Although she hadn’t known him long, Zhuang Wenxia couldn’t say why, but she genuinely liked Ning Yi.
The moment she saw him, a smile unconsciously spread across her face.
Following his gesture, she glanced at his handlebars and spotted a duck hanging upside down from them.
The duck was alive, tied up with thin rope, and looked plump and well-fed.
“My, where did you buy that duck?” Zhuang Wenxia asked in surprise.
Ning Yi patted it proudly, his face full of satisfaction. “I saw someone selling them at the small market over there, so I bought one. Auntie Zhuang, you’re in for a treat today!”
He was naturally carefree, and even though he had seen her standing at the gate, he didn’t pick up on her earlier hesitation.
Besides the duck, a cloth sack bulging with something was also tied to his bike.
But he effortlessly maneuvered the bicycle over the stone threshold and into the courtyard.
“Grandma, Xiao Xin, Auntie Zhuang is here!”
Just as Zhuang Wenxia reached out, instinctively wanting to help steady the bike, Ning Yi had already made it inside and was calling out loudly.
Now, even if she wanted to leave, she felt too embarrassed to do so.
Hearing her brother’s voice, Ning Xin looked up from where she was surrounded by the crowd.
She waved at Zhuang Wenxia, showing no sign of surprise at all. She greeted her familiarly, “Auntie Zhuang, come in, come in. It’s so hot outside.”
Then, stealing a moment in her busy schedule, she pointed toward the kitchen. “My grandmother is in the kitchen. Go sit inside for a while and have some water. I’ll come over once I’m done here.”
Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, Old Madam Ning poked her head out the window and called warmly to Zhuang Wenxia, “Xiao Zhuang, come in and sit down. Xiao Xin saved something good for you!”
Of course, Zhuang Wenxia had no idea that she was receiving such a warm welcome today simply because she had left far too much money the day before.
So much that everyone in the Ning family felt a little uneasy and wished they could make it up to her.
She was somewhat surprised but even more touched.
She felt that this family was truly warm-hearted and sincere.
She agreed and walked into the kitchen. Old Madam Ning immediately took an insulated lunch box from the cupboard and handed it to her.
“Drink this while it’s warm. Xiao Xin made this mulberry and red date soup especially for you. This morning we happened to come across someone selling mulberries, this girl has loved them since she was little, so we managed to snag a small basin.
But after buying them, Xiao Xin only ate one and refused to eat any more. She insisted that you would definitely come today, so she made the soup early and kept it warm in this lunch box for you. She said this soup is excellent for nourishing yin and blood, tonifying the blood, and calming the mind, very good for your health.”
Zhuang Wenxia was so astonished by the old lady’s words that she didn’t know what to say.
As she took the still-warm lunch box, her eyes grew moist with emotion.
Over the years, having experienced so much fickleness in human relationships, Zhuang Wenxia had thought her heart had long since grown numb.
The coldness she had endured during the hard times, and the fawning, sycophantic faces that surrounded her husband after he was reinstated to his post, both had made her increasingly wary.
But she knew very well that her encounter with the Ning family was purely by chance. There was no way they could know who her family was.
That meant their kindness toward her was genuine.
Realizing this, the tension in Zhuang Wenxia’s heart seemed to melt away.
She stopped making polite refusals and naturally opened the lid of the lunch box.
A warm, sweet, fragrant aroma wafted up to greet her.
She took a deep breath and sighed, “How fragrant! Auntie, you’ve put brown sugar in this, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I saw Xiao Xin add a few other things too, I don’t know what they were. Anyway, she said you should drink it like tea. This whole lunch box is yours, and you need to finish it all.”
Hearing the old lady’s words, Zhuang Wenxia laughed. “Such a big box, how long will it take me to finish?”
“What’s there to worry about? Just take your time drinking it. The day is still young.”
At that point, the old lady suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, “From what you just said, do you have somewhere else to be? Xiao Xin wants to keep you for lunch!”
Zhuang Wenxia shook her head. “No, I came specifically to visit today.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
Last night, she and her grandchildren had already discussed it: if Comrade Zhuang came today, they would insist she stay for lunch no matter what.
Otherwise, with that six yuan she left, how many cups of tea would she have to drink to use it up?
Besides, her granddaughter had also said that Zhuang Wenxia was what she called a “high-quality customer”, someone with real spending power.
For customers like these, she had to take good care of them, keeping them with quality service and good food.
In the future, she was going to open a medicinal food restaurant, and the more customers like this, the better.
Old Madam Ning didn’t really understand what “high-quality customer” meant, but she understood her granddaughter’s point: the more customers like Comrade Zhuang, the better. So she had to find a way to keep her for another meal.
Hearing that Zhuang Wenxia had come specifically to visit, the old lady was delighted.
She glanced left and right, making sure the neighbors outside couldn’t see into the kitchen, then mysteriously brought out a large bowl from the cupboard.
The bowl had been soaking in a basin of cold water, so when she took it out, it was still dripping and cool to the touch.
Old Madam Ning set the bowl on the table, then took a few small pieces of green cake from it with chopsticks, placed them in a smaller bowl, and handed it to Zhuang Wenxia.
Lowering her voice, she said, “Eat this. Xiao Xin made it today, it’s called Cucumber Cool Cake. You have no idea how popular it was. As soon as we brought it out this morning, it was gone in a flash. This bowl is what she set aside for us to eat ourselves. You’re in luck, try it.”
Looking at the pieces of cake in the bowl, green as jade, Zhuang Wenxia couldn’t help but swallow audibly.
It wasn’t that she was greedy, it was simply that after walking in from the scorching sun, seeing such a dessert made it impossible to resist.
“So this is the tea snack Xiao Xin was talking about at the gate?” Zhuang Wenxia said, popping a piece into her mouth without hesitation.
Then she couldn’t help but let out a soft “Mmm.”
Cool, sweet, soft, and sticky, with a refreshing flavor unique to summer, the taste immediately captivated Zhuang Wenxia, even though she considered herself someone who had tried many fine foods.
After a long moment, she finally exclaimed in amazement, “This is incredible! Auntie, did Xiao Xin really make this? Where did she learn to cook like this? I dare say even the head chefs at the Beijing Hotel couldn’t match her!”
Hearing someone praise her granddaughter, Old Madam Ning swelled with pride.
“She learned from her father! Back in the day, her father was a famous chef in Xinnan City. This very house was bought with the money he earned from running his restaurant.”
“Truly, a great master produces great disciples!” Zhuang Wenxia sighed in admiration.
Then, recalling how Ning Xin had helped her with her insomnia, she asked, “Did Xiao Xin learn medicine from her father too?”
“Oh no, her father couldn’t do that,” the old lady shook her head quickly.
“She learned from an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor. It happened during the movement, her father saved the man’s life, and he took Xiao Xin on as his disciple in secret. Although they never made it public, he treated her as his last closed-door disciple and taught her many of his family’s secret recipes.”
At that, the old lady sighed. “Unfortunately, her master had a hard life too. He didn’t live to see these better days. If only he had held on a few more years, he could have reaped the benefits of Xiao Xin’s skills now.”
Her words made Zhuang Wenxia’s heart ache as well.
Having lived through the movement herself, Zhuang Wenxia knew well that many educated and capable people hadn’t made it to the end.
So when the old lady said that Ning Xin’s father had risked his life to save someone during those turbulent times, and that person had taught his daughter his family’s secrets in gratitude, Zhuang Wenxia believed it.
She had seen similar things happen among people she knew.
“Auntie, your family are all good people. Don’t you worry, with Xiao Xin and Xiao Yi around, I’m sure your later years will be blessed,” Zhuang Wenxia said with feeling.
Old Madam Ning loved nothing more than hearing that she was destined for blessings in her old age. Zhuang Wenxia’s words struck a chord deep in her heart, and she immediately beamed with delight.
“You’re not allowed to leave at noon, you hear? You must stay for lunch. Xiao Xin said that your insomnia will need a few days of recuperate before it improves. If you have the time these next few days, you should come by every day to eat.”
As she spoke, the old lady picked a few cucumbers from the vegetable basket on the floor, put them in a basin, and headed toward the faucet.
Zhuang Wenxia, having finished the cool cakes in her bowl, stood up as well. “Auntie, let me help you wash them.”
“No, no, no. You drink your tea first. When you’re done, if you have nothing else to do, go sit by the flower bed. Xiao Xin had her brother bring out the lounge chair and put it there. It’s next to the flowers and mosquito-repellent plants, cool and free of mosquitoes. Go sit there. It’s very comfortable.”
How could she let a guest do chores? Especially a valued guest her granddaughter had specifically mentioned.
At Zhuang Wenxia’s offer, the old lady quickly stopped her, pointing outside as she spoke.
The flower bed was diagonally across from the kitchen, clearly visible through the window.
It wasn’t large, but the flowers and greenery were lush.
In the passage between the flower bed and another room, a bamboo pole frame had been set up, with green vines climbing up it.
Beneath the frame sat a bamboo chair.
The bamboo chair looked very old, the paint on the armrests was nearly all worn away, but it had been scrubbed spotless.
The bamboo slats on the seat, polished smooth by years of use, gleamed with an oily sheen that looked cool and inviting to the touch.
Zhuang Wenxia was very familiar with this kind of bamboo chair. She remembered that her father’s house had once owned one just like it.
That chair had been dual-purpose: when the legs were crossed, it was a chair; when spread out flat, it became a bamboo bed.
She recalled that when her father was still in good health a couple of years ago, he would often use it in the summer. Later, her mother thought the bed was too cool to sleep on and insisted he stop using it, so it was put away.
She didn’t expect to see one here again. The sight filled her with a wave of warmth and familiarity.
Carrying her bowl of mulberry and red date soup, Zhuang Wenxia walked out of the kitchen and sat down in the bamboo chair. Sunlight filtered through the vines overhead, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the ground and on the chair itself.
A gentle breeze carried the fragrance of flowers.
Although the courtyard was still crowded and bustling with people,
because Zhuang Wenxia was seated on the other side of the flower bed, the riot of colorful blooms created a small, serene refuge amidst the noise.
She took another sip of the tea and felt an inexplicable drowsiness wash over her.
Yawning, she set the bowl down on the small stool beside her and lay back.
The sounds around her grew increasingly distant, her body felt lighter and lighter, and she experienced a profound sense of comfort.
“I should call my husband and tell him I won’t be back for lunch,” Zhuang Wenxia thought to herself as she drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.