Sang Zhixia raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you open it and see?”
She retrieved the medicine bottle she had been carrying with her and placed it on the only board in the shed that could hold anything. “The herbs I found weren’t very effective. Applying them daily was just going through the motions. So I bought two bottles of medicine for you while I was at it. Use this from now on.”
After she finished speaking, Xu Ao remained silent.
Puzzled, she turned her head and met Xu Ao’s inexplicably reddened phoenix eyes.
His hand, clutching the jade buckle, trembled silently. Only after taking several deep breaths did he say hoarsely, “How did you… this thing…”
“Make sure you keep it safe this time.”
Sang Zhixia raised her index finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I secretly redeemed it for you. Old Madam doesn’t know.”
“And don’t tell your mother either, so she doesn’t accidentally give it away in front of others.”
It wasn’t that she distrusted Xu Wenxiu greatly, but mainly because she wasn’t someone who could keep things to herself.
Yesterday, while they were tidying the vegetable garden together, Xu Wenxiu had sighed repeatedly, worrying about the jade buckle Xu Ao had sold.
Sang Zhixia’s ears were filled with talk of this trinket, so when she went out today, she simply retrieved it.
Xu Ao’s throat bobbed violently. After a long while, he said, “You really didn’t have to.”
He hadn’t regretted selling it.
Now, holding it felt like holding burning coal.
Sang Zhixia, however, said, “Since it’s something you always kept with you, it should remain in your possession.”
“Anyway, I’ve gotten it back for you. You keep it safe. If it’s discovered and something happens again, I definitely don’t have extra money to redeem it a second time.”
That small pendant, only two fingers wide, was quite expensive.
She had to add ten extra taels of silver before the pawnshop owner agreed. She truly couldn’t afford to do it again.
Hearing her distress, Xu Ao found it somewhat amusing. Relaxing his posture, he leaned against the board and said, “Feeling the pinch?”
“Obviously!”
Sang Zhixia exaggerated her expression. “You have no idea how hard it is for me to stash away a little something!”
Although she had indeed hidden quite a bit, that was all her own—no one else was allowed near it!
Xu Ao was amused by her look of lingering fear. Staring straight at her, he raised his long eyebrows, inexplicably exuding a hint of unrestrained charm.
“Are you feeling sorry for your private savings, or feeling sorry that I lost my treasure?”
At first glance, the words seemed harmless, but upon closer thought, something felt off everywhere.
In her previous life, Sang Zhixia had been a poor soul solely focused on earning enough to fill her belly, with no mind for romance or affairs between men and women.
Never having been enlightened in such matters, she felt something was a bit off.
But she couldn’t figure out why.
Just as their eyes met and the atmosphere grew still, Auntie Xu the Second’s shocked and complaining voice suddenly rang out from outside: “What time is it already? Where’s the person supposed to be cooking?”
“Does the stove heat itself if no one moves? Should the whole family starve waiting for you to laze around?”
Startled by the callout, Sang Zhixia inexplicably shivered. She shot Xu Ao an inexplicably annoyed glance and said irritably, “Why so many questions? You’ve made me late for cooking.”
With that, she strode out.
Xu Ao remained seated, rubbing the jade buckle, lost and found, in his palm. He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of scorching heat.
After composing himself, he walked out. Sang Zhixia was already focused on dealing with the meat in the wooden basin.
Going to town was such a hassle, so when buying meat, she had simply bought ten jin at once.
Xu Wenxiu wanted to help, but faced with the pile of raw meat intermingled with red and white, she couldn’t find a place to start.
“Xia Xia, how do you plan to handle this?”
Sang Zhixia deftly picked up a knife and began cutting the meat into small pieces with alternating layers of fat and lean, not even looking up as she said, “Second Uncle and the others haven’t returned yet. I’ll stew the meat first so they can have something warm to eat when they get back.”
Auntie Xu the Third, who had been dissatisfied with Xu Ao’s early return, relaxed her tense brows upon hearing this.
Auntie Xu the Second, however, couldn’t help but ask, “Xu Ao, what exactly delayed your Second Uncle and the others? When will they be back?”
Xu Ao replied lazily, “Something must have held them up. I don’t know the details. We’ll find out when they return.”
With that, he rolled up his sleeves and cheerfully asked, “Zhizhi, what should I do?”
A willing helper shouldn’t go to waste.
Sang Zhixia gestured toward the glowing stove pit and said, “Help me singe the pork skin. There are still some bristles left on it.”
The bristles that couldn’t be fully removed with hot water could be burned clean over the charcoal, and the singed pork skin would taste even better.
It was Xu Ao’s first time doing this task. His movements were clumsy, but his expression was earnest.
The glowing charcoal sizzled against the pork skin, turning the pale pink skin black. After scrubbing off the blackened layer with a brush, the golden pork skin was revealed.
Sang Zhixia sliced the prepared meat into evenly thick pieces and tossed them all into the searing hot iron wok.
The oil crackled, and the rich aroma of meat slowly filled the kitchen.
Xu Mingyang couldn’t resist poking his head out from inside the house.
Three-year-old Xu Mingxu was even more direct. He stared longingly at the steaming iron wok, his eyes sparkling and a glistening trail of drool at the corner of his mouth.
“Meat!”
They could eat meat now!
The family hadn’t seen meat for a while. The adults could endure it, but for the children with their cravings, it was particularly agonizing.
Suppressing a smile, Sang Zhixia handed him a small bowl containing two freshly fried slices of meat.
“Little Mingxu, help me taste if it’s good, okay?”
Just as Xu Mingxu took the bowl with both hands, Auntie Xu the Second frowned disapprovingly.
“You…”
“Mingyang, Yanran, come here too.”
Sang Zhixia cut her off before she could finish, smiling as she said, “Children get cravings. Letting them have a bite or two isn’t a big deal, right, Second Aunt?”
If she had only given some to Xu Mingxu, someone would surely have made an issue of it.
But if all the children she could accommodate got a share, it seemed less of a problem.
Auntie Xu the Second swallowed her words, and Sang Zhixia distributed the same slices of meat to each child she called over. Even Xu Jinxi, nestled in Xu Wenxiu’s arms, received a small piece.
The children happily munched on their meat, and the Old Master, resting in the courtyard, watched with a gradually softening gaze.
To show favor without losing fairness—this was good.
While the children busied themselves with their special treat, Sang Zhixia continued working without pause.
After stewing for a while, most of the fat had rendered from the meat slices. The scooped-out lard was stored in a jar for cooking.
The remaining meat slices were also set aside, most of them soaked in a jar filled with lard.
Auntie Xu the Third was wiping Xu Yanran’s mouth and asked curiously, “Why soak them?”
Sang Zhixia lowered her head to sort through the large and small greens in the basket, speaking without looking up: “If we can’t finish them all at once, soaking them in oil will keep them from spoiling. When cooking, just scoop directly from the jar—it won’t affect the meal.”
Without a refrigerator, this was a decent method to extend preservation time.
Tomorrow would be Auntie Xu the Third’s turn to cook. After hearing this, she showed a thoughtful expression, watching closely by the stove to see how Sang Zhixia did everything.
Noticing her intention, Sang Zhixia made no attempt to hide it and generously explained: “When there are many people and stir-frying is inconvenient, you can make a stew instead.”
“Heat the oil, put the meat in, stir-fry for a while, then add the washed greens. Add enough water to cover everything in the pot, sprinkle some salt, and taste to check if it’s salty enough.”
Meat and vegetable stew—simple and effortless.
Auntie Xu the Third seemed to have an epiphany. When Sang Zhixia lifted the lid of the other pot on the stove, the aroma of rice wafted over, and she asked somewhat awkwardly: “What about the water for steaming rice? How much water should be added?”
“Use your finger.”
Sang Zhixia extended her index finger, pointing to the second knuckle: “Place your fingertip on top of the rice. Add water up to this height—that’s just right.”
Auntie Xu the Third silently memorized this tip, then took Xu Yanran and went elsewhere.
Xu Ao crouched by the stove tending the fire. After hearing this, he tentatively touched his own index finger.
Up to here?
“Xu Ao?”
“Hmm?”
He was abruptly brought back to reality by Sang Zhixia’s voice and instinctively looked up.
Sang Zhixia found it somewhat amusing: “What are you pondering so deeply?”
Xu Ao chuckled and shook his head: “Nothing, what’s up?”
“There are still some potatoes from yesterday. Can you help me find them?”
Adding some potatoes to the stew would taste good too.
Xu Ao stood up and went to fetch them. Xu Wenxiu watched as he naturally picked up a knife to peel the potatoes, her expression growing somewhat uneasy.
Stove work should be done by women. Xu Ao was a tall, sturdy man—how could he be so willing to hover around the stove with his wife?
Both Xu Minghui and Xu Mingyang from the second branch kept their distance. How could this continue?
She hesitated about whether to send Xu Mingxu to call Xu Ao away when Auntie Xu the Second, who had been peeking repeatedly outside the door, suddenly exclaimed in surprise: “Second Master, what happened to you?”
“How did you end up like this?”
Her cries drew everyone’s attention. Xu Ao, who was peeling potatoes, silently curved the corners of his lips.
Second Uncle Xu staggered in with a dark expression. Seeing Xu Ao already washed and changed, he gritted his teeth in fury.
Xu Ao acted as if he had only just noticed him, placing the perfectly peeled potato into the basin and smiling: “Second Uncle, Third Uncle, you’re back.”
Third Uncle Xu trembled in like a walking corpse, his face pale as he forced a bitter smile: “Yes.”
“Finally made it back…”