The originally pale meat chunks gradually curled up, coated in a bright, savory sauce. Before taking them out of the pot, she sprinkled on some chopped green onion, and the fragrance drilled straight into her nose, making Jiang Tang swallow her own saliva.
She then tossed the sliced green vegetables into the pot, grabbed a handful of freshly rendered pork cracklings, and stir-fried them over a high flame.
The burnt aroma of the cracklings mixed with the refreshing taste of the green vegetables. After adding half a spoonful of salt to season, the dish turned a glistening green when taken off the heat, looking so oily and delicious that it was perfect with rice.
Just then, Jiang Yi returned from outside. He was carrying a small bundle of firewood on his back, and upon smelling the fragrance wafting from the house, his steps quickened.
As soon as he entered the walled courtyard, he smiled and called out to the kitchen: "Elder Sister, what are you cooking? It smells so good! I could smell it from far away."
Jiang Tang poked her head out of the kitchen. Seeing the small bundle of firewood on his back and the sweat on his forehead, she chided: "Why did you run out again? You went to gather firewood without even eating. Hurry up and wash your hands for dinner."
She had thought Jiang Yi was inside keeping Madam Feng company, not expecting him to have gone up the mountain.
"I was just idle at home, and thinking we didn't have much firewood left, I went up the mountain to pick some." Jiang Yi put down the firewood bundle, wiped his hands on the corner of his clothes, and smiled somewhat shyly. "If I gather more, we won't have to worry about firewood in the winter."
In Jiang Yi's heart, as long as Elder Sister and Grandma were alive, he was willing to endure any hardship or exhaustion.
He only prayed that Elder Sister and Grandma would not leave him.
He did not want to return to how it was a few days ago, when the house was cold and lifeless.
Elder Sister was bedridden, and Grandma was also bedridden; he didn't even have anyone to talk to.
He never wanted to experience that kind of fear and helplessness again.
The only table in the house was in Madam Feng's room, and one of its legs was missing a section, only staying steady because it was propped up by a stone.
Jiang Tang brought in two plates of food, and Jiang Yi followed closely behind, holding three bowls of rice.
Madam Feng looked at the items on the table, her eyes widening: "A'Tang, these... where did they come from?"
The stir-fried octopus with screw pepper looked bright and tempting; she had never seen those green chili peppers before.
The stir-fried green vegetables with pork cracklings looked crisp and fresh.
And those three bowls of rice—the grains were crystal clear and plump, glistening with oil.
Even the plates holding the food and the bowls for the rice were new, no longer the chipped bowls from last night that hurt her mouth.
Just a moment ago, when she smelled the fragrance, she thought it was some family in the village cooking, never imagining it was her own.
"Grandma, eat without worry. It was all bought with money from selling seafood this morning. I met some foreigners and bought these from them, along with other vegetables." Jiang Tang helped her sit up and placed a chopstick-full of octopus into her bowl.
She told this lie so that the vegetables she would bring back from modern times in the future would have an origin.
The variety of vegetables here was limited, and the villagers had no land to grow them. Those with a little silver would go to town once or twice, but most people just went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
There were quite a lot of wild vegetables here: in the spring, one could dig for Shepherd's Purse, dandelions, elm coins, and locust flowers—fresh, sweet, and tender as they broke through the soil.
In the summer, one could pick purslane, lamb's quarters, and wild mint—crisp, refreshing, and cooling for the dog days.
In the autumn, one could gather wood ear mushrooms, wild amaranth, and broom cypress—soft, mellow, and warm with the sweetness of autumn frost.
In the winter, when the first frost and snow fell, one could still find some Shepherd's Purse and wild bitter greens; the frost brought out their sweetness, a fresh delicacy in the cold days.
Madam Feng sighed, looking at the white rice in her bowl with heartache: "This rice is too precious. Next time, just buy brown rice. Save some money for your dowry and for A Yi to marry a wife. Grandma is old and can't help you much anymore, and now this body of mine is..."
"Grandma, once we earn money, we must take care of our health. Without a healthy body, how can we earn money? You will get better too. Once you've recovered, you can go Sea Gathering with us." Jiang Tang interrupted her and added another chopstick-full of green vegetables to her bowl. "When life gets better, we will be able to eat white rice every meal."
Jiang Yi nodded: "Elder Sister is right. Once we earn money, we should take care of our health. I will gather more seafood to earn money for Elder Sister's dowry and my wedding."
"Hurry and eat, it won't taste good if it gets cold," Jiang Tang urged.
Madam Feng picked up a piece of octopus and put it in her mouth, instantly squinting her eyes.
It was fresh with a hint of spice, and the meat was incredibly chewy—a taste she hadn't experienced in all her years, even better than the dishes at the village banquets.
Jiang Yi held his bowl, shoveling rice into his mouth until it was full to the brim. The aroma of the stir-fried green vegetables with cracklings spread on his tongue, and he said indistinctly: "Elder Sister, this is too delicious... better than what we eat during the New Year... and this rice is so soft and glutinous, much better than brown rice."
He looked at the oil floating in the vegetable broth, poured some over his rice, and mixed it in. With the oil fragrance mixed with the rice fragrance, he instantly felt he could eat three more bowls.
"If it's good, eat more. Only when you're full will you have the strength to work."
Sunlight from the roof shone through the dilapidated ceiling, landing on the small dining table and reflecting the smiling faces of the three.
The fragrance of the food drifted far, mixed with the scent of the sea waves, making one feel that even this drafty thatched cottage had the warmth of a home.
After lunch, Jiang Tang used the excuse of selling the seafood Jiang Yi had gathered later and the large grouper to go to town.
Jiang Yi wanted to follow, but she persuaded him: "Rest well at home and keep your energy up; we still have to go Sea Gathering tonight."
Naturally, she couldn't let him follow, as her true purpose was to sell that glass vase.
With him there, it would be hard for her to explain.
Jiang Tang left with the basket for seafood on her back, found a secluded spot, and quietly stored the seafood into the Space.
She planned to keep them to sell there tomorrow; at this time of day, the restaurants here usually stopped buying, and it wasn't easy to sell them by setting up a stall herself.
Following the original owner's memory, she walked toward the town; it took half an hour to get from Ao Hai Village to the town.
Just as she reached the village entrance, she encountered an ox cart from the neighboring village passing by slowly.
Thinking that taking the ox cart would be faster, Jiang Tang decisively took out two coins and got on.
But before the ox cart had gone very far, Jiang Tang regretted it.
The mountain road was rugged and uneven, the wheels crushed over gravel, the cart swayed left and right, and the wooden board was hard, making her bottom ache from the bumping.
The ox cart was quite the open-air ride, catching the wind and baking in the sun the whole way!
Jiang Tang finally experienced it; the sun near the seaside was indeed vicious, the kind that could peel your skin.
No wonder Jiang Yi was so dark...
After swaying for a long time, she finally arrived in town. When Jiang Tang got off, she felt dizzy, and her legs were a bit unsteady.
The sun had passed its zenith, and the heat in the market had dissipated slightly, but it appeared even more bustling.
The bluestone road was polished smooth by the passing shoes, the stalls on both sides had sunshades, and various signs swayed gently in the breeze.
Jiang Tang steadied herself, walked through two streets, and arrived at South Street.
She found an empty alley and took out the glass vase wrapped in old clothes from the Space.
Jiang Tang stood in front of a shop called "Treasure Collection Pavilion."
A vermilion-lacquered plaque with gold lettering hung under the eaves, and the gilded characters "Treasure Collection Pavilion" reflected the sunlight, glowing with a gentle luster.
Stepping into the shop, sandalwood incense wafted, refreshing the heart. The hall was spotless, with rows of pear-wood display cabinets lined up, lined with brocade, neatly holding various jewelry.
Red gold hairpins with chased patterns, silver bracelets with intertwined lotus patterns, mutton fat jade earrings as smooth as grease, and necklaces made of pearls—all were bright and round.
There were also tortoiseshell combs, Kingfisher Feather Inlay hairpins, pearl rings, and even gilded crowns and silver-plated cape pendants; every piece was exquisitely crafted and filled with treasure.
The shop not only displayed jewelry, but one side of the shelf also held delicate embroidery and various ornaments, looking quite elegant.
At this moment, there was no one in the shop, and a shop assistant was busy tidying up the goods that customers had picked through.
Seeing Jiang Tang enter, he did not show any disgust at the patches on her clothes; instead, he stopped his work and smiled as he came up to greet her: "Young lady, what do you need?"
"May I ask if your Shopkeeper is in?" Jiang Tang asked.
"Yes, he is." The shop assistant nodded and asked another question: "I wonder what business you have with our Shopkeeper, young lady?"
After all, the Shopkeeper was in the backyard calculating accounts, and he could handle ordinary customers, so he needed to ask the reason before passing on the message.
"I wonder if you would buy this?" Jiang Tang only slightly lifted a corner of the old clothes wrapping the vase, revealing a small part of the bottle body.
That piece of crystal-clear glass glowed with a gentle light, and the patterns flowed under the light.
The shop assistant's eyes went straight; he had never seen such a beautiful thing.
Jiang Tang re-wrapped the vase, held it in her arms, and strolled slowly through the shop.
There were actually two jewelry shops on this street; she had glanced at the one at the head of the street when she passed by earlier.
The reason she chose this one in the middle was entirely due to the original owner's memory.
In the past, when she came to shop with Su Lianxue and Song Jiuxi, the shop assistant and Shopkeeper of the shop at the head of the street were very arrogant.
Seeing that they were dressed plainly, they spoke coldly, saying that if they weren't buying anything, they shouldn't enter the shop, and even complained that they had dirtied the ground.
✦✦✦