Chapter 220 - 204: Predicament
Chapter 220: Chapter 204: Predicament
Grandma Tang and Grandma got along surprisingly well. They had endless topics to discuss and hit it off immediately. Xiao Man wasn’t surprised. The two grandmothers were only a few years apart and born in the same era. Although Grandma had followed Grandpa back to this remote mountain village to live for decades, eventually becoming indistinguishable from any other elderly country woman, the memories of her past were still sealed away inside her. She had once been the daughter of a wealthy man, so when it came to life experiences from their youth, she and Grandma Tang truly had a lot to talk about.
Grandma led Grandma Tang on a tour of the entire courtyard. They looked at each room first—the kitchen, the guest room, the herb storage room, and the main hall. They ended up spending half the day in Xiao Man’s room. Seeing that someone hadn’t folded their towel blanket after getting up and had clothes draped carelessly over the back of a chair, the two grandmothers rolled up their sleeves and got to work, looking like they wanted to tidy up every last nook and cranny of the siblings’ living space.
Ever since Grandma’s eyesight had recovered, the layout and decorations in Xiao Man’s room were constantly changing. It was all Grandma’s doing. Xiao Man didn’t mind; however Grandma arranged things, it was always to make her more comfortable. Xiao Man simply enjoyed it, which made Grandma happy to see.
However, Xiao Man’s bedroom had now been partitioned to create a small room for Hao Hao. Hao Hao refused to stay in the guest room. Sleeping in the main hall was fine for a night or two, but it wouldn’t work for a long-term stay. Like Zheng Shaolian, he was a little fussy and didn’t like people touching his things. Since he also loved to follow Xiao Man around like a shadow, Grandpa simply used wooden planks to partition her room, giving Hao Hao a permanent place to stay. Although Xiao Man wasn’t happy about it, Grandpa and Grandma had forced the issue without consulting her first. Grandma, however, was more considerate; she hung a floral cloth curtain on Xiao Man’s side of the wooden wall, so any small gaps in the planks wouldn’t be a problem.
Hao Hao was very satisfied with his little room. A bed and a desk were enough for him. There was a small door in the wooden wall, and he would bolt it as soon as he entered his room. This left Xiao Man speechless. ’Just who is afraid of being disturbed by whom?’
Coming out of Xiao Man’s room, Grandma Tang pointed at the large pear tree laden with fruit and said with a smile, "I’ve had these big yellow pears before! So many have grown this year, that’s wonderful! Su, you have to save a few of these pears for me!"
Xiao Man, Hao Hao, and Zheng Shaolian were sitting under the pear tree, laughing and chatting as they looked through the large pile of snacks and toys Grandma Tang had brought from Beijing. Hearing Grandma Tang’s words, Xiao Man couldn’t help but grimace. She quickly stood up and walked over to the two grandmothers, trying to think of a topic to distract them. ’Anything but the pears,’ she thought. ’If they look into it too closely, I’ll have to make up another story.’
Fortunately, Mo Chengfu was about to slaughter the chickens. When Grandma Tang saw him grab a big, plump barred chicken with beautiful feathers, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, "How many pounds do you think that chicken weighs?" Grandma chuckled and said, "We have a lot of space here, and the air is fresh. Whether it’s growing vegetables or raising poultry and livestock, everything goes smoothly and grows quickly. These were hatched last October. After raising them for over half a year, each one weighs seven or eight pounds. Sister Fang, I’m not bragging, but the pigs and chickens I raise, and the vegetables I grow, are the best in the whole village! If you don’t believe me, you’ll know once you taste them later. If it’s not too much trouble, you can take a cage of chickens back with you when you return to Beijing. We also have other homemade things like cured pork, cured duck, smoked fish, dried vegetables, bean paste, and all that!"
Grandma Tang clicked her tongue in admiration. At Grandma’s invitation, she immediately forgot about the big yellow pears and followed her to see the vegetable garden and the pig and chicken pens.
Xiao Man breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled to herself. ’Grandma said she wasn’t bragging, and she really wasn’t. But what she doesn’t know is that the reason her vegetables, poultry, and livestock grow so well and so smoothly isn’t because of the wide-open space and fresh air—it’s because she has a cheat!’
Xiao Man often mixed some Spiritual Spring water into the well water they used. She also periodically used water directly from the small spring in her space to water the vegetable garden, which improved the soil. That’s why their fruits and vegetables, and even the wild greens and weeds growing at the edge of the garden, were all of the highest quality!
After seeing the pigs and chickens, Grandma Tang followed Grandma to the vegetable garden to pick some produce. The garden was only five or six long, rectangular plots, but it was meticulously cared for by Grandpa and Grandma. They had inserted bamboo sticks and built bamboo trellises, guiding the vines and seedlings to grow upwards. Incredibly, the garden grew in several layers: the bottom layer had all kinds of leafy greens, the second layer had peppers and tomatoes, and the third layer had bean pods and gourds. Flowers bloomed on one side while fruits ripened on the other. The green leaves were a luscious, deep green, and the red flowers and yellow fruits were bright and delicate. At a glance, it looked like a small, colorful forest. Grandma Tang was absolutely delighted. She dove right in, picking tomatoes and snapping off cucumbers. Then she pinched off two handfuls of green beans. Seeing the bright, fresh-looking luffas, she wanted a couple of those too. And under the trellises were Shanghai bok choy and heads of lettuce. Such leafy greens were extremely rare this season, yet Xiao Man’s family grew them exceptionally well. Grandma Tang was so happy picking vegetables that she couldn’t stop. Behind her, Xiao Zhang was just as enthusiastic, helping her pick. The result was predictable. Grandma didn’t say anything, simply letting them pick as they pleased. She even went back to the house to fetch a bamboo basket for them. After all, whatever they couldn’t eat could be fed to the pigs and chickens, so nothing would go to waste.
While Grandma Tang was having fun in the vegetable garden, Tang Qingshan rolled up his shirtsleeves and started doing woodwork with Grandpa. With three or four people having suddenly arrived, there weren’t enough rooms. Grandma Tang and Xiao Zhang would stay in the guest room, and Tang Qingshan could stay in Mo Chengfu’s room. Grandpa wanted to hurry up and finish the shelves for the herb storage room. That way, he could organize the herbs and free up some space to set up a simple bed, just in case Tang Qingyun decided to stay over.
At first, Tang Qingyun had nothing to do. He wanted to talk with Manman and Hao Hao, but that annoying Zheng Shaolian was always inserting himself into the conversation. He thought about following his mother, but the two old ladies were getting along so well, with endless things to say, that they paid him no mind at all. Grandpa and Tang Qingshan were even worse. Claiming they were afraid the CLANGING and BANGING would disturb the elderly and the children, they shut the door to work. Tang Qingyun could only stand at the window and watch them. If he wanted to say something, he had to shout, or they wouldn’t hear him!
Mo Chengfu bled a few chickens, then went out to a neighbor’s house in the village that raised old ducks and bought two to bring back, slaughtering and plucking them all. Tang Qingyun didn’t want to deal with that, so he wandered over to the well, bored out of his mind. Seeing two large black carp and a few catfish in a wooden basin, he called out to Xiao Man and Tang Haocheng, "Manman, Hao Hao, Dad will kill the fish and steam them for you to eat!"
Hao Hao loved fish, so he nodded at the suggestion. "Okay, thanks, Dad!"
Tang Qingyun was very happy. He had finally found something to do.
But Zheng Shaolian cut in, "No way! Hao Hao, if you let Uncle Tang cook the fish, am I supposed to eat it or not? Steamed black carp is definitely not as good as braised. Hurry up, go get the fish and have Manman cook it!"
Hao Hao: "..."
’Dad never cooks. The fish he steams probably won’t be very good,’ he thought. ’But if I don’t give him something to do, he’ll be upset. Should I go get the fish or not?’
Hao Hao looked at Xiao Man, conflicted for a moment, but still ran over to Tang Qingyun. He said that he suddenly had a craving for braised fish, so his dad just needed to kill and clean the fish, and he could leave the cooking to his sister.
’This would save Dad from the embarrassment of making bad-tasting steamed fish, which would only make Grandma and Uncle give him an even harder time.’
’With his parents making one mistake after another, Hao Hao was also in a very difficult position. He stood firmly by his sister’s side. Setting aside family rules and his grandfather’s teachings, the reasoning was simple: he and his sister were born of the same root. He could empathize with what his sister had gone through and would never tolerate being abandoned. Supporting his sister was the same as supporting himself.’
’But his parents had never wronged him. He understood his sister, but he had no reason to disregard his parents. This put him in the middle of a sandwich, and it was enough to give him a major headache.’