Chapter 47 – Mouth-Watering

Yan Fengru didn’t return until evening, once again laden with large and small bundles—clearly having made a fruitful trip. She came back together with Yan Xinghe.

The two siblings had their hands full with all sorts of goods.

This trip to town had been particularly productive. Because they were preparing to build a new house, they’d made contact with a brick kiln.

Even Yan Fengjiao approved of the house-building plan.

Perhaps because both were married daughters, the sisters could truly relate to each other.

Especially since Yan Fengjiao was outspoken and bold, the kind of woman who said whatever was on her mind. She even declared that if life got too hard for her in the future, she’d just move back to her maiden home, buy a plot of land nearby, and build a courtyard to live close to her brothers.

The moment she said that, her younger sister-in-law, Lü Hongzhuo, sitting nearby, turned pale.

Yan Fengru looked over her brother-in-law and couldn’t help but feel her younger sister was truly blessed. Her brother-in-law was completely under her sister’s thumb.

With the Lü family’s wealth and status, Lü Hongzhuo could easily afford multiple wives and concubines if he wanted to stray. But in reality, her sister called all the shots at home, and her brother-in-law rarely went against her wishes.

Even her mother-in-law, Madam Sun, treated her very courteously. One could tell how a wife was treated in her husband’s family just by observing how her in-laws treated her own family.

This was something Yan Fengru had learned from years of being a maid in a noble household in the provincial city.

It was clear her sister held a high status in her marital home.

Yan Fengru had once thought Gu Dapeng was a decent man. Objectively speaking, he was—honest and dependable, not the type to have wandering thoughts. But when she thought carefully, something between them was always just a little off.

Had his first wife not died, and had she married him as a second wife under different circumstances, perhaps their days might have been better.

That was simply the truth.

However, the fact that Gu Dapeng couldn’t properly balance the relationship between his new wife and the children left behind by the previous one showed that he just didn’t care enough.

Men were realistic. Often, it wasn’t that they couldn’t do something—it’s that they didn’t want to.

They didn’t think it was worth it. They didn’t think it mattered.

Was Gu Dapeng really incapable of managing a good relationship between her and his two older children? Hard to believe. If he had truly wanted to, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.

Yan Fengru didn’t consider herself a harsh stepmother. If Gu Dapeng had lent a hand, perhaps their whole household could have lived together harmoniously.

But there were no ifs in life.

Saying all this now served no purpose.

Still, Yan Fengru didn’t regret marrying Gu Dapeng. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have her two smart and well-behaved children.

It was all fate—meant to be.

Back to the brick kiln—the owner turned out to be distantly related to the Lü family. Because of that, they gave her a nice discount and even threw in some extra bricks and tiles.

Thanks to that, Yan Fengru now had even more hope and determination for the house that hadn’t even broken ground yet.

Gu Yuzhu thought, Now’s not a good time to bring up asking Little Uncle to take her into the mountains.

Especially since her little uncle had just sold off a batch of wild goods and game, and returned with a massive haul.

As a hunter, his livelihood depended entirely on what the mountains provided—but whenever he did have a good haul, the rewards were big. In addition to the game he sold, he also brought home a wild boar leg, a mountain pheasant, and a wild hare.

Ever since Ying-shi and Lin-shi got pregnant one after another, Yan Xinghe had made a habit of saving the best parts of each hunt for the household. Now that there were three more mouths to feed at home, the need for good food had only increased.

No matter what, he couldn’t afford to skimp on his elder sister and niece. Pity the young nephew didn’t get to enjoy the food—but then again, Gu Qingbai should be doing fine in town.

Because of his age, he didn’t have to live in the academy dorms. For now, he was staying with the Lü family. Gu Qingbai was a thoughtful child. Every day after school, he would come home and voluntarily teach his two cousins how to read and write.

This made Madam Sun adore him—he was sensible, well-mannered, and good-looking. What’s not to like?

Gu Yuzhu saw her little uncle and little aunt go into the house, and soon after, Little Aunt Ying-shi came back out—smiling from ear to ear—carrying the wild pheasant and hare straight to the kitchen.

There, she asked Yan Fengru for tips on how to prepare wild game. Yan Fengru, who had plenty of experience cooking for the wealthy, had a whole set of techniques for handling wild delicacies.

Watching her, Gu Yuzhu’s eyes sparkled in awe.

Honestly, she had great admiration for her mother in this life.

Why? Because Gu Yuzhu herself was hopeless in the kitchen.

She was one of those people who could watch cooking tutorials for half an hour and understand it perfectly—only for her hands to go completely blank when it came time to execute.

So she was particularly envious of people like her mother, Yan Fengru. What’s more, before transmigrating, Gu Yuzhu hadn’t even liked hand-pulled noodles.

She always thought wheat noodles were too soft and mushy, lacking texture. She’d rarely tasted good ones.

But after transmigrating here, Gu Yuzhu realized—she didn’t dislike hand-pulled noodles. She just hadn’t eaten any made by someone with real skill!

Madam Yan Fengru’s culinary skills were exactly to her taste. Gu Yuzhu couldn’t help but pinch her own chubby cheeks. Sigh, I’m still just a kid. Not that chubby, right?

Just then, the aroma of chicken wafted over—rich and irresistible!

And it wasn’t just Gu Yuzhu drooling—Yan Meihua and Yan Tietou were, too. The two brothers had taken their little cousin to pick wild fruit and then returned to the riverbank.

This time they were lucky. They didn’t run into Han Hui’s group and managed to collect several goose-egg-shaped stones and even caught a handful of river shrimp.

People in Qingshan Village rarely ate river fish. Though wild-caught fish made delicious broth, most folks didn’t have the skills to cook it well—and were too stingy with oil and salt—so the end result was often bland and unappetizing…

By comparison, river shrimp were easier to deal with—no bones and still counted as meat.

Years ago, when the harvests were poor, even the rivers were fished clean. These days, catching river shrimp was no easy feat.

Yan Fengru said she’d cook the shrimp the kids caught into garlic vermicelli shrimp. Gu Yuzhu: “……”

Nope, don’t even think about it. Just thinking about it makes me drool!

Soon, they heard a loud “sizzle sizzle sizzle” and the rich aroma of garlic wafted over. Gu Yuzhu: “……” I can’t take it anymore! Seems I was destined to be chubby in both lifetimes!

It’s all the fault of my name! Yes! Time to blame that!

“Look at those three little gluttons,” Lin-shi said with a laugh. “When we cook, we can never get them to come in to eat. But ever since Big Sister came back, they wait eagerly for every meal! Big Sister’s cooking is just that good—it even tames these little monkeys!”

Ying-shi laughed too, gently pinching her two-year-old son’s arm. “Isn’t that right? Even Little Stone can eat an extra half bowl of rice. Just look—hasn’t he gotten chubbier?”

Listening to her two sisters-in-law joke and banter, Yan Fengru felt her heart warm with joy. Now this is what life should be.

Then she thought of all the years she spent in the Gu family. Day in and day out, watched like a criminal by those two brats. Gu Dapeng never had a kind word to say. Whenever something involved his two older kids, he’d always try to smooth things over, never taking her side…

It wasn’t until she gave birth to the twins that things slightly improved. But just thinking about the mess at the Gu household reminded Yan Fengru of Gu Dapeng again. When they build the new house, she would definitely have to call that old guy over.

He’s the father of the man building the house—how can he not help out? Might as well get some free labor!