Sweet and Sour Eggplant

How do you eat vinegar?

For cold dishes and dipping dumplings, you need vinegar that is sour but not bitter, with a slight sweetness. For dishes with a sweet and sour flavor and rich red meat sauce, choose aged vinegar with a strong sour-sweet taste and a lingering aftertaste. For stir-fried vegetables like sour cabbage or marinated meat, opt for rice vinegar with a light yellowish hue. When simmering ribs or making soup, transparent, clear white vinegar is the best choice.

Xia Jiao used to catch colds easily. Jiang Wanjun gave her a little remedy: eat vinegar, especially apple cider vinegar, which is said to help prevent colds.

Of course, not raw, just adding a little to cold dishes made it refreshing and tasty. Xia Jiao got through the flu season safely with the help of apple cider vinegar, but after that, she ate less vinegar.

Whether it’s any of the various vinegars, like orange vinegar, plum vinegar, or lemon vinegar…

She doesn’t eat them much anymore.

Recently, she did have a dish made with special vinegar, which was West Lake vinegar fish. There’s a legendary story behind the dish, originally called “Uncle and Sister-in-law Vinegar Fish.” The name is ambiguous, but the story is clear—it’s about a brother-in-law and sister-in-law teaming up to seek revenge and kill a corrupt official.

But tonight, Wen Chongyue wasn’t making that.

He made a dish of sweet and sour eggplant and sweet and sour crispy tofu, both tangy, sweet, and fragrant. Xia Jiao, watching, was so tempted that saliva almost dripped from her mouth. She quickly drank some pumpkin juice made in the soy milk maker.

One small pumpkin, one-third of it juiced and served with ice cubes as a drink, one-third sliced and stir-fried with fresh lily and asparagus, fragrant and neat. The last third was simmered with chestnuts to make a warm, thick porridge.

Of course, tonight’s main star is still the Taihu crabs, handpicked by Wen Chongyue. They’re all female crabs, ensuring the roe is rich and the fat is thick. He even made sure each crab was the same size and perfectly uniform, a detail only someone with a bit of a perfectionist streak would notice. These Taihu crabs were scrubbed clean with a new toothbrush, then steamed with ginger slices and beer.

When eating Taihu crabs, vinegar is a must for the dipping sauce.

Finely chopped fresh scallions, minced ginger, a little sugar, and a generous amount of vinegar were mixed together to create the simplest ginger-vinegar dipping sauce.

Xia Jiao, when watching the old version of Dream of the Red Chamber, was particularly fascinated by the tools used for eating crabs in the first episode. It’s said that the crew spent quite a bit of time researching these items when filming. Nowadays, eating crabs is much simpler—just hands, a pair of scissors, and chopsticks will do.

But Wen Chongyue brought out the crab tools, the “Eight Crab Tools.”

Crabs are cold in nature, so he hadn’t had any alcohol at lunch but poured some Shaoxing wine for the evening. He made some chrysanthemum tea and chrysanthemum water—one for rinsing his mouth, the other for washing his hands and removing the smell after eating.

Xia Jiao had learned how to use the crab tools in etiquette class during her school years, but it had been so long that she had returned everything to the teacher. She vaguely remembered that the crab scissors cut the legs well, the crab needle cleaned out the gills and stomach, and the long-handled axe opened the back shell…

She was a little confused and couldn’t recall the rest.

Wen Chongyue patiently taught her again, but then laughed: “Actually, as long as you’re enjoying the crab, it doesn’t really matter what tools you use.”

Xia Jiao, holding the plate of crabs with their shells cracked and legs cut by Wen Chongyue, nodded thoughtfully.

Teacher Wen is the best tool for eating crabs. He is responsible for opening the crabs, and she is responsible for eating them.

Tonight, the vinegar content was higher, but Wen Chongyue didn’t ask her any other questions. Instead, he smiled and started talking about Xia Jiao’s high school years, focusing on trivial things.

Xia Jiao noticed that perhaps because Wen Chongyue was from the North, he seemed especially interested in the lives of the boys in Jiangsu’s school environment. They discussed a lot, like her school, her class, her teachers, and even her desk mates…

Xia Jiao realized that perhaps she was overthinking it. Wen Chongyue probably just wanted to cook with more vinegar, especially since it was now autumn and flu season had arrived. Maybe he just wanted her to eat more vinegar to kill some germs?

Regardless, this relaxing National Day holiday ended with the two of them sharing a perfect moment, drawing a satisfying conclusion to the break.

The next day, after the holiday ended, Xia Jiao went back to the shop feeling refreshed.

There was a slight slow period after the National Day holiday, but Yu Qingzhen looked fine. During lunch, she briefly updated Xia Jiao and Gao Chan on the current situation.

Xia Jiao summarized the two main points:

1. Her boyfriend said the bag was bought by a friend. He was completely in the dark about it, and the items were handed to Yu Qingzhen without being opened, so he didn’t even know they were fake.
2. Yu Qingzhen planned to get back her previous investment and then break up with him.

Xia Jiao was the first to applaud, genuinely supportive: “That’s exactly what should be done.”

Gao Chan nodded strongly: “When you’re in a relationship, it’s best not to mix money early on… But, what if he really was deceived?”

Yu Qingzhen remained calm: “No matter what, there’s a line I can’t cross. Should I believe everything he says? What if it’s just an excuse? I’ve seen so many men like this—promising big things but secretly buying fakes. If the girlfriend doesn’t notice, he gets a loyal wife. If she does, he says his friend bought it for him and that he was scammed.”

She paused, a bit disheartened: “Men, what can’t they do?”

Gao Chan seemed to be pondering.

Xia Jiao said to Yu Qingzhen: “I really admire your quick and decisive attitude.”

“Don’t,” Yu Qingzhen shrugged while eating a piece of fried chicken, speaking lightly, “The main thing is, I found out his clothes are fake too.”

Gao Chan choked on her water, coughing violently.

Xia Jiao quickly handed her a tissue and gave Yu Qingzhen a thumbs-up: “Sharp eyes.”

This was a good thing. Xia Jiao had fully witnessed her colleague’s path to change.

When it comes to falling into love quickly and then swiftly getting out, Yu Qingzhen would take first place, with no one daring to take second.

Before the money was even in her hands, Yu Qingzhen sent voice messages to her boyfriend with an expressionless face, holding flowers, while simultaneously consulting with her lawyer and friends, wondering if she could demand the return of her investment. After all, when they invested, he had promised she could take the money whenever she needed.

But just before the money came through, another troubling issue arose.

The vocational school student who had been loitering outside the flower shop during the holiday had started coming around again after National Day, wandering aimlessly.

It seemed the vocational school didn’t mind their students’ appearance. This particular student had messy red-dyed hair, ear piercings, a face often marked with injuries, and his school uniform was always worn carelessly. Sometimes, he only wore a t-shirt, showing off his tattooed arms, which looked like they had been scrubbed but not thoroughly cleaned.

Yu Qingzhen wasn’t afraid of these troublesome kids, and at that moment, her tough side came through as she boasted: “When I was in high school, no one dared to mess with me.”

Xia Jiao cautiously asked: “The school bully?”

“Not at all,” Yu Qingzhen grimaced, “I don’t do that school bullying thing.”

Her boyfriend promised to withdraw the money at the start of next month, and with the money soon to be hers, Yu Qingzhen was feeling optimistic about the future. Now that there were fewer customers in the shop, she casually ate the baked pudding Xia Jiao had brought, proudly sharing stories of her past glories.

Back in school, Yu Qingzhen wasn’t particularly gifted but worked hard and ran to the cafeteria every day. The incident that made her famous, however, happened one winter when she saw a few boys shoving a girl into a lake.

Yu Qingzhen was really angry. She first picked up the little girl who had been bullied, then grabbed a stick and gave the group of troublemakers a good beating. When the parents of the mischievous kids arrived at the school, Yu Qingzhen’s homeroom teacher investigated the situation. Rather than scolding her, the teacher reasoned with the parents and softened their hearts with words.

Xia Jiao sincerely said, “You’re really brave.”

If it were her, she might only dare to pick up the little girl and scold the kids, but she definitely wouldn’t hit them.

Yu Qingzhen snorted, “I just can’t stand those bratty kids.”

At this point, she glanced outside and could only see the side profile of a male student, who seemed to be squatting in front of the flower shop. His hair was a mess, looking like a bird’s nest.

Yu Qingzhen wasn’t happy about it. She grabbed the flower shears and went out to scold him, sending him away.

On Friday evening, the flower shop staff had a gathering. Xia Jiao called Wen Chongyue to report in, then attended the gathering with peace of mind.

The gathering was at a nearby commercial street. The group first had dinner together, then went to a KTV where they ordered drinks and sang karaoke. Sister Lan covered the expenses, as they still had leftover team-building funds every month. Due to the pandemic and various other factors, they hadn’t had the chance to go out and have fun for a long time.

Gao Chan appeared sweet and lovely but was actually a karaoke enthusiast. When she sang Torment, her high notes were stunning and flawless. She sang for over an hour until her throat went hoarse before passing the microphone and chatting with Xia Jiao.

Wen Chongyue sent several text messages to Xia Jiao, asking when the event would end and when he could pick her up.

Xia Jiao calmly replied that there was no need, as the place was very close to home. She would walk back later. She wasn’t alone—Yu Qingzhen was with her and needed to go to the subway station near Xia Jiao’s neighborhood.

Wen Chongyue reluctantly agreed.

It was during this walk that an unexpected event occurred.

After a few steps, Xia Jiao heard Yu Qingzhen shuddering and saying, “Someone is following us.”

This startled Xia Jiao. She turned around and saw a vague figure with red hair—it was the guy who had been lurking in front of the flower shop earlier.

It seemed that the person noticed they had stopped and froze for a moment before casually walking away.

Yu Qingzhen said, “No, no, I’ve had some drinks today—hey, is Xiao Wang with us? Call him and ask him to take us home. It’s kind of scary at night.”

Xiao Wang, known as the “Gentle God,” was a warm-hearted colleague, tall and thin.

When he received Xia Jiao’s call, he immediately abandoned his stinky tofu and hurried over to escort the two women home. First, he dropped off Yu Qingzhen at the subway station, which was less than three hundred meters from the neighborhood entrance. Xia Jiao thanked him, but Lao Wang insisted on accompanying her.

“It’s just a few steps,” Xiao Wang smiled. “We’ll be there in no time.”

Xia Jiao, still shaken from the earlier scare, nodded in agreement. They chatted lightly as they walked, and soon enough, they arrived.

Xia Jiao saw Wen Chongyue.

He was standing at the entrance of the neighborhood, chatting with the security guard. Unlike shy Xia Jiao, Wen Chongyue was perfectly at ease with anyone and could communicate with anyone, regardless of who they were.

When he saw Xia Jiao, he exchanged a few words with the guard before striding over.

He politely introduced himself to Xiao Wang and shook his hand. Perhaps not expecting Xia Jiao’s mysterious husband to be so handsome, Xiao Wang was stunned for a moment before hurriedly introducing himself, as if reading from a resume.

“I’m Wang Nian, from Shandong… cough, cough, I’m Jiao Jiao’s colleague.”

Wen Chongyue smiled. “Thank you for escorting her home.”

Xiao Wang waved his hand. “It’s no trouble, no trouble.”

After the polite exchange, Wen Chongyue took Xia Jiao’s hand and led her home.

Xia Jiao lowered her head, contemplating whether or not to tell him about the possible stalking incident.

She felt conflicted. She wanted to share it with him, to make Teacher Wen feel protective, maybe even get a kiss and a hug. But on the other hand, she didn’t want to worry him too much. After all, nothing had actually happened, and he was already tired from work every day.

While thinking this, Xia Jiao suddenly heard Wen Chongyue ask, “Was that the ‘Gentle God’?”

Xia Jiao corrected him, “It’s ‘Gentle God.’”

Wen Chongyue replied, “Is he from Shandong? He doesn’t seem that tall.”

Xia Jiao said, “He’s 188 cm, which is already really tall—Teacher Wen, I think you have a deep bias against him. Why is that?”

“Why?” Wen Chongyue repeated. “What do you think?”

Xia Jiao felt his grip tighten. It was both clammy and warm, and she wasn’t sure if it was her hand sweating or his.

Wen Chongyue didn’t give her a chance to speculate. He said, “After all, every husband can’t help but keep an eye on potential rivals, right?”