The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 8: Showcasing Culinary Skills

When they returned home, Xu Zhizhi took her brothers to check on Father Xu. The wound hadn’t worsened, but it still hurt, and he couldn’t get out of bed.

She comforted him for a while before leaving. Mother Xu was taking care of him.

Xu Zhizhi picked out some medicinal herbs and laid them out to dry in the courtyard. She then asked Xu Da Niu to fetch water and Xu Xiao Wu to tend to the fire while she prepared the meal.

She still didn’t have much culinary skill, relying mainly on a bit of spiritual spring water to enhance the flavor.

There was still some meat left, which she sliced thinly. She also sliced the chicken-foot mushrooms, planning to stir-fry them with the meat.

For the side dish, she stir-fried sweet potato leaves with lard. Even in modern times, this was considered a delicacy, let alone in ancient times when food was scarce.

She steamed sweet potatoes, mixed them with flour, and shaped them into small balls, which she then fried until golden brown.

“Big sister, it smells so good!” Xu Xiao Wu stood beside her and said.

Xu Zhizhi skewered one with a chopstick and handed it to her younger brother. “Try it and see if it’s cooked.”

Xu Xiao Wu didn’t mind the heat and thought it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.

Once the food was ready, she brought it to the main room.

The family gathered in Father Xu’s room to eat. Father Xu had found the dough drop soup from the morning delicious, but he had thought it was because he was extremely hungry.

Now, tasting the stir-fried meat slices, he felt it was the best meat he had ever eaten in his life. It was undoubtedly the most delicious dish he had ever had.

The more he ate, the happier he became. He started to feel that breaking off the engagement with Jin Zijun wasn’t such a bad thing.

His daughter, Zhizhi, could cook so well. Surely, she could find a better man.

Mother Xu also felt like she was eating a heavenly feast.

The delicious meal eased the sadness and worry she had felt over Father Xu’s injury and the lack of silver.

Xu Da Niu and Xu Xiao Wu felt like the past two days had been a dream. They had been eating so well, and the food tasted amazing.

If their sister could keep this up and not revert to her old ways of constantly helping Jin Zijun’s family—washing their clothes, cooking for them, and giving them whatever little food the family had—then life would be even better.

Their mother would often take food to their maternal grandparents, leaving the family to survive on wild vegetables and a tiny amount of rice stretched into a large pot of porridge.

Xu Da Niu’s second uncle’s two sons had attended school for several years.

The third uncle’s son, Xu Er Niu, was still studying at the old scholar’s private school.

Xu Da Niu had also attended school for two years when he was eight. But after his sister became engaged to Jin Zijun, she spent less time working at home. With the family needing him to work and no money for tuition, he had to drop out.

If his sister hadn’t broken off the engagement, and with Father Xu’s half-year wages stolen and him injured, the family would have been in dire straits.

Now, Xu Da Niu wasn’t as worried about his father’s injury. After finishing the meal, he voluntarily went to wash the dishes.

“Big sister, didn’t you say we could grow bean sprouts to sell for silver? How do we grow them? Tell us so we can help,” Xu Xiao Wu asked after eating his fill.

A child so young already thinking about earning money—he definitely had a bright future ahead.

Xu Da Niu, having finished washing the dishes, also looked at his sister expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“What bean sprouts? What silver?” Father Xu asked, confused.

“Father, we can grow bean sprouts at home using mung beans. It’s quick—just six days, and we can sell them,” Xu Zhizhi explained.

“Father, once you can get out of bed in a couple of days, you can help me weave bamboo baskets,” Xu Zhizhi said.

Father Xu was not one to sit idle. Lying in bed, feeling unwell, wasn’t good for his recovery. Sitting still and weaving baskets should be fine. He said he could start now.

They could use willow branches for weaving. Cutting and splitting bamboo was more troublesome, so willow branches would be better.

“Let’s go cut some willow branches to weave,” Xu Zhizhi said.

“Okay, okay!” Father Xu said happily.

Although Father Xu wasn’t sure if growing bean sprouts would earn them silver, having something to do would ease his anxiety.

The three siblings went to the riverbank to cut willow branches. It was mealtime, and many villagers returning from the fields or heading back out passed by. They all looked at the siblings with pity, which puzzled the brothers, but they didn’t dare ask.

Xu Zhizhi, having drunk the spiritual spring water, had sharpened senses.

“Jin Zijun passed the imperial exam and is planning to propose to the Wang family,” one auntie gossiped.

“Miss Wang is an official’s daughter and very beautiful. Jin Zijun didn’t dare propose before he passed the exam,” another auntie added.

“Wasn’t Jin Zijun engaged to Zhizhi before?”

“Do you think Miss Wang will accept his proposal?”

“Hard to say. Miss Wang has been in our village for half a year, and many have proposed, but she hasn’t accepted any.”

“My cousin from the neighboring village said Miss Wang’s maid often goes to their village to deliver silver to a scholar there.”

“Miss Wang also frequently goes to town and even the county seat. How many people in our village have been to the county seat?”

“Sounds like Miss Wang is casting a wide net,” the old scholar’s wife commented.

……………

Xu Zhizhi listened to the aunties and grannies gossiping.

She roughly guessed that Wang Shishi had returned from Luocheng, the capital of the Great Sheng Dynasty, to this poor, remote mountain village.

Either Wang Shishi had made a mistake and was sent back to her ancestral village as punishment, or she had been schemed against by her sisters and could no longer stay in Luocheng.

In TV dramas and novels, the inner courtyards of wealthy families were always full of intrigue. Those who weren’t skilled enough often ended up as failures.

Wang Shishi probably wasn’t willing to spend her life in the countryside. To make a comeback, she needed to find a talented scholar from a poor family who could pass the imperial exams and eventually make it to Luocheng, ideally winning the top scholar title. That would allow her to hold her head high again.

Many noble families helped their daughters “catch” scholars at the exam results announcement. Wang Shishi seemed to be doing the same, but starting from the countryside.

Hmm, this Wang Shishi was no simple person. She might not necessarily accept Jin Zijun’s proposal now.

But none of this concerned Xu Zhizhi. Jin Zijun, with his fickle nature and tendency to discard one thing for another, clearly had poor character.

At twenty, he had only just passed the imperial exam, which didn’t suggest exceptional talent.

Previously, Jin Zijun had clung to the Xu family because they were relatively well-off in Qili Village. He had used the original Xu Zhizhi to help with chores and care for his blind mother, all while stringing her along until she was seventeen without marrying her.

He was a complete scoundrel, but the original Xu Zhizhi had been foolish. The villagers couldn’t say much to her face, but they must have laughed behind her back.

Thinking about this, Xu Zhizhi felt exasperated. Instead of nurturing her own brothers, the original Xu Zhizhi had chased after a man who looked down on her.

Even her second uncle and Mother Xu had opposed breaking off the engagement.

This kind of thinking was insane.

“Big sister, let’s walk faster,” Xu Da Niu said, having overheard some of the gossip.

Xu Zhizhi felt that her two brothers had good values, unlike her second uncle and Mother Xu.

As for Father Xu’s thoughts, Xu Zhizhi couldn’t recall much from the original host’s memories.

Perhaps the original Xu Zhizhi had been so obsessed with Jin Zijun that nothing else mattered.

(End of Chapter)