“You…”
Sang Zhixia said with indescribable complexity: “Did you go work in a black coal mine?”
Xu Ao replied without changing his expression: “No, I just went out with Brother Wu to do some casual labor for the day.”
He had been the first among the others to realize how difficult survival would be, but unfortunately his survival experience was still nonexistent.
Yesterday while repairing the roof, he had casually asked around, and Wu Changgui immediately found him a way to earn money. Today was his first attempt.
When earning money through hard labor, who wouldn’t end up looking disheveled?
He wiped the black dust from his temple and said flatly: “Brother Wu said this job can last for a while, so I’ll keep doing it for now.”
At least there would be some daily income.
He was vague and didn’t want to elaborate, dropping this remark before going to find clean clothes to change into.
But Sang Zhixia noticed the stiffness in his movements as he walked, and the faint, mottled bloodstains seeping through his shoulders.
What kind of work exactly had Xu Ao found?
She turned and saw Xu Wenxiu’s eyes filled with heartache. After a pause, she said meaningfully: “Mother-in-law, with so many mouths to feed in this family, we can’t have only Xu Ao working hard outside.”
Xu Wenxiu was inherently weak-willed and truly incapable of stepping up.
As for Xu Ao, constrained by the Xu Family’s Exile status and the associated stigma, he had to endure and yield in every situation.
But dwelling on the past was pointless. Since they were all bound together to survive, they couldn’t just exploit one person.
Xu Ao was human—he wasn’t an ox meant to be worked to death.
After hearing this, tears welled up in Xu Wenxiu’s eyes. Gritting her teeth, she said: “You’re right. We can’t bully my son like this.”
They could mistreat her all they wanted.
But targeting her son was unacceptable!
Seeing that Xu Wenxiu was on her side, Sang Zhixia curled her lips in amusement.
Not bad—she knew to stand by her own people. Not completely foolish.
There was no well at home for fetching water; drinking, cooking, and washing all relied on someone carrying water manually.
To save the little water left in the jar, Xu Ao took his change of clothes and went to the village’s only small river.
By the time he returned, Sang Zhixia had already started cooking. The others, hearing the commotion, still showed no intention of coming out to see.
But unlike Xu Ao, who only made porridge, she directly opened the tied-up bag of flour.
She piled the white flour into a small mound in a wooden basin, mixed in some salt evenly, hollowed out a small crater in the center, poured in boiling water, and kneaded it into a dough.
The soft dough became exceptionally pliable in her hands—rounding, flattening, stretching—all with effortless pulls. Xu Wenxiu, who had wanted to help, watched in astonishment for a long time before finally managing to say: “What can I do?”
Sang Zhixia didn’t stand on ceremony with her either. Without looking up, she said: “There seem to be some edible greens left in the backyard vegetable garden. Could you go pick some?”
The vegetable garden hadn’t been abandoned for long. There were still some seeds scattered by the previous owner. Though they hadn’t been tended and didn’t grow well, plenty of wild vegetables had sprouted here and there. Picking them, washing them, would make do for a meal.
Xu Wenxiu nodded solemnly, took Xu Mingxu by the hand, and hurried off.
Xu Ao placed his dripping clothes in a basin, approached the stove, looked at the snow-white dough, and said quietly: “Didn’t I tell you to rest?”
He had been stalling and not acting precisely to force those who couldn’t stand the hunger to take action themselves.
Otherwise, whoever started doing the work would never be able to stop.
Thinking that Sang Zhixia might very well end up tied to the stove by mere words in the future, he rolled up his sleeves and said: “Give it to me.”
“Do you know how?”
Sang Zhixia shot him an amused glance. “This is different from cooking rice porridge. You can’t just throw it in the pot and expect it to be edible.”
She tilted her chin, signaling Xu Ao to step back, and leisurely stretched the noodles in her hands. “I know what you’re worried about, but I’m not a fool either.”
“That big bowl contains Ci’er Cai. Take it and grind it up to apply on the scraped skin on your shoulder.”
Xu Ao’s outstretched hand froze mid-air, and he instinctively glanced at his shoulder, which was fully covered by his clothing.
Sang Zhixia chuckled at his reaction. “You’re not used to manual labor—it’s normal for your skin to be tender. Why be so awkward about it?”
“We don’t have any hemostatic or pain-relieving medicine at home. I only found some Ci’er Cai. Make do with it for now. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Xu Ao responded with a complicated “Hmm.”
By the time he had ground the herb, applied it to his shoulder, and walked out, Sang Zhixia was already boiling water to cook the noodles.
The round dough had been stretched into evenly thick noodles, swirling and turning in the rolling water.
Sang Zhixia deftly added a bit of cold water to the pot, then picked up the various wild vegetables Xu Wenxiu had dug up from the garden and explained, “Mother, this one with the fluffy top is Popotting. It tastes bitter when eaten plain, but it helps reduce internal heat. It’s perfect to brew into a drink for Xu Ao later.”
“This one with serrated leaves lying flat on the ground is Qiu Jie Cai. The slender-leaved one is Liu Hao Ya, and the one with small yellow flowers is Ma Chi Jian. All of these are edible.”
Xu Wenxiu listened intently, furrowing her brows as she committed each one to memory.
When she had been digging them up earlier, she had been full of anxiety, unsure whether the plants she gathered were edible. Now, with Sang Zhixia’s approval, she felt much more at ease.
Noticing her attentiveness, Sang Zhixia slowed her pace.
A willingness to learn new things was a good sign.
At the very least, it showed that her mother-in-law was ready to lend a hand.
She didn’t mind teaching more.
Three-year-old Xu Mingxu couldn’t understand such a long explanation. Clutching a handful of wild grass with small round bulbs at the roots, he eagerly held it out to her.
“Eldest sister-in-law, look!”
“I pulled this!”
He had helped too!
Sang Zhixia recognized it at a glance but still took it, broke a piece, and sniffed it, pretending to be pleasantly surprised as she praised him. “Little Mingxu, you’re amazing! This is Ye Shan Cong, a must-have for noodles. You actually found it!”
Xu Mingxu beamed with pride, wriggling with joy before wrapping his arms around Xu Ao’s leg.
“Big brother, sister-in-law praised me!”
Xu Ao chuckled and ruffled the little one’s head, then took the wild vegetables Sang Zhixia had sorted and asked, “Shall I go wash these?”
“Sure.”
“Perfect timing to blanch some leafy greens to add to the noodles.”
As she spoke, the noodles with added cold water came to a boil again. Sang Zhixia broke off a piece with her chopsticks to check if they were cooked, then immediately ladled them into bowls of varying sizes.
She sprinkled some chopped Ye Shan Cong over the noodles, added the blanched wild vegetables, and seasoned them with a bit of oil and salt—a simple meal.
But thinking of Xu Ao, who had done hard labor all day, she decisively cracked a few eggs into the boiling water.
The rich aroma of noodles wafted from the stove, and one by one, those who had been holed up in their rooms without a sound began to emerge.
Auntie Xu the Second inspected the noodle bowls laid out on the stove with a critical eye and said disdainfully, “This is more like it. It’s about time we had something else to eat.”
What’s the point of drinking porridge all day?
My guts have gone bland from it!
Sang Zhixia chuckled lightly upon hearing this and handed her two large bowls of noodles. “Second Aunt, these are for Grandfather and Grandmother. Please help bring them over.”
At mealtimes, elders should be served first. Auntie Xu the Second had no objection to this and quickly took the bowls over.
But when she turned back and returned, only raw, cold noodles on the cutting board and a pot of murky noodle broth remained on the stove.
Sang Zhixia had placed the remaining bowls on a wooden board and, ignoring Auntie Xu the Second’s astonished gaze, said to Xu Ao, “The largest bowl is yours. Take it.”
Xu Ao obediently reached out.
She continued, “Mother-in-law, this bowl is for you.”
“Mingxu and Jinxi’s portions are in the smaller bowls.”
The last bowl was her own.
She had made enough noodles for the entire family, but only this portion had been cooked and served.
Once distributed, there was nothing left!
Third Uncle Xu, who was sitting at the table with chopsticks in hand, asked in surprise, “What about ours?”
Raw noodles can’t be eaten!
Sang Zhixia replied matter-of-factly, “Aren’t there more on the stove? Boil water and cook them yourselves.”
She had already prepared the noodles—would it kill them to cook them?
Before the frowning Auntie Xu the Second and Third Aunt could protest, she continued nonchalantly, “Grandfather and Grandmother are elders—it’s not strange for them to be waited on hand and foot. But uncles and aunts, you haven’t reached the age where you can’t move your hands yet, have you?”
“Before, Xu Ao took on the kitchen work out of consideration for the elders’ hardships, but from now on, that won’t do.”
She raised her head with a smile and looked at the Old Madam, who seemed displeased, saying lightly, “If we’re talking about former status, Second Aunt and Third Aunt aren’t as highly ranked as my mother-in-law. She can go dig for wild vegetables herself—what is it that you can’t do yourselves?”
“Is cooking noodles so difficult? If you can’t manage it, you might as well go hungry.”
At most, she had included the Old Madam and Old Master’s portions to silence them. The rest were none of her concern.
Third Aunt said incredulously, “What would it cost you to cook them all at once?”
“And what would it cost you to skip one meal?”