Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Dinner

After a while, Li Juhua stood outside the door and called Gu Jiayue out for dinner.

Before entering the village, they had not expected to encounter so many things. So when they were in the city, they did not have a proper meal, but just ate a bowl of wontons each on the roadside.

When they arrived at the village, there was running and noise everywhere, and Gu Jiayue was already hungry.

But after seeing the food on the table, she suddenly lost her appetite.

More than ten people were sitting crowded together on the small table, but there were only three basins on the table that were almost as big as their faces.

One of the bowls contained coarse flour steamed bread, which was yellow with black spots and had no appetite at all.

A bowl contained a pot of stewed radish with sauerkraut. It was impossible to tell whether oil was added and there was no aroma at all.

The last bowl contained stir-fried cabbage. You could see the oil in this dish, and occasionally you could find some shredded meat hidden in the gaps between the cabbage.

Grandma Gu placed the pot of stir-fried cabbage in front of Gu Jiayue, then picked up two steamed buns with her bare hands and placed them in her bowl. She said in her unskilled Mandarin, "Second girl, eat as much as you can. Don't be polite."

The steamed bread, which was not white to begin with, became even richer in color after being pinched by Grandma Gu.

Hua Chao noticed Gu Jiayue's embarrassment and whispered in her ear, "Miss, how about I go to the county town and order two dishes for you?" Gu Jiayue quickly pulled Hua Chao's sleeve, signaling her not to make a sound.

She also had a hard life when she was a child.

At the time, her parents hadn't divorced, but they often worked away from home. After she was born, they left her to live with her grandmother in the countryside. Her grandmother was elderly and poor, and her parents didn't send any money home. So she went with her grandmother to the square every day, collecting bottles. The money they earned from selling them was just enough for their three meals a day.

At that time, we ate corn rice every day. My grandmother's cooking skills were not good, and the rice was so rough that it hurt my throat, but if we didn't eat it, we would starve to death.

There were no extra vegetables, just potatoes and cabbage. The only time we could eat meat was during the Chinese New Year.

Later, when her grandmother passed away and her father took her to the city, she learned that her parents had divorced long ago and each had a new family. Her father had a new wife and a new child.

That child would ask her every day, "When will you leave my house?"

Whenever this happened, Gu Jiayue was at a loss.

She wanted to say that this was also her home, but unfortunately, she couldn't say it because she had no sense of belonging.

So when she asked to live on campus, both adults in the family breathed a sigh of relief.

That day, her new mother cooked many of her favorite dishes for her, but unfortunately, Gu Jiayue felt that they were still not as delicious as the boiled cabbage made by her grandmother.

A rough hand grasped Gu Jiayue's soft buttocks and patted it gently. "Is it not to your taste? Then try this."

A bowl of egg custard was handed to her.

That hand was like a rough old bark, which would hurt the back of Gu Jiayue's hand with friction, but the warmth it conveyed had a familiarity that penetrated deep into the soul.

"Grandma?" Gu Jiayue lowered her head and seemed to see another old lady through her hands.

Grandma used to hold her hand like this and promise her, "Jiayue, be good. I'll buy you some Ding Ding candy tomorrow when we go to the market."

She was so young that she didn't know the price of dingding candy. The next day, when her grandmother went to the market, she waited for her grandmother at the entrance of the village alone.

Seeing grandma from afar, the thin little old lady carrying a basket on her back, staggering towards the intersection, she quickly stepped forward to greet her. "Grandma, my Ding Ding candy."

Eight times out of ten, her grandmother would tell her, "The old man who bought the ding ding candy is dead."

But occasionally, if the old man selling ding ding candy is still alive, grandma will buy some.

Grandma held the candy tightly with her rough hands and said, "Just lick it twice. You have to eat this candy for a month, otherwise you won't be able to buy it next time if the old man doesn't come."

"Girl?" Gu Jiayue retracted her wandering thoughts and looked at the bright yellow egg custard in front of her. Her heart warmed: "It's okay, grandma. These dishes are delicious."

Because Gu Jiayue hadn't picked up her chopsticks yet, everyone in the family was looking at her with their bowls in hand.

The youngest children in the family stared at the egg custard in front of Gu Jiayue, their saliva almost filling the bowls in front of them.

The person who cooked the egg custard must have good skills. The golden egg custard is neither too old nor too tender, and it looks very tempting at first glance.

But Gu Jiayue was an adult, and she didn't like eggs. So even if she was very hungry, she couldn't do something like monopolizing the egg custard and stir-fried cabbage.

She first picked up the bowl of egg custard and used the chopsticks in her hand to divide the egg custard into more than ten portions. She first gave the middle portion to Grandma Gu, then Grandpa Gu, and then several children in the family.

After dividing the custard among the others, only one piece remained in the bowl. Gu Jiayue gave the last piece of egg custard to Hua Chao and said, "Everyone, let's eat." After that, she took the first bite of the steamed bread in the bowl and took a big bite.

Chew, chew, chew...

Well, Gu Jiayue had overestimated herself. This steamed cornbread must have been mixed with sand. Even if she stretched her neck, she couldn't swallow it. It was three times more unpalatable than the ones my grandmother used to make when I was a child.

Eating a steamed bun seemed to take half her life away.

After the comparison, she suddenly felt that the corn dumpling rice made by her grandmother when she was a child was not that bad.

The thought of having to eat this every day made her feel sad.

No, while completing the tasks assigned by the system, we must also improve our basic living standards.

Gu Jiayue was chewing on a steamed bun while perfecting her plan in her mind, not noticing that everyone in the Gu family was glancing at her out of the corner of their eyes while eating.

After a while, everyone exchanged glances with each other, and everything was said without words.

After finally finishing the meal, Gu Jiayue wanted to help clear the table, but everyone stopped her, saying that she had been tired all day and should go to bed early.

She couldn't argue, so she had to take Hua Chao back to the room.

Entering the room, Hua Chao burst into tears that she had been holding back for a long time. "Miss, life here is too hard. Let's go back to the Marquis' Mansion."

Even the lowest-ranking servants in the Marquis's mansion ate a better dinner than the one just now.

The young lady has been living a life of luxury since she was a child, but now she will have to eat these things every day. Just thinking about it makes her feel so miserable.

Gu Jiayue had expected Hua Chao's collapse.

After all, although Hua Chao was a servant in the Marquis's mansion, she was a personal maid who served the Marquis personally. Not only did she receive a monthly salary of one or two taels of silver, but she could also make two sets of clothes and get some jewelry every quarter, and her daily meals consisted of three dishes, two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.

After her shift, she returned to her room and had a maid to serve her. Such treatment was beyond the reach of ordinary ladies.

People who are used to a good life cannot tolerate the life in Taohua Village.

The people here may not be able to make a set of clothes throughout the year, and they can only eat something dry and good during the busy farming days.

On weekdays, people only eat lunch. In winter, some families even only eat one meal every three days. When they are hungry, they drink water, and after drinking water, they go to sleep.

The only reason there were stir-fried dishes and meat on the table today was because Gu Jiayue had just returned. Before, the Gu family didn't eat dinner at night.

Usually, I just put everything I have at home together, cook a big pot and serve it to everyone.

Gu Jiayue didn't scold Hua Chao. Instead, she pulled her to sit on the bed and held her hand tightly. "Hua Chao, do you believe me?"

Hua Chao didn't know why the young lady asked this question, but she nodded without hesitation: "Of course I believe you, young lady."

She had been with the young lady since she was young, so she naturally knew how smart she was.

I still remember that when I was ten years old, the Marquis encountered a difficult problem, and the young lady helped the Marquis solve it with just three sentences. The Marquis was so surprised that he couldn't help but sigh that if the young lady was a boy, he would definitely have a bright future.

"Since you trust me, don't say such things again. If you really can't get used to life here, then go back to the Marquis' Mansion with the guards. I believe Wangshu will treat you well."

Hua Chao almost cried when she heard this: "Miss, it's not that I can't endure hardship, it's that I feel bad for you. Obviously, you don't have to live like this."

Gu Jiayue felt somewhat helpless: "But, this is how I was meant to live. If I hadn't been taken away by mistake, I would have been living like this since I was a child."

Hua Chao opened her mouth, unsure what to say, and ultimately wiped away her tears. "I understand, young lady. I will never say such discouraging words again. You are so intelligent, you will definitely live a good life. From now on, I will take good care of the household and take good care of the master and mistress, so that young lady will have no worries."

There were still tears in Hua Chaoyuan's eyes, and her childish face was full of unyielding seriousness, as if she and her friends were playing house when they were little, and each little child was vying to be the mother.

"Okay, our Hua Chao will definitely be the most powerful housekeeper in the future." Gu Jiayue raised her thumbs up. Although Hua Chao didn't know what this gesture meant, she was definitely praising herself.

The atmosphere around them was a little strange, and Hua Chao could only run away with a red face: "Miss, I'll go get some water for you to wash up."

As Hua Chao left, Li Juhua came in: "Yue'er? Are you asleep?"

Gu Jiayue sat up: "Not yet, is there anything else, mother?"

Li Juhua hid her hands in her sleeves, hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head: "Nothing. You should rest first."

Gu Jiayue didn't believe it. If there was nothing wrong, why would he come to disturb her?

She got out of bed and grabbed Li Juhua who was about to leave: "Mom, we are a family, just tell me what's going on."

Encouraged by her, Li Juhua took out a velvet flower from her sleeve and said, "You also know the situation in our family. When Wangshu came of age, I made a velvet flower for her. Now that you are here, I thought you should have one too."

Gu Jiayue took the headdress and looked at it in the faint moonlight.

In modern times, Gu Jiayue had a friend who liked to make various kinds of jewelry. For a while, she became obsessed with velvet flowers because of a TV series, so Gu Jiayue also knew a thing or two about this intangible cultural heritage.

Top-quality velvet flowers are made from the finest silk threads, which are separated and combed through complicated procedures that take a long time to make into a small piece.

As for the one that Li's mother gave to Gu Jiayue, it can be seen at a glance that it is not made of silk thread, but of silk thread drawn from cloth.

Although it was rough, it was a mother's love for her daughter. Gu Jiayue gently stroked one of the leaves with her hand: "Are you afraid that I will dislike it?"

Mother Li lowered her head, her hands constantly tugging at the hem of her clothes: "After all, you are in the Marquis' Mansion, what good things have you not seen? This velvet flower is really not presentable."

The last time she went to the county, she heard that the county magistrate's daughter had her coming-of-age ceremony and changed her clothes and jewelry three times, each time more luxurious than the last.

Jiayue was once a young lady from the Marquis's Mansion, so the scene must have been even more grand. This velvet flower made of defective fabric...

"Mother, you can't compare them like that. In my heart, it is as precious as the pearls and gems in the Marquis' Mansion."

This is a mother's love for her daughter, how could she say anything bad about it?

Besides, don’t underestimate this small velvet flower. In modern times, it is an intangible cultural heritage. The production process is extremely complicated and the price is expensive.

"Mom, does it look good?" Gu Jiayue pinned the velvet flower on her braid and shook her head playfully from side to side.

It was late at night, and the moonlight was so faint that it was difficult to clearly see the color of the velvet flower. However, Li Juhua nodded vigorously: "It looks good. My Yue'er looks good in anything she wears."