Chapter 327 Look alike?

The shocked General Zheng took a while to calm down.

Since these things are all designed by Miss Qiao, it is naturally more convenient to cooperate with her directly.

So the two quickly decided on the cooperation matters, and Qiao Ran drew the structure diagram of the tent and hot pot for General Zheng.

General Zheng also promised that the Zheng Jiajun would purchase 50,000 kilograms of smokeless charcoal from Qingshui Village every year.

"I think your charcoal is comparable to the red charcoal in the palace. It's just that the red charcoal is only for the royal family and you can't buy it if you have money. There is also the inferior Yinluo charcoal, which is not as good as your charcoal, but it is still good. One tael per catty of silver. I wonder what price Miss Qiao will sell for this charcoal?"

General Zheng looked at the little girl, knowing that she might not know much about the price of these better-quality charcoal, which only noble families could afford, so he took the initiative to explain.

Qiao Ran saw that General Zheng was really an honest man and didn't want to fool these ignorant country folk like them by randomly setting prices.

Naturally, she didn’t want to embarrass Shi Cheng, so she thought for a moment and said:

"Since the general said that my smokeless charcoal is comparable to the red charcoal in the palace, and better than one pound or two of silver charcoal, then how about selling it to the general at half the price of silver charcoal?"

500 cents per pound of charcoal is indeed expensive, but you get what you pay for.

According to Butler Zheng, when they ate hot pot that day, they only put a few pieces of charcoal in the hot pot stove at the beginning, and then it burned for a long time. By the time they finished eating, the soup in the pot was still boiling.

Moreover, the charcoal is indeed smokeless and odorless. The general is sitting in front of the charcoal basin, so he can naturally feel this for himself.

Therefore, General Zheng also knows that the quality of this charcoal is indeed worth the price. If you meet someone who knows the goods, a pound of smokeless charcoal can be sold for two or three taels of silver.

He also knew that Miss Qiao’s price was based on his own face, so he responded readily:

"Okay! This charcoal is worth the price, and I got the advantage. Thank you, Miss Qiao, for giving me this face!"

The price was agreed upon and the two parties readily signed the contract.

General Zheng got the drawings of tents and hot pots as well as the smokeless charcoal cooperation contract, and his mind was no longer here.

It was still early and the cooks hadn't come back yet. He didn't wait for Mrs. Qiao and Qiao Ran to stay here for lunch. He got up and left happily to go back.

Xiao Ruolan had already had a lot of fun with her brothers and sisters from the Qiao family, and she couldn't bear to be separated from these newly-acquainted brothers and sisters and their three cute little pets.

Finally, with the patient persuasion of my father and mother, I reluctantly waved goodbye to Sister Qiao Ran, Brother Bei, Brother Xing, Sister Yue, and One Tiger and Two Rabbits.

After looking at the carriage that was going away, Qiao Ran was about to turn around and go back to the tent, but saw her grandma looking thoughtfully in the direction the carriage was leaving.

Qiao Ran reached out and hugged Xiaoba over, kissed her rosy little face, and then looked at the carriage that had disappeared around the corner. Seeing that grandma had not come back to her senses, she asked in surprise:

"Grandma, what's wrong with you? General Zheng and the others have left. Let's go back!"

Only then did Mrs. Qiao come back to her senses. She followed him into the tent and said hesitantly:

"Why do I think this general is so kind? I seem to have seen him somewhere before, but I can't remember him."

Qiao Ran's eyes lit up: "Grandma, is it possible that you have met the general before?"

Mrs. Qiao frowned and thought hard again, but still couldn't think of a reason. She shook her head:

"Impossible! How is it possible? How could I, an old country woman like me, be lucky enough to see a person of the general's stature? If I had seen him, I wouldn't have had any impression at all. But I don't know why, it just feels like I saw him somewhere. Live the same life.”

Qiao Ran smiled: "Maybe grandma, you've seen someone who looks similar to the general, right? There are so many similar people in the world, and it's not unusual to see a few occasionally."

Mrs. Qiao also thought it was reasonable: "Well, I must have remembered it wrong. Maybe I have seen someone with a similar appearance before."

The grandfather and grandson took a few little ones back to the tent and quickly forgot about the incident.

On the carriage back to the city, the general's wife also stared at her husband's face, looking up and down and left and right several times.

The general turned his head with a puzzled look on his face: "Why do you keep looking at me? Are there bugs on my face?"

The general's wife shook her head: "Have you seen those little Qiao children that you played with Lan'er just now? Why do I think Miss Qiao's biological brother, Xiao Bei'er, looks so similar to you?"

When General Zheng heard this, he gave her an angry look: "What are you talking about? How come I look like a little doll?"

But the general's wife said seriously: "Really! I took a look at it several times, and that little kid looks so much like you!"

General Zheng saw that his wife didn't seem to be joking, so he couldn't help but become serious.

He didn't know what he thought of, his face became sad for a while, and his thoughts drifted away unknowingly.

After being stunned for a long time, his wife touched his arm and he came back to his senses.

Looking into Madam's worried eyes, he forced a smile: "It's okay, I was just thinking, if my sister hadn't been lost, how many nephews and nieces would I have?"

The general's wife knew that her husband had an older sister, who was the first child of her parents-in-law. The eldest daughter of the general's mansion had been carefully guarded like a jewel, but she had lost it due to the nurse's negligence.

The mother-in-law was so sad that she cried every day and hurt her body. It was not until several years later that she gave birth to a husband again.

The General's Mansion was thinly populated, and my parents-in-law often said that it would be nice if my daughter (my sister's nickname) hadn't been lost.

She knew that although her husband had never met her sister, he often heard her parents talk about her and wanted to find her poor sister.

And the older the parents-in-law get, the more they miss their daughter who was lost since she was a child. They worry about her poor life, worry about where she is suffering, and worry that they will never see each other again in this life.

The general's wife patted her husband on the back soothingly, pretending to be relaxed and said:

"Ms. Qiao, since Miss Qiao's brother looks so much like you, are their parents also very similar to you? It's a pity that we left in a hurry this time and didn't wait until Miss Qiao's mother came back, otherwise we would have It’s time to get to know each other. I’m thinking, it’s common to say that a son is a mother and a daughter is a father. If the eldest wife of the Qiao family looks like you, then we can recognize each other as a godmother and let the parents have a goddaughter. A little relief from the pain of missing each other."

When the general heard this, he felt it was inappropriate. He was about to shake his head, but hesitated.

After a while, he exhaled and said:

"Let me think about this matter again. My parents are old and can no longer bear any stimulation. I don't want them to be immersed in regrets, self-blame and endless worries and longings, and even break down their bodies, especially It’s my mother. Her health has gotten worse in the past two years. I really want her to be happy. However, I am worried that they will be even more sad when they see someone who looks exactly like my daughter. Alas, this matter cannot be done. Reckless.”