Chapter 46...
Chapter Forty-Six
As soon as Yao Anhui came out, she heard Zhao Zhishan say, "Lu Tuan, is Anhui up? I need to talk to her about something."
"I'm up. Zhishan, you're here so early? Come in." Yao Anhui didn't really want to talk to her with messy hair outside the door; it really didn't suit her elegant demeanor as a noble consort.
"My husband said your slimming cream is ready, is that true?" Zhao Zhishan didn't want to waste a moment.
"Yes, it's done." Yao Anhui yawned, still feeling very sleepy.
"Great! Quickly, give it to me to try out," Zhao Zhishan said immediately.
"No, are you in such a hurry?" Yao Anhui was startled awake.
Zhao Zhishan gave her a resentful look: "How can someone like you who can't gain weight understand my pain?"
Yao Anhui thought about it and agreed. If there had been a way, Zhao Zhishan, who loved to eat and could eat a lot, wouldn't have moved away from here.
However, Yao Anhui doesn't gain weight because she is strict with herself. No matter how good the food sounds, she only eats until she is full. Unlike Zhao Zhishan, who can eat a few more bites after she is full and can eat until she is 110% full when she encounters delicious food, she doesn't gain weight. Who else would gain weight if not her?
Yao Anhui said irritably, "I really can't understand why you want to eat even when you're already full."
"I don't understand you either. How can you resist eating when there's such delicious food right in front of you?" Zhao Zhishan couldn't understand how Yao Anhui could eat until she was 80% full at every meal when she wished she had an extra stomach.
"This is my long-term plan." However, I'd rather not say it out loud to avoid hurting feelings.
"Okay, thank you for not bringing up my lack of self-control." In fact, Zhao Zhishan knew herself all too well; however, knowing and being able to do are two different things.
"If you know, don't say it out loud." Yao Anhui was speechless.
"So hurry up and get your slimming cream out for me to use. My ability to eat and drink happily from now on depends on you!" Zhao Zhishan looked at Yao Anhui with starry eyes.
"Hiss~ Don't look at me like that, it's giving me goosebumps. Save that trick for your husband, Lao Guo, I can't take it." Yao Anhui shuddered.
"No, please, An Hui, please grant my wish." Yao An Hui's words only fueled Zhao Zhishan's enthusiasm.
"Alright, alright, you're getting more and more excited, aren't you?" Yao Anhui said helplessly. "I already prepared your share, so stop acting like a spoiled child. I'm not your husband."
"I knew you were the best, An Hui! Whether it's useful or not, I'll definitely give you a big gift." Zhao Zhishan happily hugged Yao An Hui, almost kissing her.
"Can't you have something positive to look forward to? Honestly, you came all this way before dawn, and now you're not giving me any encouragement," Yao Anhui said, feigning dissatisfaction.
This prompted Zhao Zhishan to act coquettishly and charmingly: "Yes, yes, I'm only doing this because of you."
"Here it is." Yao Anhui took out the prepared slimming ointment, a large box containing individual ointment tablets.
"How do I use this?" Zhao Zhishan held up a piece of ointment and smelled it. It looked a lot like a dog skin plaster and was dark in color, but it smelled much better, with a faint herbal fragrance.
"Do you have any wine at home? Put a little bit of wine in a bottle cap, then light a fire to soften it, and stick it on your navel. But you can only wear it for one night, and you have to remove it the next day." Yao Anhui only gave her one, and put the rest away. Yao Anhui didn't quite trust Zhao Zhishan's self-control and was worried that she would wear it all day long.
"Can I only use it at night? I didn't sleep well last night. Is it okay if I put it on now and go to sleep?" Zhao Zhishan couldn't wait to try it out.
"It can be used during the day, but it works better at night." This question stumped Yao Anhui, because they used to use it at night, and no one used it during the day.
Because the function of this slimming cream is to promote metabolism, or in layman's terms, to relieve constipation.
(In the inner quarters of ancient times, women were required to not show their teeth when laughing, not shake their heads when walking, and not lean against doors when standing. They had many demands, and most of them had to rely on their beauty to win favor. Even going to the toilet was considered unclean. If they used this kind of ointment during the day, that would be terrible.)
Some people gain weight because they only eat but don't excrete.
In fact, many people who gain weight do so for this reason, especially people like Zhao Zhishan, who love to eat, are willing to eat a lot, can't control their mouths, and go to the toilet only once every two or three days.
To be honest, ever since Yao Anhui learned about Zhao Zhishan's physique, she felt that it was as if God was giving her a special favor by being able to maintain this slightly chubby figure.
Yao Anhui was still sighing over the news when Zhao Zishan grabbed the ointment and ran off, leaving behind only the words, "I'm leaving now. I'll tell you about the effects after I use it," which drifted away in the wind.
"Really." Yao Anhui was speechless.
Yao Anhui glanced at her watch and realized it was only 6:30. She had never gotten up this early before.
However, Zhao Zhishan's commotion had driven away Yao Anhui's sleepiness, so she couldn't go back to sleep. Since that was the case, she decided to make breakfast today as a reward for Lu Yuanqing, who made breakfast for her every day.
After thinking for a moment, Yao Anhui called out to the neighbor, "Fangling, have you made breakfast yet?"
"Not yet? What's wrong?"
"I'm making Jiangxi rice noodles this morning. Why don't you two come over here for breakfast? I'll cook a lot."
"Great! I've been craving noodles these past few days. An Hui, could you add an extra poached egg?" Hua Fangling wasn't one to stand on ceremony with Yao An Hui.
"Okay, I'll call you when it's ready."
"Then I'll wait."
Yao Anhui wanted to cook rice noodles because she had specially stewed pork rib soup last night. The pork ribs looked very nice when she went grocery shopping yesterday, so she bought a lot and stewed them all last night just to cook rice noodles this morning. She also called Hua Fangling because she felt guilty, since Hua Fangling was the one who always went next door to eat.
I went to the vegetable garden to pick some scallions and a basket of small green vegetables, and then I went to cook rice noodles.
Because Lu Yuanqing had boiled water in advance and the pork rib soup had been stewed last night, making breakfast today was not difficult.
People who have never cooked Jiangxi rice noodles before may find them difficult to cook because they take a long time. However, there are some tricks to it. First, boil them for 5 minutes, then simmer them for 10 minutes. They are done when you can easily break them with chopsticks.
Take out the largest soup bowl in your house, put the washed bok choy and chopped green onions in the bowl, add a little salt and the seasoning provided by Hua Fangling, put in the heated pork ribs and cooked rice noodles, and then fry five eggs. The simple and delicious pork rib soup noodles are ready.
Worried that Lu Yuanqing would get hungry easily after eating soup noodles, Yao Anhui also made fried noodles. Jiangxi fried rice noodles are absolutely amazing.
By the time the soup noodles and fried noodles were ready, it was already 7:00, and Lu Yuanqing returned with Qi Mingzhe.
"Wow, it smells so good! Auntie, did you cook breakfast? It smells amazing!" As soon as Qi Mingzhe got home, he smelled the aroma and ran quickly to Yao Anhui, praising her without reservation.
Qi Mingzhe charged towards Yao Anhui like a small cannonball, almost causing her to lose her balance, but fortunately Lu Yuanqing caught her in time.
"Xiao Zhe, you almost bumped into your aunt. Don't do that again next time." This was the first time Lu Yuanqing had spoken to Qi Mingzhe so seriously.
"I'm sorry, Auntie." Qi Mingzhe immediately became obedient.
"It's okay. Your uncle told you not to run so fast because he was afraid you'd fall and get hurt." Yao Anhui patted his head. Her relationship with Qi Mingzhe was even closer now than in her previous life.
"I'm sorry, Uncle, I won't run so fast next time." It's safe to say that Qi Mingzhe is an exceptionally lovable child.
"I made rice noodle soup and stir-fried rice noodles today, just waiting for you to come back so we can eat together. Xiao Zhe, would you like stir-fried rice noodles or rice noodle soup?"
"Both look delicious, it's so hard to choose." Qi Mingzhe looked at the soup noodles and then at the fried noodles, finding it particularly difficult to decide.
"Then try both and eat whichever you like."
"Okay." He was still a child after all, his eyes were glued to the breakfast and he couldn't take them off.
"Why did you make breakfast? Didn't you tell me to make it?" Lu Yuanqing took the initiative to wash all the pots and pans, while feeling sorry for Yao Anhui's hands that were burned red while cooking.
"Tell me what you want to eat next time, and I'll make it."
"I just suddenly had a craving for rice noodles. It's hard for someone who's never made rice noodles before to get the cooking time right."
"Then tell me what to do?"
"Okay, right, I invited Fangling over for breakfast but I haven't called her yet." Yao Anhui realized she had forgotten to call her.
"Oh dear, I've come at the worst possible time. You didn't even call me before I arrived," Hua Fangling's voice rang out at just the right moment.
Hua Fangling wanted to tease Yao Anhui, but as soon as she arrived, she smelled the delicious aroma: "Wow, you cooked rice noodle soup and stir-fried rice noodles too! Come on, come on, I'm so hungry."
"Then don't be shy, help yourself to whatever you want to eat, I won't serve you anymore." Yao Anhui pulled Lu Yuanqing to sit down as well.
"Wow, An Hui, your cooking skills are amazing! You said before that your cooking wasn't very good. Looks like I'll have to come to your house for meals more often." Hua Fangling ate the fried noodles first and was incredibly impressed.
"Sure, as long as you don't mind." Yao Anhui ate her pork rib soup noodles and gave herself a thumbs up for her cooking skills.
"Not at all, not at all. I knew Jiangxi rice noodles were famous, but I'd never had the authentic kind. I've finally seen it for myself today." Hua Fangling ate without looking up. "But why did you make two kinds of breakfast, one soup noodles and one stir-fried noodles? Isn't that troublesome?"
"It's alright. The main thing is that Brother Qing exercises a lot every day, and I'm worried that he'll get hungry easily if he eats too much soup or broth."
"Okay, you win." Hua Fangling had never noticed this problem before. Mainly because she was a good cook, and Shen Wenkang ate bowlfuls every day. In that situation, she wouldn't suspect anything about him not having enough to eat.
Shen Wenkang also felt a pang of sympathy for himself. It wasn't without its advantages that his wife was a good cook. Heaven knows how hard he worked to maintain his current figure and avoid gaining weight. Every day, he did morning and afternoon exercises, physical training, and evening intensive training with his soldiers. He dared not miss a single one of them.
Only Zhao Zhishan could understand his heartache. With tears in his eyes, Shen Wenkang ate a large bowl of fried noodles and then a large bowl of soup noodles.
It's just that Hua Fangling didn't know what he was thinking, otherwise she would have ridiculed him a bit, saying he was greedy and blamed the bowl for being too big.
It can only be said that Yao Anhui had a smaller appetite. Qi Mingzhe ate half a bowl of soup noodles and half a bowl of fried noodles. Hua Fangling ate half a bowl more soup noodles than Qi Mingzhe. In addition, the two big eaters ate a bowl of soup noodles and a bowl of fried noodles, and finished them all.
After dinner, Lu Yuanqing and Shen Wenkang washed the dishes and went to work, while Yao Anhui and Hua Fangling chatted casually.
Hua Fangling suddenly noticed the steamed buns in the cupboard and asked curiously, "Why don't you eat all these steamed buns this morning?"
"Oh, this is for Lu Yuanqing. We have different eating habits. I like to eat something soupy in the morning, but he needs something solid in the morning, otherwise he gets hungry around 10 a.m. So he makes steamed buns and steams a few every morning," Yao Anhui explained.
"He made it himself? Let me see... Oh, it's made with a mixture of wheat, water, and vegetables. An Hui, is your family short of food?"
"We don't need any. We still haven't finished the rice and flour you bought for us last time."
“Then your husband is this one.” Hua Fangling gave her a thumbs up.
Yao Anhui didn't understand: "What do you mean?"
"I'm just praising your good taste in men. Look at your husband, Lao Lu feeds you fine grains, but he eats coarse grains himself, and he still does the laundry and cooking every day. I admire him." Hua Fangling gave a thumbs up.
Yao Anhui hadn't really noticed this. It's not that Yao Anhui doesn't like noodles; she can accept them for breakfast and late-night snacks, but not for main meals, as she feels hungry.
Because Yao Anhui doesn't eat much noodles, she didn't really notice this at first, since Lu Yuanqing never brought it up.
However, I was quite touched after Hua Fangling pointed it out to me.
However, this feeling of being moved was interrupted halfway through.
"Ahhhhh...An Hui..." Zhao Zhishan screamed as she ran in from the front door.
"What happened? What happened?" Yao Anhui was stunned. Was this still the Zhao Zhishan who always paid special attention to her appearance in public? She thought that this morning, she was disheveled and unkempt—this was the worst she could do.
"By the way, what exactly happened?" Hua Fangling was also startled.
"Ointment, Anhui, the ointment you made is so effective, you know? I'm sure I'll be able to lose weight this time, really!" Zhao Zhishan shook Yao Anhui excitedly and said loudly.
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