Chapter 161 - 161 Don't Be Hard On Herself
161 Don’t Be Hard On Herself
Old Mrs. Gan was a little speechless.
She rolled her eyes at Madam Luo. “What are you talking about? Do I look like a bad person to you? I only want them to lead a happy life. Why would I want to break their family?”
Seeing that it was a misunderstanding, Madam Luo said in embarrassment, “I thought you wanted Zhao Chuchu to marry into our family.”
“Ever since you entered our family, you’ve seen that I don’t even allow any woman near Yingzhi. Why would I think to break others’ families?”
Madam Luo immediately apologized.
Old Mrs. Gan knew that Madam Luo was an outspoken person, so she was not pissed off.
Zhao Chuchu didn’t know what the two of them were talking about.
She rejected their invitation to stay and returned to the inn.
After all, Zhao Meilan was in the inn. She couldn’t leave her there alone.
She was worried that some reckless people might break into her room and threaten her into giving the tofu recipe away.
Although she was in town, Zhao Meilan was a stranger. Seeing that Zhao Chuchu was away for a long time, she was very worried and could not go to sleep.
When Zhao Chuchu returned, she saw Zhao Meilan waiting for her at the table and asked, “What are you doing here instead of going to sleep?”
Seeing that it was Zhao Chuchu, Zhao Meilan became relieved.
“I thought you were not coming back tonight. I can’t fall asleep without you. I’m scared.”
“Old Mrs. Gan was sick. It took me some time to treat her, so I came back late. But don’t worry. I won’t leave you alone without telling you that I’m not coming home.”
“Sorry, Chuchu. I didn’t know you were saving people. I…”
“Alright, alright, go wash up and go to sleep. You look like you could use some rest,” Zhao Chuchu interrupted Zhao Meilan.
Zhao Meilan smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll go now.”
She didn’t ask any more questions.
With Zhao Chuchu around, she quickly fell asleep.
Hearing her breathing steadily, Zhao Chuchu also lay beside her and was ready to sleep.
She thought about how the stroke had taken a toll on Old Mrs. Gan. She looked in her carry-on space and found an old-fashioned mercurial sphygmomanometer. She planned to give one to the Gan clan some other day.
She also had electronic ones but she thought it would be too ridiculous to present them in this era. The mercurial one might be able to fool them…
One night passed.
Zhao Chuchu went to the Gan clan with Niu Le, Niu An, and Zhao Meilan.
They decided to return after performing acupuncture on Old Mrs. Gan.
“Chuchu, you’re not staying at my house for the time being?” Madam Luo asked.
Zhao Chuchu explained, “I came here because I have something to do. If I don’t go home tonight, my husband will be worried about me. I will come back tomorrow. It won’t be a problem.”
“But you came all the way here from your home. You must be exhausted. We can arrange for people to tell your husband.”
“Aunt, I have my own thing to do.”
Hearing this, Madam Luo stopped saying anything.
Seeing that Zhao Chuchu came here in an ox cart, she arranged for a horse cart to take them home. As for the ox cart, she would have someone else send it back along with the horse cart.
Madam Luo also prepared many gifts for Zhao Chuchu.
Seeing that most of them were food, Zhao Chuchu didn’t refuse her offer and take them with her back to Lengshui Village.
The horse was indeed more speedy than the ox. It only took them an hour to arrive home.
She was eager to change an ox cart to a horse cart.
She wanted to ride an off-roader or a motorcycle. But she believed it would be too eye-catching and might give her unwanted problems.
Hearing that Madam Kong and Zhao Chuchu had asserted justice for Niu Le, sent those people to the county office, and had the mastermind pay the cost, Zhao Guitang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Chuchu, I can’t thank you enough. But for you, there would have been nothing we can do about our grievances,” said Madam Kong, who looked grateful.
“Don’t mention it. If you want to show your gratitude, why don’t you give me one of your ducks?” Zhao Chuchu winked her eyes. She had been having her eyes on Niu Tongsheng’s ducks for a long time.
Those ducks were raised in the wild, nothing like those reared in a factory.
Even if they were cooked in the simplest way, they would taste a thousand times better than factory-produced ducks.
“Sure, you can have as many as you want,” Madam Kong said breezily.
She knew ducks were not worth a lot.
What Zhao Chuchu brought them was worth much more than a duck.
Then, Madam Kong went to catch the ducks.
Zhao Chuchu swallowed when she thought of various dishes made of ducks.
Prior to her previous life when the end of the world had not come, she tried all kinds of delicious food.
When doomsday came, it took a toll on human beings. Even ducks became extremely precious.
Even when she was reborn and transferred to the days before the doomsday took place, she was busy storing stuff. So, she didn’t have time to enjoy much delicious food.
Now that she was in the ancient times when there was little contamination, she would never want to be hard on herself.
After all, there was a top chef at home.
Zhao Chuchu held the duck in her hand and went home with delight.
Hearing the footsteps, Xie Heng came out and saw Zhao Chuchu holding a duck. He took the duck from her and asked, “What dish do you have in mind?”
Zhao Chuchu answered, “One half plain duck and the other… well, do we have any taroes at home? I want to eat steamed duck with taroes.”
“The taroes have sprouted and been planted. I think we have some dried bamboo shoots left at home. How about a braised duck with dried bamboo shoots?”
“Not today, I mean. How about beer-braised duck?”
“Beer-braised duck?”
“Yes, I got beer.”
Zhao Chuchu took out two bottles of beer and smiled. “Beer-braised duck is my favorite!”
“Then, tell me what should I do.” Xie Heng took the beer and looked at the glass bottle, feeling confused.
He knew that Zhao Chuchu came from a wealthy family and that her family was at least better off than his.
Although Zhao Chuchu was not a born cook, she had read many recipes in order to practice her cooking skills. She had an eidetic memory, so she remembered the entire process.
“Is this drinkable?” Xie Heng asked.
“Yes, but you might want it to go with roasted food. When we’re done with the spring work, we’ll make a barbecue.”
“Sounds good!”
Xie Heng nodded and told Zhao Chuchu to boil some water while he went to prepare the duck. Soon, he finished slaughtering it.
Then, Zhao Chuchu went to Old Mrs. Chen’s vegetable field and grabbed some vegetables. She washed them and put them in the steamed duck soup.
It turned out that a natural duck was indeed delicious. Half of the duck was barely ready. Zhao Chuchu immediately asked Xie Heng to chop off a duck leg for her.
Xie Heng giggled.
Xie Jun also came home and asked for a duck leg when he saw the scene.
The other half would be cooked as beer-braised duck, so he ended up with a duck wing.
Still, Xie Jun was very happy to have a duck wing. What he didn’t know was that a beer-braised duck was being cooked and that the whole village was going to smell it.
When Zhao Chuchu sensed the familiar smell, she found that she was more unwilling to leave the Xie clan.
Xie Heng was a born chef. She just told him the recipe once, but he was able to bring out the best flavor. For Zhao Chuchu, the Xie clan was her paradise and Xie Heng was her sweet angel.