The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 6 The Whole Family Learns
"Sister, is there anything else we should buy?"

After leaving Baicaotang, Chun Ning followed behind her older sister. Seeing that her sister had no intention of going back, she continued walking down the street.

"Chuning, do you remember seeing a dock when we came to town?"

"Yes, I've seen it, but it's quite far from this town." Chun Ning thought for a moment, "I estimate it's two or three miles away."

"Okay, I understand." It's getting late, and the family is waiting for rice to be cooked and medicine to be decocted for my elder sister-in-law. I'll go to the dock tomorrow.

Chunnuan brought Chunning home, and the whole family waited for her eagerly.

"Sister, we've collected a lot of firewood."

The kitchen that was burned down still has a stone stove, which was covered in black ash but has been washed away.

"Sister, Sister Yan and I carried water."

"Good, good girl." Chunnuan patted their heads: "Chunning, go and collect some stones to build a stove for your sister-in-law to brew medicine. I'll cook first."

"The firewood for starting a fire should ideally be dry leaves or weeds. Don't put branches or trunks in yet; wait until the fire is burning before adding sticks or similar materials. Don't put too much firewood in the stove hole; make sure there's space in the middle of the fire. Never leave the fire unattended; if any embers fall out, use them immediately..."

Chunnuan wanted to suggest stomping out the fire, but when she turned around and saw her family members watching behind her, all wearing skirts, she swallowed her words. If she really let them stomp out the fire, they would probably set themselves on fire.

"Don't leave the fire unattended while it's burning. If you see it burning to the side, quickly put the firewood back in. If it falls out, don't panic. If the fire is small, use fire tongs to extinguish it. If the fire is large, use a wooden ladle to scoop water and put it out..."

"Be careful when washing the pot, so you don't hurt your hands."

"When cooking porridge, add water and rice to the pot according to the number of people..." The whole family was starving, so let's cook more tonight. Chunnuan explained and demonstrated at the same time.

The whole family, except for the old lady, gathered around to study.

Even four-year-old Chunxin listened very attentively.

"Sister, you're amazing! You know so much."

Chunyan admired her sister a lot. In the past, she had seen her sister helping her grandfather process medicinal herbs, and her face was often covered in ash, which she thought was dirty, so she didn't want to play with her at all.

Only after experiencing the calamity did I realize that everything my sister had done before was experience that helped the family survive.

I've heard my grandmother and mother say many times that if it weren't for my older sister holding things together, the whole family probably wouldn't have been able to reach Sichuan safely.

"Remember, when cooking rice, you must stir the bottom of the pot frequently with a spatula, otherwise it will stick to the pot and burn."

"This is what the rice looks like before it goes into the pot." She demonstrated while cooking over a fire. After the water boiled and the rice had been cooking for a while, Chunnuan scooped out a few more grains of rice: "Look, the rice grains are starting to swell as they cook. If you cook them for a little longer, they will expand and bloom like flowers."

By the time the rice grains had opened up, the water had turned into thick rice soup, and a fragrant aroma wafted over, causing the whole family to unconsciously swallow: it had been so long since they had eaten such a meal.

"See? This is what cooked rice looks like."

"I see it! I see it! It really does look like a flower in bloom."

"Have you learned it?"

"Sister, we've learned it."

Chunyan, Chunshu, and Chunxin all spoke in unison.

Seeing her three younger sisters say they had learned it, Chunnuan just smiled.

She was certain that her sisters could look at it but would fail miserably when they tried to do it; it wasn't an easy skill to master.

There are no experts in boiling sugar and making wine, and the same goes for cooking rice. Cooking porridge is the simplest operation, and there are no resources to teach them how to cook dry rice.

"Chun'an, is your medicine ready, sister-in-law?"

"All right."

Chunnuan brought the medicine to Zhu.

"Spring warmth, I'm so useless, the family was already in trouble... and I still need to take medicine."

"Eldest sister-in-law, you mustn't think like that. Take your medicine first, take good care of your health, and give birth to your baby safely. Don't worry, the hardships are only temporary, we will get better." "Okay."

Zhu nodded, took the medicine, and swallowed it down along with two drops of clear tears.

"Alright, let's eat." Chunnuan called to Chunyan and Chunshu to set out the bowls and chopsticks.

Inside the house was a dilapidated eight-immortal table, two of which were broken. Chunnuan asked Chunning and Chunchunan to find tiles and stones to level it.

The four benches were also uneven and bumpy; sitting on them could cause the fabric of your skirt to snag and fray.

In short, the conditions were worse than anyone could have imagined, but the whole family showed no sign of displeasure, because they knew very well that the Xiao family no longer had the right to look down on them.

"Sister, your cooking smells so good, even better than Aunt Zhu's and the others' cooking."

Aunt Zhu was the cook in the Xiao family's household.

When the Xiao family was implicated in the incident, they were beheaded, their property confiscated, and they were exiled. However, thanks to the Empress Dowager's grace, the female relatives were allowed to return to Sichuan, and my grandmother returned all the servants' indentures.

Aunt Zhu and several loyal servants wanted to follow, but since the family could only afford two carriages, and each additional person meant more food, the grandmother politely declined their request.

"Homemade food always tastes the best."

Chunnuan patted Chunxin's head and answered with a smile.

Silly child, when you're hungry, everything tastes good.

To Chunnuan's surprise, after Chunxin ate the porridge in her bowl, she stuck out her tongue and licked the bowl.

"Xin'er, who taught you to do this?" Madam Huang was shocked and shoved Chunxin's bowl down.

That's so shameful! It shows a complete lack of manners.

“I saw Luo Liu Mei next door eating like that. She even scraped the bowl with her fingers. I thought fingers were dirty, so I licked it with my tongue.” Chun Xin felt wronged. Why could Luo Liu Mei do it but she couldn’t?
Grandmother said that the Xiao family is no longer the Xiao family it used to be. No one is a lady or young lady anymore. They can only survive like ordinary people.

"you……"

Huang was about to say a few words of reprimand.

"One should not speak while eating or sleeping," said Old Mrs. Xiao softly. "One should not scold the children before meals."

"Yes, Mother." Madam Huang lowered her head, her nose stinging and her eyes reddening.

The Xiao family members were all feeling bad: the more difficult the situation, the more they thought about the past.

The old lady once said that returning to her ancestral home was a good way out; although life there wouldn't be as good as in the capital, it wouldn't be too hard either.

However, the old lady underestimated the ruthlessness of the Xiao clan and the extent of their suffering.

The meal was originally quite pleasant, but Chunxin licked her bowl, which made everyone feel down and sad. They silently finished their meal and put down their chopsticks.

Zhu was going to collect the dishes.

"Eldest sister-in-law, I'm here. Please sit down."

Chunnuan quickly stood up to clear the dishes.

"Sister, let me do it." Chun Ning took over: "You're a girl, if you do too much rough work your hands won't look pretty."

"Your sister isn't some pampered young lady who never lifts a finger."

Chunnuan's hands have never looked good. Because she used to wash, rinse, cut, and chop herbs in the capital, she has a lot of calluses on her hands. Her mother has complained more than once, worrying that her son-in-law will dislike her after she gets married.

"Sister, take a break, we'll wash these dishes." Chunyan and Chunshu snatched the bowls away, saying, "Brother Ning is a man, he's not suited to do housework."

"Go ahead and do it, everyone learn to do it." The old lady spoke up: "There's no such thing as someone who's unsuitable for doing something. It's good for you all to take turns cooking, washing clothes, and chopping firewood. Chun Ning is no exception. Nuan Nuan only has two hands, we can't rely on her for everything. What will our family do if she gets exhausted?"

Babies, Zhizhi has a new story! Please give it your support!
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(End of this chapter)