Sun Wanqing and her two maids weren't very good at cooking, so watching Su Yun'er cook was like watching magic. The fish that were just jumping around a moment ago were transformed into two delicious dishes in the pot in no time.
The two dishes are prepared similarly, but taste different.
The fish skin is already stained with the color of the broth, but the fish meat inside is still blood white after peeling off the skin. You can easily cut the fish meat with chopsticks. It is soft and smooth in the mouth. If you eat it with the broth, the oil and broth aroma will make it very appetizing.
With the rich broth poured over the rice and accompanied by Su Yun'er's homemade pickled radish side dishes, Sun Wanqing ate an extra bowl of rice than usual.
Chunrou and Xiazhi were so frightened that they tried to persuade her to put down her chopsticks.
But she wouldn't listen and insisted on eating two bowls of rice. If she hadn't been so full, she would have wanted to keep eating.
After the meal, Sun Wanqing sat there, secretly trying to support her lower back, otherwise she really couldn't sit still.
I ate way too much.
Su Yun'er noticed her embarrassment and took her to her original side room. There were only the two of them in the room, so Sun Wanqing could relax a bit.
"How about we try this red sour fruit tea again this time?" Su Yun'er said with a smile to Sun Wanqing.
Sun Wanqing picked up the cup with some suspicion, smelled it, and reluctantly took a small sip.
The next second, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Why does it taste different from what I ate before?" Sun Wanqing exclaimed in surprise.
"When you came here, you were on an empty stomach and didn't like sour things, so naturally you couldn't drink it. But now you've eaten too much and feel greasy. At this time, sour things can neutralize the greasiness and help you digest, making you feel much better."
"My lady is truly learned and talented," Sun Wanqing said with admiration.
Sun Wanqing was more than ten years younger than Su Yun'er in her previous life, but only a few years younger than Su Yun'er now. In addition, Su Yun'er's cooking skills won her over, so she liked Su Yun'er very much.
"What is that cart in the lady's courtyard for?"
"Selling tofu pudding," Su Yun'er explained.
"Douhua? Is that the white tofu that was stewed with the fish at noon?"
"They're different. Tofu is made from douhua (a type of fermented bean curd), and douhua is more tender."
"Douhua, Douhua, what a lovely name."
During their conversation, Sun Wanqing learned of Su Yun'er's wish to build a house at the dock.
"That way, when it's windy and rainy, I don't have to worry about getting cold."
Su Yun'er never expected that what was originally just a casual conversation with someone would later bring so much help.
Sun Wanqing also never expected that her identity would be reversed with the woman in front of her, a cruel twist of fate.
***
Daliushu Village, Ma Tiannian's home.
On that day, Ma Tiannian tried to harass Sun Yun'er in the heavy snow, but not only did he fail, he also fell off the small bridge and lay on the snow below, his whole body aching but unable to move.
Unfortunately, it was early morning that day, and not many people passed by. After an unknown amount of time, a villager finally passed by, saw Ma Tiannian lying in the snow, almost frozen to death, and finally rescued him and took him home.
That day, Ma Tiannian developed a high fever. Although he had no internal injuries, his muscles ached terribly. In addition, he was naturally lazy and spent his days lying in bed groaning and looking like he was about to die.
It was just a pity for his wife, Lin Moniang. She had to do the embroidery work, serve Ma Tiannian, who was a useless person, and take care of their six or seven-year-old son. She was busy from dawn till dusk every day. After a few days, she, who was not fat to begin with, lost even more weight.
When Su Yun'er accompanied Old Lady Chen on a walk, she saw Lin Moniang carrying water and walking briskly into the distance. At that moment, Su Yun'er felt that the woman looked somewhat familiar, but she did not know who she was.
Instead, it was Old Lady Chen who spoke first: "Mo Niang is so pitiful. She was sold to the Ma family as a child bride, just like a slave in the Ma family. I don't know when she will be able to get out of this situation."
Following Old Lady Chen's gaze, Su Yun'er saw Lin Moniang carrying water. As she passed a group of children, a boy suddenly rushed out from the group of children, wanting to help Lin Moniang carry the water. However, after a few attempts, he couldn't lift it at all. In the end, he used the handkerchief on Lin Moniang's shoulder to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and then they walked away together.
"Who is that boy?" Su Yun'er asked.
Old Mrs. Chen said, "Lin Moniang's son, Ma Xiaolan, is about the same age as our Xiaoshu and Xiaocao."
"He does care about his mother and even knows how to help her with chores."
"Xiao Lan is alright, but with such a wicked father, it's inevitable that he'll go astray. He's pretty bad in the village; he's always fighting with some kid today, or throwing cow dung into other people's yards with some kid tomorrow. If any kid in the village does something bad, just investigate; Xiao Lan will definitely be involved."
After saying that, Old Mrs. Chen laughed instead: "But this child is quite interesting. Do you remember when you asked me to sell candied hawthorns in the village? On the first day, this Ma Xiaolan came, sucking on his finger and watching me from afar. He didn't come close, just stared at me from a distance. Then on the second day, he actually brought three coins to buy candied hawthorns."
Where did he get the money?
"I thought it was probably given to me by an adult, so I didn't ask any questions and just gave him a string of candied hawthorns. But he didn't take it and insisted on picking it himself. After looking around, he picked the neatest and best-looking one from the pile and left happily. But not long after he left, I heard someone cursing in the street, saying that they had been robbed and their money was gone."
"Oh, so it must be Ma Xiaolan, right?" Su Yun'er helped Old Lady Chen sit down on a rock to rest her feet.
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