A peasant girl traveled through time and space, and she became prosperous

Chapter 318 The Temptation of Salty Pancakes

“Miss, Wang Baoquan really does have Niu Niu’s indenture, and it even has my aunt’s fingerprint on it.”

When Ma Rulan saw Wen Meijiu, she couldn't help but cry. She wished the handprint on it was fake so that she could rightfully take Niu Niu back.

"Don't cry, we have other ways."

Upon hearing Wen Meijiu's words, Ma Rulan immediately wiped away her tears, her eyes brightened, and she leaned closer to ask:

"Miss, I knew you had a backup plan."

If Wen Meijiu didn't have a foolproof plan, she definitely wouldn't have let her go to their door to ask for people so easily. Because even she couldn't do it, how could Wang Baoquan possibly take Ma Rulan, a girl with no say in the matter, seriously?

"If you know, don't be sad. Tell me about your experience over there."

Wen Meijiu pulled Ma Rulan, whose eyes were red with anxiety, to sit down. The two whispered to each other, their heads close together. Qi Wenjing listened quietly beside them, occasionally casting approving glances at Wen Meijiu.

With Wen Meijiu as her pillar of support, Ma Rulan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

**

Before going to bed that night, Ma Rulan made some crispy pancakes and dumpling soup, put them in a basket, and went to the temple again.

"Why are you here again?"

When he opened the door, he saw that it was Ma Rulan who had knocked. Wang Baoquan didn't give her a friendly look at all. He pushed the door shut with both hands, but luckily Ma Rulan reacted quickly and stuck her foot out to stop the door from closing.

Her face was all smiles, a stark contrast to her earlier anger, as she addressed Wang Baoquan:

"Grandpa Wang, could you please do me a favor and let me bring some food to my cousin?"

Wang Baoquan, who wanted to drive people away, immediately became quite cunning upon hearing about this good news.

Unexpectedly, the wild girl they picked up could bring such benefits to their family; it's a sure win!

With a sullen face, Wang Baoquan said in a harsh voice:

"What good food could you possibly give her? Even if you don't bring her anything, I won't let her go hungry."

"There wasn't much good food. I just saw that there was some flour left on the work surface, so I made some ghee pancakes for Niu Niu."

There's not much, so please, Grandpa Wang, consider that Niu Niu is still very young and would be so kind as to let her have it.

Upon hearing that it was buttered flatbread, Wang Baoquan was overjoyed. He had been envious of Wen Meijiu and his family eating white flour flatbread these past few days.

It's not that they don't have any, but after traveling such a long distance, they've almost run out of refined grains at home, so they have to switch to a mix of coarse grains to last a little longer.

"Just leave it here. I'm not an unreasonable person. After all, we're all from the same village. I'll give it to her in a bit."

Wang Baoquan deliberately took a sniff, and indeed, an enticing fragrance wafted from the basket covered with a thin white blanket.

Once he was sure Ma Rulan wasn't lying, he finally relented, his tone becoming much gentler than before.

"This, okay."

Ma Rulan hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly put the basket on the ground, glancing back at people every few steps, her eyes full of distrust.

Even after walking a meter away, he suddenly turned back to look at the person and said:

"Grandpa Wang, when she eats it, you must tell her that this is a gift from me. I will come to pick up the basket first thing tomorrow morning."

Wang Baoquan waved impatiently at her, turned around, picked up the basket, and went into the temple, locking the door behind him.

"Tiger, come here, look at this!"

Turning his head, Wang Baoquan immediately forgot about Ma Rulan's words; he had no time to relay her message.

Fat Tiger had already heard that there was something delicious to eat, so he ran over excitedly and snatched the basket away.

He lifted the lid and saw a shortbread inside, and next to it was a covered earthenware pot. He sat down on the ground and took everything out at once.

"Grandson, eat up, it's still warm."

Wang Baoquan was delighted with the unexpected gifts he had acquired. He sat opposite Pang Hu and watched him eat.

Fat Tiger picked up the flaky pastry with both hands and took a bite.

"Ok?"

Fat Tiger let out a sound of dissatisfaction, chewed twice more, and looked at Wang Baoquan across from him with some disappointment, food still in his mouth.

"what happened?"

Wang Baoquan was a little puzzled. Let alone something as delicious as fried shortbread, even Pang Hu would be excited for half a day if he could eat a white flour steamed bun.

"It's so salty."

They knew it was good food, but the flaky pastry was so salty that it was hard to swallow. Fat Tiger was just a kid with a light palate, so he couldn't eat it at all.

Wang Baoquan tore off a piece with some skepticism, put it in his mouth and slowly tasted it. Before long, his brows furrowed deeply.

These flaky pastries are incredibly salty. I don't know how Ma Rulan cooks for the guards. She can tolerate such salty food and even fine wine. She's clearly blind.

"Have some soup, quick."

Food was precious, especially food made from white flour. Wang Baoquan couldn't bear to spit it out and forced it down.

Knowing that the child couldn't stand the salt, he poured a bowl of dumpling soup from the earthenware pot and handed it to Fatty Tiger so that his eldest grandson could quench his thirst.

"puff--"

Fatty Tiger had just taken a sip of soup when he spat it out, spraying it all over Wang Baoquan's face.

"what happened?"

He touched his wet old face and looked at Fat Tiger with a puzzled expression.

"Grandpa, it's still too salty, it doesn't taste good at all, I'm not eating it."

After saying that, Fat Tiger got up, ran to his mother's side, picked up the water bag next to him, and drank endlessly.

Knowing that his grandson wasn't lying, Wang Baoquan looked at the pancake in his hand and the dumpling soup in the bowl on the ground, and forced himself to taste some more.

Although it's a bit salty, it's not unpalatable if you force yourself to eat it. It's still better than those coarse grains that hurt your throat.

Reluctant to throw it away, and not wanting to give it to Niu Niu, Wang Baoquan simply called all the adults in his family over to eat.

"Why don't we give some to the child too?"

Looking at Niu Niu hiding under the wall in the distance, Chen felt sorry for her and made a suggestion in a low voice.

"If you don't want to eat, get out. Stop pretending to be a good person."

Wang Baoquan's curse drowned out Chen's voice.

No one made a sound. The adults in the family were given some fried pastries, which they ate little by little with water and a little dumpling soup.

Food is so precious that no one dares to waste it. They would pick up food that had fallen into the ground and eat it anyway, not even a drop could be wasted, as it was a life-saving resource.

After finishing their food, the adults yawned, lay down on the ground contentedly, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Fat Tiger also nestled in his mother's arms and closed his eyes, but a short while later, he was woken up by the urge to urinate.

It's perfectly normal to urinate a lot after drinking so much water.

"Mom, I need to pee."

Fat Tiger rubbed his eyes and sat up, nudging Deng Shi next to him.

Deng was fast asleep and didn't budge no matter how much Pang Hu pushed or called her.

Fat Tiger couldn't wait any longer, so he got up in the dark, opened the temple door, and went out.

There was moonlight outside, and you could vaguely make out the general shape of objects. Fat Tiger groped his way to the edge of a small earthen mound opposite the temple and stood there scattering confetti.

"Fat Tiger—"

A faint voice came from afar, startling Fatty Tiger and instantly dispelling his sleepiness.