Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Young Master Wang suffered in silence and could only stand by the window with his hands behind his back, trying to distract himself from the tantalizing aroma.

It was only when Young Master Hu couldn't finish his portion that Young Master Wang got a taste.

The moment he tasted it, Young Master Wang's eyes widened. "It's incredibly delicious!"

Young Master Hu looked pleased. "Of course. This young lady’s culinary skills are exceptional. Unfortunately, she has high standards and refuses to work as a cook in our household. Today, my mother specially invited her over."

The beautiful woman had been keeping an eye on Young Master Wang. Hearing that he had finished the bowl of noodles and praised them repeatedly, she felt proud and instructed the maid who had brought Lin Chunyan in to give them some money.

Lin Chunyan and Lin Taohong were anxiously waiting. Seeing that they couldn’t get any information out of Wang Pozi, they decided not to waste their breath.

Suddenly, a large cat ran out, followed by a maid calling after it.

The snow-white cat had blue eyes and seemed to know the maid was calling for it, but it ran up a tree, leaving the maid stomping her feet in frustration below, unsure what to do.

People at the time loved keeping cats and dogs. Some households even gave names to their pets and issued formal engagement letters.

Lin Chunyan felt an itch to rush over and hug the fluffy white cat.

"Xueshong, come down. Here's a treat for you." The maid tried to lure Xueshong with dried fish, but the cunning cat snatched the treat and ran back up the tree.

Lin Taohong stared in amazement. Even the cats in wealthy households ate dried fish.

Finally, after much anticipation, the reward arrived.

The two girls walked away with the pouch, not knowing how much money was inside, but it felt heavy, making Lin Chunyan feel satisfied. These wealthy families never wanted to lose face.

Lin Taohong kept looking back until they were outside the mansion. Then, unable to contain her excitement, she urged Lin Chunyan to open the pouch and check.

Lin Chunyan opened it slightly and saw three small silver fish glittering in the sunlight.

They both walked with a spring in their step.

"Sister, they are so generous. Could you buy me a couple of flowers?"

Lin Chunyan feared Lin Taohong might talk about this to Mrs. Zhang, which would be troublesome, so she agreed.

But Lin Taohong wasn’t as easily appeased as before. She started complaining about how hard she worked stoking the fire today.

"I'll buy you two flowers and give you five coins."

"That's too little. Give me one of those silver fish. I want to save it as my own."

"Dream on! Ten coins, no more than that!"

The sisters bickered playfully as they walked back, gathering bamboo shoots along the way.

Lin Taohong grumbled while digging, "What are we doing with all these?"

This wasn’t the first time she asked, and Lin Chunyan didn’t want to answer, urging her to keep working.

Lin Taohong tried to bargain with Lin Chunyan, having learned a lot from selling small river fish in town. She shouted that a basket of bamboo shoots was worth ten coins.

Lin Chunyan raised her hand, ready to slap her, and Lin Taohong quickly dodged.

"Why do you always hit me, Sister?"

Lin Taohong pouted, and Lin Chunyan huffed, "I see you're getting too big for your britches. You forget this money is for buying a cart."

Lin Taohong fell silent. When they returned with two baskets of bamboo shoots, Mrs. Zhang was lying in bed.

There was only morning work in the fields, watering and such, and since they had no land, Mrs. Zhang had plenty of free time.

Lin Chunyan saw through the window and dumped the bamboo shoots in the courtyard, calling out to Mrs. Zhang.

"Mother, come cut the bamboo shoots!"

Reluctantly, Mrs. Zhang got up, shuffled out, and was startled to see the pile of bamboo shoots in the yard.

"What are you doing with all these? Have you gone mad?"

Ignoring her, Lin Chunyan set up a table in the shade and fetched a knife from the kitchen. "Cut them into small pieces like before."

Mrs. Zhang tried to refuse. "My knife skills aren't good."

"Cut them as thin as you can."

Previously, Lin Chunyan had planned to sell the pickled bamboo shoots in winter, but these would be for their own consumption, so thickness didn’t matter.

Still, they needed to buy some coarse salt.

Mrs. Zhang had no choice but to start cutting. Seeing Lin Chunyan and Lin Taohong fetching well water to wash up, she called through the window to ask about their day.

"It was the same as usual. Mother, give me some money to buy mung beans tomorrow."

At the mention of money, Mrs. Zhang’s first reaction was refusal. Upon hearing it was for mung beans, her hand paused.

"I thought you were better than Red Lady. How can you still crave that snow-soaked mung bean water after so long?"

Lin Chunyan had previously asked Mrs. Zhang for mung beans, but she hadn’t given any, assuming Lin Chunyan still wanted the snow-soaked water.

"I’m not making snow-soaked mung bean water. I want to grow bean sprouts in winter. We should buy some mung beans and plant them."

"People usually use black beans to grow sprouts before the fifteenth of the seventh month," Mrs. Zhang muttered, referring to the local custom of growing black bean sprouts before the mid-autumn festival.

Seeing her being so talkative, Lin Chunyan lost patience, threw the towel into the water after drying herself, and said, "Are you giving me the money or not?"

When she raised her voice, Mrs. Zhang fell silent for a moment before saying, "We never said we wouldn't give it to you. It's just that our family doesn't have much land, and we've never planted mung beans before. Who knows if they'll grow?"

Lin Taohong enjoyed watching the two of them bicker, finding it entertaining. She would occasionally side with one and then the other, annoying both of them.

On their way back, Lin Taohong kept talking about wanting to eat the fried sauce noodles she had made for Hu Xiaolangjun. Lin Chunyan noticed that there wasn't much sauce at home, so the dish wouldn't taste very good.

"We should make some soybean paste in a while."

Mrs. Zhang's wrists were aching from cutting bamboo shoots. Hearing Lin Chunyan say this, she looked over, "How can you just make soybean paste? There are secret recipes for that. Let's not complicate things and stick to selling small river fish."

Although the earnings weren't substantial, Mrs. Zhang was still satisfied, which was better than depleting their resources.

Without consulting her, Lin Chunyan mentally calculated what she needed to buy and asked Mrs. Zhang for a few more coins.

Mrs. Zhang was furious but couldn't find a reason to refuse, so she angrily chopped vegetables.

Lin Cuixiang continued to scoop fish from the river every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon when she had free time.

Lin Chunyan always made sure she didn't leave empty-handed. Although it was just helping with scooping small river fish, it saved them a lot of effort.

Considering their collaboration on catching small river shrimp, Lin Chunyan began to like this younger sister from the second household. When the mother and daughter were bickering, she brought a basin over.

Seeing the scene in the courtyard, Lin Cuixiang wasn't sure whether to enter. Lin Chunyan spotted her and waved her over.

"Xiang Niang is here."

Lin Cuixiang smiled slightly, revealing two tiny dimples at the corners of her mouth, making her look particularly charming.

"Eldest Sister, these are the loaches I caught just now."

Today, Sanlang went to the river as well. His movements were agile, and he caught quite a few loaches.

But Sanlang was too shy to come over, so he asked Lin Cuixiang to bring them.

Seeing the basin full of loaches, Lin Chunyan's eyes lit up with joy.

"These are great; we'll cook them tonight."

Those who haven't tried loaches might find them unappealing, but they are meaty, have few bones, and taste delicious—a perfect treat.

Seeing her delight, Lin Cuixiang smiled again.

Lin Chunyan took the loaches to the kitchen, cleaned them, and started frying them in oil.

While Lin Taohong was still eating melon, Lin Cuixiang had already come in to help with the fire. The sisters chatted occasionally, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

As Lin Taohong ate her melon, it no longer tasted as good. She kept glancing into the kitchen and complained to Mrs. Zhang.

"Why do they seem like real sisters?"