Your Cooking Is Almost as Good as Mine

Lu Mingxi carried a stool from the kitchen toward the study. As he passed through the courtyard, Lu Mingyi stopped him. "Our wife and Second Brother are doing serious work. Don't disturb them."

He bristled. "I'm going to do serious work too."

"Go rinse the rice and wash the vegetables."

Lu Mingxi hesitated for a moment, then put down the stool. "I'll be done in no time."

With that, he rushed into the kitchen to rinse the rice and wash the vegetables.

Su Yuhe had been copying books for ages, but Lu Mingxi still hadn't returned. He had just said he would help her make another copy and gone to the kitchen for a stool. He was taking quite a while to fetch it.

She stood and stretched, loosening her limbs. "Let's take a break."

Meng Zhixian obediently put down his brush. Unable to sit idle without copying, he glanced around and spotted a bare tree outside the window his wife had just opened.

Rather than a tree, it looked more like a dead branch, a single slender stem standing there.

He went to the window and stood beside his wife, asking curiously, "What kind of tree is that?"

"An osmanthus tree."

"It doesn't look alive."

"If it doesn't survive, we'll plant something else."

Lu Mingyi came in. "Wife, it's time to eat."

Su Yuhe was startled. "The food's ready already?"

"Yes, it's already three quarters past the hour of the Goat."

In other words, it was three in the afternoon.

Time really flew.

She hadn't copied much today. She kept wondering whether Lu Mingxi's dealings with the Li family's husband would bring trouble upon him, and hadn't devoted herself wholeheartedly to her book-copying enterprise.

No, this wouldn't do. She was counting on copying books to give her a good life.

She hurried to the kitchen. Lu Mingxi was bringing dishes to the table, and rushed to serve the rice when he saw her.

Today's combined lunch and dinner consisted of stir-fried cabbage and steamed cured sausage, along with a slightly salty soup with a few unidentified green leaves floating on top. Worried they would get hungry that night, they had also steamed some sweet potatoes.

In just a few days, their cooking had begun to look quite respectable, almost on par with hers after two years here. She praised the two generously. As meticulous as a strand of silk, she didn't forget to praise Meng Zhixian either.

Meng Zhixian pressed his lips together shyly, his ears a little red. Catching sight of it from the corner of her eye, she wanted to tease him some more, but Lu Mingxi smiled bashfully. "Brother Pu Chuan taught us this."

"Our Mingxi catches on with just a hint. Your cooking is about as good as mine after two years of making meals."

Smiling, Lu Mingxi placed a chopstickful of cabbage in her bowl. "I'll learn a few more dishes after a while and make them for you, Wife."

"Good, good. I'm really looking forward to it."

That reminded her of the chicken in the pen outside. "Once Li Yun comes back, we'll slaughter that chicken and give you all something nourishing."

The thought of that chicken made her crave a big drumstick. She could only hope Li Yun would return soon. It would be even better if he brought back some mushrooms from the mountains.

All three tacitly refrained from asking why they had to wait for Li Yun to return before slaughtering the chicken.

Su Yuhe poured a little soup over her rice, quickly finished a bowl, wiped her mouth, and headed for the study to continue her grand book-copying enterprise.

Lu Mingxi followed her example and ate two big bowls of rice mixed with soup. "I'm full too. I'm off! Second Brother, remember to wash the dishes."

With that, he darted off. Meng Zhixian thought that since the brat had done the cooking, he might as well do the washing-up.

Both of them had eaten their rice soaked in soup, barely touching the stir-fried cabbage and cured sausage. He stole a glance at Lu Mingyi, who was eating so slowly he might have been counting the grains of rice.

"There's quite a lot of rice left today. We can save it for another meal tonight."

Meng Zhixian's heart tightened. Was that telling him to eat less?

He wasn't full yet.

Lu Mingyi finished the rice in his bowl and set down his chopsticks. "I'm going to visit the neighbors. I'll leave the house to you."

"All right."

Lu Mingyi walked around the neighborhood. On his previous trips out by ox cart, he had noticed how few people lived nearby. Apart from their own home, all the houses were dilapidated thatched huts, and their occupants were elderly.

"Hey, husband from the Su family! Wait for me."

He turned. It was a young man who looked about Mingxi's age, dark-skinned and terribly skinny.

The skinny, dark-skinned lad ran up to him in cotton shoes with a hole in them. "I was just going to see your wife. Fancy running into you."

"What is it?"

His cold, stiff tone did nothing to dampen the lad's enthusiasm. He lifted the bamboo cage in his hand, from which noises could still be heard. "I just caught a few fish by hand and wanted to ask if your wife wants any. Ten wen each."

Lu Mingyi was a little at a loss. He had never bought fish before and didn't know whether ten wen was expensive or cheap. He asked hesitantly, "How big are they?"

"Fish aren't fat yet in the third month." The skinny, dark-skinned lad opened the bamboo cage to show him. "About this big."

A palm-sized fish for ten wen.

That seemed expensive.

After watching him look for a long while, the lad couldn't help urging him, "Can you make the decision? Maybe I should ask your wife instead. She always bought them before."

He was in charge of the household now, and didn't want to disturb his wife over such a small matter. He took another couple of looks. "Yes, I'll take one. One is enough. I don't have the money on me. Come home with me to get it."

The skinny, dark-skinned lad followed him toward the brick house with blue roof tiles, tirelessly pitching his fish along the way. "Just one? Your wife used to buy one just for herself. Now there are three more mouths to feed. Why not take another? They're delicious braised or in soup. Buy a block of tofu too, and the flavor will be something else."

Lu Mingyi shook his head. "No need. One is enough."