That day, Chen Shi took the opportunity of delivering meals to inquire about the medicine costs at the Yiguan.
The middle-aged accountant in a gray long gown, calculating on an abacus, said, “The old lady’s foot injury is quite severe. It’s estimated that about one tael of silver will still be needed. After the fixed splint is removed, some external medicine should be applied for faster recovery, though it’s optional depending on individual circumstances.”
As for what circumstances, it naturally referred to financial situation. “But it’s better to use it for quicker recovery.”
“How much is a bottle of that medicine?” Chen Shi asked softly.
The accountant looked up at Chen Shi, seemingly assessing her attire. “There are expensive and cheap options. Expensive ones cost 10 or 20 taels, while cheap ones are around three or five mace.”
Meaning the cheapest would be three mace. Chen Shi was stunned.
So expensive!
Burdened with worry, Chen Shi forced a smile. “Alright, thank you, Mr. Wen. We’ll discuss it.”
After saying this, Chen Shi brought the meals to the backyard.
The Huichuntang backyard had rooms specifically for patients, costing 10 wen daily without meals. Originally, Wu Pozi and others wanted to return home, but the round trip by ox cart would cost 4 wen. Later, probably because there weren’t many patients, the Huichuntang doctor said they could reduce it by 2 wen. Ultimately, Wu Pozi decided to stay here.
“Thank you for your hard work, Qingshan’s mother.” Su Laotou took the basket and placed it on the stone table. These past few days at the Yiguan, it had been entirely Chen Shi delivering meals.
“It’s no trouble at all. Father, Mother, please come eat first.” Chen Shi tried not to think about what the doctor had just said, forcing a smile as she spoke.
“Staying here makes me uncomfortable all over. Let’s just go back.” Wu Pozi had grown thinner these past few days, her eyes less bright than before, her tone somewhat anxious and uneasy.
Chen Shi knew perfectly well she was worried about the money. “Mother, the doctor said we have to wait two more days. You can only go home after the splint on your leg is removed.”
After a moment’s thought, Chen Shi comforted her, “Don’t worry about the money. Si Ya and Fifth Girl go gathering fruits to sell every day. We can make quite a bit!”
Only then did Wu Pozi sit down, though she still felt somewhat uneasy and guilty. She should have been more careful – how could she have been so careless as to break her foot?
Su Laotou arranged the dishes and urged, “Alright, alright, let’s eat first.”
Today’s meal consisted of stir-fried cabbage and stir-fried cowpeas, along with a bowl of small fish fried until golden and crispy.
“Si Ya and Fifth Girl caught these using fish traps. They caught quite a few.”
Mentioning this, Chen Shi finally showed some genuine smile between her brows. “Fifth Girl specifically caught these for you, saying Grandma should eat well since her foot is injured.”
Her daughters might not have much else, but they were all filial children.
Thinking of her young granddaughter, Wu Pozi fell silent, while Su Laotou smiled and said, “They’re all good children.”
“Oh, has Mr. Wen eaten? Why don’t you join us for a simple meal?”
Just then, the accountant from earlier lifted the curtain and entered from the front.
Over the past few days, Su Laotou and Wu Pozi had become somewhat familiar with the people at the Yiguan. They knew this accountant was also employed by the Huichuntang owner, surnamed Wen, and lived in the county town. His family usually delivered meals punctually every day, but today no one had brought food at the usual time, hence the question.
Country folk, simple and kind-hearted, didn’t stop to consider whether others would be willing or might look down on their offer.
“No need, please take your time eating.” Accountant Wen declined with a smile, though a flicker of disdain flashed in his eyes.
Yet Su Laotou mistook his refusal for politeness and deliberately picked up the plate of fried fish, offering it to the visitor.
“This was fried by my little granddaughter—it’s quite delicious. Please try some, Mr. Wen.”
Accountant Wen stared at the coarse ceramic bowl of fish thrust before his chest, feeling inexplicably irritated. These country folk—how uncouth! He’d already said no, yet they insisted on pushing it on him. Utterly unreasonable.
Outwardly, however, he showed no trace of displeasure and even reached out to take a small fish from the bowl.
“Thank you.”
“Take more, sir.”
“One is plenty.”
With that, Accountant Wen offered a polite smile and, under Su Laotou’s watchful gaze, hesitated briefly before placing the small fish in his mouth.
Who knows if this fish was properly cleaned? Would it give him diarrhea?
While mentally planning to spit it out later, the moment he took a bite, the crispy, fragrant flavor struck his heart like an arrow.
This taste—it was incredibly aromatic! Fresh without being fishy, savory without being greasy, perfectly salted—neither too strong nor too bland. It preserved the fish’s natural flavor, leaving a lingering freshness in his mouth. He’d never tasted fried small fish this delicious before, despite having always disliked fish.
He was so startled that he swallowed it almost without properly savoring it—so brief it felt like an illusion.
For some reason, Accountant Wen felt a pang of regret for not taking more earlier, though it was too late to change his mind now.
Who would have thought country cooking could be this exquisite?
Because of this incident, even the lunch delivered from his home seemed bland in comparison…
.
Meanwhile, after learning she still needed a large sum of silver, Chen Shi had returned to her parents’ home hoping to borrow money from them. But not only did she fail to see her parents, she also endured veiled sarcasm from her second sister-in-law.
“They say a married daughter is like spilled water—never seen one running back to her parents’ home every other day like this, have you, little sister?”
Yang remarked while sorting vegetables, using gossip about other village families to indirectly criticize Chen Shi.
“Can’t blame her sister-in-law for chasing her out with a broom. I mean, have you ever seen such a person? Never brings decent food or wine to honor her parents, yet constantly expects them to support her. Supporting her is one thing, but supporting her in-laws and children too? What kind of logic is that?Yang’s words were practically pointed. However simple-minded, Chen Shi understood the implication and felt deeply shamed.
“Sister-in-law, I just came to see father and mother, nothing else.”
“Oh, little sister, I was talking about other people! Don’t overthink it,” Yang claimed innocently, though her eyes told a different story.
“Since father and mother aren’t home, I’ll come another day.”
“Then take care, I won’t see you out,” Yang said coldly. After Chen Shi left, she spat on the ground in disgust.
What kind of person!
Humiliated, Chen Shi’s heart ached with sorrow, but her greater worry was how to cover the upcoming medicine costs. Should she really follow her father-in-law’s suggestion and sell all their grain? That might solve the immediate crisis, but how would they survive afterward?
As anxiety overwhelmed her, Chen Shi suddenly remembered her youngest daughter’s suggestion about selling food at Ma Tou.
Perhaps this really is a solution? Chen Shi thought. Didn’t that accountant praise my daughter’s cooking today? Maybe we really could sell it!?
The more Chen Shi thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Her anger and sadness immediately vanished as she quickened her pace home.
At the Su residence, Su Li and Su Tao had just returned from the river. These past few days, Su Li had been having Su Tao take her to catch fish and loaches, and they had just been gathering crabs. Their harvest was quite substantial – nearly half a bucket full. Su Li had already decided how they would cook them for dinner.
Chen Shi happened to witness this scene upon her return. “Mother, you’re back! Look how many crabs Fifth Sister and I caught!” Su Tao happily presented the bucket to Chen Shi.
But Chen Shi had no interest in looking at the crabs and only gave a perfunctory response: “That’s nice.”
“Fifth Girl, I need to ask you something. How confident are you about this food business?”
In this moment, Chen Shi wasn’t treating Su Li like a 13-year-old girl, but as an equal adult.
Su Li was momentarily surprised by the question, but then felt delighted. She had been worrying about how to convince her mother, and now her mother was bringing it up herself.
Something must have happened that she didn’t know about, but this suited Su Li perfectly.
She quickly replied, “Mother, while I can’t guarantee complete success, I’m at least seventy to eighty percent confident.”
This wasn’t an exaggeration – Su Li was quite confident in her cooking skills. Unfortunately, even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice. Their family was simply too poor, otherwise Su Li would have definitely prepared several fine dishes to prove herself.
“Alright then, you take charge. Your mother and your fourth sister will assist you. Tomorrow we’ll give it a try.”
This was exactly the outcome Su Li wanted. After all, she definitely couldn’t handle the food business alone – she’d have to cook, prepare the food, and transport it to Ma Tou. Going through the entire process would exhaust her. Having help was the best possible scenario. Additionally, without her mother Chen Shi’s approval, she couldn’t access the family’s food supplies.
“What do you need us to do now?” Chen Shi asked. She knew nothing about cooking – not that it was her fault, as this was how her own mother had taught her. She could prepare ordinary meals that were edible, but couldn’t guarantee they would taste good.
Su Li thought for a moment. They had vegetables at home. For meat dishes, Su Li had originally planned to make Stir-fried River Mussels with Chili using locally available ingredients, since river mussels didn’t cost anything. But recently, after the villagers had finished harvesting rice, almost all the river mussels had been thrown onto the field ridges to dry out and die.
Su Li and Su Tao hadn’t found any for several days.
They could fry some small fish or cook today’s crabs, but Su Li estimated that wouldn’t be enough. Moreover, she had come to understand that people in this era didn’t like eating shelled creatures. If they prepared crabs to sell, probably no one would buy them.
After brief consideration, Su Li said, “Mother, for the first day, let’s make a smaller amount – enough for about twenty people. For vegetables, we can use stewed eggplant with beans. For rice, we can make bean rice. As for meat… I’m afraid we’ll have to buy some.”
Chen Shi had also considered this – it was best to make less on the first day. She was surprised her daughter had thought of this too.
Then there was the meat dish, which worried her most. Meat wasn’t cheap nowadays – at minimum 18 wen per jin. Currently, she only had fifteen wen left, not even enough to buy one jin of meat.
Although her eldest brother now worked at the butcher shop, it didn’t belong to him but to his father-in-law. Moreover, with her sister-in-law around, she would certainly not agree to extend credit. Besides, Chen Shi didn’t want to put her brother in a difficult position.
“I’ll think of something, I’ll think of something,” Chen Shi repeated to herself, mentally going through all her relatives and friends. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anyone who could lend her money. Some families were as poor as theirs, struggling to make ends meet, while others who might have money would surely refuse to lend any, perhaps even hoping you’d remain poor forever.
After much thought, Chen Shi couldn’t come up with a single person.
“Mother, how much money do you have left?” Su Li asked, an idea forming in her mind.
“Fifteen wen,” Chen Shi replied.
“Fifth Girl, do you have an idea?”
“How much is pork per jin?”
“Eighteen wen.”
“What about pig heart, liver, and Feichang?” Su Li continued.
Chen Shi didn’t understand why her daughter was asking about these things but answered anyway, “Pig heart costs five wen each, pig liver two wen for a set. I don’t know about Feichang—it’s usually given away for free when buying meat.”
Su Li thought for a moment and said, “How about you go ask how much Feichang costs? What if we buy two sets of Feichang to use as our meat dish?”
Ah? Chen Shi was stunned. Stinky Feichang? As a dish? Probably no one would even accept it as a gift. She thought her daughter had never eaten Feichang and didn’t know how awful it tasted, so she patiently explained, “You probably don’t know, but Feichang smells extremely foul and is practically inedible. It’s also very troublesome to clean… If it’s not cleaned properly…” Chen Shi left some words unsaid, afraid that if she said them, none of the three of them would be able to eat dinner that night.
Su Li naturally knew all this, but she also knew that if prepared well, Feichang could be absolutely delicious—especially dishes like Huobao Feichang, braised Feichang, and Feichang with blood curd. Any of these, when done right, could be signature dishes. As for cleaning Feichang, Su Li had her own methods.
“Mother, don’t worry. If you buy it, I know how to prepare it well.”
Seeing that Chen Shi was still reluctant, Su Li added, “You just said you believed in me and would listen to me…”
Upon hearing this, Chen Shi felt for the first time what it meant to hoist with one’s own petard.
But since she had already given her word, there was no taking it back. Chen Shi gritted her teeth and stamped her foot. “Fine, I’ll go buy it. You two wait for me at home.”
It was just Feichang. She would buy it.
With that, Chen Shi put down her basket and hurried out the door.
Meanwhile, Su Tao, who had never eaten Feichang before, asked innocently, “Fifth Sister, what is Feichang? Is it delicious?”
“Feichang is pig intestines.”
“Oh.”
Su Tao didn’t understand what that meant until half an hour later, when Chen Shi returned with two sets of pig intestines. Su Tao started gagging and backed away as far as she could, shouting repeatedly, “Mother, take that away quickly!!!”
Chen Shi pinched her nose with her right hand while placing the pig intestines in a wooden basin. “Luckily, I ran into your Da Jiumu and the others today, or I would have had to go to the county town to buy this.”
That’s right. Shortly after Chen Shi left home, she encountered her sister-in-law Zhao Shi and others, who were in the countryside to purchase pigs. She mentioned her errand, and it turned out that Zhao Shi’s group not only bought pigs but also sold pork on the side. They happened to have two sets of pig intestines.
When they heard she wanted to buy some, Zhao Shi’s eldest brother directly pulled out the intestines, strung them together with straw rope, and said, “Why buy? We have some right here. Just take them.”
Speaking of which, Zhao Da had been worrying about how to cook the pig intestines he brought home.
The stuff was smelly and dirty, and no one in his family liked eating it anyway. Running into Chen Shi, who was also a relative, it seemed like a good opportunity to do her a favor.
But she still said,
“How can I accept this? I should pay the proper amount of silver.”
As she spoke, she started reaching for money from her pocket.
“If I’m giving it to you, just take it. Why all the fuss?”
Zhao Sanmei, also known as Zhao Shi, Chen Shi’s sister-in-law, snorted at the scene.
Zhao Shi had always spoken this way, but she meant no harm. Over the years, Chen Shi had grown used to it.
“Alright, come visit when you have time. We’ll be going now.”
With that, the Zhao siblings drove the pig away.
Only after they had gone some distance did Zhao Da say,
“What kind of sister is this? Her family is so poor they can’t even afford meat and have to eat that filthy stuff. From now on, don’t let your Tiezhu go to her place too often. And if he sees her, tell him not to mention how much money he’s earned, understand?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid. Of course I know that.”
Still, Zhao Shi felt somewhat uncomfortable. Although she usually looked down on her husband’s sister for being poor, being criticized by her older brother irked her. So she added defensively:
“His younger sister does know her place. In all the years since Tiezhu and I married, she’s never come around to freeload.” Unlike the eldest sister-in-law’s family, who frequently showed up at the butcher shop.
Zhao Da clearly understood the implication in Sanmei’s words, and his face instantly turned pale with anger.