The Old Madam poured the pork bone and bamboo shoot soup into the warming pot, waiting for the Old Man to come home and eat, then quickly left the house.
Sun Shi looked over and saw that the Old Madam had indeed gone out. Then, taking advantage of the fact that the others hadn't returned, she secretly took a small, meaty piece of pig's head bone from the pot and put it into Dong Hua's mouth, instructing, "Quickly eat it hidden, don't let anyone else see."
1
Dong Hua swallowed all the meat, reluctant to throw away the bone. She found a secluded spot and slowly sucked the marrow from the pig's head bone.
Zhao Sidan was also sucking on a pig's head bone. One hand held the bone, while the other used chopsticks to pick up braised pork, eating mouthful after mouthful until his mouth was greasy. He was about to pick up another piece of braised pork when Cheng Loanloan pressed his chopsticks down. "Leave all the rest for your elder sister-in-law."
Perhaps because Wu Huiniang was taking medicine to nourish her pregnancy, her appetite was affected by the bitter taste of the medicine. She didn't want to eat; she hadn't touched a single piece of braised pork.
Cheng Loanloan opened her mouth and said, "If your body is too weak, you won't be able to keep the child. You must eat more; even if you don't want to, you have to force yourself to eat it all."
Wu Huiniang felt she was too different from others.
White rice, pig's head bone soup, braised pork. Such good food, yet she couldn't eat it. Zhao Dashan brought back warmed wonton noodles and served them. "Huiniang, eat something light first to fill your stomach."
Wu Huiniang quickly refused. "Such good wonton noodles, give them to Mother. I don't want to eat."
Zhao Sidan blinked and said, "We all tasted them in town already, Elder Sister-in-law, eat quickly. Only when you're full can the little brother grow big and strong."
Zhao Ergou lightly tapped him on the back of the head. "Idiot, not a brother, it's a nephew."
"Mother! Look, Second Brother is bullying me again!"
Zhao Sidan hugged his head and complained.
Cheng Loanloan shook her head. "Even eating won't shut your mouths, hurry up and eat."
As the family was making a ruckus, Old Madam Zhao arrived. The Old Madam's eyesight wasn't bad; she spotted the food on the table with a glance.
The Old Madam quickly walked in, seeing more clearly this time. Indeed, it was white rice and pork. Each person had a bowl of white rice, a bowl of pig's head bone soup, and there was also a glistening bowl of pork and a bowl of pig's blood. The Old Madam wasn't looking at the food; she was calculating the cost.
In town, a catty of white rice was estimated to have increased to about thirty *wen* per catty. There were at least three catties here, which was ninety *wen*. Pig's head bone was ten *wen*, pork fifty to sixty *wen*... Adding it all up, it would be at least several hundred *wen*... Old Madam Zhao nearly had a heart attack and fainted.
"You wasteful woman, are you the wife of an official? One meal using white rice that costs thirty *wen* a catty, even Squire Wang in town doesn't spend like that!"
Old Madam Zhao furiously cursed, "The three boys in the house are still waiting to get married. You make a little money and don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Eating white rice today, drinking northwest wind tomorrow, right!"
Cheng Loanloan: "..."
Who could have known that the Old Madam would suddenly burst in while they were eating? They only ate white rice occasionally.
In modern times, eating white rice is normal.
But in this era, there's a poem that puts it well: "Clad in silk, yet not the silkworm's keeper."
In other words, those who produce white rice cannot afford to eat white rice. Reality is just that cruel.
If she didn't have the merchant system, thirty *wen* a catty for white rice would truly be unaffordable.
The youngsters in the house didn't quite understand the purchasing power of money, but this old madam, who managed the Zhao family's finances, understood it very well. She could probably calculate how many grains of millet one *wen* coin could buy.
Cheng Luanluan quickly explained, "These were all bought a long time ago, I just kept them because I couldn't bear to eat them. Mother, have you eaten yet? If not, come down and eat, there's still a little rice in the pot..."