The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 87: Rounding Up

Lady Jiang noticed that the pot was already hot, and if she didn’t pour the vegetables in soon, the oil would burn dry. She then poured in the beaten eggs with a sizzling sound as they quickly began to solidify in the pot.

Wang Yongzhu also didn’t dare to think too much and hurried to stir-fry, but Lady Jiang stopped her, asking Jinguan to pull some firewood back from the stove to lower the heat, and handed over a bowl of water, teaching her niece to stir-fry the eggs with water.

Wang Yongzhu, trembling with caution, dribbled water into the pot while stir-frying and succeeded in creating soft chunks of eggs.

On the other side, Lady Jiang quickly mixed shepherd’s purse into the eggs and helped add salt. After Wang Yongzhu turned the mixture over a couple of times just for the look of it, she signaled that it was ready to be taken out of the pot.

The stir-frying was done, and the chicken soup in the clay pot was also perfectly stewed, exuding a rich aroma.

With just these few dishes, Wang Yongzhu was sweating profusely, but looking at her achievements, she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Although the steamed buns were not steamed by her, the porridge was not stewed by her, and the vegetables were not washed and cut by her, she did stir-fry them. Rounding up, it could be considered that she had made a meal, right?

The men of the Wang family had already been waiting at the table, eagerly swallowing their saliva as the dishes were served.

Chicken stewed with Chinese yam, stir-fried Chinese yam with black fungus, shepherd’s purse scrambled with eggs, a large steamer of double-mixed steamed buns, even the cornmeal porridge was so thick that a chopstick could stand in it without falling over.

After Old Granny Zhang divided the steamed buns, she took out chicken legs and without fail gave one to the eldest daughter and another to the head of the family.

Then she signaled the start of the meal.

Little Bean and the others eagerly reached out with their chopsticks to snatch chicken meat, and the adults couldn’t control themselves, gobbling down the food voraciously.

Everyone had greasy mouths and bulging bellies.

Even Wang Yongzhu, who had been controlling her diet for the sake of losing weight—given the conditions at the Wang family’s home, even if she cooked separately for herself, it was nothing more than boiling an egg or so.

Truth be told, with this standard of living, just maintaining a normal appetite would be enough to lose weight.

So the chicken soup, so delicious one could wish to swallow one’s tongue, caused Wang Yongzhu to lose control and guzzle down two bowls in pain.

After eating their fill, the Wang family members almost wanted to collapse in their chairs, too content to move.

Fortunately, Wang Yongzhu had not forgotten her task and promptly asked, "How was the meal I made today? Was it okay?"

"Delicious—" Jinpan said, smacking the bone-dry chicken bones, doing her best to praise enthusiastically.

"Delicious! Elder Sister’s cooking skills are even better than my mother’s!" This came from Jinguan.

As soon as these words were spoken, Lady Lin’s face darkened. They had only eaten one meal and already forgotten the scorn of the mother’s jealous looks.

But indeed, the chicken was delicious, and even if Lady Lin wanted to say it wasn’t, she couldn’t because she had eaten every part, even the chicken buttocks.

The grandparents and Wang Yongping, who were blindly doting on their daughter and sister, naturally lavished her with praise.

Especially Old Granny Zhang, who had forgotten the heartache she felt watching her daughter recklessly pour oil into the pan, said, "My Zhuzhu is so smart, just like me, catches on quickly to anything. She’s sharp with needlework, gets it after one look, and even has a natural talent for cooking—so delicious on her first try! Oh, what a wonderful daughter to have!"

This powerful wave of flattery won unanimous agreement from everyone.

"Elder Sister is the smartest! She knows how to do everything!"

"Little Sister is awesome~~"

Lady Jiang, who hadn’t tasted chicken soup in who knows how long, was still savoring it endlessly. Hearing the mother-in-law praise the younger sister-in-law, she eagerly nodded in agreement.

She hadn’t thought much of it, just feeling that one’s natural abilities might be unpredictable; she used to think the younger sister-in-law was lazy, clueless, and couldn’t handle a needle or twine, couldn’t cook and only knew how to eat.

Now it seemed that the in-laws had been too fond of their younger daughter-in-law, reluctant to let her learn, and thus had hindered her!

Our own little sister-in-law could have been a girl loved by all, sought after by young men far and wide! What a pity!

Then she thought about her own daughter, and of the Wang Family’s current generation, only Jinhua and the second brother’s Jinchai were girls. Being a Scholar, the second brother need not worry about Jinchai’s marriage prospects.

But for their own Jinhua, with a father of no help and her own words going unheard at home, her future marital prospects would certainly be difficult. She couldn’t help Jinhua in many ways, but she wouldn’t let herself, like her in-laws, hinder Jinhua’s opportunities.

She could no longer let her run about freely; she had to force her to learn needlework, cooking, and all the skills a woman should acquire before marriage.

As Lady Jiang made up her mind, on the other hand, Jinhua felt a chill run down her back.

Little did Wang Yongzhu know that simply cooking a meal could spark such wild imaginations in her family.

At that moment, her only focus was on the voice of the System in her mind, "Congratulations to the host for completing the task of preparing a meal that pleases the palate and earns genuine praise from the family, progress 12/12. Reward Points 3."

The information on the System panel in her mind also changed to:

Current Host:

Clothing: Level 1, 0 Points

Food: Level 1, 0 Points

Housing: Level 0, 0 Points

Travel: Level 0, 0 Points

Available Points: 6 (Points can be freely assigned to the above options)

With a bit more effort, it seems she could also unlock the housing category.

Wang Yongzhu felt a bright future ahead of her.

Meanwhile, Jinhua was still reflecting, "If only every day could be like this."

Jindou, quick-witted as he was, casually added, "If the old auntie took us up the mountain every day, our family could probably live this kind of fairy-tale life every day."

A few Little Beans, naive as they were, nodded in agreement.

Even Lady Lin, at this moment, found herself looking at Wang Yongzhu much more favorably. Whether this little sister-in-law was truly blessed, or just a blind cat that found a dead mouse by chance, it didn’t matter.

As long as she could bring home these mountain goods to fill everyone’s bellies, they would be happy to support her.

Thinking this way, she wondered if Old Granny Zhang doted on her youngest daughter-in-law so much because she was blessed with good fortune?

The more Lady Lin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Peasant families value family continuity above all and usually only care for sons; she had never seen such favoritism towards a daughter. Didn’t Lady Lin secure her position in the Wang Family by giving birth to her own husband? As for her natal home or the rest of the village, even the families that were kinder to their daughters would at most ensure they weren’t starved or spared from farm work. If a girl could get an extra blanket or two when she got married, that was already quite exceptional.

But to dote on a daughter as Old Granny Zhang did, treating her like a treasure—Lady Lin had seen such a case only once in her life.

Could it really be because the little sister-in-law was blessed with good fortune? The more Lady Lin thought about it, the more she believed it to be true, and her gaze towards Wang Yongzhu grew warmer.

She began to ponder whether she should treat her younger sister-in-law better in the future, especially in front of her mother-in-law. If she could share in the little sister-in-law’s good fortune, that would be even better.

At the very least, she needed to put the third branch of the family below hers! Lady Lin’s mind was bustling with thoughts.

The other family members couldn’t think that far; they just felt the rare fullness in their stomachs, especially with the scent of chicken soup still lingering in the air. This feeling was too blissful, even better than the New Year festivities.

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