Chapter 35: Chapter 35 This Profligate Woman Cheng Su woke up in the late afternoon and sat dazedly for a while before she got out of bed. As expected, Mother Qi called her to prepare dinner.
In the countryside, kitchen stoves were usually built at the sa ti as the house, and Old Qi’s house was no exception. The stove, built with stones and cent, had two large and two small openings. A large cauldron sat on one of the larger ones, while one of the smaller ones held a rice pot, leaving the other empty.
When Cheng Su entered, sothing was being boiled over the wood fire in the large stove, emitting a sour sll that was extrely unpleasant.
She approached and lifted the lid. Steam rushed at her face, and she quickly stepped back to take a look. Inside, a mix of things had been stewed to mush: bran, finely chopped sweet potato leaves, greens, and all sorts of other things.
Pig feed, once again pig feed.
Although she had seen it frequently over the past month, Cheng Su still found the sll sowhat unbearable. She covered the pot, turned around, and took another pot to rinse the rice.
"Six bowls of rice will be enough for tonight. Don’t cook too much. With the heat, leftovers quickly spoil, and we can’t afford your wastefulness, having leftovers every day!" Mother Qi, standing at the kitchen entrance, spoke at so point.
Cheng Su responded.
Having gone from a novice at starting a kitchen fire to becoming quite adept after nurous attempts, Cheng Su soon had the rice cooking.
"The eggplants in the garden have grown large. Pick so to cook, and just boiling a handful of greens will be enough," Mother Qi said as she ca to collect the pig feed in a bucket, offhandedly instructing Cheng Su.
Vegetarian dinner again?
Frowning slightly, Cheng Su went behind the house to the vegetable garden and the trellised fra, picking several large eggplants. She also uprooted five heads of romaine lettuce and, rembering the bag of eggs by the rice bin, gathered a handful of scallions as well.
Even with a vegetarian al, she could cook sothing delicious. She made braised eggplant, garlic stir-fried lettuce, and scrambled three eggs mixed with chopped scallions to make a pancake, neatly sliced into attractive triangles that whetted the appetite.
By the ti the rice was done and the fire was out, Cheng Su had also finished preparing the simple three-dish al.
As the lights of a hundred hos ca on, the Qi family returned, and Cheng Su called Qi Fengping to help set the table for dinner.
"My God! You wasteful woman, did you turn over an entire canister of oil?" Mother Qi exclaid upon sitting down at the table, pointing at the braised eggplant and scolding Cheng Su, "How many tis have I told you, don’t use so much oil. You never listen. As if you have the money to buy oil, you don’t earn a penny, but you sure know how to spend it..."
Cheng Su didn’t speak, just stared fixedly at Mother Qi with a stern face.
Qi Fengping, who had been enjoying the drama, saw her sister-in-law’s expression and suddenly recalled the aura Cheng Su had around her at the hospital by the delivery room the day before, which sent a shiver down her spine, and she subconsciously bumped Mother Qi’s arm.
Mother Qi also felt sothing was amiss when she saw Cheng Su’s expression and stubbornly said, "What now, did I say sothing wrong to you?"
"Mother-in-law, you didn’t say anything wrong. Therefore, I’ve decided. In a few days, I will go to Qing City to find a job and earn money!" Cheng Su glanced at the dishes on the table and said, "I’m not hungry. I won’t eat tonight." She then returned to her room.
Her stance was so assertive that it left people astonished.
"Look at her, your precious daughter-in-law, what an attitude!" Mother Qi was furious.
Father Qi, with a stern face, said, "What attitude? It’s good that she’s standing her ground. Otherwise, would Fenglian still be here yesterday? A bit more oil won’t kill anyone, but you had to make a fuss. Let’s eat!"
Mother Qi, choked with anger and her face purpling, found herself unable to retort and simply huffed with frustration.
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