Herbal Cuisine

“You finally came back to your senses!”

Qin Anming was shocked. When Xiaoguo came in earlier, she didn’t speak and ignored everyone. As soon as she came in, she sat down looking like she had lost her soul. He was really frightened and now his heart was still pounding.

Ruyi and Zhuang Zhuang sat on the chairs and patted their chests. “Sister Xiaoguo, you looked so scary just now!”

“That’s right, Mother. What’s wrong?”

Zhuang Zhuang approached Xiaoguo and asked worriedly.

Ruyi leaned over and asked softly, “Did it not work out?”

Xiaoguo stuttered, “… It’s done.”

“If it’s done, why are you looking so listless?!”

Xiaoguo snapped out of her daze as Ruyi fussed over her. She sighed helplessly. The deal was indeed done, but why was there an inexplicable feeling in her gut?

“Is it because of Manager Su’s beauty that you can’t come back to your senses?”

Ruyi teased and reached out to pull at Xiaoguo.

“No way.” Xiaoguo slapped her hand away and said fiercely, “Businessmen are all unscrupulous!”

Xiaoguo has recovered from her daze. She felt that his appearance was too deceiving. If it weren’t for his face, she wouldn’t have walked right into his plan and did whatever he asked. She had made a fool of herself!

“Why? Were you shortchanged?”

Qin Anming frowned and asked.

“… No.” She wasn’t shortchanged, in fact what she got was a big sum.

“You were taken advantage of?!” As soon as Ruyi said that, she denied it. “No, no, no. Although Sister Xiaoguo is beautiful, Shopkeeper Su is still a virgin. He won’t… Hehe.”

Ruyi covered her mouth and smiled ingratiatingly.

Xiaoguo rolled her eyes at her.

… .

“Then what’s wrong with you?”

Two voices sounded at the same time. Their guesses were all wrong. What was up with her?

“Hmph…”

Xiaoguo felt that she was a complete embarrassment. She didn’t manage to say a word of what she had prepared beforehand. She just did whatever she was told by Manager Su. How could she tell the three of them that?

In Ruyi’s eyes, she was a capable and opinionated elder sister. In Qin Anming’s eyes, she was a younger sister who was full of ideas. In Zhuang Zhuang’s eyes, she was a great and omnipotent mother.

Being so highly regarded by the three of them, how could Xiaoguo bear to say that she had been manipulated?

She simply leaned on the table and wallowed in her unspeakable embarrassment.

The three of them looked at each other and sighed. What was going on?

–

“And you bought so many roasted snacks?”

Seeing that Xiaoguo was still silent, Ruyi could only point to the big bag of things she had brought back. The words “Su’s Family Goods Store” were printed on it. The last time she went there, she had wanted to buy something. However, she had left her house in a hurry and had forgotten to bring any money with her. She was intending to go back there when she had more time.

“I’ll give some to you.” Xiaoguo looked up to see Ruyi smacking her lips. She opened the waxed paper bag and let her grab whatever she wanted.

“That must have cost a lot of money.”

Ruyi looked at the full bag of snacks and swallowed her saliva. Should she take a bit of everything?

“I didn’t spend any money.”

As soon as Xiaoguo finished speaking, Ruyi, who was holding onto the candied plums, paused. She slowly came up with a bold guess. Based on how Xiaoguo had looked when she just returned, Ruyi said, “Don’t tell me these are what he compensated you for…”

“Of course not!” Xiaoguo almost burst out laughing at her words. Did she look like such a silly person? How could she be tricked into handing over the corn kernels with just a bunch of snacks?

“When they heard that I have a son, they specially asked me to bring some snacks back for him to try.”

Xiaoguo quickly explained. She did not expect them to come up with so many assumptions just because of her single regret.

The three of them heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that.

Zhuang Zhuang reached for the candied plums with his small hands. Unfortunately, his hands were too short. Xiaoguo grabbed a handful for him and placed it in front of him.

Zhuang Zhuang narrowed his eyes and smiled happily at Xiaoguo while he stuffed the candied plums into his mouth.

Seeing that it was noon, Xiaoguo knew that they were going to be busy, so she got ready to go back.

Before leaving, she reminded Qin Anming to take good care of himself. After receiving his repeated assurances, she brought Zhuang Zhuang home.

On the way back, Xiaoguo thought of the dream she had last night. She could feel goosebumps emerging from under her skin.

In her dream, Qin Anming was still living in Qin Manor. He had fallen sick due to starvation and lack of warm clothes. He remained sick for a long time and didn’t get any treatment. Eventually his health deteriorated and with the various illnesses accumulated over time, he died alone in his bed at home. As he hardly kept in touch with anyone in the village, his corpse was only discovered after it had turned into a pile of bones.

Xiaoguo shuddered at the thought.

“No! I can’t let that happen!”

“Mother, where are we going?”

When the carriage was about to leave the county, the donkey cart was suddenly steered back in the opposite direction. Zhuang Zhuang wondered what was going on.

“We are going back to the market. Mother has something to buy.”

Xiaoguo suddenly thought of a solution. Since Qin Anming didn’t like to drink medicine, she would make herbal cuisine for him. Supplementing with nutritious food could help to replenish his vitality. She wouldn’t stop until he had regained his health.

She planned to go to the medicinal herbs store to buy some herbs that could be used to make soup. She will also need to buy some chickens, ducks, and pig bones for making herbal dishes.

“Mother, why are you buying chickens?”

Zhuang Zhuang was a little confused when he heard Xiaoguo’s plan. Why are they buying chickens when there are chickens at home?

“Mother wants to buy slaughtered chickens. The chickens we keep at home are for laying eggs. We don’t eat them for their meat.”

As Xiaoguo spoke, she handed the money to the boss and took the processed chickens and ducks from him before loading them onto the donkey cart.

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at the pile of chicken, duck, and pig bones in surprise. How long will it take for them to finish all these?

“That’s right. I’ll make you delicious food out of them.”

Xiaoguo had been eating pork since she came here. She was starting to crave chicken and duck meat. She took this chance to buy more and keep them in the fridge. Whenever she wished to cook a certain dish, she could grab them from the fridge.

Besides the herbal cuisine she had planned, Xiaoguo’s mind was filled with all kinds of delicacies—roasted chicken, roasted duck, fried chicken, wine duck, braised duck and spicy chicken…

“Oh dear, I have to stop thinking about it. I’m drooling.”

“Zhuang Zhuang, look after the meat. Mother will go buy the herbs.”

“Okay! Don’t worry, Mother!”

Hearing Xiaoguo’s words, Zhuang Zhuang sat down beside the meat like a little guard.

When she arrived at the medicinal herbs store, Xiaoguo asked for all the herbs she knew that could be used to make soup. While the shop assistant was wrapping the herbs, Xiaoguo went out to check on Zhuang Zhuang. Having made sure that he was still around, she went back into the shop.

After taking the herbs and paying for them, she walked out. The waiter even helped to bring Xiaoguo’s purchases to the donkey cart.

Zhuang Zhuang moved aside as the big bag of herbs forced him into the corner.

“Mother, would the herbal dishes taste good?”

Zhuang Zhuang was nestled in Xiaoguo’s arms. He looked up and asked Xiaoguo about the combination of Chinese medicine with meat. It was a taste that he could not imagine. He couldn’t help but feel a little worried. What if the dishes turn out tasting horrid?

“Don’t worry, Zhuang Zhuang. You have to trust me. Do you have no confidence in my cooking?”

Although Xiaoguo wasn’t that confident, she couldn’t show it.

As the saying goes, if one had not eaten pork before, they should have seen pigs run1. When she was at home, her father would always make herbal dishes for her mother. Although she had never made it herself, she had watched how it was done from the side. She did not believe that with her perceptiveness, the dishes she made would turn out bad.

“Of course I believe in you!”

Zhuang Zhuang couldn’t wait to taste the food. It was true that his mother had great culinary skills, so he had nothing to worry about. Even if the dishes weren’t delicious, he would still finish them all.

“Good son, muacks.”

“Muacks…”

Zhuang Zhuang quickly moved his face closer to Xiaoguo. After she was done kissing him, he returned her kisses.

The mother and son chatted and laughed as they walked home. Little did they know that a huge surprise was waiting for them.