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In that family, girls were the least valuable. The only one they valued was Chu Dashan, who was useless and couldn’t be salvaged.
If Xiaotao could leave that family, she would have a way to support her younger sister. It was just a matter of whether the Lu family would agree.
Lu Xinghe knew what Chu Yue was thinking, so he analyzed it for her. “Based on your parents’ and brother’s personalities, Xiaotao’s leaving the Chu family might not be far off. The key is whether you can be ruthless.”
Chu Yue looked at him, her face filled with confusion.
“But what happens after she leaves the Chu family?”
Lu Xinghe pulled the cart uphill, saying, “After she leaves the Chu family, we’ll take care of her. It’s just one more mouth to feed. A little girl doesn’t eat much, and she can help your mother with chores around the house and keep her company. When it was just me, Xingping, and Xing’an at home, Mother doted on little girls.”
Looking at Lu Xinghe pulling the cart uphill with effort, Chu Yue’s eyes welled up with emotion. She worked hard to push the cart to the top of the slope.
“But will Mother really agree?”
Lu Xinghe nodded, his voice filled with certainty. “Mother will agree.”
Chu Yue bit her lip and made up her mind.
“What should I do then?”
If it was about medical skills, she could say a few things. But when it came to strategy, Lu Xinghe was clearly more adept.
“From now on, ignore your family. If they dare to come, I’ll pretend to drag your father to see the official. After a while, when the famine becomes severe and they have nothing to eat, your parents will inevitably turn their attention to your younger sister. At that time, we just need to spend some money, and Xiaotao will be able to leave that family.”
Chu Yue frowned slightly. “But who should be the one to step up and spend the money?”
People from Banpo Village wouldn’t do. They would recognize her. She wouldn’t want to lose both her money and resources. If it were strangers, she wouldn’t feel at ease. She didn’t want Xiaotao to become a slave.
Lu Xinghe continued to pull the cart handle.
“Leave the next steps to me.”
Lu Xinghe’s tall figure fading into the distance gave Chu Yue a sense of security.
…
After returning home, they unloaded the brown rice and the backpack. Then, they asked Lu Xingping to return the cart and gave him a few red dates to put in his pocket for aunt Lin’s grandson.
Yun Cuihe watched Chu Yue take things out of the backpack one by one, and she said with a hint of heartache, “Those things must have cost a lot of money, right?”
Chu Yue put the things that could be stored in a hanging basket and hung it from the kitchen beam.
“Mother, the money is spent, but we can earn it back. Don’t worry about it.”
Yun Cuihe glanced towards the kitchen. “We should lock the kitchen door when we go to sleep later, just in case things get stolen.”
After hanging everything up, Chu Yue patted the dust off her hands. “Okay, I remember.”
She cut a small piece of fresh pork from the two pounds, while the rest was diced into fist-sized pieces and marinated with sauce, salt, ginger, and star anise. When it was ready, they could make braised meat that could be stored in the cellar for a few days. When they wanted to eat it, they just needed to take out a few slices.
After marinating the meat, Chu Yue used a hot pair of tongs to burn off the remaining hairs on the pigskin, then scraped the surface clean with a knife. She added a few pieces of ginger and blanched the pigskin in boiling water.
The blanched pigskin became translucent. After scraping off the fat, Chu Yue cut all the pigskin into small strips, setting aside a few small pieces. The rest she placed in a bamboo sieve to dry in the courtyard.
“Elder sister-in-law, can we still eat the dried pigskin?” Lu Xing’an asked, looking puzzled.
Chu Yue smiled. “Yes, we can eat it. Mainly, we can’t finish it all at once, so drying it will help preserve it for longer.” She turned her head to look at Lu Xing’an. “How’s the broth from the pork bones coming along?”
“It’s simmering now.”
Lu Xing’an couldn’t help but think to himself that since his elder sister-in-law had come, their meals had improved tremendously.
Chu Yue found a clay pot from the kitchen, washed it, and poured some of the almost-finished bone broth into it, filling it up to about 70%. Then, she added the pigskin she had set aside, as well as washed wolfberries, red dates, and ginger slices. She placed the pot on the edge of the hearth to simmer.
“Xing’an, be careful when you tend the fire. Don’t let the clay pot tip over. It’s for your mother.”
Lu Xing’an quickly nodded.
“I’ll be careful, elder sister-in-law.”
“Just add a few logs of firewood to the hearth. You don’t need to stay by the fire. It’s not as hot as it was a while back, but the area around the fire is still scorching hot.” Chu Yue poured a small bowl of peanuts into the pot, then covered it and reminded him.
“Yes, I understand.”
After the bone broth was finished, they started to cook porridge.
Since Banpo Village was nestled in a valley, the aroma of bone broth that had been simmering for a long time wafted out of Lu Xinghe’s kitchen and spread throughout the entire village.
Those who didn’t often eat meat were naturally very envious.
Many people came out of their houses, swallowing saliva and saying, “Huh? Who’s stewing meat? It smells so good!”
Those with a keen sense of smell had already followed the aroma to the house. They stood outside the courtyard and greeted Yun Cuihe. “Old Third’s wife, are you eating meat today?”
Yun Cuihe quickly smiled. “The kids went into town to get medicine for me today, and they craved meat, so they bought two bones to satisfy their cravings.”
The person immediately changed their expression. “It’s just bones. There’s not much meat on them. Why waste the money?”
Yun Cuihe sighed. “We haven’t had meat for so long. This is all we can afford. We can’t buy meat, so we just bought some bones for a taste.”
Upon hearing this, everyone lost interest.
Someone rolled their eyes and grumbled. “For the sake of their own taste, they’ve tempted the entire village to crave meat. It’s really immoral.”
Hearing this, Yun Cuihe was immediately displeased. She slammed the needlework in her hand into the basket.
“I don’t like hearing that. When has anyone ever cooked meat without making it fragrant? Has anyone ever said anything? Now, my family is simmering some bones. Are we stealing from you or robbing from you? What makes your mouths so foul?”
The person who had been scolding knew they were wrong. Seeing that they had upset her, they quickly dispersed.
Lu Xinghe closed his book and walked out of the house.
Yun Cuihe saw him and quickly got up. “Oh! Did I disturb your reading?”
Lu Xinghe shook his head.
“It’s fine, Mother. It’s getting late. I’ll go out and collect the grain.”
He glanced at the sunset in the sky and took the basket under the eaves before starting to collect the grain. Seeing this, Lu Xingping quickly took a dustpan and a broom to help.
Chu Yue glanced at the commotion outside and said to Lu Xing’an, “Xing’an, you go help collect the grain too. I’ll be fine in the kitchen. We’ll eat dinner right after we’re done.”
“Okay.”
Lu Xing’an added another log to the hearth and went out to the courtyard to help.