Chapter 272

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

She left early in the morning and didn't return until late afternoon, having been delayed outside all day; as soon as Cheng Erniang entered the door, she started bustling about.

On the way she bought some expensive fruit, and also had butter-soaked snails she normally couldn't bear to eat; in high spirits she first delivered them to Song Miao, then had the Zhang and Wang young couple, as well as Dabing and the two long-term hired women, distribute them to everyone, thanking them for helping share her workload during the day.

Everyone washed their hands and gathered around to eat; they couldn't help but all praise Xiao Lian together.

The smile on Cheng Erniang's face couldn't be suppressed, yet she still demurred: "Don't praise her, she can't take praise; her mouth hasn't stopped all the way here, look at that smug look — if you keep praising her, her tail will wag up to the sky!"

She added: "There's more than just her as an apprentice at Tianyuantang; above her there are two senior sisters and a senior brother, none more than two years older, and they can do everything — slicing medicine, portioning medicine, dispensing prescriptions; a full prescription takes them but a moment, the master checks it and not a single herb is wrong; tested on reciting formulas, their tongues are that slick, not a shred of stage fright — if our Xiao Lian can ever reach even a fraction of their capability, I'll burn incense in gratitude!"

Xiao Lian leaned against Song Miao, her mouth slightly pouting, yet she didn't retort, just listened quietly, then snuggled closer, pressing her face against Song Miao's leg, and held up the sachet.

Song Miao took it with one hand, pulled over a folding chair to sit, and with the other hand slowly gathered Xiao Lian into her arms, gently stroking her shoulder, whispering to her: "Truly wonderful!"

Xiao Lian's face instantly reddened; she buried her head in Song Miao's ribs and said nothing.

Holding her, Song Miao heard Cheng Erniang still praising the apprentices at Tianyuantang, and smiled as she chimed in: "Second Lady, this worry of yours is truly unnecessary — you've only been here a few months and can already write and keep accounts without a single mistake; besides your own diligence, your natural aptitude is extremely rare; a daughter takes after her mother, and seeing you perform like this, one knows our Xiao Lian absolutely won't fall behind anyone by half a point!"

Cheng Erniang was already a bit embarrassed hearing her daughter praised; now being publicly praised herself, her face flushed "teng" red, three parts more handsome than a monkey's bottom, and she was actually at a loss, holding the fruit and butter-soaked snails, not knowing where to put them.

She said: "Madam speaks too highly! I'm just a coarse, stupid person! Everyone in the eatery has good aptitude; they're young, smart, and equally diligent!"

The Song Ji staff, top to bottom, were all well acquainted; though matters were many, the atmosphere was good; hearing Song Miao praise Cheng Erniang, and seeing Cheng Erniang humble herself here, they all chimed in one after another.

Zhang Siniang said: "Madam's words are the truth! Second Lady is being too modest! You taught me arithmetic; Sanlang and I studied for half a day and couldn't memorize the mnemonic in two days! Yet back in Hua Prefecture, I memorized Madam's kitchen rules in less than half a day! It shows these things require aptitude! The two of us are just no good at arithmetic!"

Dabing interjected: "My handwriting is ugly too! Madam has scolded me many times, saying my written numbers are crooked and twisted, and showed me the characters Second Lady wrote before — same two months of study, yet you write beautifully!"

Cheng Erniang both wanted to listen and was burning with embarrassment; red-faced, she listened until everyone finished speaking, then set the fruit plate and snack plate on the table, saying: "You all sit and rest, eat some snacks; I'll go check on the dried meat in the back!"

Cheng Erniang and Xiao Lian returned late; by the time the He family's servant hurried back to report, the sun was nearly setting.

In the He Mansion, Zhu Jie'er, learning that Xiao Lian's apprenticeship had gone smoothly, was so happy she circled around He Lao Furen nonstop.

She circled until satisfied, then grabbed the reporting servant and kept asking for details: at one moment asking, "When she paid respects to the master, did Doctor Lin test Xiao Lian with questions? Were any the same as what I guessed yesterday? Did I guess right??"

At another moment asking: "How did Xiao Lian answer? Did she answer well?"

Then again asking: "When does she start lessons? Does she have to go every day? Can I still find her to play?"

How would the servant know what she asked yesterday, or how Xiao Lian answered; seeing the young mistress staring expectantly at him, he scratched his ears and cheeks in anxiety.

Zhu Jie'er was a little disappointed, but didn't make things hard for him; instead she ran back to make things hard for He Lao Furen, clinging to her and demanding to go out.

"It's already the shen hour, the sky is dark; where you're going you'll only say a few words; better to go tomorrow — tomorrow afternoon, you can chat a while, and we'll stay for dinner too!"

But this coaxing tactic of He Lao Furen might work on ordinary children; against her own granddaughter, it fell a bit short.

Hearing He Lao Furen's tone, which didn't sound non-negotiable, Zhu Jie'er whined and acted spoiled.

"But we agreed yesterday, Grandmother promised too; if Xiao Lian succeeded in her apprenticeship, today we'd go congratulate her! The other day Teacher just taught me an idiom, called 'one word worth nine tripods'; Grandmother's words, to me, have always been ninety-nine tripods!! Right now it's only the shen hour; normally at this hour the sky is still bright; only today, for some reason, the sky darkened early; actually the hour is still early — really can't go?"

"The road is hot; I'll take Sister Yuegui's big fan to fan icy wind for Grandmother; on the way back I'll tell stories and recite texts to relieve boredom; okay?"

Which old lady could withstand a granddaughter acting spoiled like this?

He Lao Furen couldn't help but ask: "Then what story does Zhu Jie'er want to tell me, what text to recite?"

Seeing an opening, Zhu Jie'er grew even more spirited: "I saw the fish at Song Jiejie's place, went back and told Teacher, and Teacher taught me an essay on fish transforming into kunpeng; I've been diligent, and I've memorized it very well!"

But after saying that, she added: "However, if Grandmother feels it's too hot, too tiring, too late, I can endure it! Change to another day! Today I'll write Xiao Lian a letter congratulating her on her apprenticeship, that'll do!"

He Lao Furen could endure Zhu Jie'er's spoiled acting, but this moment of thoughtfulness she couldn't withstand at all.

She said: "We'll go right now, accompany our Zhu Jie'er!"

Saying so, she had someone arrange a carriage, and called a maid to pack things.

However, the old and young had just stepped out the door; originally it was pitch black outside, but suddenly heaven and earth lit up, immediately followed by a "hong long long" rumble, as if exploding right beside one's ears.

Zhu Jie'er was first startled, but not frightened; just as she was about to speak, another lightning bolt struck down, then thunder rolled continuously; before long, a gale rose outside, trees swaying, leaves flying.

Though the sky was dark and the exact situation unclear, accompanied by the hua la la of rain, water vapor and hot air rushed at their faces — it was a torrential downpour.

In such heavy rain, naturally they could no longer go.

Back in the room, He Lao Furen saw her granddaughter listless, and hurriedly offered comforting words, adding: "If the rain stops in a while, Grandmother will still take you — if we can't go today, we'll definitely go tomorrow, alright?"

Zhu Jie'er nodded vigorously, but had someone grind ink and slowly wrote a letter to Xiao Lian, looking like she didn't believe the rain would stop anytime soon.

She was rarely this quiet and still, which made He Lao Furen's heart ache even more; she couldn't help turning to the old woman beside her: "It didn't rain early, it didn't rain late, it just had to rain at this very moment!"

The old woman replied: "Summer rain is heavy and fast; if it were spring, even if it rained one wouldn't fear going out — this year there's truly been too much rain; it barely calmed for a month or so, could another river flood be coming?"

She added: "The rain has been pent up; these ten-odd days have truly been stifling, making one feel they can't catch their breath; it's finally really come down!"

Zhu Jie'er wrote her letter dragging it out; barely finishing, she specially had someone bring her rose perfume dew, dripped a few drops on the paper, smelled it was fragrant enough, then sealed it.

Once done, she handed the letter to the servant, walking listlessly, just about to return to her own room, when a maid hurried in.

"Old Madam, the gatehouse reports someone outside delivering something — says it's Wang Sanlang from the Song Family Eatery in Sanzao County Alley."

Zhu Jie'er instantly bounced up.

He Lao Furen hurriedly said: "Quickly call him in!"

After a while, Wang Sanlang was brought in.

He bowed, then said: "Madam sent me to pay respects to Old Madam; because Xiao Lian at home successfully became an apprentice today, knowing Old Madam has been concerned, she specially sent me to say a few more words in thanks — yesterday's practice questions, several actually came up today."

As he spoke, he handed the two food boxes he carried to the maid at the side, and also two letters; one was from Song Miao to He Lao Furen, the other from Xiao Lian to Zhu Jie'er.

He introduced each in turn, delivered all the messages he should, then prepared to take his leave.

He Lao Furen hurriedly called him to stay, and had someone prepare a gift, saying: "The rain is too heavy; wait until it stops before returning."

Wang Sanlang said: "Madam said she fears the rain behind will only get heavier, and told us to return home after delivering the things."

Sure enough, he left in haste.

After he left, Zhu Jie'er hurriedly opened the letter, four full pages, looking quite imposing, but the characters on it were large, and the content was nothing but childish talk repeated over and over; yet she read it with a beaming face, very happy, constantly picking out things to say to He Lao Furen to act coquettish, and said: "Grandmother, Xiao Lian said there is a food item in the food box Song Jiejie sent, called 'Double-Layer Curd,' and she helped Song Jiejie as an assistant—let's eat it!"

He Lao Furen had not yet closed the letter.

The wording in the letter was fresh and natural, and the handwriting was equally outstanding; though it was classical Chinese, it was as if Song Xiaoniangzi of Sanzao County Alley was speaking right in front of her.

After reading it once, she couldn't help but turn back and read it carefully again, then set it aside, smiling and ordering someone to bring the food box over.

The food box was sealed with paper, and the paper was stamped with the shop seal of "Song Ji Food Shop."

The grandmother and granddaughter looked at the seal for a while, studied the character and the pattern above it, before opening it.

One food box contained fresh mung bean cakes, with charcoal underneath to keep them warm, and since it was a hot summer day, they were still hot to the touch at this time.

The grandmother and granddaughter didn't bother to look at the other food box, each taking one to eat first.

The mung bean cake burned the mouth, the outer skin thin and crisp, decorated with a little white sesame, the white sesame also crisp, extremely fragrant when bitten, the filling clear and sweet, not greasy, with a hint of saltiness, slightly moist, soft, tender, and sandy; one bite down, and it was fragrant.

Children mostly swallow food whole when eating, and Zhu Jie'er was naturally no exception.

She finished one in two or three bites, and was about to take a second when He Lao Furen reached out to stop her, saying: "Your Young Lady Song specially instructed that this is pan-fried and cannot be eaten in excess—just eat one to taste it."

Afraid her granddaughter would act coquettish, she immediately sent someone to open the other food box.

This one was filled to the brim with ice, with two bowls in the middle; the bowls were not large, covered with lids, and when the lid was opened, the top layer was entirely milk skin.

The milk skin was a very pale yellow, with slight wrinkles, like fine silk in the wind, or like spring water rippled by a breeze.

A soup spoon hung by the bowl's edge, and the two each took one, unable to resist tasting it.

As soon as it entered the mouth, they first ate the milk skin.

He Lao Furen immediately understood why this bowl was called "Double-Skin Curd."

The outer milk skin was very thick and smooth, with the heavy taste of cheese, but when bitten, it had a slightly tight rebound; once it entered the mouth, it almost immediately melted, bringing a rich milk fat fragrance and an extremely strong milky flavor.

Once the milk skin melted, the milk layer below was in a state of just having solidified, fine and thick, smooth, and it soon melted as well.

A faint sweetness was tasted in the mouth, along with a very faint egg white aroma, but no eggy fishiness; eating it was all rich milky fragrance, the sweetness slowly emerging, from the tip of the tongue to the root of the tongue, then to the throat, and even to the nasal cavity—the mouth was full of a milky sweet fragrance from start to finish.

That sweetness was the clear sweetness of rock sugar and the sweetness naturally present in cow's milk, weakened by two points due to the icing, making the milk flavor even richer.

Each person only had one small bowl of this double-skin curd; after finishing, the throat was not greasy at all, only the milk fragrance remained.

That night, Zhu Jie'er fell asleep accompanied by the sweet milky fragrance.

In her sleep, she also had a particularly powerful courtyard master as a teacher; Song Jiejie praised her for being capable, congratulated her on successfully becoming a disciple, and made her a big bowl of double-skin curd.

She took a bite, then another bite, so good, so fragrant, hehe, the portion was full, and she never had to worry about it being gone after two spoonfuls!

In Sanzao County Alley, the Song Ji shop was especially tense that day.

Because a sudden rainstorm had started, everyone was somewhat worried about business.

Fortunately, the Meat gan and dried squid had been collected early, because Song Miao had calculated the time; this last batch had been dried just right today, and no new ones had been made, so there was no need to worry about them getting damp, moldy, or rotten.

After packing them overnight and tidying up the rest, everyone left together, leaving only Cheng Erniang, her daughter, and Song Miao.

Taking advantage of the time when Xiao Lian went to wash up, Song Miao quietly called Cheng Erniang to one side and asked: "When I usually praise Er Niangzi, do you feel uncomfortable?"

Cheng Erniang was somewhat surprised, but immediately thought of the matter of being praised in the afternoon, and her face turned red again at once.

She hesitated for a moment, facing Song Miao, truly without any thought of concealment, and honestly said: "It is a bit uncomfortable, feeling embarrassed..."

Song Miao asked again: "Do you not want to hear it at all?"

Cheng Erniang hurriedly said: "No, it sounds affected to say this, although I say I feel embarrassed, actually from the bottom of my heart, I am also very happy!"

"Previously I saw you didn't like it much, so I praised you less; if you are not troubled in your heart, then from now on, when I see Er Niangzi doing something well, I won't keep it hidden in my heart, but will praise you more—I want to praise you in front of outsiders, is that alright?"

Cheng Erniang's ten toes moved back and forth inside her shoes.

She was only in her twenties; although she had been an elder sister since childhood, managed the household, become a daughter-in-law, and become a mother, the praise she had received was actually countable on one's fingers, to the extent that when she received Song Miao's public praise for the first time, embarrassment was even greater than happiness.

And as she received more and more praise, she had already slightly learned how to accept it; encountering a situation like this afternoon, although she still felt a bit uncomfortable, happiness and discomfort were now evenly matched.

Cheng Erniang began to be unwilling to refuse.

She couldn't help but express her thanks, and also talked about her situation when she was young, finally saying: "If I do well, and Young Lady praises me, although I say I feel embarrassed, I am also very happy."

"Then in the future, when I want to praise, I will praise according to my own wishes," Song Miao smiled slightly, "I think Er Niangzi is the same; if you see me doing something not good, remind me; if you see me doing something good, also tell me, so I can be happy in my heart."

"This is my first time being a host; I am not very confident in my heart."

Cheng Erniang widened her eyes and asked in surprise: "Does Young Lady also lack confidence in her heart?!"

Song Miao smiled and said: "Even if I am confident, sometimes I also have vain and proud thoughts, wanting to hear others praise me."

Cheng Erniang immediately racked her brains and praised everything she could praise, with full sincerity.

When Cheng Erniang went to wash up, Song Miao found a gap, called Xiao Lian over, and asked softly: "This afternoon, Mother praised others in front of outsiders, saying you were not good; are you still sad now?"

Xiao Lian shook her head, said nothing, but couldn't help pouting her lips again.

Song Miao then said: "Mother doesn't know how to praise people; you teach her, praise her more, she will learn; also teach her more to praise me."

She did not reveal what Cheng Erniang had just told her, only saying: "We will all teach her, quietly, without letting her notice, so she can also learn to praise us, is that good?"

But Cheng Erniang did not need much teaching.

When she came out from washing up, she saw her daughter had already made the bed, and was using a small scale from the food shop to weigh various medicinal herbs into sachets; she couldn't help but be stunned and asked: "Xiao Lian, it's so late, why aren't you sleeping yet; what are you doing?"

Xiao Lian raised her head and said happily: "Master said this sachet can drive away mosquitoes; I divided it into four portions, one for Mother, one for Sister and Zhu Jie'er—I also moved some of my share to Mother, so mosquitoes won't bite you!"

She also said: "Mother has worked so hard! I must study well and do better than Senior Sister and Senior Brother, so Mother can have glory on her face."

Cheng Erniang could not describe what she felt in her heart, only feeling that all the daily exhaustion and hard work were worth it.

She didn't know why, but suddenly thought of what Song Xiaoniangzi had just said to her; she couldn't help but have tears in her eyes, and suddenly felt a bit of belated realization, saying: "No need; it was Mother who talked nonsense today and made you sad, right? The two of us, mother and daughter, just need to be healthy and safe; that is more important than any success or capability!"

?? End of month, the two activities in the comment section are still in effect; I checked, and there are still quite a few reader titles. Interested friends can find the post titled "November Fan Title" in the pinned post and reply. The activity to share and earn coins requires a separate post, with the word "share" included in the title.

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? Thank you all for your various supports, thank you thank you thank you!