Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 263: The Oblivious Auntie Chen

"The men in our family used to be part of Comrade Qin’s team. If you ever need help, just call on us, and we’ll have your back," Aunt Ju spoke with a hint of righteous indignation.

"Exactly! And as for that Wang Futong, don’t worry about her. Even though her husband is now with Captain Xue’s team, we won’t let her get away with it. Our men have already told Captain Xue that if Wang Futong doesn’t apologize, this won’t end," another aunt chimed in urgently.

If Aunt Ju’s intentions were completely sincere in wanting to protect Su Yijia, the second aunt seemed to have a touch of self-serving motivation, seeking credit where she could.

But if they could truly stand up for a retired commander like that, it was still impressive.

"Thank you. I truly appreciate all of your kindness," Su Yijia’s voice was filled with genuine gratitude.

Only then did Aunt Chen smile in satisfaction. "Oh, it’s nothing. Our men were looked after by Commander Qin in the past, so how could we just sit back and let someone bully you?"

In truth, Aunt Chen wasn’t thrilled with the idea of her husband stirring up trouble with the current commander over a retired one. But her husband was stubborn--once the conflict was already stirred up, there wasn’t much she could do. After all, they couldn’t afford to fall out of favor with everyone. Still, since her husband had taken the risk, she wanted to make sure Qin Kaize and his wife remembered their family’s support.

"Wait, what’s that smell? It’s so delicious!" Someone suddenly sniffed the air.

They had noticed the enticing aroma the moment they entered but hadn’t asked about it right away. Now that someone had broken the ice, the others quickly followed. "What are you making? Something tasty?"

"It’s not food, just a seasoning for cooking--oyster sauce," Su Yijia said as she quickly stood up, rushing to check the pot of oyster broth. If the oysters had stuck to the bottom and burned, all their efforts would be for nothing.

The aunts, seeing her urgency, hurried into the kitchen to take a look as well.

"Oyster sauce? Is that like cooking oil?" Aunt Chen asked, her eyes fixed longingly on the thick broth in the pot. In her household, only her husband received ration tickets each month. Half a pound of oil had to stretch to cook for the three of them, which was never enough. Oysters were cheap here, so if they could replace cooking oil with oysters, they wouldn’t have to ration so tightly, wiping the pan with a cloth to save every drop.

"No, it’s more like soy sauce or vinegar--just used for flavoring," Su Yijia explained, shaking her head.

Upon hearing that, Aunt Chen’s face visibly fell. "What a waste," she muttered under her breath without thinking.

The other aunts frowned immediately, glaring at her.

"If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say anything at all! How people spend their money is their business, not yours," Aunt Ju reprimanded sharply.

Another aunt quickly agreed. "Exactly! Remember when you used to buy new clothes every month before you had kids--wasn’t that wasteful too? At least Comrade Su is spending on food for her whole family, while you were only spending for yourself!"

Oysters here were just two cents a pound, while Aunt Chen’s store-bought clothes easily cost ten yuan or more per piece. Even if Comrade Su ate oyster sauce until she was sick of it, it wouldn’t compare to Aunt Chen’s monthly clothing habit.

Though no one spoke these thoughts out loud, the disdain on their faces was clear.

Aunt Chen’s face darkened in anger, but she couldn’t find a way to refute them.

Su Yijia noticed the broth was almost done, so she fished out the oyster meat to use elsewhere. She then heated another pot on a separate stove, adding equal parts oil and rock sugar. Watching her pour in so much sugar made the aunts wince slightly--they would hesitate to use that much even when cooking pork belly. But they all understood that Qin Kaize’s income from his military stipend and bonuses had always been high.

Their own husbands had married them at twenty or twenty-one, barely having saved any money after a couple of years in the military, and then they had children. They had to wait many years after their kids were born before reuniting with their husbands at the base.

Money had always been tight, especially once they had families to support. But Qin Kaize had served for eight years, and with his family being from Hu City, they were well off and never needed his support. His eight years of savings, plus the recent subsidies, meant that Comrade Su could spend however she liked.

Su Yijia stir-fried the oyster broth, pouring the strained liquid into the pan. She turned up the heat, boiling it down until it thickened, then added a small amount of flour mixed with water and continued simmering. Once the water had evaporated from the flour mixture, she strained the thickened sauce through cheesecloth one final time. She ended up with two large bowls, filled to the brim with rich, fragrant oyster sauce.

Satisfied, she smiled and grabbed several pairs of chopsticks, offering them to the group standing by the kitchen door. "Aunts, you should try it--it’s incredibly flavorful."

Aunt Chen was the first to snatch a pair of chopsticks from Su Yijia’s hand, eagerly reaching for the bowl of sauce. Aunt Ju quickly tapped the back of her hand with her own chopsticks. "There’s more in the pot! You’re just supposed to taste it, not dig into the bowl."

Aunt Chen felt a bit foolish—why not take more when they had gone to the trouble of using sugar, flour, and pure oyster broth to make it? She instinctively glanced at Su Yijia, hoping for some support to regain her face. However, Su Yijia didn’t even look at her, instead focusing on the other aunts. Aunt Chen pursed her lips, unhappy, but obediently turned to taste the oyster sauce from the pot.

The other aunts followed suit, and the burst of umami had them all wide-eyed with delight.

Just as Aunt Chen was about to speak, Aunt Ju jumped in first. "This oyster sauce is amazing! Add it to any dish, and it’s bound to taste incredible. How many pounds of oysters did you use to make this?"

"Two hundred pounds," Su Yijia answered simply. "It usually takes about 30 pounds of shelled oysters to make a single pound of oyster sauce."

"That’s six cents’ worth of oysters just for one pound of sauce?" Aunt Ju exclaimed, surprised.

A younger woman, only two years older than Su Yijia, added, "Not just that. To make a pound of oyster sauce, you need at least an ounce of rock sugar. That’s another ten cents or so, plus the flour and oil, and you’re looking at three or four more cents. The total cost for one pound has to be about a dollar."

Hearing this, the aunts who had been considering making some themselves immediately dismissed the idea. Cooking to fill the stomach was one thing, but spending that much on oyster sauce alone? The money for a year’s worth of sauce could cover a year of school fees for their children. They envied Su Yijia’s life as the wife of a commander.

Aunt Chen secretly glanced at Aunt Ju, feeling a little light-headed with frustration. If she hadn’t asked about the cost, they might have left with a bowl of sauce each. But now that they knew the price, who would have the nerve to ask?

Meanwhile, Aunt Ju ignored Aunt Chen’s frustrated looks, as if she hadn’t noticed at all. Clearly, she had asked about the price on purpose. After knowing Aunt Chen for nearly six or seven years, Aunt Ju could anticipate her every move. She wasn’t about to let Aunt Chen take advantage of Su Yijia’s kindness just because she had come over with such meager offerings, expecting to leave with something better. Unlike Aunt Chen, the other women didn’t have such brazen audacity.