The Family Had Split, Why Should I Care if They Go Broke? - Chapter 9

“You—!”

This wretched girl!

Lady Zhang’s heart boiled with anger, certain that Xu Zhichun’s words were aimed at her—but she had no proof.

“Anyway, that’s your elder!” Lady Zhang snapped, her voice rising in irritation.

Now she was flustered!

Xu Zhichun ignored her completely, focusing on her own work.

Lady Zhang smugly thought she’d gotten the upper hand. See? Just a few more words, and the girl didn’t dare talk back. Hmph. Nothing but a fragile thing with a tough-looking shell. Feeling satisfied at last, she went back to scrubbing her clothes.

Xu Zhichun carried the cleaned konjac home, planning to get started on it today. She wanted to run through the process first—later, she could make little tweaks to save effort.

She peeled the konjac, cut it into finger-sized cubes about half an inch long, and carried them to the stone mill in her backyard to grind them into pulp.

How she missed a soymilk maker or blender! Sure, there were some in the warehouse, but without electricity, they were useless.

Since this was only a trial batch, the quantity was small and easy to handle.

Once ground, she burned a bundle of rice straw, then boiled the ash to make lye water.

Mixing the lye water into the konjac pulp, she poured the mixture into a large bowl to set.

After half a day, it had solidified. She cut it into large pieces and boiled them for about two hours, then soaked them in clean water, changing the water every half hour. After two or three changes, she left the pieces to soak overnight in fresh water.

When eaten, you just take them out, rinse them clean, slice or shred them, and they’re delicious cold, stir-fried, or stewed with chicken or pork.

If she sold them, she’d be selling novelty—no one else had it, only her.

Fresh, rare things never worry about finding buyers.

As the konjac pieces floated in clear water, Xu Zhichun smiled in satisfaction.

Perfect—everything was going smoothly.

After soaking overnight, she could taste it tomorrow.

Once the konjac tofu was set aside, she peeled bamboo shoots, tossing the husks into the pigpen—the pigs ate the tender ones, and the tough ones were used to line the pen and composted manure.

The peeled shoots were sliced and spread on bamboo trays to dry in the sun. She also sorted and laid out mushrooms to dry.

The warehouse had plenty of fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Xu Zhichun picked out about twenty jin that could blend in with the ones from the mountains and laid them out to dry together.

Once dried and stored, she could swap in more from the warehouse later.

Perfect.

The sky was already dimming—soon the boy would be home from school. She hurried to prepare a feast for the chickens and the two pigs.

Chickens, truly creatures of habit, didn’t need her to cluck them back. At feeding time, they came running on their own, eyes bright, clucking impatiently as they circled her.

“Plenty for everyone, plenty!” she said with a grin.

She scooped fragrant chicken feed into the trough, mixing in several handfuls of corn kernels, a scoop of fish bone meal, and chopped wild grasses.

The flock surged forward with a rush of feathers.

They’d laid five eggs today—worth giving them an extra treat to keep production up.

After feeding the chickens and pigs, she cooked rice, fried two crucian carp, washed vegetables, and, after glancing outside more than once, finally saw the boy returning.

Her tense heart eased.

“Mingxuan!”

The boy’s two schoolbooks were carefully wrapped in an old cloth bundle. In his arms, he carried a big bundle of fresh ragweed.

Xu Zhichun hurried over to take the grass. “I was wondering why you were so late—so you went to gather ragweed? Come home earlier next time, alright?”

Liang Mingxuan called, “Sister-in-law,” and pressed his lips together. “I didn’t go out of my way—just saw it by the road on my way back. Don’t worry, Sister-in-law, I won’t wander after school.”

Xu Zhichun smiled. “Still, come home early from now on, otherwise I’ll worry.”

“Mm.”

“Go wash your hands and rest a bit—dinner’s ready.”

“Alright.”

After putting down his books and washing his hands, the boy fed the chickens and pigs. Seeing that the pile of short firewood in the kitchen corner was running low, he went to the backyard, chopped long logs into short ones, stacked them neatly, then grabbed a bamboo broom taller than himself to sweep the yard.

Xu Zhichun shook her head with a helpless smile and let him be.

Dinner was steamed white rice, crucian carp stewed with shredded radish soup, steamed egg custard made from three eggs, and a plate of stir-fried romaine lettuce.

Where had the crucian carp come from? Naturally—from the river. Yes, she was just that capable.

“Come on, have some soup first. These fish—your Sister-in-law may have good luck, but they were still hard to catch. Small as they are, they make delicious soup—fresh, tasty, and good for the body. Drink up.”

“Sister-in-law, you drink too.”

“Alright!”

They drank the soup before indulging in the rice. After the brother and sister-in-law finished eating, Liang Mingxuan helped clean up the table, following Xu Zhichun like a little tail.

Spotting the konjac tofu soaking in water, he asked curiously, “Sister-in-law, what’s this?”

Even if he didn’t ask, Xu Zhichun was planning to explain. She smiled and told him.

Mingxuan nodded. “So that’s how it is. Sister-in-law’s hometown must be a blessed, resourceful place—to think of ways to turn poisonous things into delicacies.”

“Isn’t that the truth!”

Thinking of the neon lights and advanced technology of the modern world, Xu Zhichun sighed—how she missed it.

But missing it was useless.

Teasingly, she said, “Konjac is poisonous—do you really believe Sister-in-law can make it into something delicious?”

Mingxuan answered without hesitation. “Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because you said so.”

Xu Zhichun covered her mouth and laughed. This child really knew how to talk.

“Just because I said it, you believe it?”

“Mm. If Sister-in-law says it, it must be true.”

She felt a little moved—her care for him hadn’t been for nothing.

Patting his shoulder gently, she said, “Of course it’s true. I’m counting on it to make money. Don’t worry—our days will only get better.”

Mingxuan looked up at her. “I’ll study hard and repay Sister-in-law in the future.”

Though she had indeed been hoping for that, hearing the boy say it so earnestly made her feel a bit guilty. Her gaze softened. “I know you will—no need to say it again. Just do your best in your studies, but don’t push yourself too hard, alright? We can take things slowly.”

Even if he didn’t pass the exams, it would be fine—he could still do business with her.

But that didn’t sound encouraging, so she didn’t say it.

Besides, with his bearing, it would be hard to imagine him failing.

Mingxuan nodded, saying he would go read right away.

Xu Zhichun lit another lamp. “Read a little, then sleep. If you want, you can read more in the morning. The dim light is bad for your eyes.”

“Mm.”

The next morning, after Mingxuan left for school, Xu Zhichun gave the chickens and pigs another feast. She took a bottle of bl00d-boosting tonic from the warehouse and drank it. She also had some bird soup that she found yesterday in the warehouse. 

Feeling greedy, she also had two pieces of chocolate.

After changing the konjac tofu’s water, she decided to head back up the mountain.