Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 113: Pork Bone and Yam Porridge

Tian Qing had seen many different handwriting styles, so he smiled calmly and said, "It doesn't matter what style it is written in. What matters is that you can write in the same style when you come to withdraw money next time."

Then, he also wrote his name in the place of the person in charge and stamped it with the seal of the bank. When the ink dried, he handed it to Shen Yu and said, "Miss, remember to come back and add this seal after the seal is made. When you withdraw money, the joints of the two bills can match up. This is the proof. Miss, please keep it well."

Shen Yu took the money note and put it in his purse. He said that he would come back to re-stamp the seal after a few days when the seal was ready, and then he took Yutao and Yucheng home.

On the way back, Yu Cheng asked Shen Yu in confusion: "Sister, why do you want to deposit the three gold and silver ingots? Why not keep them with the silver ingots?"

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Those three gold and silver ingots are cute in shape and auspicious in meaning. We don't usually receive such silver coins, so my sister didn't want to save them and saved them as New Year's money."

Yu Cheng hurriedly shook his hand and said, "I don't want it. It's so small, I'm afraid I'll lose it. Big sister, please keep it."

Yu Tao also smiled and said, "I don't want it either. That's what my sister earned. You should keep it for yourself."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Well, when the New Year comes, let's go and cast some silver ingots with auspicious patterns, and cast larger ones so that we don't have to worry about losing them."

"If it's five taels of silver each, how big is it?"

"I think ten taels is safer. It's not easy to lose if it's big."

The three siblings chatted and laughed all the way back to Willow Lane.

When they got home, Li and Dun Dun had already brought the bed boards and bed frames back with their servants. The courtyard was not big to begin with, and with several bed boards and bed frames placed on top of it, it seemed even smaller.

After dinner, they had to quickly assemble the newly bought bed, and Shen Yu also had to go buy some ingredients.

Seeing that everyone was present, Li quickly asked everyone to wash their hands and eat.

Jiang had already prepared breakfast, a bowl of pork bone and yam porridge and a portion of greasy vegetable and meat pie for each person.

The porridge is cooked long enough.

The soup is thick, but the rice grains are still distinct. The meat on the bones has been cooked until it falls off the bones. It is tender and can be easily removed from the bones with chopsticks.

The base of the porridge is slightly salty and fresh, and a handful of chopped green onions are sprinkled on it before it is served, which relieves the greasiness of the bone soup and adds a fresh fragrance.

The most delicious part is the yam inside, which has been cooked until half melted and seems to melt in your mouth, with a crunchy texture, the sweetness of the yam itself and the aroma of the bone broth.

Shen Yu loved it very much. He ate several pieces in a row, smiled and praised: "Auntie Jiang, the porridge you cooked is really delicious, especially the yam in it, which is cooked soft and tastes really good."

Jiang said modestly, "It was Sister Li who taught me how to cook this pork shank bone. I thought that since the cooked bone soup smelled so good, adding some rice and yam to make porridge should also taste good, so I just randomly mixed them together and made it. If the girl likes it, I will cook it again in the future."

Mrs. Li chimed in, "Sister Jiang, even if my back is healed, you and Dun Dun should not leave. Just stay at my house. You cook much better than I do, and you are very perceptive. You cook as soon as I tell you to, and it's delicious. If you leave, the kids will definitely complain about my cooking."

Jiang smiled shyly and neither agreed nor objected. Instead, she asked directly, "Aunt Li, why are you so kind to us? Since my mother and I came to the county, your family has been the best to us. Others look down on me and my mother, calling me a little beggar and telling me to get lost."

Li couldn't help but feel the same way, with a look of pity on her face, she said with emotion: "Hey, Dun Dun, Sister Jiang, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. Although my family can eat enough food now, just a month ago, I was still worried about how to fill my stomach every day."

As he said this, he pointed at Shen Yu who was eating happily and said, "My daughter Yuzhi brought us to the county town to set up a stall at a young age just to ensure that our family could have enough food. Although her life is not as hard as yours, it is not much better. Now my family happens to be short of manpower, so I will help you if I can."

Li looked at the food on the table and said with a smile, "Besides, Sister Jiang is so good at cooking, so our family is taking advantage of you. Let me make it clear first, although my family provides food and accommodation, I still have to pay you two some wages. It's not too much, one thousand a month, don't think it's too little, if my family's stall grows bigger, I will give you more."

Jiang got a little anxious after hearing this, and blushed as she said, "Sister Li, your family is willing to take us in, provide us with food and shelter, and even bought clothes for Dun Dun. If you bring up the issue of wages again, we will have no choice but to leave. How can we have the face to stay?"

Shen Yu raised his head and smiled, "Everyone, hurry up and eat. This cake won't taste good if it gets cold. We'll talk about wages later. Just live here peacefully."

Seeing that Jiang was determined, Li stopped talking and said with a smile, "Yuzhi is right. We'll talk about it later. Let's eat first."

The bone soup was rich and fragrant, and the pie was crispy and delicious. Shen Yu ate it with relish again.

After dinner, Li and Jiang Yutao went to install the bed boards and bed frames, and they complained that putting them in the yard would make it inconvenient to get in and out.

Shen Yu was about to clean up the dishes, but Yu Cheng smiled and pushed Shen Yu aside, saying mischievously, "Big sister, you forgot, this is my job, you can't snatch it from me. From now on, Dun Dun and I will wash the dishes and carry water together. These jobs are between the two of us."

Shen Yu smiled, told Li the amount of steamed buns and porridge to be cooked for lunch, took the list of ingredients to be purchased for making small reunion cakes that he had written in the morning, and went out.

Several kinds of flour are needed to make small reunion cakes. Shen Yu went to the rice shop that delivered flour to her family every day. Although the names were different, Shen Yu was satisfied that she found all kinds of flour. Shen Yu calculated the required amount and customized some. She agreed with the boss to send them over together with the flour tomorrow. The price would be settled together on ten days, and no deposit was required.

Shen Yu went to the pastry shop again. The pastry shop on the east street of the city mainly sold some ordinary pastries, and also provided various fillings. Shen Yu chose for a while and picked out lotus paste, pine nuts, nuts, sesame and pepper salt, five nuts, rose, and jujube paste. It was also agreed that they would be delivered together tomorrow.

After Shen Yu ordered all these, she went to the vegetable market on Chengdong Street. She had a favorite mooncake, which was the one with golden sand and custard filling. There were no ready-made fillings at that time, so what she had to look for was salted duck eggs and milk.

Finding the salted duck eggs was relatively easy. After asking a few passers-by, Shen Yu followed the direction they were pointed to and stood at the door of a shop with her mouth wide open. She swore that this was the shop with the most complete variety of eggs she had ever seen. The only eggs she could recognize were chicken eggs, duck eggs and quail eggs. Some of the others were extremely large, larger than the largest bowl in her home, while the smallest was only half the size of a quail egg. The colors of the eggs were even more colorful, including light pink, light green, blue-gray, and translucent white like jade.

Shen Yu stood in the shop and walked around as if he was admiring a work of art, only then he noticed a smiling middle-aged woman standing behind him.

The woman was wearing a cinnabar red short shirt and a royal blue pleated skirt tied around her waist, which was a bright sight.