Chapter 17: Tofu and Meatball Soup. Heartbroken.
The eldest wife of the Zong family had only three children by the time of Zong Xiao.
Dalang Zong died in battle before he was twenty, Erlang Zongxiao had his face scratched by a wolf when he was young, and only Sanlang grew up safely.
Back then, Zong Xiao was still a child. He was playing outside in the middle of winter when a wolf came down from the mountains to look for food and wanted to catch him. Fortunately, Zong Xiao's father appeared in time and snatched him back from the wolf's mouth. Unfortunately, Zong Xiao was left with a scar on his face.
In order to ensure the safety of the children in the family, the grandfather named the newborn Sanlang Anji.
I don’t know if the name really worked, but our family was peaceful for the next ten years.
Until the rainy season, when Zong's father went into the mountains to collect herbs, he accidentally fell off a cliff. The following year, his eldest brother Zong Zhan died...
Zong Xiao couldn't bear to recall the past, as he only had this younger brother left in his family.
If I really like the girl from the Liu family, what's wrong with dividing the family?
Qiu Xuan raised her hand to block his way and said silently, "You still have to talk to mother about this. Why don't you ask mother first?"
Zong Xiao knew that he had been impulsive again, and he regretted it in his heart, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
The next day, Zong Xiao took advantage of breakfast to tell his mother about this.
The clan mother was truly furious last night, unable to sleep soundly. She couldn't understand why her youngest son, who clearly loved her, wouldn't agree. Besides, saying they were a good match... that wasn't much of an excuse.
After all, we are all farmers, and our lives are not so different.
The grandmother sat on a stool and added some firewood to the stove. She frowned slightly and asked, "Second brother, what do you think about this?"
Zong Xiao didn't agree directly like he did yesterday. After listening to Qiu Xuan's words, he turned and asked, "Mother, when Huaixue reaches a certain age, what kind of family do you want to find for her?"
The mother looked up at him. These words were not something Zong Xiao would say in the past.
"Mom, put yourself in their shoes. Actually, there is nothing wrong with the request made by the Liu butcher family. They already have two sons and one daughter. The two daughters-in-law quarrel every day, and someone will always be wronged." Zong Xiao said.
The clan mother was still unhappy. She fanned herself vigorously with a palm-leaf fan and said self-deprecatingly, "Why doesn't the Liu family split up?"
Zong Xiao smiled helplessly: "The Liu family is in charge of the business, and the two branches are inseparable."
There were noises coming from the courtyard. Zong Xiao took advantage of the fact that no one had come to the kitchen to hurriedly say, "Mom, we can still be apart. We are all family after all. If my third brother really likes her, we can't let him miss out on a good marriage because of this."
The words on the tip of the tongue were swallowed back by the clan mother. She was Sanlang's mother, so how could she want to let him down?
But if the family splits up, one of Erlang and Sanlang will suffer in the end. This is what she is most worried about. She is afraid that the brothers will become alienated.
No one mentioned this matter at the morning meal, but after the meal, Zong's mother called Zong Anji to her room.
I don’t know what the two of them said, but when Zong Anji came out of the house again, his eyes were already filled with tears.
Qiu Xuan was a little curious. She followed Zong Xiao and asked him what he had said to his mother this morning.
"Mom didn't agree at that time, but I saw that she was also moved." Zong Xiao rummaged through the wooden box for a long time and finally found his purse at the bottom.
This was the money he had saved from selling game over the past few years. It wasn't much, only four taels.
He poured the silver and money on the table and pulled Qiu Xuan to sit down.
"Is this private money?" Qiu Xuan pointed and asked.
"Almost." Zong Xiao pushed the money in front of her, "Mother keeps all the money in the family, and this is my share."
Qiu Xuan had a vague suspicion in her mind, and sure enough, the next second he said, "Take this money. If we divide the family property in the future, Mother will probably give us some, and you can take it all then."
Qiu Xuan stared at him, feeling somewhat reluctant. "Mom isn't going to follow us, is she?"
I had obviously guessed it a long time ago, but hearing it with my own ears was another matter entirely.
Zong Xiao was afraid she would be unhappy, so he explained, "Third brother is still young, so mother is always worried and wants to follow him around."
Qiu Xuan let out an "oh" and felt indignant for him.
After all, there are many children, and parents will always love one of them more. It can be seen that Zong Xiao is not the most favored one.
Qiu Xuan discovered this last night. After all, the family that Zong Anji wanted to marry required a betrothal gift of seven taels of silver. Everyone in the village said that the betrothal gift was too much, but Zong's mother was willing to accept it.
But Zong Xiao's marriage... although it was worth a lot of money, but... she was brought here as collateral for a debt, and was not the one that Zong's mother carefully selected for Zong Xiao.
"Don't be sad. Even if it's just the two of us, our lives won't be any worse than they are now," Zong Xiao coaxed. "How about meatball and tofu soup today? I'll go buy some tofu and make it for you."
Seeing that he didn't care at all, Qiu Xuan couldn't say anything. She just nodded in agreement.
Old Wang's family in the north of the village sells tofu. The tofu they make is exquisite with their secret craftsmanship.
Especially when it is just out of the pot, it tastes delicious even when eaten raw.
Zong Xiao went out in the hot sun and spent five cents to buy two large blocks of tofu. On the way back, he went to the butcher shop where he had sold meat yesterday and bought three pounds of front leg meat.
This meatball soup is easy to make and not easy to go wrong.
As soon as Zong Xiao got home, he went into the kitchen and started cooking the meat.
Wash the front leg meat you bought with clean water and then chop it into stuffing.
If you want the meatballs to taste chewy, the meat filling should not be chopped too finely.
While Zong Xiao was chopping the stuffing, Qiu Xuan took Huai Xue to the backyard to pick up a few eggs, and then went to the small vegetable garden to pick a handful of vegetables.
You have to do something; you can't just sit at home and wait for food.
"Aunt, look at this one I picked." Huaixue shook the green leaves in her hand.
"That's right, we'll wash it and send it to your uncle later."
In the kitchen, Zong Xiao moved his knife and put the chopped meat into a bowl, then sprinkled some green onion, ginger, salt and pepper on it.
I bought a lot of meat today, so this pot of meat filling will be enough for two meals.
Zong Xiao gave half of it away, thinking of making some more meat patties for dinner. It was so hard to enjoy such a good meal, so he wanted everyone to enjoy it to the fullest.
Qiu Xuan brought the washed vegetables into the house. Seeing that the stove was not lit yet, she helped to light it.
When the flames grew bigger and the iron pan was hot, Zong Xiao put a large spoonful of lard into the pan, and when the oil melted, he added the green onion and ginger and stir-fried them.
Then he added well water and continued to simmer. Taking advantage of this free time, Zong Xiao cut the tofu he bought into pieces.
"Try it." He picked up a piece with bamboo chopsticks and handed it to Qiu Xuan's mouth.
The tofu was tender and melted in the mouth. Qiu Yu tasted a piece and said it was delicious.
"Why don't you leave some out and make some green onion and tofu," said Qiu Xuan.
Zong Xiao listened to her and put a portion of it into a small plate. As for the rest, he would put it into the pot later.
Soon the water boiled. Zong Xiao hurried to the side of the pot, wiped his hands with a cloth, and began to blanch the meatballs.
He was very skilled with his hands, and every meatball he made was almost the same size and shape. Qiu Xuan looked at the unformed meatballs in her hand and gave up the idea of helping without hesitation for a second.
After all the meatballs in the pot floated up, Zong Xiao poured the tofu and vegetables he had just cut into the pot, and finally added some beaten egg.
This pot of soup has enough ingredients. Although it is not cooked yet, the aroma is already wafting out.
Finally, it was noon, and the family sat around the table. In addition to the tofu and meatball soup, there was also tofu mixed with scallions. "It smells so good." Huaixue sat on her little stool, looking at the bowl with anticipation.
It’s not like we haven’t made meatball soup at home before, but back then we just treated it as a dish, with two or three meatballs enough for each person.
But today was different. The meatball soup came with rice. Each person had a big bowl of meatball soup, and it was a real treat.
As soon as Zong Mu came to the table, she understood what this meant. She glanced at Zong Xiao and sighed softly.
In the end, it was her son who made the choice, and it was her fault.
After dinner, while Huaixue went back to her room to rest, the clan mother said to the people in the courtyard, "I have something to discuss with you. Please go to the next room and wait for me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com