That day’s dinner left a few people very unsatisfied.
One of them was Zhuo Feng, the seasoned cook, who upon barely touching the dishes started criticizing – this dish is too watery, that fish is too oily. She lanted that young people just don’t know how to live economically, especially now when cooking oil sells at such a high price.
A perfectly good al had Zhuo Feng practically hormonal.
As soon as dinner was done, Feng Xing assigned the sleeping arrangents.
Xiao Xian and Zhuo Feng, uncle and nephew, would use his and Zhuo Feng’s room while Old Lady Feng would take Xiao Xian’s room. As for him, he’d temporarily sleep on the living room sofa.
Zhuo Feng didn’t say a word. She could only vent in front of Xiao Xian about Old Lady Feng’s continual nagging, as she didn’t want Feng Xing caught in the middle. But still, the old lady’s words left a knot in Zhuo Feng’s heart, and lying in bed at night, she tossed and turned unable to sleep.
"Aunt, are you still upset about what Granny Feng said earlier?" Xiao Xian wasn’t asleep either; recent events were too much to ignore.
"When it cos to my mother-in-law, I have a whole belly full of complaints. It’s not her first ti in Beijing," Zhuo Feng whispered. The walls in the small house were thin, even the coughs from Feng Xing on the living room sofa were audibly clear.
Listening to her, Xiao Xian laughed, while Zhuo Feng pumled the bed in frustration.
You wouldn’t know if you didn’t hear, but once you did, even today’s incident of buying rotten vegetables seed trivial.
Years ago, right after Feng Xing and Zhuo Feng got married and had just finished renovating their house, Old Lady Feng travelled all the way to Beijing. That ti, she brought a whole bag of apples – Shandong is famous for its apples and Feng Xing’s family owns several acres of them. Unfortunately, the apples got bruised during the train ride and lost their freshness.
After bringing the apples, the old lady went door to door giving away several pounds of spoiled apples to each neighbor. Fortunately, the neighbors were polite enough to accept them.
Zhuo Feng felt so embarrassed that she even argued with the old lady about it. Old Lady Feng mumbled that spoiled apples wouldn’t kill anyone; their pigs ate rotten apples all year round and grew fat just fine.
"You see, how can humans compare to pigs? And that’s not all, there’s even more outrageous stuff," Zhuo Feng grumbled in the darkened room, her eyes nearly blazing with frustration.
Later, like she did this afternoon, Old Lady Feng went to the vegetable market to buy soybean sprouts. Entriced by the low price, she bought several pounds. After cooking them for dinner, Zhuo Feng and her husband ended up with severe food poisoning, necessitating a rush to the hospital. Upon examination, it turned out the sprouts had been soaked in pesticide.
"What’s more infuriating was that after spending two days on a hospital drip, Granny Feng was completely fine, stubbornly claiming that city folks have delicate stomachs and should eat rough food to balance it out," Zhuo Feng was still quite new to marriage then, and more temperantal than now. She made Feng Xing suffer quite a bit in private. Eventually, unable to stay in the city, Old Lady Feng claid she was better off in her hotown and left, which sowhat diffused the tension.
As Zhuo Feng spoke, she suddenly recalled an idea: "Xiao Xian, I heard a piece of news today. Beijing is planning to host a winter flower show. How about we send the Daffodil left by Master Bai? It’s sure to win a prize, and maybe i Xiang will see the Daffodil."
"To compete?" Since that night when the Daffodil revealed its illusion, it had appeared normal. Visually, this Daffodil was indeed extraordinary.
Zhuo Feng repeated the details she had learned. Xiao Xian saw nothing inappropriate; even the best flowers wither off-season.
It’s better to enjoy things together. Mr. Bai has passed away, but his work should remain in the world.
"If we compete, let’s use Mr. Bai’s na," Xiao Xian suggested.
"The plant originally belongs to Master Bai, so here’s what we’ll do, let’s credit it fully – Bai Juyi & i Xiang. If we’re lucky and i Xiang is still alive, seeing the Daffodil might remind her of Master Bai. If we’re unlucky and she has passed away, at least we leave a morial," Zhuo Feng’s proposal was solid, and Xiao Xian agreed after a mont of thought.
Actually, Xiao Xian was already quite busy this winter break. During dinner, Mao Yi had called to notify her that the Knei Cup competition had been registered, and the first prelim would be this Saturday, in three days.
She still needed to find the appropriate kudzu, but what troubled Xiao Xian most was the feeding issue for the Space Sugarcane Seedlings; she wanted to get a batch of cables early, but didn’t have enough funds on hand.
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