Chapter 4 Cooking
"Xiao Yu." When it was just the two of them, Song Xinran put down what she was holding, squatted down in front of Song Yu, and looked at him at eye level.
Song Yu's gaze was somewhat flustered; he looked left and right, but dared not meet her eyes.
Song Xinran knew that he had a difficult childhood and was introverted, so she didn't force him. She softened her voice and asked, "What does Xiao Yu want to eat today? Mom bought a lot of groceries."
This topic made Song Yu less nervous, because it was a conversation that often happened at her aunt's house. Usually, her aunt would ask Cai Yang, "Little Yang, what do you want to eat today?"
Cai Yang would say, "I want to eat steamed eggs, I want to eat chicken legs, I want to eat braised pork!"
No one had ever asked Song Yu this question before, but he could mimic Cai Yang's answer.
However, eggs, chicken legs, and meat are too expensive...
Song Yu said softly, "Let's eat potatoes."
His aunt's family grew a lot of potatoes, and he went to the hillside to dig up a lot of them. He even carried a lot home in a small bucket, until his palms were red from carrying them.
Potatoes are free; they're very cheap.
Song Xinran didn't know what the child was thinking. She thought he liked potatoes, so she patted his little hand and said, "Okay, Mommy will make braised pork and potatoes today."
Song Yu opened his mouth, wanting to say that the meat was expensive, but he was too embarrassed to say it, so he could only lower his head and purse his lips.
Song Xinran stood up, preparing to pick up the bag on the ground, but this would prevent her from holding Song Yu's hand again.
Song Yu took the initiative to let go of her hand, and then used both hands to lift one of the bags with great force, her face turning red from the effort.
Song Xinran wanted to stop him, as these things were too heavy for a child, but she saw that Song Yu had already lifted them up with both hands. He looked up and gave Song Xinran a smile with his eyes crinkling.
Song Xinran felt a pang of sympathy, stroked the child's soft hair, and praised, "Xiao Yu is really amazing, he can lift such a heavy bag."
Song Yu couldn't hide his smile as he chugged the things, excitedly whispering, "I can carry much heavier things at home! I can carry ten ears of corn and even the pig feed home!"
Song Xinran's heart suddenly felt heavy. In her previous life, her relative's child couldn't even dress himself when he was three years old. He could earn the praise of the whole family by eating by himself with a spoon once.
Song Yu's life was a bit tough. She reached out and took the bag from Song Yu's hand: "It's too heavy. Let Mom carry it."
Song Yu felt a lightness in his hand; the item was gone. Looking at his empty little hand, the smile on his face vanished.
But then, a bag of eggs landed in his hands.
Song Xinran said, "Xiao Yu, help Mom carry this."
Upon hearing this, Song Yu immediately became happy. She carefully held the bag of eggs in both hands and brought it closer to her chest, letting the fragile eggs rest against her body so that they would not easily get hurt.
Song Yu knew the value of eggs. Her aunt's family raised two hens, but sometimes they wouldn't lay an egg all day. Every time a hen laid an egg, her aunt would carefully collect it and put it in a jar, either boiling or steaming it for Cai Yang to eat.
Cai Yang always ate with great relish, while Song Yu carefully scooped the rice from his bowl, not daring to look or scoop up the steamed egg custard. But he could always smell the aroma, which was so delicious it made his mouth water.
Hearing from his aunt that eggs sell for three cents each on the street, Song Yu held them carefully, feeling a sense of joy at being valued.
He nodded vigorously and gave a heavy "hmm".
He will definitely protect the eggs!
Looking at his serious little face, Song Xinran couldn't help but smile.
The mother and son had only been gone a short while when a woman with her trousers rolled up and wearing rubber shoes hurried toward them, clearly having just come from the fields.
"Xinran, why are you back at this time? You didn't even tell me beforehand. And you're carrying so much stuff. It would have been easier for me to pick you up. I only found out when Xiaoyang came to tell me that your aunt was back." The woman muttered as she took the things from Song Xinran's hands.
Then her gaze fell on Song Yu: "Why did you let the child handle the eggs? They're so easy to break. Honestly, you have eggs at home, why did you buy more?"
The moment Song Xinran saw the woman, some memories suddenly flooded her mind.
The person in front of me is the original owner's older sister, named Song Xinwen.
Their mother died early, and their father worked from dawn till dusk, so the two sisters had a very good relationship.
Later, Song Xinwen got married, and her father passed away less than two years later. The original owner of the body was only sixteen years old, so Song Xinwen took the original owner to live with her.
However, Song Xinwen had other priorities in his life, and he also had a brother-in-law at home, which made life quite inconvenient for the original owner.
The original owner lived at her sister's house for less than a year before being introduced to her husband, and got married at the age of seventeen.
Later... her husband died unexpectedly, and the original owner was unable to earn money while raising her child alone. After much consideration, she asked Song Xinwen to help her take care of the child, and Song Xinwen agreed.
The original owner had always been grateful to Song Xinwen, so she tried her best to bring back more money each month, while living frugally.
Even if Song Xinran didn't know Song Yu's future fate, she would still be very grateful to Song Xinwen.
But now, she only glanced at Song Xinwen with a complicated expression, called her "sister," and didn't say anything else.
Song Xinwen unexpectedly saw that look in her eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. He wondered what was wrong with Song Xinran today. She suddenly came back without saying anything, and her eyes were looking quite strange.
Song Xinwen bent down, wanting to take the eggs from Song Yu's hand: "How can a child carry these? Let your aunt do it."
Song Xinran raised her hand to stop Song Xinwen's actions: "Let Xiao Yu take it. He does a lot of work at home, so he can do this little thing."
Her tone sounded ordinary, but Song Xinwen blushed and immediately understood that Song Xinran felt she was mistreating the child.
Song Xinwen said, "Xiao Yu is a sensible child. He can dress and feed himself, and he will also help set the table and clean up the trash."
Children in rural areas mature early; even a four-year-old can help with household chores, such as picking vegetables, sweeping, and taking out the trash. She asked Song Yu to do some work to train him, not to mistreat him.
Song Yu held the eggs in both hands and said softly, "I can do all of these. I can also pick corn, carry sweet potatoes, and start a fire."
He had a slightly embarrassed look on his little face, as if he was too shy to show off, but he also wanted to prove to his mother that he was really capable.
Because in the past, whenever he did these things, his aunt would praise him.
Song Xinran used her free hand to pat the child's head: "Hmm, Xiao Yu is great, he can do so much work at only three years old."
Song Yu couldn't help but smile.
Song Xinwen blushed even more and mumbled, "There are two kids in the family, Xiao Yu and Xiao Yang, who love to run up the hillside."
Then she noticed the pig lungs that Song Xinran was carrying and was somewhat surprised: "Xinran, why did you buy pig lungs today? These are hard to clean, and they smell fishy and stinky when you stir-fry them, and they waste oil. Last time your brother-in-law brought back a pair, but he ended up throwing them away."
Song Xinran said, "I'll clean it myself later. Once it's clean, it won't have any strange smell when I stir-fry it."
Song Xinwen hesitated. She knew Song Xinran better than anyone. Her younger sister was terrible at cooking, and it would just be a waste of water and oil.
But remembering that Song Xinran hadn't been in a good mood earlier, he smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll try your cooking."
When Song Xinran arrived at the open space in front of the gate, she saw Cai Yang. This kid was quite vengeful; as soon as he saw Song Xinran, he turned his face away.
Song Xinwen scolded, "Xiao Yang, greet him! Why do I have to remind you when you're so old?"
Cai Yang shouted, "I won't call her! She just hit me!"
Song Xinwen: "Your aunt must have hit you because you did something wrong."
Cai Yang cried out, "I didn't! I didn't!"
Song Xinran said sincerely, "I did hit him."
Cai Yang's eyes immediately lit up. He hid next to Song Xinwen and stared at Song Xinran with a hateful look: "That's right!"
Song Xinran looked at Song Xinwen and said in a gentle tone, "Xiao Yang said that Xiao Yu stole something. When I heard that this was a big deal, I quickly found out what happened. It turns out that Xiao Yang loves to eat candy and wanted to eat Xiao Yu's candy too. Sister, why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have bought some candy for Xiao Yang when I came back, and I would have prevented the two brothers from having a fight over such a small matter."
Cai Yang doesn't understand complicated language; he only listens to what he likes. When his aunt wanted to buy him candy, he immediately said, "Where's the candy? I want candy!"
With a sharp "smack," Song Xinwen slapped Cai Yang on the head without hesitation, grabbing his arm: "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! Xiao Yu is your brother, apologize to him right now! What thief? You're just spouting nonsense!"
Song Xinwen could roughly guess what had happened. The candy was bought for Song Yu by Song Xinran when she came back last time, and half of it was also given to Cai Yang.
Cai Yang finished eating quickly and started looking around, so he set his sights on Song Yu's. Song Yu gave him a few, and Song Xinwen didn't ask much about the two children's situation.
Hearing Song Xinran's words now, I feel a bit choked up. What's wrong with my sister this time? Her eyes have changed, she talks more, and she even fusses over such a small thing.
Cai Yang stared wide-eyed at Song Xinwen in disbelief. His mother, who always doted on him, actually wanted him to apologize!
He stubbornly insisted, "I did nothing wrong!"
With a quick effort, the chubby man escaped from Song Xinwen's grasp and ran swiftly to the side.
Song Xinwen said somewhat awkwardly, "Xiao Yang is rather mischievous."
Song Xinran smiled and said, "Kids should be a little mischievous; it keeps them energetic."
Since it's not her child, if the parents don't educate them, society will.
When cooking, Song Xinran didn't ask anyone else for help and prepared the ingredients herself.
She first cooked porridge and then simply marinated the fish slices. The fish was free-range in the reservoir and didn't have a strong fishy smell, so Song Xinran didn't use cooking wine to marinate it. Cooking wine is very effective at removing fishy smells, but it can ruin the flavor of the fish, especially when cooking porridge.
She first added some scallion water, then added scallion leaves and ginger slices, mixed them well to remove the fishy smell, and waited for about ten minutes before picking out the scallions and ginger, then added starch, white pepper powder and sesame oil to marinate.
During this time, Song Xinran took the pig lungs to the tap on the dam and prepared to wash them properly.
While she was working, Song Yu stood at the kitchen doorway, watching her timidly. When she went in or out of the kitchen, Song Yu would hide to the side, as if afraid of getting in her way.
Now that he saw her standing by the tap, he seemed to have finally found something to do. He picked up the small stool from home with both hands, and ran quickly with his short legs to Song Xinran's side. He placed the stool behind her, and even wiped the stool with his little hands to remove the dust.
Then he took two steps back and obediently looked up at her.
Song Xinran sat down and praised, "How amazing is Xiao Yu? She knew Mom was going to wash things and went to get a stool."
Song Yu was a little embarrassed, but she couldn't help being happy to be praised. She quickly ran home to bring Song Xinran a glass of water and presented it to her with both hands.
Song Xinran took the drink, patted his head, and said, "Thank you, Xiao Yu. You worked hard carrying the eggs back for Mom. Go and rest for a while."
Song Yu gave a soft "hmm," took the cup, and ran back. A little while later, she ran out again, carrying a stainless steel basin for her to put things in.
Song Xinran should be happy that her child is so sensible and perceptive, but she just can't be happy at all. Song Yu is still so young, only three years and three months old.
She said, "Xiao Yu, go get a stool and sit down next to Mom. Mom will call you if she needs anything."
Upon hearing that he could help, the child nodded excitedly, ran back quickly to fetch a stool, and sat obediently next to Song Xinran.
Song Xinran turned on the tap and began to flush the pig's lungs with water to clean them.
Just then, Cai Yang, who had just slipped away, came running back. Song Yu's repeated movements of going in and out of the house caught his attention. He wanted to see what was going on, but he just stood a few meters away and didn't move, afraid of getting beaten up.
But then she was drawn to what Song Xinran was holding and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
Song Xinran was too lazy to pay him any attention.
However, Song Yu was very sensible. He stood up, turned around, and said to him, "Mom is washing things."
Cai Yang asked, "Is there no candy today?"
Song Yu pursed her lips and remained silent.
Song Xinran raised an eyebrow, thinking that Cai Yang was really bold to still dare to ask about candy at this time?
She turned her head, picked up the knife next to her and brandished it, then said to Cai Yang, "Go get me a fork, or a toothpick if you don't have one."
Toothpicks can be used to poke small holes in the surface of pig lungs to help drain water and make them easier to clean.
Cai Yang raised his chin, holding a grudge: "I won't take it."
Song Yu immediately stood up: "I know where it is, I'll go get it."
Song Xinran stopped her: "Xiao Yu, don't go. Let Cai Yang go."
Song Yu was an obedient child. Although he didn't quite understand, he still stopped.
Upon hearing this, Cai Yang became even more displeased. Usually, he was the one resting at home while Song Yu did the work, but today it was the other way around!
“I’m not going!” he said even louder.
Song Xinran smiled and said, "If you don't do anything, you can't eat what I make."
The chubby boy stubbornly insisted, "Fine, I won't eat it! I'll ask my mom to steam some eggs for me!"
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