The Family Had Split, Why Should I Care if They Go Broke? - Chapter 10

Yesterday, while making konjac tofu, Xu Zhichun had watched the mixture quietly set in the large bowl and suddenly thought of liangfen1.

If she could sell liangfen alongside the konjac tofu, wouldn’t that be even better?

The warehouse had mountains of books. Last night, she had rummaged there for quite a while before finding an old recipe for making liangfen. She’d always been good with her hands, so after carefully studying it a few times, she understood it well enough to give it a try.

The only thing missing now was the raw ingredients. She could use stone flower plant’s2 seeds, banyan fruit, or Chinese mesona. She had no memory of ever seeing banyan fruit or Chinese mesona before, but stone flower plants… she was pretty sure she’d spotted them in the mountains before—and in no small quantity. Today, she planned to go find some.

Following the faint memory she had, Xu Zhichun spent the better part of half a day before finally finding a patch of stone flower plant in a small mountain hollow.

They grew thickly among shrubs and wild grass, with branches full of round, lantern-like fruit3.

Stone flower plants were short—about half a person’s height—making them especially easy to harvest.

With the seeds in hand, all she needed now was limewater.

Well, the warehouse had lime too. She could just take out a pound or so and say it was leftover from last year, originally bought for disinfecting the chicken coop.

In summer, to prevent chicken plague, many families in the village bought lime for coop disinfection—it really did work.

Perfect. She’d try it today.

Before long, Xu Zhichun had picked half a basket of stone flower seeds, about two or three catties in weight.

She was just experimenting today, so that was more than enough.

On the way back, she also gathered some ragweed.

She hadn’t expected to find Zeng Xiaoyan loitering at her doorstep, a chicken dangling from her hand.

As soon as Zeng Xiaoyan saw Zhichun return, she jogged over, beaming. “Sister-in-law Zhichun, you’re finally back! Look—I brought a chicken. How about we kill it and eat it for lunch? The chicken you make is just too delicious!”

She’d been craving it, trying to hold back, but in the end, she couldn’t resist and simply bought one herself.

She’d even picked out a big rooster—heavy as could be.

Xu Zhichun was speechless.

While inviting Zeng Xiaoyan in, she set down her back basket and hand basket, smiling. “This isn’t really proper, is it? You bought a chicken and brought it here to be slaughtered. If your family finds out, wouldn’t they—”

Zeng Xiaoyan waved it off. “I already spoke to my mother-in-law. She didn’t object. Who cares what others think? I bought this with my own money. Once it’s cooked, we’ll eat half here and I’ll take the other half home. Aunt Zhu’er wasn’t home earlier, but maybe she’s back now. I’ll go get her, too.”

Clearly, she’d thought this all through.

Xu Zhichun couldn’t help but ask again, “Are you sure Aunt Liang didn’t say anything?”

“Of course! Why would I lie to you?”

“Alright then. I’ll go boil some water—we’ll kill the chicken and make a stew.”

“Great!”

“You go check if Aunt Zhu’er is home.”

Once she was gone, Zhichun could fetch some dried lily bulbs, goji berries, and dried shiitake mushrooms from the warehouse for the stew.

“On it!” Zeng Xiaoyan said, cheerfully heading off.

Aunt Zhu’er had just returned from her vegetable garden and was promptly dragged over.

Slaughtering a chicken for a meal was always cause for cheer, and soon the three women were bustling about together, chatting and laughing.

Xu Zhichun took the chance to introduce the konjac tofu. “Let’s stew half the chicken for soup, and use the other half to cook with this konjac tofu. Try it and see what you think. If it tastes good, we could sell it. How about it?”

Both women lit up. Zhichun already has another business idea? That’s wonderful!

Zeng Xiaoyan grinned. “Looks like I came at just the right time today—haha!”

Aunt Zhu’er smiled. “Then I’ll make the soup and the dishes. Just tell me what to do.”

There was a clay pot in the house, perfect for slow-cooking soup.

Half a chicken was chopped into pieces, rinsed of bl00d, and placed in the pot, along with the soaked goji berries, dried lily bulbs, and shiitake mushrooms.

Since there was no radish left at Zhichun’s, Zeng Xiaoyan simply went to Aunt Zhu’er’s garden to pull one up.

By the time she returned, the konjac tofu had already been cut into small cubes and was being stir-fried with the chicken.

The radish was cut and added to the soup pot, while the chicken and tofu sizzled in the wok. Once the meat changed color and released its aroma, dried chili segments were tossed in, then water was added to simmer.

Just before serving, a generous handful of chopped garlic shoots was thrown in for a quick stir-fry.

Zeng Xiaoyan inhaled deeply. “Smells amazing! Aunt Zhu’er, your cooking is so good!”

Aunt Zhu’er smiled. “I’m just following Zhichun’s instructions—she’s the real expert.”

Xu Zhichun waved it off with a laugh. “I can only talk about cooking—doing it well is your talent.”

With the rice steaming and the soup simmering—at least another half hour to go—Xu Zhichun said, “There’s another hometown specialty I want to make today, but I don’t have any brown sugar. Do either of you have some? I only need a little.”

The warehouse had not just brown sugar, but also white sugar, rock sugar—every kind of sugar. If the other two hadn’t been here, she could have just made it for herself. 

As long as she could make the dish, that was all that mattered.

“I’ve got more than a jin left,” Zeng Xiaoyan said quickly. “I drink brown sugar water sometimes. I’ll run back and get some.”

Xu Zhichun stopped her with a smile. “Let me explain first. See these lantern fruits I just picked? That hometown specialty I mentioned uses these, with a little brown sugar water. It’s delicious! We could even sell it alongside the konjac tofu.”

Locals called them lantern fruits, and Xu Zhichun went with the flow.

Zeng Xiaoyan had never seen them before and examined them curiously. “How do you even eat these? Is it for cooking, too?”

Aunt Zhu’er was surprised. “Lantern fruits are everywhere in the mountains, but they don’t taste good raw. Kids sometimes pick them just to toss around. Are they really good in a dish?”

Her expression clearly said, We’ll have to try that next time.

“Of course not,” Xu Zhichun laughed. “Once I make it, you’ll see. It’s simple—it’s all about getting the timing right. If you nail it once, great; if not, a couple more tries will do it.”

“In that case,” Zeng Xiaoyan said, “I’ll go get the brown sugar.”

“Just a little will be enough,” Xu Zhichun reminded her.

“Got it!”

While Zeng Xiaoyan was gone, Xu Zhichun and Aunt Zhu’er sorted and washed the lantern fruits.

In the countryside, there weren’t many snacks. From time to time, Zeng Xiaoyan would buy a couple jin of brown sugar, give half a jin to her mother-in-law, and keep the rest for herself. When she got a craving for something sweet, she’d make two bowls of brown sugar water—one for herself, one for her husband.

As for others? None for them.

Not because she was stingy—after all, it was hers—but if she gave some once and not the next time, it would look bad. And giving it every time? She wasn’t willing. Better not to give it at all.

Her in-laws never said much about it, though her father-in-law did tell her mother-in-law to advise her: when she ate such things, best to do it in her own room rather than in front of others—it just didn’t look right.