Chapter 238

“I don’t know her well, really! Not at all.” Hu Wenhua lowered his voice, still somewhat panicked, fearing Ding Jiajia might misunderstand.

Ding Jiajia softly replied, “Mm.”

She was just surprised that Zhang Chunhua could call him Wenhua Ge (Brother Wenhua) so intimately. She had known him for a long time, yet they had hardly spoken a few times. When would she be able to call him so openly?

Besides, he didn’t need to explain to her. In the village, other girls also called men “brother,” although not as intimately as Zhang Chunhua. Maybe it was just Zhang Chunhua’s habit.

Hu Wenhua thought Ding Jiajia didn’t believe him, making him even more anxious. His burly frame instinctively stepped forward again, casting a shadow over the delicate and slender girl.

Ding Jiajia looked up. They were very close, closer than they had ever been before. So close that Hu Wenhua could see the soft little hairs on her fair cheeks and his reflection in her moist eyes.

Her eyes had him in them.

Hu Wenhua suddenly forgot what he wanted to say, only feeling unbearably hot all over!

“Jiajia, Jiajia!” Fan Erzhu and Fan Sanzhu ran over from behind, calling out eagerly.

Hu Wenhua abruptly snapped back to reality, taking a large step back to create some distance, but not too far. He stood there, glaring at the two men.

He had never called her like that!

Fan Jiang corrected them, “Erzhu Ge, Sanzhu Ge, my mom said Jiajia is her sister, so she is our aunt. You can’t just call her by her name; you have to call her Aunt Jiajia like we do!”

Fan Erzhu and Fan Sanzhu were stunned.

Aunt Jiajia? Why should they?

More importantly, if they called her that, how would they talk about marriage in the future?

“No way!” Under Hu Wenhua’s piercing gaze, Fan Erzhu awkwardly explained, “We call her parents Uncle Ding and Aunt Ding, so how can we call her aunt? Dajiang, let’s each go our own way! After all, there’s no blood relation, so it’s okay.”

It’s just that Second Aunt called her sister. It wasn’t like Hu Wenhua, who was Second Aunt’s actual brother. When he marries into the Ding family, Ding Jiajia will be his wife. How will Second Aunt still call Ding Jiajia sister then? She can’t call him her brother-in-law, right?

The more Fan Erzhu thought about it, the happier he became. His gaze toward Ding Jiajia was as if she were already his.

Ding Jiajia frowned slightly and took a few steps back. She didn’t like Fan Da’s family, especially Sun Jinhua, Fan Dazhu, Erzhu, and Sanzhu.

They had cursed outside her house many times over the years, and Fan Dazhu and the others had even thrown mud at her. Before meeting Hu Wenhua, she didn’t even like stepping out of her house or the land in front of it.

During her time at Shuiqing’s house, she thought she had gotten used to being around people. But today, facing Fan Erzhu and the others, she realized it wasn’t that she had gotten used to crowds; she had gotten used to good company. She still disliked being around people like Fan Erzhu.

Being around them was just uncomfortable.

“Ding girl, come and have some mung bean soup,” Li Erni shouted loudly from the other side.

“Okay,” Ding Jiajia responded, turning and running over without hesitation.

Hu Wenhua, who had stepped back, moved forward to block the two men trying to follow.

Fan Erzhu and Fan Sanzhu might dare to confront others, and they didn’t care about Ding Jiajia’s evident dislike, but under Hu Wenhua’s stern gaze, they couldn’t help but flinch and stop in their tracks, not daring to approach.

Zhang Chunhua was pleased to see Hu Wenhua blocking Erzhu and Sanzhu but not her. She walked briskly towards where the mung bean soup was placed.

Zhou Yu and Zheng Yan were taking bowls and spoons from the basket and scooping the soup.

Li Dani and Wang Qiuyue first brought a bowl to Ding Jiajia, then gave one to Fan Jiang and Fan He, then to Hu Wenhua, and kept the rest for themselves.

Looking at Zhang Chunhua, who was swallowing her saliva, the five pretended not to see her—there were only nine bowls and spoons, and the lady hadn’t prepared any for others.

Ding Jiajia held the big bowl, sipping the soup slowly. She knew this mung bean soup was made by Shuiqing, and only Jiang and He had the right to distribute it. She was just tagging along, and everyone only had one serving. She wasn’t good enough to give her portion to Zhang Chunhua.

She glanced secretly at Hu Wenhua. He didn’t need a spoon, drinking the soup in big gulps, showing no intention of sharing.

For some reason, Ding Jiajia felt a slight sense of relief. From what she knew, Hu Wenhua was a very generous person. If he really liked Zhang Chunhua, he wouldn’t mind sharing a bowl of mung bean soup. Since he didn’t give any, did that mean he had no feelings for Zhang Chunhua?

Hu Wenhua was also satisfied. Erzhu and Sanzhu didn’t get close, and Jiajia didn’t even look at them, proving he had done the right thing!

Jiajia wasn’t interested in those two at all.

This realization made Hu Wenhua inexplicably happy.

Zhang Chunhua glanced at Ding Jiajia and then at Hu Wenhua. Seeing that neither of them said a word, she stomped her foot, turned around, and ran off.

Fan Jiang and Fan He, unaware of everyone’s thoughts, only felt that the mung bean soup their mother had made was delicious!

Escorting Aunt Jiajia to deliver mung bean soup was definitely worth it!

Li Dani shared the same sentiment: “The mung bean soup the lady made is really delicious!”

The others nodded vigorously in agreement.

“It’s sweet. I saw the lady making the mung bean soup, she added a lot of sugar, and it was white sugar. The lady said white sugar tastes better than brown sugar,” Wang Qiu exclaimed.

She knew that white sugar was more expensive than brown sugar. The amount of sugar used was astonishing, and the fact that the lady shared such a generous amount of sweet mung bean soup with them was incredible.

Ding Jiajia took another sip. She had made mung bean soup before, using a lot of white sugar, but it never tasted as good as Shuiqing’s.

There was always a slight bitterness from the mung beans.

“The lady soaked the mung beans too, then poured out the soaking water to remove the bitterness before adding fresh spring water to cook them. It takes not just money, but also effort,” Li Dani added.

The delicious soup wasn’t just because the lady used a lot of sugar; it also took a lot of time and effort!

Ding Jiajia quickly took note of this.

“No wonder!” Zhou Yu said, understandingly.

Back at the manor, they didn’t like eating beans much—whether yellow beans, mung beans, or red beans. They all tasted bitter no matter how they were prepared, needing a lot of sugar to make them palatable.

But sugar was precious; who could afford to use it that much? And even if they could, they didn’t have it.

Here, they learned that mung beans and yellow beans could be sprouted and eaten, fresh and tender; yellow beans could be ground into a paste to make tofu, bean curd, bean sheets, and soy milk, all of which were delicious. Red beans could be made into red bean paste for buns, or sweetened into red bean rolls. The lady even said that red bean soup was good for warming the stomach in winter, and mung bean soup was great for cooling off in summer. Different seasons called for different dishes, and they finally understood how many ways there were to prepare and enjoy beans!

“The old folks at the manor used to say, ‘surviving a great disaster brings good fortune later.’ Is this our ‘good fortune’?” someone asked.

“Definitely!”