“Mom, are you bringing all the good things from our home for me?”
Tian Xiuying waved her hand. “These are the sand pears you like to eat. The vegetables are all homegrown, and these potatoes are also from our own field.”
She paused, then bent down to pick up a bundle tied on top of the basket. “This is the winter padded jacket Mom made for you. Try it on later. If it doesn’t fit, I’ll alter it for you.”
Xu Anyan was at a loss. She felt a little moved. The original owner of this body had been selfish and never cared about her family. After coming to the county town, she had become even less willing to return home, only going back when she ran out of money.
After her parents passed away, no one had ever cared for her like this. Seeing all this now, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t touched—but she still had to maintain her character and couldn’t change too drastically.
“Mom, I understand. I’ll try it on later. You and Second Brother can sit for a while. I’ll go buy some meat. I’ll come back soon, and you’ll still need to cook.”
“No need to buy meat. Just make something simple and we’ll leave.”
“No,” Xu Anyan immediately refused.
Seeing her reaction, Tian Xiuying didn’t insist anymore. “Alright then, I’ll go with you.”
Xu Anyan nodded and returned to the main room, instructing Dabao and Xiaobao, “Take good care of your second uncle and Xiaozhou brother. Your grandmother and I are going out for a bit.”
The two children nodded in unison, patting their chests. “Don’t worry, Mom.”
Then Xu Anyan and Tian Xiuying went out.
Dabao saw his younger brother and second uncle talking, while Xiaozhou sat quietly by the side.
His eyes rolled, and he suddenly ran out of the main room. After a while, he ran back, tiptoeing as he placed a handkerchief bundle on the table.
“Second Uncle, Xiaozhou brother, this is for you to eat. Mom bought it.”
Seeing the pastries on the table—snowflake cakes, lotus pastries, and dried fruit—Xiaobao raised his little head and said, “Second Uncle, these are snowflake cakes and lotus pastries. They’re so tasty. Hurry and eat.”
Then he looked at Xu Yan. “Second Uncle, you eat too. I still have lots.”
Xu Yan looked at the pastries. Although he also wanted to try them, he held back and looked at Xu Zhou. “Zhou, you eat.”
Xu Zhou, already tempted by the pastries he had never seen before, immediately reached out and grabbed a piece of snowflake cake and stuffed it into his mouth after getting permission.
Looking at his thin, dark-skinned nephew, Xu Yan felt a pang of sadness. The family was poor, and they usually didn’t even have enough to eat—these pastries were things he had never tasted either.
Xiaobao urged again, “Second Uncle, you should eat too. There’s still more in the room. I’ll bring them all out.”
Before Xu Yan could stop him, Xiaobao ran off again.
On the other side:
The two of them bought five jin of meat from a nearby butcher shop and headed back. Along the way, Tian Xiuying kept saying they had bought too much meat and it was wasteful.
Xu Anyan felt helpless. “Mom, we’ll cut half of it later and you can take it home.”
Tian Xiuying looked at her as if she had seen a ghost. When had her daughter ever been so generous? In the past, she was so stingy she didn’t even want to give anything to others.
Realizing she had slipped up, Xu Anyan quickly made things up. “Mom, I’ve been earning money lately. This isn’t much. I’ll earn even more in the future. As the saying goes, the more you spend, the more you get back.”
“Is there such a saying?” Tian Xiuying asked. “How are you making money?”
Xu Anyan replied, “A while ago I went to Pingshan Temple outside the city. An old monk there told me that if I want to earn more, I have to spend more. I can’t be stingy with others—especially not with my family.”
“As for money, I learned some cooking skills from Grandma before. Recently I remembered them and started experimenting, and I’ve been earning a little. It really matches what the monk said.”
Tian Xiuying believed it, because her own mother had once worked as a fire tender in a wealthy household kitchen, and Xu Anyan had stayed with her maternal family for three months when she was twelve.
She just hadn’t expected her daughter to have learned those skills—and even more unexpected that her once spoiled, willful daughter would actually start earning money.
“That’s good. Having a skill to rely on puts my mind at ease. But don’t believe everything that monk says.”
Xu Anyan held her arm. “I’ll listen to you, Mom.”
She hadn’t expected her mother to accept it so quickly, nor what she might have imagined in her mind.
When they returned home, they went straight into the kitchen to cook.
Seeing Tian Xiuying roll up her sleeves, Xu Anyan quickly stopped her. “Mom, I’ll cook!”
“I’ll do it. You just light the fire,” Tian Xiuying said. She felt her daughter had become more sensible—maybe she really had changed after hitting her head last time.
But Xu Anyan insisted. “No, Mom, I learned a lot from Grandma. Today I’ll show you my skills.”
She couldn’t let her mother cook. The problem was she was too stingy—no oil, no salt, the food would end up tasteless.
So the two prepared the ingredients, and Xu Anyan started cooking.
She scooped a small spoon of lard into the pan. Tian Xiuying’s eyelids twitched. “That’s too much, just a little is enough.”
“It’s fine. More oil tastes better,” Xu Anyan said casually as she stir-fried shredded potatoes.
Then she suddenly remembered she hadn’t asked how they carried three baskets from the village to the county town.
From what she recalled, Changshan County was more than twenty li from Shanglin Village. Although there were horse carts, given Tian Xiuying’s personality, she definitely wouldn’t spend money on that.
After all, one ride cost twenty-five wen per person, plus extra for luggage.
“Oh, the village chief’s son hunted a wild boar and wanted to sell it in the county. I paid thirty wen to ride along,” Tian Xiuying explained. “We have to gather at the city gate at shen time and head back later.”
Xu Anyan understood.
Shanglin Village wasn’t deep in the mountains, but it was surrounded by hills and wasn’t particularly wealthy. Only the village chief’s family and one other household owned an ox.
After about half an hour of cooking, the meal was ready:
Scrambled eggs, stir-fried shredded potatoes, cold cucumber salad, mushroom and meat stir-fry, her specialty radish tofu soup, and a bowl of steaming white rice for each person.
Tian Xiuying was already numb seeing the spread. She had tried to stop her while cooking, but her daughter wouldn’t listen.
Xu Yan and Xu Zhou were stunned.
Xu Yan thought: Why has my younger sister suddenly become so generous? She never used to even let us stay for meals, yet now she not only lets us stay but cooks so much food.
Xu Zhou stared at the meat and white rice, eyes wide. Big brother Dabao and little brother Xiaobao are so lucky—they get to eat like this every day.
Xu Anyan urged them, “Eat quickly. There’s more rice in the pot.”
Only then did they start eating.
When Xu Anyan came out of the kitchen with a ladle, she saw Tian Xiuying trying to feed Dabao and Xiaobao.
She quickly stopped her. “Mom, what are you doing?”
Tian Xiuying was startled, then said matter-of-factly, “I’m feeding them. Why are you shouting?”
Xu Yan and Xu Zhou also froze, staring at her.
Xu Anyan coughed awkwardly. “Mom, they can eat by themselves.”
The two children nodded quickly. “Grandmother, we can eat by ourselves!”
Only then did Xu Anyan put the spoon into their bowls. “They can use spoons now.”
Hearing this, Tian Xiuying looked a bit disappointed—she had only been away for a short time, and her grandchildren were already grown enough to feed themselves.