"Sister, what else should we buy?"
Leaving the Hundred Herbs Hall, Chun Ning continued to follow behind her sister, noticing that her sister wasn't planning to return home yet, so she kept walking along this street.
"Chun Ning, remember when we came to town, did we see a dock?"
"Yes, we did, but it's a little far from this town." Chun Ning thought for a moment. "I'd guess it's about two or three miles away."
"Alright, I understand." It's late, and the family is waiting for rice to cook, plus we need to brew medicine for the eldest sister-in-law. We'll visit the dock tomorrow.
Chun Nuan took Chun Ning back home, and the whole family eagerly awaited her.
"Sister, we gathered a lot of firewood."
The burned-down kitchen room's stone kitchen counter was still there, covered with dark soot that had been cleaned off.
"Sister, Sister Yan and I fetched water."
"Good, very obedient." Chun Nuan patted their heads. "Chun Ning, go collect some stones to build a stove for the eldest sister-in-law to brew medicine, I'll start cooking."
"The firewood for the fire must be dry leaves and weeds; tree branches and trunks should not go in first, wait for the fire to catch before adding sticks; don't add too much firewood in the stove's cavity; and don't leave the fire unattended. If a fire falls out, quickly use..."
Chun Nuan wanted to say to stomp out the fire with her foot but turned around to see the family watching in their elegant clothes and swallowed the words back. If they used their feet, it might lead to catching fire instead.
"Don't leave the fire unattended; when you see it burning towards the edges, quickly push the firewood inside; if it falls out, don't panic, use the fire tongs to extinguish a small fire, or scoop water with a wooden ladle to douse a large fire..."
"Be careful when washing the pot, don't injure your hands."
"When cooking porridge, judge the number of people and add water to the pot, then add rice..." The whole family was hungry, feeling anxious; we'll cook a bit more tonight. Chun Nuan explained as she worked.
The entire family, except the old lady, gathered around to learn.
Even four-year-old Chunxin was listening very intently.
"Sister, you're amazing, you know so much."
Chunyan admired her greatly; previously, seeing her sister getting covered in dust while following grandfather to process medicinal materials, she thought it was dirty and didn't want to play with her.
After suffering hardships, she realized what their sister used to do was all now invaluable experience for keeping the family alive.
Countless times, grandmother and mother mentioned that if it weren't for her sister holding the family together, the whole family might not have safely reached Shu City.
"Remember, always stir the bottom of the pot with a spatula when cooking rice, or it will stick and burn."
"This is what rice looks like before being added to the pot." As she cooked and demonstrated, once the water was boiling, Chun Nuan took out a few grains: "Look, the rice grains are starting to expand. Cook a little longer and they will burst open like flowers."
When the rice grains opened up, the water turned into rice soup, thick and fragrant, causing the whole family to subconsciously swallow: it's been a long time since they had such a meal.
"Did you see that? This is what cooked rice grains look like."
"Yes, we saw it, it does look like flowers."
"So, did you learn it?"
"Sister, we learned it."
Chunyan, Chun Shu, and Chunxin said in unison.
Seeing her three sisters claim they learned it, Chun Nuan just smiled.
She was sure they were the type to learn easily but fail when they tried; it's not an easy skill to master.
There's a saying: it's challenging to master skills without practice, the same goes for cooking. Cooking porridge is the simplest, whereas cooking rice isn't feasible to teach them now.
"Chun An, is the medicine for the eldest sister-in-law ready?"
"It's ready."
Chun Nuan handed the medicine to Mrs. Zhu.
"Chun Nuan, I'm really such a burden. The family is already... and I still need to take medicine."
"Eldest sister-in-law, don't think like that. Take your medicine, take care of your body, and make sure the child is born safely. Don't worry, hardships are temporary; we will be alright."
"Hmm."
Mrs. Zhu nodded, taking the medicine along with two drops of tears.
"Alright, let's eat now." Chun Nuan called Chun Yan and Chun Shu to set the tableware.
There was a worn-out eight immortals table in the room, with two crippled table legs; Chun Nuan asked Chun Ning and Chun Chun An to find tiles and stones to level it.
The four long benches were also rugged, sitting down might snag the fabric of their skirts.
Overall, the conditions were unimaginably poor, yet the family didn't show disdain, since they understood deeply that the Xiao family no longer had the luxury to be picky.
"Sister, the food you cooked is so fragrant, better than Aunt Zhu's."
Aunt Zhu was the Xiao Mansion's former cook.
When the Xiao Mansion faced calamity, with a sentence passed, household confiscated, and family exiled, they were graciously allowed to return to Shu City by the Empress Dowager, grandmother dismissed all the servants by returning their contracts.
Aunt Zhu and a few loyal servants wanted to follow but unfortunately, the family could only afford two carriages. The addition of one person meant more food, so grandmother gently declined them.
"Food tastes delicious when you cook it yourself."
Chun Nuan stroked Chunxin's head, answering with a smile.
Innocent child, you'll find everything appetizing when you're hungry.
What Chun Nuan didn't expect was, after eating the porridge in the bowl, Chunxin extended her tongue and started licking the bowl.
"Xinyi, who taught you this?" Mrs. Huang was taken aback, swiftly pressing down Chunxin's bowl.
Doing so was disgraceful! Uncivilized!
"I saw Liu Jie from next door doing it; she also used fingers to scrape her bowl. I found fingers dirty, so I used my tongue instead." Chunxin felt wronged about why Liu Jie could do it while she couldn't.
Didn't grandmother say? The Xiao family was no longer the same, none are the former ladies, surviving like commoners was the way.
"You..."
Mrs. Huang was about to scold a few words.
"Don't speak while eating or sleeping." Old Mrs. Xiao gently said. "Don't scold the child before meals."
"Yes, mother." Mrs. Huang lowered her head, feeling sour in her nose and her eyes turning red.
The Xiao family felt a pang of sorrow: during hard times, they missed past comforts even more.
The old lady once said returning to the ancestral hometown was a good way out, days wouldn't be as grand as in the Capital, but still livable.
Yet, the old lady underestimated the Xiao family clan's cruelty and the extent of hardships.
This meal started pleasantly but ended in sadness due to Chunxin licking the bowl, leaving everyone low-spirited, finishing their meal in silence and setting down their bowls and chopsticks.
Mrs. Zhu was about to clean up the dishes.
"Eldest sister-in-law, I've got this, you sit down."
Chun Nuan swiftly stood up again to clear the dishes.
"Sister, let me handle it." Chun Ning took over. "You're a girl, doing too much hard work will spoil your hands."
"Your sister isn't the kind of lady whose fingers never touch mundane household water."
Chun Nuan's hands were never pretty, with calluses from processing herbs in the Capital, washing, cutting, chopping. Her mother often lamented, worrying that she'd be undesired when she married.
"Sister, take a rest, we will wash the dishes." Chun Yan and Chun Shu took over, "Brother Ning should also not be doing housework."
"Get to work, learn to do it." The old lady spoke up. "No one is suited or unsuited for work, take turns cooking, washing clothes, gathering firewood, including Chun Ning. Warm has only one pair of hands; we can't rely solely on her. If she wears out, what will become of us?"