Zhao Baozhu understood the warning in her fourth brother’s eyes and lowered her head, not daring to make a sound.
But afterward, she indeed didn’t cause any more trouble for Shen Yulou.
When Shen Yulou was catching up on sleep in her room, Baozhu even shooed away her nephews and nieces who were running around the courtyard, shouting and playing.
“Shoo, shoo, go play outside. You’re making too much noise.”
In truth, she was afraid they would disturb Shen Yulou’s rest.
Shen Yulou had long since woken up.
Hearing the sounds outside, she smiled, turned over, and continued sleeping.
A healthy body is the capital of revolution.
With a good body, one can strive and fight.
Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. She couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t go back, so she would work hard to make a good life in this unfamiliar world.
— If I were you, I’d live well and make those who wish me ill choke on their envy.
— Stand up. Don’t make me look down on you.
She couldn’t let Zhao Silang look down on her.
But Shen Yulou only allowed herself to rest for two days.
At the first light of dawn that day, she slipped into the kitchen and busied herself.
The Zhao family’s kitchen wasn’t large, but it was kept clean and tidy. The food supplies weren’t abundant, but at least there was rice, flour, oil, and grain.
After looking over each of the available ingredients, Shen Yulou had a rough idea in mind.
She rolled up her sleeves and took down the half wild boar leg hanging on the wall.
The boar had been hunted by Zhao Silang from the mountains in the eleventh month of the lunar year before the New Year. He had sold half for money and cured the other half for the family to eat, as well as for visiting relatives during the New Year.
By now, only half a leg remained, and most of it was bone.
Shen Yulou cut off a small piece of meat about half a palm’s size, but chopped down three or four sections of bone with a clatter. She then took a free winter bamboo shoot dug from the back mountain from the bamboo basket, peeled it, and cut it into rolling knife chunks. She put them in the pot with the cured meat and bones to blanch, then fished them out and stir-fried them in a hot wok with hot oil for a few moments. Finally, she added water and covered the pot.
While the soup was simmering, Shen Yulou began to knead dough.
First, she scooped a bowl of white flour from the earthen jar, then dug out two bowls of dark flour from the cloth sack.
She poured both flours into the basin, added a bit of salt, a bit of water, and finally, sparingly, half a spoon of wild boar lard.
Actually, she should have added more oil, because in the oil-to-flour ratio, the proportion of oil to water is 2:1.
But there was very little oil left in the oil jar, so Shen Yulou didn’t dare add more.
Then she would just have to put more effort into kneading the dough.
She threw herself into kneading with all her might. Just as she was getting into the rhythm, she suddenly sensed a gaze fixed on her from the doorway.
Shen Yulou turned her head and saw Zhao Baozhu standing at the kitchen entrance, staring straight at her.
Her heart tightened, and she quickly explained, “Baozhu, don’t misunderstand. I…”
She wanted to say, I’m not sneaking food; I’m making breakfast for everyone.
But before she could finish, Zhao Baozhu interrupted her, saying, “Shen Yulou, I… I came to tell you something.”
“…Oh, go ahead.”
But Zhao Baozhu just looked at her in silence.
Shen Yulou: …
What was this about?
Could she be trying to kick her out?
Shen Yulou’s heart tightened involuntarily.
The Zhao family had supposedly bought her, but aside from Zhao Baozhu occasionally giving her a cold look, the rest of the Zhao family treated her fairly well.
They weren’t overly affectionate, but at least no one treated her like a servant.
Especially Mother Zhao, who almost doted on her like a second daughter.
But Zhao Baozhu was the Zhao family’s real daughter.
If Zhao Baozhu truly got angry, not only could she kick her out, she could even sell her off again, and it would be perfectly reasonable.
…Zhao Baozhu wasn’t really going to sell her off, was she?
The more Shen Yulou thought about it, the more anxious she became. Her face turned pale, and she unconsciously gripped the dough in her hands.
Then she suddenly heard Zhao Baozhu say, “Shen Yulou, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you like that that day. I… I apologize to you.”
She was referring to the incident where she had dislocated Shen Yulou’s wrist.
After speaking, Zhao Baozhu earnestly bent at the waist, her head nearly touching her knees.
Shen Yulou was stunned, then smiled. But as she smiled, tears began to flow.
She mentally slapped herself hard.
The books always said, “A petty person’s heart measures a gentleman’s mind.”
She was now that petty person.
She had actually speculated about Zhao Baozhu like that.
She was truly despicable.
Shen Yulou quickly threw down the dough and went to support Zhao Baozhu.
“Baozhu, don’t do this. I was also at fault that day. I spoke too slowly, which caused your misunderstanding… Baozhu? Baozhu, what’s wrong?”
She saw that Zhao Baozhu’s eyes were full of tears. She bit her lip, trying not to let the tears fall, but they kept accumulating.
Shen Yulou panicked and quickly hugged her, patting her on the back.
“Don’t cry, Baozhu. What’s the matter? Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll definitely help you.”
Unexpectedly, her comfort only made things worse. The moment she tried to console her, Zhao Baozhu burst into loud sobs.
First, she cried with her head raised.
Then she buried her head in Shen Yulou’s chest and cried.
Finally, she wrapped both arms around Shen Yulou’s waist and cried.
Shen Yulou was truly at a loss this time. After thinking for a moment, she stopped trying to console her and simply held Zhao Baozhu quietly.
Emotions shouldn’t be buried in the heart, or they’ll overflow into disaster.
Zhao Baozhu was clearly not the type to hide her emotions well. She needed to let out all the grievances in her heart, or she would end up suffocating from holding them in.
Zhao Baozhu didn’t cry for long either. She stopped only after soaking the clothes on Shen Yulou’s shoulder with her tears.
It was only then that Zhao Baozhu began to feel a bit embarrassed. With red-rimmed eyes, she said to Shen Yulou, “I didn’t want to target you like that, but I was just scared—scared that my fourth brother might really be gone.”
Although Fourth Brother was sometimes very fierce with her.
When she was little, she went into the water with the village kids to catch fish. Fourth Brother grabbed her by the collar, hauled her out of the water, hung her on a tree branch, and spanked her with a twig. No amount of pleading from anyone could stop him.
It wasn’t until she promised never to go into the water to catch fish again that Fourth Brother finally took her down from the branch.
But Fourth Brother also truly, truly doted on her.
He would pull the cotton wadding from his own padded jacket and stuff it into hers. He would pick wild fruit from the mountains for her to eat. He would trade his hunted game for pretty hair ribbons for her… Fourth Brother had so, so many good qualities.
Zhao Baozhu said, “I love Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother too, but I love Fourth Brother even more… The moment I think about Fourth Brother dying of illness, I feel so scared and so miserable.”
All that fear and misery had been brought on by Shen Yulou, which was why she couldn’t help but target her.
After listening to her speak, Shen Yulou felt a deep sense of guilt rise in her heart.
She was the one who had dragged Zhao Silang into this.
After a moment of silence, Shen Yulou asked, “As long as there’s money, can Eldest Brother Zhao’s illness be cured?”
“Yes!” Zhao Baozhu nodded vigorously. “The old physician in the county town said Fourth Brother’s illness isn’t hard to treat, but one of the medicinal ingredients is very expensive—it costs eleven taels of silver. As long as we can scrape together enough money to buy the medicine, he can cure Fourth Brother!”
Eleven taels of silver.
…Thankfully, not an astronomical sum.
Shen Yulou noted the amount in her mind and patted Zhao Baozhu on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, your fourth brother will be fine. I promise—I can earn money!”
“…Really?”
“Mm, really!”
“…”
Zhao Baozhu didn’t know whether to believe her or not.
But her mood seemed much better, and she even took the initiative to help Shen Yulou start the fire.
With the help of this little assistant, Zhao Baozhu, Shen Yulou no longer had to run back and forth between the front and the stove. She focused on kneading the dough in her hands.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the dough under Shen Yulou’s hands had become smooth and elastic. She then rolled it into a thin sheet and cut it into noodles as wide as chopsticks.
After finishing all that, Shen Yulou lifted the lid of the pot, which was billowing with steaming hot vapor.
The perfect broth for oiled noodles was actually chicken soup.
But the Zhao family only had five old hens and one big rooster.
The hens needed to lay eggs, and the rooster needed to crow—there was no way they’d be willing to eat them.
So Shen Yulou had to settle for the next best thing, using cured meat paired with winter bamboo shoots to simmer the broth.
Unlike the fumbling of making shoes for the first time, this was the kitchen—her familiar territory.
In this domain, as long as she didn’t face the problem of “cooking without rice,” she could carve a path through mountains and build a bridge across waters.
Just like now—without chicken, she could still simmer a pot of excellent broth using cured meat and winter bamboo shoots.
Zhao Baozhu stared at the big pot of milky-white broth, her eyes going wide.
Good heavens, when had her family’s kitchen ever had such fine ingredients?
That aroma…
Zhao Baozhu couldn’t help but swallow.
By the time Shen Yulou finished making a pot of the improved chicken-soup oiled noodles, Zhao Baozhu’s drool nearly spilled into the bowl.
The Zhao family all ate with endless praise.
“Sister Yulou’s cooking is even better than the chefs at the county town’s restaurants!”
Zhao Dalang set up a stall in the county town writing letters for people, and he had a few classmates from wealthy families. He’d eaten at the county town’s restaurants before, so he knew good food from bad.
Mother Zhao was even more generous with her praise, letting compliments fly out like they cost nothing.
Shen Yulou’s face flushed red from all the compliments. She buried her head in her noodles, and after finishing, she picked up the bamboo basket she had prepared earlier and said to Mother Zhao, “Auntie Zhao, I’ll go deliver some food to Eldest Brother Zhao.”
The morning ration the government gave to conscripted laborers was only a small piece of dried flatbread.
The food the Zhao family had prepared for Zhao Silang was also flatbread.
First thing in the morning, all dry goods—eating that would definitely sit uncomfortably.
Besides delivering food to Zhao Silang, Shen Yulou also wanted to take a stroll through the streets.
If she wanted to earn money, she needed a business opportunity.
But business opportunities didn’t just fall from the sky.
And even if they did, they might not land on her head.
She had to actively seek out opportunities herself.
But her predecessor had hardly ever gone out. Not to mention not knowing the way to the county town—even the place where Zhao Silang was serving, she only knew the name of the location, not how to get there.
Shen Yulou turned to look at Zhao Dalang, the only educated person in the Zhao family, about to ask him to draw her a route map, when Zhao Baozhu suddenly spoke up. “I’ll go see Fourth Brother too.”
She glanced at Shen Yulou’s thin, frail little frame, then reached over and snatched the bamboo basket, hooking it over her own arm as she took the lead and headed out.
After a few steps, she turned back and saw Shen Yulou still standing there dumbly. Zhao Baozhu rolled her eyes in disdain.
“What are you standing there for? Come on… or do you want me to carry you on my back?”
“Ah? No need, no need!”
A sharp tongue but a soft heart—that’s Zhao Baozhu for you, isn’t it?