Chapter 22: With Silver, Anything’s Possible

Hu Dashan’s eyes were bloodshot as he yelled, “Hu Zhaodi, how could the Hu family raise someone as ungrateful as you? Even if we’ve severed ties, even if you refuse to call her ‘grandmother,’ she’s still an elder. Don’t you fear heaven’s wrath for treating her like this?”

“Heaven’s wrath? Honestly, I’m not afraid at all.” Hu Zhaodi replied coolly as she stood up, walking toward Hu Dashan with a cold smile.

Seeing her approach, Hu Dashan felt his scalp prickle. “Y-you… what are you doing?”

Hu Zhaodi gave him an innocent smile but didn’t answer. Instead, she kicked him square in the mouth.

“Ah… pfft…”

After his cry of pain, four bloody front teeth flew from his mouth.

Zhang broke into heart-wrenching sobs and immediately dropped to her knees in front of Hu Zhaodi. “Zhaodi, please, I beg you, spare him! We’ll never bother you or the Ji family again. Never again…”

“Hu Zhang, eleven years of abuse can’t be brushed off with a few beatings. Remember, it’s not about whether you come to bother me or the Ji family anymore—it’s about me settling my scores with you!”

With that, Hu Zhaodi straightened up, dusted her hands off, and strode out of the Hu family’s courtyard.

After she had walked a good distance, she could still faintly hear the Hu family’s wailing and lamenting.

—

Outside the Ji family courtyard.

Old Mr. and Mrs. Ji waited anxiously by the fence, worried that Hu Zhaodi might get hurt if things escalated.

When they saw her returning leisurely, the elderly couple finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Mrs. Ji asked, “Zhaodi, are you still heading into the mountains today?”

Hu Zhaodi nodded. “Auntie, I still need to make another trip. I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

“Alright, take whatever you need. Go early and come back early.”

Hu Zhaodi nodded, took some grain, oil, and vegetables, and asked Mrs. Ji for some pots, pans, and bowls before going toward the mountains.

Along the way, when no one was around, she took some onions, ginger, and garlic from her storage space to bring along.

The wild rabbit and pheasant she caught last night were enough to feed Mo Jinnan for a day, but he was still injured and poisoned. Hu Zhaodi worried about him.

She hurried back to the cave, only to see a young man dressed in black carrying a bundle of firewood toward the cave.

Hu Zhaodi frowned slightly.

At the same time, the young man spotted her. He immediately looked wary. “Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

They both spoke at the same time.

Just then, Mo Jinnan’s voice came from inside the cave. “Rufeng, mind your manners!”

“Yes, Master.”

Mo Jinnan stepped out of the cave, slightly bent over. “Miss Hu, he’s one of my men. Apologies if he was rude to you.”

“It’s nothing,” Hu Zhaodi replied with a faint smile. “Since you have someone to care for you now, I’ll take my leave. I’ve brought you some pots, bowls, grain, oil, vegetables, and seasonings. It should be enough for two days. I’ll come back with more medicine then.”

Thinking of last night’s roasted rabbit, Mo Jinnan quickly said, “Miss, we don’t know how to cook. Could you help us with that?”

Hu Zhaodi’s mouth twitched. “Sir, I’m quite busy. I still need to earn money to build my house, you know!”

Mo Jinnan smiled, pulled two silver notes worth a hundred taels each from his pocket, and held them out to her. “This is two hundred taels. While I’m recovering, would you be willing to cook for us?”

Seeing the two hundred taels, Hu Zhaodi’s face lit up with a smile. “Absolutely, more than happy to! I’ll get started on your meal right away. With silver, anything’s possible!”

Mo Jinnan’s subordinate couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth, silently grumbling to himself: Master! Since when can’t I cook? Give me those two hundred taels, and I’ll take care of you! Since when did you start trusting a stranger so easily?

In truth, Mo Jinnan wasn’t just interested in Hu Zhaodi’s cooking skills. He was curious about her background as well. She bore a striking resemblance—about seventy percent—to Minister Xiang Taifu from the capital, particularly her eyes and nose, which looked exactly like the minister’s wife’s. The first time he saw her, he’d immediately wondered if she might be Minister Xiang Taifu daughter.

But he couldn’t bring it up just yet; these matters required evidence. Besides, he’d never heard of the Xiang family losing a daughter. He needed to investigate carefully before drawing any conclusions; a mistake here could be disastrous.

If she truly was the Xiang family’s daughter, then where had the current daughter come from? And the girl he was betrothed to since childhood—was it this Hu Zhaodi before him, or the current Miss Xiang, Xiang Xinyu?

Mo Jinnan will resolved to get to the bottom of this. Truthfully, he found even glancing at Xiang Xinyu unpleasant.

Although he didn’t have any particular feelings for Hu Zhaodi, she had saved his life. Helping her uncover her identity would be a small way to repay her kindness. Besides, Minister Xiang was known to be a good and honest official, and Mo Jinnan didn’t want to see him being deceived.

Soon, Hu Zhaodi returned with washed rice and began cooking.

But, heaven help her—she had never cooked rice over a fire before! Even in the Hu family, she hadn’t done it herself. Since food was scarce, the rice harvested each year would be ground up and traded for coarser grains in town.

This was going to be a challenge.

She looked up at Mo Jinnan’s subordinate, Rufeng, and asked, “Do you know how to cook rice?”

Rufeng nodded stiffly. “Yes.”

“Then you take care of the rice. I’ll go wash the vegetables.”

“Yes.”

Leaving the rice to Rufeng, Hu Zhaodi took the vegetables to the creek to wash. She also pulled a piece of pork belly from her storage space, cleaned it, and brought it back.

Once the vegetables and meat were sliced, she saw that Rufeng had finished cooking the rice. Without further delay, Hu Zhaodi set a wok over the fire and started preparing the dishes.

First, she sautéed the pork belly until some of the fat rendered out, then separated the oil and meat into two bowls. She added a little oil to the pan and cooked some sugar until it caramelized to a reddish-brown. Then, she tossed in the pork belly, stirring it around before adding light and dark soy sauce, green onion segments, chili slices, star anise, ginger, and oyster sauce. Finally, she added water and let it simmer for the time it would take for an incense stick to burn.

Before long, the enticing aroma of braised pork filled the air.

Mo Jinnan inhaled deeply, thinking to himself, Keeping this girl around for her cooking was definitely a smart move. If I’d kept eating Rufeng’s cooking, I’d probably be unrecognizable by the time we returned to the capital.

With the braised pork ready, Hu Zhaodi whipped up two vegetable dishes. The three of them each took a bowl of rice and ate, savoring every bite of the meal.

Rufeng couldn’t help but notice his master’s chopsticks repeatedly reaching for the braised pork, so he didn’t dare take much himself.

After they finished eating, Hu Zhaodi casually ordered Rufeng to clean up, while she changed Mo Jinnan’s bandages.

She hadn’t really paid attention to his physique when she’d first dressed his wounds. Now, as he leaned back beside the fire and lifted his shirt, his abs were clearly visible.

Hu Zhaodi sniffed, silently thinking, Well, who knew this guy was actually in pretty good shape.