Peng Zhaodi didn’t expect that bowl of ginger soup to have been saved specially for Xiaobao by her little sister-in-law.
In an instant, a feeling of shame sprouted in her heart.
It seemed her little sister-in-law really had changed.
Before this, she wouldn’t have cared about Xiaobao at all, let alone boiled soup for him to drink…
Seeing her eldest sister-in-law hesitating, Shen Jiaqi assumed she had misgivings.
“Go ahead and give it to Xiaobao without worrying. I’ll make up the brown sugar that’s missing myself.”
Make it up?
Never mind Peng Zhaodi, even Qiao Huilan didn’t believe it.
Over the years, how many things had Qiqi borrowed from the house?
From a ten-yuan note down to a single needle, she always said it was borrowed and she’d return it, but when had it ever come back?
It was all a tiger borrowing a pig, gone and never returned!
Shen Jiaqi looked at everyone’s utterly distrustful eyes and understood.
After all, hearing is false, seeing is true.
Just wait, in a little while she’d go to the black market to sell fish and wild ginger, and buy grain and sugar to bring back.
Qiao Huilan took her words as just words. As things stood, the brown sugar was used up already, so what more could she say?
“Eldest son’s wife, since Qiqi saved it for Xiaobao, warm it up and take it to him.”
“But Qiqi… where did you get the wild ginger?”
Qiao Huilan remembered that all the house had was dried old yellow ginger, there was no wild ginger at all.
“That…”
Reminded of it, Shen Jiaqi remembered, turned and went into her own room, and took the back basket and a fish out of the space.
“Mom, sister-in-law, look…”
Shen Jiaqi had to use all the strength she’d sucked from her mother’s milk just to barely drag the back basket, while Lu Zheng could carry two in one hand.
Those arms of his… were really something!
At the sight of all that wild ginger and wild greens, plus a fresh grass carp, both Qiao Huilan and Peng Zhaodi were dumbfounded.
The Shen father and sons, who had just gotten up, were also struck speechless one and all.
“Little sister, you got this?” The fourth brother reached out and pinched the third brother, and the pain made the third brother bare his teeth.
“Fourth, what fit are you having?”
“Does it hurt?”
“Obviously!”
The fourth brother drew in a cold breath. “I only wanted to make sure this isn’t a dream.”
“Then pinch yourself, why pinch me?” The third brother was so annoyed his teeth ground together.
“I’m not stupid…” The fourth brother walked slowly over to the back basket and picked up a plump piece of wild ginger. The mud on it wasn’t even dry yet, it must have just been dug.
“Little sister, you dug this?” The fourth brother still couldn’t believe it.
Meeting his gaze, Shen Jiaqi nodded to them all. “I dug it.”
At that, the yard fell dead silent…
The eldest: little sister can barely manage going out to the fields, so how could she go up the mountain to dig wild greens? He must not be properly awake yet.
The second: with little sister unable to tell one grain from another and never using her limbs, could she recognize wild ginger and wild greens in the mountains? Impossible, absolutely impossible!
The third: in a famine year the fields have been stripped bare and the fish, shrimp and crabs in the rivers cleaned out. How could little sister possibly find these?
Only the fourth brother looked her over without a word, and saw at a glance the redness and swelling on her hands.
Little sister’s ten fingers normally never touched spring water, for both hands to suddenly be red and swollen, she must have done some very tiring physical labor.
So… nine times out of ten, little sister really had gotten these things!
At the thought of little sister keeping it from them and going up the mountain to dig wild greens and wild ginger, his heart hurt as if cut by a knife.
“Dad, Mom, brothers, sisters-in-law, I’m not lying to you. I really did dig this on the back mountain last night, and I was lucky with the fish, I picked it up by the stream.”
Shen Jiaqi spoke excitedly, but then noticed the whole family looking lifeless, everyone seemed very unhappy.
There was fish and there was ginger, so why the long faces?
Seeing her daughter’s red, swollen fingertips, Qiao Huilan ached so much she nearly cried. “Daughter, your hands must hurt terribly? You fear pain more than anything… what did you go and do all this for?”
“Exactly, li… little sister, if you were going up the mountain, why, why didn’t you call us?” The eldest brother was so agitated his face went red.
“A girl going to the back mountain all alone, aren’t you afraid of running into danger!” The second brother was struck with hindsight fear, and wouldn’t allow her to go into the mountains alone again for anything.
Daxing Village’s customs might be simple, but there was no guarantee against ill-intentioned people.
His sister was so pretty, better to fear the one in ten thousand than not.
“Digging up that much wild greens and wild ginger, you must be worn out? Silly girl, why didn’t you call third brother…”
The third brother held her hands, and looking at those reddened fingertips hurt him more than being stabbed with a knife.
The fourth brother ached so much the corners of his eyes reddened. “That’s right, little sister, our family isn’t short of these few things. There’s no need to wear yourself out…”
Shen Jiaqi knew her brothers loved her, but the house was nearly unable to lift the lid off the pot, and still they talked tough and found every way to shield her.
“Don’t I want to make a contribution to the family too?”
“I didn’t tell you all because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to dig anything up. I was just trying my luck, and I didn’t expect I’d actually hit on something.”
She lifted the fish up with a laugh. “Nobody’s had anything rich to eat in a long while. This noon we’ll make fish soup and let everyone build themselves up properly.”
“As for this wild ginger, it can be boiled into ginger soup to drive out cold and warm everyone up, and to treat chills.”
Right now there was one little patient in the house, Xiaobao.
In this era short of doctors and medicine, drinking two bowls of ginger soup a day worked better than taking medicine.
“The leftover ginger can be used in cooking normally, or dried and stored, and when winter comes I’ll boil ginger water for Dad and my brothers, so you’ll all have strength for the work.”
Shen Jiaqi’s little mouth rattled on, laying out one, two, three, four.
They all listened in a daze, unable to argue back at all.
“Oh right, and these wild greens… they’ll go into the extra meal at noon too!”
In a few words she had arranged everything neatly.
Fish at noon, a few plates of stir-fried wild greens, an improvement in the food for the whole family!
Qiao Huilan pushed up her sleeve and wiped her damp eyes. “Old man, did you see that? Our daughter brought something home for the family!”
Shen Laogui could hardly hide his excitement, showing a mouthful of big yellow teeth. “That’s right, this is the first time Qiqi has ever brought anything into the house…”
Before, it was always things going out of the house.
“Even if this old man died right now, he could close his eyes in peace!”
“Dad, what nonsense are you talking! You won’t die, you’ll live to be a hundred.”
“All right, I won’t die, I still have to look after Qiqi.”
Shen Jiaqi felt quite embarrassed. Even though it was the original owner who did the stupid things, right now it was she who wore the original owner’s identity!
“I admit I really wasn’t very sensible before.”
“After dying once, I saw everything clearly, only family loves me most.”
“You’re all good to me, and I want to be good to you all too.”
“This is only the beginning. From now on I’ll bring even more things home, and I guarantee our whole family will eat and drink their fill and be cheerful.”
Feeling her obvious change, the whole family’s eyes brimmed with hot tears, and their noses stung a little.
Never mind for now whether she could do it, that she could see the truth and turn over a new leaf was already a great comfort to them all.
“All right, don’t look at me like that, all of you. Sister-in-law, go warm the ginger soup for Xiaobao!”
“Mom, gut the fish and boil fish soup for everyone at noon.”
“And the wild greens and ginger I’ll leave to my brothers…”
Ordered about by her, they were all grinning from ear to ear and went off briskly to work.
Shen Jiaqi smiled faintly. Satisfied with just this?
There would be more surprises to come…
Everyone was busy with their own tasks, only the fourth brother stood where he was, his eyes fixed on that grass cord the fish hung from.
This distinctive weave, with a double knot at the join, seemed somehow familiar.
Where had he seen it…
The fourth brother paced over beside her and startled her badly.
“Little sister, tell me honestly, who were you with last night?”
“No, no one, just me by myself.”
Shen Jiaqi pinched the corner of her clothes. Fourth brother hadn’t discovered something, had he?
“Is that so…”
The fourth brother jutted his chin at the grass cord through the fish’s gills, his face full of suspicion. “Did you weave that too?”
“Of course!” Shen Jiaqi regretted it the moment she said it.
How would she know how to weave a grass cord? If the fourth brother made her demonstrate on the spot, wouldn’t she be exposed?
Before he could press further, Shen Jiaqi secretly pinched herself, and her eyes went red with the pain.
Her eyes brimming with tears, she said, “Fourth brother, you suspect me?”