Juhua smiled helplessly. "Alright, everyone can co. But we have to agree on this: once I’ve taught you, you’ll have to cook a few good als to thank , your master."
The girls quickly agreed, making a heap of promises and agreeing to all sorts of conditions.
Yan and Jinxiang were overjoyed. They told the others to go on ahead, then flew ho to let their families know before rushing to catch up with Juhua’s group. Little Shitou also told Zhao San he was going and ca along.
Yang Family saw Juhua return looking delighted, with several other girls in tow, and was absolutely ecstatic.
She didn’t find it the least bit troubleso that they were coming to eat. In fact, she was unspeakably pleased that these girls wanted to spend ti with Juhua. She welcod them with a smile so broad it seed to fill her entire face, threatening to spill over.
Seeing her mother’s almost fawning smile, Juhua felt a pang in her heart. ’Her mother had never smiled at anyone like that before. Just the other day, she’d complained about how much she disliked having to put on a fake smile for custors all day while selling vegetables. Now, for her daughter’s sake, she was fawning over a few young girls.’
"Mom, let’s just cook this big grass carp for lunch. We can chop up so pickled vegetables and boil it all in a big pot. That way we can eat and go watch the excitent. We still have to drain Tiaozi Pond this afternoon," Juhua said to Yang Family, worried she would try to make too many dishes. It wasn’t that Juhua was being stingy, but there wasn’t enough ti to cook more, not with the afternoon’s activities.
Yang Family readily agreed, adding that they also had so stead pork with rice flour. She could quickly cook so greens and tofu on the stove, and that would be plenty.
Juhua had to agree. With so many people, the grass carp, even at over three jin, probably wouldn’t be enough. She had personally witnessed the appetites of izi and the others; she couldn’t compare.
Yang Family waited for Zheng Changhe to return, then took the big grass carp to the river to kill and clean it. anwhile, Juhua, surrounded by the gaggle of girls, moved from the vegetable garden to the well, and from the well to the kitchen. They chattered nonstop the whole way, like sparrows in the treetops.
When Zheng Changhe and Qingmu saw them, they both broke into knowing smiles, not finding the noise botherso at all. The two of them poured the loaches into a broken pot, only half of which remained, to keep them alive. Then they hurried to clean the small assorted fish they had received. Little Shitou trailed after Qingmu, careful not to disturb Juhua while she was cooking.
Juhua saw how animated Yan was, constantly asking her how to make the hat, how to make the scarf, and other questions like whether she should take off her pretty face-scarf when she ate. Juhua couldn’t help but laugh. ’This girl’s vanity is really sothing else!’
Looking at Yan’s double-looped buns, she praised with a smile, "Yan, you’re very skilled. Your hair looks beautiful."
Yan’s face flushed with excitent, and she said a bit shyly, "Really? Big Sister Juhua, I can teach you if you want to learn. It’s really easy, not hard at all."
Jinxiang laughed. "You think everyone’s like you, fussing with their hair all day? Staring at your reflection in a basin of water nonstop."
Juhua laughed. "I’m always moving around. I’m afraid a pretty hairstyle like that would co undone in no ti. How did you get so clever? Or did you learn it from soone?"
’Besides, she had to wrap her head in a cloth when she cooked. And with her habit of always ducking into the vegetable garden, she had to wear a straw hat when the sun was strong in spring and sumr. The mont that hat went on, any hairstyle was ruined!’
Yan smiled and said, "It was my sister-in-law’s younger sister. She learned it from a woman at Xiatang Market."
Juhua finally understood. ’So the style ca from town. No wonder! Heh.’
i was making the cutting board go THUMP THUMP THUMP—she was chopping the pickled vegetables. izi stared at her without blinking and asked admiringly, "How can you chop so fast? And without cutting your hand."
i glanced at her. "If you chopped vegetables every single day, you’d be just like . I find it strange. How co your mother doesn’t even let you cook?"
Hearing this, izi jumped up in anger and shouted, "Who says I don’t cook? It’s just that every ti I do, my grandma helps , so I don’t get to chop as much. I’m just not as practiced as you all. Do you think I’m so pampered young lady? I have to do a lot of things every day, too!"
Seeing her get flustered, everyone started laughing.
Jinxiang chuckled. "It’s true, izi is very diligent and well-behaved. Why else would her mother dote on her so much? But the more she’s doted on, the less practice she gets with cooking, so her skills are a little lacking."
izi resentfully fell silent. ’I have to learn how to cook properly from Juhua,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, this is just too embarrassing. They’re already laughing at all the ti, and I’m still at my own ho. What will it be like when I get to my husband’s ho? I don’t even want to think about it.’
Yan looked at izi with envy. "Big Sister izi, isn’t it a good thing not to have to cook? Why are you so worked up about it? I don’t want to cook at all, but my mom always makes tend the fire, and my clothes get covered in ash. I have to wear a ragged old robe over my clothes when I cook, but it doesn’t help much. My hair gets a layer of it too, and I always have to wash it."
Looking at her fastidious expression, the other girls couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
Juhua thought, ’She was born into the wrong family. She should have been born a young lady in a wealthy household, but sohow she ended up in a poor, humble one.’
izi pouted and lectured in a very mature tone, "You’re still young. Once you’re married, you’ll understand that a woman has to know how to cook."
Yan blinked, looking unconvinced. ’She probably wants to marry into a wealthy family, too,’ Juhua thought.
Juhua finished cooking the rice first. When Yang Family returned after cleaning the fish, she took the three-jin grass carp from her and said to the girls, "A fish this big needs to be cut into several pieces, or it won’t cook through. Let’s chop this fish into five pieces. We also need to score the thicker parts along the back a few tis. We’ll do it outside so we don’t get this cutting board dirty. Rember this: you need a separate cutting board for at and fish. Don’t mix it with your everyday cutting board, or the fishy sll will be impossible to wash out."
She couldn’t very well talk about bacteria and such, so she just said it was hard to wash. The girls nodded repeatedly—it wasn’t like their families were short on cutting boards.
After chopping the grass carp and rinsing it again, she brought it inside. Juhua waited until the wok was smoking before she poured in so oil, explaining as she did, "If you don’t want the fish to stick to the wok, you have to get the wok very, very hot before adding the oil. If you add oil to a cold wok, the skin will stick and peel off when you fry it."
Then, she tossed in so ginger to fry for a mont before placing the fish pieces in the wok to sear. She turned to Li Jinxiang, who was tending the fire, and said, "A smaller fire. Use thatch, not firewood. You can’t use a high fla when you’re pan-frying fish."
Jinxiang quickly added a handful of thatch, then scrambled to her feet and ran over to Juhua to watch her fry the fish. izi, i, and Yan also stared into the wok without blinking.
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