Chapter 14 Eating Instant Noodles from a Big Pot

Chapter 14 Eating Instant Noodles from a Big Pot

Jiang Huaiyu rolled her eyes helplessly: "It's all because your older brother saw how upset you were and thought you were worried about Cheng Lanzhou."

That's not wrong in a sense, but the one who feels sorry for her isn't her, it's the original owner of this body.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least the Cheng family owes them a favor, and if anything happens in the future, they might have to lend a hand.

Jiang Yutang smiled awkwardly and comforted him, "Third Brother, are you hot? Let me fan you." She picked up a large leaf from the ground and fanned Jiang Huaiyu's face with it.

Without water, they ate those suffocatingly dry rations; one bite and their necks could stretch two miles.

Jiang Songzhi chewed on his dry rations and said with a wry smile, "It's really hard to swallow without water."

“I just took a walk around the area and didn’t find any river,” Jiang Jiuzhe said expressionlessly.

Jiang Sumin, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "No rush. I remember it's marked on the map that there's a river down there. If we can get to that place today, we can fetch water again."

"About how many miles?"

"...about forty li."

Everyone fell silent, and Madam Zhu, standing to the side, looked particularly unwell.

She quietly turned around, placed her hand on her stomach, frowned slightly, exhaled, and met Jiang Jiuzhe's worried gaze.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

She smiled gently and shook her head: "I'm just a little tired, I'll be fine after a rest."

Jiang Jiuzhe looked worried, but still agreed: "Okay, lean on my lap and rest for a while."

"good."

The exiled crowd was lifeless, but the yamen runners were having a great time. One of them had caught a wild rabbit, and the two runners were huddled together to build a fire and roast the fragrant rabbit meat.

The already tired and hungry crowd drooled at the smell of barbecue, looking on with pitiful, expectant eyes.

The Cheng family was relatively better off than any other exile because Cheng Dai'er had the foresight to hide money and valuables beforehand, but money was useless in this environment.

All I can do is drool over the smell of grilled meat.

"These constables are inhuman," Jiang Huaiyu cursed angrily. "They can't even eat in private. Little sister, give me that dagger. I'll go hunting tonight too."

Without saying a word, Jiang Yutang handed him the fruit knife.

The food she brought this time included compressed biscuits and instant noodles, because both were light and couldn't be eaten without water.

I can only pray that there is a water source nearby when I find a place to stay for the night.

The group closed their eyes and rested for a while, but before they were fully asleep, they were woken up by the yamen runners.

Someone in the queue wailed, "Both of my feet are bleeding from being rubbed raw. It hurts every time I put my feet on the ground. Please, gentlemen, have mercy on me!"

A bailiff, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth and picking his teeth, walked over and glanced at him disdainfully: "If you can't walk anymore, just chop you up."

Those around them dared not speak out in anger, and could only clench their fists and continue on their way.

Jiang Yutang stared at the man for a while, then casually approached him and patted his shoulder: "Brother, does your foot hurt? I have some soft insoles here that won't rub your feet, do you need them?"

She took out an insole from her bosom and handed it to the man. The man looked her up and down with a hint of suspicion, then reached out and pinched the insole.

"It really is soft!" he said, reaching out to pull it.

Jiang Yutang quickly withdrew his hand: "Hey, big brother, this thing is very scarce now, we can't just take it for free."

The man immediately understood her meaning and looked troubled.

"You want money? I don't have anything valuable on me, and you know my situation, young lady."

“I don’t need money,” Jiang Yutang said with a smile. “You can exchange something with me.”

The man immediately panicked: "All I have on me are a few clothes and an inkstone..."

"Then trade me your inkstone." You can sell an inkstone for money if you take it back.

"Huh? But..." The man stood there, his gaze shifting back and forth between the insoles and the bundle, seemingly feeling that exchanging an inkstone for an insoles was not worth it.

Jiang Yutang pulled out two pairs of insoles from his pocket and said, "I'll trade you my two pairs, and you can take the other pair to trade with someone else, as they'll definitely need them too."

Hearing this, the man was deeply moved and decisively took out an inkstone from his bundle and handed it to her.

Jiang Yutang happily accepted the inkstone, ran back, and carefully hid it in her bundle.

Even though the next forty miles were arduous, she was filled with excitement.

On the way to exile, no one had much of value on them. Once they arrived in Danzhou, there were many wealthy people in the town, and they could exchange their valuables for more precious antiques.

After that, Grandpa won't have to worry about medical expenses and will be able to achieve financial freedom.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yutang felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation to arrive in Danzhou as soon as possible.

Just as Jiang Sumin had said, there was indeed a river near where they had landed. The moment they saw the river, everyone rushed to the riverbank and transformed into water buffaloes, wishing they could drink the entire river dry.

Jiang Yutang also secretly breathed a sigh of relief; at least dinner was sorted out.

She went to the yamen runners to borrow a pot for cooking porridge, saying she would help clean it. The runners were happy to hear that and readily carried the pot off the carriage for her.

A man huffed and puffed as he carried a pot to the riverbank, where he bumped into Jiang Huaiyu, who was staring intently at the water with a fruit knife in his mouth.

"Third Brother, what are you doing?"

"I'm checking if there are any fish. Keep your voice down, or you'll scare them away."

Jiang Yutang's lips twitched twice, and she tugged at his sleeve, saying playfully, "Forget about the fish for now, let's have noodles tonight."

Jiang Huaiyu paused, staring blankly at her: "Noodles? Where did you get noodles?"

"Oh, never mind that. Come with me to borrow a few bowls from the yamen runners."

Jiang Yutang took a few pieces of pork that was about to expire and offered them to the yamen runners to curry favor. When the runners heard that it was meat, they readily lent them their bowls.

She called her two older brothers to help start a fire, while she ran to the cart to get her bundle, took out the ten packets of bread and seasonings that she had opened beforehand, and threw them in as soon as the water boiled.

Her family watched as she put the noodles in, then took out a transparent jar, shook in the powder inside, and then threw in a clump of reddish-brown solidified substance. In no time, a fragrant aroma of meat broth wafted from the pot.

"This meat smells delicious. Little sister, have you put any meat in the pot?" Jiang Songzhi leaned closer to the pot to take a look.

"Uh, it doesn't count as meat."

Two yuan a pack of instant noodles, and you want to eat meat? That's wishful thinking.

To avoid attracting attention, the family deliberately hid in a remote, open area where the fragrance would dissipate with the wind.

"Second brother, have you ever seen this kind of noodle in the palace?"

Jiang Jiuze shook his head: "Perhaps I am not knowledgeable enough to have seen this before."

The family gathered around the big pot, discussing instant noodles one after another, while Jiang Yutang suppressed a laugh.

Mu picked up some thin branches nearby, washed them by the river, and brought them back to use as chopsticks.

"Here it comes!" Jiang Yutang struggled to scoop up a bowl of noodles with a spoon and handed it to Jiang Shengan. "Dad, this is for you."

The second one was handed to the Yun family, and the third one was handed to the Mu family.

"Sister-in-law, be careful not to burn Xiaoxiao."

A family sat by the river, holding chipped bowls and crooked twigs in their hands, with steam rising above them, and sighs of wonder emanating from them.

"It's so delicious! It has the aroma of meat even though it doesn't contain any!"

"And this side." Jiang Sumin picked up a piece of noodle with his chopsticks and shook it. "Why is it curved? Is it for some purpose?"

Jiang Siyao thought for a moment and answered seriously, "Isn't it beautiful?"

Just as the whole family was enjoying their meal, Jiang Shengan suddenly said, "Songzhi, serve three bowls to the Cheng family."