Chapter 53 Chive Boxes This doesn't look like a golden-brown crescent moon...

Chen Miao makes chive boxes in the most time-saving and labor-saving way. She doesn't scald the dough or let it rise; the outside is fried until crispy, while the inside remains soft. She takes two gourd scoops of wheat flour from her flour bag, adds a little salt, stirs it with chopsticks, then adds a little less cold water than the amount of flour, stirring constantly until it forms clumps. The resulting dough is softer than dough for steamed buns; it only needs to be covered with a bamboo mat and left to rest for fifteen minutes.

The filling is easy to make: wash and dry the chives, then chop them quickly. Add scrambled and cooled eggs, and some blanched and chopped "silver thread rice noodles"—the kind of rice noodles used in Song Dynasty pork stew. It seems the Song people were always keen on giving every ordinary, common food a beautiful name.

Mix well with chopsticks, add salt and sesame oil; then add a tiny bit of soy sauce and dried shrimp paste to replace the yet-to-be-released chicken bouillon and oyster sauce. Finally, sprinkle on some homemade "Nande seasoning" made with spices such as star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, dried ginger, cinnamon, salt, and fennel seeds. She made quite a lot of this, and it can also be added to the base of grilled fish to enhance the aroma and spiciness.

By this time, the dough should be ready. Roll it out into a long strip, divide it into small portions, sprinkle with dry flour, knead each portion into a smooth ball, and then roll it out into a thin sheet. Place the bright green chive filling on top, lift the edges, roll it up, and fold it in half to form a crescent shape. Pinch the two sides together with water to seal. Brush a layer of oil on a preheated griddle and pan-fry over low heat for a few moments until both sides are slightly golden brown and the aroma of chives is released. Then it's ready to eat.

After Shen Miao finished making it, she took one for herself, stood by the stove, blew on it, and tasted it.

With one bite, the outer layer was crispy and crumbled easily under the teeth, revealing the filling inside. The chives were vibrant green and juicy, but not soggy or watery. The scrambled eggs were fluffy and tender, and the glass noodles were soft and chewy, absorbing the sauce perfectly. Shen Miao nodded in satisfaction. Chives and eggs were indeed a perfect match, enhancing the aroma even more.

Shen Miao took the food out and gave Xiang Jie'er and Chen Chuan a small basket to put in: "Eat up, it's still hot."

Xiangjie didn't care whether it was hot or not; she took a bite first. To be honest, she didn't usually like eating chives and didn't like the taste of stir-fried chives.

But this one was different. It smelled so good it made my mouth water. The crispy outer layer was filled with a generous amount of filling, and the thin outer layer even made a crunchy sound when you bit into it. The filling was full of chive flavor, but without the pungent taste of chives. It was crisp and tender, not greasy at all, and it also contained eggs and rice noodles. Ignoring the heat, she ate three in one go. Turning her head, she saw that Chen Chuan was not to be outdone and had quietly eaten two as well.

The two were eating heartily in the courtyard when Liu Douhua, who happened to be passing by, saw them. So Liu brought two bowls of tofu pudding from his home in exchange. Xiangjie then pushed Chen Chuan out through the back door. The three little ones sat side by side on the platform behind the Shen family's house, enjoying a bite of soft tofu pudding and a bite of chive dumplings. They were so engrossed in the delicious food that they didn't say a word.

Li Gou'er had just returned from the private school when he saw his friends sitting comfortably in the alley eating delicious food. He rushed home, threw down his schoolbag, opened the sugar jar that Aunt Li had hidden on top of the cabinet, grabbed a handful of shortbread candies, and ran over to exchange them with Xiang Jie'er and Liu Douhua, carrying them in his clothes.

Xiangjie took the candy, first giving half to Chen Chuan, and then handing Li Gou'er a chive pancake from the basket: "Here you go, this is a mooncake made by my older sister, isn't it delicious?"

Shen Miao didn't specifically mention that what she made was called chive boxes, so Xiang Jie'er named it herself—doesn't it look like a golden crescent moon? Let's call it mooncake!

Liu Douhua also ran home and got a bowl of tofu pudding, filling it to the brim. As she walked, the tofu pudding swayed slightly in the bowl. She carefully brought it to Li Gou'er and said, "Here, I'll trade you three pieces of candy."

So the four children sat side by side, happily swinging their legs (Chen Chuan could only swing one leg), enjoying the cool breeze, eating chive-flavored "moon cakes," drinking smooth tofu pudding, and sucking on a piece of sweet candy. It was truly a wonderful day that even the gods couldn't compare to.

After finishing her fifth chive pancake, Xiangjie let out a burp and tilted her head as she listened to Liu Douhua boast about how her brother and sister-in-law were going to open another tofu shop in the outer city: "My mother said that this old shop in Yangliu East Lane will be left to me. When I grow up, I will learn to make tofu myself and find a son-in-law to live with me, so I won't have to suffer in someone else's house."

Zhuifeng, following the scent, slipped out of the yard. Chen Chuan caught a glimpse of it, reached out and broke off a small piece of the chive pancake from his hand, stuffing it into the dog's mouth. Zhuifeng obediently lay down beside his wheelchair to eat, and after finishing, it licked its paws.

"I'll start learning how to make tofu next year," Liu Douhua said proudly.

Hearing this, Xiangjie was indeed a little envious: "You're going to make tofu!" Today, when her older sister asked her what she wanted to do, she was actually stumped and didn't know what she could do.

Liu Douhua tilted her head in surprise: "Yes, what else can I do if I don't make tofu? Don't you want to learn how to make soup dumplings with your older sister?"

In this world, children mostly follow in their parents' footsteps. Whatever the parents do, the children will do the same, unless a child in the family goes to school and passes the exams, in which case the whole family will be in a different situation.

“My older sister said I can do whatever I want, even if I don’t learn to make soup dumplings. I can study and learn to write, she’ll let me do whatever I want.” Xiang’er picked up the remaining tofu pudding and drank it again, answering her own question, “I like to eat delicious food, but I don’t seem to like making delicious food that much. I don’t like making tofu, I don’t like brewing wine, I don’t like pressing oil, I don’t like selling charcoal or firewood, and I don’t like mending porcelain. Sigh… I don’t like anything, so what am I going to do?”

Li Gou'er, while eating a chive pancake, interjected, "You like to play, and you also like to shave your head."

Xiangjie glanced at him sideways, her little mouth showing no mercy: "Aren't you going to play? Aunt Li and you have found a new, formidable old man. I heard you crying yesterday saying you didn't want to go to school!"

"Still crying? You're such a grown-up, and you're still crying about not going to school? Drink cold water, shame on you!" Liu Douhua joined in the mockery.

Li Gou'er blushed and quickly told Xiang Jie'er to stop talking.

If she didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't. Xiangjie's little head was filled with big worries. She sighed, rested her chin on her hand, and turned to ask Chen Chuan, "Chen Chuan, what about you?" But as soon as she was asked, she answered herself, "I know you want to go home! Asking you is pointless."

Chen Chuan remained silent throughout, finishing his tofu pudding. Holding the bowl, he calmly gazed at the plump sparrows preening their feathers on the opposite Gu family's courtyard wall. Unlike Xiang Jie'er, he seemed to have already made up his mind.

Gu Tusu pushed several large jars of wine out the back door and saw four children sitting there, their faces covered in chive leaves from eating, earnestly discussing important matters of life—it was quite amusing. He shook his head, shooed away a fat sparrow on the wall, wiped his sweat with the handkerchief hanging around his neck, and pushed his cart out to deliver goods.

His wine was a gift for the Wei family's pastry shop. They had recently hired a pastry chef and launched a new set of wine-filled pastries, which were selling quite well. They had weathered the previous business downturn and had also placed an order for a lot of sweet plum wine with the Gu family, clearly preparing for a big success. As he pushed the wine along, he happened to pass by the Shen family's soup noodle shop.

He subconsciously turned his head to look and was surprised to find that there was a brightly dressed young woman eating soup dumplings in Chenji Shop at this hour. What was even stranger was that she was crying while eating, and her chin was wet from crying.

Gu Tusu didn't linger. He glanced at it and walked away with a puzzled look on his face.

The elder sister's soup dumplings were indeed delicious, but... was this young lady... starving for a long time? How could she cry from eating so much?

Shen Miao didn't notice that someone was crying in the shop. After making soup dumplings for the only customer in the shop, she told him to enjoy his meal and went back to the backyard. With her hands on her hips, she looked around and started cleaning as fast as she could!

On such a clear, sunny day, Chen Miao would never miss it. She immediately took advantage of her free time to take down all the bedding and sheets in the house and wash them. She then hung the clothesline in the yard to dry, and while she was at it, she unclogged the drain in the kitchen sink. She also washed the chicken coop, the doghouse, and the stone path in the yard.

She no longer gets up early to go to the morning market, so she arrives late. She was just brought over by Aunt Nian. When she saw Shen Miao with her hair tied up and sleeves tied, she was frantically cleaning and used up a whole vat of water in an instant. She didn't even eat the leek dumplings that were being offered to her. She immediately grabbed a carrying pole and went to help her carry a vat back.

This child seems to have some kind of compulsion to carry water.

Shen Miao thoroughly cleaned the courtyard. When she saw Xiang Jie'er pushing Chen Chuan back, she grabbed Xiang Jie'er and washed her hair as well without saying a word—Xiang Jie'er hadn't washed her hair for five or six days. Shen Miao untied her braids and washed her hair with the facial soap she had made earlier.

Xiang Jie'er fears nothing but washing her hair.

Now that she was caught by Shen Miao while screaming, there was nothing she could do but squat down, bend over and lower her head, and tremblingly cover her eyes and nose with a handkerchief.

"What's there to be afraid of when you wash your hair? Lower your head a little, I'm going to water you!" Shen Miao took a gourd ladle, scooped up a basin of water that had been warmed by the sun, and poured it over her head without hesitation.

Xiangjie let out a scream, quickly closed her eyes and breath, and covered herself tightly with her handkerchief—last time her older sister washed her nose full of water, which almost choked her to death!

Shen Miao took the soap, lathered it in her palm, and rubbed it on Chen Chuan's head until it was covered in foam. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Chen Chuan's hair had grown quite a bit short. Since washing one child was the same as washing two, she grabbed him and washed him too.

Chen Chuan's leg couldn't get wet, so she covered it with oiled paper. His leg was healing very well, and the old doctor had told him he didn't need to go every day anymore, nor did he need to take any medicine. Now he just needed to rest and wait for the boards to be removed.

Half an hour later, Aunt Gu came to help ahead of time. As soon as she pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped in, she was shocked – Xiang Jie'er, Chen Chuan, and even Lei Ting and Zhui Feng, none of them escaped. The two people and two dogs were sitting together in the sun, their fur soaking wet. The sheets all over the yard were being blown around by the wind, and the people and dogs were all dazed from the sun.

If chickens weren't forbidden from being washed, they probably wouldn't have escaped this fate either.

Aunt Gu shook her head as she watched.

A moment later, she heard a noise behind her. Aunt Gu turned around and saw that there was still more than one person, who was huffing and puffing as he carried water back and forth with great speed.

Aunt Gu: "..."

The Shen family members were so diligent that it frightened her.

Approaching the kitchen, the long table was covered with various earthenware pots for grilling fish. The eldest sister had done so much washing and cleaning all afternoon, and she had even chopped up most of the side dishes. She had already sorted them into categories and portions, and was putting the side dishes into the earthenware pots in advance.

"Auntie, why did you come so early?" Shen Miao was quick and efficient, distributing cucumber strips into a basin.

Aunt Gu then took the already torn cabbage leaves and helped place them one by one: "You're just sitting at home doing nothing. Why don't you come and help out earlier? Once I've taken your money, how can I expect you to work every day at set times?"

Shen Miao smiled sweetly: "Aunt Gu treats me the best."

Aunt Gu smiled and then advised her, "Why don't you rest properly in the middle of the day?"

"I've been getting up late these past few mornings, I've had enough sleep, so why would I go to bed early? Besides, cleaning the house isn't tiring at all, I actually enjoy it!" In her past life, Shen Miao was a strange person who liked to relieve stress by doing deep cleaning or tidying up her room. Seeing her house all clean and tidy gives her a strange sense of satisfaction.

Then the pressure disappeared.

Aunt Gu couldn't dissuade her, so she hurriedly helped her prepare the dishes. Just as they were halfway through, Xiang-jie, her hair still damp and steaming from the sun, poked her head in and said, "Sister, Grandpa Yang has come to deliver the tables and chairs!"

So Shen Miao temporarily stopped what she was doing and went out to inspect the newly ordered tables and chairs. Ever since the grilled fish was launched, the shop had long been short of tables and chairs, and there wasn't enough room to sit inside. Every day, she would set up several extra sets in the front and back yards, borrowing tables and chairs from Aunt Gu and other neighbors. Later, she felt that she couldn't continue like this, so she quickly ordered another batch from Old Man Yang.

Old Man Yang and his apprentice worked overtime to finish it. Knowing that Shen Miao needed it urgently, he delivered it as soon as it was finished today.

Although Madam Shen loved to haggle, she was truly his biggest customer. Ever since Yang Laohan started making carts, building houses, and making all sorts of furniture for Madam Shen, his once-desolate carpentry shop had flourished like it had been injected with fresh water. After all, Madam Shen had many ideas, and the things she made were novel and practical, so more and more people followed suit and placed orders.

So when Madam Shen bargained, Old Man Yang would at most complain a few times, but he was willing to give her a discount. But he couldn't do that with other people. He had figured out a way to deal with them: if a customer tried to lower the price, he would only give in twice at most, otherwise the other party would take advantage of him and he would not be able to do business with them. He would stick to his bottom line and not change his mind even if the customer left.

Most of the time, those people leave, but they'll come back soon after.

The newly ordered set of tables and chairs was also made according to Madam Shen's instructions. He engraved the table number on each table, and added the words "Chen Ji" to the table legs and chair legs, and then painted them with cinnabar, making them very eye-catching.

Seeing that the tables and chairs were polished very smoothly and the paint was applied evenly, Shen Miao took out money for Old Man Yang and praised him from the bottom of her heart: "Old man, your craftsmanship is getting better and better, it's done just right."

Old Man Yang misunderstood and immediately became wary: "I've already waived a lot of change for you, I can't add any more."

When others round down a bill of 282 coins, they might only ask to round down 2 coins to make it a round 280. But Madam Shen is different. She's shameless, and when she asks to round down, she always asks to round down 82 coins.

Who can round down to 82 coins? Is that even a fraction of a cent? At first, Old Man Yang couldn't believe he was being taken advantage of, but later he ended up being taken advantage of countless times.

Shen Miao suppressed a laugh and handed him half a string of coins: "I really want to praise you. I didn't ask you to give me any extra. Look how scared you were. Here. This is what we agreed on, not a penny less."

After saying that, she pointed to the alley and said, "By the way, the Liu family who runs the tofu shop is going to open a new shop in the outer city. They said they need to make a batch of new tables, chairs, benches and furniture. They came to me, and I recommended you to them. You can go find them directly in a little while."

Shen Miao looked left and right, and seeing that no one was around, whispered to Old Man Yang, "Aunt Liu asked me how much money I spent on the table and chairs. I told her the price you quoted to others. When you go there, you can negotiate the price with her yourself. How the negotiation goes is between the two of you. I won't interfere."

Both sides are acquaintances, and if she told the Liu family that she bought at a low price, it wouldn't be good for Old Man Yang. But if she helped Old Man Yang raise the price, she would feel guilty. It would be best to let them negotiate the price themselves.

Old Man Yang was overjoyed. He helped Shen Miao set up the table and chairs and then went straight to the Liu family's house.

Shen Miao watched Old Man Yang enter the Liu family's house. Then, she glanced thoughtfully at the house next door, which used to be the soap-making shop but had been vacant for a long time. A while ago, a middleman brought people to look at the shop, saying that the owner owed Xingguo Temple a huge debt and, unable to pay it back, was going to sell the house.

But even though Shen Miao has been back for so long, she still hasn't sold any.

Land in Bianjing is incredibly valuable; a shop in a prime location within the inner city has already reached three thousand strings of cash, and even shops along the Imperial Street are selling for a staggering twenty thousand strings of cash. Otherwise, why would Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen, who owned two shops and lived a comfortable life, still covet the Shen family's soup noodle shop and hesitate to hand over the land and property deeds?

Three thousand strings of cash is equivalent to three thousand taels of silver, which is roughly equivalent to four or five hundred taels of gold, depending on the price of silver in a particular year. Let alone ordinary families, even among officials' families, only a minority could afford to spend so much money to buy something unless they were born into wealth.

This shop isn't big, even smaller than the Shen family's, so they didn't offer three thousand strings of cash. A while ago, the Liu family also inquired about this shop with a middleman about opening a new tofu shop. They said they originally offered two thousand strings of cash, but Xingguo Temple was pressing them for repayment, and if they couldn't sell it, they would jump into the Bian River. Now they've lowered the price to one thousand five hundred strings of cash.

1,500 strings of cash was a bit expensive. The Liu family gave up on it, preferring to open a shop in the outer city, which was farther away, but the price of a shop there was more than half lower. As for Shen Miao, she was actually somewhat tempted. She also considered her own wealth, but after hesitating, she still didn't make a move.

She had actually been thinking about expanding the shop for a while. At present, the Shen family shop can only fit five or six tables at most. Even if three more tables are set up at the entrance, it is still too few and there is no room for everyone. A few days ago, she also set up a few tables in the back courtyard and the alleyway at the entrance, but that was a last resort.

If she continues to encroach on the alley like this, the neighbors may not say anything now, but they will eventually become unhappy. Rather than causing trouble, it would be better to take over another shop. That way, the two shops can be combined, making the shop more spacious and accommodating more people. It won't occupy the "public passageway" and will also appear cleaner and tidier.

Besides this road, Shen Miao had also considered renting a larger shop elsewhere, but she had just made a name for herself in Yangliu East Alley, and if she could stay here, it would be better not to move elsewhere for a bigger shop. Moreover, her own shop didn't require rent, which greatly reduced her costs.

But she couldn't afford to take over the shop next door, so she was in a dilemma: either grit her teeth and take out a mortgage to become a slave to her old-fashioned mortgage and take over the shop, or move to another location, rent out her own shop to someone else, and start over by renting a larger shop from someone else.

However, whether it's expanding the shop or renting a larger one, besides the issue of money, there's also the issue of staffing. Right now, with the shop small, she's the head chef, Yu works as a general helper, and Aunt Gu is a waitress—that's about enough to manage. But if the shop gets bigger and the table turnover rate increases, more people will be needed. Based on Shen Miao's previous experience running a medium-sized restaurant, she'd need at least one head chef, one kitchen helper, two general helpers, and two waitresses.

That would mean hiring three more people, which would be another cost.

So how should one choose? Should one seize the opportunity and stride forward, or be more cautious and maintain the status quo for now?

Shen Miao pondered for a moment and then went back to the kitchen to continue her work. For the first time since arriving here, she had experienced some troubles.

While she was struggling with whether to take out a loan to expand her shop or buy a new one, Shen Ji, who had been studying at the academy for several days, stared at the gray porridge with rice husks in front of him, and hesitated to pick up his chopsticks.

Every meal at Biyong Academy tasted like the swill porridge cooked by Manager Zhou, which caused him a lot of trouble.

He remembered that his sister had brought him thin noodles and hulled rice, so why did it turn out like this? Shen Ji almost wanted to rush into the kitchen to see what was going on.

“I can’t take it anymore, I’m starving to death,” Haige’er suddenly sat down next to him with a plate in his hand, sighing, “How can the cooking skills of the chefs at Zhuoyintang be worse than my mother’s? It’s practically inedible! No wonder everyone who comes to Zhuoyintang for meals every day complains.”

Shen Ji still remembered what had happened before. He originally didn't want to talk to Hai Ge'er, but the two of them ran into each other when they came in to deliver rice on the first day. They also ran into each other every time they ate. It was really strange.

However, they are cousins ​​after all, and they studied at the same academy, so it was not right to ignore them.

The students in Shen Ji's dormitory were all quite nice; none of them were overly competitive or petty, and their temperaments were all similar. Shen Ji got along with them quite well.

Hai Ge'er was in the Dingzi Schoolhouse, where the students, unfortunately, were all incredibly diligent, studying day and night, even reading while using the outhouse. That wasn't all; there was also a Du Fu poetry fanatic who copied a poem by Du Fu every day, then ate the paper, hoping to absorb the poet's inspiration and one day write poems like the poet himself.

Hai Ge'er didn't like to study hard and only thought about food all day long. But now, the situation was different. His family background was only average in the academy, so people didn't care to curry favor with him and disapproved of his laziness in his studies. As a result, Hai Ge'er didn't get along well with the others.

Therefore, he felt a sense of familiarity with Shen Ji whenever he met him, and he would shamelessly approach him and try to please him.

You can't hit someone who's smiling. Now that Shen Ji has his older sister to rely on, his mindset is quite different. He even feels a bit more tolerant of Hai Ge'er and doesn't bother to chase him away anymore. Gradually, their relationship has improved compared to before.

Now, Haige'er lay weakly on the table. His stomach was empty, and his internal organs were all rebelling. He couldn't take it anymore, so he whispered to Shenji, "Why don't we do what those students do... and spend money to hire two idle men to run errands for us and buy some food?"

Shen Ji lifted his eyelids: "Sending them on a trip would cost at least twenty coins, which is very expensive." Although his sister had given him a lot of money, he had always been frugal with his money at the academy. The money was all earned by his sister through hard work, so how could he dare to squander it like that?

I wonder how my elder sister and Xiang-jie are doing lately, how business is at the shop, and whether they are working hard.

“It’s my treat!” Haige’er said eagerly. “Have you seen the essay written by that student Ning from the Jia dormitory? It’s being circulated and copied all over the academy! He wrote about how he ate grilled fish, how delicious it was, and even included illustrations. It’s so tempting! I only read it once, and I’ve already soaked two handkerchiefs with drool.”

Shen Ji looked up at him, then moved his lips slightly: "Grilled fish?"

"Yes! As Ning Xuezi wrote: 'Strolling through the night market, I suddenly smelled the aroma of food... A ceramic pot was filled with mixed vegetables, and in the center lay a large fish, with a small stove underneath, charcoal burning brightly. When the soup boiled like pearls, the fish was gradually submerged in the broth. Soon, the fish skin was crispy and fragrant, and the flesh was cooked through. Call over two or three friends, and eat it while it's stewing. The aroma, the spiciness, the freshness, and the deliciousness are all combined, making one feel intoxicated...'"

Shen Ji twitched the corner of his mouth: "You actually memorized it."

"How about it? I'll treat you to this grilled fish tonight, no need for you to pay. Idlers aren't allowed into the academy, they can only slip in through the back wall. We'll eat there and then go back." Hai-ge'er pleaded with his hands clasped together. "Just keep me company this once. Our academy teacher has a fierce temper, I'm afraid he'll punish me if I sneak out to eat. You're a student in the first dormitory, with you here, you shouldn't get beaten up, okay? Please."

Shen Ji thought for a moment, then asked curiously, "It's been delivered all the way from the inner city, won't it get cold? How are we supposed to eat it then?"

"Huh? How did you know it was sent from the inner city? You must have heard about it too!" Hai-ge'er had obviously already inquired. "For an extra ten coins, you can buy that earthenware pot. The shopkeeper will put the fried fish and vegetables in the pot, and put broth in a bamboo tube. After the idler brings it over, we'll simmer it ourselves on a small stove, pour in the broth, and wait for it to boil before we can eat. Some students in the second dormitory have already eaten it this way!"

I see. My elder sister is so clever.

Shen Ji stroked his chin and agreed.

Hai-ge'er immediately poured the swill porridge in his hand into the swill bucket, extremely excited. He pulled Ji-ge'er out of the Zhuoyintang and kept chattering, his mouth full of culinary knowledge:

"There's so much better food in your inner city! You must have tried all these good things! After all, you brought instant soup noodles with you on the day of your exam, and I only found out about these delicious treats later. Oh, I heard there are new steamed buns, Yanzhou fried sauce soup noodles, steamed soup noodles... Oh, they all sound so tempting! It's a pity that Father and Mother only come to the inner city to collect rent. Before, they even took me to the countryside for almost half a month to collect grain. As soon as we got back to Bianjing, they threw me back into this cage! I haven't been able to eat a single thing! Otherwise, I would have eaten all of these instant soup noodles, steamed buns, and Yanzhou fried sauce soup noodles as I walked down the street."

He spoke with great fervor, drooling and his face trembling with excitement, as if he were making some grand vow.

Shen Ji looked at him as if he were a fool.

When he heard people talking about these things, was he so focused on how delicious the food was that he didn't remember the shop owner's name at all? Or did he think there were so many people with the surname Shen in the world that he never even considered his own family?

Let's say, is it possible that all of these things were done by his older sister?