Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty-Chapter 50 - 49 Cooking meal

Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Cooking meal

Chapter 50 -49: Cooking meal

Chen Afu laughed, “Mother, did you not see Uncle Wu’s face?”

Mrs. Wang reflected upon the dark look on Carpenter Wu’s face and grew despondently disappointed, her eyes welling with tears.

Chen Afu advised, “Mother, I just recovered from my illness; this matter isn’t urgent.”

Chen Ming also thought it was impossible for Wu Changsheng to become their son-in-law, and initially, he was worried that Afu would be upset if she could not have what she wanted. Now, seeing her show a clear understanding of the reality of the situation brought him joy.

He said, “Afu is right. Changsheng is a very desired match and his family would not approve him as our live-in son-in-law.” He glanced at Chen Afu and continued, “Our Afu is handsome, intelligent and capable. We need not worry about her finding a good match. Ideally, we should look for a young man with good personal conditions but from a poor family.”

Chen Afu nodded, what Chen Ming said was the truth. Wu Changsheng was a good man, but not someone she could realistically consider as a potential husband.

On 28th July, it was a suitable day to move house.

After having breakfast, Chen Afu and Dabao, Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang together moved their pots, pans, beddings, and clothes to the new house. From this day on, Chen Afu and her mother began to live independently.

Even though Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were smiles all around, their eyes were brimming with tears. Alu was even more direct about his feelings, shedding tears openly.

Chen Afu laughed and pulled Alu into her arms, saying, “Silly little brother, your sister isn’t getting married and leaving home. We live so close we will still be eating from the same pot. My home is also your home. You can come over anytime you want, just like I can come over to your place.” Her words were meant not just for Alu, but for Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang as well.

Dabao was even more eloquent,” Little Uncle, try to think about it this way. It’s not that my mother and I are moving to a new house, rather our family is expanding with a few extra rooms. It would be even better if you want to come live with us; you can stay in the West Room and keep Jinbao company.”

These words alleviated Alu’s sadness, turning his tears into laughter. Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang also laughed along.

Chen Afu cast Dabao a look, thinking what a shrewd little boy he was.

Qi Qi and Hui Hui found the process of moving chaotic and had flown off to the woods early in the morning.

At midday, it was time for Chen Afu’s family to have the housewarming meal. She didn’t want to invite anyone over originally, but taking into account Chen Ming’s suggestion to invite Mrs. Chen for the auspicious occasion and to brighten the mood of the new home, she went along with it.

They knew they did not have to invite Mrs. Hu to this meal as she wasn’t expecting to be invited since housewarming meals usually came with gifts.

Chen Ming specifically asked Mrs. Chen not to tell Cheng Ye about Afu moving, as he was sure that Cheng Ye would insist on a gift from Mrs. Hu. Mrs. Hu was hardly kind with her words when she wasn’t asked to spend money, and if she had to spend money on a present, she would be even more unpleasant. After all, moving was a happy event and they did not wish to cause any strife.

Mrs. Chen knew Mrs. Hu’s character well and did not want her son to endure further irritation or be embarrassed. Thus, she did not articulate some things explicitly.

The gift that Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang had presented was a sack of white rice, ten small chicks, and even Alu carried in four fine porcelain bowls.

At midday, Mrs. Chen arrived and presented four large rough porcelain bowls as her gift. She mentioned Agui and Mrs. Gao had somehow found out about Afu’s house move and Agui had secretly asked Mrs. Chen to deliver a porcelain soup basin to congratulate Chen Afu on her house move.

Initially, Mrs. Chen was overjoyed, but her mood turned sour when she entered the house and saw all the new furniture.

She exclaimed, “My goodness! Look at all these new furniture; how much money must have been spent! Afu, your parents didn’t have it easy raising you. They are still struggling with their lives, their furniture is all worn and aged. How could you bear to buy such nice furniture for yourself? Even if you could afford it, you should be buying your parents furniture first. It seems you’ve lost your filial piety.”

Chen Ming hurriedly intervened, “Mother, you’ve misunderstood Afu. The money for the furniture came from Afu’s own earnings. She even gave me some so I could live comfortably. But I don’t want to spend it all at once, I’ve used a portion for Alu’s medical treatment and saved some for his future education. Alu is bright and as soon as he recovers, we want to send him to private school.”

Mrs. Chen was silent upon hearing this but she wore a slightly sour face, still thinking that Chen Afu should have let her son have the new furniture first.

Chen Afu felt extremely helpless, but for the sake of Chen Ming, she didn’t want to bicker with Mrs. Chen.

For the midday meal, they made six dishes and one soup: braised fish, fried pork with cowpeas, stir-fried pork with pepper, fried eggs with leeks, quick-fried Chinese cabbage, cold cucumber salad, and radish and pork bone soup, all served with white rice.

The intention was to symbolize smoothness and auspiciousness of the number 66.

On seeing the meal spread, Mrs. Chen was once more taken aback. She could not help but compare their living conditions to the difficult circumstances her son was in.

Just as the dishes were being laid out on the table, a knock was heard on the door. It was Mrs. Changgen, bringing along Shitou and Wu Xiaoqing. Xiaoqing was Shitou’s younger sister, a cute three-year-old with dark yet endearing features.

Shitou also had an older brother, Wu Mu, nine years old and was studying at the private school in Shangshui Village.

Mrs. Changgen laughed and said, “We heard from Shitou that you were moving house today, so we took the liberty to visit uninvited. I hope you won’t think badly of us for being so eager.”

She also brought a wooden bucket and two pairs of chopsticks as housewarming gifts.

Mrs. Changgen got on well with Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu, and the whole family was thrilled to receive them.

With her family’s arrival, they had to split up to eat at different tables. Chen Ming and Mrs. Chen ate at the table, and everyone else ate at the big table on the ground.

Mrs. Changgen claimed while munching on the food, “No wonder Shitou always says the food Chen Afu makes is delicious. It’s true.”

Mrs. Chen echoed her sentiment, “Indeed, the food in your home is special.” She thought to herself about Afu’s fortunes — not only her newly recovered health, her ability to earn money, her fantastic culinary skills, but even her brother’s slow but steady recovery from illness. With this thought, her anger subsided.

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Chen Ming asked Mrs. Changgen further about the private school in Shangshui. Once Alu’s health improved, he wished to send him there.

Among the three nearby villages, only Shangshui Village had a private school, which was funded by the master of Tang Garden. The school was not only close by, just over a quarter of an hour’s journey on foot, but had two well-learned teachers.

Mrs. Changgen proudly informed them,”The teacher at the private school, Mr. Jiang, was once a student with great potential, having topped his county’s examination in his academic career. Unfortunately, he had ended his journey as a scholar due to a fall later on which resulted in a permanent limp. About a decade ago, Master Chu’s mother, Madam Chu, funded the setup of this private school. Manager Luo was then sent to hire Mr. Jiang as a teacher.” Seeing the perplexed look on Chen family’s faces, she continued, “Tang Garden is part of Madam Chu’s dowry estate, and Manager Luo came as part of her entourage when she married. Although Madam Chu hasn’t visited Tang Garden, Master Chu does visit occasionally for a couple of days and even enquires about the private school… However, it costs more for children from the other villages to study here. Despite that, it’s still cheaper than the private school in town.”

The Wu family took pride in their acquaintance with Manager Luo and their knowledge about Tang Garden.

Mrs. Chen refuted, “Everyone says the private school in Shangshui is good, but I think it’s just okay. My Agui studied there for many years and we spent quite a substantial amount on it, but he still didn’t learn anything useful.”