Ever since Lady He made a grand appearance at the ceremony to expel Yuniang from the apprenticeship, Granny Zhang's household had fallen into an unprecedented quiet.
At least, Fusheng, who lived next door to them, felt that their home had been exceptionally quiet these past days whenever she was at home.
There wasn't even any extra noise from people, and no one could be seen coming or going.
If not for Hu Xiangdi saying that she spotted Granny Zhang or Liu Sisao selling flatbreads at the night market every day, Fusheng would have truly thought their family was too ashamed to show their faces and had all fled the house!
That day, after seizing a free moment to deliver the sweat cloth to Lady He, Lady He had grown even closer to her.
Later, when Guild Leader Song examined it and praised her a few times, that closeness increased by another two degrees.
Then, when Madam Qian, who had long been at odds with Lady He, sneered at her after the disciple-expelling affair, boasting that everything she used was of the finest quality, Lady He shut her up with, "It's only natural you've never seen the fashionable sweat cloths of the capital." Having thoroughly deflated Madam Qian's pride, this closeness grew even stronger.
Yesterday, Lady He was invited to prepare a banquet at Official Wang's residence, who ran a rice business in the west of the city. She received a basket of expensive Wuyue bayberries and even set aside a plate for Fusheng to bring home and taste, since she didn't have school the next day.
However, as the saying goes, loquats and bayberries ripen in succession—in Wuyue, they gradually ripen in early May. Though it was already the season for bayberries, it wasn't yet their prime.
When she brought them home the first night, Fusheng tasted half of one—it was quite sour.
Even Cao Sanqiao, who had recently been experiencing inexplicably delayed morning sickness, found them too sour.
Of the fifteen bayberries on the plate, only three were eaten. The remaining twelve were left untouched by anyone.
But such expensive goods, not even produced locally in Wenzhou—how could they be allowed to go to waste like that?
Fusheng had long been pondering what kind of food she could make from these sour bayberries.
But the quantity was too small—pickling them would waste salt and sugar without being worthwhile; and as for cooking them into dishes, some of the required spices and ingredients weren't available at home.
It was Junsheng, standing under the eaves reciting his lessons, who muttered about the heat, saying his throat was parched from memorizing texts and he wanted something cool and refreshing to drink. Just then, a peddler passing through the alley hawked "fresh green plums," which gave Fusheng an idea.
At this time of year, as the weather grew hotter, the drinks at taverns, teahouses, and street stalls were swapped for ones more suited to the season, with thirst-quenchers made from various seasonal fruits being the best sellers.
A thirst-quencher, as the name suggests, is a concentrated fruit syrup—a paste-like beverage base. When drinking, one mixes it with water, adds honey or ice, and it's enjoyable either hot or cold.
As long as it's properly sealed, it can be stored for a long time.
The Zhu family kitchen had previously held a jar of Five-Flavor Thirst-Quencher Paste, brought back by Uncle Zhu Yongwen. It was said a restaurant chef had made extra and given it to him.
Fusheng had tasted it—it was made from northern schisandra berries stewed with honey, sour and sweet, stimulating saliva. The method wasn't difficult.
As long as one had enough patience and mastered the heat, the flavor wouldn't fail to be delicious.
Twelve bayberries were indeed too few—making bayberry Thirst-Quencher Paste with them would be a joke.
But adding green plums to make Double Plum Thirst-Quencher Paste—that would be more than enough.
So, Fusheng, beginning with "Want me to make you something delicious?" and ending with "If you want to eat, you'll have to chip in some money," squeezed out the last of Junsheng's private savings from his careless spending, then asked Yang Tieniang for some more, and bought a big basket of fresh green plums.
As for why such a big basket?
Naturally, because the peddler's green plums were of excellent quality, and Fusheng wanted to make something else as well, so she simply bought them all.
"Sanniang,"
Junsheng now balanced work and rest well—once his recitation was done, it was time to rest, so he came over to help. He didn't care for sour things, but seeing the plums that Fusheng had split and pitted made him a bit greedy. He picked up half and popped it into his mouth, only to be puckered into a grimace by the sourness. It took him a good while before he could speak again:
"Your plums really are sour—no less than those Wu-Yue bayberries! If this doesn't turn out tasty, I'm taking my private savings back!"
His private savings mainly consisted of the New Year's warding-off money and holiday red envelopes. Unlike his sisters, who had Grandma keep theirs for them, he had wheedled and cajoled to keep his own, and managing to hold onto them had taken a great deal of resolve on his part.
He'd thought he could save until Mid-Autumn and add another sum to it.
Who could have guessed that he—praised by Grandpa and Father for his sharp mind and suitability for study—would be swindled out of it all by his twin sister Sanniang in just a few sentences?
Could Sanniang really have been sent by heaven?
Heartache!
His face was so puckered with sourness that wrinkles formed, and Fusheng couldn't be bothered to look at Junsheng's face, which was seven-tenths like her own.
"Hurry up!"
Her hands kept moving as she urged Junsheng on.
She had confidence in her cooking skills—it was just boiling fruit jam, fruit syrup, and Thirst-Quencher Paste, after all! It wasn't as if she hadn't done it in her past life.
"Once I finish these, I'm going to start refining the paste. Brother, hurry up and help Second Sister finish processing the plums, and I'll let you have the third sip."
The paste wasn't even in sight yet, but she was already drawing the cake in the air.
"Why the third sip, not the first or second?"
Junsheng craned his neck—he was the one who'd put up the money, after all!
Fusheng poked at the firewood in the stove, manually adjusting it to low heat, setting the pot on top, and pouring in the processed bayberries and plums along with water that didn't quite cover the fruit, before sparing Junsheng a glance.
She said not a single word, but the vivid language in her eyes seemed to ask Junsheng—doesn't the mother-in-law who paid get a drink? Doesn't the grandfather of the household get one? I haven't even put the other elders ahead of you yet!
Junsheng understood, so he changed the subject.
Watching Fusheng stir the fruit pulp with a ladle, and glancing around to confirm no one else was in the courtyard, he lowered his voice and said:
"Second Sister, Sanniang, when do you think Eldest Aunt will finish visiting her family and come back?"
Eldest Aunt Lin Cui had been sent back to her natal family for a visit in mid-April. Now it was already early May—a full half month had passed, and Lin Cui was still at her parents' home!
Eldest Uncle Zhu Yongwen was busy with work every day, and Eldest Sister Meisheng, having formally taken Master Yan as her teacher, was even busier with her studies. Grandpa and Grandma didn't bring it up, and no one else mentioned it either—it was as if the household had forgotten she existed.
According to the normal procedure for a daughter-in-law who had done wrong and been sent back to her natal family, on the seventh day the natal family would come to offer apologies, the husband's family would take the opportunity to back down gracefully, and the woman would be brought back.
But the Lin family didn't seem to think Lin Cui had done anything wrong in mistreating and beating her daughter, or in quarreling with her pregnant sister-in-law. Today was already the sixteenth day, and still no one had come.
Yang Tieniang hadn't seemed particularly upset these past few days, but the occasional low-pressure aura she gave off, and the way her lips pressed flat when neighbors asked, "Why haven't we seen your eldest daughter-in-law?"—all of it made it clear to Fusheng that her mother-in-law was displeased about this matter.
"Who knows!" Lansheng quickly looked up and glanced toward the main house. "It's because First Aunt was secretly beating Eldest Sister that she was sent back. If her family doesn't come to apologize, First Uncle won't willingly go fetch her. First Uncle dotes on Eldest Sister—if he went to fetch her on his own, First Aunt would dare to secretly beat Eldest Sister again!"
Though she and Meisheng had very different temperaments, they were of similar age and close.
Back when she'd seen the wounds on Meisheng's legs, if Lin Cui hadn't been Meisheng's own mother and an elder, she would have spat in Lin Cui's face and cursed her with every word under the sun.
Over the past half month, Meisheng had mentioned Lin Cui a couple of times, but Lansheng had always steered the conversation away.
And Meisheng's smile had grown more and more frequent.
Lansheng even thought that it might be better if First Aunt never came back.
But that wasn't something she could say out loud.
She could only think it and let it go.
"Since First Aunt's family hasn't come to call, Grandfather and Grandmother won't send anyone to fetch her. If you want to know when First Aunt can come back, you'll just have to wait and see how long the Lin family is willing to let her stay."
The fruit flesh in the pot had already softened from boiling. Fusheng used a spoon to mash it into a pulp, her voice even softer:
"I have a feeling the Lin family won't come to apologize. In the end, First Aunt will probably come back on her own."
If she came back on her own, it would be clear that her natal family wasn't backing her up. First Aunt's pride was bound to be crushed again and again, and with that twisted temper she'd bottled up on her own—who knew what strange shape it would take then!
Junsheng's eyes widened slightly. "Then wouldn't there be problems again… That First Aunt… though she loves to cry and wail, I think she's the one who cares most about face! Even more than our mother! Our mother seems thick-skinned, but she's actually very particular about face!"
In the west room of the eastern house, by the window, Hu Xiangdi—who was mending Lansheng's clothes—let out a big sneeze.
Fusheng shrugged, found some gauze to strain the fruit pulp, and took only the clearest juice to add sugar and boil into a paste. Her expression was focused, and she didn't pick up the conversation again.
At the same time, at the Lin family home in Shuangxi Town, Wenzhou Prefecture, Lin Cui was holding back tears, listening to her mother Feng Zhaoxi's scolding and nagging while washing her nephew Yao-ge'er's soiled trousers.
"You'ge, it's not that your mother dislikes you, but your younger brother Chengzu has a weak constitution and needs nutrition. Your nephew Yao-ge'er is at an age where he eats a lot, and your sister-in-law Yin Niang is pregnant again—I had a spirit woman look at her, and she says it's a boy. Everything costs money. Where would we find extra grain to feed you? You didn't know your place and offended your uncle and grandmother, so just go back on your own! Surely you don't expect your natal family to make a special trip and lose face?"
"You'ge" was Lin Cui's childhood name. No one called her that except her mother, Feng Zhaoxi.
In the first few days after she'd returned, Lin Cui—who had been called "Cui Niang" all these years—wasn't quite used to being addressed that way.
But after more than ten days of hearing it, she'd long grown accustomed.
She cautiously looked up and glanced at Feng Zhaoxi.
The gilded bronze hairpin in her hair…
The thumb-sized silver earrings on her ears…
The fine hemp and ramie clothes on her body…
The embroidered silk shoes on her feet…
The family clearly wasn't short on money to feed one more mouth.
It was obvious—they just thought she was a married-out woman who'd come back to eat and drink for free!
Sending someone to the Zhu family to back her up was too embarrassing, but if she went back on her own, wouldn't they worry about her feeling humiliated?
Big teardrops fell from her eyes. Lin Cui's heart felt like it was soaking in bitter water, and she was utterly wronged.
Lin Cui rubbed vigorously at the dirty trousers in her hands, saying nothing.
Feng Zhaoxi watched her, pursing her lips as if to push her, but was stopped by her daughter-in-law Yin Niang, who came out supporting her pregnant belly.
"Sister," Yin Niang said, raising her hand and letting a water-red pair of small trousers stained with filth brush past Lin Cui's face before falling into the basin. "Since you're so fond of doing the Lin family's chores, then go ahead and do them. Uncle and Grandmother won't lose face for you in Wenzhou City! My Yao-ge'er will one day sit for the imperial examinations and go to Wenzhou City to make friends with fellow scholars! We won't have you dragging down our reputation!"