Chapter 6: The Jelly Was a Great Success!!!

Actually, many people have misconceptions about 'taking in' and 'repaying kindness'.

What? Seeing a distressed man on the road, bring him home to nurse him back to health, then after he recovers, discover he is some noble, develop an extraordinary (odd) world (shape) absolute (weird) love (strange), being tormented to death and back......

With Du Shanü, this is actually quite ridiculous.

Not taking in someone doesn't mean one must do good deeds; not repaying kindness doesn't mean one must offer oneself.

Frankly speaking, no matter how happily she smiles or how casually she speaks, deep down she actually relies on her own learning, inherently looking down on everyone.

Yes, it's not these refugees, but rather, everyone.

She is truly the one and only 'number one under heaven'.

No matter how good others' abilities are, they are merely icing on the cake.

What she actually wants to get from these people is nothing but 'obedience'.

This is also why Du Shanü would take a liking to a blind beauty at first glance; she may be soft-hearted, but she will never yield to force.

As soon as these people arrived, they pointed and whispered about her dilapidated home, and then pointed and whispered that she couldn't eat the Guanyin soil, couldn't eat the acorns......

Although she seemed speechless, she actually just didn't want to argue!

She flew into a rage?

She laid down a bet?

She engaged in a verbal battle with a group, just to save face?

But if a dog bites a person, that person can't possibly bite the dog back, right?

She would be better off letting the facts speak!

Now that she has made acorn jelly, she has a means to stave off hunger; who would dare say anything about her?

As for those 'disobedient dogs', if they want to leave, let them go.

Before her were several faces that had gone from shock to gradual anger, yet they dared not speak; Du Shanü remained smiling, turned, and walked out the door.

She walked slowly, the jelly immersed in the clear well water, trembling as it floated and sank.

Beside the vat hung several small pottery jars and bamboo tubes, holding the basic seasonings.

Finally, Du Shanü stopped under the old pagoda tree at the village entrance; this spot didn't block the path and was cool and shady.

She placed the large vat steadily, set out several washed coarse porcelain bowls, and stood quietly without calling out.

On the sun-baked field after a day's work, the autumn breeze blew past, the huai leaves made a Shasha sound, and the cool water vapor in the vat and the faint, almost negligible herbal scent of the jelly itself drifted out softly.

The first to be attracted was a passing farmer.

The sweaty laborer caught sight of the vat full of cool liquid, his Adam's apple bobbing:

"Hey, aren't you the poor orphan girl from the Du family? What are you selling?"

Du Shanü smiled and nodded, but instead of answering directly, she scooped a bowl of jelly, and with the knife she had ready, she swiftly sliced, flicked her finger, and the trembling, slippery jellied cubes fell into the bowl; she skillfully drizzled a few drops of meat oil and a few drops of rice vinegar.

Her movements were clean and swift; she handed over the bowl, and the jelly trembled slightly in the sauce-colored liquid.

"Uncle, what I'm selling doesn't matter; what matters is whether it tastes good. You've watched me grow up; today I'm doing business for the first time, please have a bowl."

The neighbors, the man took it without ceremony, didn't bother to find a seat, squatted by the pagoda tree, and gulped down a big mouthful with a glug-glug.

As soon as it entered his mouth, the man froze——

It slid down almost without chewing, carrying the cool freshness of the well water and a hint of indescribable purity, sliding straight down his throat.

The fragrance of the meat oil, the acidity of the rice vinegar, the fresh sweetness of cucumber, and the unique spiciness of cilantro and scallion all rose together, yet they did not overpower the main note; they merely made that hint of cool smoothness stand out even more.

After a day's labor, just one sip seemed to dispel some of the heat sweat on his forehead.

After a few bites, the man smacked his lips, actually feeling somewhat full and a little surprised:

"Just a small bowl, and yet it's so filling...... Du family little girl, the autumn heat is still fierce; eating your stuff in this weather is truly comfortable. How much per bowl? I'll take one back for my wife."

In rural households, as long as they can get by, they rarely spend money on food.

That remark drew more gazes—passing porters, village schoolchildren finishing lessons, elders idling under the trees……

The crowd gradually gathered around, and Du Shanü said with a smile:

"Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you don't know that I today brought home a husband; it's precisely because of him that I took the trouble-soaked acorns from several days ago and boiled them, and, due to my poor skill, accidentally made this food."

"This food didn't exist before; it's truly special, and since my husband and I don't want to eat it ourselves, I thought of selling it...... one bowl for five wen, though I don't know if that covers the cost."

Five wen!

That's not cheap!

A gasp went through the crowd, but then someone belatedly said:

"However, processing those acorns is indeed a hassle, and this stuff tastes better than the lumps made from grinding ordinary grains like rice, millet, wheat, and beans."

If the acorns are not processed well, eating them turns bitter; even if forced down, one will feel nauseous and suffer stomach pain.

If what's in this bowl really is the unwanted bitter acorns of the countryside, then this little Du family girl truly went to great lengths to process it—she's earning hard-earned money!

Du Shanü still wore a smile, an innocent and harmless appearance:

"Uncle, you've hit the nail on the head—the hard work of washing the acorns; even a bowl of noodle paste made from ordinary flour costs more than five wen, and besides, the cilantro, scallion, meat oil, and rice vinegar here aren't free either."

"Uncle, your question came too suddenly; I'm slow-witted, I can't figure the accounts, and I don't know how much the cost is...... Hmm, now that I think about it, I still need to reckon again......"

The crowd that had thought the food was expensive, upon hearing this, immediately stirred up again.

Someone called out:

"Oh dear, Du family girl, everyone here is a fellow villager—what cost are we talking about?"

"This stuff is fragrant and tempting; just treat it as earning some hard-earned money, sell it to us at five wen a bowl—if it's tasty, then this business can actually last long!"

Du Shanü pondered briefly, and was quickly persuaded.

The jelly visibly diminished, the water level in the vat kept dropping, revealing more of the fat‑like paste.

The light clinking of bowls and spoons, the faint slurping of jelly by the people, occasional satisfied sighs or children's eager urges—all wove together under the old pagoda tree.

The copper coins clinked into her waist‑tied old cloth bag, clear and rapid.

Sunset pressed over the mountain's edge, leaving only a strip of evening light; the last piece of jelly in the vat was scooped up, cut into portions, and handed to the last few big‑eyed half‑grown children waiting.

All who ate were happy, and they kept asking Du Shanü if there were any unfinished acorns left at home, and when she would make this dish again.

Du Shanü smiled and gave a few vague replies, her peripheral vision catching the sneaking figure not far off, but she ignored it and went straight to packing up.

She hadn't missed noticing that someone was following her on this outing, but what could she do about it?

Doesn't that just prove they're fickle‑minded trash?

The coarse pottery jar had been scraped to the bottom, leaving only a pool of clear well water, and the few small pottery jars brought along were almost empty.

The village had no shops; Du Shanü simply packed her things, then, holding her money bag, went to the familiar village elder woman's house to exchange for some items, after which she retraced her steps back.

On this return, the household atmosphere had been completely overturned.

The copper coins in the waist cloth bag had some heft, and as she walked they gave out a dull, solid, reassuring jingle.

Du Shanü pretended not to notice the varied looks of the crowd, merely setting down her miscellaneous belongings, then handing the newly exchanged blanket and two sets of clean hemp clothing to her beloved "Ben Da Meiren", speaking in a gooey tone.

"Dear heart, I'm back from work——!"

"Take a look...... oh no, wait, let me feel what I brought you."

?? As a science‑and‑engineering girl, Shasha's dream life is simply a hot kang with husband and children (√).