Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 11
Tled by Serena Love
Edited by , Ruby, and unsaltedfish
Chapter 11: Breakfast
Jiang Shuyou was eager to make an impression. Acting respectful and submissive didn’t fit her, but feigning sweetness and flattery—now that was something she could pull off. Of course, in today’s words, that’s simply “sucking up.”
Jiang Shuyao was also quite determined. She got up early and rushed to the main hall. Fortunately, it was getting hot and the temperature in the morning was not too low. After waiting for two minutes, the Old Madam woke up.
At this time, Xu-shi also arrived. In her many years of being married into this family, she had never been late to offer greetings in the morning.
When Jiang Shuyao saw Xu-shi arrive, she had a good idea. Isn't Xu-shi the standard for a good daughter-in-law? It should be very useful to follow her.
Thinking of this, Jiang Shuyao smiled friendly at Xu-shi.
Xu-shi couldn't figure out what Jiang Shuyao was thinking. Seeing that she smiled at her, she was a little bit horrified, okay? Was she holding something against her?
She was cautious, sensitive and thoughtful. No matter what she thought in her heart, she wouldn’t show it on her face.
"Third sister-in-law came early today," She said to Jiang Shuyao in a kind and gentle manner.
Before Jiang Shuyao spoke, the second branch's lady, Zhou-shi, came. She didn't think that Jiang Shuyao would be here already. When she saw the two of them talking, her eyes swept over them and she smiled in a meaningful way, "Eldest sister-in-law, third sister-in-law."
Xu-shi did not want to bother with her. Seeing the Old Madam's maid come out, she went ahead and entered the hall.
Jiang Shuyao hurriedly followed, in fear that the lagging student wouldn’t be able to copy their role model’s work. She was so close behind Xu-shi that she seemed to almost be stepping on the hem of Xu-shi's skirt.
With a glance, Zhou-shi felt that something was afoot! She also hurried inside.
Xu-shi heard the footsteps of the two behind her. Not knowing what was going on, her own footsteps also became a little frantic.
The Old Madam was sitting on the Arhat bench waiting for her daughters-in-law to greet her. When she raised her eyes, she saw the three of them rushing in as if they were being chased by dogs.
Even so, the Xu-shi had been dignified and cautious for many years. She was just a little confused but quickly recovered and respectfully greeted the Old Madam.
This action made Jiang Shuyao feel relieved. She deserved to be everyone's model lady, as even her greetings had a special charm.
She reacted quickly, and followed Xu-shi's lead as if she was looking at her in a mirror to greet the Old Madam.
Zhou-shi, still thinking about what tricks were occurring, was half a step behind.
The Old Madam’s eyes swept over, and Zhou-shi's heart tightened. What’s going on? Did she make a mistake?
Fortunately, the Old Madam didn't say anything, so Zhou-shi's thoughts drifted away. The day before yesterday, when she ordered clothes, she’d given the embroiderer some silver. Hopefully, Xu-shi will never find out...
No matter how they conversed with the Old Madam, Jiang Shuyao just stood aside like a piece of wood, displaying a stern and cautious appearance.
It wasn’t until the maids served the meal that Jiang Shuyao's reserved mask instantly shattered to pieces.
Oh no, she got up too early and didn't eat breakfast.
The Old Madam preferred a light breakfast. It was enough to eat congee with two plates of stir-fried vegetables, and a plate of pickled vegetables.
Although Jiang Shuyao was a foodie, plain white porridge hardly whetted her appetite. It merely made her think of salted duck eggs.
Roll it on the table, peel off the eggshell, and use chopsticks to clamp it. Then separate the white, tender and salty egg whites, revealing the red and orange egg yolk inside. With marinated egg yolk, red oil would come out with a poke.
Or pair the white rice porridge with xiaolongbao, each one to be eaten in a mouthful—so hot it required a quick puff of breath before teeth could sink into the fluffy wrapper to savor the salty-sweet, succulent filling.
As she thought about it, her belly made an untimely growling sound, which resounded in the quiet moment.
Everyone turned to look at her, and she could only smile embarrassedly, "I wanted to greet the Old Madam earlier, so I didn't have breakfast."
The Old Madam put her chopsticks down, and said indifferently, "My third daughter-in-law, there is still some congee and side dishes in the kitchen. Why don't you have a meal with me?"
Jiang Shuyao wasn’t that stupid, and understood how to refuse, "No, Old Madam, please eat. This daughter-in-law will naturally serve by the side. How can a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have breakfast on the same table when paying respects?" Of course, she really didn't want to eat this plain porridge and pickles.
The Old Madam replied unhurriedly, "Yes, of course these dishes don’t suit your tastes. Otherwise, you wouldn't have set up a small kitchen in your courtyard as soon as you got married."
Jiang Shuyao pretended not to hear her particular tone. She blinked, her beautiful eyes glimmering, her gaze lucid and penetrating. "This daughter-in-law’s mother had a delicate appetite, so I often busied myself with preparing different kinds of dishes, hoping my mother would eat a little more. After marrying in, seeing my husband weary from labor, I thought it would be all the better to make some warming soups and broths to ease him." She spoke these words calmly, without the slightest blush or hint of embarrassment.
Fiddling with different kinds of tasty dishes? That was the truth.
Specifically to feed Xie Xun? Well... he has freeloaded meals a few times, so it's not a lie.
Xu-shi was in charge of the domestic affairs of Duke Xie's Mansion. Her people were everywhere so naturally, she knew that Jiang Shuyao was lying.
Her gaze swept across Jiang Shuyao's face. This woman is... really thick-skinned.
However, she didn’t give less food to the twins. Even Xie Yao, who is a picky eater, would eat a lot every time.
Thinking of this, Xu-shi spoke for her in an unprecedented way, "Third Brother can't put the book down when he starts reading. If the small kitchen is always ready to make some soup, it is better than having people go back and forth to the main kitchen."
The Old Madam nodded. It's acceptable to think this way, but... What kind of good dishes can Jiang-shi make? It's better to send a few cooks and maids to Xie Xun's courtyard.
She asked people to clean the table and chatted for a while as usual. Xu-shi and Zhou-shi left, while Jiang Shuyao stayed in the small Buddhist hall to copy scriptures.
The Old Madam knew that she hadn’t eaten but still asked her to copy scriptures. Jiang Shuyao understood that the Old Madam wanted to discipline her.
Although she wasn’t talented at scheming, she had read many novels. There were many means to clean up a daughter-in-law in secret, so the Old Madam’s method was still comparatively mild.
She kneeled in front of the table in the small Buddhist hall, and when the nanny left, she secretly took out two pieces of puff pastry wrapped in wax paper. She made them the previous night, and had Bai Zhi heat them up in the morning while she washed up. As they had been hidden inside her sleeves, they were still hot.
Uncovering the oily paper, the fragrance of the fried brown crust on the outside flowed out. Jiang Shuyao inhaled contentedly and took a large bite.
"Crunch."
The outer layer of the puff pastry was crispy while the inner layer was soft. After biting the cake, the oily smell of lard instantly entered her nose. The pepper powder was used generously and the seasoning was simple, containing only chopped green onions and salt. The meat filling had a faint numbing taste, but it retained the most fragrant and tender side of the meat, without a trace of a fishy smell.
All the fat from the pork belly had rendered out, soaking into the pastry crust, giving it a rich, fragrant aroma of oil.
Jiang Shuyao finished the puff pastry in three bites and took out the shredded radish pancake.
Easier on the palate than the meat puffs, the shredded radish pancake offered a delicate bitterness, barely perceptible, accompanied by a crisp freshness, leaving a lingering, gentle sweetness.
Jiang Shuyao sat on the putuan contentedly after the satisfying meal and waited for the aftertaste to dissipate.
Full and unwilling to practice scriptures copying, she lounged aimlessly, only to lock eyes with the Buddha statue, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Guanyin Bodhisattva, I'm really sorry. I'm too hungry, I don't mean to be disrespectful." She turned over, knelt on the putuan and kowtowed several times.
After the prayer, Jiang Shuyao went outside to ask for a cup of tea, but the nanny mistakenly thought that she was extremely hungry and wanted to drink a cup of tea to fill her stomach.
The nanny was old and felt sorry for Jiang Shuyao, her eyes full of pity lingered on her for a few moments, making Jiang Shuyao feel extremely guilty.
During the next few days, Jiang Shuyao was very disciplined. She was the first to come and the last to leave. After more observation on how Xu-shi served the Old Madam, she also learned a little bit. From time to time, she helped the Old Madam place a cushion or something, with attentive eyes and quick hands.
Finally on the seventh day, Jiang Shuyao saw that the Old Madam was in a good mood and handed in the scriptures that she had copied.
The Old Madam took it. She had almost forgotten about this. Her first two daughters-in-law would have finished copying on the second or third day.
She flipped through it casually, but her brows furrowed after only a single glance.
“What did you write?" The Old Madam had never seen such ugly characters in her entire life.
Jiang Shuyou frowned in frustration. “Scriptures,” she muttered, truly believing her writing wasn’t that bad.
"You—this is clearly half-hearted!" The Old Madam became increasingly agitated. After ten days of copying, the result is this complete mess; it would have been better not to write at all. At worst, it bordered on disrespecting the Bodhisattva.
"Daughter-in-law would dare not." Jiang Shuyao felt wronged. Who can understand the pain of not being gifted academically? "Daughter-in-law is not good at academics. No matter how much I write, the words still turn out like this. But I truly wrote every word seriously with the utmost respect. So why not just pay attention to my 'sincerity'?"
"So, you’re still talking back. I suppose you’ll come up with even more excuses." The Old Madam insisted that she was slacking and rubbed her temples, "Forget it, forget it, since you are unwilling to put in effort, how can I force you?"
Jiang Shuyao felt very wronged. Her wrist was sore after copying scriptures for the past few days, yet she was still criticized.
The Old Madam saw her drooping head and pitiful appearance, which made her heart feel even more congested.
Why did her perfect son end up marrying such a woman?
The more she thought about it, the more distressed she became. She waved her hand to have Jiang Shuyao leave quickly and not make her angrier.
The nanny hurriedly stepped forward and rubbed her temples, "Old Madam, it's not worth being angry over."
The Old Madam could only mutter her hopes, "Just wait for the time to come when he can leave her."
Jiang Shuyao returned to her yard and stood under the corridor for a while, then called Bai Zhi and asked, "Say, do you think Duke Xie's Mansion will eventually have me divorced?"
Bai Zhi and the maid behind her were so scared that they knelt down immediately, "Miss!"
Jiang Shuyao really didn't understand. She just wanted to ask them about this. So when she saw them kneel, she anxiously said, "Why are you both kneeling? I'm just asking you a question."
"Miss." Bai Zhi tremblingly looked up at her, and seeing that she wasn’t angry, stood up tentatively and asked, "Why are you asking this?"
"I have always been confused about this. My marriage into the Xie Duke’s Mansion was a forced one. Any talk of divorcing me is restrained by the Xiangyang Mansion and the Noble Consort. Once they find a proper reason, a divorce would bring no scandal for them.”
"Miss..." Bai Zhi felt distressed as she looked at the young lady before her clearly. Although the young lady used to be stubborn and arrogant, she has changed now, simply because of her deep admiration for her husband, but this admiration also broke her heart.
Bai Zhi lowered her head, unable to utter any words of comfort.
Jiang Shuyao held her chin and thought out loud, "Say, what will it be like when I go back to my maternal family after I’ve been divorced?"
"Miss will definitely find a beloved person again." This was also agreeing that Jiang Shuyao would be abandoned eventually.
Jiang Shuyao's scalp felt numb, "Then what if I don't want to marry anymore?" Who knows who will marry her next? If her husband is a pervert or has a group of masters in the backyard, she wouldn't know how she died. Xie Xun can be regarded as an excellent husband. Whether he pays attention to her or not and although he has a stern face all day long, he has a good temper and looks pleasing to the eye. Looking at him a few more times would improve her mood.
"Then, look for a Taoist temple to live at," Bai Zhi was puzzled by Jiang Shuyao's reluctance to remarry.
Taoist temples aren’t comparable to large houses. Safety, housing and food are major issues.
Jiang Shuyao felt that her future was dark. She rubbed her head and wailed, "God, I hope Xie Xun will divorce me later."
Xie Xie returned to pick up a letter, and unintentionally overheard Jiang Shuyao's words at the corner of the corridor.
He paused and frowned slightly. His already cold face became even colder.
Stepping forward slightly, he looked at the back of the woman down the corridor.
Her hair was piled high with a few jade hairpins inserted in. Her black hair was like ink, and her slender neck appeared more white and fragile. Even while wearing an elegant white dress, she couldn’t hide her graceful and luxurious temperament.
He retracted his gaze and stopped thinking about how he saved her that day.
Jiang-shi, after all, was too obsessed with him.
But why bother? Even though she married him, he won’t reciprocate her affections.
—
Food:
shredded radish pancake - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6e_AzzyDgg
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