Chapter 147 Chapter 147 Update.
Because they were worried about the Song family's poor situation, Tian and her three daughters moved into an empty house next door and lived there temporarily.
For two consecutive days, Ji Xu cooked porridge with grains and some blood-replenishing foods, and Song could eat half a bowl.
But her body was too weak, and eating only grains and vegetables without any meat could not make up for her poor health. Therefore, Ji Xu tried to add some meat into the porridge.
I saw that the ear room where she decocted medicine had been transformed into a simple kitchen. Knives, plates, bowls, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, etc. were all purchased by Feng Gu in a nearby Gao City.
Ji Xu was also careful about the ingredients he wanted to use, and asked Feng Gu to go to the market to buy them personally and bring them into the yard without telling anyone.
What was openly on display was the medicine that was prepared for Song at the pharmacy. The servants in the mansion also thought that Feng Gu went out only to get the medicine and did not think of anything else.
That day, Feng Gu caught a pair of wild pigeons. When she took them out of the sack, they flapped their wings vigorously.
"The old man said he caught them with a fishing net by the frozen pond. I thought they looked plump, so I bought some. My wife used to drink pigeon soup in her first few years after we got married, but after consulting a fortune teller, she stopped eating it altogether, and her health has been declining."
Ji Xu got the pair of pigeons, boiled water to pluck their feathers, and then used a small ceramic stove to make soup. He also took a piece of thicker meat from the pigeon's breast, pounded it finely, and marinated it with shredded ginger to remove the odor.
After getting the pigeon soup, I didn’t keep the bones. I added some nourishing grains to make porridge, sprinkled some chopped pigeon breast meat on the noodles, and mixed it into the porridge.
Add a spoonful of autumn oil with scallion slices to cover the fishy smell, which not only enhances the fragrance but also makes it less greasy. Then it is brought to the inner room.
With a soft pillow behind her back, Song was able to sit up for a while, but her cheeks were still pale and bloodless.
Tian held the porridge in her hand, blew on it as she came in, and said:
"What a delicious porridge! With your body, it's not enough to just eat grains and vegetables. You need some meat. Xu'er said this porridge is made with the meat from the pigeon's breast. It's tender and not fishy."
He didn't hide it from her and told her that pigeon meat was added to the porridge. But before she got close, Song Shiguang covered her chest and felt nauseous.
Tian hurriedly put down the porridge and massaged her back to help her calm down, so that she didn't vomit the two mouthfuls of food she had eaten in the morning.
By chance, a maidservant of my sister-in-law Pan came with a food box. She brought out a nourishing meat soup with a layer of yellow oil on top.
There was another dish of braised mackerel, which looked pale, with few cuts on its back and a fishy smell.
"Our wife is now in charge of such a large family. During the New Year, there are more relatives visiting. She has to entertain relatives and friends and prepare the New Year banquet. She is too busy to spare time. Even so, I still specially ordered the kitchen to prepare two dishes to nourish Madam Song."
After hearing this, Song's face became even uglier, and she covered her chest and said:
"Thank you for your trouble. I've been a vegetarian for many years, and I didn't expect to break my vow at the last minute. It's a clean death to die like this. Go ahead and tell your sister-in-law that I'm very grateful to her."
The maid responded and went to imitate Pan's speech.
Pan was lying on the couch, covered with a large leopard skin. A little maid was massaging her legs. After hearing this, she asked:
"Did you see clearly? She really didn't eat anything at all?"
"Still the same, she won't touch any meat. Diao Lao San, the kitchen manager, is a flatterer and doesn't put the heart into preparing vegetarian meals for the dying old woman. I heard that the cauldron used to cook meat isn't even washed, but used to make vegetarian meals. The old woman who pours the swill says that the old woman has been pouring all the food into the swill bucket since Laba. I'm afraid she's relying on the three doses of decoctions a day to stay alive."
After hearing this, Mrs. Pan felt pleased.
The Yan family had two sons. Pan married the second son. When he had Yong'er in his early years, he urged Mrs. Yan to divide the family.
The two branches each got some land and shops, but because the old lady was still alive, the Yan family divided the family but not the rooms, and did not divide the property. The two branches still lived together in the ancestral home. The two sons of the Yan family each took care of the business under their name, and at the end of the year they settled the accounts and spent all the money together.
In fact, it was the same as if the family had not been divided. At first, Pan was dissatisfied with this real division of the family. However, after a few years, the second house's business suffered losses, while the first house made several times more money. Her heart had long since changed.
He no longer urged Old Lady Yan to draw a clear line with the first wife's family. Instead, he wanted to adopt his youngest son Yong'er into the Song family.
However, the Song family refused and refused to do so.
After three years, the pious vegetarian woman is finally passing away. The matter of adoption is entirely up to the old lady, and it will be done soon. In the future, they will also have a share of the first wife's property.
Pan was just waiting for the news of the death from the next courtyard.
On the same day, Xiaoyao went to visit Old Lady Yan at her regular morning and evening visitation. Feng and Zhu, two guests and younger generations, accompanied them. The old lady asked a few questions:
"How is your mother? Can she eat?"
Xiaoyao gestured to her, but she didn't understand and didn't want to ask the girl who could understand to explain it to her.
This unlucky eldest daughter-in-law was never liked by her, and she kept repeating the same words over and over again, muttering:
"Your mother won't have much time left. You must listen to her and not make her angry. After serving the medicine, you must also do some needlework. You are a mute. If you don't work hard and become a mute when your mother is gone, how will you get married in the future? Go now."
He didn't stay long, especially because he disliked Feng and Zhu, the two country girls. He was disgusted by the sight of them, so he sent them away.
Kicking out of the courtyard, Ji Feng spat:
"Old man! Is this how she always chants to you?"
Xiaoyao lowered his head and said nothing. A stone fell from the edge of his shoe. Yong'er, who was going to pay his respects, called Xiaoyao a mute.
"Mute, I heard your mother is going to die. You are just like your mother, both of you have an unlucky fate. Your mother is unlucky for her children, and you are unlucky for your mother. Oh..."
Ji Feng pushed him down, pointed at him and cursed:
"You little bastard! You're a living thing with no one to take care of you. I'm going to rip your mouth apart!"
Fortunately, the little maid carried Ji Feng away, and Yong'er was seen howling like a ghost. The people in the old lady's yard heard the noise, and an old nun came out to ask what happened.
The girl was afraid of being stopped and held accountable, so she hurriedly took them back to the main courtyard.
Song had just eaten two mouthfuls of porridge when she saw Xiaoyao coming back with red eyes and asked her what was wrong.
Xiaoyao just shook his head sensibly and gestured:
"There's sand in my eyes. Mom, eat some porridge. It will make you feel better soon."
Ji Feng said quickly, "It was all that old man's fault, and that Yong'er, he was also very talkative. They all said that my aunt didn't have many days left to live, and that Xiaoyao was unlucky for you. I was so angry that I pushed him and wanted to hit him."
Song was furious when she heard this. "Okay, okay, they are all waiting for me to go so that they can stuff Yong'er into the main room. I'm afraid my soft-hearted husband won't be able to withstand the old lady's lecture. What will my poor little one do then?"
Hugging Xiaoyao, the mother and daughter cried for a while. Tian pulled Xiaoyao aside, holding the porridge, and said:
"Okay, eat first. Once you're well, you can protect Xiaoyao for the rest of your life."
Song nodded. She could eat by herself without being fed. She finished the whole bowl of porridge. She had to survive and couldn't just die like this. Her cloudy eyes were filled with anger.
At noon, seeing Song sending away the meat soup and mackerel that Pan had sent, and saying something about not eating meat, Tian thought she would not even eat the bowl of pigeon meat, but she didn't expect to hear her say:
"What Xu'er cooks must be a hundred times better than what's in the kitchen. Now that Xiaoyao is by my side, I really shouldn't just be a vegetarian. If I ruin my health, how can mother and daughter be together in the future? I need to eat meat to make up for my health."
After saying that, he closed his eyes and ate it, but he did not vomit as expected.
The meat had no fishy smell and was soft, glutinous and fragrant in the porridge. Perhaps because he accepted it in his heart, he did not feel nauseous. He ate it mouthful after mouthful until he finished it. Everyone in the room saw this and felt hopeful.
When it was time for dinner, Song also wanted to eat something and said she wanted to eat osmanthus cake.
“I’ll do it!”
Ji Xu rolled up her sleeves and went to the kitchen to work. Nothing made her feel more peaceful than when someone wanted to eat and she quietly cooked and presented it to them.
Especially since this was the first time Song said she wanted to eat since her confinement, she felt full of energy and spent half an hour in the ear room to make these pastries that were as white and soft as jade and as fragrant as osmanthus gold.
The aroma of rice and osmanthus flowers was brought into the house. Song ate two pieces, and Yu Xiaoyao, Feng, Zhu and the others all ate them.
Xiaoyao has lost weight recently, and his face is not as chubby as before. Now that Song's condition has improved, he finally ate the cakes happily.
For lunch, Song also ate the bone soup cooked by Ji Xu. Ten days later, she was able to get out of bed and walk around the house. Her face was no longer as pale as before, but gradually became rosy.
However, no one outside knew about this. When the maids from Pan's courtyard tried to bring food again, Feng Gu stopped them outside and said,
"This room is constantly opening and closing, and it's cold when you go in. Madam is speechless, and even the medicine has to be forced down her throat by the maids. She can't eat this meal anymore. Could you please come and give it to me?"
Pan went there once because Ji Feng had pushed Yong'er away. Feng Gu did not stop her, but when she entered, she saw vomit all over the floor beside the bed.
From a vague glance, one could see that Song was so thin that she looked unrecognizable, even though she was covered in a thick, dirty quilt. Her face was covered with dry and yellow hair. Tian and several other country girls were crying there.
Pan ran out, covering her nose, and scolded the two maids:
"You are so rude! Even if she was about to die, you wouldn't treat her like this. You still don't even bother to clean up!"
He became more and more convinced that Song would not live long, and even started to arrange her funeral. He had no time to ask about what happened to the children that day.
That day, in Old Lady Yan's courtyard, while discussing the adoption, she wiped her tears and said:
"My poor wife finally found her daughter, but she didn't enjoy the happiness of having children for many days. My daughter-in-law couldn't bear to see her die like this, so she asked the old lady to adopt Yong'er under her sister-in-law's name, so that she could break the pot and send off the funeral for her, and show filial piety in front of the coffin. But how could the little one who was poisoned and made mute by the thieves do all this?"
This was also what the old lady was worried about. Just as she was about to agree, she heard someone outside say:
"Mrs. Song is here to pay her respects to the old lady."
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