Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Li's cooking was not very good; it could barely fill their bellies, but today, there wasn't even enough to do that.

Lin Fengdie came out and shook her head at her two brothers, signaling them not to provoke Li.

Silang and Wulang had no choice but to lie back down. Just as they were about to fall asleep, they heard some commotion outside and saw Uncle Lin bringing their father back. They quickly went to help.

Li naturally heard the noise and wanted to know what was going on. Seeing Uncle Lin in such a state, her face turned sour.

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-Law, earlier, Eldest Sister came over and said a bunch of nonsense. I couldn't make sense of it."

Aunt Lin explained, "She wants us to return the money we paid for their land. The Eldest Family is also struggling."

They spoke with righteous indignation, making Li feel like she was the villain.

Aunt Lin pushed the basket forward. "Yan Niang made these dishes. She brought them over for you to try."

Li refused, thinking it was just some leftover vegetables.

But Silang and Wulang were starving. Smelling the delicious aroma from the basket, they ignored Li's sullen face and took it inside.

Soon, sounds of amazement came from within.

Li's face turned red and then pale, looking even worse.

Uncle Lin came out of the house, gave some instructions, and left with Aunt Lin.

Before they reached the courtyard gate, Aunt Lin's laughter echoed, though it was unclear what had amused her so much.

After being sisters-in-law for so many years, everyone knew each other well. Despite Li's usual gentle demeanor and her pride in her embroidery skills, she always looked down on others who worked the fields.

That was one thing, but what truly bothered Li was that the Eldest Family only had Mrs. Zhang with her two daughters. If they took their land and house, how would they survive?

Mrs. Zhang had many faults and was often bossy, but that didn't mean they should leave her with nothing.

Li watched Mrs. Zhang's back for a moment, then entered the house to see three heads huddled together, eating the leftovers while praising how delicious they were, even licking the broth clean.

"How uncivilized!" Li couldn't stand it and snatched the dishes away, dumping them into the slop bucket. "How can you eat someone else's leftovers!"

The children were shocked, especially little Wulang, who burst into tears.

If not for Silang stopping him, he might have tried to eat from the slop bucket.

Uncle Lin was woken up by the commotion and nearly vomited, but no one paid him any attention as they dealt with the mess.

After all the chaos, Li was exhausted and sat dejectedly by the bed, wishing she could slap the unconscious Uncle Lin.

She shouldn't have been swayed by his looks.

There was another family in town who had courted her, merchants who lived comfortably, though the man was rather dark-skinned.

Feeling frustrated and hungry, Li's stomach rumbled.

Lin Fengdie hurried over to comfort Li, rubbing her back.

After a while, Li threw aside the handkerchief she was embroidering. "This life is unbearable."

As night fell, the two uncles' families, living far away, decided to stay overnight.

Mrs. Zhang moved out of the main room, letting Hu and Ma stay there, while she moved to Lin Chunyan's west room.

The two uncles' families had already taken a nap in the afternoon and said they would sleep on the rooftop at night.

Lin Chunyan insisted that Mrs. Zhang brush her teeth before bed, annoyed by her lack of hygiene.

Lin Taohong giggled beside her, earning a glare from Mrs. Zhang. "What are you laughing at?"

Lin Taohong replied, "I used to be treated the same way by my elder sister."

Mrs. Zhang huffed but didn't dare say anything more, fearing Lin Chunyan might get angry and kick her out. She resigned herself to washing up properly.

Afterward, she wandered into the main room to tell Hu and Ma about it.

"The young lady is so considerate; the room smells so nice."

Ma's face turned sour, as Dabao had urinated next to the bed due to fear of the dark.

The wet spot was still damp, and a faint smell lingered.

Ma thought Mrs. Zhang was pointing it out.

Mrs. Zhang, oblivious, continued, "Why does this room smell so strange? It never used to be like this."

Seeing the wet spot, her face froze.

Ma quickly said, "Dabao is still young..."

Seeing Mrs. Zhang return in a huff, Lin Chunyan assumed she had argued with the aunts. Upon learning it was because Dabao had urinated on the floor, she sighed.

"At least they didn't come to sleep in my room." Lin Chunyan glanced at Mrs. Zhang. "This Second Aunt spoils Dabao too much."

"I agree."

Waking early, Li got up before dawn. The thin mountain mist carried a chill. Zhang Da and Zhang Xiao had also woken up early, helping tidy the backyard before leaving.

Mrs. Zhang was reluctant to let them go and tried to persuade them to stay multiple times, but she also knew they had a pile of work at home and children to take care of. She could only watch as they left after having their meal.

Lin Chunyan saw them off and then prepared to head up the mountain. Later, she still needed to go to town.

Lin Taohong hadn't slept well the night before and came out yawning. After a quick wash, she followed along.

The mist in the mountains was thicker, and one could vaguely see the distant mountains and tree silhouettes.

Every morning, Lin Cuixiang would go to the river to scoop up a full basin of small fish.

Her diligence made Lin Taohong feel somewhat ashamed; she hadn't been sleeping in these past few days and got up early to follow Lin Chunyan into the woods.

This time, Lin Chunyan wanted to dig some bamboo shoots to take back.

Last time, Lin Chunyan soaked the bamboo shoots overnight and used some pepper berries for seasoning this morning. The result was exceptionally crisp and delicious, even when added to soup, without any of the expected numbness or bitterness.

But processing them was quite troublesome; the shoots needed to soak overnight, and the outer skin had to be removed and cut into small pieces.

Since many people found the bamboo shoots too numbing, there were plenty on the mountain. Compared to the trouble, Lin Chunyan felt it was necessary to store more.

After just a few steps, Lin Taohong already felt tired. Seeing Lin Chunyan still walking ahead, she suggested digging bamboo shoots when they returned from town.

"Alright, we can go back into the forest later when we return."

Hearing this, Lin Taohong was speechless. She had only wanted to make one trip a day, but now Lin Chunyan wanted to make two.

She quickly found an excuse, "In the afternoon, I want to help Mother with the fields."

Lin Chunyan glanced back at her but didn't expose Lin Taohong's attempt to shirk work.

After digging the bamboo shoots, the two headed to town and set up at their usual spot.

Even though fried river fish wasn't as popular anymore, many people in town still sold it, hoping to earn a bit of money.

Across from them, the father and daughter duo also brought fried river fish, accompanied by vegetables they grew themselves. However, there were too many sellers of vegetables on this street, so sales depended entirely on luck.

After setting up their wares, Lin Taohong deliberately glanced at the father and daughter duo and began calling out proudly.

When Wang Chuizi and his daughter heard her voice, they felt uncomfortable, especially Wang Yingniang.

After returning yesterday, Wang Yingniang had been trying to figure out how to make the clay pot river fish. To succeed, she wasted countless river fish.

But she had never tasted the clay pot river fish, so she could only imagine how to make it, which proved impossible.

Wang Chuizi became angry and scolded Wang Yingniang in the courtyard. Even the three brothers at home thought she was useless.

Anyone else would have succeeded with so many fish.

Feeling wronged, Wang Yingniang quietly told Wang Chuizi that she wanted to buy some clay pot river fish to taste.

Wang Chuizi agreed, seeing the logic in it. Seeing Lin Chunyan selling clay pot river fish today, he approached with two coins.

Lin Chunyan was peeling bamboo shoots nearby. At first, everyone wondered why she brought bamboo shoots to peel, knowing they caused numbness and were generally avoided.

Lin Chunyan didn't tell them how to eat them; she simply said they had no food at home.

Seeing how thin the sisters were, no one suspected otherwise.

After peeling the bamboo shoots, Lin Chunyan placed them in her basket and listened to Lin Taohong arguing with the Wang family.

"Not selling! Who knows what you'll do with our clay pot river fish!"

The Wang family couldn't hide their embarrassment. Lin Taohong exposed their intentions, drawing attention from passersby, leaving them flustered.

Lin Taohong huffed coldly, about to say more, but Lin Chunyan stopped her.

"How much?"

Hearing Lin Chunyan ask this, Lin Taohong stared at her wide-eyed, trying to keep her voice low but unable to hide her anger.

"Big Sister, why sell it to them? They'll just copy us again."

Lin Chunyan reassured her, "Do you think anyone can make our clay pot river fish? Don't worry, it has our secret seasoning."

Not knowing what the secret seasoning was, Lin Taohong believed Lin Chunyan and decided to take the money, weighing out some river fish for the Wang family.

Hearing about the secret recipe, Wang Yingniang felt uncertain. She had never formally learned cooking and only gained experience through daily kitchen work. How could she know the secret?

Seeing Wang Chuizi staring at her expectantly, Wang Yingniang found the clay pot river fish particularly hard to swallow.

On this street, many others who had previously learned to fry river fish from Lin Chunyan also bought some when they saw the Wang family doing so.

Within moments, all the clay pot river fish they brought was sold out.

Lin Chunyan carefully stored the money and didn't rush back. She went to the blacksmith to inquire about the cost of making an iron plate.

Hearing it would cost several strings of coins, Lin Chunyan was shocked, and even Lin Taohong was speechless.

"Why is it so expensive? When will we save enough money?"

After tasting the tofu Lin Chunyan fried yesterday, Lin Taohong found it especially flavorful and knew she wanted to make an iron plate to sell the fragrant fried tofu.

With a fixed customer base for the clay pot river fish, they always finished early. Adding more variety seemed better than carrying bamboo shoots every day.

It was certainly better than carrying bamboo shoots every day.

Even though Lin Taohong found bamboo shoots tasty, she really didn't want to carry them every day.

As they left the blacksmith shop, they saw someone coming out of Hu's Steamed Bun Shop, holding a few vegetable-filled buns.

The steamed buns with vegetable filling had just come out, emitting an alluring aroma. This person started eating one right on the road, and a companion who was with him asked for one as well.

"Wow, these buns are much more delicious than usual!"

"They have a new three-treasure vegetable filling. Though a bit more expensive, the flavor is worth it. I heard it's a recipe taught by Yan Niang, who sells clay pot crispy fish in town."