At three past three in the morning, the sun was scorching the bluestone slabs. Chuntao rushed into Tinglan Courtyard, carrying a black lacquered lunch box. Her skirt swept the moss under the porch, startling two sparrows. Her face was as red as a ripe tomato, and her hair was askew, as if she had been chased by a dog for three blocks. "Miss! Look at this monster!"
The food box clattered against the rosewood table, and the smell of sour food mixed with mold hit me. Three dishes and a soup lay in a coarse porcelain bowl: the greens were wilted like a soaked rag, the tofu was covered in spiderwebs of green mold, and the only meat was a few pieces of blackened bacon that bounced when poked with a silver hairpin, and the rotten vegetable leaves floating in the soup were still stained with mud. Chen Weiwan was feeding corn to the parrot when she smelled it and ducked back, covering her nose with the handkerchief in her sleeve. "Did Liu send rotten water as tribute again?"
"It's even worse than rotten water!" Chuntao slammed the lid of the food box loudly. "Mrs. Zhang in the kitchen whispered that the Second Madam ordered yesterday that the meals for the legitimate daughters' quarters be the lowest rations, not even as good as those for the servants! Look at this bacon, it's so hard it could break your teeth. I'm afraid it's been sitting there since last year's Laba Festival."
Chen Weiwan used a silver hairpin to pick up half a piece of moldy tofu. The bluish-gray mold shone eerily in the sunlight. In her previous life, she had always been bewitched by Liu, who told her, "When Heaven wants to give a man a great responsibility, it must first make his heart and mind suffer." She cried over these rotten meals, believing that she truly didn't deserve good food. Now, she thought, Liu wasn't just trying to whet her appetite; she was clearly trying to wear down her energy to fight for the family inheritance.
"Miss, we have to go and argue!" Chun Tao was so angry that she grabbed the corner of her clothes. "Why is it that Roulan Courtyard eats bird's nest and shark's fin every day, while we here have worse than pig food? I heard that the Second Madam rewarded her nephew from her mother's family with ten taels of silver for wine yesterday!"
Shen Weiwan suddenly smiled, her eyes curved like a cat stealing fish: "Theory? Why do you have to make things difficult for money?"
Chun Tao was stunned: "You have a problem with money?"
"Think about it," Chen Weiwan picked up the food box and tapped the moldy tofu with her fingertips. "Auntie is afraid that I will forget my roots because of eating too well, so she specially prepared this 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' meal." She winked at Chuntao, and the silver hairpin on her bun shone with a tiny silver light. "Let's go, take it to Roulan Courtyard and kowtow three times to Auntie to express my gratitude."
Although Chun Tao was confused, she still followed suit and picked up the soup bowl. The master and servant carried the stale rice and deliberately walked around the busiest corridor in the mansion. When passing by the kitchen, Shen Weiwan suddenly stopped and said loudly to the steaming hot air, "Master Wang! Thank you for letting me make you the 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' rice!"
Chef Wang, the chef, poked his head out, his face covered in sweat and grease, and he froze instantly. The rotten rice in the food box smelled sour in the sun. He looked at Shen Weiwan's "sincere" smile, his Adam's apple rolling and he couldn't speak. Shen Weiwan, on the other hand, picked up a piece of moldy tofu and held it high: "Look at these mold spots, green and white, don't they look like moss after rain? My aunt said this is called 'natural pattern', more precious than the carved pastries in the imperial kitchen!"
The servants washing rice and picking vegetables gathered around, their shoulder poles and buckets scattered all over the floor. A new servant scratched his head and said, "Miss, is this rice... edible? My pigs won't even eat rotten tofu."
"Nonsense!" Chen Weiwan glared and shook the silver hairpin holding the moldy tofu. "My aunt said that only those who endure hardships can become the best! Look at this bacon," she took a big bite. "It's so crispy and chewier than nuts. I'll take two pieces with me when I go out. I can use them as hidden weapons when I encounter bad guys!"
"Puff!" Someone burst out laughing first, and the ensuing roar of laughter rang out like frying soybeans. Chuntao sighed at the right moment, her voice subdued yet clear. "That's right! The Second Madam said yesterday that the young lady should eat this meal every day until she gets married, saying it would 'temper her character'!"
These words were like salt sprinkled into a frying pan, and the servants roared with laughter. Everyone knew that when Liu was in charge of the household, she was always taking advantage of others, and now she was even skimping on the food of her daughter, euphemistically calling it "remembering the bitter past and cherishing the sweet future." This stinginess could be written into "Biographies of Miser in the Capital."
At the entrance to Roulan Courtyard, Madam Liu was directing the maids to dry the newly acquired brocade. Twelve pieces of fabric covered the entire courtyard, dazzling like a rosy glow. Hearing laughter in the distance, she frowned and spat, "Which little bitch is going crazy over there?"
Before she finished speaking, Shen Weiwan came in with a food box, smiling. The hem of her plain skirt swept across the edge of the brocade, startling Liu and making her scream, "You're asking for death! Can you afford to pay for stepping on the brocade?!"
Shen Weiwan placed the food box on the stone table, and the stench of sour food instantly overwhelmed the incense. She pointed at the rotten vegetable leaves in the bowl, a look of gratitude on her face: "Aunt! Thank you for preparing this 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' meal! Look at these vegetables, they're perfectly wilted, like banana leaves after rain. And this tofu, with its distinct layers of mold, is more beautiful than a painting!"
Liu looked at the rotten rice in the food box, her carefully drawn eyebrows twitching fiercely: "Who told you to bring this filthy thing?!"
"Aunt, don't be so modest!" Shen Weiwan raised her voice, startling the swallows under the eaves. "Everyone in the mansion knows that you love me. You're afraid that I'll develop a spoiled personality if I eat too well, so you specially asked the kitchen to make this 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' meal!" She picked up the piece of bacon and held it up to the sun. "Look at this meat, it's so hard it can be used as a self-defense weapon. Last time a wild cat pounced on me, I hit it with the meat, and it ran away with a howl!"
The maids drying silks around them were so stifled that their faces flushed red. One bold woman burst out laughing and quickly lowered her head to cover her face with her sleeves. Liu looked at their trembling shoulders, then at Shen Weiwan's innocent face, and felt her temples throbbing, and the emerald armor almost pinched into her palms.
"That's enough!" Liu slammed the stone table, spilling half the box of rouge and powder. "Eat it or not! I'm starving you to death, you little bitch!"
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