"Enough, Second Daughter-in-law, she was just speaking offhand," Grandma Zhu clearly leaned towards Aunt Zhao, implying that Chen was making a big deal out of a small matter.
"Mother, why are you saying that? This is no trivial matter! How can family mbers slander each other like this? My son is still young; he can't handle all this fuss." Chen imdiately stood up to refute, protecting Zhu Ping'an like a hen with her chicks.
"Second Sister-in-law, why are you speaking to Mother like that?" Aunt Zhao skillfully avoided the main issue, shifting the topic to criticize Chen for being disrespectful to Grandma Zhu.
"You're just stirring the pot!" Chen shot Aunt Zhao a cold smile, her eyes filled with disdain.
"Enough! It's just a al; what's the big deal?" Grandpa Zhu slamd his smoking pipe on the table, glaring at his second and youngest sons, signaling them to keep an eye on their wives so they could at least have a peaceful al.
Zhu Shouyi obediently reached out to pull Chen down to sit, and although Chen looked displeased, she still sat down to give her husband face.
"Father, I'm doing this for our family's sake! What if we really were possessed and brought misfortune upon us? That would be terrible!" Aunt Zhao carefully balanced her words, giving Grandpa Zhu face while stubbornly clinging to the notion of possession.
"Shut your mouth!" Chen was infuriated to see Aunt Zhao's relentless attitude, nearly bursting with anger.
"Being so nitpicky is truly disgraceful," their uncle remarked, his face high and aloof as he shook his head in disdain.
Aunt Zhu watched the scene with great interest, not intervening but instead striving to cultivate the deanor of a proper lady, thinking that one day, if her husband beca a scholar, she could be the scholar's wife. If her husband were to pass the higher examination, she'd be the wife of an official, so she needed to carry herself with grace. Watching her two younger siblings quarrel without dignity only made her feel superior and elegant.
However, Zhu Ping'an looked down on his aunt. If she were truly a proper lady, she would have extinguished the dispute long ago instead of watching the drama unfold.
Seeing Grandpa's dark expression, Zhu Ping'an felt this situation couldn't go on. After all, this was an era of feudal patriarchy; gaining a reputation for being unfilial could lead to being pointed at in the village.
"Mother, Aunt Zhao, what's wrong?" Zhu Ping'an walked over to his mother's side, his short legs moving as he raised his chubby little face with curiosity.
So cute and polite, even greeting Aunt Zhao warmly, which made her, who had just been slandering Zhu Ping'an, feel a bit embarrassed.
"Your Aunt Zhao says you're possessed," Chen shot a glare at Aunt Zhao as she spoke angrily.
"Mother, what does it an to be possessed?" Zhu Ping'an asked innocently, like a curious child.
In response, Chen glared at Aunt Zhao again.
Grandpa also turned his gaze to Aunt Zhao, showing signs of dissatisfaction. Aunt Zhao's face turned pale; she realized she might have overreacted but couldn't let go of her pride. She bent down to coax Zhu Ping'an and asked, "Little Zhi'er, Auntie wants to know why you've started washing your hands and face lately."
Zhu Ping'an was not really a five-year-old child; he wasn't about to let her catch him off guard. He dashed over to Chen's side, comfortably leaning against her, his big eyes looking innocent as he said to Aunt Zhao, "Last ti I was sick, the white-bearded grandpa who treated said I got a stomachache because I ate sothing dirty with my hands. I didn't want to drink the bitter dicine, so I started washing my hands and face before als like he said."
Although acting cute was shaful and pretending to be naive was ridiculous, how could you expect a five-year-old kid to act mature? It's a life of its own! If only he could do barbecue and present himself (with seasoning)!
When it cos to the old doctor with a white beard, Zhu Ping'an subtly glanced at everyone's expressions. Most of them had already been convinced. It's worth noting that Zhu Ping'an had also done his howork; this old man with a white beard was no simple person. He was a well-known physician in the county, rarely making house calls. Even when he did, it was usually for high-ranking officials and wealthy individuals. The last ti he treated Zhu Ping'an was purely by coincidence—he happened to pass by during a visit to a friend and saw the Zhu family in a state of panic, feeling pity for them, which prompted him to intervene.
"Alright, let's put this matter to rest. No one should ntion anything about spirits or curses from now on. We are all good descendants of the Zhu family. If I hear any bad rumors about my own family outside, don't bla for invoking our ancestral laws!" Old Master Zhu could still discern the important issues and didn't allow his daughters-in-law to bicker endlessly. With a tily slap on the table, he brought their quarrel to an end.
The consensus since ancient tis has been that harmony in the family brings prosperity. Spreading rumors about curses within the family is detrintal to the entire clan. Old Master Zhu had worked hard for the prosperity of the family since his youth. He tightened his belt to support his eldest son's education for this very reason, hoping day and night for the family to flourish under his stewardship. He simply couldn't allow any problems within the family.
With the argunt settled, the old man put down his pipe and picked up his chopsticks.
As soon as Old Master Zhu moved his first chopstick, the Zhu family began their dinner. This reflected the ancient feudal patriarchal system. It had been over ten days, and Zhu Ping'an was no longer surprised by this. The only thing that still left him unsettled was the food on the table. The so-called dishes consisted only of boiled vegetables with salt or stead food with salt. He recalled that stir-frying beca popular only after the thod of extracting vegetable oil erged in the mid-Qing dynasty; now, stir-fried dishes seed to be the privilege of wealthy families, while farrs were reluctant to use animal fat for cooking. The staple food was made of coarse grains shaped into small buns, mixed with wild vegetables, giving them a strange color and unpleasant taste, making it quite difficult to swallow. The porridge was acceptable in taste but too thin, reflecting his little chubby face in it.
als were served in fixed quantities, determined by Old Lady Zhu. n received two buns each, while won and children only got one. The porridge was also differentiated: n had thick porridge, while won and children had soup-like versions.
Grandmother Old Lady Zhu showed favoritism when distributing the buns and porridge. The families of the eldest uncle and the fourth uncle received larger buns, while their own family and the third uncle's family got smaller ones. Moreover, the eldest uncle of the Zhu family would have three buns, justified by the fact that he needed to study hard. There were many such examples of favoritism; for instance, when making scrambled eggs, which were seldom prepared, Old Lady Zhu would always serve more to the eldest and fourth uncles.
Especially today, Old Lady Zhu, whether out of compensation or so other reason, kept serving scrambled eggs to the fourth uncle and fourth aunt, who would intentionally show off to mother Chen, making her so annoyed that she nearly bit them. The atmosphere at the dinner table was tense, as if a fight was about to break out, reflecting the overall unrest in the world.
Zhu Ping'an rembered that when he first arrived in this world, he had tried to take so eggs, only to be blocked by his grandmother's chopsticks, who insisted that the eggs were for adults to replenish their strength because they worked hard. However, Zhu Ping'an had yet to see his grandmother give eggs to his father.
Every family has its difficulties.
Not getting enough to eat or eating poorly was definitely a dire punishnt for a foodie like Zhu Ping'an.
After all, Zhu Ping'an had the psychological age of over twenty years, so he could endure it, but looking at the little girl Yuer, who was in his third aunt's arms, continuously biting her fingers and staring at the eggs with her big watery eyes, made him feel a bit sorry for her.
His mother Chen, the third aunt, the eldest aunt, and the fourth aunt frequently had disputes at the dinner table for various reasons, such as taking the sa bun or serving the sa dish. In short, the dinner table was never quiet.
In fact, many of the family conflicts could be traced back to one word: poverty. If they were wealthy, there wouldn't be any conflicts over these trivial matters. The saying goes, "When people are poor, their ambitions are short, and when horses are thin, their fur is long."
However, looking at his own thin arms and legs, becoming wealthy seed incredibly difficult. Many experiences from his past life were hard to apply here, and his major was Classical Chinese literature, which didn't give him any knowledge about inventions like glass-making. He wasn't even proficient in the cooking skills often found in female ti-travel novels. Of course, that didn't an he was completely useless. He at least had several hundred years of common sense and knowledge of Classical Chinese. Achieving wealth was a long and arduous journey, but it wasn't entirely out of reach.
User Comments
0 comments from readers