To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Let’s Cook

Wen Ying had no reaction to her words and turned her head to look straight ahead.

Yan An: “…”

She let out a soft huff. She wanted to give her the silent treatment until they got to the fields, but she couldn’t help but speak when she looked down at her clothes.

“Do you have any more convenient clothes for me to wear? These clothes don’t feel very practical for work.”

Yan An had observed that everyone else wore clothes with narrow sleeves and short jackets that were easy to work in. Her wide-sleeved, long robe was a nuisance.

Wen Ying’s gaze landed on her. Actually, Yan An looked very good in these clothes. Her slender figure had a scholarly air, and the clothes suited her well. Wen Ying even thought that she could wear even better clothes and look even more beautiful.

“Clothes that are practical for work are not comfortable,” Wen Ying said.

She wasn’t lying to Yan An. The fabric of Yan An’s clothes was cotton, which was much more comfortable than rough cloth.

Yan An’s skin was delicate, and Wen Ying was afraid the coarse cloth would chafe her.

“If you can wear it, so can I,” Yan An said, pursing her lips.

Wen Ying ate the stalks while she ate the leaves, and Wen Ying wore rough cloth while she wore cotton. Yan An felt very uncomfortable with this.

Wen Ying heard her words, especially the slightly defiant tone. She didn’t understand why this was something to compare, especially when it was about a worse option.

“Then I’ll go back and alter them for you,” Wen Ying said, her tone softening a little.

She would alter the clothes so that Yan An could wear the cotton clothes underneath and the rough cloth on top. This would make it easier for her to move and wouldn’t make her too uncomfortable.

Yan An smiled again and didn’t forget to praise her. “You’re so capable!”

Wen Ying’s mouth twitched. She didn’t think this was a compliment. Wasn’t she kept at home until she was seventeen and then married into the Yan family for sixty taels precisely because she was capable?

However, it was also a good thing she was capable, which made her useful enough to be kept until she was seventeen. Otherwise, she would have been married off to some man early to collect a bride price.

…

Even though she was very sore after yesterday, Yan An was much more skilled at the farm work. They spent the entire morning diligently harvesting the crops. Seeing the large paddy field gradually decrease, a sense of accomplishment welled up in Yan An’s heart.

At this rate, they should be able to finish harvesting the remaining rice tomorrow. When they get paid, the family’s situation should get much better!

With that thought, Yan An was filled with anticipation for the future. Especially since she was living with the protagonist of the novel, the future had infinite possibilities!

When they returned home at noon, Yan An saw Wen Ying about to get busy again. “I’ll do it. You can rest.”

Because her body was so sore, she would occasionally stop and rest, but Wen Ying was non-stop, only taking a break to drink water. Yan An felt exhausted just by watching her.

“You… cook?” Wen Ying suddenly hesitated at her words.

Her tone of suspicion made it clear what she was thinking. Yan An bit her lip, her face flushed with embarrassment. “I’m not so useless that I can’t even boil some wild vegetables!”

She could make a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, let alone just some wild vegetables! Was there any skill involved in this? All she had to do was boil them, right?

Wen Ying looked at her and thought for a moment, then nodded. “Then you can do it. If you need anything, just call me.”

However, Wen Ying agreed for other reasons. The family only had some wild vegetables and the ones Aunt Li had given them. All she had to do was throw them into boiling water. It wasn’t that difficult. And she could use this time to alter Yan An’s clothes.

She considered that Yan An would still need to wear nice clothes when she went out, so she didn’t touch the new cotton robes. Instead, she took out the old ones and sat at the kitchen door, altering the clothes while keeping an eye on the situation inside the kitchen.

In the past, Yan An rarely even entered the kitchen, let alone cooked. Now, Wen Ying watched as she lifted her robe and tucked it into her waist so it wouldn’t drag on the ground while she lit the fire. She also rolled up her sleeves high, revealing two sections of her fair, slender arms.

Wen Ying didn’t know how she felt looking at her like this. The Yan An of the past would never have done something so undignified.

Yan An was trying to figure out how to start the fire. But after looking around, she was suddenly dumbfounded.

Right. How did she start a fire? She couldn’t use a fire drill, could she?

Wen Ying saw Yan An’s stunned expression and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

Yan An stiffly turned her head to look at her. She had intended for Wen Ying to rest and not trouble her if she could help it. Who knew she couldn’t even start a fire!

“Um, how do you start a fire?” Yan An asked, finding it a little hard to say.

Wen Ying saw her expression, which looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. She then realized what was going on, stood up, put the clothes on the stool she was sitting on, and went inside. “You need flint to start a fire. It’s like this.”

Wen Ying took out two pieces of stone from the corner, then grabbed a handful of flammable dry grass, and began to strike the stones.

Yan An: “…”

She watched the scene in a daze. Although she knew this was how people started fires in ancient times, when she actually encountered it herself, she still found it a little hard to bear.

“There’s also a more convenient tinder stick, but it costs fifteen coins,” Wen Ying said, pursing her lips after lighting the fire.

She was reluctant to spend those fifteen coins, and she was used to starting fires this way anyway, so she didn’t feel it was inconvenient.

“Oh,” Yan An said faintly. In her mind, she was thinking that when they had money, she would definitely buy a tinder stick. It would make it so much easier for both her and Wen Ying to start a fire.

“The fire is ready now. I’ll take over. You can go outside,” Yan An said, raising her spirits. Although at first glance, this ancient life seemed to have no future and was hard to live, when she broke things down into small tasks, it didn’t feel so difficult anymore.

After all, hadn’t she been living just fine for two days now?

Yan An comforted herself with this thought and began to wash the wild vegetables Wen Ying had brought back this morning while the water in the pot was boiling. At the same time, she also washed the vegetables Aunt Li had given them, taking out a turnip to wash as well.

Wen Ying saw her methodical movements and was relieved. She began to concentrate on altering Yan An’s clothes.

The inner clothes didn’t need much alteration; just the sleeves. After that came the rough cloth clothes to be worn on the outside.

She took out one of her own clothes and altered it so Yan An could wear it. This way, Yan An wouldn’t be chafed by the rough cloth on the outside, and it would be as comfortable as possible.

When Yan An returned to the kitchen after washing the vegetables, she passed Wen Ying, her expression a little complex. She felt that Wen Ying really didn’t let her rest at all. She had wanted Wen Ying to take a break, but instead, she had started altering her clothes.

After putting the vegetables in the pot, Yan An looked around the kitchen. There wasn’t even a drop of oil. There was a little salt, though. Looking at that tiny pinch of white salt, Yan An finally understood why the food they had eaten for the past two days had no flavor.

The little bit of salt that was left wasn’t enough to make their food tasty.

After the lunch was ready, Yan An called out to Wen Ying, “Don’t be so busy. Let’s eat lunch first.” Yan An’s own stomach had been rumbling for a while. She had been eating nothing but wild vegetables all day without any staple food. How could that be filling?

“Mmm.” Wen Ying temporarily put the clothes away in the house. When she came out, Yan An had already brought the lunch to the courtyard.

“Eat up. I made it. See how it tastes,” Yan An said with a defeated tone. She never thought that one day, she would have to say these words about such a simple vegetable soup.

Wen Ying sat down across from her. Yan An had already served her a bowl of the soup, which was no different from her own. Wen Ying pursed her lips.

Perhaps because it was the first time she was eating food made by Yan An, Wen Ying’s movements were much slower this time. She took a bite carefully and nodded. “It’s very delicious.”

The heat was just right. The vegetables weren’t overcooked and mushy, nor were they raw. They were crisp and tender, and the taste was really quite good.

“Thank you for the compliment,” Yan An said, her tone a little complex.

Before she transmigrated, Yan An’s family owned a restaurant. Her mother was an excellent chef, and Yan An had learned a lot from her. Now, she was in this dirt-poor family where her good cooking skills were useless!

Actually, Yan An’s grandmother’s generation had lived and farmed in the countryside. When it came to her mother’s generation, she left the countryside after finishing middle school to make a living. After working for a few years and saving some money, she took over a storefront in town and opened a restaurant. Her mother’s cooking was excellent, and she was also very warm and friendly with people, so the restaurant did very well.

In a couple of years, they opened a branch, and the family’s life improved a lot. It was around this time that Yan An was born.

When Yan An was two, the family’s financial situation was already very good. They were considered a well-off family in the town. At this point, the older generation started thinking about how they were just an uncultured bunch of nouveau riche. No one in the family had any cultural refinement.

So, Yan An was sent to learn piano at the age of three.

They were trying to use Yan An to improve the family’s uncultured, nouveau-riche image and add some artistic flair.

Fortunately, Yan An was promising. She was very good at playing the piano, and later she learned several more instruments. At the same time, her academic studies didn’t fall behind either. This made the whole family so happy they almost laughed out loud, wanting to tell everyone how accomplished their child was.

Their family was going to rewrite their story starting with Yan An!

Actually, Yan An’s mother didn’t want Yan An to work in the kitchen, but Yan An was so interested in cooking that her mother had no choice but to teach her everything. But she also told her to hide the fact that she could cook when she started dating.

“Heh,” Yan An thought. Her mom was overthinking things.

She hadn’t had a single boyfriend before she got into the accident!