Chapter 008: Appetizers and Dips

Old Zheng saw that the young lady was not eating, so she could only scoop the food back into her own mouth. She mumbled, "The young lady hasn't grown any teeth yet, so she can't chew this. Tomorrow, I will use the stone bowl for grinding peanuts to make some rice porridge, and add a bit of vegetable juice to cook it for her to eat.

Zheng Mingfa gently touched the calluses on Qiaoniang's palm and vowed, "Qiaoniang, rest assured, once I pass the imperial examination, I will no longer let you suffer. You shall wear the finest clothes."

The skilled woman smiled silently, and at that moment, she cut out several pieces of window curtains, deftly sewing the edges with quick needlework. When evening came, she replaced one and tried it out; indeed, it made the house look cheerful and festive.

Seeing her husband speak to her with gentle words, the clever woman felt that no matter how hard it was, it was worth it, and thus she smiled and said: "It is good to be thin; I can wear the clothes I couldn't wear before, and I no longer need to spend money to buy fabric."

Qiao Niang raised her head and saw the situation of Zheng Pozi, and she already understood in her heart. After pondering for a while, she said: "Mother, I still have a piece of light red gauze from my dowry, which was originally meant to be kept for making a dress for your esteemed daughter in the future. It would be better to take it out now to exchange for window curtains, so it looks more presentable."

In these humble households, which bride does not guard her dowry closely? Yet, by chance, the daughter-in-law is naturally open-minded and does not hold tightly to these possessions, which is also the reason why Aunt Zheng holds her in high regard. At this moment, seeing her take out the fabric she had kept at the bottom of the chest, she feels a bit emotional and silently says to the heavens: Old man, the daughter-in-law you arranged for Mingfa is indeed a good one, always thinking of the Zheng family and never being selfish. Just this point alone makes her unmatched among the brides in the village.

Since the clever girl has already taken it out, she naturally will not put it away again. With a smile, she said: "Things are naturally meant to be used; they should only be stored if they cannot be used up. Now that I have some leftover after making a few window screens, why should I go to the fabric shop to buy more?" As she spoke, she measured the size of the original window screen and began to unfold the red gauze to measure it.

Qiao Niang withdrew her hand, smiling, "When I married you, I was not after fine clothes. Do you think I am suddenly concerned about that now? As long as you are well, I will be well!" Saying this, she felt a bit shy herself, also worried about disturbing Zheng Mingfa's studies. With a swift movement, she stepped outside, crossed the threshold, and turned back to see Zheng Mingfa staring at her retreating figure in a daze, reminiscent of their newlywed days. She couldn't help but smile sweetly and quickly turned her body to leave.

Qiaoniang stepped out of the guest room and went to her own room to check on the young lady. She saw her turned over, lying on the pillow and playing. Qiaoniang reached out to smooth her clothes, and then took out red paper to cut many auspicious characters. The large red auspicious characters that were to be pasted on the main door and in the newlywed's room were naturally to be cut by a senior aunt. However, the auspicious characters that Qiaoniang cut were meant to be pasted in the hall.

Zheng Pozi busied herself for a while, and upon entering, she saw Qiaoniang had already cut out the auspicious characters. She casually cut several window flowers as well, and only then did she remember the window gauze, which had been cut by Qiaoniang when she got married. It had already become old and gray. If they were to replace it with new ones now, it would cost quite a bit. If they did not replace it, it would not look right. Therefore, she just stared at the window gauze, remaining silent for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Guijie'er let out a great sigh of relief. In this rural area, many village women feed their toothless infants by chewing the food themselves, then "huffing" it onto a spoon and swiftly feeding it to the infants. Qiaoniang sometimes took Guijie'er out to visit, and Guijie'er was fortunate enough to witness these unfortunate infants. Therefore, for some time, she had been worried that her own mother might feed her in the same manner as those village women. Fortunately, her mother did not seem to have this habit; whenever she needed to feed Guijie'er something, she would always press the food down with the back of the spoon until it was broken up, and then mash it soft with the front of the spoon before putting it into Guijie'er's mouth. Reflecting on the infants from other families, how much saliva would they need from adults to grow up?

Zheng Pozi, upon seeing the bright red gauze that Qiaoniang had brought out, thought to herself that if it were not for the upcoming wedding celebrations, she would never bear to use such fine fabric to cover the windows. She looked at Qiaoniang and said, "Using this gauze to cover the windows would indeed be a bit of a waste. You should put it away; I will go take a look at the fabric shop instead."

Miss Gui has just had a little rice soup and is leisurely sitting in Qiao Niang's arms, watching Zheng Pozi and others eat. She accidentally sees Zheng Pozi spitting the chewed mushy vegetables onto a small spoon, the mush still frothing with a bit of white foam, clearly indicating it is Zheng Pozi's saliva. Little Xiao feels a sudden sense of foreboding; before she can bury her head in Qiao Niang's embrace, Zheng Pozi has already brought the small spoon close to her mouth, opening her own mouth wide as a demonstration, saying: "Come, Miss Gui, try the taste of the vegetables we grow ourselves."

The young lady could already smell the foul odor emanating from the vegetable paste, reminiscent of Granny Zheng's bad breath. It was known that Granny Zheng usually rinsed her mouth carelessly, just a few quick swishes, and being of a certain age, her mouth had developed a slightly sour and foul smell. After chewing this vegetable paste, one could only imagine the taste. My goodness! The young lady's heart raced, her spirit nearly scattered in fear, she tightly closed her mouth and leaned her head against Qiaoniang's embrace, resolutely refusing to eat this vegetable paste.

As the heat of summer gradually recedes, the precious girl has also reached five months of age. Qiaoniang has slowly started to feed her some rice soup and vegetable soup. One day, Zheng Pozi brought a bowl of food to eat, and upon seeing the precious girl looking at the vegetables in her bowl with interest, without a second thought, she took a small spoon from the table, spat out the chewed-up vegetable mush that she had not yet swallowed into the spoon, and with a smile, walked over to the precious girl

Zheng Mingfa looked up and saw that Qiaoniang had entered. Noticing that there was no one around, he first took a sip of tea from Qiaoniang's hand, then placed the cup on the table. He took Qiaoniang's hand and said, "You have lost quite a bit of weight with all the busyness lately."

Old Zheng could not bear to cut the silk herself, only saying nearby: "It is rare for you to think so much for the Zheng family. If Mingfa treats you poorly in the future, I will not agree to it either"

Qiaoniang had previously brought many items as her dowry. Apart from a few pieces of gold jewelry, the rest had been used up. The red gauze that is now at the bottom of the trunk was something she was reluctant to use herself, as she intended to keep it for her future daughter to make skirts and jackets. Now, seeing that Zheng Pozi wanted to change the window gauze but was unwilling to spend money, she had no choice but to take out this piece of red gauze.

As the day of Zhang Heitao's wedding approaches in a few days, Zheng Pozi, having finished her meal, is bustling about without a moment's rest. Qiao Niang noticed that Zheng Mingye had taken Lai Rong and a few others to school, so she carried Guijie into the inner room to see Zheng Mingfa. Finding him deeply engrossed in his studies, she quietly withdrew, first helping Guijie with her needs and placing her on the bed, before going to brew a covered bowl of tea to bring to Zheng Mingfa.

Here, Zheng Mingfa was stunned for quite a while before regaining his senses. When Qiaoniang entered the household, she was only sixteen years old, and now, by calculation, she is merely twenty-four. Although she has given birth to three sons and one daughter, her figure is still plump, and her features are beautiful. Among the women in this village, she is undoubtedly one of the finest. As she turned to leave with a smile, there was an air of maturity about her, which ignited a surge of warmth in Zheng Mingfa's lower abdomen. He gulped down a few sips of tea before he could calm himself to continue reading.