The day after the hot pot feast, Miao He woke up to find Da Bai in the main hall, cuddling with the four puppies that had been given as gifts. The puppies were all snuggled up under Da Bai’s belly, sleeping soundly.
“Da Bai, are you pretending to be a mother dog now?”
The black kitten (male) looked back with its light green almond-shaped eyes, puzzled.
Isn’t this right, meow? They all bow to me, the great king, now, meow.
Miao He playfully rubbed the black kitten’s head. After that, he went outside to find Yang Dalang, who was sweating and pulling vegetables in the garden, as today was a delivery day.
Recalling that today Yang Dalang would start his “new course,” Miao He hurried back to prepare a set of clean clothes for him to change into after finishing his work. He then went to the kitchen, and seeing that there was hardly anything left, decided to make some radish pickled egg rice balls.
Since Yang Dalang would be out all day, he needed a filling and satisfying meal.
Miao He rolled up his sleeves, cooked the rice, and cut the pickled radishes Aunt Yang had taught him to make, frying them until fragrant. While adding some meat floss would have been better, he didn’t have any, so he used leftover cured meat, chopping it up and frying it with eggs before mixing it into the rice balls.
He made six rice balls in total! He packed two for lunch, wrapping them in leftover lotus leaves from yesterday, and they had four for breakfast. Now he ate as much as Yang Dalang. Yang Dalang had two, and he had two as well.
Once everything was ready, Yang Dalang had also finished packing the vegetables. Miao He called out from the kitchen door.
“Go take a shower. I’ve prepared clean clothes for you!”
Yang Dalang, who had been wiping his sweat with a towel, nodded and headed to the bathhouse.
When he returned to the main hall, cleaned up and refreshed, Miao He had breakfast ready.
“These are for your lunch! There are two rice balls inside the lunchbox, eat them if you get hungry at noon.”
“Lunchbox?”
“Uh, it means a packed meal.”
Yang Dalang’s dark eyes lifted slightly, and Miao He quickly changed the subject, “By the way, we’re almost out of meat at home. The puppies need to drink some bone soup; they can’t keep eating vegetarian like Da Bai. Remember to buy some when you come back.”
The puppies, of course, were the new family members: Xiaomao, Ermao, Sanmao, and Simao! Easy to call. Miao He hadn’t studied dog breeds much, so he didn’t recognize that these fluffy, light brown puppies were Chow Chow pups, excellent for guarding and hunting. Chow Chows looked so endearing and sturdy that Miao He accidentally started treating them as pets.
“Okay,” Yang Dalang replied, biting into a rice ball. The sweet and crisp pickled radishes mixed with the soft rice created a crunchy texture, complemented by the savory taste of cured meat and eggs, making it delicious. He quickly took several more big bites.
Miao He continued happily instructing, saying they needed four small bowls for the puppies’ food and four different colored ribbons to tie around their necks for easy identification and to prevent others from mistakenly thinking they were strays.
Yang Dalang agreed to everything, letting Miao He pack his basket with the lunch, a water bottle, and a towel, while Miao He muttered that he should tidy up after delivering vegetables. People might look down on him if he was all sweaty.
“Why don’t you take Uncle Ma’s cart today?” Miao He suggested.
“No need,” Yang Dalang said, patting Miao He’s round face, then instructed, “Be careful at home.”
He initially wanted to ask Aunt Yang to stay with Miao He, but Miao He said it would inconvenience his work with the miraculous soil, so they decided against it.
Miao He wrinkled his nose, “I’ll be at home; what could happen? Don’t worry.”
They didn’t know that rumors were already spreading wildly outside, with many people eager to see the new green brick house.
***
By the stream.
“Hey, did you hear about yesterday?”
“Yesterday? Didn’t Mr. Miao host a banquet? I was there, it was quite lively, and there was tofu pudding. I didn’t know soybeans could be made into such soft and slippery food. It’s no wonder it’s so expensive. But it was a bit bland.”
“Bland? Who cares about his tofu pudding? You don’t know, after Mr. Miao’s banquet, people were waiting at Yang Dalang’s house! By dusk, all those carriages that passed by Mr. Miao’s house came out from Yang Dalang’s! There were about a dozen carriages, all stopping there! No one knows who Yang Dalang was hosting inside!”
Aunt Fang was astonished, “Really? All those carriages went to Yang Dalang’s house?”
“Yes, someone saw it with their own eyes!” Aunt Jin, who was spreading the news, raised her chin, “Earlier, Brother Rong came to wash clothes by the stream, and I asked him. He said Yang Dalang’s new house is a green brick house!”
“Green bricks? Really? How much money does that cost?! No wonder Yang Dalang didn’t care about losing his land; he must be wealthy!”
“Yes, I never saw it coming! Think about it, Yang Dalang’s fortunes keep coming. Some people say He Ge’er brings luck to his husband, and I think it’s true. I wonder how He Ge’er’s family feels, staying at Mr. Miao’s banquet instead of going to the hot pot feast at He Ge’er’s house.”
Aunt Fang, who was gentler, said, “I was at the same table with them yesterday. He Ge’er’s mother and second aunt brought their children. His second aunt even bragged about selling lots of soybeans to the workshop and used that excuse to get an extra bowl of tofu pudding.”
“Gee, his family didn’t go, it must be so humiliating. If I were Yang Dalang, I wouldn’t want to see them–” Aunt Jin suddenly stopped.
From a distance, Zhang Mian, Miao He’s second aunt, approached with a basin of dirty clothes. She liked washing clothes by the stream when the sun wasn’t so strong.
Seeing both aunts looking at her, Zhang Mian found it odd, “Are you two washing clothes too? Why are you looking at me, is there something you need?”
Aunt Jin, with a look of enjoying the spectacle, said, “We were just wondering, Aunt Mian, did anyone from your family go to Yang Dalang’s hot pot feast yesterday?”
Zhang Mian immediately shook her head, “Yesterday? Our whole family went to Mr. Miao’s banquet, we didn’t have time for anything else! Aunt Fang, we were at the same table.”
Aunt Fang smiled awkwardly. Aunt Jin continued, “But Yang Dalang is your son-in-law. Isn’t it disrespectful not to attend his feast?”
Zhang Mian snorted, “Respect? Does Yang Dalang’s face matter more than Mr. Miao’s? Besides, when he married He Ge’er, the bride price was so poor, he didn’t even bring any produce from the mountain he got. Respect is mutual, who can blame whom.”
This statement was rather biased. The bride price was agreed upon by Miao He’s family, and now they were backtracking. As for the mountain produce, Zhang Mian didn’t mention that Miao He’s family never visited Yang Dalang when he was injured. Of course, asking for money didn’t count.
But Aunt Jin just wanted to be sarcastic, “No wonder. I was wondering why He Ge’er’s family didn’t go to the hot pot feast at Yang Dalang’s, even though he has a new green brick house.”
“Green brick house?” Zhang Mian was stunned.
Aunt Jin smiled, “Yes. Yesterday, Brother Rong said Yang Dalang’s new house is made of green bricks. I wanted to ask you about it, how was it?”
Zhang Mian raised her voice, “What, green bricks?!”
Aunt Jin was about to speak, but Zhang Mian’s face changed, and she turned and left. Aunt Jin shrugged, turning to Aunt Fang, “See, she acted so high and mighty before. Now she looks like she’s owed something.”
Aunt Fang was worried, “Won’t there be trouble?”
“No trouble. The village is already buzzing with this news. They’ll hear it sooner or later. My words don’t make a difference.”
The two aunts continued chatting and washing their clothes, while Zhang Mian, seething with anger, hurried home.
A green brick house! That must have cost a fortune to build!
How could Yang Dalang afford such a house, and why hadn’t He Ge’er mentioned it at home!?
And Li Zhaodi, who’s usually so calculating, had visited He Ge’er’s house more than once, how could she not know?
Wait, no! She definitely knew!
Otherwise, with her personality, how could she not ask He Ge’er for money?!
Yes…
Recently, I’ve been smelling chicken broth at home but couldn’t find where it was coming from, could it be…
Zhang Mian, holding back her anger, softened her movements as she approached home.
She quietly opened the gate, sneaked into the courtyard, and crept to the house of the third family.
She sniffed, and sure enough, there was a faint smell of chicken broth!
Good, Li Zhaodi, let’s see what you have to say!
Zhang Mian took a deep breath and suddenly kicked open the door, shouting, “Sister-in-law, are you here!?”
Inside, there was an immediate “Ouch!” followed by the faint scent of chicken broth wafting out!
Zhang Mian looked around quickly, “Strange, what’s that smell? Sister-in-law, what are you doing!?”
Li Zhaodi, Miao He’s mother, jumped up, looking annoyed. “Second sister-in-law! Why are you kicking the door!? If you called, I would have come out. You could have scared the baby!”
Zhang Mian glanced around and saw only a basket of sewing supplies on the table. Li Zhaodi was holding a piece of cloth, and the earlier noise might have been from pricking her finger. The chicken broth was smelled but not seen.
Zhang Mian cursed silently but smiled, “Sister-in-law, forgive me, I heard some great news and rushed to tell you!”
“What great news?” Li Zhaodi asked, hiding her guilt. She had hidden the bowl of chicken broth just in time, listening for any sounds from the gate.
“Isn’t it about He Ge’er and Yang Dalang’s new house? They say it’s made of green bricks! Isn’t that wonderful!?”
“What!? Green bricks!?” Li Zhaodi’s eyes widened.
Keep me fueled with caffeine! Support me on Ko-fi! ?~(????)
D-day 8 !! ?o?.(??? ??)
You can also give me your suggestions for my next project (September). I’ll be happy to work on it ?
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Ugh, MH’s family is so dusgusting! I dare them to go to make demands form our bubus! (????)
Thank You for the new chapter (?`???)??