Chapter 26: Mrs. Zhu Lodges a Complaint

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Mrs. Zhu Lodges a Complaint

Widow Xie and Hu Liang had been busy for hours. Now, they sat on their stools, staring blankly at the table laden with fragrant food!

This was especially true for Hu Liang. When Ji Huan had asked him to roll out noodles with white flour that morning, he knew they were in for a special lunch. After all, it was a rare treat for his family to eat anything made with white flour.

The pork cracklings, dipped in salt and pepper and melting in his mouth, had been savory enough to linger on the palate. He never imagined the real feast was yet to come.

Widow Xie looked at the table full of white flour noodles, and at the glistening dish in the center, and winced internally. She was worried for Ji Huan; the flour and meat had both been bought by the girl. ’How can she be so extravagant? This is no way to manage a household!’

Seeing that she was about to speak, Ji Huan quickly ushered everyone to the table. "Come, come! Eat while it’s hot, it won’t be as good once it cools down. It’s not often we get to render lard, so eat your fill. Who knows when we’ll have the chance again."

Seeing the children’s eyes wide with anticipation as they swallowed hard, Widow Xie relented. ’She has a point. How many times a year can we afford to render lard? Let the children enjoy a proper meal with meat for once.’ She picked up her bowl without another word and began to eat with the others.

Compared to their usually boisterous meals, the table was remarkably quiet. The only sound was the constant SLURP SLURP of noodles.

The smooth, springy noodles slid down, filling their mouths with a numbingly spicy and savory fragrance. A bite of the stir-fried shredded radish and pork cracklings brought with it an unprecedented sense of satisfaction that bloomed from the heart.

Even their past New Year’s Eve reunion dinners had never been this elaborate.

They ate until every pot and bowl was scraped clean. Everyone’s face was flushed with satisfaction. After the meal, they all scrambled to clean up, insisting that Ji Huan sit and rest.

Hu Liang scrubbed the pot and washed the bowls, Hu Dacheng swept the floor, and Widow Xie went to the east room to feed her mother the light-flavored meal Ji Huan had specially prepared for her.

After Hu Ximei finished wiping the table, she furtively pulled Ji Huan out into the courtyard, saying she had something to tell her.

"Wan, while we were rendering the lard earlier, I saw someone peeking in from outside the window!"

Their kitchen was built against the western courtyard wall, which wasn’t very high. An adult standing on tiptoe could easily see inside through the window, but normally no one would be so rude.

"Are you sure you weren’t mistaken? The window is covered with oiled paper, after all." Ji Huan had been busy at the time and hadn’t noticed any commotion outside.

Seeing her disbelief, Hu Ximei pulled her outside the courtyard to the base of the west wall and pointed.

Sure enough, a hole had been poked through the oiled paper in the bottom-right corner of the window. Below it, near the base of the wall, was a small stack of broken bricks, which bore the impression of half a large footprint.

"Did you see who it was?"

Hu Ximei’s gaze shifted evasively, as if she were debating whether or not she should say.

From her reaction, Ji Huan already had a good idea. "Was it someone from the Ji family?"

Hu Ximei was surprised she had guessed so accurately, but she nodded nonetheless.

"When I saw someone peeking, I ran out after them. I saw your third aunt... Ji Mingmao’s mother, running off around the corner of the alley."

When Ji Huan didn’t say anything, Hu Ximei said urgently, "It was really her! I’m not mistaken!"

Ji Huan patted her on the shoulder to show she believed her. "Besides Mrs. Zhu, who else would be that nosy?"

’It’s only been a few quiet days. What kind of trouble is Mrs. Zhu trying to stir up now? Or rather, what is the Ji family plotting?’ she thought.

Hu Ximei, however, had another fear. "Wan... are they... are they planning to sell you again?"

Ji Huan froze for a second, then smiled.

"Don’t worry. No one will ever dare to sell me again. The Ji family can’t, and more importantly, they wouldn’t dare."

It was also dinnertime at the Ji family’s home. The meal consisted of millet porridge and corn cakes, with side dishes of a large basin of boiled cabbage, a pot of stewed potatoes and green beans, and a small plate of green peppers stir-fried in sauce.

Ji Qingshan enforced strict rules, so hardly anyone spoke at the dinner table.

The meal was proceeding quietly when Aunt Kang suddenly SLAMMED her chopsticks on the table. Pointing at Mrs. Zhu, she roared, "Wife of my third son, get out!"

Everyone jumped, especially the eldest son and his wife, who hastily put down their chopsticks, not daring to take another bite.

Ji Mingfang looked at his parents, who were holding their breath, and sighed, placing the cake he had just picked up back down.

Mrs. Zhu, however, looked completely oblivious. "Mother, what have I done to offend you now? Even if you’re angry, you can’t take it out on me every single day. It’s just because you think I’m an easy target..."

If she had kept her mouth shut, it might have been fine, but her words sent Aunt Kang’s fury boiling over.

"You have the nerve to ask! We’re all at the same table, and I have to watch you stick your claws in every dish, rummaging and stirring. What are you doing, stirring shit?! Who are you trying to nauseate? Is there gold hidden in the vegetables, or silver buried in them? Do you have any respect for your elders at all?!"

Mrs. Zhu gave a shameless smile. "I was just looking for the good parts. If I found any, I would’ve given them to you and Father, of course. How could I not have you in my..."

"Bah!" Aunt Kang wasn’t falling for her act. "Cut the crap. I’ll just ask you this: wasn’t it your turn to cook today? You put down your bowl this morning and vanished. The moment the eldest’s wife finished cooking, you strolled right in. Your timing is impeccable! What, are we two old folks not good enough to eat a meal you’ve cooked? Or were you expecting an old woman like me to serve you?"

Ji Lianhuai, seeing Mrs. Zhu shooting him a look, spoke up lazily. "Mother, the things you say..."

"Third Son, you shut your mouth! What right do you have to speak? You’re the one who spoiled her! Look at her now! Useless at every task, but misses no opportunity to eat. All she does is gad about all day. Do you even know whose homes she’s gadding about to? Aren’t you disgusted by the filth she brings back!"

When Aunt Kang cursed someone, she didn’t just strip away their dignity; her words could shave the very meat from their bones.

In front of the entire family, even someone as thick-skinned as Mrs. Zhu found it hard to bear.

’Calling me filthy, saying I gad about all day, I can ignore all that. But saying I eat everything and leave nothing behind? Now that, I won’t stand for.’

She slammed her chopsticks down on the table, her expression souring. "What have I eaten? Mother, you tell me, what have I eaten? Every day, it’s nothing but cabbage and potatoes. We never even see a drop of oil. What could I possibly be eating in secret? Even that jinx gets to eat meat, while my son and I are the only ones treated poorly!"

Making a scene was Mrs. Zhu’s specialty. She pulled Ji Mingmao, who was still stuffing his face with food, into her arms and began to wail dramatically. "Oh, my poor son! Look how skinny you’ve become, you’re just skin and bones... You’re a child of the Ji family just like the others, but you’re treated like you were found in the street! You don’t even get a single piece of meat. You’re worth less than that little slut..."

Mrs. Zhu’s older daughter, Ji Xuechan, couldn’t stand her mother’s theatrics, and she especially couldn’t stand how her mother only had eyes for her brother. Snorting in anger, she nudged her younger sister with her elbow.

Ji Xuejuan kept her head down, fiddling with her chopsticks, showing no reaction to either her mother’s favoritism or her sister’s prodding.

Aunt Kang’s attention immediately shifted. "What did you say? That jinx ate meat?"

"That’s right!" Mrs. Zhu stopped crying and even scooted her stool closer to Aunt Kang. "...Mother, you should have seen it. A whole wok full of rendered lard, a huge basin of cracklings, and white flour noodles... The fragrance filled the whole courtyard..."

She had happened to pass by the alley next to Widow Xie’s house today, and the aroma drifting from the courtyard had made her mouth water. She found herself unable to walk away, desperate to see what they were eating.

And when she poked a hole in the oiled paper to peek inside, who should be standing at the stove, wearing an apron and holding the ladle, but that very same jinx!