Chapter 15 What happens if you skip a meal?

"you……"

Sang Zhixia said inexplicably: "Did you go to the illegal coal mine to dig coal?"

Xu Yu said calmly, "No, I just went out with Brother Wu to do some odd jobs for a day."

He realized the difficulty of survival earlier than others, but unfortunately he had no experience in survival.

When he was repairing the roof yesterday, he paid attention and asked a few questions. Wu Changgui immediately introduced him to a way to make money. Today was his first attempt.

How can you not be embarrassed when you earn money through hard labor?

He reached out and wiped the black dust from his forehead, then said calmly, "Brother Wu said this job will take a while, so I'll just do it for now."

At least there is some income every day.

He was vague and didn't want to elaborate. He just said this and went to find some clean clothes to change into.

But Sang Zhixia noticed the stiffness in his movements as he walked, and the faint traces of blood on his shoulders.

What kind of job is Xu Yu looking for?

She turned around and saw Xu Wenxiu's eyes filled with heartache. She paused and said meaningfully, "Mother-in-law, there are so many mouths to feed at home. Xu Yu can't be the only one working hard outside."

Xu Wenxiu is weak by nature and cannot be helped.

Xu Yu, however, was tolerant in everything because of the crime that led to the Xu family being exiled here.

But there is no point in talking about the past. Since we are tied together to live together, we cannot just pick on one person.

Xu Yu is a human being, not an old ox that should be worked to death.

Xu Wenxiu's eyes welled up with tears after hearing this. She gritted her teeth and said, "You're right. You can't bully my son like this."

You can bully her in any way you want.

It’s not okay to bully her son!

Seeing that she was on his side, Sang Zhixia raised the corners of his lips playfully.

It's not bad. He knows how to help his own people. He's not completely stupid.

There is no well at home, so we have to fetch water manually for eating, drinking and washing.

In order to save the little water left in the jar, Xu Yu took his clothes and went to the only small river in the village.

When he came back, Sang Zhixia was already cooking. The others heard the noise but still showed no intention of coming out to see what was going on.

But unlike Xu Yu who just cooked porridge, she directly opened the tied flour bag.

Pile the white flour into a small hill in a wooden basin, add some salt and mix evenly, dig a small hole on the top and add boiling water to knead it into dough.

The soft dough became particularly obedient in her hands, and she could shape it into a ball or flatten it with just a few pulls. Xu Wenxiu, who wanted to help, stared at her for a long time, her eyes wide open. In the end, she could only squeeze out a sentence: "What can I do?"

Sang Zhixia didn't bother to be polite with her. Without even looking up, she said, "There seem to be some edible vegetables in the vegetable garden in the backyard. Could you go pick some and bring them back?"

The vegetable garden had not been abandoned for long, and there were still some seeds sown by the previous owner. They were not growing well due to lack of care, but there were quite a few wild vegetables growing there, which could be eaten after being pulled back, washed, and eaten.

Xu Wenxiu nodded solemnly, took Xu Mingxu's hand and hurried away.

Xu Yu placed the dripping clothes in his arms into the basin, walked over to the stove, looked at the snow-white dough, and whispered, "Didn't I tell you to rest?"

He kept dragging his feet in order to force those who were too hungry to bear it to do it themselves.

Otherwise, whoever does it will never be able to let go.

Thinking that Sang Zhixia would most likely be tied to the stove with words in the future, he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Give it to me."

"Can you?"

Sang Zhixia glanced at him with amusement: "This thing is different from cooking rice porridge. It's not edible if you just throw it into the pot."

She raised her chin to signal Xu Yu to step back, then slowly stretched the noodles in her hand and said, "I know what you're worried about, but I'm not a fool."

"That big bowl contains prickly ash. Grind it up and apply it to the sore skin on your shoulder."

Xu Yu's outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, and he subconsciously glanced at his shoulder which was well wrapped in clothes.

Sang Zhixia was amused by his action and scoffed, "You've never done rough work before, so it's normal for your skin to be unable to bear it for a while. So why are you being so stubborn?"

"There's no medicine to stop bleeding or relieve pain at home. I only found some prickly ash. You can apply it on the wound and you can eat later."

Xu Yu nodded with a complicated expression.

When he came out after grinding the herbs and applying them on his shoulders, Sang Zhixia was already boiling water to cook noodles.

The round dough is stretched into noodles of equal thickness, and then turned back and forth in the boiling water after being put into the pot.

Sang Zhixia neatly added some cold water to the pot, picked up the various wild vegetables Xu Wenxiu had dug from the garden, and explained, "Grandma, these with the fluffy tops are dandelions. They're bitter when eaten alone, but they have the effect of reducing internal heat. I'll pick them up and boil some water for Xu Yu to drink later."

"This one with serrated leaves lying on the ground is called autumn mustard. This one with slender leaves is Artemisia selengensis. This one with small yellow flowers is Purslane. These are all edible."

Xu Wenxiu frowned and listened carefully, memorizing every word.

She was full of anxiety when she was digging just now, and she didn't know whether what she dug out was edible. After getting Sang Zhixia's approval, she felt much more at ease.

Seeing that she was listening carefully, Sang Zhixia slowed down his speech a lot.

Being open to new things is a good sign.

At least it proves that her stepmother-in-law is willing to lend a hand.

She wouldn't mind teaching more.

Three-year-old Xu Mingxu didn't understand such a long string of words. She held a handful of wild grass with small balls growing on the roots in her little hands and handed it to her.

"Look, sister-in-law!"

"I'm kidding!"

He helped too!

Sang Zhixia recognized it immediately, but she still took it, pinched it off, and sniffed it, pretending to be surprised and praising: "Little Mingxu is amazing, this is a must-have wild onion for noodles, and you found it!"

Xu Mingxu smiled happily, twisted his body and hugged Xu Yu's calf.

"Brother, my sister-in-law praised me!"

Xu Yu rubbed his little head amusedly, took the wild vegetables that Sang Zhixia had picked out, and said, "I'll go wash them."

"OK."

"I'll also blanch some green leafy vegetables for you to add to your noodles."

As they were talking, the noodles mixed with cold water were boiling. Sang Zhixia used chopsticks to cut off a piece to make sure it was cooked, and immediately took it out and put it in bowls of different sizes.

Sprinkle some chopped wild onions and blanched wild vegetables, add a little oil and salt and you have a meal.

But she thought of Xu Yu who had done hard labor all day, and decisively cracked a few eggs into the boiling water.

The rich aroma of noodles wafted from the stove, and people who had been staying indoors came out one after another.

Aunt Xu looked at the bowls of noodles on the stove as if reviewing them, and said critically, "This is good enough. It's time to get something else to eat."

What's the matter with drinking porridge all day?

My intestines are so dry from drinking!

Sang Zhixia chuckled after hearing this and handed her two large bowls of noodles: "Second Aunt, these are for Grandpa and Grandma, please help carry them over."

At a dinner table, elders should be given priority. Aunt Xu had no objection to this and hurried over with her bowl.

But when she turned around and walked back, there were only cold noodles on the chopping board and a pot of turbid noodle soup on the stove.

Sang Zhixia placed the remaining bowls on a board, ignoring her shocked look and said to Xu Yu, "The largest bowl is yours. Take it away."

Xu Yu extended his hand obediently.

She then said, "Mother-in-law, this bowl is yours."

"Mingxu and Jinxi's are in the small bowls."

The remaining bowl is hers.

She made enough noodles for the whole family, but in the end, only this much was put into the bowl.

It’s gone once it’s divided!

Uncle Xu, who was sitting at the table holding chopsticks, was surprised when he saw this and asked, "Where are ours?"

You can’t eat it raw!

Sang Zhixia said confidently, "Isn't there more on the stove? Boil the water and cook it yourself."

She even made the noodles, will she die if she cooks them?

Without waiting for the protests of Second and Third Aunt Xu, whose eyebrows were raised, she continued, "Grandpa and Grandma are the elders. It's not surprising that they just stretch out their hands for clothes and open their mouths for food. But uncle and aunt, you are not old enough to be unable to move your hands, right?"

"Before, Xu Yu took on the kitchen work himself out of consideration for his elders' hard work. This cannot happen again in the future."

She smiled and looked up at the old lady who seemed unhappy, and said lightly: "If we talk about former noble status, Second Aunt and Third Aunt are not as high as my mother-in-law. She can even dig wild vegetables by herself. Is there anything you can't do by yourselves?"

"Is it difficult to cook noodles? If you can't do it, you might as well starve."

At most, she took on the old lady and the old man's share to shut them up, but she had no control over the rest.

Aunt Xu said in disbelief, "What would happen if you cooked it at once?"

"What happens if you skip a meal?"