Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 264: Is Oyster Sauce Really That Valuable Now?

Aunt Chen didn’t care what others thought at this point--her eyes were fixed on Su Yijia’s oyster sauce. As the aroma started to fade, she muttered quietly, "How can you be so sure that cooking with this will make the dish taste good? What if it doesn’t? Then wouldn’t the whole dish go to waste?"

"You just tasted it yourself, Aunt Chen," Su Yijia replied with a smile, her tone dripping with indifference. "But it’s normal not to like certain flavors. Some people enjoy it, some don’t. Personally, I think dishes seasoned with oyster sauce taste great." Her smile clearly revealed a hint of dismissiveness.

Aunt Chen noticed that after all her attempts, Su Yijia hadn’t offered to share any of the sauce. In her mind, this was a sign of poor character. Worse still, she felt her husband’s efforts in standing up for Su Yijia--offending the current commander--had all been for nothing.

Lowering her gaze, a glint flashed in Aunt Chen’s eyes as she suddenly said, "Little Su, this is the first time I’ve heard of oyster sauce, and I’m really curious. How about giving me some? Don’t worry, I know it’s not easy to make. I’m not trying to take advantage--I’ll give you a dollar, and you can sell me a pound."

On the surface, her words made it sound like she was being reasonable, but Su Yijia didn’t trust her. In fact, she didn’t trust any of the aunts standing in her kitchen, despite their husbands having helped her recently. She knew it seemed heartless to doubt them after what they had done, but with money in her pocket, she wasn’t in any rush to trust people--let alone sell something as trivial as oyster sauce and risk creating a scandal.

She didn’t need to go out of her way to ingratiate herself with the other military wives. Keeping a low profile wouldn’t hurt, and she wasn’t about to jeopardize her family’s standing for such a small gain.

"Aunt Chen, that’s not a good idea. Private transactions are not allowed here," Su Yijia said sternly. "I was planning on making extra to give as a gift to everyone. But I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said. Aunt Chen, you’d better be more careful in the future. If you get caught doing something wrong, it’s your own fault, but don’t drag your family down with you."

Aunt Chen was dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected that Su Yijia wouldn’t sell her the sauce at all. After all, everyone in the military compound exchanged small services and goods for money, whether it was knitting a sweater or making a pair of shoes. It wasn’t just her--every wife did it.

Hmph! Aunt Chen thought bitterly. Of course, she doesn’t care about a few dollars. Qin must have given her all his money. That’s why she doesn’t value it.

Jealousy, frustration, and resentment surged through Aunt Chen. When she looked up, she saw a cold, piercing glint in Su Yijia’s eyes, and it made her heart skip a beat. She quickly averted her gaze.

Could she have figured out my real intentions? Impossible. She’s not that smart.

Aunt Chen had thought that, since Qin’s wife had only recently arrived on the island, she hadn’t yet engaged in any shady dealings with the other wives. Aunt Chen’s plan had been to lure her into a private transaction, then report her to the higher-ups, making it seem like Qin’s wife was engaging in illicit trade as soon as she arrived. This way, no one else would have made any money from Su, so no one would defend her.

The fire wouldn’t spread to the other wives, and by exposing Su Yijia, Aunt Chen could win favor with Commander Xue and his wife. After all, once this scandal broke, Commander Xue’s wife wouldn’t have to apologize, and Commander Xue wouldn’t have to worry about Qin coming back to reclaim his position. In a place like this, any wrongdoing by the spouse of a former commander would be a serious offense, no matter how many accolades Qin had earned in the past.

Aunt Chen’s mind raced with her calculations, confident that her plan would work. If it did, even though her husband had embarrassed Commander Xue earlier, she would have solved two problems at once, and Commander Xue would surely remember her husband’s help.

But as she looked at the shifting expressions in Aunt Chen’s eyes, Su Yijia’s suspicions solidified. What had been mere guesses were now almost certain.

Still, why waste energy on someone like her? Su Yijia thought. She didn’t have time for such petty schemes.

After washing a few bowls, Su Yijia filled each one with more than half for the aunts.

"I just arrived and didn’t prepare anything special for you all. You can take this home and try using it for cooking. But make sure to keep the bowls in cool water. This stuff spoils easily, so don’t try to save it--ideally, finish it within a week, or it’ll go bad."

She was worried the aunts might think it’s rare and hesitate to use it, so she gave them extra serious reminders.

"Thank you, Little Su! You’re too kind, sharing such good stuff with us. No need to be so polite next time," Aunt Ju said, smiling happily while holding her bowl. Normally, they wouldn’t be so forward as to take something on a first visit, but oyster sauce was something none of them had ever even heard of, so it felt especially precious.

"You all brought me gifts, so it’s just fair to reciprocate," Su Yijia said, covering the two large bowls of sauce with food covers to keep the flies away. She then returned to the living room with the aunts.

Seeing the things they had brought for her, the aunts suddenly felt like their gifts weren’t up to standard.

"Little Su, tomorrow we’ll bring you more fruits. These are wild ones we picked from the mountains. They may not look big or pretty, but they taste really good," Aunt Ju said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"This is already more than enough. There’s no need to trouble yourselves," Su Yijia replied.

She had bought similar fruits in stores before, but she had never tasted wild ones. People always treasure what they’ve never tried, and she was no exception. Even if they didn’t taste amazing, she was sure the wild fruits were more nutritious than the cultivated ones from the future.

"I wonder if I could use the spring water to make fruit wine?" A new money-making idea suddenly came to Su Yijia’s mind.

"Of course you can! The system’s spring water is perfect for brewing wine, and the effects are extraordinary. But remember to discard the fruits before drinking--their effects might cause issues if eaten," 666 replied.

"How extraordinary are we talking?" A gleam flashed in Su Yijia’s eyes.

"Like medicinal wine, it strengthens the body and is even more effective than the best medicinal wines in this world!" 666 said proudly.

So, she could buy two large vats and sell the wine herself. With a bottle of Maotai costing around four yuan and fifty cents, she could easily charge six or seven yuan. After all, she had an unlimited supply of spring water.

Pulling herself back from her thoughts, Su Yijia continued chatting with the aunts about life on the base. Aunt Chen, however, remained silent the entire time.

After the aunts left, Gao Huabin couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. "Sister-in-law, how did you come up with the idea of making oil from oysters? I’ve never even heard of it!"

"Oyster sauce is used in dishes at the Huzhou Hotel. I went there in ’72, and the chef told me that a bottle of oyster sauce was worth a month’s wages," Qin Kaize explained on her behalf, worried that his young wife from fifty years into the future might struggle to clarify things in their world.

In reality, Su Yijia wouldn’t have dared to make it if she didn’t know when it had first been invented. Oyster sauce had been around since the 1910s, so by the time she left her world, it had over a hundred years of history.

Still, Qin’s additional explanation helped make things clearer.

"That expensive? Chefs at those restaurants earned good money! Back then, a fourth-tier worker could make over thirty yuan a month, right?" Gao Huabin exclaimed, his jaw nearly dropping in shock.