Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper! Chapter 611: The Old Lady at the Teahouse

Qin Yao glanced back at the carriage, seeing Yin Le, who had never traveled far, looking sickly, while the children sat listlessly inside without making a sound.

"Alright." Qin Yao gestured with her chin towards the teahouse, signaling everyone to head there.

Quickly calculating the distance in her mind, they were less than fifteen li from An County. At their current pace, they could reach it in an hour and a half, leaving plenty of ti to enter the town after a half-hour rest.

So she told her family, "We’ll depart in half an hour."

The previously sullen carriage imdiately burst into excited "oh oh" sounds. As soon as Yin Le stopped the carriage, the four siblings scrambled to jump off and joyfully ran into the teahouse.

Inside the teahouse was an old lady, who seed quite spry and efficient at her work.

Besides selling tea, there were several snacks available, such as stead buns, baked wheat cakes, and limited edition green dumplings for March.

But unlike the Zijing Mansion’s green dumplings, this old lady’s were unexpectedly savory, flattened with salted peanut bits and pickled vegetables inside.

Sanlang wanted to try anything he hadn’t had before and imdiately smiled and called out, "Grandma, I want this!"

Si Niang quickly followed suit, shouting, "Grandma, I want one too!"

Da Lang said, "We’ll take seven bowls of hot tea."

Second Lang took out his money bag and asked, "How much is it in total?"

The teahouse instantly beca lively. The tea-selling old lady smiled at the four children, whose remarkable resemblance made it clear they were siblings. The youngest two were even a pair of Dragon and Phoenix Twins, looking utterly adorable.

"Young master, two green dumplings and seven bowls of tea, anything else?" The old lady didn’t stop wrapping the green dumplings as she asked.

Da Lang looked towards their father, mother, and Senior Sister Le, who entered after them, and asked loudly, "Father, Mother, Senior Sister Le, there are other snacks here, like green dumplings, wheat cakes, or stead buns. Do you want anything?"

"Wow, Da Lang is treating us?!" Liu Ji imdiately asked excitedly.

Da Lang chuckled, glancing at Second Lang, who looked speechless, making the old father instantly understand—this was a rare chance to pry so money out of him. Missing it would surely lead to regret.

Even if he didn’t really want to eat the snacks, Liu Ji, not wanting to miss out, ordered a savory green dumpling each for himself and his wife, curious about how strange this combination tasted!

Yin Le, curious, stepped forward and after looking around, also ordered a stead bun. It was warm, softer than dry rations.

Recently, she’d had so "uncomfortable" bathroom issues, so eating soft food would help digestion.

Second Lang generously said to the old lady, "Then we’ll add two more green dumplings and a stead bun. Grandma, please calculate the total cost."

"Let see..." The old lady paused her work, silently calculating for a mont before telling Second Lang with a cheerful smile, "Exactly one hundred cents."

Second Lang nodded and placed the money beside the countertop. Unexpectedly, the old lady, with a green dumpling in hand, imdiately reached out her greasy hand to grab the money, put it in the apron pocket at her waist, and continued kneading the green dumplings with her money-hand without cleaning it.

Second Lang was shocked, "You...!"

"What’s the matter? Do you want anything else, little master?" the old lady kindly asked.

Second Lang quickly shook his head and said it was nothing, deciding to just consider it as "being unclean won’t make you sick."

Turning around to find his brother and sister to complain, he couldn’t believe the three were not sitting at the table; instead, they curiously circled around the teahouse, stopping in front of a large clay jar. Sanlang, already raising his small curious hand, was about to lift the jar’s lid to see what delicious food was inside.

"Liu Ziming!"

Qin Yao’s stern voice ca before Second Lang could intervene, causing the little guy ready to reach out to retract his hand and turn around to flash a toothy white grin at her.

Afraid his wife might bla him for poor supervision, Liu Ji promptly got up and escorted the curious and gluttonous kids back to the table, scolding, "Sit properly, don’t wander aimlessly."

Focused on advising and teaching the children not to touch anything outside, Qin Yao and her husband didn’t notice the fleeting panic in the old lady’s eyes when discovering the children near the clay jar, nor her sigh of relief after the kids were called away.

After educating the kids, Liu Ji awkwardly nodded at the old lady with an apologetic smile.

The old lady’s eyes glazed briefly, marveling at the young man’s handso face, not realizing he was already married with children.

One man and four children—just one man, turning her back, she smirked contemptuously. She picked up the tray of tea and snacks, ready to deliver them to the guests’ table.

"Thank you, Grandma~" the Dragon and Phoenix Twins chirped sweetly in unison, quickly making space for the old lady to set the tea and snacks on the table.

"So well-behaved." The old lady affectionately praised the twins. Old age does catch up, and she couldn’t hold the tray single-handedly, so she put it down first to take out the snacks.

As soon as the children got the food, they were ready to put it in their mouths.

"Ahem!" Qin Yao coughed, and Yin Le imdiately understood, subtly intercepting the green dumplings in the Dragon and Phoenix Twins’ hands to avoid embarrassing the vendor, "The elders haven’t started yet."

The Dragon and Phoenix Twins gasped, realizing their mistake. Before leaving, their mother had specifically instructed them that when buying food at roadside tea stalls, they should let Senior Sister Le check before eating.

The two siblings quickly put down the green dumplings, licking their lips and obediently sitting still.

Yin Le nodded, "Very good."

The old lady slightly furrowed her brows, surprised by how cautious the family was.

She secretly curled her lip, suddenly catching sight of the dagger tucked at Qin Yao’s waist, which made her heart skip a beat.

Qin Yao sensed sothing strange, shooting her a cold glare, her eyes like ice, shocking the old lady so much that her hand trembled and suddenly let go..."Crash!" the teapot shattered on the ground.

Scalding tea splashed everywhere.

"Ah!" Liu Ji hurriedly grabbed the nearest Dragon and Phoenix Twins with a big step back, retreating several steps, hastily checking their shoes and clothes for any splashes or burns, finally breathing a sigh of relief when finding none.

Glaring at the old lady, he reproached, "How are you serving tea? If you scalded my wife and children, what would you do!"

Though Qin Yao and Yin Le were still seated, two drops of brown water spotted their shoes.

Da Lang and Second Lang had already moved away, showing maturity by instinctively avoiding danger, requiring less supervision from adults.

Yin Le was fine, but upon seeing her master Qin Yao’s expression, it was evident she was on the brink of flipping the table.

The old lady appeared frightened, dazed for a while.

Just as the tea slipped from the old hand, Qin Yao, sitting on her right side, had skillfully reached for the teapot handle.

But, when a pair of frail old hands ca over, perhaps unintentionally, slapped the teapot in her hand, causing it to shatter on the ground with hot tea splattering.

"Sorry, sorry! As long as everything’s alright, I’ll quickly boil another pot of tea and give you two additional green dumplings as compensation..."

Without waiting for an answer, the old lady pitifully bent over to collect the broken pieces and returned to the stove to prepare a new pot of tea and a bowl of green dumplings for them.