Widow Liu looked at Zhao Xian for a long time and found him very pleasing to the eye today. He no longer had the poor and shabby appearance of the past, and was even somewhat handsome. She couldn't help but feel a little fondness for him.
"Scholar Zhao has come to town for the market today too. What did you buy?"
Zhao Xian looked at his basket, which was covered with a lotus leaf, so he couldn't tell what was inside.
At this moment, he didn't want others to see that there was rice and meat in the basket, as this would arouse suspicion.
“My family was almost starving. My mother gave me a few coins, which could only buy some whole grain flour in town.”
Widow Liu cast a sympathetic glance at him. She knew that if you ate too much whole grain powder, you wouldn't even be able to defecate. No one would eat whole grain powder unless it was a last resort.
The group remained silent the whole way. Soon the oxcart entered the village. Zhao Xian got off the oxcart with his basket and headed straight home.
At this moment, Li Chun'e was very worried. She had gone to several houses but could not borrow any flour. Without flour, she could not make pancakes, but her scholar son did not eat cornbread. This worried her to death.
The family looked at each other, not knowing what to do. It was almost noon, and the scholar should be back for lunch.
Just then, Zhao Xian walked in, and the basket he was carrying was very conspicuous.
"Mom, I'm back."
When Zhao Xian saw that the whole family was looking at him in surprise, he immediately understood what was going on.
Just now on the oxcart, he had already thought about how to explain to his family that he couldn't tell anyone about his market trading system, not even his own mother.
“Mother, I just went to town. A big hotel is about to open, and the manager wants to ask for a good couplet, but he hasn’t been able to get one after three days.”
I thought for a moment, then stepped forward and wrote a couplet. The shopkeeper was delighted to see it, saying that it was exactly the couplet he wanted, and then invited me to dinner.
I said I wouldn't eat, but I'd like some food for you to take home and cook for my family.
So the shopkeeper gave me some food, filled a basket, and also gave me one hundred copper coins.
After Zhao Xian finished speaking, he handed the basket and the one hundred copper coins he had prepared to Li Chun'e.
Li Chun'e was stunned. Her scholar son had never given her a single copper coin before. What was going on today?
She was overjoyed to accept the coins and the basket, and placed the basket on the table.
The younger brother and sister were very curious about what was in the basket and couldn't wait to remove the lotus leaf covering it.
The whole family was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.
The basket contained a bag of rice, meat, eggs, and many vegetables and seasonings they had never seen before.
"Mother, all this food was given to us by the restaurant owner. Today we're having braised pork and white rice. I'll go cook." Zhao Xian said, then picked up a basket and went into the kitchen.
In ancient times, most families were headed by men who worked outside the home and women who stayed at home; washing clothes and cooking were women's responsibilities.
But now, Zhao Xian is going to cook. He is a scholar, and a Xiucai at that. How can he go into the kitchen? Besides, they have never seen Zhao Xian cook before.
The family looked at each other, speechless for a long time.
Li Chun'e followed him into the kitchen; how could she let this scholar's son cook?
“Zhao Xian, you should rest. You’re a scholar, how can you go to the kitchen to cook? Let your mother do it.” Li Chun’e seemed a little nervous.
"Mom, we're at home, it's alright. Let me do it. There are some vegetables you've never seen before and don't know how to cook. You can just help me start the fire."
Before his transmigration, Zhao Xian was not only highly educated but also a very good cook. This time, he's going to show off his skills and let this family have a good meal.
Zhao Xiaosheng was still in a daze, watching Zhao Xian busy in the kitchen.
"My older brother has changed; he knows how to care for us now."
"Big brother looks so handsome today, I love him!" Zhao Lingling said excitedly.
Zhao Xiaoshan was also very puzzled. His older brother had always been indifferent to his family. Today, he didn't eat out but instead went home to cook for his family. Had his personality changed after he had been unconscious for a day and a night?
The three siblings didn't usually talk much to Zhao Xian, and they mostly respected him. Now that the scholar and his mother were cooking in the kitchen, they didn't follow them.
They worked silently until the aroma of meat filled the house and reached their nostrils.
"Is this the smell of braised pork? It smells so good!" The three siblings were a little excited. Zhao Xian had just said he was going to make braised pork, so it must be delicious. They couldn't help but slip into the kitchen.
"The braised pork smells so good, I'm so hungry." Little sister Zhao Lingling's mouth was already watering.
Looking at his younger siblings, Zhao Xian felt a mix of emotions, especially his younger sister, who was so thin and frail. He had transmigrated from another world and didn't have a strong kinship relationship with her, but they were, after all, the original owner's siblings, and he had an obligation to take good care of them.
He bent down, picked up his little sister, and stroked her dry, yellow hair.
Zhao Lingling's body was stiff, and her scholar brother rarely spoke to her or cared about her.
But now her brother has picked her up, and she feels dizzy. She doesn't dare to look at his face, but she likes the feeling of being held.
"The meat must be cooked thoroughly before we can eat it. Lingling, wait a moment, we have lots of good food to eat today."
Seeing the scene before her, Li Chun'e almost burst into tears. Her scholar son had finally learned to care for his family.
Zhao Xian held Zhao Lingling in his arms until the pork belly was cooked, then he used chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it into his sister's mouth.
"Lingling, is it delicious?"
"The braised pork is so delicious!" Zhao Lingling said excitedly.
Over the years, in order to help Zhao Lingling pass the imperial examinations, her family has been frugal and rarely eats meat. Even during festivals, there is hardly any meat. Zhao Lingling has never tasted meat before.
Seeing Zhao Lingling wolfing down her food, Zhao Xian felt a pang of sadness. After seeing his sister swallow the meat after a few chews, he picked up another piece and put it into her mouth.
The two younger brothers stared at the braised pork with great longing; they really wanted to eat it too.
"Second and third brothers, you should also try the braised pork," Zhao Xian said with a smile.
"No, brother, let's eat when the food is ready."
"Alright, you guys go outside and chop some firewood for a while. I'll call you when the meal is ready," Li Chun'e instructed.
The two brothers were very excited about the braised pork and white rice they would soon be able to eat, so they went to the door and started chopping firewood.
After the braised pork was cooked, Zhao Xian stir-fried some vegetables. He used rendered pork fat to cook the vegetables, which made Li Chun'e feel very sorry for him.
This lard should last for months, but this scholar used it all up in just one meal. He really doesn't know how to manage money.
Zhao Xian busied himself for a while and quickly finished preparing the remaining dishes.
Then they started cooking rice. Zhao Xian poured all five jin of rice into the pot at once. Li Chun'e was shocked and tried to stop him, but it was too late. All five jin of rice had already gone into the pot.
This scholar's son is really bad at managing money. He ate all that white rice in one meal. It seems he doesn't want to live a proper life.
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