When Yan Xi came out again she had two bunches of grapes and a few green jujubes in her hands. The grapes were the kind that people in the countryside grew themselves when she was little, sweet and sour with thick skins and big seeds, but compared with the Shine Muscat green grapes and such that came out later, Yan Xi clearly liked this kind better. Sweet and sour, they were especially good for the appetite, and if they were a little green they could set your teeth on edge.
Yan Xi finished the grapes and put the green jujubes by the bed to give the family a taste tomorrow. She would just tell them they were wild jujubes picked in the mountains, only a bit bigger.
That night Yan Xi slept especially deeply, right through till daybreak.
When Yan Xi opened her eyes the sun was nearly up. Everyone in the house had gone down to the fields for the farm work. Farm households generally didn’t eat breakfast, they just came back a little earlier at noon to cook.
When Yan Xi had put on her clothes and gone out, only Yan Yu was at home, busy sweeping, feeding the chickens and chopping pig feed. Even the three little ones had gone out to gather firewood.
“Auntie, you’re up. There’s steamed egg custard in the pot that Grandma made for you. I’ve been keeping it warm on the fire, it’s just right to eat now.” So saying, Yan Yu went to the kitchen and put the egg custard on the table. When Yan Xi had washed and gone into the kitchen she saw Yan Yu about to go out and quickly called her back: “Xiaoyu, come and eat with me, Auntie can’t finish it.”
So saying, Yan Xi didn’t wait to see whether she agreed but found a bowl and divided a third of it into the bowl. It wasn’t that Yan Xi grudged more, but she knew that if she gave Yan Yu more she wouldn’t eat it, so this was just right.
Yan Yu looked at Yan Xi a couple of times, and knowing it really was for her, quickly thanked her, then ate it and washed Yan Xi’s bowl along with her own.
With nothing to do, Yan Xi thought the fruit and vegetables grown with the spirit spring tasted good, and thinking again of how good the family was to her, she decided to put a little in for everybody. If it could improve their bodies at all, that was something. No sooner thought than done: first she poured a small half bowl into the water jar in the kitchen, then used spirit spring water to water the vegetable plot out back. The plot out back wasn’t big, about two fen, enough for the family to grow some seasonal vegetables so it wasn’t wild greens and cabbage stalks every day.
By the time she was done with all this the sun was high. Thinking that they would be back soon, she wanted to see about making some food so they could rest a little longer. Work in the fields she couldn’t do, but work in the kitchen was at least edible, as long as you were willing to put in the seasonings it could never come out too badly.
No sooner said than done. Yan Xi went to the kitchen and saw there was a little brown rice left in the rice jar. She picked two handfuls of greens out back and planned to boil a greens and brown rice porridge, stir-fry some greens, and reheat yesterday’s pheasant soup, the weather was too hot, and if they didn’t eat it, it would spoil by evening. She scooped out a bowl of pickles and chopped them and it was all set.
She had just finished when she heard the sound of the yard gate opening, and then Yan Xi’s mother’s voice: who cooked this? She had barely said it when she saw Yan Xi come out of the kitchen, and hurried up. “Sweetheart, Mom can do all this, go and rest. Look at you, all in a sweat. You could at least have had Xiaoyu help you.” Talking as she went, she carried the food to the front room and sent Yan Yu to the fields to call the others back to eat.
Before long everyone was back. They squatted in a row under the eaves washing their hands and faces before going into the front room to eat.
Before dividing out the food, Yan Xi’s mother said, “This meal was cooked by your little sister, your auntie. She had it done by the time I got back. And you should know that your having chicken to eat yesterday was thanks to your little sister too. Remember to be good to her from now on, do you hear?”
The eldest daughter-in-law Feng Yue and the second daughter-in-law Zhou Fen said at once, “We hear you, Mom. There’s no household troublemaker [1]household troublemaker (jiao jia jing, 攪家精) Slang, a woman who stirs up conflict within a family jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3254407_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3254407_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); in our family. We see everything Little Sister does with our own eyes. From now on, if anyone bullies Little Sister, watch how I deal with them.”
The others all made their declarations too. Yan Xi’s mother was satisfied and told everyone to help themselves to as much as they wanted, today it wouldn’t be divided out. When the meal was over the little ones washed the dishes, and the others, who had to go down to the fields that afternoon, all went back to their own rooms for a midday rest.
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