Chapter 11

Jiang Manyue heard footsteps and turned around to see Li Guifen standing behind her, frozen in place. Without any courtesy, she instructed, “Mom, go ahead and start cooking. Don’t bother steaming buns—braised eggplant goes better with rice.”

Li Guifen wasn’t sure what came over her, but she actually obeyed and started rinsing rice for cooking.

Seeing that she was moving, Jiang Manyue didn’t pay her any more attention and refocused on the dish she was cooking.

In her past life, she hadn’t really used this kind of traditional earthen stove. Her skills in building a fire came from the original owner’s memories. She was a bit worried about managing the heat poorly and burning the food.

While rinsing rice at the well, Li Guifen suddenly snapped out of it. Why had she been so obedient? Just doing whatever Jiang Manyue told her to?

She peered into the kitchen and, feeling uneasy, quickly carried the rinsed rice back inside.

In the year since Jiang Manyue married into the family, Li Guifen had never seen her cook. She wasn’t sure if she actually knew how and was a bit worried she’d ruin the whole dish, leaving her to clean up the mess.

But when she stepped back into the kitchen, the braised eggplant already smelled amazing—surprisingly legit, even.

Smelling the fragrant eggplant, Li Guifen held off on taking over and simply started cooking the rice, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave. Instead, she stayed to watch Jiang Manyue cook.

When she saw the glossy, richly oiled eggplant in the pan, her eyes immediately shifted to the oil canister nearby. Seeing that it wasn’t much emptier, she finally relaxed a little.

“If you’re free, Mom, could you watch the fire for me? It’s a bit tricky to manage alone,” Jiang Manyue said.

Li Guifen had originally intended to supervise anyway, so when she got assigned a task, she simply sat down by the stove and kept an eye on the fire.

The braised eggplant simmered for a while before it was done. The scrambled eggs with chives were much simpler—just a few quick tosses in the pan and they were ready.

Since neither Lu’s father nor Lu Jun’an had come home yet, Jiang Manyue kept the dishes warm on the stove, waiting for everyone to eat together.

After a while, Lu’s father came home from work, and Lu Jun’an was dropped off by Jiang Hong and the others.

Li Guifen brought the dishes to the table, along with a big bowl of rice.

“Why does the food smell so good today?”

Lu Qingyou sniffed the air and couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

Li Guifen glanced at Jiang Manyue, who sat quietly without reacting, and casually said, “Manyue made it. If it smells good, eat more.”

Although the oil container didn’t seem much emptier, the eggplant clearly had been cooked with plenty of oil. Li Guifen figured Jiang Manyue must have added oil herself—she had plenty of money and ration coupons, probably including oil coupons.

Lu Qingyou was the first to scoop rice. After trying a bite of the eggplant, his eyes widened.

Just as Li Guifen was about to say something, she saw him quickly shovel in a large mouthful of rice, then grab a bite of the scrambled eggs. He was clearly enjoying it.

Lu Jun’an had been playing all afternoon and was starving. He eagerly accepted the bowl of rice and vegetables his grandma handed him and started eating quickly.

Li Guifen should’ve served herself next, but since the meal had been cooked by Jiang Manyue, she handed the ladle to her daughter-in-law instead, signaling for her to go first.

Jiang Manyue didn’t stand on ceremony. She filled her bowl, picked up some food, and began eating calmly.

Li Guifen was the last to start eating, but once she took a bite, she couldn’t stop. One bite followed another, and before she realized it, she’d eaten a whole bowl of rice.

“Nana, I want more! Lots more food—it’s so yummy!” Lu Jun’an quickly finished his half-bowl of rice and veggies. Normally, that was all he ate, but today he wasn’t full and clamored for seconds.

Lu Qingyou was no different. He inhaled three big bowls of rice like a whirlwind and was still eyeing a fourth.

The big pot of rice was polished off just like that. Luckily, Jiang Manyue had a small appetite—her first bowl was enough—or else they’d have needed to cook more tonight.

In the end, even the sauces from both dishes were scraped clean, mixed with rice and eaten. The bowls, originally greasy, looked like they hadn’t even held food.

Lu Jun’an licked the oil off his lips and let out a satisfied burp. “Auntie’s cooking is sooo good. I wish we could eat like this every day.”

He was too young to think things through—he just knew the food tonight was amazing, better than anything he’d had before. He didn’t notice the sudden dim look on his grandma’s face.

Lu Qingyou silently agreed with his grandson but, seeing his wife looking a little downcast, swallowed his own words and just complimented Jiang Manyue briefly.

As for Lu Jun’an’s wish, Jiang Manyue made it clear: she’d cook when she had time, but she had no intention of taking over all the cooking.

She just wanted to treat herself to a nice meal every now and then. Most of the time, she could visit her parents’ place for food or eat something from her hidden stash. No need to spend every day in the kitchen.

Lu Jun’an was a bit disappointed to hear she wouldn’t cook daily, but he cheered up again thinking he’d still get to enjoy it sometimes.

Lu Qingyou felt the same—he didn’t expect his daughter-in-law to cook every day. Occasional meals like this were already a blessing.

Li Guifen, meanwhile, secretly let out a breath of relief. For some reason, even though she envied other families with hardworking daughters-in-law, the idea of Jiang Manyue cooking every day made her uncomfortable.

More importantly, she and Lu had already told A-Ren to come back during the break and divorce Jiang Manyue. If she got used to having Jiang cook, what would she do once Jiang was gone?

So, with everyone lost in their own thoughts, dinner came to an end. Jiang Manyue washed up briefly and went to bed—she was thoroughly worn out from the day’s events.

She slept deeply through the night and woke up early the next morning.

Seeing the sky still dim outside, Jiang Manyue marveled at how healthy life was in this era—early to bed and early to rise, all very orderly.

With no electricity in the house, there wasn’t even a way to stay up late.

After washing up, she didn’t join her in-laws for breakfast—she wasn’t fond of pickles with porridge. Instead, she entered her “supermarket” to pick out something tastier.

As she passed by the shoe section, she glanced over casually—and froze.

She clearly remembered taking a third of the shoes from the stockpile before. Those plain cardboard boxes were perfect for shipping, and she’d even thought how convenient they were.

But now the display was fully stocked again, as if she had never taken anything.

Standing there, staring at the full shelf, Jiang Manyue felt a sudden chill crawl up her spine.

What was going on with this supermarket?

She’d taken those things—so how were they back again?