Chapter 4 Chapter 4 I didn’t expect to go back to my old job...

After Liu and Yu left the Xiao family, Sun breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Lin Qiuran several times and said, "Qiuran, what you just said was to let your mother go or..."

Sun wanted to ask whether he was just saying it casually or seriously.

As Xiao Xun's mother, Sun naturally hoped that Lin Qiuran would give birth to the child, but she could not force Lin Qiuran. What if she didn't want to commit suicide, or if she hit her belly on purpose, then the child would be gone and the adults would be in trouble too.

But today she actually heard Lin Qiuran say that she wanted to give birth to the child. Even if it was just an excuse and only a glimmer of hope, Sun still wanted to ask.

Lin Qiuran nodded and said, "I wanted to give birth to the child myself. I'm heartbroken that Xiao Xun is gone, but the dead cannot be resurrected. Mother, I have feelings for Xiao Xun, but I'm afraid the child will be born without a father, and left alone. But after all these days, seeing you two treat me better than your own daughter and take care of me in every way, I can't bear it."

As she spoke, Lin Qiuran lowered her head. She couldn't cry and could only wipe her eyes. Although she thought that giving birth to a child would be good for her, her parents' family was unreliable, so it would be better for her to stay in the Xiao family.

Rather than raising someone else's child, it's better to raise your own, but you can't tell Sun and Xiao Dashi that.

The two were grateful to her for giving birth to the child and would treat her and the child better in the future. She had originally wanted to keep the child, but the arrival of Liu and Yu today only deepened this idea.

I don’t know who I’ll marry if I remarry, so it’s better for me to stay in the Xiao family.

Sun's tears fell, she was crying with joy. Xiao Dashi also came in, "What's wrong with you?"

Sun burst into tears and threw herself into Xiao Dashi's arms. Her voice was choked with sobs and her words were incoherent. "His father, Qiu, Qiuran said that she wanted to give birth to the child."

Xiao Xun's death was a stone weighing on the two of them. Xiao Dashi's hair had turned white these days, and he looked more than a year older. Seeing the young die was Sun's plan for Lin Qiuran, but deep down she still hoped that she could keep the child.

Xiao Dashi also started crying, and the two of them hugged each other and sobbed loudly. Lin Qiuran sighed. From an outsider's perspective, it wasn't easy for Sun and Xiao Dashi either.

After she was tired of crying, Sun cleaned herself up, washed her face, and went to the kitchen to stew fish soup. It was still morning, so she cooked two eggs for Lin Qiuran as breakfast.

Along with the food, a purse and some yellowed papers were served on the table. Sun sat down opposite Lin Qiuran and said, "Qiuran, eat. I'll tell you about my family."

Lin Qiuran nodded and listened while eating.

Sun said, "We have these three houses at home. Here are the deeds. We also have three acres of land. The deeds are also here. After Xiao Xun's death, the court didn't give any money, but they exempted the land tax for five years. The silver I told you about the other day is just over three taels left, and there's five taels from selling the Ganoderma lucidum. I'm old now, so you'll be in charge of the family affairs from now on."

Lin Qiuran said, "Mom, this is not possible."

Sun said, "Don't refuse. You are both a daughter and a daughter-in-law, so it's your responsibility to take care of things. It's just that our family doesn't have much money, so I'm sorry to have put you in such a difficult position."

Lin Qiuran knew that Sun did this to make herself feel at ease, but wasn't she afraid that she would run away with the money?

Lin Qiuran glanced at Xiao Dashi, who nodded. "Just keep what your mother gave you. Buy whatever you want to eat."

Lin Qiuran nodded, took the change, and left the copper coins untouched. "You and Dad also need money. I'll just save the bulk of it."

Sun grinned, "Eat quickly, eat quickly. Your father and I were discussing this. Xiao Xun died in the battle. Although there's no body, we still need to erect a tombstone. We also need to invite everyone in the village to come. We have food and other things at home. I'll take care of it when the time comes, and you don't have to worry about it."

And there are fish, so it’s a decent way to go.

Lin Qiuran almost forgot about this. Although the body was gone, the funeral must be held. Building a cenotaph was the way to bury the deceased. Besides, the Xiao family also attended other people's funerals, so the ceremony had to be performed.

Making banquets happens to be what Lin Qiuran is good at. If others see her good skills, she will be able to make a living in the future.

She said, "Mom, leave this to me."

Although this era is definitely not as good as the future and there are not as many meat dishes, it is not difficult for her. Her ability can be seen only when there is less food.

Sun said, "You are pregnant, why are you so worried?"

Lin Qiuran said, "After all, this is Xiao Xun's funeral, and I am here to see him off. Besides, since you asked me to be the housekeeper, then you should listen to me."

Sun was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Mother didn't stop you from taking care of it, she was just worried about your health."

Lin Qiuran said, "I know what's going on."

She had a child, but she still had to be able to support herself. Besides, Sun and Xiao Dashi were both in their forties, and life expectancy was short in this era. She couldn't rely solely on them. She hadn't expected to return to her old job and take care of her cheap husband's funeral.

Lin Qiuran glanced down at the fish soup Sun had made for her that morning. It was a little bland, and the color of the soup was pale white, not a pure milky white. However, the fish was fresh. If she had made it, it would definitely taste better.

Lin Qiuran also thought that if the dish tasted good, he could take it to the county town to sell it. He would make a small number of them first, try them out, and then make more if they were really successful.

Tomorrow, the funeral will be held, and Sun will go door to door to inform everyone. Lin Qiuran also just learned that everyone in Xiaojia Village is related. Xiao Dashi has brothers and sisters, but they stopped communicating several years ago.

Now the Xiao family lives in the east end of the village, and the other family lives in the west end. This time when Xiao Xun was holding a funeral, he didn't invite anyone. Sun came back and said that there were four tables in total, with ten people at each table and six dishes on each table.

In the village, this was considered a good feast. Every household was poor, and Lin Qiuran already had an idea of ​​the six dishes in mind.

Sun also went to work. Although Lin Qiuran said she would take care of it and not to worry about it, she still helped out. She could cook four fish and then go to the vegetable garden to pick and wash the vegetables.

He also packed up Xiao Xun's clothes and prepared to bury him.

This time, Sun didn't cry. Although her son was gone, she still had her daughter-in-law and child. Lin Qiuran was lucky to be able to keep the baby in her belly, so she didn't care whether it was a boy or a girl.

In the afternoon, Lin Qiuran thought about the dishes. Fish is a pure meat dish, one fish per table. The dishes made at noon in the past two days can also be added, such as stir-fried pumpkin which is half meat, and green pepper and eggplant which are vegetarian dishes.

If you have a lot of eggplants at home, you can make a dish called Three Fresh Vegetables, which means four dishes in total: three hot dishes and one cold dish, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.

There are two more dishes. Lin Qiuran plans to make smashed cucumber. The sauce she prepared is unmatched. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is delicious even for dipping shoe soles in it. Sun also asked her to change some meat tomorrow morning. Lin Qiuran asked her to change a few pieces of tofu and make minced meat tofu. The six dishes will be complete.

But meat was hard to come by in the village. If you couldn't catch the butcher, you had to go to the county town. Xiaojia Village was ten miles away, so Sun had to get up early to go there.

In the evening, Lin Qiuran found the money and said, "Mom, I've eaten all the chickens at home. Should I catch some chicks?"

Sun nodded, "Qiu Ran is really thoughtful."

The next morning, Sun went to the county town in the dark. Xiao Dashan also brought back a coffin, and white cloth was tied around the Xiao family's premises. Lin Qiuran followed suit, wearing mourning clothes and a white flower in her hair.

The old couple followed their neighbors to bury Xiao Xun in the ancestral tomb, but did not let Lin Qiuran go. She symbolically wiped away her tears.

Sun's eyes were red, and she kept muttering to the new grave while burning paper, "Please bless Qiuran and the child, and bless them both to be well..."

After scattering the paper money, Sun breathed a sigh of relief, invited everyone to come over for lunch, and hurried home to help.

But when they came back, they found that Lin Qiuran had already organized everything, and Sun didn't know how to help.

In the past, Lin Qiuran would prepare more than a dozen dishes for a table of banquets. When there were fewer people, there would be more than ten tables, and when there were more people, there would be dozens of tables. At such times, the most important thing was to prepare the dishes, as preparing the dishes well could save time.

Once you've completed all the previous steps—frying and marinating what needs to be fried, then finally arranging the dish—you'll have a much easier time. Lin Qiuran stir-fried the minced meat, pan-fried the tofu, steamed the eggplant, and cut the three fresh vegetables into strips... He also fried the main dish, the fish, coated it in flour.

Sun felt that there was too much oil used to fry the fish, but since her daughter-in-law was in charge, she didn't say anything.

Sun looked at him and said, "Qiuran, what does mother do?"

Lin Qiuran said, "Serve the food later. It's getting late. I'll cook it."

The dishes are always served cold first and then hot. The sauce is prepared and poured directly on four plates of smashed cucumbers, which makes the smashed cucumbers more flavorful. There are many people but few dishes, so the portion is sufficient, even the smashed peppers and eggplants are served in a full pot.

Many people from the Xiao family came this time, and Liu also came. They parted on bad terms last time, so this time she didn't bring her daughter-in-law.

The villagers looked at this scene and felt sorry for the Xiao family. At the same time, they thought it was a good thing. At least there would be a descendant for the Xiao family. At worst, she could remarry in the future.

Liu felt anxious when she heard people talking. Soon the food came up and everyone stopped talking and started eating.

First up was the smashed cucumber. Every household has this dish, but the Xiao family's version was completely different. It was sour, spicy, crisp, and refreshing, with a hint of garlic. The moment it hit my mouth, my tongue and body felt soothed, as if the summer heat had instantly dissipated. Then came the chili and eggplant. The eggplant was so tender it melted in my mouth, and the garlic and chili sauce combined made it even more delicious.

An aunt said, "This is Qiuran's craftsmanship, it's really good!"

If it wasn't a funeral, the Xiao family would be sad and would definitely ask how this dish was made.

Mrs. Sun was in charge of serving the dishes. As they were brought out one by one, she urged everyone to eat quickly, "Eat and drink well, and eat more."

The dish served this time was three fresh vegetables, all cooked in one pot, with four plates in one pot.

Sun was watching over the serving of the dishes. Seeing Lin Qiuran had already served himself, she couldn't help but say that it was not good for him to serve so much. "As a cook, you don't even leave some rice for yourself, and you're still waiting for the guests to leave some for you."

Lin Qiuran had almost forgotten that in the past, when life was good, there would be plenty of leftovers from the banquet, and the cooks wouldn't have to worry about running out of food. But it was different in the village. People were living in poverty, and there was little meat to eat. It was likely that every time a dish was served, it would be empty.

Lin Qiuran smiled and said, "Then I'll keep some."

Sun instructed, "Eat when you're hungry, I'll fry it."

Lin Qiuran gave her some fresh vegetables and asked her to cook the dishes. She was hoping to find a job with this, so how could she let Sun do it?

After the dishes were redistributed, Lin Qiuran said, "Mom, serve the food."

Lin Qiuran finally made braised fish. The fish was fried in advance and then stewed in soup, which took too long.

After all the dishes were served, Lin Qiuran served herself some rice and ate in the kitchen. She was hungry after a busy morning. She left out the first two cold dishes, but she kept the rest.

An extra fish was stewed. Xiao Dashi and Sun were eating with the guests outside, and they couldn't help but mention Xiao Xun. Lin Qiuran was also comfortable eating alone.

Lin Qiuran tasted the fish first. It tasted very good. The braised fish was fresh, the meat was firm and chewy, and the fried fish skin was softened by the soup. The fish meat tasted even better when dipped in the soup.

Minced meat tofu is also delicious. It is fried with lard. Just scoop a spoonful and mix it with rice. It is so fragrant that it will make you dizzy.

If there is too much oil at home, Lin Qiuran has another specialty dish, which is minced meat and tofu, which absorbs the soup better than tofu.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, many praised Sun's family and Xiao Dashi, saying they were blessed. "She'll definitely have a great future with such a capable daughter-in-law."

Someone else said to Mrs. Liu, "Your daughter is really good at cooking. You really raised a good daughter."

Liu thought to herself, what's the point of raising a good daughter? She will still be raised by someone else's family. She is so stubborn that she refuses to remarry.

When Lin Qiuran came out after dinner, a large number of people outside had already left. Aunt Yu, who had a good relationship with the Sun family, said, "Qiuran, your cooking skills are quite good. If there is anything happening in my family in the future, please come over and take charge of the cooking."

Lin Qiuran was more than happy to do so. Seeing this, Madam Liu quickly pulled her aside and asked, "What on earth are you thinking, kid? Do you really want to stay in the Xiao family and give birth to the child?"

The author has something to say:

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Lin Qiuran: I'm not sad at all, it's all a recognition of my cooking skills [starry eyes]