To Hold One’s Joy

  Chapter 24 Stinky Mouth

   "Old lady, red beans are here to deliver food."

  After hearing Caixia's report, Mrs. Sheng coughed reservedly: "Let's set the meal."

  Caixia first laid out the meals sent by the big kitchen one by one. Coincidentally, there was also a piece of braised pork in it.

  Old lady Sheng lost her appetite after glancing at it.

   It’s not that the appearance is ugly, nor is the taste bad. The cooks raised by the Sheng Mansion are not so bad, but Ren’s food has been at that level for many years, and he has long been tired of eating.

  Seeing the old lady Sheng's expression, Caixia hurriedly opened the food box that Hongdou sent, and took out a black clay pot from it.

  As soon as the black-bottomed pottery lid with a picture of a magpie climbing a plum blossom was lifted, a scent burst out.

  Old lady Sheng couldn't help but craned her neck to look.

  The black pottery pot with a shallow bottom is neatly stacked with pieces of braised pork that are crystal clear like amber, and sprinkled with thin green onions, which makes people's appetite greatly increased at a glance.

  Old lady Sheng raised her chopsticks and poked it.

  The amber-like piece of meat trembled, and the chopsticks easily poked it in, stringing up seven layers of flowers.

  Old lady Sheng's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help praising: "Good meat!"

  Then just bite down, the lean meat is tight but not stiff, the fat meat is moist but not greasy, the meat belt is sticky and elastic, and the just right sweetness pushes the layers of wonderful taste to the extreme.

  Old lady Sheng closed her eyes and stopped talking.

  The maid Caixia who was waiting on the side was always steady, but she couldn't help swallowing at this moment.

   How does it taste, you can tell me!

  Old lady Sheng obviously didn't have the interest or leisure to communicate with the maid, but quickly grabbed another piece of meat.

   Another piece of meat...

   After a while, the chopsticks were empty.

  Old lady Sheng blinked, and murmured in disbelief: "It's gone?"

  How could she remember that she just moved the chopsticks.

  Caixia hurriedly said: "You have already eaten six yuan. If you eat too much, you may not be able to digest it."

  Old lady Sheng stared at the empty clay pot with a heavy heart: Obviously what she ate had already been digested, so why are these girls so fussy!

   That's all, let's just fill up our stomachs.

  Old lady Sheng poured a bowl of white rice into a black clay pot, stirred it with thick sauce and ate it.

  A moment later, the old lady was very angry and told Caixia: "Add another bowl of rice."

  Compared to Old Madam Sheng's optimism, the atmosphere in the Su Mansion is gloomy at the moment.

   Mrs. Su trembled angrily while pinching the handkerchief: "Isn't that girl Luo the unlucky star of our Su family, if she gets on it, nothing good will happen!"

   Speaking of this, she glanced at the two daughters kneeling in front of her, and said angrily: "You two too, knowing that Miss Luo is a demon king, why do you still go to her?"

  If it wasn't for the youngest daughter being troublesome, how could the second son be involved!

   "It's my daughter's fault, my daughter should have brought her sister home earlier..."

  Second Miss Su, who was kneeling next to Eldest Miss Su, said with red circles, "It has nothing to do with Elder Sister. I caused the disaster. If you want to punish me, punish me."

  Su Yao opened his mouth: "Mother, don't blame the younger sisters. The second sister and the second girl Sheng are on good terms with each other, and they are just complaining for her. Who would have thought that there would be such an inside story."

  Mrs. Su sneered: "I thought the Sheng family's family style was upright, but now it seems that it is nothing more than gold and jade. In the future, you should not run to Sheng's mansion."

  Miss Su and Miss Su both said yes.

  Mrs. Su wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and looked at her son with pity in her eyes: "Mother just loves you for causing trouble for no reason."

  Su Yao smiled, with a bit of disapproval: "My son doesn't care about this. Besides, my son is a man after all, and these discussions will dissipate after a while, and it won't affect me."

  Mrs. Su reluctantly nodded her head, but having such a bad thing for no reason affected her mood. She tossed and turned at night, and fell ill after catching a cold when she got up at night.

  The scandal of Miss Sheng's second quickly became the talk of people in Jinsha County after dinner, and as a result, fewer people in Sheng's house even went out.

  Luo Sheng did not respond to the impact on the Sheng Mansion.

  In other words, in her opinion, it was Sheng Jialan who caused the impact. It would be ridiculous to blame the victim instead.

  Many people don't think so.

  Hongdou stepped into the courtyard door of the laundry room with her purse in her pocket, and just heard a discussion.

   "Biao girl is too inconsiderate of the Sheng family, so that we can't lift our heads when we go out—"

  Hearing the movement, several women who were drying their clothes turned their heads together, and were all dumbfounded when they saw Hongdou's fierce face.

   After a while, a smarter woman laughed dryly and said, "Sister Hongdou is here to deliver clothes?"

  Hong Dou glanced at the women with sullen face, and asked sullenly, "Who said that just now?"

   Several women couldn't help looking at a woman with a long face.

  The woman with a long face slapped herself: "Look at my stinky mouth, I'm talking nonsense, Miss Hongdou, don't bother with an old woman like me."

  Hongdou looked at her mother-in-law carefully, and said in a drawn-out voice, "It's you."

  The mother-in-law was terrified when she heard it, and admitted her mistake while slapping her mouth: "It's me, you adults don't remember the villain's fault, just pass me as a fart..."

  A few days ago, there were several servants who were dealt with because of rumors that the second girl was being bullied by the cousin girl. Although everyone in the Sheng family was in danger, it was impossible to put an end to such private discussions.

  The mother-in-law only hated herself for being unlucky and being caught.

  If this red bean elder sister gets into trouble, her family will be ruined.

  Thinking about it, the long-faced woman twitched her mouth even harder.

   "Since it's you, let's forget about today's matter." Hongdou said this sentence with a cold face, which stunned several women including Rong Changlian.

  When did the maid next to the cousin become so talkative?

  They have heard that this red bean elder sister dares to beat girls, let alone such lowly laundry maids.

  Hong Dou took out a plain pouch from his sleeve and threw it into the arms of the long-faced woman, warning: "This is a reward from our girl, so stop your stinky mouth from now on!"

   After she finished speaking, she glared at the women one by one, turned around and left.

  The gate of the courtyard was closed, and the eyes of the women fell on the purse in the arms of the long-faced woman.

   "Look at what the cousin girl rewarded you."

  The long-faced woman was also full of confusion, and subconsciously opened her purse.

   A bunch of gold leaves are squeezed into the purse, blinding people's eyes in the sun.

  The few people were stunned, and they didn't react until the long-faced woman stuffed the purse into her arms with lightning speed.

   "Gold, gold, gold leaves! Ah, why did the cousin reward you with gold leaves?"

  The long-faced woman with a huge sum of money in her pocket and her legs were weak fell to the ground, and she was dazed for a long time before pinching her thigh hard.

  The pain made her think a little faster, and she murmured: "Maybe... maybe it's because I rescued the cousin girl from the lake that day..."

  She happened to pass by that day, and dragged the cousin girl ashore after the cousin was exhausted. But after receiving a few words of praise from the eldest wife and a two taels of silver reward, she thought that the matter was over like this, how could the cousin——

  The long-faced woman suddenly slapped herself hard, stronger than before, and murmured: "My stinky mouth, my stinky mouth..."

  Yesterday, a reader said that there is no seven-layer pork belly, and that the meat will be burnt if you don’t put oil on it. I want to explain this. The food recipes in this article refer to food books such as "Suiyuan Food List", "Food Xianhong Secret", "Food Dictionary", "Taste Spring and Autumn" and other food books. The tricks of roasting meat without putting oil are all mentioned by master chefs. Of course, the particularly detailed steps will not be reflected in the novel. In short, when it comes to food, as long as it is written in the text, it is not a random fabrication.

  (end of this chapter)