Chapter 35

It was time for the New Year festival. All the uncles who worked away from home had returned, and hardworking student Xu Mo had finally gotten a winter break.

But instead of lounging lazily in bed, he got up every day to cook three meals for his younger siblings with his own hands. In between, he would copy books and flip through recipe books.

Today he had just gotten a new recipe for northern radish hot pot, and was carefully trying it out.

He peeled the skin off the somewhat shriveled radishes and tore them into small pieces to set aside.

The streaky pork belly was cut into small cubes to set aside. Then he soaked some sweet potato noodles, and it was ready to start cooking.

Usually, Zheng Ruqian and Fang Heng were in charge of lighting the fire, but today neither of them were around. Wen Zhiyun and Chang Yan looked at each other, and finally Chang Yan stood up.

It was Jiang Sheng who had chosen him. She said, "Fourth brother's hands are for healing the sick, how could he light the firewood?"

Fifth brother has a handsome face, but you can't eat a face. Only lighting the fire will allow you to eat.

The corner of Chang Yan's mouth twitched, but he had to admit she had a point.

So his hands, which had held gold and touched jade, now gripped the pitch-black fire poker, lighting flames again and again through repeated failures.

Xu Mo took the chance to add the pork belly cubes to the pot. After stir-frying them to render out the oil, he added spices and water, then the radish pieces, and finally pasted thin pancakes around the edges of the pot.

After stewing over medium heat for half an hour, the pancakes were cooked through so he removed them. There was still soup in the pot, so he swiftly added the noodles and simmered them for another half a quarter hour. The noodles had absorbed the flavorful soup, and the radish melted after one bite. The streaky pork was soft and flavorful.

When dished out into bowls, he sprinkled on scallions and coriander, and the fragrance spread for miles.

Jiang Sheng took a deep breath, but before she could cheer, she saw two figures pulling a donkey cart stop at the broken temple gate.

Zheng Ruqian and Fang Heng, dressed in tattered clothes with disheveled hair, rushed over. Zheng Ruqian took a big whiff first, then burst into tears. "It smells so good, the scent of home cooking!"

Fang Heng was not much better off, he kept salivating.

After being exposed to the elements for ten whole days, both men had tanned and lost weight. Now, seeing their siblings, their eyes reddened repeatedly. "Second and third brother have returned," Jiang Sheng said with a sniffle. "Why did you only come back now, you've...gotten so thin!"

Xu Mo was still relatively calm. He brought out two sets of clothes and a basin of hot water. "Wash your hands first, we'll talk after eating."

After a simple wash up, the six siblings gathered around the small stove again. Everyone held a small pancake and began to hungrily devour the food.

The meltingly tender radish was delicious, the plump, slippery noodles were delicious, even the streaky pork was aromatic without being greasy.

After the meal, Zheng Ruqian cradled his noticeably bulging stomach and laid down with a satisfied sigh.

Jiang Sheng licked her little white teeth, then suddenly pounced over to grab his ear.

Zheng Ruqian yelped in fright, tilting his head to beg for mercy. "Jiang Sheng, little Jiang Sheng, sister, good sister, don't pull my ear, let's talk nicely."

"Who wants to talk nicely with you?" Jiang Sheng said viciously. "Did you talk nicely to me? Taking Third Brother away without a word, suddenly disappearing for ten days. If you didn't come back, I would have thought you died out there!"

"And Eldest Brother, he had to travel to and from school every day bouncing in a pile of vegetables. And I spent twenty wen, you have to pay me back twenty wen!"

Despite her ferocity, Zheng Ruqian was not afraid. On the contrary, he snickered.

Only family would be so angry out of concern.

But his laugh made Jiang Sheng even angrier, and she increased the strength of her ear pull.

Zheng Ruqian quickly surrendered. "I'll pay you back, not just twenty wen, but two hundred, two thousand!"

He fished around in his clothes for money, and after a long while, took out two copper coins and placed them in Jiang Sheng's palm.

They had left with two taels of silver, but only two wen remained upon their return.

Jiang Sheng released her hand in heartache, unable to speak.

Zheng Ruqian took the chance to hide behind Fang Heng, still rubbing his ear.

"Second and third brother, you were in the wrong this time," Xu Mo finally spoke, with the steadiness of the eldest brother. "Leaving without a word for ten days, do you know how worried we all were?"

Zheng Ruqian had been all smiles with Jiang Sheng, but in front of Xu Mo he only dared to duck his head and honestly explain.

"It took us eight days just traveling there and back these ten days. The remaining two days we went back and forth hauling vegetables in Yunshui County. Fortunately our efforts paid off, and I hauled back a cart full of vegetables."

"We really did suffer wind and frost while away these ten days. Life was not easy, but fortunately we had money, so food and lodging was not a concern." Zheng Ruqian sighed. "Just ten days and third brother and I couldn't take it already. I really don't know how little Jiang Sheng survived seven years of wandering."

A full seven years!

Zheng Ruqian felt deeply pained imagining how bitter those years of homelessness were for Jiang Sheng. Thankfully, she had them now.

Zheng Ruqian stood up straight, pointing to the donkey cart piled high outside the broken temple, and said proudly, "Eldest Brother, I've brought the vegetables back. If this county won't sell me vegetables, I'll go to Yunshui County to buy them. If Yunshui County won't sell, I can still go to other counties."

As long as he had a donkey cart and was willing to work hard, he could transport vegetables from anywhere.

Wasn't trading essentially about transportation?

Zheng Ruqian's smile faltered as he seemed to grasp the crux of the matter.

The real key to making a business work!

"Not only that, second brother also brought gifts for everyone," Fang Heng chimed in opportunely. "Those two taels truly were spent by second brother in a shrewd and fine-grained manner."

Jiang Sheng had been squatting dejectedly on the ground, but now suddenly leapt up and rushed to the donkey cart. "Where are the gifts, where?"

The brothers smiled indulgently.

After all, the little sister was only a seven year old girl.

Zheng Ruqian returned to the matter at hand. He took out the snacks he had picked up in Yunshui County and introduced, "I happened to come across these bait cubes on the street. They're said to keep for a long time without going bad, with a soft and chewy texture. Dipped in white sugar, they're even more delicious..."

Before he could finish, Jiang Sheng had already grabbed a piece and popped it in her mouth. After barely one chew, she swiftly spat it back out.

"Ptooey, what is this, it's so hard it nearly broke my teeth!"

Zheng Ruqian guffawed.

Xu Mo stepped forward, picked up a cube, and pondered briefly. "If I'm not mistaken, these bait cubes are a southern specialty. They need to be sliced and roasted until lightly charred, or boiled until soft before they can be eaten."

"Eldest Brother is indeed learned," Zheng Ruqian conceded with a nod. "These cubes are indeed a Yunnan specialty that I happened to come by. What I bought in larger quantities are still Yunshui County's local specialties."

Although Yunshui County was only one county away from Xieyang County, the temperature differed by four to five degrees.

Eggplants and green beans that had already frozen to death in Xieyang County were actually still surviving in parts of Yunshui County further south.

Not only that, they had also discovered a vegetable called jicai that was commonly eaten by Yunshui County residents, but had never appeared in Xieyang County due to geographical and other factors.

Zheng Ruqian pulled out two pieces, and everyone gathered around curiously to admire them.

Xu Mo silently took out books to look up information.

The next day, after Zheng Ruqian and Fang Heng had rested up, they delivered this cart full of vegetables to You Ran Ju.