The stove was burning in the house, and the kang was always burning. However, in this cold winter, it was freezing outside, and ancient houses were not insulated, so there was not much heat in the house.
Li Qiao helped Tao Zhu sit down on the fire bed and asked, "The venison and chicken soup stewed in the kitchen should be ready. It's still early for lunch after standing outside for so long. Let's eat something else to fill our stomachs."
"Hmm... don't want to drink."
Tao Zhu thought for a while and shook his head.
As the months went by, his appetite increased a lot, and he had to eat five or six times a day. However, the extra meal between breakfast and lunch was basically soup.
There are rare ones such as sea cucumber, bird's nest, venison, etc., as well as common fish, chicken, pig, etc.
This Chef Zhao is the cook of the Seventh Prince's mother's family. He is very good at taking care of pregnant women and can also cook all kinds of delicacies.
Of course, in order to prevent the stomach from getting too big and difficult to bear, the portions of these meals are strictly controlled.
But he was a little tired of eating these every day.
"Aren't you hungry?" Li Qiao asked immediately.
"I'm not hungry yet." Tao Zhu said, patting his belly: "Maybe it's because the baby didn't kick me today, so I consumed less?"
"Then eat when you're hungry. But, what do you want to eat for lunch?" Li Qiao asked again.
"Just look at the arrangements, everything is fine."
Tao Zhu took off his cloak as he spoke, and then slowly fell back.
He was a little tired after standing for so long.
I didn’t feel much at first, but as my belly grew, I felt a little tired every time I stood for a long time.
Seeing this, Li Qiao quickly moved the two quilts that were used as pillows, squatted down and took off his shoes so that he could lie down for a while.
When Tao Zhu lay down, Li Qiao couldn't relax his frown.
Tao Zhu's pregnancy was so sudden that he was unprepared. If he were in Sanliu Village, he would have to buy Tao Zhu a large room with constant temperature all year round. But in Shengjing, the house is so big, it is impossible. Build a greenhouse in your house.
Pregnancy is hard work, and the weather is so cold, Brother Zhu is suffering so much.
Moreover, although Brother Zhu's appetite is normal, every time he is asked what he wants to eat, he will say that it depends on the arrangements in the kitchen. He has nothing in particular to eat - he likes to eat cream cakes and puffs, but these two cannot be eaten. Eat as a meal.
Tao Zhu saw Li Qiao standing by the kang, frowning, and immediately smiled: "What are you thinking about?"
"I want to buy a big house and renovate it so that I can have a room that won't be cold in winter. You are suffering too much now."
Li Qiao looked serious.
"Fortunately, I'm used to it, so I don't feel too cold. And by the time I give birth, it will be warm." Tao Zhu said and waved to him: "Lie down together."
"But there will be winter next year, what will you and the baby do?" Li Qiao asked as he took off his shoes and coat.
"……right."
Tao Zhu also frowned this time.
He could bear it, but the baby was so young and the winter was so cold.
When Li Qiao hugged him from behind, he grabbed Li Qiao's cold hand and placed it on his stomach.
"Then buy a big house."
"Okay. What do you want to eat for lunch?" Li Qiao asked while responding.
Tao Zhu couldn't help but laugh again.
Li Qiao really likes him.
He didn't want Li Qiao to be in trouble, so he thought seriously for a while and said, "...How about we let Chef Zhao arrange it? I really don't know what to eat."
Li Qiao: "..."
Feeling Li Qiao's speechlessness, Tao Zhu laughed out loud. He patted the place in front of him and motioned for Li Qiao to turn over him.
He really likes Li Qiao who is worried about him in this way.
Want to kiss.
Li Qiao was not fooled by Tao Zhu's kisses and spent a long time in bed with Tao Zhu's ears and temples. But after lunch, he continued to think about food that Tao Zhu had not eaten and could still eat.
Li Qiao has always been a man of action. The next day, after the New Year gifts for the Seventh Prince and Lord Zhao were sent away, Li Qiao went into the kitchen.
Tao Zhu didn't want to go back to the room, so he moved a high stool and sat aside to watch him work.
"Are you... making vermicelli?" Tao Zhu couldn't help but ask after watching for a while.
"Yes, potato vermicelli."
Li Qiao nodded.
Since the meals carefully prepared by Chef Zhao did not arouse Tao Zhu's interest, he could only start with snacks that Tao Zhu had never eaten.
He had seen the news before that some pregnant women were not interested in carefully prepared maternity meals, but wanted to eat snacks from outside.
Tao Zhu should be like this too.
But because Tao Zhu had never seen those snacks from his previous life, every time he was asked what he wanted to eat, he had no other food in mind except that he said he didn't want to eat.
If that's the case, then he'll get all these snacks.
Thinking like this, Li Qiao's movements in his hands became faster and faster. The weather had been gloomy recently and the potato starch was not easy to dry, so he used the oven to dry it.
So, on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tao Zhu ate steaming potato powder.
The taste is slightly different from sweet potato vermicelli, and Li Qiao has also modified the seasoning to distinguish the hot and sour vermicelli. Therefore, this bowl contains deluxe version of potato vermicelli such as sea cucumber, chicken, mushroom and fish balls, and Tao Zhu is quite satisfied with it.
Even if it was only slightly spicy, he would definitely eat it tomorrow.
But Li Qiao didn't stop. It was holiday anyway, and he no longer had to work on compiling books. He stayed in the kitchen, making variations of the Internet-famous snacks he had in his previous life.
These snacks are all handmade and contain no additives. Even if Tao Zhu is pregnant, she can eat some in moderation.
Every day's meals were different. Tao Zhu now looked forward to his daily meals. He would eat everything Li Qiao brought to him.
After eating, everyone praised Li Qiao for being able to come up with so many delicacies. This is really amazing.
Soon it’s the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, and it’s time to make dumplings again.
Tao Zhu couldn't stand or sit for a long time, so he stood and packed a few bags and then went back to the house with Li Qiao. He and Li Qiao also had business to do.
The family has added a lot of people this year. Although these people are servants, since their surname is Li, they must be included in the New Year's red envelope tomorrow morning.
Tao Zhu looked at the account book and saw that the current salary of these people was one hundred cash per month, which was very small and far below the average level of Shengjing's servants.
"Let's give them a liter of salary increase next year. They are all very hardworking and honest." Tao Zhu said.
These people were in the assessment period before, but now that the assessment period has passed, their wages will definitely increase.
"good."
Li Qiao and Tao Zhu were sitting on a chair. One hand reached out to wrap around Tao Zhu's waist, and the other hand gently touched Tao Zhu's belly. He didn't care about these small things.
"Hmm...how do you pay Baiyou and Brother Dazhong?" Tao Zhu turned to ask him.
With the Chinese New Year, the business of dim sum shops and duck shops has become much better, because some wealthy families buy dim sum and duck shops as New Year gifts.
Moreover, these wealthy families not only receive dim sum and duck products as gifts for the year, but also want to be able to eat their dim sum and duck products during the Chinese New Year.
Li Qiaoyuan wanted to reject this request directly.
If you’re celebrating the Chinese New Year, you definitely need to take a few days off.
But who knows that Baiyou and Li Dazhong disagree. Baiyou and Li Dazhong said that they have never experienced this kind of happiness——
Although Baiyou has a shop and the business is still going well, it is far less popular than the dim sum shop like Yahuo Shop, which has to be grabbed to buy.
They both found it new and wanted to experience it more.
The couple came to the capital to visit friends and play, but it turned out that Shen Hua was busy painting clothes and Tao Zhu was pregnant. The two of them wandered around the capital for a few days without finding much fun, so they went to the shop to help.
This help made them have fun.
It's such a joy to do this kind of business.
With their hard work as a couple, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu naturally wouldn't let others work in vain.
"Just give it according to Brother Chunsheng's standards." Li Qiao said.
"Okay." Tao Zhu lowered his head, picked up the pen and wrote it down in the account book.
Li Qiao didn't allow him to settle accounts because he was afraid that it would take a lot of effort on his part, but during the Chinese New Year, he and Li Qiao wouldn't have to spend much time doing the calculations together.
However, there are still too few people in his family. Judging from the relatively good family background, they are always accompanied by maids, servants and coachmen when they go out. Their family still has their nephew...
He took the pen and tapped it lightly on his forehead, then turned to ask Li Qiao: "How about we also buy some personal maids, servants, and coachmen?"
"I have to ask Brother Xia if he is still willing to come and work after he gets married."
Li Qiao said and laughed: "I think 80% of the time I am willing."
Li Xia's marriage was decided.
The man is Zhao Youzhi, a distant nephew of Mr. Zhao, named Zhao Shen, who does some errands at Mr. Zhao's house.
Last month, Mrs. Zhao sent Zhao Shen to deliver supplements to Tao Zhu, and Li Xia fell in love with him at first sight.
After being distracted for several days, he finally approached Li Qiao and expressed his interest.
Li Qiao was shocked.
He originally thought that Li Xia would marry into a wealthy businessman's family no matter what, but in the end... how could he explain this to Li Chunsheng?
Moreover, Zhao Shen actually looks a bit like a pretty boy, which is not to say that he is outstanding in appearance, but he has fair skin, single eyelids, and is tall. He can bluff people at a glance.
But it’s not masculine enough.
But Li Xia really liked it, so much that he didn't even think about it anymore, and it's not advisable to judge people by their appearance. In addition, Mr. Zhao is a staunch centrist and will not participate in any disputes between princes, so he went to the Zhao Mansion to visit Mr. Zhao.
Master Zhao was very surprised when he heard this.
This Zhao Shen was promoted from his hometown the year before last. Although he was young, he was senior and was indeed his nephew.
It's just that this relationship is a bit far away, and it can't be compared with uncles and nephews like Li Qiao and Li Xia.
Although Zhao Shen doesn't look very masculine, he is quite reliable in his work, very smart and not frivolous.
That is, Zhao Shen is only sixteen years old, more than one year younger than Li Xia.
