Chapter 42: Reading

The pork trotters had been simmered to perfection—the meat was wonderfully tender and the broth was rich and flavorful. On the side, the plate of greens glazed in oil was crisp and fresh. Zhuang Zhuang inhaled the aroma wafting from the dishes on the table. “It smells so good.”

Xiaoguo placed a piece of pork trotter into his bowl. “Eat more if it smells good.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded. “I love Mother’s cooking. I will definitely eat more.”

As the mother and son talked, the candlelight shone on their faces. The scene was warm and cozy.

After the meal, Zhuang Zhuang got up to wash the dishes. Xiaoguo wiped the table clean and lit up another candle before placing it on the table. The room was even brighter now. Xiaoguo took out the books she had bought in the morning and prepared to start with the Thousand-character script. She took out a pair of scissors and cut out ten sheets of rice paper. The paper was then set aside and the inkstone was brought out so that she could grind the ink. Following the instructions given by the shop assistant, she opened the brush and placed it aside. Now she just had to wait for Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang knew that he had to study tonight, so he washed the dishes quickly. When he entered the house, he saw his mother sitting at the table waiting for him.

Xiaoguo wrote Zhuang Zhuang’s name on a piece of paper. “Come, I’ll teach you how to write your name first.”

“Jiang, Qingwen.” Xiaoguo pointed out the words individually to show Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang recited after her and began writing stroke by stroke with the brush. Xiaoguo opened the Thousand-character script and patiently taught him, starting from the first word. Xiaoguo understood the meaning of biting off more than you can chew. Therefore, she planned to teach Zhuang Zhuang only five words a day. The boy was also very smart. He could remember every word that Xiaoguo taught him. The characters that he wrote with the brush were regular and neat—they looked better than Xiaoguo’s handwriting.

Zhuang Zhuang was enjoying his learning session immensely. In the end, he only stopped reluctantly when Xiaoguo asked him to rest. He carefully put away his books and even carefully pressed on the book to flatten it. Then, he went to bed and lay beside Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo tucked him in and told him a bedtime story as usual. As Zhuang Zhuang listened to the story, he fell asleep. Xiaoguo blew out the candle and dozed off too.

The next morning, the chickens began to crow. Xiaoguo got out of bed and prepared breakfast. After eating, she had to start preparing the ingredients and soup base for the potato starch noodles. After all, tomorrow was the day of the fair. She would be going there to sell noodles again.

She got up and went to the kitchen. First, by using the ring, she traveled to the kitchen in the other space and took out a piece of lean meat. Then she returned and cut the meat into shreds before stir-frying it in lard. Next, she added boiling water with a bowl of rice into the pot. With a pinch of salt, she gave a quick stir to everything in the pot before covering with a lid. The pot was left to simmer above a small fire.

While waiting for the porridge to cook, Xiaoguo took out some bok choy, chopped them into bits and rinsed them. They were then placed in a basin and mixed with white flour and a moderate amount of water. Then, she heated up a large pot and drizzled some oil into it. When the oil was hot, she poured the pancake batter into the pot and waited for them to cook. She made a total of three pancakes, which were all plated and served on the dining table.

At this moment, the porridge was ready. She cut some chopped green onions and threw them into the porridge. After scooping the porridge out, it was time to eat.

At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang had also finished feeding the cows, donkeys, chickens, and ducks. He remembered his mother’s words and went to wash his hands without having to be reminded. When he returned, Xiaoguo had already filled the bowls with porridge. He had come in at the right time.

After breakfast, Xiaoguo took the opportunity to teach Zhuang Zhuang some new words. Before starting on the new words, she revised some of the old words that she taught him the night before. Xiaoguo took the book and handed Zhuang Zhuang a fresh sheet of paper. With each word that she recited, Zhuang Zhuang would write it down silently. After all five words were written down, Xiaoguo was surprised to see that he had not made a single mistake. Her eyes widened as she looked at Zhuang Zhuang. “Son, are you the legendary genius?”

Zhuang Zhuang tilted his head and said in confusion, “Genius?” His eyes were filled with doubt. What did genius mean?

Xiaoguo kissed Zhuang Zhuang on the cheek and said, “It’s fine. Study hard. I’ll wait for you to support me when I grow old.”

Zhuang Zhuang understood what she meant and nodded solemnly. “Yes, yes.” Then, he quickly got Xiaoguo to teach him new words. Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang could already remember the five words from yesterday, Xiaoguo went on to teach him five more.

While Zhuang Zhuang was practicing his writing, Xiaoguo went to the kitchen to prepare the soup base. Just like the previous time, she used pig bones and mushrooms to make two different soup bases. She took out the pig bones that she had bought and the mushrooms that had been sun-dried previously. The ingredients were then subsequently placed into the pot to simmer over a small flame.

There was still some starch left from the last time she made potato starch. This time, she would just use it to make the noodles. Xiaoguo kept aside a portion of starch so that she could use it for the fish balls. The rest were poured into a basin. While doing that, she thought of getting more potatoes later when she was done.

After making the potato starch and noodles, she set them aside and proceeded to head up the mountains with a basket on her back.