??17: Chapter 17: Heart’s Eye_1
17: Chapter 17: Heart’s Eye_1
“What are you two doing sitting on top of the hay stack?”
Li Qiao turned her face to the side with a smile, “Chunhua, Feng Hu, hello.
Where are you two off to?”
Peng Chunhua boasted, “Aren’t we closing the books today?
We got quite a surplus, so Mom said to buy so white flour and at to make stead pork buns.
It’s almost New Year’s, aren’t you making sothing nice to eat?”
“We’ve got so at ho.
Started preparing the dough last night.”
Qin Jin: “….” He had just learned from his grandmother her analysis of the team leader’s personality and had heard her arguing with Cai Hechuan, thinking she wasn’t dumb, but how quickly had she played the fool again?
Wasn’t it common knowledge not to flaunt one’s wealth?
Peng Chunhua didn’t believe it, as they were neighbors, she would have known if their family had bought white flour.
After a perfunctory response about the accounts, she brought up the subject.
“Your family’s accounts are clear, right?
Old Mrs.
Qin has a bad back and can’t do heavy work, and pretty much everything in the field depends on Jin alone.
You don’t earn much in a year.
I thought you marrying into the family would help out, but unexpectedly you’re going to retake the exam.
What good is there in studying?
You should help out with the work and lighten the family’s load.”
Qin Jin took over the conversation, “Does her helping out in the field and getting sunburnt make
look more incompetent?”
Li Qiao agreed wholeheartedly.
Peng Chunhua felt disheartened.
Why didn’t her man think like that?
She was busy all day long, and still her family took it for granted.
Li Qiao did nothing all day, yet Old Mrs.
Qin always said, “Our Qiaoqiao is exhausted from studying.”
She said with a tinge of jealousy, “Qiaoqiao is indeed lucky.” She nudged the man beside her, “Look at how Jin treats his wife.”
“Why feel sorry for him?”
Li Qiao nearly laughed herself breathless, and Peng Chunhua, huffing with anger, walked away with Feng Hu.
Not long after, Li Qiao and Qin Jin also went ho.
Li Qiao handed over the money she had collected to Old Mrs.
Qin, who was beaming with joy, “Qiaoqiao is really amazing, how did you manage to get it?”
Li Qiao repeated the process, and Old Mrs.
Qin kept praising her for her capability.
She went back to the room, put away the money, and started kneading dough to steam buns.
After two batches, there wasn’t enough dough left for a full batch, so Li Qiao suggested making so pan-fried buns with cabbage hearts for dinner.
“Sure, I just don’t know the recipe.”
“I’ll do it.” Li Qiao went down to the cellar to fetch cabbage, fed the outer leaves to the rabbits, and kept the hearts, which she chopped up and mixed with seasonings for the filling.
She rolled out the dough thinly, filled it with the prepared stuffing, and fried them in the pan until one side was golden, then poured in water to cook them through.
When they ca out of the pan sprinkled with a few sesa seeds, they were enticing in color, aroma, and flavor.
Old Mrs.
Qin was very pleased, “Who knew our Qiaoqiao’s cooking was so good, it looks delicious just by sight.”
Li Qiao smiled lightly, “Grandma, have a taste.”
“Ah.”
Qin Jin had already eaten one, his mouth shining with oil as he gave a thumbs-up, “It’s even better than what the chefs make in restaurants.”
Li Qiao picked one up with her chopsticks and took a bite.
She didn’t cook often and wasn’t sure about the seasoning; it was a little too salty, but the grandparents were supportive.
Peng Chunhua and her mother-in-law arrived together.
Sniffing the air, she asked, “What delicious thing did you make?
It slls so good.”
Old Mrs.
Qin hospitably invited, “Qiaoqiao made pan-fried buns, would you like to try one?”
Peng Chunhua embarrassingly accepted.
Her mother-in-law, Yu Feng, took a bite and juice splashed everywhere, “Oh, it squirted all over .
How co it splattered?
But the taste is really good, it’s like at, delicious.”
“It might be because I added lard.” Li Qiao brought two stools for them to sit.
Peng Chunhua teased, “I thought you couldn’t cook, and it turns out you can.
So why do you have Old Mrs.
Qin cook for you every day?”
Li Qiao was speechless, with Old Mrs.
Qin and Qin Jin having no issue, yet an outsider did.
Old Mrs.
Qin said, “Cooking isn’t such a strain on .
Have you stead buns at your place yet?”
“Not yet, just ordered.
You’ve already stead so, haven’t you?” Peng Chunhua had noticed smoke coming from the Qin family’s kitchen as soon as she returned, and was curious to check if Li Qiao’s words were true or false, but her mother-in-law was constantly asking her to do this and that.
Li Qiao generously offered the peanuts and lon seeds she had fried a couple of days earlier to entertain them.
Yu Feng grabbed a big handful, leaving Li Qiao gaping in astonishnt.
Couldn’t they eat there?
They still had to put on appearances.
“Next ti I want to eat her cooking, I won’t be able to,”
After having two pan-fried buns, Li Qiao went to the cutting board to continue making more.
Peng Chunhua followed and watched as the round dough, under Li Qiao’s hands, transford into exquisitely shaped little buns.
She sincerely remarked, “You’re quite skillful with your hands, do you do this often?”
Li Qiao replied, “Not really.” The cook at ho had taught her just once and she had learned it imdiately.
After wrapping the dough, she added a handful of wheat straw to the hearth.
Once the pot was hot, she scooped two spoons of lard into it.
That’s when Peng Chunhua turned away and retched out loud.
Li Qiao was startled, “Are you alright?”
“What’s the matter?” Old Mrs.
Qin asked, hearing the noise.
Peng Chunhua looked toward Yu Feng, who was continuously spitting out lon seed shells, boasting to Qin Jin about how Feng Hu had found a carpenter master to learn the craft and, after becoming skilled, could earn two to three yuan a day.
She felt displeased inside, outsiders seed to care about her discomfort, yet her own mother-in-law remained silent.
She waved her hand and said, “It’s nothing.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she retched again.
Li Qiao’s eyes fell on the lard basin, wondering if the sll of lard had made her feel nauseous.
She hurriedly put it away.
The oil was hot, and she turned her attention back to the pot.
Old Mrs.
Qin’s thoughts stirred, “Could it be you’re pregnant?
You look like you might be.”
“Pregnant with what?” Peng Chunhua didn’t understand.
“With joy, you’re pregnant with joy,” Old Mrs.
Qin could hardly hide her envy.
The neighbor, Feng Hu, was the sa age as Qin Jin and was about to be a father, while her own grandson still acted like a simpleton.
It was then that Yu Feng finally took a good look at Peng Chunhua, and with surprise exclaid, “Pregnant?
Then I might soon be holding a grandchild, eh?
You must do your best to give our family a plump grandson.”
Peng Chunhua fought against the discomfort in her body, “What if it’s a granddaughter?”
“Then you’ll do as your sister-in-law did and keep on having children.”
Li Qiao found this terrifying and quietly asked Old Mrs.
Qin if she, too, would be forced to keep having children if she only had daughters.
Old Mrs.
Qin smiled, whispering, “It’s up to you, a girl is just as good.”
Li Qiao was relieved.
The grandmother was indeed very open-minded.
Old Mrs.
Qin then asked, “Have you shared a room yet?” Where else would you conceive?
Li Qiao shook her head.
Old Mrs.
Qin sighed softly, then suggested, “You should teach him.”
Li Qiao almost choked on her saliva, embarrassed, she said, “How do I teach him?
I’ve taken the initiative before, but if I get into bed and don’t sleep, he curses at .
I’m afraid to defy him and get hit.”
Old Mrs.
Qin rembered what had happened to Li Jinhua and unconsciously grimaced—it had been quite a severe beating.
Yu Feng couldn’t sit still with the joyous news and took Peng Chunhua to see the doctor for confirmation.
Old Mrs.
Qin envied her to the point of self-pity, no longer wanting even the delicious white-flour pan-fried buns, and went to bed early.
After Qin Jin had his fill, he ran off.
Li Qiao was left alone to tidy up the bowls and chopsticks.
After she cleaned up the stove and swept the courtyard, it had already gotten very dark.
She was about to wash up for bed when Qin Jin ca back from outside, excited to take her to the neighboring village to watch a movie.
“My parents’ village?”
“No, the one to the east, Jiangpu Village,” Qin Jin said.
Li Qiao hadn’t seen a television since coming to this place, let alone a movie.
She found it very novel and agreed to go with him, eager to broaden her horizons.
….
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