If one wants a full stomach, one cannot make those small snacks that are full of flavor but only serve to satisfy the tongue.
If one is making a late-night meal, it cannot be something that will disturb a good night's sleep afterward.
Fusheng made a circuit of the kitchen, then took a stroll through the vegetable patch, and finally decided to make the most homely, stomach-warming, heart-soothing dish of all—mixed vegetable soup noodles.
As for the "mixed vegetables," that meant using whatever was available on hand, throwing in whatever there was, with the main goal being a riot of colors.
As for the "soup noodles," that meant the simplest method of kneading dough, tearing it into small pieces, and boiling them in the pot—this was the homestyle way. If one were to go to an eatery outside, the way soup noodles were made would be vastly different.
Not to mention the water used for kneading the dough—even the shapes of the soup noodles themselves were varied and elaborate, each one exquisite in its own way.
Things like square and round shapes were already the most basic forms; those made to look like flowers and blossoms were the ones that were both beautiful to behold and delicious to eat!
But Fusheng was not one to fuss over such things.
She only sought that this soup noodle dish, serving as a late-night meal that would fill the stomach, be thin yet chewy, quick to absorb the broth, and that after gulping it down, every pore from the soles of one's feet to the crown of one's head would radiate comfort.
"Third Sister, I've washed all these vegetables."
Just as the dough mixed with buckwheat flour was ready, Jusheng came over carrying the bamboo sieve used for washing vegetables.
In the bamboo sieve, there was half an eggplant left over from the salted eggplant made at lunch, a water bamboo shoot dug out from the kitchen vegetable basket, a large handful of mallow greens freshly pulled from the vegetable patch… Seven or eight different items, not only varied in type but also varied in origin.
"Fourth Sister, be a good girl and go play!"
Fusheng took the vegetables and began chopping with her knife. She noticed that Third Aunt Cao Sanqiao was sitting in front of the stove preparing to light the fire, but in order to hear the commotion of Yang Tieniang educating Lin Cui outside, she had stretched her neck out long and had even tilted half her body sideways.
Afraid that the woman might manage to hurt herself just from sitting there, Fusheng told Jusheng to go play with her words, but her eyes signaled for her to go keep Cao Sanqiao company.
Understanding the hint, Jusheng went over and squeezed in beside her, and sure enough, Cao Sanqiao sat up straight, belatedly realizing that her previous posture had been far too easy to fall from.
"…Now that you have entered our Zhu family, you are a wife of the Zhu family. Though you have only given us one daughter, no one holds that against you. In this world, some have abundant fortune when it comes to children, and some have but shallow fortune. The eldest has told us that in the future, he intends to have a son-in-law marry into the family for the eldest daughter. As her birth mother, can you not treat her a little better? Bullying your own daughter in private—go out and ask around, which mother in any family behaves like you, one face in public and another behind people's backs…"
In the courtyard, from beginning to end, only Yang Tieniang's voice could be heard. Lin Cui did not utter a single word, and one could only occasionally hear her sobbing.
Cao Sanqiao pursed her lips. Seeing that Fusheng had nearly finished chopping the vegetables, she began to light the fire in the stove while lowering her voice to speak with Sanniang.
She did not feel the slightest bit wrong about gossiping with a seven-year-old child.
"Sanniang, tell me—with Grandmother saying all that, how many words do you think actually get through to Auntie? Her heart is full of knots, and her head is full of nothing but her nephews."
The fact that Lin Cui valued her nephews from her natal family more than her own daughter was something both Cao Sanqiao and Hu Xiangdi knew, and they held it in great contempt.
And during the time Lin Cui had been away, Cao Sanqiao felt that she had been perfectly at ease.
She could no longer hear Lin Cui's whimpering sobs, nor see Lin Cui's suddenly reddened eyes. Even without stepping foot outside the courtyard, the air in the house felt fresh and clean.
This morning, when she had been getting dressed, she had noticed that she had grown a full circle rounder!
Her complexion was better too.
At the time, she had even said happily to her husband that if the eldest sister-in-law never came home, that would be just wonderful.
Who would have thought—she said it in the morning, and Lin Cui came back in the afternoon.
And the moment she returned, she started wailing!
Truly, one must never casually wish for things!
Fusheng ladled a spoonful of soybean oil into the heated wok, tossed in the scallion segments and garlic chive segments to bloom their fragrance, and only shook her head at Cao Sanqiao's question.
"I don't know."
She was not a worm in Lin Cui's belly, so naturally she could not know what she was thinking.
Outside, all those words Yang Tieniang had spoken to Lin Cui, though numerous and dense, actually conveyed only one message—Lin Cui was forbidden from mistreating Meisheng any further.
Not openly, and certainly not in secret.
She was even forbidden from interfering in Meisheng's marriage.
As the only child of the eldest branch, Meisheng would one day bring in a husband and stay at home.
These words, spoken by Yang Tieniang out of a grandmother's protective love for her granddaughter, were delivered with utmost seriousness, word by word.
But Fusheng felt that even if the eldest aunt-in-law took them to heart, given her temperament, she would forget them all once enough time passed.
The diced and sliced vegetables had already released plenty of fragrance in the wok. Fusheng added water to the pot and waited for the broth to boil before dropping in the noodle pieces.
Cao Sanqiao stuffed another stick of firewood into the stove mouth and clicked her tongue twice.
"Grandmother said so much—doesn't she get thirsty? And I wonder, when Meisheng comes back the day after tomorrow and sees Lin Cui at home, what kind of expression she'll have!"
Meisheng had been staying with her master, Madam Yan, these past few days. Word had it that several counties under Wenzhou Prefecture had organized some sort of embroidery competition, and Madam Yan had brought Meisheng and several other disciples along to broaden their horizons.
Since the venue wasn't in the prefectural seat, going back and forth every day would have been foolish, which was why she wasn't at home.
It was rather amusing, really—Lin Cui had been crying and sobbing for so long, yet not once had she asked, "Where has Meisheng gone?"
"Elder sister has been very busy learning embroidery with Madam Yan. When she comes back, aside from sleeping at night, she won't have more than a few hours to spare."
The water in the pot was beginning to boil. Fusheng prepared to tear the dough pieces and drop them in.
She seemed to casually add this remark, her eyes glued to the pot from start to finish.
Cao Sanqiao, however, nodded in agreement.
"What Sanniang says is true—the eldest aunt still has to go to her master's side every day to learn embroidery!"
Just then, Yang Tieniang's voice outside stopped, and Lin Cui's sobbing seemed to fade as well. Cao Sanqiao steered the conversation elsewhere on her own.
"The eldest aunt is such a good child! These past two weeks, she's made swaddling blankets, a belly band, and little shoes for the one in my belly, and even made Fourth Sister a cloth tiger out of those scraps…"
A few words, and she was all smiles. Amidst the steaming warmth of the kitchen, she looked especially lively.
Until…
"I could hear Qiaoniang laughing from far away. Is the late-night meal ready? Anyone missing half a brain in there must be starving, with their stomachs drumming for food."
Yang Tieniang's expression had softened somewhat, but displeasure could still be seen on her face as she came in from outside.
Behind her followed Lin Cui, whose eyes were swollen like dyed walnuts from crying.
And no sooner had her words fallen than a stomach rumble sounded in the not-so-quiet kitchen.
It truly sounded no different from a drum beating inside a belly.
Lin Cui's face flushed instantly, the red spreading down her neck, blending perfectly with the walnut-like color of her eyes.
Fusheng still remembered what Yang Tieniang had said earlier about Lin Cui having gone two days without food.
The mixed vegetable soup noodles bubbled in the pot, and the sesame-oil lettuce shreds in her hands were already mixed.
"Auntie, Eldest Aunt, please help yourselves to the rice. I'll go call Brother over."
Not wanting to watch Lin Cui's flushed face change expression, Fusheng went straight out of the kitchen, with Jusheng following along behind her.
Lin Cui breathed a sigh of relief—she didn't want to lose face in front of the younger generation of the Zhu family.
At least not at this moment.
Likewise, she didn't want to lose face in front of her sister-in-law of the same generation.
She lifted her eyelids and shot a quick glance at Cao Sanqiao, hoping in her heart that Cao Sanqiao would also leave the kitchen—she'd even thought of an excuse for her!
How hot and stuffy it was in this kitchen! Cao Sanqiao was pregnant, so she ought to go out and get some fresh air!
Though her eyes were swollen from crying, when she lifted her eyelids to look at someone, they were nothing more than slits.
But Cao Sanqiao hadn't taken her eyes off Lin Cui since she'd come in.
She saw that glance clearly and guessed the little scheme hidden beneath it—one that belonged to Lin Cui.
Before Lin Cui had "gone back to her natal home to visit relatives," the two of them had clashed. Though quite some time had passed, that matter hadn't been resolved in Cao Sanqiao's heart, which was affected by pregnancy hormones!
Aiy!
Lin Cui wanted her to leave, but she simply wouldn't!
Not only would she not leave, she even supported her prominent belly, used her free hand to pick up a bowl from the stove, and said with great warmth:
"Eldest Sister-in-law, from the sound of it, you must be terribly hungry. How is it that after a few days back at your natal home, you've become so unfamiliar in your own kitchen? Enough, enough—let me fill a bowl for you!"
With that, she made as if to reach for the ladle.
Lin Cui was so embarrassed by the words "terribly hungry" that steam nearly rose from the top of her head, but Yang Tieniang saw through Cao Sanqiao's little scheme at a glance.
"What a strange display."
With a bland remark, Yang Tieniang snatched the ladle first and pressed it into Lin Cui's hands.
As for the bowl Cao Sanqiao was holding?
It wasn't as if she wasn't going to eat.
Yang Tieniang simply pretended not to see it.
By the time Fusheng and the others returned from the north room, the late-night meal was already set out on the small table in the courtyard, and Lin Cui was already eating with her head down.
The day had been clear, and the moonlight was dazzlingly bright.
Under that bright moonlight, the three of them—Fusheng and the others—could see clearly: Eldest Aunt Lin Cui, who was always the most delicate eater, was wolfing down her food. She paid no mind to her swollen eyes or the loose strands of hair falling around her face. Her chopsticks moved so fast they left afterimages in the bowl.
That huge bowl of mixed vegetable soup noodles was nearly empty after just a few mouthfuls.
Unless it was a year of famine, no one in a proper household would eat like that.
It was as if she'd been terrified of hunger.
A bowl of mixed vegetable soup noodles sat right in front of him, steaming hot, but looking at Lin Cui's appearance, Junsheng inexplicably swallowed his saliva and finally turned his gaze to Fusheng's face.
He felt like Eldest Aunt looked like she was about to eat someone!
And Fusheng?
They'd said she'd gone two days without food—she'd been prepared for Lin Cui's eating habits, but she hadn't expected this. The soup noodles were practically inhaled. This wasn't two days of hunger—she must not have had a full meal in half a month!
"Sanniang…"
Junsheng's voice trembled slightly.
"Don't worry." Fusheng pressed the chopsticks into Junsheng's hand. "I've cooked a huge pot."