Dinner at the Qin family tonight was especially lavish.
Xu Sangluo cooked a big pot of radish and pork bone soup.
The butcher had been very generous. Even though they were marrow bones, they still had plenty of meat clinging to them.
The bones had been chopped into two pieces, with the crystal-clear marrow solidified inside.
After simmering, the bone soup turned a milky white, with light golden droplets of oil floating on top.
It didn’t need many seasonings—just a little salt and a sprinkle of chopped scallions—and the aroma was already rich and mellow.
In addition, there were stir-fried pig’s blood with scallions and string beans stir-fried with pork belly.
The pig’s blood was first pan-fried before being stir-fried, giving it a slightly crisp and chewy exterior while remaining soft and silky inside.
Paired with the sharp fragrance of scallions, it tasted fresh and delicious, without any unpleasant odor at all.
The pork belly was sliced and fried to render out its lard, then garlic and shallots were added and sautéed until fragrant.
The string beans were first blanched in hot water before being drained and stir-fried in the pan.
This ensured the beans were fully cooked without burning or turning black. They remained crisp, carrying the savory richness of pork belly, making it impossible to stop picking up more with chopsticks.
Finally, there was a pot of braised pork bones, pork belly, and pork offal.
Xu Sangluo didn’t add too many spices.
She simply used scallions, ginger, and garlic to remove the odor first, then simmered everything before adding soy sauce and salt at the end.
Without too many complicated flavors, the natural aroma of the pork stood out even more.
In short, it was incredibly good with rice.
Earlier, when the children were helping clean the pork offal, they had looked like they might vomit.
Now, as they ate the soft yet chewy braised intestines, none of them could stop.
Before they had even swallowed the food in their mouths, their chopsticks were already reaching down for another piece.
“Mmm—this is so delicious! Sister Sangluo, you’re amazing. You’re so good at studying, and your cooking is just as incredible!”
Qin Zhifeng’s cheeks were puffed out with food, his eyes sparkling with delight, with a few grains of rice stuck to his face.
The others nodded while shoveling rice into their mouths.
As for why no one spoke up to agree?
Because none of them wanted to waste time talking. Their mouths barely had enough time to eat—who had time to speak?
Xu Sangluo couldn’t help but smile.
Watching others enjoy the food she cooked was a kind of enjoyment in itself.
While the Qin family was thoroughly enjoying themselves, the people outside were having a harder time.
The domineering aroma drifted outward in waves, causing passersby to stop in their tracks, greedily inhaling the rich fragrance in the air.
Their feet simply refused to move.
But they didn’t have the nerve to go over and ask for food, so they could only stand there awkwardly.
Fortunately, they weren’t the only ones drawn by the smell—especially with a group of noisy children gathered around.
Everyone began guessing what the Qin family was eating tonight that smelled so incredibly good.
Less than an hour after Xu Sangluo returned, the things she had said earlier had already spread around.
The news that the wife Qin had brought home was actually from the city—and that her family background was quite well-off—quickly became common knowledge.
What attracted the most attention was how several aunties exaggeratedly described just how many good things she had brought back from her family home.
At first, some people didn’t believe it.
But the waves of meat fragrance drifting out of the courtyard quickly slapped them in the face.
What kind of family was the Qin family? Even getting a bit of oil during festivals was probably difficult, let alone eating meat.
With such a strong aroma of meat, just how much meat must they be stewing?
Those who had mocked the Qin family before now began to feel envious.
No matter whether Xu Sangluo was really from the city or not,
the food was undeniably real.
Of course, where there was envy, there was also jealousy.
Some people muttered sourly that Qin, a grown man, still had to rely on his wife going back to her parents’ home to bring back food.
But they only dared to say such things in private.
No matter what the people outside said, tonight the Qin household felt just like New Year’s Day.
No—actually, for the children, even during the New Year they had never received such treatment.
They had thought the dumplings they ate that morning were already a rare delicacy they had never tasted before.
Who would have expected an even bigger surprise waiting for them at dinner?
It was simply too blissful.
Especially little Qin Yan. He held a large marrow bone in both hands, gnawing on it until his face was smeared with grease. His eyes squinted happily, looking as if little bubbles of joy might pop out of him at any moment.
Inside the room, Mother Qin leaned against the headboard, slowly drinking a bowl of hot soup while listening to the lively sounds outside. She couldn’t help smiling, though the corners of her eyes grew a little moist.
Xu Sangluo had brought Mother Qin’s dinner into the room.
She had also solemnly apologized to her and explained the matter of temporarily staying with the Qin family.
Qin Zhiyu had already mentioned Xu Sangluo’s situation to their mother before.
After learning the truth, Mother Qin had even called her eldest son inside and scolded him for a while.
She said he shouldn’t have hidden the truth before.
If she had known earlier how much the girl had suffered, she never would have treated her coldly or spoken sarcastically about her.
Thinking about it now, that was like rubbing salt into a wound. How painful it must have been for her at the time.
Qin Zhiyi, who hadn’t been scolded since he became an adult, could only helplessly admit his mistake.
Even though he himself had only learned about many of these things today.
He hadn’t spoken before because being trafficked or being driven out of one’s home were both disgraceful matters. Saying it aloud would not only damage her reputation but might also cause misunderstandings.
It was better for people to think he had been forced into responsibility than to let them wildly speculate about her being trafficked.
He simply hadn’t expected that so many things were hidden behind the truth.
In fact, after hearing her story, Qin Zhiyi also admired and respected her strength of character.
For most people, it would be impossible to recover from something like that in such a short time.
Dinner ended in a warm atmosphere filled with laughter and harmony.
Qin Zhishu and Qin Zhifeng quickly rushed to take care of the kitchen chores.
Qin Zhiyu went to help Mother Qin wash up.
Qin Zhiyi was responsible for bathing his son.
With nothing to do, Xu Sangluo returned to her room first.
Although she also wanted to help take care of Mother Qin, she was, at most, only a tenant in the Qin household right now. If she acted too attentive, it might easily arouse suspicion or misunderstanding.
So she simply took out her suitcase and began organizing her belongings while also counting today’s gains.
Although it seemed like she had bought many things today, she had actually spent less than forty yuan.
So she still had more than 4,900 yuan left.
In this era, that was already considered an enormous fortune.
That money alone would be enough to make Liu Xiuhe feel the sting for quite some time and stir up conflict between her and her husband.
After all, Xie Feng was an extreme opportunist.
When his interests weren’t threatened, he could act like a smiling tiger.
But once his interests were touched, he would become a man-eating beast ready to devour others.
Xu Sangluo had always been unwilling to mention him, even less willing to think about him, because he was simply too disgusting.
At most, Liu Xiuhe was greedy.
But Xie Feng was evil to the bone.
He was a typical “phoenix man”—a poor man who rose through marriage.
Back then, he had wandered alone to Guangzhou and was accidentally rescued by Xu Xiangyu, yet he harbored wicked intentions.
Xu Xiangyu had lost her mother at a young age and had been doted on by her father ever since. She was like a sheltered young lady who knew little about the world.
Xie Feng only needed to use a few tricks to successfully deceive her and win her heart, even nearly causing a rift between Xu Xiangyu and her father.
Although Father Xu looked down on Xie Feng greatly, his daughter stubbornly insisted on him. In the end, he had no choice but to accept it reluctantly.
And so Xie Feng successfully married into the Xu family.
At first, he did indeed dote on and indulge Xu Xiangyu endlessly.
Until the turmoil began—
that was when he finally revealed his true face.