removed from the shop were brought back under guard, and shortly afterward, the inside and outside of the shop were cleaned up.

Qiao Mai handed the guard captain ten taels of silver. “You’ve done well,

Brother Guard!”

“It’s our duty, Madam Qiao.”

“Why haven’t they moved out yet, even though I’ve distributed grain?”

“Their house collapsed. They are in the process of rebuilding, so they’re temporarily staying here.”

“Please do me a favor. Have them all moved out in five days. The weather is not cold now, and it’s not raining. They won’t suffer if they sleep outside.” The guard captain hesitated for a moment and then whispered to her.

“The southernmost shop is occupied by two troublesome families. It might not be easy to drive them out.”

“Who are they?”

“You know them—The Qiao family and the Yuan family. They’ve lived there since the day the shop was made available for the disaster victims.”

“Their houses collapsed?”

Qiao Mai gave the guard captain another ten taels of silver. “Take some men to escort them back to the village and throw them into their homes. If they return to freeload, let them spend a few days in jail.”

“Can we really do that?”

“Do it as long as they don’t die. You can do whatever you want!”

“Good. With your words, we dare to take action. They’ve annoyed us for a long time, always relying on your influence in town and acting recklessly. It’s getting on our nerves.”

“If you need money to go through the court, come to me.”

“Yes, MadamQiao!”

Qiao Mai stood with her hands behind her back, watching as several guards escorted the four troublemakers out of the shop in no time.

The couple who had been making a ruckus were howling in protest, but they fell silent instantly. The Qiao family couple, upon witnessing this, obediently climbed onto the carts. The two guards seated on top then kept watch over them.

As they passed by Qiao Mai, Qiao Shicheng glared at her with pure malice.

“You heartless wretch, mistreating your own parents. You’ll pay for it. Wait for divine retribution.”

“Hmph, you exploit your own flesh and blood for profit, disregarding their lives and well-being. Such behavior is an affront to heaven and earth. I can’t wait to see whether you or I will meet our end first!”

After saying this, Qiao Mai exuded a hint of killing intent towards Qiao Shicheng. He let out a miserable cry and fell onto the cart.

The guard quickly checked his pulse. “Madam Qiao, he’s still alive.”

“Good, you’ve all worked hard!”

“It’s only right. They have enough to eat and a house to live in. They deliberately caused trouble here, so they deserve this!”

After all that commotion, the disaster victims living in the Qiao family’s shop became much more obedient. Qiao Mai handed the shop’s keys over to Liu Hai.

“Call your family to move in here later. Clean this place thoroughly; it’s not spotless yet. Remember to prepare food, and it must be clean. Don’t be frugal; if something spoils, throw it away. Never serve spoiled food to customers. It must always be fresh.”

“Understood.”

Liu Hai brought his family to the shop. Although the place was not as large as Qiao’s mansion, it was still made of blue bricks and green tiles, much better than their previous home.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of August. Since the heavy rain, it seemed that the heavens had cleared up, and there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky for days.

The azure sky lifted people’s spirits.

Liu Hai’s cold skin noodles shop opened on the first day of September. Qiao Mai had a reclining chair placed in front of the shop.

She lay there with a tea set beside her, sipping tea and leisurely watching.

Qiao Mai herself was a kind of attraction. Wherever she went, customers followed. Many people came just for her.

After learning from the kitchen staff, Liu Hai mastered four types of snacks:

cold skin noodles, spicy sesame noodles, hot and sour noodles, and crispy fried buns.

It took their family three days to thoroughly clean and prepare the shop, making it spotless. They also replicated the exterior of Qiao’s Small Eatery.

After three more days of preparation, they had all the necessary utensils and ingredients ready for the grand opening on the first day of September.

These three snack items were available all day, and customers could come in anytime. The shop remained open throughout the day.

Once people heard that the shop owner was a relative of Madam Qiao, they came to show their support. During the first three days of the opening, all snacks were offered at a 50% discount.

These dishes could serve as meals and snacks, and they were delicious, satisfying the customers. Some had previously tasted these dishes in the county and knew how good they were. They called their family members to come and taste them.

The snack shop became a bustling place, and Liu Hai priced the dishes at fifteen coins for a bowl of cold skin noodles, spicy sesame noodles, and hot and sour noodles, while two crispy fried buns cost five coins.

During the first three days of the opening, two bowls of these snacks only cost fifteen coins, which was considered reasonable compared to the prices in the county.

Some people wanted to complain about the prices, but as soon as they heard that a bowl of cold skin noodles in the county cost twenty coins and required standing in long queues, they immediately stopped.

Shopkeeper Lu didn’t react much to this news. Her daughters’ shops were in the county, and it was Qiao Mai’s recipe. She was free to open it wherever she wanted. There was nothing to complain about.

With Qiao Mai’s presence, the opening of Liu Hai’s cold noodle shop was highly successful.

When customers praised the dishes, the Liu family gained more confidence running the shop.

They were very grateful for Qiao Mai’s help and proactively paid monthly rent to Shopkeeper Niu. Without him asking, they paid five taels a month.

In the first three days, the business was booming, with customers frequently lining up at the door.

Even after that, business remained good, although there were fewer people, and the prices had returned to normal. Still, they continued to make a decent profit..