“Married!”
“I think you’ve lost your mind. She got married yesterday. You even went to the wedding. Today is Feng Jiaojiao’s first day as a newlywed.”
“What, did the shock make you lose your memory too?”
Zhao Meili looked at Qin Siyu’s devastated expression and couldn’t resist mocking her.
“Seriously? It’s just one man. Do you really have to act like the world is ending?”
Qin Siyu held her head as memories slowly came rushing back.
She had returned to the time when she had first come to the countryside as an educated youth.
But she clearly remembered dying.
How was this possible?
Why?
If Heaven had given her a second chance at life, why couldn’t she have been sent back a little earlier?
She had only needed a little more time. Then she could have stopped Feng Jiaojiao and An Jianjun from getting together.
Could it be that she still couldn’t change the outcome in this life?
No!
She refused to accept it!
Since that was the case, she couldn’t blame herself for what she was about to do.
An Jianjun didn’t have deep feelings for Feng Jiaojiao yet. If she acted now, she could still separate the two of them.
Besides, Feng Jiaojiao’s eventual fate was already destined.
A dark glint flashed across Qin Siyu’s eyes.
“Siyu, you’d better get some rest. You don’t have to make lunch. I’ll ask the team leader to give you the afternoon off.”
Seeing Qin Siyu’s condition, Wang Yan quickly told her to rest. Her complexion didn’t look very good.
“Thank you, Sister Yan.”
Qin Siyu nodded.
She needed to organize her thoughts properly.
She lay down and closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, Mother An returned home to prepare lunch.
When Feng Jiaojiao saw her heading toward the kitchen, she immediately followed.
“Mom, I’ll help you. I know how to cook. It’s just… I’m not very good at using this big stove.”
It wasn’t because Feng Jiaojiao had suddenly become hardworking.
She was doing it for the sake of her own stomach.
If she kept eating like this, she would probably become the first person in history to starve to death after transmigrating into a novel.
The porridge that morning hadn’t been filling at all.
Even with the egg, her stomach still felt empty.
By now, she was so hungry she could practically swallow an entire cow.
Feng Jiaojiao might have been pampered and delicate, but her cooking skills weren’t bad.
Before transmigrating, she had lived alone for many years. How could she not know how to cook?
Once she got tired of ordering takeout, she would start craving the home-cooked food her parents used to make.
So she began experimenting with cooking for herself.
Unexpectedly, she became addicted to it, and her cooking gradually improved.
With the internet so convenient, all she had to do was search for a recipe. The ingredients and instructions were right there.
If she wanted to eat something, she could simply make it herself.
She didn’t have to accommodate anyone else’s preferences.
Unfortunately, the original Feng Jiaojiao really couldn’t cook.
When her biological mother was still alive, her mother had handled all the cooking.
After her mother passed away, the father and daughter relied on the cafeteria until her stepmother entered the family and took control of everything—from food and clothing to every aspect of daily life.
“You?”
Mother An looked at her suspiciously.
“Don’t joke around!”
“Mom, you’re underestimating me! I’ll show you what I can do!”
Feng Jiaojiao’s competitive spirit had been awakened.
She was determined to win them over with her cooking.
“If you really want to cook, that’s fine. But go change your clothes first. There’s no way you’re wearing those light-colored clothes into the kitchen.”
Since her daughter-in-law wanted to make an effort, Mother An figured she might as well let her try.
After all, Feng Jiaojiao would eventually have to learn how to cook if she wanted to live with her third son.
This was also a good opportunity for Mother An to see what she was capable of.
At the very least, as long as her son and future grandchildren wouldn’t starve, and someone could put a decent meal on the table, that would be enough.
“Okay! I’ll go change right now!”
Feng Jiaojiao happily bounced back to the room.
Mother An watched her retreating figure helplessly.
She really was still like a child.
Feng Jiaojiao returned wearing a dark-blue work uniform.
The fabric was sturdy and durable, and the suit had been carefully tailored to fit her perfectly. She looked especially neat and energetic in it.
When Feng Jiaojiao’s biological mother had still been alive, she had loved making clothes for her daughter.
Whenever she managed to get fabric coupons or found various types of discounted cloth, she would turn them all into clothes for her daughter.
In her mother’s eyes, her daughter deserved the best.
Feng Jiaojiao’s father also had some influence at the textile factory, so he was often able to get his hands on good materials.
Their family simply wasn’t short of fabric.
He would even buy ready-made clothes for his daughter from time to time.
With two people earning good salaries and only one daughter to spoil, raising her comfortably wasn’t difficult.
Her mother also had some savings of her own.
Unfortunately, all that special treatment ended abruptly after her mother died.
Feng Jiaojiao even put on a pair of sleeve protectors, looking every bit like someone ready to work in the kitchen.
Mother An looked her up and down and felt a little heartbroken.
The fabric was so nice, yet she was wearing it just to cook.
In Mother An’s eyes, the outfit was good enough to wear when going out.
But then she remembered the several large suitcases of clothes Feng Jiaojiao had brought with her.
Clearly, the girl wasn’t short on clothes.
This was probably one of her more ordinary outfits.
“Mom, what are we having for lunch?”
Feng Jiaojiao looked around the kitchen, quickly figuring out where everything was kept.
“You can pick whatever vegetables you want from the yard. I’ll tend the fire.”
“Mom, do we still have any meat?”
Feng Jiaojiao looked at Mother An expectantly.
Faced with those pleading eyes, Mother An remembered how little Feng Jiaojiao had eaten that morning.
With a helpless sigh, she took out a small piece of cured meat that she had been saving.
“Here. This is all we have, so don’t expect anything more.”
It’s cured meat!
What a pleasant surprise!
She could finally eat meat!
She felt so miserable.
Ever since she had transmigrated, apart from the little bit of meat she had eaten on her wedding day, she hadn’t had any meat at all.
Before transmigrating, she had practically gotten tired of eating meat.
Now she was so desperate for it that she could almost cry.
Feng Jiaojiao immediately set another goal for herself.
Besides living a long life and dying peacefully in old age, she absolutely had to make sure she could eat meat at every meal.
Before transmigrating, neither goal would have been considered particularly difficult.
But now…
Both goals seemed incredibly challenging.
Since Mother An had given her permission to cook, Feng Jiaojiao decided to make whatever she liked.
There were a lot of people in the family, so she needed to make generous portions.
She decided on Di San Xian—stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and peppers—along with scrambled eggs with chives, green peppers stir-fried with cured meat, and a large pot of potato soup.
She had originally wanted to make egg soup, but she figured Mother An probably wouldn’t let her waste that many eggs.
Potatoes it was.
Feng Jiaojiao immediately began preparing the ingredients.
Everything proceeded smoothly.
Mother An nodded.
Not bad.
It was already much better than she had expected.
She relaxed and focused on tending the fire.
But before long, the kitchen filled with the fragrant sizzling sound of food hitting hot oil.
Mother An suddenly realized something was wrong.
“Stop! Stop right now!”
She turned around.
One look nearly made her heart stop.
Feng Jiaojiao had used nearly half a month’s supply of cooking fat just to fry one dish!
There was already a huge dent in the jar of lard.
Seeing all that oil in the wok, Mother An felt her blood pressure rising.
If she used the lard sparingly, that jar could last her half a year.
But if she let her third son’s wife cook like this, it probably wouldn’t even last a month.
“You call this cooking?”
“You’re trying to kill me!”
Mother An anxiously slapped her thigh.
“Stop! Are you planning to drink the oil?”
“You don’t need this much oil to cook one dish! Hurry up and scoop some back out!”
Sizzle!
While Mother An turned around to grab a small bowl to remove some of the oil, Feng Jiaojiao quickly dumped the vegetables into the wok.
She looked at Mother An innocently.
“Mom, my hand slipped.”
“So… why don’t we just eat it like this?”
She patted her chest confidently.
“Don’t worry, Mom. It’ll definitely taste good!”
Di San Xian simply wasn’t the same without plenty of oil.
The eggplant, potatoes, and peppers were supposed to be fried first, which made them much more delicious.
But obviously, using that much oil wasn’t realistic in this era.
So Feng Jiaojiao had simply used a little more than usual to get the right flavor.
“You… You!”
Mother An pointed at Feng Jiaojiao with a trembling finger.
What a spendthrift!
From now on, she absolutely could not let this daughter-in-law anywhere near the kitchen.