Chapter 19: Bone Noodle Soup.
Building a wall around the courtyard is not a big deal, but if it gets to the ears of outsiders, it would be inappropriate.
After all, Zong Xiao just got married, less than half a month ago, and now he wants to build a wall around the yard. This really makes people think too much.
Especially the other two branches of the clan, when they heard about this, they acted like elders and came to the clan to lecture them.
"You've just been married for a few days, and you haven't met us formally. I'm your second aunt, and this is your third aunt." The leading woman glanced at Qiu Yun and said disdainfully.
Qiu Xuan called everyone one by one, then sat down opposite them, drinking her tea by herself, completely ignoring the two of them.
"You." The third wife of the Zong family lost her temper. A newly married woman was so disrespectful to her elders. She raised her finger and pointed at her nose and scolded her, "You, the daughter-in-law, are really unruly."
Qiu Xuan stared at her face, thinking for a moment, and said, "Aunt San, I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing to you. What if I say something wrong and make you unhappy? I remember a few days ago, your good grandson, wasn't it..."
Qiu Xuan quickly covered her mouth, pretending to be the talkative one, and winked apologetically at the Third House. Upon hearing this, the Third House's expression immediately changed. The reason Da Zhuang had parroted her words that day was because she had deliberately lied in front of outsiders...
Later, her husband found out about this and slapped her that night.
"What happened to Dazhuang?" The second wife of the Zong family didn't know about this. Seeing them playing dumb, she was really curious. "Dazhuang is just a child. If he said something wrong, it's fine. But you, you've forgotten your status since you got married. You don't know how to serve the elders sitting in front of you, and you're secretly trying to split the family. I don't know how your mother-in-law taught you the rules every day."
When Qiu Xuan heard this, she felt really overwhelmed.
Her own mother-in-law didn't even ask her to serve her, but these two outsiders had the nerve to say such things.
This is ridiculous.
Qiu Xuan narrowed her eyes, as if thinking of something, and deliberately said, "We've spent a lot of money on building the wall and yard these past few days, and my mother-in-law is busy now, and she's arguing with those families who haven't paid back the money. Well, come to think of it, if those who owe money would pay it back on their own initiative, my mother-in-law would definitely have time to teach me the rules."
It seems that she is saying that her mother-in-law is busy, but anyone with a little common sense can hear that she is scolding someone who owes money and doesn't pay it back.
The second branch of the Zong family also became embarrassed and pointed at Qiu Yun, wanting to scold her but unable to say anything.
This newly married girl is so sharp-tongued!
The two branches of the Zong family were offended here and fled without even waiting for Zong Xiao and the others to return home.
"Second Aunt, Third Aunt, please come often when you have time." Qiu Xuan stood at the door and waved at the two of them. She acted really well-behaved, and the neighbors who saw her praised her.
However, the news eventually got out. When the clan mother came back from the next village and passed by the second wife's house, she was invited into the yard by them.
The people from the second house had not originally intended to pay back the money, but today someone said that to their faces, which was really embarrassing.
When returning the money, he deliberately mentioned what happened today, even exaggerating it a bit.
Who would have thought that the clan mother was not fooled at all. She shook the silver and pretended to be confused, saying: "Oh, look at this. If you don't give me the silver today, I won't even remember lending money to your family."
The second wife was choked and angry, and she couldn't even say a single word of the divisive words she wanted to say.
The clan mother didn't expect that the money would come back in this way. She was happy, but not entirely because of the money.
She discovered that her newly married daughter-in-law was not a soft persimmon that could be bullied. At least when outsiders came to her house to bully her, she fought back.
The grandmother thought about how she would never dare to speak to her aunts like that when she was a daughter-in-law. She had suffered a lot of grievances in those years.
"Grandma, why did you come back just now?" Zong Huaixue was playing alone in front of the courtyard gate. When she saw her mother, she trotted over.
The grandmother picked her up and scratched her little nose with her hand, "My dear, are you waiting for grandma here?"
Zong Huaixue shook her head and said honestly, "No, grandma, I'm waiting for my second uncle. He went to buy bones."
Ever since we ate the roasted hare that day, our family hasn't had any meat for several days.
When Zong Xiao heard that he was going to buy bones, Zong's mother guessed what he was going to do.
"Follow grandma to pick some vegetables so we can have bone soup in the evening," said the grandmother.
"No, grandma, it's bone soup noodles." Huaixue pointed to the kitchen and said with a smile, "Auntie is rolling noodles and said we're having bone soup noodles today."
Bone soup noodles are actually just bone soup with some noodles added, but farmers generally don’t eat noodles. This thing is difficult to make and is not as quick as steaming dry food.
In the kitchen, Qiu Xuan had already kneaded the dough. She was sitting on a small stool and lighting the stove.
Cooking bone soup takes the most time, and if you want the soup to be flavorful, this time is indispensable.
Just as I was thinking about how to make it more delicious, Zong Xiao came back carrying bones.
What he bought was not big bones but pig leg bones. The leg bones have meat attached to them and they taste much better when cooked than bones.
“How did you buy this?”
"This is all that's left." Zong Xiao put the chopped leg bones into cold water to soak out the blood.
Qiu Yu didn't believe that all the bones could be sold out.
She stood up and moved to Zong Xiao's left, looking up at him, "Really? Can bones be sold so quickly?"
Although their relationship has improved over the past few days, Zong Xiao still doesn't want her to see the scar on his face.
While washing, he turned aside and said, "There's meat on this leg bone."
"Meat must be very expensive."
Zong Xiao rinsed it again, and when he saw that there was no blood foam at all, he put the leg bone into the iron pot. "It's not bad, just a few cents short, not expensive."
Qiu Xuan had never gone shopping with them, so she didn't know what the current prices were like. However, according to Zong Xiao, the leg bones should not be as expensive as the meat, but they were not particularly cheap either.
Outside the door, the grandmother originally wanted to come in to help, but when she heard the young couple whispering to each other, her son's ears turned red.
Seeing that the couple had a very good relationship, there was no reason for the clan mother to come in and disturb them. She took two steps back and closed the door quietly.
To cook leg bones, bring to a boil over high heat, boiling twice. Add sliced ginger to remove any fishy smell. Once the water boils, remove any scum. Rinse the bones thoroughly with clean water before adding them back to the pot. Otherwise, the broth will have a fishy smell.
Qiu Xuan may not be good at anything else, but she is an expert at making soup.
She pushed Zong Xiao aside and started to heat the oil in a pan. The oil was very particular, it had to be lard, otherwise the bone soup would not be milky white.
Qiu Xuan put lard into the pot, and while the oil was hot, added the cooked leg bones. She waited until the leg bones turned golden brown and fragrant before pouring boiling water into the pot again.
It takes a lot of time to cook bone soup. If it takes at least an hour, the taste will not be right.
"I'll watch over here, you go outside and get some fresh air." Zong Xiao had already rolled out and cut the noodles, just waiting to put them into the soup.
Qiu Yun had been guarding the pot, her palm-sized face flushed red from the heat, but she didn't show any courtesy when she saw this.
Afraid that the bone soup noodles would be ruined, she reminded him before leaving the house: "When the soup is ready, just add some salt, don't add anything else. And the noodles, you can't put them directly into the pot, you have to boil water again."
"Why don't I just watch it." Qiu Xuan said worriedly.
Zong Xiao escorted her out of the kitchen. "It's okay. Go rest outside for a while. The soup will be ready soon."
Zong Xiao originally wanted to throw the noodles directly into the pot, but after hearing what she said, he finally obediently boiled another pot of water.
The sky gradually darkened, leaving only a trace of sunset on the horizon.
The fragrance continued to waft out of the Zong family's kitchen. The bone soup had already turned milky white and smelled delicious just by smelling it.
Zong Xiao scooped the cooked noodles into a bowl and poured a few spoonfuls of bone soup on top.
The leg bones have been stewed until they are soft and the whole piece of meat will melt in your mouth with just a slight bite.
"Delicious!" Zong Huaixue took the leg bone and chewed it, eating the whole thing by himself.
Not to mention others, this pot of soup was filled with bones, not a single bit left.
After dinner, Zong's mother asked Zong Anji to go to the kitchen to clean up, while she went back to the house to get some silver.
She was afraid that Zong Xiao would not accept it, so she specifically stuffed the silver into Qiu Xuan's hands this time.
"Your second aunt's family has paid back the money they owed us, three taels in total. Mother kept one tael, and you can take the rest."
"It's too much, mother." Qiu Xuan remembered that Zong Anji was still short of money for the betrothal gift.
The clan mother looked at her lovingly and smiled, "It's not much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to get this money back in a while."
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