Chapter 049 Hot and Sour Noodles
Having been starving for the past few days, Xu Zhenying didn't pay much attention to Miss Qian. She just thought she was following the team. Besides, she was considered half a member of the big house, so she didn't pay much attention to her.
Looking at her now, I don’t know if it’s because she found her friend, but Miss Qian seems to be in much more spirits than when I first met her that day.
Xu Zhenying wanted to leave, but accidentally heard two people chatting.
She heard Madam Cao say to Miss Qian, "You're still thinking the wrong way. You'll be a member of the Xu family sooner or later anyway, so why bother with these material possessions? Just give all your money to your future mother-in-law and be known as a virtuous woman. You'll also have to serve tea and water to your fiancé regularly. You need to be diligent and have a keen eye for work. As long as you serve him and your mother-in-law well, who would be afraid that they wouldn't welcome you home?"
Miss Qian said shyly, "But I haven't married yet. If I rush into this, I'm afraid others will say I..."
"Isn't it only a matter of time before we get married?" Madam Cao took Miss Qian's hand and said affectionately, "Look at me. My family is just a lowly merchant family, and it was a stroke of luck that I married my husband. Before my husband passed the imperial examination, I washed his clothes in the winter and fanned him in the summer. I used all my dowry to support his studies and exams, and I also helped him arrange for concubines and children. People laughed at me at first, saying I was a hen that didn't lay eggs, but now I have a son and I take good care of my concubine. Everyone in the family praises me as a virtuous woman. So, a woman must be willing to make sacrifices and must please her mother-in-law and husband. People are kind-hearted, and over time, they will naturally accept you."
"But... Sister Cao, didn't you say two days ago that Li Xiucai hit you?"
Mrs. Cao was a little unhappy and subconsciously touched her bruised face. "How come that couple never had any bumps in their lives? Which country woman dares to pat her chest and say that her husband has never touched her? My husband treats me very well. Even if he hits me, it must be because I did something wrong-"
Miss Qian had no friends around her, and no one had taught her the principles of marriage. When she heard Cao's words, she immediately regarded her as a close friend. She took Mrs. Cao's hand affectionately and said, "Thank you, Sister Cao, for teaching me—"
"Sister, you too have a miserable life. Your parents passed away early, and you've been living under someone else's roof since you were little. No one has ever taught you these truths. If you don't mind, just treat me like a half-sister. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask me—"
After listening to it for a few times, Xu Zhenying felt his scalp tingling.
I don’t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing for Miss Qian to hang out with Madam Cao all day long.
But it’s not her turn to take care of it.
After delivering the clothes, Xu Zhenying went to the second floor of the post station and looked for Fang Ruyu's room, but was stopped by Fang Ningmo, the second daughter of the Fang family. "Sister Xu, my sister is asleep. It's not convenient for her to see guests at the moment."
Seeing that the lights were still on in the room, Xu Zhenying knew that Fang Ruyu was probably still angry and didn't want to see her.
"Sister, what happened yesterday was not intentional. I didn't mean to argue with your sister. I'll explain my apology in detail when I get the chance. There are only a dozen girls of similar age in our exile group, and I still hope we can support each other along the way. Take this little thing to entertain yourself, and consider it my apology."
Xu Zhenying handed the thing over. Fang Ningmo took a look and found that it was a cricket woven out of grass. It was vivid and looked very lively.
After all, she was a little girl, easy to coax. After a few words, Fang Ningmo's expression softened. "I understand. I will persuade my sister."
Fang Ningmo took the two crickets into the house, but saw Fang Ruyu lying under a soybean oil lamp writing a letter.
Fang Ruyu saw what Fang Ningmo was holding and frowned slightly. "This must be from Xu Qingying, right? She was so angry with me yesterday, and now she wants to get rid of me with this worthless item? Throw it away quickly—"
Fang Ningmo placed the cricket in a corner and said with a smile, "Although it's worthless, it's still quite interesting and looks very alive. Don't be angry, sister. The Sixth Miss of the Xu family said that she had her reasons and didn't mean to argue with you yesterday."
"What do you mean by 'reason'? Just because something happened has a reason, she can get so angry that she'll throw cups and glasses? Despite my kindness, she actually called me a know-it-all..." Fang Ruyu felt angry as she spoke, and simply pushed the pen away. Fang Ningmo didn't argue with her, but leaned over to take a look. "You wrote to the Second Master again?"
Fang Ruyu raised her hand to cover the letter and looked up at her sister. "Why, do you think I'm delusional, just like grandma?"
Fang Ningmo sighed slightly and pondered for a long while. "Sister, I don't know either. Second Master and my sisters grew up together and have a close relationship. I remember when I was little, he carried me on his back to pick locust flowers to eat... I think that with the friendship between our two families, even if our family is no longer what it used to be, he probably wouldn't do anything to take advantage of our misfortune. But sister..."
Fang Ningmo wanted to say something but stopped herself. She was too young to know how to speak in a way that would not make her sister sad.
Fang Ruyu calmed down and took her hand. "Between you and me, is there anything we can't talk about? If you don't tell me the truth, who else in this world can treat me sincerely?"
Fang Ningmo lowered his head, then raised it again. "Since that's the case, I'll tell you the truth. It's not that I don't trust Second Master. Of course, I also hope that Sister can achieve her wish. This will be good for Sister and the entire Fang family. But... in the stories and plays we used to read, weren't most of them about unfaithful men? I've never seen a girl wait for years for her wish to come true. When love is strong, vows are made, but once something unexpected happens, vows can be abandoned, even the life of the person beside you... This shows that there are more unfaithful people in this world than infatuated people... I just hope that Sister won't expect everything to be too beautiful. If you can't achieve your wish, you will be the one who gets hurt..."
Fang Ningmo tried to speak as tactfully as possible, fearing that with Fang Ruyu's sensitive and thoughtful nature, the purpose of persuasion would not be achieved, but instead would make her get further into a dead end.
Unexpectedly, Fang Ruyu burst out laughing upon hearing this, and affectionately scratched Fang Ningmo's nose. "Little girl, why are you so pessimistic about things? You're so young, but you talk and act like an old nun in a Taoist temple."
Fang Ningmo was teased by her sister and touched her head a little embarrassedly.
"I believe the Second Master isn't that kind of person." Fang Ruyu rarely opened up to her sister, and she couldn't help but smile as she recalled the past. "You know, because of the Second Master's mother's status, he wasn't favored by the late emperor since childhood. I remember when he was a child studying, it was freezing cold, and his fingers were so cold that they festered, yet he still insisted on getting up at five in the morning every day. I once asked him why he was so hard on himself since he was already a prince and didn't need to take the imperial examinations. He said he wanted to prove to the late emperor that even though he was born to a palace maid, he was no worse than his brothers. This shows that he has a tenacious character and doesn't give up easily."
Such people are actually more terrifying than playboys.
Fang Ningmo had completely different thoughts in his mind.
Fang Ruyu blushed slightly and said, "Before he left for Qiongzhou, I suggested we get married soon so we could travel together. But he told me that Qiongzhou was a harsh and cold place, and he didn't want me to leave Bianjing and my hometown. He told me not to wait for him, saying... saying... if things changed, perhaps my grandfather would find me a better match."
Fang Ningmo was shocked and grabbed Fang Ruyu's hand, "Sister, you are confused. How can you, as a woman, bring up something like marriage?"
"Don't worry, this matter is only known to you and me." Fang Ruyu also knew the seriousness of the matter and lowered her voice, "Second Master will not go out and spread rumors."
Fang Ningmo sighed.
"He cares so much about me, how could I betray him first?" Fang Ruyu's face flushed with a girlish blush. "He won't let me wait, but I will wait anyway. I want him to know that I, Fang Ruyu, never care about family background when it comes to marrying. If he's a royal relative, I'll marry him; if he's a country bumpkin, I'll marry him too!"
Fang Ningmo was silent for a moment.
She thought silently in her heart, if the Second Master is really a country bumpkin, I'm afraid you two won't even have the chance to meet, so how can you talk about love?
Besides, this might be a tactic of retreating to advance by the Second Master.
At that time, the Fang family was at its peak, and although the Second Master was a prince, he still had his limitations. If he had won the heart of the eldest sister, wouldn't he have also won the heart of the entire Fang family?
On the one hand, she felt that her sister's idea was a bit naive, but on the other hand, she reflected on whether she was too utilitarian.
Could it be that my elder sister is right, and I am judging others by my own standards?
As Xu Zhenying walked back, he saw a crowd of people gathered at his campsite. A sweet aroma wafted through the air, sour and spicy, making his stomach growl with hunger.
The taste of hot and sour rice noodles.
Did my aunt really make it?
Xu Zhenying walked back quickly and saw that the water in the big pot was boiling fiercely, and the crystal clear noodles were rolling around. He put some sesame oil, chili and vinegar in the bowl, and it was so spicy that he was sweating all over. That was really refreshing.
Seeing Xu Zhenying coming over, the eldest aunt waved and said, "Sixth girl, you just gave me a rough idea of the method, and I only remembered it roughly. Do you think I did it right?"
Xu Zhenying gave a thumbs up and said, "Auntie, this is what you cook. This is the taste."
"Oh, I don't have that many seasonings, so I just made it casually." The aunt squinted her eyes happily after receiving the praise, and started to call again, "Go, go, go pick some more camphor fruit--"
Fourth Aunt also asked, "What's this thing called? How come I've never seen it before? Sixth girl, where did you get the recipe?"
Miao had already spoken, "How could a little girl like her know the recipe? This is something from my hometown. It's just ordinary rice noodles with some seasoning. I took her to eat it a few times when she was a child. I didn't expect she would still remember how to make it."
Xu Zhenying glanced at Miao, and Miao gave her a reassuring look.
She couldn't help but laugh. It was good that Miao already knew how to help her with the corrections, so that she wouldn't have to come up with any so-called prescriptions and be questioned in the future.
Fourth Aunt was already lost in thought. When Huang Cui'e was making the rice noodles just now, she was helping out. She watched the whole process of making the rice noodles. This thing is simple and convenient. Who knows, maybe she can use this recipe to set up a stall in Qianzhou in the future.
Of course, this is a later story.
The onlookers naturally knew that the Xu family's things had been returned, and everyone secretly wondered what method the Xu family had used to make the escorts vomit out what they had eaten.
Although curious, no one dared to ask.
Only a few people were envious of the rice noodles and asked with a playful smile: "Mrs. Xu, your rice noodles smell so good, can you give us some to try? Don't worry, I can only eat one chopstick, so I can't eat much. Can you taste it..."
Someone started to cheer, "That's right... Let's try it with one chopstick."
"That's right. When you couldn't afford to eat a few days ago, I lent you some wild vegetables—"
Miao was a little hesitant. One chopstick per person doesn't sound like much, but there are so many people.
What's more, the Xu family didn't have much food left.
The eldest aunt didn't care. She frowned and scolded, "What's the use of one chopstick? There are more than ten people here, one chopstick each. I cooked a whole pot and gave it all to you. Is there anything else for my family to eat tonight?"
The onlookers were naturally unhappy when they were scolded like this, "How stingy, it's just a few powders——"
"Yes, it's the same as if everyone has tasted it before. I'm willing to try it, but I'm giving them face——"
"Exactly. I heard that this family used to be a high-ranking official in the imperial court. I didn't expect them to be so stingy."
The eldest aunt was so angry that she had a heart attack. Miao hesitated and said, "How about we get some more?"
The eldest aunt said reluctantly, "We need to eat the remaining food on the road. If we finish it tonight, will we be hungry again tomorrow?"
Miao smiled apologetically and said, "How can you be so exaggerated? Isn't there still a lot of flour left in the luggage?"
Xu Zhenying smiled and said to the leader, "Uncle Wang, I'm so sorry. We only made this much today. It's barely enough for our family. Uncle Wang, please don't make things difficult for us women who cook. I heard that your family is eating coarse grain steamed buns today. Why don't you exchange a bowl of noodles for a steamed bun? This way, people won't say that Uncle Wang is trying to take advantage of us—"
The eldest aunt's eyes lit up and she immediately joined in: "Yes, yes, yes, if you want to eat it, bring your things to exchange, and we can also try each other's. Speaking of which, I haven't eaten steamed bread for a long time, and I miss it so much——"
The man called Uncle Wang hesitated for a few words, "What's so delicious about steamed buns? I just got tired of them and wanted to change the taste..."
"Uncle Wang is tired of it, but I haven't had it in a long time and I miss it." Xu Zhenying imitated the child's innocent tone, "Since you are tired of it, why not just give it to me."
As expected, magic defeats magic.
The man called Uncle Wang asked for trouble and left in shame.
The rest of the people felt embarrassed to continue pestering.
"What kind of person is this? He took so long to remember a handful of wild vegetables." The aunt spat, then turned and smiled at Xu Zhenying, "Sixth girl is really smart. With just a few words, she embarrassed that old man so much that he couldn't even raise his head. I have to learn from her next time-"
Miao and Zhao smiled slightly.
Xu Qingying added, "Aunt, remember to cook more. I'll take it to the Fang family ladies to try."
"Don't worry, I won't forget. Old Madam Fang gave us a lot of food before. If it weren't for her, we would have starved to death these past few days. I will always remember her kindness..."
Huang Cui'e patted her chest loudly. After Xu Zhenying left, she carefully asked Miao, "Let's just repay the favor this time, right? We can't have Old Lady Fang serve every meal in the future, right?"
Miao chuckled twice, "That shouldn't be the case. Old Madam Fang isn't that rude."
Huang Cui'e was relieved and started working hard again.
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