Chapter 11 Tangerine Peel Red Bean Soup
"I fell asleep after watching that video, and when I woke up I was Wang Xifeng, the Second Madam of Lian. She had just given birth and was too weak to move... You know, I've barely had any relationships in modern times, and here I'm a mother..." she said softly, feeling very resentful.
"I had just finished my postpartum confinement when Jia Baoyu's mother handed over all the affairs of the mansion to me again. I made an excuse that I hadn't recovered yet, and she said she was going out to worship Buddha for two months..."
"Our second master was eager for me to take over the housekeeping duties so that it would be easier for him to do things. Before I could even agree, he took the keys for me without my consent. I had no choice but to do it, imitating Wang Xifeng's housekeeping in the TV series, and I finally got through this period of time."
Wang Ying's words were heartbreaking.
“I’ve been studying art since I was little, and I’ve always been an art student. My academic performance isn’t very good either. I’ve only watched a few episodes of the TV series ‘Dream of the Red Chamber.’ Sister Yuan, if you don’t come, I really won’t be able to continue acting. I think I’m about to give myself away.”
“Sister Yuan, when I heard your name yesterday, I felt that it was the same as that blogger I know. Later, we talked for a few minutes, and you wanted to use the big kitchen app, which I found strange.”
Wang Ying's voice was soft but firm. She looked directly at Yuan Hongqu, who listened to her reasoning with great interest.
"I've watched the part where Lin Daiyu enters the Jia family mansion several times because of Wang Xifeng's appearance. So I'm quite certain that there isn't a Yuan Mama in this episode. The one who came with Lin Daiyu was an older Wang Mama. I started to have doubts last night, and it wasn't until you brought the red bean buns and purple sweet potato buns this morning that I was certain that this Yuan Mama was the Yuan Hongqu I know!"
Yuan Hongqu smiled: "Is it because you know that purple sweet potatoes haven't spread here yet?"
Wang Ying shook her head: "I really don't know when purple sweet potatoes were introduced to our country. I saw the shaped red bean buns you made. Those cartoon shapes don't belong in this time and space."
Wang Ying said this with a smug look on her face, as if she were revealing a secret.
"And you added dried tangerine peel to the red bean paste... If you don't stir-fry the red bean paste, it's just a dessert called tangerine peel red bean paste."
"Sister, I've said I've watched every single one of your videos. But I'm terrible with my hands, so following your videos, I've only ever made that incredibly simple tangerine peel red bean soup, and it turned out really well... The name matches, the era matches, and tangerine peel red bean soup is one of your signature dishes!"
"If it weren't for you, and I had guessed wrong, I would have rather been dead... Wang Xifeng wouldn't have had a good ending even if she were alive. Maybe if she died, I could go back to the modern world."
As Wang Ying finished speaking, she became somewhat resigned, tears welling in her eyes as she stared blankly into the distance.
Yuan Hongqu sighed inwardly: Considering Wang Ying's experience, it's really not easy for her to have endured for so long.
Wang Ying now has the identity of Wang Xifeng, but she lives in constant fear and is not as carefree as she was on her own.
"Don't worry, it's me." Yuan Hongqu patted Wang Ying's hand to reassure her.
"If you want to save your life, you must never say these things to anyone again, not even your husband or Ping'er. Remember, you are Wang Xifeng, the Second Mistress of Lian."
Wang Ying nodded:
"Sister, I'll listen to whatever you say. My life depends on you." she said anxiously.
"You trust me that much? We've only chatted in the comments section, we don't have any other relationship, right?" Yuan Hongqu was puzzled by Wang Ying's blind trust.
“Sister Yuan, I have read all your works. I know you are a top student and a senior nutritionist. You know a lot. You will definitely live well in Dream of the Red Chamber. It would be enough if you could give me some pointers from time to time so that I don’t do anything reckless and get myself killed.”
Wang Ying felt both regretful and frustrated:
"I haven't read many books, and my education level isn't high. In this world of Dream of the Red Chamber, everyone is highly educated. I'm afraid if I mess up the performance, I'll lose my life..."
“When I messed up during filming, I could just get yelled at by the director and do another take... But not here.”
"I've been here so long, and I still haven't found a way home. I think it's very likely I'll never be able to go back..."
"Since there's no going back, I have to live... I just want to live. I don't want to end up being wrapped up in a tattered mat and thrown to feed wild dogs. Sister Yuan, please save me."
"hehe",
Yuan Hongqu actually laughed upon hearing this:
"Second Madam, you've been here for so long, yet you don't know that among the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, only Wang Xifeng is completely illiterate. Her only line of poetry is 'A tight north wind blows all night!'"
Wang Ying really hadn't expected this; she genuinely didn't know that Wang Xifeng was illiterate.
She hurriedly tried to recall if she had given herself away over the years. After all, no matter how little she had studied, she had still gone through nine years of compulsory education, attended high school, and taken the college entrance examination.
Having been in Dream of the Red Chamber for so long, she didn't like looking at account books and the like. Instead, a servant named Caiming read them to her. When Caiming first came to read the account books to her, she thought it was a tradition of the aristocratic class, since that's how it was portrayed in TV dramas.
She never imagined that the truth was that Wang Xifeng was illiterate and could only have people read the account books.
On ordinary days, she finds calligraphy and such flamboyant and uninteresting, and she genuinely can't understand most of it.
"Luckily, I was a terrible student. If I had studied even a little bit when I was in school, I wouldn't be able to act so convincingly now," she said self-deprecatingly.
“It won’t do if you can’t read. You can pretend to learn to read slowly. Even if you miss a little bit, it doesn’t matter. Just say that you’ve been learning to read and that you already know quite a few characters,” Yuan Hongqu explained to her.
“I’ll listen to my sister,” Wang Xifeng nodded obediently.
“We’ve been here too long. If we don’t go soon, those girls will start to suspect that we’re having some kind of secret. Let’s go, there’s plenty of time later, Second Madam.”
Yuan Hongqu got up and helped Wang Xifeng up, straightened her clothes, and checked that her makeup was still intact.
As expected of an actress, even when she was so excited, her makeup didn't smudge at all! Yuan Hongqu couldn't help but admire her a little.
The two walked out of the small pavilion, and after only a few steps, Wang Ying had already suppressed all her bad moods. At first glance, she was still the same Wang Xifeng with "a face full of spring and a hidden power, and a smile that could be heard before her lips even parted."
"Since Second Madam wants to learn to read, she can come to me whenever she has free time." Seeing the maids and servants coming and going in the courtyard, and already able to hear the two of them, Yuan Hongqu spoke up, which could be considered as making up for the long time the two of them had spent in the small pavilion earlier.
"Sister Yuan, although I am illiterate, I greatly admire someone as well-educated as you. I hope you can teach me more in the future."
Yuan Hongqu looked at Wang Xifeng speechlessly. Was her attempt to patch things up a bit too much?
However, Wang Xifeng's words had a great effect, and the two of them used this excuse to dispel everyone's suspicions.
"Sister Yuan, please go and check everywhere. If anything is missing, just tell me. If Miss Lin needs anything, just have someone come to me!" Wang Xifeng said hurriedly, once again displaying the imposing manner of the Second Madam Lian.
"Then I thank you in advance, Second Grandma. We'll be staying here from now on, and we'll definitely need to trouble you with a lot of things. Please don't find us a bother."
"How could that be? Not only is Teacher Yuan knowledgeable, but his culinary skills are also superb. I'll have someone bring my medical records over in a bit, and Teacher Yuan can help me with my treatment as well, how about that?"
Wang Xifeng remembered something else and quickly said in a serious tone that she knew that Yuan Hongqu, the nutritionist, had studied traditional Chinese medicine. She did not trust the quack doctors here, but she trusted Yuan Hongqu, this half-baked doctor.
When Yuan Hongqu saw Wang Xifeng's expression tighten and heard her say those words, she understood what was going on.
Although Wang Xifeng's original self did not do many good deeds but had done many bad ones, the Rongguo Mansion was currently in a period of great prosperity and prosperity, so there was no need for Wang Xifeng to risk her life and do those reckless things. As for retribution, it was not yet time.
However, it seems that Wang Xifeng's health is already starting to deteriorate.
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