Chapter 51 Food and Gossip

Chapter 51 Food and Gossip

Three suitable candidates were: Miss Yang, who had a heavy family burden, as shown on the first page of the booklet; Miss Zheng, one of the girls from Zhengjiazhuang; and Miss Chen, who also lived in the neighboring Lingshan Town.

Miss Zheng was once engaged, but after her fiancé died, her scholar father required her to remain chaste at home. Later, her father died, and her brother and sister-in-law were unwilling to support her anymore. So her mother planned to find her a wealthy family with a simple and easy-going household so that she could marry and live her own life.

In the past five years, Ms. Chen has been engaged to three different men, and all three of her fiancés died shortly after their engagements due to various accidents.

The first time could be considered a coincidence, and the second time someone might still have a glimmer of hope, but after the third time, Ms. Chen was completely branded as a "husband-killer".

Now her family no longer expects her to bring back a normal amount of dowry. They are afraid that she will bring bad luck not only to her husband, but also to her father, brother, and all male creatures. They are eager to find her a husband who is healthy, has no bad habits, whose family is easy to get along with, and most importantly, who is not afraid of her reputation as a husband-killer.

If it were up to Wang Xiaozhi herself, she would very much like to exclude this Miss Chen as well, but what could she do when Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan didn't believe in these things?

After much deliberation, Wang Xiaozhi decided to respect Hao Yu's right to know. Therefore, she placed this Miss Chen among the three potential marriage candidates.

After hearing what she said, Hao Yu indeed did not react to Miss Chen's reputation for being a "husband-killer".

He said to Wang Xiaozhi, "Thank you for your hard work, you and Azhao. You two stay in the village and rest for a few days. Let me ask someone to inquire about the specific situation of these three households."

Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao nodded together, then stood up, intending to say goodbye and leave.

Before they could speak, Hao Yu said to them, "Bring your child over tonight, and we'll have dinner together."

Jiang Yuan also said, "Wan Niang plans to steam buns and make braised pork."

Uncontrollably, Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao swallowed a small amount.

Xie Wanniang smiled and grabbed Wang Xiaozhi's arm. "The dough should be ready by now, sister. Let's go make dinner."

Jiang Yuan then added, "Then my brother-in-law and I will go pick up Yuanyuan and Afang together."

Hao Yu nodded, "Go ahead, go ahead."

Thus, before Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhaolian could even utter a word of refusal, they were taken away by Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan respectively.

In the kitchen, Xie Wanniang washed her hands, took out the prepared pork belly, frozen tofu and white radish, and then scooped out two sauerkraut from the large vat.

Wang Xiaozhi wasn't idle either. She rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, and began skillfully handling the dough.

Little Yang, who was like a little tail, was still in charge of tending the fire. The little girl took care of two stoves by herself, and her movements were skillful and efficient.

The three of them worked together and quickly made a large pot of braised pork with radish, a large pot of sauerkraut stewed with frozen tofu, and a large pot of steamed buns made from two kinds of flour.

Considering that Chen Fang and Chen Yuan were both young, Xie Wanniang steamed a bowl of smooth and soft egg custard for each of the two children and Xiao Yang in the family.

The aroma of food wafted out of the kitchen. The two little ones, who had been ordered by Wang Xiaozhi not to come in, anxiously stood with one foot in and one foot out of the door, calling out "Mom" in soft voices with pleading eyes.

"That's good. Go and call Dad and Uncle to help get the bowls and chopsticks."

The two little ones made two "oh oh" sounds, and then, with their short legs, they couldn't wait to go and call for someone.

Jiang Yuan and Chen Zhao arrived quickly, but Hao Yu left the two children, who were only focused on the food and had no sense of danger whatsoever, in the main room.

Jiang Yuan washed his hands, grabbed a bowl and chopsticks and left, while Chen Zhao picked up the braised pork and radish that Xie Wanniang had already put into a wooden basin.

On the second trip, Jiang Yuan took the pickled cabbage stew with frozen tofu, and Chen Zhao took the steamed egg custard that Xie Wanniang had specially prepared for the three children.

Following closely behind them into the main room, Wang Xiaozhi carried a large basin of steamed buns made from two kinds of flour that she had just picked out.

Xie Wanniang then took two more small bowls and scooped out a lot of pickled cucumbers and pickled radishes from the pickle jar.

After washing his hands, Xiao Yang took her hand and walked with her towards the main room.

Since there were so many people at home today, Hao Yu simply took out his treasured tea leaves and personally brewed a large pot of tea with hot water, letting Jiang Yuan, Chen Zhao, Wang Xiaozhi, Xie Wanniang, and Xiao Yang pour it for themselves.

No one stood on ceremony with Hao Yu. Since there were no teacups at home, everyone took large bowls and poured tea for themselves.

After the tea was poured, Hao Yu picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of frozen tofu that had already soaked up all the soup.

He was the most senior among them, and as soon as he picked up his chopsticks, everyone else followed suit.

Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao's first bites were for their two children, and Xie Wan's mother also first picked up a trembling piece of braised pork for Xiao Yang.

The three children were so hungry they were swallowing hard. As soon as the braised pork was put into the bowl, they immediately buried their heads and started eating it.

Unlike the children's eagerness, the adults chatted quietly as they ate.

Chen Zhao asked Hao Yu which of the three she preferred, while Xie Wanniang asked Wang Xiaozhi if she knew more about the two girls who were about to become nuns.

Hao Yu did not give a definite answer. He said, "We still need to find out about the other party's character, temperament, and family situation first."

Wang Xiaozhi then briefly recounted what she knew about the two people.

“Miss Feng is the only daughter in her family. Her parents want her to marry into the family and stay at home to inherit the family business. However, her grandparents, uncles and aunts all want to adopt a boy for them.”

"In order to make this happen, they ruined two of Miss Feng's marriages in a row, and finally they shamelessly started spreading rumors that Miss Feng was immoral and so on."

“They are Ms. Feng’s relatives. Apart from Ms. Feng’s family and neighbors, people who don’t know the inside story still believe what they say.”

“Miss Feng’s reputation has been ruined. Not only will she be pointed at and gossiped about when she goes out, but there are also scoundrels who sneak in and try to do bad things to her.”

"Although these people ultimately failed, Miss Feng still had a momentary lapse in judgment and secretly attempted suicide by hanging. Fortunately, her parents discovered it early and saved her."

This matter caused quite a stir in the county town, so when Wang Xiaozhi casually asked, someone told her everything in detail.

"You have no idea how miserable that girl is. She barely escaped with her life, and her parents were crying and begging her not to do anything rash, but those awful relatives of hers came to their door again."

"They said that the girl had lost her virginity and could no longer live in this world, as she would bring shame to the Feng family. They shouted that they would take her back to their hometown and drown her in a pig cage."