Xie Yan gave her an affirmative look, then turned to the pharmacy and started rummaging through it. After fiddling around inside for a while, he came out with a book and a piece of paper in his hand. Then, he mysteriously took Qian Hong, who was processing chickens, to the kitchen.
Xie Yan's furtive behavior startled Qian Hong. After being pulled to sit down by Xie Yan, countless terrible speculations flooded her mind. Thinking about the inherent flaws in men, her eyes widened and her tone changed, "Xiao Yan! Have you done something to betray Yue Hui?"
Xie Yan: "!!!"
His mother, bewildered by his train of thought, said, "Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? I never leave the house, how could I possibly do anything to betray Yuehui!"
Qian Hong thought about it and agreed, but still looked at Xie Yan suspiciously, "Then what are you doing?"
Xie Yan pointed to the book in his hand, "Mother, I'm only telling you about this, but you must never tell anyone else. Remember, you absolutely must keep it a secret!"
His actions startled Qian Hong, who nervously swallowed, "What... what kind of book is this?"
It's not some banned book, is it?
Xie Yan shook her head. "Mother, this isn't a forbidden book, but it's not good to spread it openly either. It's a cookbook."
As she spoke, she turned to a page and showed it to Qian Hong, "Mom, look, this chapter is specifically about what new mothers should eat during their postpartum period."
"Look, I only found out today by accident that there are so many things to consider when it comes to postpartum meals. For example, now that my period is over, I don't need chicken soup to nourish me anymore, so I need to eat other foods to replenish my body."
While speaking, Xie Yan observed his mother-in-law's expression. Seeing that she was listening attentively, Xie Yan continued, "It says that you can't just eat one type of grain, otherwise your body's nutrition will be unbalanced. If you supplement too much of one thing and too little of the others, that won't do."
This was the first time Qian Hong had heard of this saying, but she trusted Xie Yan because he was cultured, knowledgeable, and knew a lot. She asked anxiously, "Then what should we do?"
Xie Yan wanted this one sentence, so he immediately turned to another page and said very solemnly, "Mother, look here, it says here how to eat and how to nourish yourself!"
"Breakfast: millet and red date porridge, with an egg custard. We have all of these at home. For lunch, it's yam and pork rib stew. I remember we dug up some yams before, and they're still in the cellar."
Qian Hong nodded, "Yes, we have spare ribs too, that's fine, but this alone won't fill us up!"
Xie Yan nodded, "Yes, Mom, so there's still some left. I'll stir-fry some greens too. We don't have any other greens, but we have carrots and potatoes, and also some cabbage. We'll just stir-fry that. The main dish is rice. I see we don't have much rice left at home, so I'll go buy some more later."
Upon hearing that they were going to buy it, Qian Hong frowned immediately, "Can't we change the rice to noodles?"
Xie Yan smiled and immediately changed his tune, "It should be possible, but that's what the recipe says. Let's eat first, and if we run out of rice, we can try noodles instead."
At worst, they can never finish all their rice.
Qian Hong thought that was a good idea.
Xie Yan then pointed to the picture and words below, "Eating these will definitely make you hungry. When you're hungry, eat some nuts and eggs. Nuts are things like walnuts and almonds, which we have at home."
Then came dinner, which consisted of crucian carp and tofu soup, along with stir-fried cabbage, and red bean and barley porridge as the main dish.
And we also have Job's tears at home.
Qian Hong breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, these are all things we have at home. Since these are good for her daughter, she'll make them for her.
Xie Yan observed her expression and then pointed to the words on the table, solemnly reminding her, "Mother, put less salt in these dishes, and don't put too much."
Qian Hong waved her hand dismissively, saying, "It's okay, I won't add any salt."
Xie Yan seemed to be just realizing this and was startled. "Mother, you're wrong. You can't leave out the salt. The instructions say that not adding salt will make the new mother weak, cause headaches and nausea, and also affect her recovery."
"The most important thing is the impact on children. Salt also contains many nutrients."
After saying that, she said with great regret, "If I had known you didn't put salt in the food, I would have told you sooner."
"No wonder Yueyue has been saying she's tired and has a headache these past few days."
"Oh! It's all my fault. I have a strong palate and I always thought it was just that there wasn't enough to taste it."
Qian Hong was starting to have an existential crisis, staring blankly at Xie Yan, "Xiao Yan, is this book real?"
Xie Yan nodded solemnly, "This book is genuine. It is said to have come from the former imperial physician."
"My master was exiled here because of this book."
Qian Hong's eyes widened. Those were things from the palace!
That's good stuff. "Is there anything else?"
Xie Yan flipped through a few pages and said to Qian Hong, "Yes, Mother, you open it, there's more at the end."
"Moreover, the ingredients on this are all things we have at home, so we started cooking for Yueyue according to these recipes."
Qian Hong reached out and touched the book. "This is a good thing. You should go back and keep it safe."
Xie Yan held the book in both hands and nodded seriously, "Mother, don't worry, I'll hide it right now."
After Xie Yan entered the room, Yu Yue looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Did you succeed?"
Xie Yan nodded smugly.
Yu Yue was shocked. "How did you do that?"
Xie Yan smiled smugly, "Are you happy?"
Yu Yue nodded vigorously, "Mmm, mmm, mmm, I'm so happy, super happy! You're amazing, how did you convince Mom?"
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