12dz Chapter 30 Stir-fried Wood Ear Mushrooms
Chapter 30 Stir-fried Wood Ear Mushrooms
"Dad, it's almost noon, and neither of the second or third sons wants to cook. I only said a few words, and they're all trying to be like the eldest, making a fuss about dividing the family property. Our family is probably going to fall apart. Why am I so unlucky? Waaah..."
When Song and Zhao realized the situation was not right, they immediately wiped away their tears and started crying.
“Mother, how could you slander us like this in front of Father? We’ve been working so hard, embroidering and weaving, that we’ve almost gone blind. All we wanted was for the family to have more income. Lately, we’ve been busy and our hands have been slow. We’re about to miss the delivery deadline. All we wanted was for you to cook us a meal. If you didn’t want to, fine. How could you say such a thing? It’s heartbreaking.”
“Yes, Mother, your arms are almost broken from all the work. If you don’t want to help, fine, but why do you have to wrong us like this? If that’s really the case, we have no face to stay in this house anymore. We might as well pack up and go back to our parents’ home.”
The two daughters-in-law wept bitterly, and after speaking, they each went back to their rooms to pack their belongings.
When the second and third sons saw that their wife wanted to go back to her parents' home, they immediately became anxious and blamed Sun.
"Mom, how could you do this? It's just cooking a meal, it's not tiring at all."
"That's right, Mom. You don't do any chores all day, not even cook a meal. Are you only satisfied when you've completely destroyed this family?"
Sun was dumbfounded. Why didn't anyone believe her?
"It's clearly those two lazy women..."
Yesterday, the eldest son's division of the family property had already ruined the reputation of the old couple. Today, the second and third sons' families are also arguing about dividing the family property, which has made Mr. Shen furious.
"Shut up, all of you! Stop making a scene!"
“In the past, the eldest son did all the housework. Now that the family has separated, the second and third sons are busy with their own work. From now on, you will be in charge of cooking at home!”
Mr. Shen gave his wife a cold glance, then turned and went inside.
Having received their father's permission, the second and third sons also ran back to their respective rooms to coax their wives.
Sun was left standing there, stunned and incredulous.
The eldest son has separated from the family, so why should all the housework be hers?
Shen Xiaotang led her younger sister home and saw her stepmother standing in the yard, her face ashen and contorted with rage, looking both like she was crying and laughing. She was completely baffled.
She went to the kitchen to cook, but saw that the kitchen was cold and empty, obviously no one in the family had cooked. She immediately didn't dare to cook at home.
What if you work so hard to make it all, only to have the rest of the family, who are just freeloaders, divide it all up with her?
Now that the family has separated, don't even think about taking advantage of her anymore!
She found a large, unused iron pot, five pairs of bowls, chopsticks, and a spatula at home. She also quietly took out the cornmeal she had ground that morning and a piece of tofu, added some oil, salt, and seasonings, and before her stepmother could recover, she carried the large iron pot, the bowls, chopsticks, and spatula, while Xiaoyu carried the ingredients for cooking. The two sisters quickly ran out of the house.
He ran huffing and puffing until he reached the old house at the west end of the village, almost making his parents' jaws drop in astonishment.
"Tang'er, didn't you take your sister home to cook? Why did you bring the pots and pans with you?"
“Mom, when Xiaoyu and I got home, Grandma was in the yard, and I don’t know what she was thinking. She was crying and laughing, and she was gritting her teeth like she wanted to eat people. The house was cold and empty, so how could I dare to cook at home? While Grandma was not paying attention to Xiaoyu and me, we carried our things and ran out.”
Lin Shuisheng laughed and said, "You little rascal, you're much smarter than your parents."
Shen Xiaotang smiled and scratched her head.
She was educated, went to university, and worked in the workplace. Her parents were honest and simple, but not very knowledgeable. Compared to them, how could she not seem clever?
Shen Xiaoyu gasped for breath, “Mother, the house is so quiet, it’s so…so scary, thank goodness for my sister’s quick thinking.”
"Don't be afraid, Yu'er. It's good that you've moved here. We can cook here from now on. It's close by, so we won't have to run back and forth anymore." Liu gently comforted her youngest daughter, squatting down to wipe her sweat.
Shui Sheng is skillful and capable, and quickly built a simple stove.
"It's a pity that the well in this yard has dried up a long time ago. We'll have to ask someone to dig a new one another day. My house is nearby, so I'll go to my house to get water for now. This pot is rusty, so I'll take it back and clean it. I can bring a bucket of water back with me then."
Shen Qingchuan felt somewhat ashamed, "Shuisheng, I..."
"Brother Qingchuan, don't overthink it. It's just something I do. Don't be so polite with your own brother."
The couple were deeply moved. This was even more effective than having their own brothers at home. If their family members were like this, there would be no need to separate the family property.
For the first time, they felt that separating the family was the right thing to do!
"Shuisheng, you rest first, I'll go to your house to wash the pots and fetch water." Liu couldn't bear to let Shuisheng, who had been working all day, keep running around for them without stopping, so she immediately picked up the pots and headed outside.
In the end, it was Shuisheng who insisted on going home to wash the pots and fetch water.
Looking at the two pounds of cornmeal and a piece of tofu, Liu was at a loss.
"When Shuisheng built our house, for his first meal, we just gave him tofu and corn porridge. How could he possibly be full?"
Shen Xiaotang said, "Mom, don't worry, I have an idea. You can keep some cornmeal to make porridge, and use the rest to make some flatbreads. I'll also make some vegetables, and we can stir-fry them together. Isn't that enough?"
Yup!
Why didn't she think of that?
My daughter is much smarter and has a better mind.
"Okay, I'll do it your way, but where are you going to get the ingredients?"
Shen Xiaotang said mysteriously, "Mom, leave this to me, you don't need to worry about it."
The well-behaved Xiaoyu stammered, "Sister, I want to go too."
So, Shen Xiaotang waved her little hand and led her bouncy little sister out.
While cleaning up the old house in the morning, she discovered that a lot of wild wood ear mushrooms were growing on the abandoned roof beams. Since she was short of ingredients, she picked them to cook.
"Sister, can...can we eat this?"
"Why can't we eat it? You're too young to know. This is called wild wood ear fungus. Wash it clean, soak it in cold water, blanch it in hot water, then stir-fry it slowly in oil over low heat with some seasoning. It's crisp, tender, and delicious." Shen Xiaotang rolled up her sleeves and started picking. It would be such a waste to throw away something so good.
When Shen Xiaoyu heard her older sister say that the wood ear mushrooms were so delicious, she almost drooled. Her family ate hard cornbread and thin soup every day, and she had never eaten anything so delicious before.
So she immediately followed her older sister and started picking the rotten beams.
Soon, the two sisters picked a lot and carried it back in their clothes.
Afterwards, Shen Xiaotang ran back to her small vegetable garden at the east end of the village, picked a handful of scallions and a handful of spinach, and also picked a few green peppers. She was secretly glad that she hadn't run into her stepmother. If she had been caught, that old hag would never have allowed her to pick them and would have even attacked her.
When she returned to the old house at the west end of the village, her mother had already prepared the pancakes.
Shen Xiaotang picked and washed the vegetables. "Mom, you take a rest. I'll cook the vegetables."
In the past two years, Liu has been getting up early to cut pig feed, working in the fields during the day, and grinding tofu at night. Her eldest daughter has been cooking for her, and she has to admit that her eldest daughter's cooking skills are better than hers.
"Great! With so many ingredients and Tang'er cooking, we're all in for a treat today."
Shen Xiaotang skillfully heated the oil in the wok, first stir-frying green peppers and tofu, then stir-frying spinach with scallions, and finally stir-frying wood ear mushrooms.