Chapter 578: Peasant Woman 6
Daya and An Wen both fell into deep thought, clearly having taken Tan You’s words to heart.
Tan You didn’t ask if they understood. She just carried the few pounds of pork fat into the kitchen. People in this era might not even get to eat meat once a month, so Tan You didn’t dare to start them on rich, heavy meals right away, worried it would upset their stomachs.
’So I’ll just have to take things slow. Maybe start by stewing some bone broth?’ Fortunately, the Chen family wasn’t so poor that they didn’t even have a single clay pot, otherwise Tan You really would have started cursing.
After starting the bone broth simmering in the clay pot, Tan You began rendering the pork fat in another, beat-up iron wok. To get the rendered lard snowy white, you were supposed to add water, not just dry-fry it.
But since the weather was so hot, the rendered lard obviously wouldn’t solidify.
Daya tended the fire for Tan You, telling her what they had done that day. "An Wen and I went to Zhuzi’s house to trade for some coarse rice. Zhuzi’s grandmother gave us a small scoopful."
Tan You said, "We got the better end of that deal. In a little while, once it’s dark, you and An Wen should take two eggs over to them."
It wasn’t that Tan You was being stingy; in this era, eggs were practically hard currency. A single egg could be sold for one copper coin, and giving too many would just make them look like idiots.
Daya nodded. "I understand. I’ll have An Wen go. I’ll stay and tend the fire for you, Mother."
An Wen, crouching in the kitchen, asked, "Aunt, is there anything I can do?"
Tan You glanced at him. "There will be plenty for you to do. Until you find your birth parents, Daya will be in charge of things inside the house, while you and I will handle things outside. You’ll learn how to deal with other people."
An Wen’s heart immediately settled. "Okay, Aunt. I’ll be sure to learn well."
Tan You gave a slight nod. "It’s getting late. Go deliver the eggs and come back; dinner will be ready soon. Be careful on the way. And you know what to say, don’t you?"
An Wen replied, "I know. I’ll say that you sold off some of your dowry to trade for grain for the family."
"Alright, go on," Tan You said with a wave of her hand. An Wen tucked the two eggs into his clothes and disappeared in a flash.
Erya was a little unhappy. "Mother, can’t I be the one to handle things outside? Is it just because An Wen is a boy?"
"Of course not," Tan You said with a laugh. "It’s because you’re too young. When you’re An Wen’s age, if you want to go out and see the world, I certainly won’t stop you."
"Mother, you’re the best." Erya was happy now, and when she was happy, she liked to cling to Tan You.
Tan You gently pushed her little head away. "It would be bad if the oil splattered on you. Take Sanya and go play off to the side."
Daya rested her chin in her hands. "Mother, we don’t really need to buy new clothes. We can make them ourselves."
Tan You shot her a look. "I need to earn silver. I don’t have time to make clothes."
’She knew how to make clothes, but that was with modern tools like a sewing machine. Asking her to sew on a button was no problem, but making an entire outfit from scratch? Tan You really didn’t want to do that.’
Daya started, "I..."
"You’re too young," Tan You mercilessly shut down her idea. "Once we’re earning silver, we’ll pay someone else to do it. You have to understand, in the time it would take to make clothes, we could have earned who knows how much silver."
Daya smiled, pressing her lips together. "Mother, how are you planning to earn money? You bought so much pork fat. It’ll spoil easily in this hot weather."
Tan You said, "We’ll talk about earning money tomorrow. If you’re interested, you can learn along with me."
Erya and Sanya, not wanting to be left out, chimed in, "Mother, we want to learn too!"
Just then, An Wen came back in from delivering the eggs. Hearing this, he instinctively spoke up too, "Aunt, I want to learn as well."
’Of course, Tan You wasn’t one to keep secrets. It’d be great if they all learned. Once they knew how, they could be her little apprentices, and she wouldn’t have to do everything herself.’
"Alright, you can all learn together."
Daya noticed An Wen’s expression was a little off and casually asked, "What’s wrong?"
An Wen pouted. "When I went to Zhuzi’s house, I overheard Zhuzi’s grandmother’s daughter-in-law—Aunt Hua. She was saying that her mother-in-law gave us too much grain this morning and that we came over specifically to take advantage of them."
Tan You stirred the hot oil in the wok. "You’re angry just because of that?"
An Wen hung his head, not saying a word.
But Tan You just smiled. "Zhuzi’s grandmother did give us extra, and our family did get the better deal. That’s a fact, and there’s no denying it."
An Wen stiffened his neck. "But Aunt, you had me give them eggs in return."
Tan You asked, "Did Aunt Hua say anything else after she took the eggs?"
An Wen shook his head. "No. She asked me to stay for dinner, but I was upset, so I ran back."
Tan You chuckled. "You’ve got quite a temper, kid. But I have to tell you, if you want to go out and deal with the world with me in the future, you’ll need to learn to control it. A temper should be hidden in your heart, not worn on your sleeve."
"You should always present a pleasant and agreeable front to others. Don’t get angry so easily."
An Wen was silent for a long while before saying, "Aunt, I’ll learn."
Tan You said, "Alright, I’ll be watching to see how well you learn. Since we haven’t had any meat for a long time, and because of the recent funeral in the family, we’ll only eat ’light meat’ dishes for the next month. We can talk about ’heavy meat’ dishes after a month has passed."
Erya’s mouth was already watering. "Mother, what’s a ’light meat dish’?"
Tan You thought for a moment. "’Light meat dishes’ are things like various stir-fries, stews, and eggs."
’She felt she was already being quite considerate. If someone really tried to make her go without meat for three years, she’d probably eat them alive. Enduring it for just one month for the original owner’s family? Tan You felt she was doing a great job.’
Dinner was boiled coarse rice, a large basin of bone broth, and a bowl of steamed egg custard for each person.
Tan You looked at the rendered pork lard, and without hesitation, she drizzled a small spoonful of it over her hot rice. The children, not wanting to be left out, did the same, their little mouths shining with grease as they ate.
"This is the first time I’ve ever been this full," Daya remarked, rubbing her slightly bulging little belly.
Tan You said, "From now on, we’ll eat our fill at every meal."
Erya said, "Mother, rice mixed with pork lard is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten."
Sanya said, "Sister, you just said the bone broth was the most delicious."
Erya replied, "They’re both delicious! Everything Mother makes is delicious."
Tan You wasn’t falling for that. "I’m not your personal cook. I do the cooking, you do the pots and dishes."
Daya said, "Mother, I’ll learn how to cook from now on."
"Alright," Tan You said, pleased. "It’s always good to learn another skill."
Watching the four little children crouching in a row washing the dishes, Tan You suddenly frowned. ’Daya, Erya, Sanya... these names sound far too rustic. Besides, they’re so common. I need to think of proper names for everyone.’
Thus, when the three girls came over after cleaning up the kitchen, they heard Tan You’s idea.
"Mother, you’re going to give us new names?" Daya said, trying to suppress her excitement. "I don’t want to be called Daya either. So many people have this name."
Tan You nodded. "You are the eldest sister, and now the eldest daughter of the family, so your responsibilities are naturally different. I want to name you Chen Xi. The ’Xi’ means ’sunlight.’ I hope you can be like the bright sun, forever brilliant and shining."