Chapter 490
But as Jiang Yexun adjusted the wrinkles in his clothes, Su Hongchen suddenly chuckled and said, “Your skills have improved recently.”
“You’re not bad either,” Jiang Yexun raised an eyebrow.
The two exchanged a smile before turning to head back.
For the next few days, Su Xiaoxiao focused on studying at home.
Sometimes, she would also work alongside Jiang Yexun, copying down the books they had found at the scrap station, one by one.
In a big city like Shanghai, the Friendship Store and the supply and marketing cooperative had a lot of products, and if they were missing any ingredients, they could always buy them on the black market.
Each time they copied down a useful recipe, they would try making it at home.
After a few days, they had everyone at home looking radiant and glowing.
Aunt Guo tasted the newly made Longjing bamboo fungus soup and her eyes squinted with pleasure, unable to resist smacking her lips in appreciation.
“If we could start a small business, like opening a small restaurant, I’m sure it would be a huge success.”
“I agree! Not just a small restaurant, we could open a nationwide chain!” Su Xiaoxiao said, her eyes gleaming with pride.
The Longjing bamboo fungus was her creation today.
Though it took her over three hours and she had to discard half the ingredients, the final result was still good.
At least it cleared her name as a kitchen disaster.
But when she saw Jiang Yexun bringing in dishes like wild rabbit casserole, eight-treasure wild duck, and ginger fish fillets, her smile quickly faded.
“Let’s call Grandpa and Grandma to eat. I’ll go serve the rice,” Jiang Yexun placed the dishes on the table, then turned around and saw his little wife looking at him with her beautiful apricot eyes full of grievance.
He chuckled softly, his gaze filled with warm affection.
“Our Xiaoxiao did great today. I just had a small bowl of the soup you made in the kitchen, and it tasted amazing.”
“That doesn’t compare to your cooking,” Su Xiaoxiao grumbled.
She had spent three hours making the soup, and two of those hours were spent reworking it, with Jiang Yexun guiding her.
But in the forty minutes it took to finish the soup, Jiang Yexun had prepared two pots and three dishes at the same time.
“Why are you always better than me at cooking?” Jiang Yexun asked, a little confused.
Before Su Xiaoxiao could respond, he gently coaxed, “We agreed before marriage that you don’t have to bend down to pick up a broom if it falls. If you want to cook, it’s just for fun to pass the time. But in the future, I’ll be the one doing it.”
Moreover, Xiaoxiao had said that in two years, the economy would open up, and ordinary people with money could hire someone, like the leaders in big estates, to manage things at home.
That way, no one in the family would have to deal with these trivial matters.
“Just indulge her, huh? How can a grown person not even pick up a broom?” Mrs. Su came back from outside and joked.
Jiang Yexun restrained the overwhelming love in his eyes and turned to Mrs. Su, “Mom, Xiaoxiao made a soup today, Longjing bamboo fungus, and it’s really fresh.”
He had intended to praise his little wife for her hard work in the kitchen today.
But when Mrs. Su heard that Su Xiaoxiao had cooked again, her smile froze visibly, looking even worse than if she were crying.
The last time she had drunk tea, she had ended up with severe stomach problems. She still remembered it vividly and felt the stomach cramps just thinking about it.
“Definitely not today! Yexun already drank it, and he’s still alive and kicking,” Su Xiaoxiao immediately responded seriously.
But seeing her mother eyeing Jiang Yexun with a skeptical look, Su Xiaoxiao felt like no matter what she said, she wouldn’t be able to clear her name.
Even though she had used Spirit Spring Water in the soup today, she was sure no one would have stomach problems this time.
After all, she added Spirit Spring Water to all the hot water bottles at home every day, and the whole family had already gotten used to it.
“Well, fine. You rarely cook, so we’ll trust you one more time,” Mrs. Su sighed as she saw her daughter’s determined expression.
She wasn’t too worried for herself, but the elderly members of the family couldn’t handle a stomach upset like that.
“I’ll go call Grandpa and Grandma to eat,” Su Xiaoxiao said excitedly, and ran out.
Mrs. Su shook her head in exasperation as she watched her.
“She’s married, but still acts like a child.”
A moment later, Grandpa Gu and Granny Lin came out of their room.
Just as they were about to enter the dining room, they saw their son and daughter-in-law leading the two families in.
Everyone froze for a moment before one of them asked in surprise, “Why are you two back so suddenly?”
“We had to rush back or we’d have been driven mad!” Zhu Peini threw her luggage onto the sofa, panting heavily.
“What happened? What did they do this time?” Mrs. Su hurriedly asked as she walked out.
She was shocked to see Gu Zhiwei and Gu Lijun, along with their wives, looking bruised and battered.
“What happened to you? Did you get into a fight while celebrating the New Year?” Mrs. Su asked, her heart aching as she inquired.
Zhu Peini waved her hand helplessly, “Of course, it was a fight. We went to two families and got into two fights. The first one, the older family wanted Xiaojing to send ten yuan every month. Ha, how could she possibly agree? Their two sons are older than Xiaojing, and they never gave any money, but now they want to stay at home and mooch off of us. I thought, no matter what, they’re still Xiaojing’s real parents, so I tried to negotiate and see if five yuan a month would work. Well, they attacked us instead, saying we were trying to treat them like beggars. Fine then, we won’t give them a single cent.”
Huo Xiaojing stood to the side, her face grim. She was clearly furious but said nothing.
Su Xiaoxiao glanced at her and saw that she had no intention of defending her family. She then looked at her second cousin.
Shan Xinyun was a more timid person.
At this moment, she lowered her head, her shoulders shaking with sobs, clearly heartbroken.
Zhu Peini took a deep breath, holding her tightly to comfort her.
“Alright, no more crying. I know it’s not your fault. Let your family think things through, and everything will be fine.”
“I don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. They always said that once a daughter is married, she’s like water poured out. After all these years in the countryside, we never relied on them. Back then, they had so many children, yet they forced me to leave. I’ve already contributed enough to this family,” Shan Xinyun wiped her tears, her voice firm.