Chapter 18: A Glimpse of Her Cooking Skills

As soon as she entered the house, she saw little Gou Wang blinking his eyes while playing with his tiny fingers.

Luckily, there was still a bottle of warm milk in her space.
While Mother Yu was focused on her needlework, she quickly propped a pillow behind the little guy and popped the bottle into his mouth.

Once the baby was settled, she pulled a sack of grain out from under the bed.
Scooping out a large bowl of aged rice, she watched as Mother Yu found her needlework and carried her basket out with Yu Nuan.

“Mom, you go ahead. I’ll make lunch.”

“Alright, alright…”

With all the labor they were doing, they needed something hearty to eat.

She first went to the spring to clean a few fish.
She set aside the fish innards in a separate bowl.
The Dao Hua fish had tender, non-fishy meat, and even its innards were edible.
Crucian carp offal was tasty too—its swim bladder was chewy, and the roe was very nutritious.

She planned to save the offal and make a bowl of soup for Mother Yu.
A few small shrimp and snails were left soaking in water to be eaten the next day.

She also scrubbed some dirt off the roots of a small bundle of wild onions in a basin and soaked them clean.

With the ingredients ready, she brought everything to the kitchen, but first ran back to check on Gou Wang.
The bottle had rolled to the side. The little guy had drunk more than half, leaving a few sips at the bottom he couldn’t finish.

Yu Nuan tossed the leftover into her space, burped him, then returned to the kitchen.

Since they had meat tonight, she decided to steam rice.
The only issue was—they didn’t have a zèng (traditional steaming pot).
Fortunately, there was a bamboo steamer hanging on the wall.
It was probably used for steaming buns and such. Making the best use of what she had, she took it down and cleaned it at the spring.

There was no cheesecloth, so she ran to Mother Yu’s room and tore off a piece of coarse linen, washing it thoroughly to use as a liner.
She also found a small bamboo strainer that Father Yu had just woven and left to dry a few days ago.

She boiled the rice in two batches. Once the water was boiling, she added the rice and stirred constantly with a spatula to prevent sticking.
When the grains were soft enough to crush into two or three pieces but still had a firm core, she strained them through the basket.

She reserved a large bowl of rice water and poured water into the pot.
She placed the steamer inside—just the right size to rest on the pot rim.

She lined the bamboo steamer with the linen, then spread the partially cooked rice evenly inside.
Any rice clinging to the basket was brushed off with a bamboo brush—perfect for this task.

She poked a few holes in the rice with chopsticks, covered the pot, and steamed it for over ten minutes.

Once the rice was done, she oiled the pan.
She pan-fried five fish until they were golden brown and crisp, then set them aside.

Next, she added a spoon of lard and tossed in two dried chili peppers.
She had found those chilies that morning in a dusty corner of the storage room.
Some had gone black, but she picked out a few usable ones.

When the chilies released their fragrance, she added a ladle of rice water.
Once it boiled, she placed the fried fish into the pot to simmer.

While the fish was cooking, she split the wild onions into two portions.
The green tips would be sprinkled into the fish soup to enhance its flavor.
The rest she planned to serve as a cold dish.

First, she salted the onions to draw out moisture and reduce their astringency, making them more tender and crisp.
After wringing them dry, she poured the salty liquid into the fish soup to season it.

When the fish soup was ready, she took out the dried chilies, roasted them in a dry pan, crushed them, and mixed them into the onions.

She drizzled in a few drops of vegetable oil, which was fragrant enough to act as sesame oil.
Then she took out some light soy sauce and black vinegar from her space—just a few drops of each were enough.

A refreshing and simple cold wild onion salad was done.

Lastly, she used the rice water and a bit of lard to cook the fish offal soup.

As she stepped out of the kitchen, she saw Shenche had already put the two rabbits he brought into a pen.

She called out, “Dad, call Xiao Wu to wash up for dinner.”

Then she turned to set up the table and stools, laying out the bowls and chopsticks.

“Mom, stop working, come eat!”

Just then, the baby started whimpering again.

“You go ahead, I’ll check on Gou Wang,” Mother Yu said.

“I’ll look after him—please go eat first, we have guests.”

Mother Yu hesitated for a couple of seconds. “Alright then…”

She understood that with guests around, it wouldn’t look right for the mother not to eat at the table while the daughter did.
People might say the daughter lacked manners, and that would damage her reputation.

“Where’s Yao Niu?” Wu Linghong asked, holding a bowl and sniffing the fragrant dishes, swallowing his saliva.

Their family ate meat often and weren’t lacking food, but the taste…
Cooking was far harder than hunting.

His mother would cook sometimes, but the food was just passable—edible, nothing more.

Unlike this table of dishes—just the smell made him crave it.

He’d been dying to dig in, but when he noticed Yao Niu wasn’t at the table, his hand, halfway to the food, paused.

“She’ll be here soon after feeding her little brother. You’ve worked hard all day—go ahead and eat,” Mother Yu said from inside, following the voice.

Father Yu glanced at the large basin of white rice on the table and looked a bit distressed.

Well, never mind. They had plenty of grain now—having a couple hearty meals once in a while wouldn’t hurt.

Father Yu handed the fish offal soup that Yu Nuan had set aside to Mother Yu.
He poured himself a bowl of rice water—it was thick and rich, far better than thin porridge. He thought just the rice water alone was already satisfying enough.

“Mmm~ why does this wild veggie taste so good?”
Wu Linghong didn’t care about formalities. He buried his head into his bowl, took a big bite, then grabbed a chopstick-full of wild onions. The flavor—absolutely powerful.

He’d never found wild vegetables tasty before, but today changed his mind completely.

“That’s scallion grass,” Father Yu replied, grabbing a bite himself. He, too, was amazed.

It was flavorful and went perfectly with rice.
He used to bring back plenty of it from the hills, but in the countryside, wild greens were usually boiled plain—no oil, no salt.
While they had a hint of oniony aroma, they usually just tasted like chewing grass. They never brought out the full flavor like this dish did.

“Here, Wu boy, eat some fish.”

As he spoke, Father Yu picked out the largest Dao Hua fish and dropped it into Wu Linghong’s bowl.
He also served a bowl of fish soup to Mother Yu. The soup was milky white and looked delicious.

Wu Linghong took a bite—the fish was tender, flavorful, and juicy.
An absolute delicacy! This whole trip was so worth it.

Yu Nuan came out from the house to find everyone eating heartily.

“Eat more, don’t hold back. Thanks for your help today,” she said, scooping herself a bowl of rice and sitting next to him.

Only then did Wu Linghong, who had been fully focused on the food, notice that Yao Niu had taken a seat beside him.
He looked up with an awkward smile. “It’s no big deal. If you ever need help again, just come find me anytime.”

Though truthfully… he mostly came for the food.
Of course, he didn’t show up empty-handed—bringing wild rabbits or mountain rats to improve the meals a bit was no trouble at all.

“Mhm,” Yu Nuan replied, giving him a bright-eyed smile. What a great neighbor—capable and easy to get along with. Definitely worth building a good relationship with.

As a result, the last of the four fish ended up in Wu Linghong’s bowl.
He sheepishly ate it clean, then poured himself another bowl of fish soup. Drinking it brought comfort to both body and soul.

“Old Man Yu, Auntie Yu, Yao Niu, I’ll be heading back now,”
Stuffed and satisfied, Wu Linghong saw the sky was getting dark and got up to take his leave.

After he left, the Yu family sat in the courtyard, chatting.

“Dad, are the Wu family close to us?”

“His grandfather’s generation used to visit us often. But by the time his father’s generation came along, like us, they lived in a remote spot and didn’t like socializing. Plus, his mother has a leg condition…”
Father Yu explained slowly.

Turned out the Wu family was small in number.
His grandfather had been from the same generation as Father Yu—they were from Yangjiao Village, three villages away from Fangyuan Village.
Back in the wartime days, all of Wu’s uncles had perished in the chaos, leaving his father as the only surviving son.

His father died of illness when he was still young, leaving behind a son and daughter.
As if that wasn’t tragic enough, six years ago, his sister died of hemorrhage while giving birth.

Her husband’s family resented her for giving birth to a worthless girl, claiming the child brought bad luck. That very night, they sent both the deceased mother and the baby girl back to the Wu family.

After his sister died, his mother fell seriously ill too.
Everyone in the family relied on him.

Their farmland had been sold off little by little for medicine after his father died.
Fortunately, he became skilled at hunting and was now the only hunter in the village.
They managed to get by through hunting, but he was already 21 and still unmarried.

With a disabled mother and a niece to raise, and no farmland—something rural folks valued most—no one wanted to marry him.
He had become the village’s first bachelor.

Yu Nuan sighed deeply. His situation wasn’t much better than hers.
So that child was his sister’s—a little girl.
She looked about six or seven, skinny and small, her features still unformed, giving her a sweet and androgynous appearance.

If only she had cooked more food and packed some for them to take home. But now it was too late…

“That kid has a warm heart. Don’t be fooled by his fierce looks—he’s kind inside. During the rainy season, when roads got slippery, he didn’t even hesitate to carry me across ditches. Sigh, what a shame…” Father Yu trailed off, also filled with emotion.

Yao Niu and Wu Linghong were both good kids—just unfortunate ones…

…

Wu Linghong walked home quickly, still savoring the delicious meal.

He’d eaten his fill, but back home there was still an old woman and a little girl waiting for dinner.

“Mama~ Tiantian!”

“Waa~ Uncle!”
As soon as he opened the door, little Tiantian ran over and hugged his leg. Her uncle had been gone all day.

“Went to the mountains?” Wu’s mother poked her head out from where she sat on the doorstep.

“The land deal’s settled. I also helped the Yu family build a pigpen. If they had done it themselves, who knows how long it would’ve taken…”
With that, he pulled Tiantian along toward the kitchen to make dinner for the two of them.