Chapter 71: Hot and Spicy Soup

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Hot and Spicy Soup

Just from what she’d heard, Ji Huan knew the Cao Family would make terrible in-laws. They were a family of real characters, and there was no telling how much trouble they would cause in the future.

But when it came to matters of the heart, things were rarely so clear-cut.

Hu Liang and Cao Yunyun were deeply in love. If these fifteen taels of silver really broke up the happy couple, they would not only have to face a storm of gossip, but Cao Yunyun might very well do something drastic as Widow Xie had feared. Even Hu Liang would likely have a hard time moving on.

"Aunt Xie, maybe we should hear Liangzi’s opinion. At the end of the day, this is about his marriage, and no one should make that decision for him. If he’s set on marrying her and you forbid it, he might end up resenting you for it later."

Widow Xie thought about it and realized she was right, so she nodded.

"You’re right. I’ll ask him at dawn. To be honest, there’s not much to ask. You didn’t see him. When we were leaving, that boy’s eyes were practically glued to her... And that girl from the Cao family was crying her heart out. Sigh! You can’t blame her for any of this. It’s her parents and her brother and sister-in-law who are absolute rotters!"

Ji Huan suddenly thought to ask, "What kind of person is Miss Cao? Does she know that her parents are demanding such a high bride price?"

’It wasn’t that she was being cynical, but it was hard to imagine someone growing up in that kind of environment and not being affected by it.’

"I’ve seen her a few times but haven’t spoken to her much. From what I can tell, she seems shy and quiet, and she’s a deft worker. She doesn’t seem to be cut from the same cloth as her mother. She probably doesn’t know about the bride price. Oh, forget it! For the sake of a decent daughter-in-law, if Liangzi has his heart set on marrying her, then fifteen taels it is!"

As she spoke, Widow Xie seemed to make up her mind.

As the old saying goes, a virtuous daughter-in-law brings prosperity for three generations. ’In any case,’ she thought, ’once their girl is married into our family, we’ll just have to limit our contact with the Cao Family.’

Ji Huan said no more. ’As long as Cao Yunyun has a good character, has her head on straight and can stand her ground, doesn’t listen to her family’s instigation, and is willing to build a life with Hu Liang, then things should be fine.’

Early the next morning, Widow Xie called Hu Liang into her room. No one knew what the mother and son discussed, but when Hu Liang emerged, he finally had a smile on his face.

After breakfast, the two of them took a mule cart to Cao Village.

This time, they returned before noon.

Widow Xie lifted the door curtain to the east room and flopped directly onto the kang.

When Ji Huan asked, she found out they hadn’t even stayed for lunch, just as she’d suspected.

"The Cao Family was all too happy to have us stay, but how could I possibly eat? Right now, I wouldn’t have the appetite even if you served me the finest delicacies."

Widow Xie pounded her chest. She was genuinely distraught.

Fifteen taels for the bride price, plus the money spent on shopping yesterday... of the thirty-five taels they had just received, a little over seventeen were gone in a flash. How could her heart not ache?

Sensing something was wrong, Ji Huan leaned over the kang and moved closer to her face. Sure enough, she saw the woman wiping away tears.

"Aunt Xie..."

Widow Xie didn’t want to show her vulnerable side in front of the younger generation, so she turned her face away. When she finally spoke, her voice was still thick with emotion.

"I’m just so upset... You don’t know. All these years, I’ve been scrambling for every meal, never had a single peaceful night’s sleep, always afraid I wouldn’t earn enough to feed everyone... We finally earned all this money, and I was just starting to feel a little secure. And now, in a flash..."

’Ji Huan could understand how she felt.’

’With no one to rely on and no sense of security, she had to grit her teeth and bear everything herself. To her, that silver was a beacon of hope, and with that hope suddenly cut in half, she was panicking all over again.’

Hu Liang had been standing outside the door for a while. He now lifted the curtain, came inside, and walked to the edge of the kang, his head bowed.

"Mother, please don’t be upset... I’ll earn back the money we spent. I promise I’ll work hard from now on so you’ll never have to worry about money again."

"How can I not be upset?" Widow Xie wiped her face and shot upright, her expression already composed.

"You tell me how I’m not supposed to be upset! Are the Cao Family rolling in money? Fifteen taels of silver isn’t enough, now they also want... want a new house built... Hu Liang, you tell me..." Widow Xie slammed her fist on the kang, so angry she was speechless.

’A new house? So there was another demand.’

Ji Huan looked at Hu Liang. ’Doesn’t he realize there isn’t nearly enough money left to build a new house?’

Hu Liang clearly understood Ji Huan’s unspoken question. "I didn’t agree," he said quickly. "They just said that the house still has to be built, but that it could wait a little..."

"You call that letting it wait? Don’t you understand what Granny Cao was implying? ’Have the house ready by next spring so it won’t delay the wedding.’ She’s forcing our hand! If we don’t build it, you won’t get to marry their ’precious’ daughter!"

Widow Xie pointed at him, panting with rage. "I’m telling you, Hu Liang, if they hadn’t waited until after we’d already paid the bride price to bring this up, I wouldn’t have agreed to it even if that girl from the Cao family were an angel from heaven and you couldn’t live without her!"

Widow Xie’s original plan had been to renovate their old house in the spring. She would give the east room to the young couple, Dacheng would stay in the west room, and she would build two new mud-brick rooms in the backyard for herself, her own mother, Ximei, Xiao’an, and Hua.

Ten taels of silver would have been more than enough.

Who knew the Cao Family would have the audacity to demand a whole new house and courtyard!

That insatiable bunch! They clearly saw how much Hu Liang liked their daughter and knew they had them right where they wanted them!

Hu Liang’s head hung lower and lower.

He didn’t want to put his mother in a difficult position, but he couldn’t just give up on marrying Cao Yunyun. He truly didn’t know what to do.

Ji Huan broke the stalemate between mother and son. "Aunt Xie, if they want a new house, then we’ll build one. It’s for our own family to live in anyway. If there isn’t enough money, I have some..."

Before she could finish, Widow Xie cut her off with a wave of her hand. "This is his wedding. Let him figure out a solution himself. If he has the gall to let someone else pay for his wife, then he shouldn’t have the gall to marry her in the first place!"

Hu Liang quickly said, abashed, "I... I’ll figure something out..."

’Widow Xie wanted to snap back, ’You? What kind of solution could you possibly think of?’’

But then she remembered what Ji Huan had said about not constantly putting down her children, and she swallowed her words.

When Ji Huan came out of the east room, Dacheng and Ximei crept over. "Sister Wan," they asked cautiously, "you said you were going to make us hot and spicy soup. Are you still going to?"

They could see their mother was in a bad mood and were afraid the hot and spicy soup was off the table.

"Of course. Food is the most important thing. How can we not eat?"

Ji Huan rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen.

The hot and spicy soup she remembered from her past required shredded kelp, dried daylily buds, peanuts, wheat gluten, and wood ear mushrooms, all topped off with a generous handful of chopped scallions.

A beef bone broth was the best base, but since that wasn’t an option, pork leg bones would have to do.

The large bones were soaked for an adequate amount of time, with the water changed several times to ensure not a trace of blood remained. Then, they were placed in a pot of cold water along with a large, pre-washed cut of meat. After boiling for one two-hour period, the meat was removed to cool and be sliced for later, while the bones were left to continue simmering for another two hours.

She and the children had started on these preparations after Widow Xie and Hu Liang left, so this step was already complete by the time they returned.

Hu Dacheng rekindled the fire, Dabao tended the stove, and Hu Ximei helped wash the vegetables.

Ji Huan poured the bone broth into a fresh pot and tossed in a few dried red chili peppers. The diced tofu, shredded tofu skin, shredded kelp, and sliced meat were all added to the pot and cooked until just done.

Once the pot came to a boil, she mixed half a bowl of cold water with freshly ground mung bean flour to create a slurry and poured it in. The soup instantly thickened, its surface covered in alluring little bubbles that made a soft, GURGLING sound.

Finally, she added salt, a proper amount of ground pepper and Sichuan peppercorn powder, and topped it with a small handful of chopped scallions. A pot of incredibly fragrant hot and spicy soup was ready.

The only imperfection was the lack of soy sauce for color and vinegar for tang. It could only be considered a castrated version of true hot and spicy soup.

Even so, it still looked quite decent.

Ji Huan practically had to drag Widow Xie up and push her down onto a stool, insisting that everyone try her new creation.

Widow Xie had no appetite, but not wanting to spurn Ji Huan’s kindness, she reluctantly took a bite.

But that first taste was all it took. She didn’t stop, and the first bowl was quickly empty. Then came a second bowl, which disappeared with a series of loud SLURPS.

The children also ate until their faces were beaded with sweat, and in the end, they scraped the pot completely clean.

Eating this in the dead of winter warmed them from the inside out, making their whole bodies feel comfortable. Hu Liang ate five bowls in a row and still looked like he wanted more.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Wan, what do you think? What if we set up a stall in town and sell this hot and spicy soup?"