Xia Hongfen quickly joined the moving team.
The family was destitute; Xia Chunmei had recently bought a few things, otherwise there wasn't much to move.
With the help of Aunt Lihua, my eldest aunt, and Xia Mingshi's family, the move was completed in two trips. The kitchen items were moved after lunch.
Xia Chunmei slaughtered chickens and fish to prepare a feast for her aunt, Xia Mingshi's family who had helped, as well as Xia Qiang and Aunt Lihua.
There was no time to buy meat, and worried that there wouldn't be enough vegetables, so Xia Chunmei asked Qiumei to buy two pieces of tofu.
The six-pound grass carp I caught the day before yesterday was made into sauerkraut fish, stewed with pheasant and soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, and two pieces of tofu were made into tofu balls.
However, since there were no carrots and ham in this era, the tofu balls could only be made in a simplified version, but her skills were good enough that they still tasted very good.
I also cooked braised winter melon. There weren't many dishes, but the portions were generous, enough to fill ten bowls.
"Chunmei, you've prepared so many dishes, it's too expensive."
"Exactly, we're all family here, we can just cook a couple of dishes to make do, why are you cooking both fish and chicken?"
Neither Xia Qiang nor Xia Huohua's families expected Xia Chunmei to prepare such a large feast; they hadn't eaten so well even during the Chinese New Year.
"There's nothing fancy to eat. Next time I'll buy some pork and let you try my braised pork," Xia Chunmei said as she served rice to everyone.
Today she cooked a pot of rice and a pot of sorghum porridge, which was more than enough staple food.
No one in the village could afford to serve white rice to anyone. Seeing the pot of white rice, Xia Hongfen felt her heart bleed. She thought to herself that she would have a serious talk with her niece later; how could they live like this?
"Everyone, pick up your chopsticks and eat! Don't be shy. Aunt, Uncle Qiang, Fengshou, none of you have tried my pickled fish before, so have a good taste today. But since there's no meat broth base today, the taste is a little different," Xia Chunmei warmly invited.
Xia Qiang laughed and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. Every time your aunt comes back, she says how good your cooking is, and it makes my mouth water."
"Haha, Auntie is too kind to me."
Aunt Lihua said, "Chunmei, I'm not trying to flatter you, but I think your cooking skills are about the same as those of the chefs in restaurants, and maybe they're even better than you."
“You’ve led us all to run the kitchen and make money, so logically we should be the ones treating you to a meal,” Xia Mingshi said.
"You can make money running a kitchen?" Xia Hongfen asked in surprise.
"Yes, Hongfen, didn't you know about this?"
"When Chunmei told me yesterday, I thought she was just making things up so I wouldn't worry."
“Chunmei wasn’t lying. She’s probably more capable now than all the girls in the clan combined.” Xia Mingshi started talking non-stop about Xia Chunmei’s great achievements.
From confronting Shi Zhenxiang to demanding a hundred eggs as compensation, to teaching Chen Xiaomao and her two siblings a lesson, to fishing and selling fish to exchange for food, and then...
Xia Hongfen was dumbfounded as she listened to each and every incident.
Her niece is so amazing!
"Auntie, see? I didn't lie to you. Just relax and learn to cook with me." Xia Chunmei said, "I mainly make whole fish banquets. This pickled fish is a must-have dish for banquets. Please try it first. Grandma Ming, Uncle and Aunt, don't be shy, everyone eat."
Xia Hongfen took a bite and was immediately amazed!
Seeing her surprised look, Aunt Lihua laughed and said, "How is it? It's delicious, isn't it? Let me tell you, everyone who has tried Hongfen and Chunmei's cooking gives it a thumbs up."
Xia Hongfen's eyes reddened: "It is delicious. Chunmei has this skill, so I'm not worried anymore. After I get married, my husband's family will look at me with more respect, and my brother down there can rest easy."
"Why are you crying? This is a good thing," Xia Mingshi said. "Stop crying."
"Aunt, please stop crying." Xia Chunmei put a piece of meat on Xia Hongfen's plate. "Our lives will get better and better from now on. We have several more banquets to hold. You can come with us then. I'll teach you how to cook. Once you've learned, you can work with your uncle, cousins, and other relatives."
Aunt Lihua felt envious when she heard that Xia Chunmei was going to teach Xia Hongfen her skills.
A skill is a means of making a living. Aunt Lihua wanted to say a few words of advice to Xia Chunmei, but then she thought that they were aunt and niece, and she was an outsider after all, so it seemed that she should not say anything.
Aunt Pear Blossom was somewhat conflicted.
At this moment, Xia Hongfen spoke up: "Chunmei, this skill is not something that can be taught casually. I know you are kind and generous, but I can't take advantage of you. If you really want to help your aunt, I will go with you to help. You can give me a few copper coins as a token."
"Auntie, let's eat first, then we'll talk. The food's getting cold. Harvest, Sister Ping, don't be shy about taking some food," Xia Chunmei said, gesturing to everyone.
"Sister Chunmei, your jackal stew is really delicious." Xia Fengshou's mouth was full of rice, and he could barely speak.
"Eat more if you like it. Here, have a tofu ball."
Xia Chunmei added a meatball to his plate using serving chopsticks.
The meal was incredibly delicious, and both host and guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Xia Ming felt embarrassed and quickly asked Xia Ping to wash the dishes.
Xia Ping was used to doing these things, so she was very quick.
Xia Chunmei didn't stand on ceremony and let her and Xia Qiumei wash the dishes.
Aunt Lihua and Xia Mingshi knew that Xia Hongfen and Xia Chunmei, aunt and niece, definitely had something to talk about. After eating and chatting for a few minutes, they tactfully left.
"Auntie, I'll say it again: if you come and learn a skill from me, these few dishes are easy to learn. I know a lot of other things, so you don't have to worry about teaching your apprentice and starving yourself."
Once you've completed your training, the businesses around Xiaojiaping will be yours. But whether they succeed depends on you. It's too far from here. To be honest, even if someone invited me, I wouldn't want to go.
It's unrealistic for you to come and help me; I can't possibly walk four hours round trip to let you know when I have work to do.
After being persuaded by Xia Chunmei, Xia Hongfen finally agreed to come and learn.
"But this tuition fee..."
"We're all family, so let's not talk about tuition fees. But let's make this clear: during the time you're here, you'll be helping us with the kitchen, and I won't be paying for it."
"Why should I pay you to learn from you? You should pay me tuition."
"Forget about the tuition. My family has two acres of land. I plan to use one of them to grow Chinese cabbage and radishes, but I don't know how. You can come and help me then."
Xia Chunmei really isn't very good at farming.
Even if she knew how, she didn't want to dig and weed. If Xia Hongfen didn't help, she would ask someone else for help.
…
Xia Hongfen returned home excitedly and told her family what had happened to Xia Chunmei.
"These people have gone too far! Mother, why don't we fight them and avenge Sister Chunmei and the others!" Xia Hongfen's youngest son, Xiao Quanfu, said angrily.
Xia Hongfen said, "Those two old beasts, Chen Sanhua and Xia Changjiang, were first beaten by the Huang family, and then I beat them up. They probably can't get out of bed now. If we're going to beat them again, we'll have to wait until they've almost recovered."
"But she has such a large sum of money as compensation, which is already quite good, plus two acres of land." Xia Hongfen's husband, Xiao Youyin, said with a hint of envy in his voice.
Fifteen taels of silver! He had never seen so much money in his entire life.
“It’s a real waste to spend so much money on building houses. Actually, my sister could have built her house here with us. With us protecting her, she wouldn’t have needed to make her house so big, and she could have saved on things like the wall.”
Fang Xiaoyan felt sorry for Xia Chunmei when she thought about how big Xia Chunmei had built the house and how much money she had spent.
Fang Xiaoyan continued, "Mother, you should advise them. They're all still young, and they have a long road ahead of them. What will they do if they don't save some money for themselves?"
“Chunmei is very capable and has two acres of land. She can make money by running a kitchen. As long as those beasts don’t cause her any trouble, I can rest assured. We can visit Yijia Village more often in the future.”
When Xia Hongfen visited this time, she was very pleased to see that her nieces had rosy complexions, chickens and ducks at home, and new clothes and shoes.
Xia Chunmei also knows how to unite with her neighbors, which shows that she is still intelligent.
She met Xia Ming's family and Xia Qiang's family next door, and they all seemed quite nice. She could look after Chunmei in the future, and she could also visit them more often. There shouldn't be any major problems.
As for the Chen family, they actually stole everything, leaving her niece no way to survive. She'll send someone to the Chen family to teach them a lesson another day. Her brother is dead, but she's not! Do they really think the Xia family has no one left?
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