Miao Chu

Chapter 118 (The Importance of)
Hearing this, Cheng Erniang said, "It's nothing, just a little tear in her clothes. I guess she was careless. I'll mend it for her. She's just a child, you don't need to pay for it!"

Xiao Lian, who had been crying and was gradually calming down, couldn't help but burst into tears again upon hearing these words.

Cheng Erniang gently patted her and said, "You're perfectly fine, not hurt at all, so why are you crying?"

She herself grew up as a child, and ever since becoming an older sister and then a mother, she has been constantly on edge and has no energy left. However, Song Miao was fortunate enough in the past to have some free time to try to understand the thoughts of a child.

This morning, upon learning that she could go out with them, and even to a large courtyard, Xiaolian, after having breakfast, used the excuse of sweating to run back to her room and change her clothes.

Having lived and eaten together, Song Miao naturally knew that she had three sets of summer clothes. One was brown with patches on the cuffs, another was gray with patches on the shoulders, and the one she was wearing today was the most beautiful color, Xiao Lian's favorite, a light green. Although it was also patched, the patches were under the armpits and could not be seen unless she raised her arms.

She tripped and fell, tearing a large gash in the elbow of her clothes. With Cheng Erniang's skill, she would surely sew a big patch on it. How could she not be sad and upset?
Moreover, Cheng Erniang was just saying polite words, "She must have been careless herself." But to Xiaolian, it sounded like her own mother was siding with outsiders. It was clearly not her fault, yet she was being blamed. How could she not feel wronged?

As a mother disciplining her daughter, Song Miao naturally couldn't interfere. Just as she was thinking of how to add a comment, she saw the child look troubled. After hesitating for a moment, the child said, "Then I'll buy my sister a dress?"

As he said that, he turned around and left.

Although Xiaolian was crying, her eyes kept looking this way, and her ears were perked up. Upon hearing this, she quickly wiped away her tears, chased after Song Miaoyi, and swayed her from side to side.

Song Miao understood her meaning, so she called the child to stop.

Upon hearing the call, the other person turned around and stopped, appearing quite docile.

From the previous conversation, it was clear that the child was very stubborn. Seeing his troubled look and his words about "saving money," it was obvious that he was also short of money.

She stepped forward and said, "Although it was unintentional, it still startled someone and made them fall. How about this, if you don't have anything else to do, why don't you help Xiaolian peel mung beans and garlic here? Consider it as me helping out. When we're done tomorrow, I'll buy Xiaolian a new set of clothes, as a way of saying you got them for helping out, and give them to your sister as an apology. What do you say?"

The child immediately breathed a sigh of relief, nodded repeatedly, and said, "I have nothing to do, I'll help you!"

He then said to Xiaolian, "You sit down, I'll do the work!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Erniang hurriedly said, "That's not right. I'll buy it myself. How can I let you pay for it, young lady..."

Song Miao turned to her and waved, then smiled and said, "It's Xiaolian's birthday next month. We were going to give her a set of clothes to grow a tail, but Second Madam, don't nag. It's rare for a kind person to come and help us with our work for free."

He then smiled and asked the child his name and background.

The child said, "My name is Liang Yan, and my father is a镖师 (bodyguard/escort)."

She also said that she was eight years old this year.

It's quite rare to see an eight-year-old child participating in a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) mission.

But Song Miao thought that the world was so big that anything was possible, and that she was just being naive. She didn't think too much about it, and since she knew the origin, she didn't ask any more questions.

Liang Yan hurriedly washed his hands and went to take over the task of rubbing the beans.

Seeing this, Xiaolian had stopped crying, but was still a little embarrassed. She went over to help.

She usually doesn't like to talk to strangers, but this time was different. The two children worked together, whether it was rubbing beans or peeling garlic. Although they were all easy little things, there were still some things to pay attention to.

The two of them took turns asking and answering questions. Sometimes, even if Liang Yan didn't ask, Xiao Lian would take the initiative to correct him if he didn't do things well enough. By the end of the afternoon, they had become so familiar with each other that they started exchanging experiences.

Song Miao happened to pass by and overheard the two little ones talking together.

Liang Yan said, "I think it's faster to rub these beans by hand than to use a rolling pin!"

Xiaolian snorted and said, "Of course it's fast if you rub it once. Let's see if your hands hurt after you've rubbed it ten times!"

When it came time to peel the garlic, Xiaolian was very kind and said, "Don't use your fingernails to pick at it, or your fingers will feel spicy tonight."

Song Miao didn't really need them to do a lot of work. After seeing that they had been working for half an hour, she went over to check and announced that it was done.

Liang Yan still refused to leave, saying, "Sister, I see there are still quite a few garlic cloves left. Let me do some more work for you!"

Song Miao was about to refuse when she glanced at the ground and saw a trail of wet footprints. Looking down, she saw that Liang Yan's cloth shoes were wet. She then looked closely at his clothes. Although they were coarse cloth, they were quite new. However, the corners, elbows, and lapels of his clothes were half-dry, suggesting that his parents did not have much time to take care of him.

Ever since I came in, I've been hearing the child sniffling constantly; I wonder if he's still sick.

She then took some firewood from the stove, placed a small stove outside the door, and called Liang Yan over, saying, "Your feet have been wet all day, why didn't you say anything? First, bring a chair over and sit down, dry your shoes, be careful not to catch a cold."

Liang Yan said, "Thank you, sister. I don't have a cold."

But the shoes are full of water, how can your feet feel comfortable soaking in them?
He obediently moved a chair over, glanced back, turned his back, and secretly took off his shoes.

Just then, Song Miao turned around, intending to ask another question, when she noticed that his socks were not only old and torn, but also had two large holes in the front, with both big toes sticking out.

His socks had holes, making walking uncomfortable, but he seemed used to it.

The child was obviously very concerned about his reputation. Song Miao stopped talking, pretended not to see anything, and turned back into the house. Just as she was about to go back to work, Xiao Lian quietly ran over and whispered, "Sister, when Liang Yan was rubbing beans with me just now, his stomach kept rumbling loudly!"

As she said this, she seemed to think of something, and like an adult, she sighed and said, "When my stomach is growling so loudly, I'm really hungry and it's especially uncomfortable. I also drool a lot."

Song Miao felt a pang of pity upon hearing this.

The stove in the kitchen was already heated, and people were preparing the ingredients for tomorrow, some of which needed to be processed in advance.

She made a lot of red bean rolls in the morning, gave most of them to Zhu Shi, and kept some for herself in case she didn't have time to make any for lunch or dinner. Now she simply picked out a few and put them in a steamer to heat them up.

When Liang Yan dried his shoes and socks and carefully washed his hands several times with soap, and came back to help with the work, Song Miao smiled and said, "You don't need to rub the beans anymore. Just come and help me wash the vegetables later."

He then brought over the steamer, placed a dried lotus leaf underneath it, put it on a small wooden stool, and said to the two children, "You peeled a lot of garlic and rubbed a big bowl of mung beans, which has been a great help to me. This is a reward for you!"

Xiaolian had already been reminded, thanked them, and immediately took one in her hand.

The red bean rolls had been cooled for a while, and the temperature was just right for eating.

She took a bite, then turned to Liang Yan and asked, "Did you thank your sister?" Liang Yan nodded, but hesitated, saying, "I only did this much..."

Xiaolian said, "You helped me rub so many beans and peeled a basket of garlic, how can this be considered just a small thing?"

She pushed the steamer towards him again, saying, "Eat quickly, your sister said red beans don't keep well, if you don't eat them now, they might go bad tonight!"

Liang Yan then quickly reached out and took one as well.

The red bean rolls were about the size of a fist. Four were steamed in one basket. They were very sweet and fragrant. Even though they were reheated, they still tasted great.

Xiaolian ate a lot in the morning and at noon, and slowly tore off half of it before she couldn't eat anymore. She turned around and saw Liang Yan wolfing down his second one.

Seeing that he was staring intently at the red bean rolls in the steamer but didn't reach for them, Xiaolian whispered, "I can't eat any more. Can you secretly eat them for me? Don't let my mother see!"

As he spoke, he handed over the remaining half of the test paper from below.

Liang Yan's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked in a low voice, "How can you not eat something so delicious?"

Xiaolian was extremely anxious, so she quickly put her right index finger to her lips and said, "Keep your voice down!"

The latter took it and finished it in just a few bites.

When Song Miao came over to clean the steamer, she saw that there was still one left. She first asked Xiao Lian, and when she saw that Xiao Lian shook her head, she said to Liang Yan, "If you can't eat it now, I'll wrap it in lotus leaves for you to take home and eat tonight?"

Liang Yan immediately demonstrated to her that he could eat now.

After they finished eating, he insisted on peeling half a basket of garlic with Xiaolian before he would leave.

To Song Miao, this child named Liang Yan was just a passerby. She thought that once the matter was over, she would probably never have the chance to see him again, so she didn't pay much attention to him.

Xiaolian, on the other hand, had a rare companion. After playing for half a day, she kept talking about him after he left, even though it was just the time it took to eat a meal.

That evening, Zhu came again, saying that there was something going on at the slaughterhouse and her father couldn't come back for a while. She also said that since some of the customer's acquaintances or old friends might come to see him off the next day, and who knows which one might want to stay and have breakfast, it wouldn't hurt for Song Miao to make more.

"If they really can't finish it, I can help them eat it too!"

Song Miao agreed and said with a smile, "Actually, many of the dishes this time are quite time-consuming. It would be a waste not to make more at once."

Not long after Zhu left, someone came to deliver ice. A little while later, a servant brought a lot of fresh meat that Song Miao had previously told him to use, as well as a small bag of about ten chicken feet. She also said that she needed some pig's blood and liver, and that they would be delivered as soon as they were killed.

Seeing that it was getting late, Song Miao took the chicken feet, washed them, chopped off the nails, added ginger slices, cooking wine, and white vinegar, put them in a pot of cold water and cooked them. After taking them out and letting them dry, she deep-fried them in hot oil until they were golden brown all over. After taking them out, she immediately plunged them into ice water and let them soak slowly, making a crackling sound.

After frying the chicken feet, she put the flour that had been washed and clarified in the afternoon on the stove to dry on its own. She checked the rest of the prepared ingredients with Cheng Erniang to make sure everything was in order before going to the room that Zhu had mentioned and taking a quick nap.

The next morning, while it was still dark, almost past the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), Song Miao got up.

As soon as they finished getting ready and arrived at the kitchen, a servant brought them fresh meat, pig liver, pig blood, and live shrimp.

Pigs are usually slaughtered in the middle of the night, and by the time they are delivered to the various vendors, it is almost dawn.

Because it was delivered early this time, the pork on the stove even seemed to be bouncing around; it was incredibly fresh.

The live shrimp were extremely fresh, so lively they almost seemed to want to jump out of the wooden buckets that held them.

With so many good things to take stock of, Song Miao was very satisfied. She quickly instructed Cheng Erniang to proceed step by step, while she herself got to work quickly, for fear of wasting these fresh ingredients.

Although there were only two people in the kitchen, they were still working busily.

In the backyard, people were also everywhere, re-tying the goods, all worried that something might go wrong on the way.

In the crowd, a man with several men was checking each car one by one.

He looked to be in his early forties, with a dignified appearance, a square face, large ears, a turban, narrow sleeves, narrow trousers, and boots tied around his waist. Although the fabric of his clothes was ordinary, the color was a blue that was not commonly seen in the market, a shade lighter than indigo.

As he checked, he instructed the steward beside him, "After it's wrapped up, check it carefully again to make sure there are no loose or leaking spots."

The person in charge immediately agreed.

Just after finishing the inspection and jumping off the last mule cart, the man heard an even louder commotion outside. Soon after, several people came in carrying lanterns. As soon as they entered, the one in the lead called out, "Brother Xiang!"

The man hurriedly went up to greet him, saying, "What brings you here so early, Brother Zhu?"

He added, "I already said there was no need to send it, but it's making me feel uncomfortable!"

That Brother Zhu is Zhu's father.

Zhu the butcher laughed and said, "If it were just me, there wouldn't be much to give you. But I was thinking that since Brother Xiang has been here these past few days, we've both been so busy with business that we haven't even had a proper meal. So today I specially found a great chef to make you breakfast. It's a bit rushed, but it's a farewell gift for you!"

He added, "I know you've always been meticulous, very particular about everything you eat, drink, and use..."

Brother Xiang quickly shook his head and said, "So that's what you meant when you asked me about the arrangements last time? I appreciate your kindness, but I'm in a rush to set off today and time is very tight. We brothers will definitely get together again in the future, and we can have a meal then!"

Butcher Zhu then said, "Even if you don't need to eat, don't the others who come to help also need to eat? Are you expecting them to leave hungry?"

He added, "I've already arranged their portions..."

As he was speaking, he squinted and looked around, then pointed to Cheng Erniang, who was placing portions of glutinous rice on a table in the corner, and said, "The people have already been divided up. It's the same if they eat before they leave!"

As he spoke, he dragged his brother Xiang Yuan forward and called out to the people in the courtyard, "Everyone, there's breakfast over there! Come and have a hot breakfast after you finish your work!"

Xiang Yuan had no choice but to grab the manager behind him and whispered, "Be careful. After you've eaten a couple of bites, watch my movements. If I shake my head, urge me to hurry up and say we're running out of time. Be firm. I'll pretend to be in a difficult position. Don't back down. Just keep dragging me away, understand?"

(End of this chapter)