Chapter 039 Mother and Daughter Alienation

"It's just an ordinary steamed bun, nothing special."

"How come the smell is so far away? I can smell it from far away."

Someone laughed and said, "You must be hungry. I just saw it happen. It's just fermenting the flour and frying it in a pan. It's very simple."

Fourth Sister Fang was also aroused by the conversation of the crowd, but her upbringing was ingrained in her bones. She wanted to reach out and take it several times, but felt embarrassed.

Seeing her eyes shining and staring at the cake, Xu Zhenying cut off a small piece with a spoon and handed it to her while it was still hot.

Under the gaze of everyone, Sister Fang Si tasted a piece and felt a fragrance in her mouth.

The dough is soft but not mushy, with a golden crust all over it. It has a light sweetness that is neither greasy nor oily, but sweet and refreshing.

Fourth Sister Fang narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "It's so delicious... It's even better than the chef from Nanyue who used to cook at my house—"

Xu Zhenying couldn't help but smile. "As long as you like it, I'll make some for twenty people first."

A few people nearby wanted to ask for a piece of the food, but they were all exiles after all, and they knew the importance of food, so they didn't dare to ask in the end.

Everyone swallowed their saliva and dispersed feeling bored.

Xu Zhenying baked about fifty or sixty pancakes. He was so tired that he was sweating all over and felt hungry and weak.

Fortunately, when they finished working, Sister Fang was very satisfied. She packed four pancakes for her and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work. Just do as we agreed. Here."

Xu Zhenying took it with both hands and expressed her gratitude sincerely while taking off her apron. "Thank you, Fourth Sister Fang."

Sister Folk Prescription Four looked at her expectantly, "Can I come to you next time?"

Xu Zhenying was slightly taken aback, but still kindly reminded: "Food is very precious during the exile."

Sister Fang blinked her eyes. Just with this one sentence, she began to like Xu Zhenying in every way.

She enthusiastically took Xu Zhenying's hand and said, "Food is not a problem. At worst, we can just eat it and buy more. Those escorts dare not embarrass our Fang family. But as you can see, I really don't know anything about cooking. If I didn't have your help, I would definitely be scolded by my mother-in-law--"

Xu Zhenying didn't ask why the Fang family's branch had someone who couldn't cook to cook, whether it was out of embarrassment or something else. She just smiled calmly, "As long as I can help Fourth Sister."

Xu Zhenying earned a meal with her own hands, and she immediately wolfed down a pancake.

It was the first time she discovered that pancakes were so delicious.

After taking that bite, it felt like all my internal organs came back to life.

She suddenly realized that it might not be because her cooking skills had reached the pinnacle, but that everyone was just really hungry.

Looking at the remaining three pancakes, Xu Zhenying thought for a moment and decided to leave them for Xu Qingying's parents.

After all, she had taken over the original owner's body, so if conditions allowed, she still wanted to do her best to protect them.

As for the rest of the people, she was willing but unable to do anything.

When Xu Zhenying returned to the Xu family's camp, his aunt had already started cooking porridge. Miao, Xiao Huang and his fourth aunt were all helping to cook.

The people from the second house hid under the trees, and only sent Xu Yinxi and Xu Minglu out to collect firewood.

Xu Zhenying called Xu Meixiao and asked Xu Meixiao to find Miao.

Xu Meixiao really did carry her small bag with her at all times, fearing that someone would snatch it away. She also had a pair of straw sandals tied around her waist, and she jumped and skipped as she walked, seemingly unaffected by the suffering of her two-day exile.

I don't know where she gets so much energy.

Following her sister's instructions, Xu Meixiao pulled Miao, who was helping, over.

As soon as Miao saw Xu Zhenying, she felt a little guilty. She felt that her daughter had been wronged yesterday. Every time she wanted to comfort her, Xu Zhenying seemed to have forgotten about it and her mood was not affected at all. She was interrupted every time she wanted to bring it up.

She vaguely understood that Xu Zhenying didn't want to mention this matter again.

Xu Zhenying didn't say much, just stuffed three pancakes at Miao's, "I just taught Sister Fang how to cook, and she was so kind as to give me some pancakes. Take them."

Miao was holding the hot pancake in her pocket, stunned, and seemed a little surprised.

But Xu Zhenying had already explained the whole process very clearly, and she seemed to have no other questions to ask, so she could only ask with concern: "Have you eaten yet?"

"I ate one."

Miao frowned, as if she didn't know how to distribute the three cakes.

"Cut each pancake into four equal pieces, and then each of you three can have three pieces."

Miao was startled, then thought for a long time before realizing that Xu Zhenying was dividing the cakes equally among the three. She couldn't help but ask, "Ying'er...how did you figure that out?"

Uh...it's just finding a common multiple, an elementary school course, is it that difficult?

Xu Zhenying coughed softly and began to talk nonsense: "I learned it before in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art on my second uncle's bookshelf..."

Miao wanted to praise Xu Zhenying, but for some reason, she always felt that her daughter was getting further and further away from her after being imprisoned.

She even doesn't know how to get along with Xu Zhenying now.

She could only touch her head and mutter as she did before: "My Ying'er is really smart——"

It's not that Xu Zhenying didn't see the cautious flattery and helplessness in Miao's eyes, but Xu's mother died very early, and she lacked experience in living with women with overflowing maternal instincts. Occasionally, she felt indescribably uncomfortable when being alone with Miao.

She had no choice but to change the subject. "That's it for today. I'll find a way to find food tomorrow. I see that most of the roads we're taking are lined with jungle. As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat the mountain. As long as there's breath, there's no starvation."

"Mother, I'll listen to you." Miao said this as she broke the cake into pieces. Xu Zhenying was stunned for a moment, but then she saw Miao smiling softly, "Ying'er is really capable. She can even support a whole family. Your grandmother will be very happy when she knows this. I'll take this cake back and share it with everyone so that they will all remember your kindness."

Miao planned to divide the three cakes equally.

This is really not keeping anything to oneself.

Xu Zhenying was speechless, but then he thought, with Miao's honest character, she would definitely not do something like her aunt and second aunt had the meal alone.

She had no choice but to say, "Mother, my eldest aunt is someone who never suffers a loss, and my second aunt has plenty of money. Do you really think they need a bite to eat? When disaster strikes, each family has their own plans, but ours is truly penniless. I advise you not to be too honest, otherwise we will be the ones who suffer!"

Miao was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "Ying'er, don't talk like that! Who taught you such rebellious things? We are a family, and even if our bones are broken, we are still connected. Now it's time. If we don't pull together, we will only be bullied. I don't think the eldest and second sisters-in-law are such people. What's more, your grandmother is old. As the younger generation, we have any good things. It is only natural for us to give them to the elders. Don't say such nonsense again, or someone will hear us and poke our family in the back——"

Xu Zhenying was truly speechless this time.

Have a debate with ancient people about filial piety?

She really didn't have the energy and was too lazy to argue, so she could only wave her hand helplessly, said "I understand" and turned away.

Miao felt sad and annoyed when she saw Xu Zhenying's unruly appearance. She thought that maybe it was because she had neglected to discipline him in recent days that he had become so stubborn and rebellious.

The daughter has grown up and has her own thoughts, and seems to be getting further and further away from her.

She didn't know what to do.

Miao hesitated and took the three cakes back and handed them to Huang Cui'e, "Sister-in-law, these are from the Fang family for Ying'er. Ying'er, bring them here so we can share them—"

The eldest sister-in-law frowned and muttered, "Why are the Fang family so stingy? There are so many of us, how can three cakes be enough? The sixth girl has such a good relationship with the Fang family, why don't they bring back more?"

Miao looked at her sister-in-law's self-righteous attitude and felt wronged. She retorted, "How dare you keep asking for other people's food? My Qingying is not a beggar—"

Huang Cui'e couldn't stand the soft and timid attitude of the third wife's family the most, and she tried to educate them earnestly, "People are starving to death, why do you still care about face? Don't learn from the second wife's family. They still think they are the masters in Bianjing City. Now they are exiled, but they still act like the head of the family. Look at those vixens, what kind of people are they? They don't even cook. They just order us around. We are not their slaves... The second wife is really confused. A few concubines, to put it bluntly, are slaves. Either send them away, or make them serve as slaves——"

"Then why didn't the eldest sister-in-law ask those concubines to come and help?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? We only have one bag of rice a day. What if they steal it? I'm worried—"

Miao sighed. She felt that she and Miao could never get along.

After a simple lunch, the escorts set off again, shouting.

From a distance, the city of Bianjing could no longer be seen. A straight official road extended into the mountains and forests, with green hills and green shadows. Along the way, there were only flying birds but no people. If there were not more than a hundred people in their group, it would be really scary to travel alone.

Everyone knew that this was the real beginning of their departure from Bian Jing and their journey into exile.

By the afternoon, Huang could no longer hold on.

She was old, and although her youth had been hard, she had lived a life of luxury with Xu Deyuan in her old age. She hadn't walked such a long distance in about ten years. From the first day, her feet hurt badly, but she just endured it, sweating profusely.

Fourth Aunt was very careful and quickly noticed that something was wrong with Huang. She immediately called out, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Only then did everyone in the Xu family notice that the old lady's face had turned pale and she was staggering as she walked.

Miao said hurriedly: "Mother is tired. Even a strong man can't stand such a long walk, let alone her age. We have to think of a way. It would be best if she could take a carriage——"

Huang Cui'e said: "Where can we find a carriage? Other people's carriages are full and there is no room for them——"

"I just noticed that Mrs. Fang's carriage is a little empty. It should be able to squeeze in one more person. Why don't we go and ask Mrs. Fang for help?"

Seeing the Xu family stop again, Liu Jieshi rode his horse closer at high speed and asked condescendingly, "Why are you stopping? Hurry up and move on, don't delay the entire team's journey!"

The uncle said humbly, "Sir, my mother can't walk anymore. Can she rest for a while——"

"Fuck you! You just took a break at noon, and now you're taking another break? Stop pretending here! Either die and feed the wolves, or get moving!"

Liu Jieshi swung the whip, and with a crisp "snap" sound, a cloud of dust was splashed on the ground.

Everyone quickly dodged.

Huang was full of complaints, but she didn't dare to show them at all. She could only suppress the trembling of her thighs and said, "I'm fine, keep going—"

"Look, it's still going." Liu Jieshi sneered and rode away. "If you slack off again, I'll whip you! Whoever dares to delay the trip will be punished!"

Lian and Zhao were now free. Miao looked around and saw that everyone was at a loss. She gritted her teeth and said, "Mother, I'll carry you—"

Huang Cui'e was secretly annoyed. The third wife was acting again. They were all children, but why did the third wife like to be the one who was conspicuous, making it seem like someone else was unfilial to their parents?

Miao was delicate and gentle, but extremely thin, and she was often told she was in poor health. Back in the countryside, Huang Cui'e did all the heavy work, while Miao did all the light work. Yet, everyone praised Miao for her meticulous work, while she never even got a word of praise.

Pian Miao was polite to her, which made her feel angry but unable to vent.

As expected, the eldest uncle immediately yelled at Huang Cui'e, "Huang Cui'e, what are you standing there for? Are you really going to let the third brother's wife carry her? She's as thin as a bamboo pole, how can she carry her mother? As the eldest brother's wife, how can you just stand by and do nothing?"

Huang Cui'e was so angry that she fell backwards. She only hated her husband for being like a blockhead and not knowing how to feel sorry for others. "I am still injured. I cooked today's meal. What's the matter? There are so many wives in the Xu family, but I, Huang Cui'e, am the only one who works like a slave? The concubines in the second room are idle and waste food. Since the second son is unwilling to send them away, he must make them work——"

"What are you talking about? I asked you to carry me on your back, but you treat me like a slave? I'm the eldest son, and it's my duty to respect my mother—"

"Why don't you feel sorry for me? My legs are shaking now—"

Fourth Auntie asked, "Why didn't you bandage your legs yesterday? I feel much better today, and my legs don't hurt much anymore—"

The remaining few people were skeptical, "Can leg wraps really work?"

Seeing that everyone was unconvinced, Xu Anping from the fourth room quickly raised his head and said, "Grandma, the leg wrapping is really effective. I feel much better than yesterday. My legs were cramping last night, but they are much better today. I feel like I'm walking more lightly."

"Is this true?" Huang Cui'e pulled Xu Anping over and took a closer look. "Just tying up the legs will work?"

After saying that, she looked around again and asked, "How about we tie it up too?"

"Wait a little while, until we can rest." Huang could only try her best and sighed, "Alas, I'm old and useless. I'm a burden to you. I should have died earlier to avoid wasting food along the way."

"Mom, please don't say that. You have to live well. We still have to make a living in Qianzhou. You are old and have eaten more salt than we have eaten rice. When the time comes, the whole family will still be counting on you——"