“Sister-in-law, I’ll lend you a top-tier carpenter. He’ll definitely finish your project before the restaurant’s grand reopening.”
Lu Wenchen paused dramatically before grinning.
“But in exchange, you have to cook me a meal. Deal?”
Qiao Zilin agreed immediately without hesitation.
“Deal. It’s settled. Hurry and bring the craftsman over, I need to explain the details personally.”
About fifteen minutes later, two men arrived together.
One was a refined-looking young man with elegant features and scholarly charm.
The other was a tall, broad-shouldered man who looked incredibly sturdy.
Qiao Zilin instinctively assumed the burly one was the carpenter and was about to speak to him when the refined young man stepped forward first.
“Wenchen, what’s so urgent?” he asked. “Why did you drag me here in such a hurry?”
Lu Wenchen stood there calmly with his hands behind his back.
“I found some work for you.”
The moment he heard the word “work,” the refined young man immediately turned around as though preparing to leave.
However, just as he turned, his eyes landed on the drawing lying on the table.
His movements instantly froze.
“What’s this?”
Before anyone could react, he rushed forward and snatched the paper.
“This is interesting!”
Watching the two of them interact, Qiao Zilin could not help being reminded of close friends from her previous life, the kind who joked around naturally without any restraint.
“This is a rotating tray,” she explained. “It’s meant to be placed on top of dining tables. Can you make it?”
The refined young man finally looked up at her properly.
“Oh? Where did this pretty little lady come from?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Lu Wenchen’s expression immediately changed.
Clearly afraid the man would say something inappropriate again, he quickly interrupted.
“Zhang Cheng, this is Zhenting’s wife. Call her Sister-in-law properly.”
“Brother Zhenting got married?!”
Zhang Cheng’s eyes widened dramatically.
“Why didn’t anyone invite me to the wedding banquet?”
Apparently, he had completely forgotten he was not even in Ping’an Town during that period.
Long Zhenting ignored the nonsense and spoke directly.
“Can you finish this before sunset tomorrow? Your sister-in-law needs it urgently.”
Zhang Cheng did not even hesitate.
“No problem. I’ll start immediately.”
He immediately turned toward the burly man beside him and whispered instructions for quite some time.
A moment later, the large man brought in a huge wooden chest, set it down, then silently left again.
Meanwhile, Zhang Cheng remained completely focused on the drawing.
The more he looked at it, the brighter his eyes became.
“Brilliant,” he muttered repeatedly. “This design is absolutely brilliant.”
Then he suddenly looked toward Qiao Zilin.
“Sister-in-law, how did you even come up with something like this?”
Naturally, Qiao Zilin could not exactly tell him that Lazy Susans existed practically everywhere in the modern world.
If she said something careless, they might think she was possessed by a spirit.
After a brief pause, she calmly replied,
“I once saw it described in a travelogue. I thought the design was clever, so I memorized it. I didn’t expect it would actually become useful one day.”
Zhang Cheng looked somewhat doubtful.
Still, he did not continue questioning her.
“Sister-in-law, where’s that travelogue now? Lend it to me sometime.”
Qiao Zilin inwardly sighed.
Sure enough, one lie always required another to cover it.
“I left it behind at the Prime Minister’s residence after getting married. I forgot to bring it with me.”
“The Prime Minister’s residence?”
Zhang Cheng stared at her in shock.
“You’re the eldest daughter? The one whose younger sister swapped marriages with her? The one who got disowned right before the wedding?”
This time, Qiao Zilin was genuinely surprised.
She had never mentioned these matters before.
How did they know all this?
Seeing her expression, Zhang Cheng continued enthusiastically.
“Honestly, you should thank that younger sister of yours for swapping marriages.”
Otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up marrying Brother Zhenting.”
Then he laughed openly.
“You have no idea how ridiculous your sister has become.”
“She married the Regent in a wedding everyone envied, complete with a ten-mile-long dowry procession. But less than a month after the marriage, the Regent claimed he needed silver for disaster relief and opened her dowry chests.”
Zhang Cheng paused dramatically.
“Guess what they found inside?”
“Rocks.”
“The chests were stuffed full of rocks.”
“The Regent was so furious smoke nearly came out of his head.”
He burst into laughter.
“Now your sister has gone from being the Regent’s Consort to merely a concubine. I heard her life is miserable these days.”
While speaking, Zhang Cheng secretly observed Qiao Zilin’s expression.
Yet her face remained calm from beginning to end.
Noticing her indifference, he continued.
“And your Prime Minister father offended someone powerful recently. One scandal after another surfaced against him.”
“He’s already been stripped of his official rank. Now he’s just an ordinary commoner.”
“Apparently, life has become quite difficult for him lately.”
Listening quietly, Qiao Zilin felt as though she was hearing about strangers from another lifetime.
The scenes Zhang Cheng described reminded her of her previous life instead.
Now, those people were simply suffering the consequences of their own actions.
To her, they were no longer worth wasting emotions on.
She only needed to live her own life well.
Just then, Uncle Kang entered carrying a basket of groceries.
“Madam, the ingredients you requested have arrived.”
Qiao Zilin snapped back to reality and smiled lightly.
“Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Kang.”
Then she raised her voice toward the kitchen.
“Xiao Da! Wang Yuan! Come carry these ingredients away. We’re preparing dinner!”
“Coming, Madam!”
The two men practically appeared instantly and hurried off with the basket.
An hour later, five dishes and one soup were served onto the table.
Mouth-Watering Chicken.
Boiled Fish.
Smashed Cucumber Salad.
Twice-Cooked Pork with Green Peppers.
Di San Xian.
And finally, Carp Tofu Soup.
The portions were large and generous.
Lu Wenchen and Zhang Cheng had never tasted Qiao Zilin’s cooking before.
At this moment, not only were their stomachs hungry, even their eyes seemed hungry.
The dishes looked stunning.
The aromas alone were enough to make people lose control.
“What are you two standing around for?” Qiao Zilin teased with a smile. “Sit down and eat already. Looking at the food won’t fill your stomachs.”
“Right, right!”
The two immediately sat down.
The moment Zhang Cheng tasted the dishes, his eyes widened dramatically.
“This is incredible!”
He looked at Qiao Zilin with complete sincerity.
“Sister-in-law, does your household need extra workers? I’ll come work for you!”
The food had completely conquered him.
If he could eat like this every day, he was willing to stay attached to her household forever.
Meanwhile, Qiao Zilin’s eyes immediately lit up.
A talented craftsman offering free labor?
How could she possibly refuse?
Especially since she still planned to create foot-powered threshing machines and grain shellers in the future.
The more skilled craftsmen she had around, the better.
“Are you serious?” she asked calmly.
“You should know that after the restaurant reopens, we’ll also be transplanting rice seedlings. We have five mu of paddy fields and another mu of chili fields.”
Then she smiled slowly.
“I don’t support lazy people. If you come work for my household, you work. Otherwise, you don’t eat.”
Zhang Cheng waved dismissively.
He had traveled all over the world before.
What hardship had he not experienced?
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. As long as there’s delicious food, I’m willing to work like an ox or a horse.”
Qiao Zilin smiled brightly.
“Good. Remember those words today.”
For some reason, seeing her smile made Zhang Cheng suddenly feel a chill run down his spine.
Much later, he would discover that he truly had become an ox and horse laborer under her command.
After dinner, Qiao Zilin took out a luminous pearl she had collected from a cave earlier.
She placed it inside a transparent mesh pouch and hung it from the crabapple tree in the courtyard.
Instantly, the entire courtyard glowed as brightly as daytime.
Meanwhile, the men continued assembling the rotating tray in the back courtyard.
As for Qiao Zilin, she sat quietly at a stone table writing recipe instructions.
Not long afterward, Zhang Cheng suddenly shouted excitedly.
“Haha! Sister-in-law, come look!”
“Is this the rotating tray you wanted?”
Qiao Zilin immediately set down her pen and walked over.
Looking at the nearly completed Lazy Susan, she could not help feeling impressed.
These men truly were capable.
They had actually finished it this quickly.
Her original design placed the rotating track on the base itself.
However, Zhang Cheng felt that arrangement would not work smoothly, so he modified the structure and moved the track underneath the tabletop instead.
“Let’s assemble it and test whether it rotates smoothly,” Qiao Zilin suggested.
Long Zhenting stood up and fitted the components together personally.
Then he gently pushed the wooden tray.
The round tabletop immediately began spinning smoothly.
Watching it rotate effortlessly, Qiao Zilin smiled in satisfaction.
With this, dining would become much more convenient.