I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 453 A Small Gathering, Barbecue

This boy is the youngest son of Gu Chenglin's second sister, when his stepmother moved back to the Rongguo Mansion.

The eldest sister, Gu Yunxi, had told her that her stepmother's two daughters had married into families of modest social standing.

Gu Yunshan married into the Zhao family, whose head was Zhao Honggang, the second son of Zhao Bufan, a former subordinate of Duke Zhenguo Helian Zhen.

Zhao Honggang is now working for Helian Shuo.

Gu Yunhu married into the Chu family. Chu Yuansui, the son of Chu Xiong's cousin Chu Houpu, was also the cousin of her brother-in-law Chu Yunzhu.

Chu Yuansui now works at the Royal Pharmacy.

Although they were not from a prominent family, they had a good family tradition, and none of their brothers or sisters took concubines or became mistresses.

Since her sister-in-law Duan Jing'an and her eldest sister opened a "Spicy Hot Pot Restaurant", the two sisters also invested in it.

Moreover, she also gave them shares in the restaurant she opened in Beijing.

He also helped them plant a lot of grapevines.

"Milk tea—" Gu Rongrong ran over, took the pearl milk tea that Lvying handed her, and exclaimed in surprise.

She took a sip, squinted her eyes, and looked blissfully satisfied: "Auntie, your milk tea is still the best."

My aunt's milk tea is much better than the hot pot restaurants in Beijing, and there are more varieties too.

Some milk teas aren't even available in hot pot restaurants.

Gu Caiwei came over, picked up a cup of jasmine milk tea, and said happily, "Mom, I love your milk tea the most."

The jasmine fragrance is as strong as ever.

Gu Mingyu walked over and picked up a glass of grape juice: "This is my favorite, thank you, Auntie!"

"Xiaoyu, drink less on an empty stomach. Eat some roasted vegetables first. Aunt Yuying has some roasted eggplant that you like," Dongfang Jin said gently.

This kid is much more lively than when I first met him. Back then, he had a serious little face and acted like an old scholar.

Gu Yongqing scooped a spoonful of tapioca pearls from the milk tea with a small wooden spoon: "Auntie, this milk tea is delicious, and I love these tapioca pearls the most."

"Alright, you guys sit down and eat quickly. Yueying is cooking a clay pot for you over there."

There's also the shrimp and tofu you and Rongrong love, the fish ball hot pot that Xiaomengyu loves, and the chicken stew with mushrooms that my Wenwen and Caiwei love.

Dongfang Jin handed him a skewer of grilled tofu and said gently.

Those "pearl dumplings" were made by Ruyi adding Five Elements Spring Water, and kneading roasted glutinous rice powder with brown sugar.

How could it not taste good?

Gu Rongrong smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Auntie!"

Gu Caiwei bowed and said, "Thank you, Mother—"

Chu Mengyu was still a little reserved: "Thank you, Auntie—"

Yang Wenwen handed Dongfang Jin a glass of pomegranate juice: "Thank you, Aunt Jin—"

After that, a few young men awkwardly bowed and thanked Dongfang Jin, carrying some things.

Looking at the four little girls, Dongfang Jin felt her heart melt completely.

Ever since Caiwei and Yang Wenwen came to live in the capital, these two girls have become very close to them.

It's clear that their elders also really like their two children.

None of them approached her two children with ulterior motives.

Chu Mengyu was still shy, but she followed Yang Wenwen closely to the table.

Pointing to the glasses, he asked, "Auntie, what are these?"

The interior looks beautiful, but the fruit flavor is very strong.

She really wanted to drink it, and as she thought about it, she involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Dongfang Jin looked at the little girl, whose appearance was very similar to that of our famous child star "Yang Zi" when she was a child.

He put down the corn cob in his hand and pointed to the glasses: "The purple-red and green ones are grape juice."

The red juice is pomegranate juice, the pink juice is peach juice, and the white juice is pear juice.

The rest of the ceramic cups contain various flavors of milk tea and pear soup.

Choose whatever you like.

Shen Qihui walked over with several skewers of honey-glazed chicken wings and gave one skewer to each of the four girls.

"Auntie, these chicken wings with honey are so delicious, even better than your beggar's chicken."

Changsun Yu held up a string of chicken gizzards and said, "Auntie, what is this? It's crispy and delicious."

Gu Jingye walked over holding a roasted corn, his mouth still smeared with black smoke. He nudged Changsun Yu with his elbow and said, "Xiao Yu, I believe you don't want to know."

"Why?" Changsun Yu asked, puzzled.

Before Gu Jingye could speak, Shen Qihui handed a glass of pear juice to Changsun Yu: "Here, drink this, it's your favorite."

As for the chicken gizzards, feel free to eat them if you like.

In our house, whatever you eat or drink, as long as you like it, you can eat and drink it. Don't ask any questions.

Gu Mingyu was enjoying his grilled shrimp when he heard Shen Qihui say that he knew the chicken gizzard was definitely not a good "part" of the chicken.

He was all too familiar with this phrase. For example, the first time he ate braised pig's tail, the second time he ate garlic-flavored pork intestines, and the third time he ate braised pig's head...

Many times now, he doesn't ask anymore. Just like Shen Qihui said, if you like to eat, just pretend you don't know and eat more, and resolutely don't ask.

Gu Yongqing was arguably the smartest of the group. He glanced at them, smiled, and said nothing.

She imitated Aunt Green Shadow, wrapping the grilled meat in lettuce and eating it with relish, saying, "It's so delicious! The meat and garlic slices are a perfect match."

Green Shadow wrapped another one for him: "Eat more if you like it. It tastes even better when dipped in this sauce."

"Aunt Green Shadow, add more garlic slices for me, that way it will taste even better."

"OK--"

Gu Jingye leaned over and said, "Auntie, I'll have one too."

"Me too—" Gu Mingyu joined in the fun.

Over here, Dongfang Jin sat by the barbecue grill, flipping the golden-brown tofu slices that were grilling on the grill.

While grilling, he spread garlic chili sauce on the food, glancing over every now and then and smiling as he said to Yu Ying, "Still a child."

“It’s the perfect age to be carefree. In a few years, once you’re adopted, things won’t be like this anymore,” Yu Ying said, flipping through the skewers of vegetables.

"Hey, Hu family, what are you doing here? So much smoke, is it on fire?" A sudden, sharp voice broke the harmonious atmosphere in the courtyard.

The Hu family?

Should we call her Zhao or Liu?

There are two wives of the Hu family here.

Hearing the voice, Aunt Qi (Zhao Xiuying) quickly walked over and said to the person with a cold face, "Lin Mao's wife, why are you here again?"

"Are you still not done? Don't forget, you were the one who sold your son to us in the first place."

"Tsk tsk, who do we have here? If it weren't for my eldest son's wedding, we would have been short ten taels of silver."

I will sell that jinx to your family; that jinx is now fifteen.

"Even though she was a strong laborer, she's not worth fifteen taels of silver these days." The old woman's tone and appearance were very similar to Granny Gu's.

However, she wasn't as fat as Granny Gu, but she was cleaner.

Aunt Qi was no pushover either. She glanced at Dongfang Jin and saw that she didn't say anything.

She knew that this was probably a test from her master. If she couldn't handle this matter, then her family... might not have a good future.

She had long heard that the second young mistress of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion was a ruthless character.

Although the Duke did not publicly reveal their identities as a couple, they were particularly favored by him.

Although this was their first meeting, she looked very familiar, as if they had met somewhere before.

But she and the old man just couldn't remember where they had met before.

"Pah! Lin Mao's family, do you really think I'm easy to bully?" Aunt Qi spat on the ground.

Then, pointing at the old woman, he mocked, "Back when you brought your skinny child and begged my husband to buy him, you didn't have this face."

Furthermore, the soldier was sickly as soon as he entered the door, and you, a ten-year-old child, asked for twenty taels of silver right off the bat!

If you don't give it to me, you throw a tantrum here. Everyone in the surrounding villages knows what kind of person you are.

For the past three years, you've come asking for money every other day, and every time Xiaobing has given it to you.

Now that the children are healthy and tall, they want to get something for nothing?

Ha! Fine! If you want to take Lin Xiaobing with you, then pay the market price.

Twenty-five taels of silver, not a penny less, and you can't take the person away!

"What? Take him away? Why should I take that brat away?"

"Qi family, your husband signed a long-term labor contract with us back then."

"Do you know what a long-term laborer is? It means that as long as he is alive, you have to take care of him."

"You must give me the full amount of money, not a single penny less."

"Pah, you wish..."

……