Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 190

Grandmother Pei is really upset today. After recounting her past, she falls asleep. Pei Che and Jiang Miao ask Granny Gao to stay with her, and the two of them quietly leave the room.

When they return to the courtyard, the two children have already had lunch and are starting to nap. Pei Che orders some dishes to be brought in and eats with Jiang Miao. They haven’t realized they are hungry until they start eating, and now they are both starving.

It has been three years since they’ve had authentic Liangjing cuisine. Jiang Miao eats two large bowls of rice before finally setting down his bowl. Pei Che doesn’t eat as much, clearly still preoccupied with what just happened. But fortunately, they have already returned, and the matter cannot be resolved immediately. It will have to be handled slowly.

After lunch, Pei Che has to go to the Ministry of Personnel to report and complete his handover procedures before taking up his new post. This time, he is assigned to a fifth-rank position, a move back to the capital. However, a fifth-rank position in a poor rural area is far from the same as one in Liangjing. If Pei Che hadn’t discovered new iron mines in Cangzhou and helped improve its reputation while aiding the local people in lifting themselves out of poverty, he might have been stuck in Cangzhou for years based on just his political achievements.

Pei Che is about to head out, and Jiang Miao also wants to go out. He wonders how his family’s small shop is doing. Although he receives his share of the profits every year from Steward Wu, Jiang Miao still wants to see it for himself. He tells Chan Yi and Wen Jing to watch over the two children and inform them of their whereabouts once the children wake up. They are old enough now that they no longer need constant adult supervision like when they were younger.

The Ministry of Personnel is relatively close to the Duke’s residence, so the coachman first takes Pei Che to the ministry before turning towards the outer city.

It is summer, and the midday heat has left the streets almost empty. The carriage moves quickly, and before long, they are outside the inner city. Once in the outer city, Jiang Miao lifts the curtain of the carriage, looking at the familiar scenery outside, feeling a bit sentimental.

After a while, the carriage stops. The sign for Jiang’s small shop looks a bit worn after several years of wind and rain. However, for a business owner, this wear is a sign of time passing and careful management.

By now, it is past mealtime, and there are only a few customers inside. On their tables are trays with cold noodles and mung bean soup—still the summer set meal Jiang Miao introduced years ago. Nowadays, many other shops offer similar meals, but some old customers still prefer Jiang Family Shop, feeling the taste here is more authentic.

Jiang Miao walks in, knocks on the table, and calls out, “Little brother, give me a portion of cold noodles.”

“Sure.” A man with an honest demeanor answers, wiping a table as he comes over. While wiping, he asks, “What flavor would you like, customer? Is there anything you don’t eat… Boss! You’re back?”

“Brother Daniu, long time no see.” Jiang Miao smiles as he looks at Daniu. Daniu had gotten married shortly after Jiang Miao left for Cangzhou. After receiving the letter, Jiang Miao had even sent a gift through a messenger.

“Are you staying for good this time? Oh, and the cold noodles!” Brother Daniu slaps his forehead and hurriedly goes to the back. In no time, he returns with a tray.

“I still remember your taste—extra cucumber strips, extra spicy, right?”

Jiang Miao isn’t actually hungry, but he hasn’t had cold noodles in a long time and is craving them. He grabs his chopsticks, takes a bite, and gives a thumbs-up. “That’s right, this is the taste.”

Hearing this, Brother Daniu laughs, looking as simple and dependable as ever.

“By the way, Brother Daniu, where’s everyone else?” Jiang Miao asks, a bit curious.

Brother Daniu replies, “There were too many customers just now, and they just finished. They’re eating inside now. I started eating first, so I’m the only one out here.” Then, suddenly realizing something, he says, “I forgot to tell them you were back!”

“No worries, they’ll know once they come out. Brother Daniu, I notice you’re talking a lot more than before,” Jiang Miao remarks. He remembers Big Brother Daniu doesn’t talk much and likes to bury his head in work.

Daniu scratches his head, and a somewhat bashful expression appears on his honest face. “It’s because of your sister-in-law. She’s a talker, always chatting. I’ve started talking more because of her.”

Jiang Miao laughs. He had suspected as much. Indeed, love can change people.

As they are talking, someone comes out from inside after finishing their meal. When they see Brother Daniu sitting at a table talking to a customer, looking very familiar with him, they are a bit surprised. When they look more closely, they realize that the customer’s profile looks very familiar as well and finally recognize who it is.

“Boss!” the person calls out.

As soon as he calls out, everyone turns to look at him. Tang Lin, unaware, quickly walks up to Jiang Miao’s table. “Boss, you’re finally back!”

Tang Lin is quite happy. Even though Jiang Miao’s return means he can no longer be the boss, he knows who the true owner of the shop is. Moreover, Tang Lin is good at business but not at running a kitchen. The shop’s business relies on Jiang Miao’s ideas to keep things afloat. Without him, the shop lacks the fresh new items Jiang Miao used to push, which kept the customers interested.

“Yes, Manager Tang, you’ve managed this shop well,” Jiang Miao compliments. After his departure, the business hasn’t declined much, and the money he receives each year is still nearly the same as before.

Tang Lin replies, “Please, don’t praise me. This business can only truly thrive when it’s in your hands.”

Jiang Miao shakes his head with a smile. “That won’t do. I can’t manage the business of Jiang Family Shop anymore. It’s better if you handle it. However, if there’s any good food, I’ll send it over, and that should bring in more income for the shop.”

Hearing this, Tang Lin is even happier. Both problems are solved—business will improve, and he can continue to be the manager.

Not long after, a woman with a round belly comes out from the back. Jiang Miao spots her and immediately stands up, walking over to her, his hand reaching out in concern. “Sister Xiaoyu, you’re so far along. Why aren’t you resting?”

He has heard in a letter that Xiaoyu is pregnant, and at that time, Jiang Miao had told Steward Wu to inform her to take paid leave. He had also suggested hiring someone new to help with the shop, but unexpectedly, she doesn’t listen.

Xiaoyu is first surprised to see Jiang Miao, then, seeing his worried expression, gestures to explain that she has been resting. It’s just that she can’t sit still alone and has come to help out. Jiang Miao feels relieved after hearing this; he would feel guilty having a pregnant woman working.

Soon, Li Ping, Aunt Wen, and the new wife of Brother Daniu come out. Their attitude toward Jiang Miao is as warm as always, and just like that, the unfamiliarity of the three years he has been away vanishes from his mind.

This time, in addition to checking on the changes at Jiang Family Shop and the people inside, Jiang Miao also takes some of his share of the earnings and uses it to raise their salaries.

There aren’t many employees who can work honestly in the shop for three or four years without harboring any hidden thoughts. If he continues to pay them the same as three years ago, it wouldn’t be fair.

When Jiang Miao raises their pay, how can they not be happy? A group of them gathers around the table when there are no customers and chats for quite a while.

As the evening approaches and customers begin to arrive, Jiang Miao says his goodbyes and goes home.

By the time he returns to the Duke’s mansion, Pei Che is already back and is currently in the study.

Jiang Miao goes to the study and sees Pei Che staring at a box on the desk in a daze. He walks over to see what it is.

“Isn’t this your official seal? Why did you bring it back?” Official seals are kept at the government office, while personal seals are to be returned to the Ministry of Personnel to be stored until the next official comes to take over.

Pei Che smiles and says, “This is the new seal; it was handed over to me today. Do you know what position they assigned me this time?”

Jiang Miao furrows his brows and thinks for a moment, but eventually shakes his head. He only knows of the position of the prefect at the fifth rank, but there is no such position in Liangjing.

“Open the box and take a look,” Pei Che pushes the box toward him.

Seeing that Pei Che is still keeping it a secret, Jiang Miao grows curious. He opens the box and presses the seal onto the paper. A few characters appear.

“Ministry of Household… Assistant Minister. What kind of position is this? Isn’t the Ministry of Household the department that manages finances?” Jiang Miao suddenly becomes excited. The Ministry of Finance—this is a lucrative position!

“Yes and no,” Pei Che replies.

“What do you mean?”

Pei Che pulls Jiang Miao to sit beside him and takes a pen, writing a few words on the paper: “Civil affairs, taxation, land.”

“The Ministry of Household has three functions: civil affairs, which oversees matters like marriage, funerals, births, and household registration; taxation, which manages commercial taxes and various allocations required by the court; and land, which is concerned with land taxes from agricultural production, with that money used for people’s livelihoods. This time, I am reassigned to the Ministry of Household. On the surface, it seems like a lucrative position, but actually, what they’ve assigned me to manage is civil affairs.”

Jiang Miao is stunned. So, from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Civil Affairs? The lucrative position has turned into a troublesome one.