Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 18
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure
Chapter 18: Sister-in-Law Making Trouble
Jiang Shuyao looked at the anxious little girl in front of her, feeling somewhat helpless. Stinky tofu wasn’t that smelly, right? If it was durian, she could understand a little.
"It's not dirty, it just smells weird, but it tastes delicious." She said, and threw the stinky tofu that Xie Yao had bitten into her mouth. "Look, it's really edible."
Xie Pei watched Jiang Shuyao eat the black-gray stinky tofu, feeling as if she had also taken a bite, there was a smell in her mouth, and her expression was very bad. She said, "Since Ah yao was young, he was very frail and sick. The food that enters his mouth has to be meticulously prepared. You can eat it yourself, how can you give it to Ah Yao casually?"
Jiang Shuyao didn't intend to let Xie Yao eat more, after all, it was fried. She was also afraid that his stomach could not bear it.
She explained, "I just gave him a taste, as a snack ."
She put down the dishes, and faced Xie Pei's "old hen guarding the chicks" appearance and felt very wronged. "The child is at the age when he has an appetite. He has a poor appetite and the lack of new things in a vegetarian diet may have an influence. Look at him. He usually doesn't drink milk after only one or two sips, but he loves the double skin milk pudding I made for him. He can also eat a few pieces of cake."
Xie Pei thought that Jiang Shuyao would definitely apologize after her stern reprimand, but she didn't expect her to retort slowly, making her unable to speak for a while.
"Besides, I am your elder sister-in-law. Why do you yell at me like, is this the so-called etiquette and rules of you noble ladies?"
Xie Pei choked, what do you mean by "you, noble ladies"? Wasn’t she a noble lady as well? As if she disdained to be included with them.
"Why do you count as my sister-in-law?" Xie Pei was angry when she said this. "Who in the city doesn't know that my third brother is outstanding and talented, and there are very few people who are worthy of him. You don't deserve him at all."
Jiang Shuyao was full, and it didn't matter if she had to quarrel with Xie Pei as she was idle. She smiled slightly. "Why? Just because I'm married to your brother. The wife that your brother married in an upright and bright manner."
These words hit Xie Pei's pain points, her face is pale with anger, but she is actually extremely lacking in actual combat experience in quarreling. After holding back for a long time, she could only say sadly, "Third brother obviously should marry a woman with both virtue and talent. A wife who fell in love with him at first sight and a union of heaven and earth, but you interfered and ruined his marriage..."
Jiang Shuyao immediately interrupted, "Does he have a sweetheart?"
Xie Pei could not follow her thoughts, and the distress that had just been brewing was dispelled by Jiang Shuyao, and replied in a daze, "There is no one else."
"Then that's it. If your brother has a sweetheart, and married me because he cared about what others said, he is not firm in his heart. If your brother doesn't have a sweetheart, wait until he has a sweetheart, then I will leave. Anyway, only I will have the reputation of being abandoned. People in the world only give pointers and restrictions to the abandoned wives, but there are no young men who will be criticized for remarrying. Therefore, your brother does not suffer from this marriage, I will also have retribution. "Jiang Shuyao used this sophisticated trick to her heart.
Xie Pei was stunned by what she said, "But...but..."
While she was considering her response, she saw a chubby figure swaying behind Jiang Shuyao, stretching out her white and fat little hand.
Looking closely, it was Xie Zhao who came out from nowhere, standing on his tiptoe, preparing to steal the stinky tofu that Jiang Shuyao placed on the wooden table.
"Ah Zhao!" Xie Pei couldn't be bothered to argue with Jiang Shuyao, and shouted, "What's the matter with you, is the mansion lacking food or or short changing you? Are you going to eat this stinky and unspeakable thing?"
Xie Zhao poked his head out from behind Jiang Shuyao and curled his lips. "Aunt, you don't know right from wrong."
Xie Pei's eyes rounded in shock, pointing to the tip of her nose, and asked in disbelief, "I can't tell right from wrong?"
Xie Zhao nodded, saying that kids have no reasoning, but it is still possible to reason. He said, "You don’t even know whether the food the third aunt made can be eaten, or whether it tastes good or not, but you rushed over and accused her. This is wrong."
Xie Pei was blocked and was speechless, angry and sad. "Who am I doing this for?"
Xie Zhao was young and didn't know how to save people's face. He directly. Said "But third aunt is very good to us, what are you doing to her?"
"Xie Zhao! Why did you turn your elbows outwards!" Xie Pei was so angry and felt betrayed.
Jiang Shuyao felt that she was too loud, so he covered Xie Zhao's ears and said disgustedly, "Speak softly, don't frighten the children by talking so loudly."
Jiang Shuyao really knew how to irritate people.
Xie Pei's chest hurt because of her gentle "stab". She grew up watching her two nephews and Jiang Shuyao was only here for a month. On the contrary, she looked like an outsider. She stamped her foot and said, "Why are you showing off, pretending to be kind!"
Just after she spoke, Xie Yao, who was hugged by her, suddenly moved and broke free from her forearm, and ran to Jiang Shuyao silently, pulling Jiang Shuyao's sleeve to look at him.
Xie Pei watched the two little nephews turn against her completely, feeling very wronged, and said nothing for a while. "You two can’t differentiate between right and wrong."
"Who doesn't know what is right or wrong?" As soon as her voice fell, a cold voice came from behind her.
Xie Pei was too familiar with this voice. Since childhood, she admired her third brother the most, and also feared her the third brother the most.
Sometimes when she was fooling around, Xie Xun glanced at her blankly, and she was shocked. Let alone hearing him speaking in such a tone.
She suddenly turned off the fire, and turned around to look at Xie Xun in a panic, "Third, third brother."
Xie Xun briefly glanced inside the room and quickly guessed what was going on.
He said to Xie Pei, "I didn't know you still had such a side. Have you learned all the rules Mother taught you?"
The tone was calm, sounding gentle, but Xie Pei was most afraid of this tone.
"Third brother..." Xie Pei's face turned pale with a "swish". She shrank her neck and squeezed her palms, as if she was terrified.
Jiang Shuyao pressed the heads of two small dumplings with her hands. She did not feel like as if she was the protagonist of the farce at all. She glanced at Xie Xun's face in a playful manner.
Uh, a familiar coffin face, was it scary like this?
Xie Xun didn't look at her anymore and said, "Don't come to this yard anymore."
Xie Pei looked at him in disbelief, then turned to look at Jiang Shuyao again, suppressed her tears, and ran away.
The two little ones also slid away, leaving Jiang Shuyao standing in place, looking confused.
Standing at the door, Xie Xun took a quick look at Jiang Shuyao, and saw her head down. He felt a little complicated.
Xie Pei did too much today, she should be feeling wronged and uncomfortable.
Since she insisted on marrying him in the beginning, she must have understood that she would be mocked and treated coldly by others. Was it worth it for him?
... Maybe she regretted it now?
He retracted his gaze, fearing that Jiang Shuyao would find him peeking. He was thinking about breaking the silence, but he heard Jiang Shuyao suddenly say,
"Huh? Where's my stinky tofu?"
Jiang Shuyao just looked down at the wooden table and found something. After thinking about it carefully, how come she lost a plate of stinky tofu?
"That little guy..." Jiang Shuyao couldn't laugh or cry. It was always bad to eat too much fried food. Xie Zhao was too greedy.
But she was still very happy that her own food was recognized by others.
Seeing Xie Xun was standing at the door of the large kitchen with his hands on his back, his long figure was melted into a line by the bright sunlight outside the door. She said, "It's so early today. I made stinky tofu. Would you like to try it?" Xie Xun was too thin. Men had to be a little stronger to look good.
Xie Xun was ready for her to sloppily grieve and cry, when she suddenly asked so abruptly without choking.
＊
Xie Pei ran out for a long time before she suddenly stopped.
She stood in place, trying to understand how she was in such an embarrassing situation.
She stood there in a daze, and no one dared to disturb her.
Until Xie Zhao, holding the plate, suddenly appeared.
"Aunt." He called Xie Pei, holding the stinky tofu in his hand.
The two ate as they walked, the younger brother took a bite, and he took a bite. However, his mouth is a bit big, and it's almost gone after one mouthful.
Xie Pei wanted to cry when she saw this plate of stinky tofu.
Seeing her pitiful appearance, Xie Zhao thought she also wanted it. He was entangled, and reluctantly pulled out a small piece.
"Aunt, do you want to eat?"
Xie Pei subconsciously wanted to open her mouth and say "I don't want to eat", but after seeing Xie Zhao's perfunctory question, and how he wanted to put it back on the plate without waiting for her answer...
She immediately changed her answer and said, "I want it."
Xie Zhao looked at her in bewilderment but still walked up to her.
Xie Pei squatted down, took the chopsticks, and smelled the scent of stinky tofu. She hesitated a few times, and gathered the courage to stuff it in her mouth.
The gravy of stinky tofu is full of flavor, with a slight spicy taste of garlic, which made her stunned as soon as she bit into it.
When she bit off the fried and crispy outer skin, the sauce poured into the inside suddenly exploded in her mouth. It was hot and delicious, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The tofu inside is juicy, and she can slowly taste the unique mellow fermented flavor after chewing.
The skin of the stinky tofu was quite chewy, fully covered with the juice, and it had a fried aroma. The more you chewed, the better it tasted.
After swallowing, there was still a faint fragrance in her mouth, and the aftertaste was endless.
Xie Pei thought about it blankly about the chewy skin. It turned out that the black-gray skin that looked disgusting tasted like that when eaten.
Seeing that Xie Pei hadn't moved for a while, Xie Zhao suspected that she would want to eat another piece. He quietly retracted his hands, and called Xie Pei, "Aunt?"
Xie Pei returned to his senses, looked up at Xie Zhao, and remembered everything just now. The pale face gradually turned pink due to embarrassment.
Why was she making trouble?
Tears dropped from Xie Pei's eye sockets like broken beads.
Xie Zhao backed away again and again. He was just about to ask, but he was pulled by Xie Yao behind him, who is motioning him to shut up.
The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed Xie Pei became. She used her cuffs to wipe away the tears, but couldn't stop. She simply buried her head in her arms and squatted on the ground and cried "Waaaaaa".
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