Gateway to Happiness - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Madame Xia’s Plan

Mr Wu led Lu Qi to the pond and submerged the net filled with sparrows to drown them. Very soon, the sparrows died. They used boiling water to remove the feathers and a sharp knife to remove their organs. Before long, they had taken care of all the dead sparrows. After a quick count, there were about thirty sparrows, and Lu Qi passed the huge net back to Mr Wu.

The little fish pond was covered with a thick layer of straw, which was recently placed. It was used to keep the fish warm during the winter. Ever since they built the pond, the Lu Family never had a shortage of fish. Every time they came back from fishing, they would put those that were still alive into the pond. With a pond so small, they could get a fish simply by waving a net in it. There were fishes of all sizes and species. Other than fishes, there were also mussels, crabs, eels, loaches, prawns, etc. Since the water steadily ran through there, there were no problems with keeping them.

Mr Wu gently pushed the straw aside to reveal a small opening. Soon, fishes swam towards the surface. With a wave of the net, they caught five to six fishes of different sizes and species.

Lu Qi was so happy that he kept smiling all this while before hurriedly putting the fishes into a bucket.

Mr Wu laughed in response, “Lu Qi, don’t get the big ones, catch the fishes that are two or three fingers long. We should catch some prawns too. Heh! Look at that! The prawns are quite big!”

Once Spring arrives, the prawns would mate and become a lot skinnier. The female prawns would carry loads of eggs, and their bodies’ nutrients would all be used up. However, the prawns now were plump and juicy.

“Okay,” Lu Qi agreed and spared the fish that were bigger than the size of his palm.

Mr Wu scooped for fish a couple more times and decided that it was enough. Then, he pulled the net over and submerged it in the pond. He lifted it, drained it, and lots of prawns were jumping in it. Their bodies were crystal clear, looking fresh and lovely.

The two of them picked out the ones that were the size of a thumb before throwing the rest back into the pond. They were done when they had about twenty to thirty prawns.

While the fishes and prawns were not yet ready, the stove, spices, vegetables, meat, and utensils were all ready. As such, Lu Xiao Shu and the others went to help clean the fishes and prawns. They had fun, especially with so many people around. Not caring about the cold piercing water, their laughter never ceased.

When everything was ready, all of them sat in a circle around the stove. They had set a metal grill on the stove, and various meat and vegetables were placed on it using chopsticks. It was evident that Mr Wu was an expert as the chopsticks in his hand turned and twisted as if it was a dexterous swallow flying around. He sprinkled different spices from time to time, and gradually, the fat and tender sparrows were roasted into golden brown. Drop by drop, the oil dripped onto the charcoal, sizzling and spreading the aroma into the air. The little kids could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva in secret as they stared at the delicious golden-brown roasted sparrows. Miao Chu He was no exception and he chimed, “Mr Wu, you’re very skilled at this. I almost can’t wait anymore!”

Mr Wu chuckled, “It’s almost done.” He let the kids retrieve their plates and chopsticks before offering a few roasted sparrows to them. Miao Chu He and Tong Yu Er had their share too. Meanwhile, Miao Cui Lan and Lu Zhong had a whiff of the aroma from the house, and they too came and sat down with the rest.

Everyone ate happily as Mr Wu became the one in charge of roasting. The pork, fish, and prawns were up next, one after the other. There were leeks, bean sprouts, and other vegetables too. Once they turned soft from roasting, they tasted great after sprinkling spices on them. Everyone kept praising Mr Wu while he smiled at Lu Xiao Shu, “This little girl talks so much, but she knows best when it comes to food.”

Lu Xiao Shu was just teaching her brother to wrap bacon with lettuce. She laughed, “Pity that we don’t have eggplants and green pepper! They would taste amazing if we roast them. Oh, roasting mushrooms would be nice too.”

“Really?” Mr Wu chuckled, “We’ll try them out when we have them.”

Lu Xiao Shu clasped her hands with joy and said, “Maybe you can bring us hunting too. When we bring them home and roast them, it’ll be fantastic!”

Mr Wu laughed at her and shook his head in disbelief. This little girl only thought of having fun all day long. After a few years, no one could stop her from running about when she grew up. Who knows what trouble she would bring?

They ate and chatted, filling the atmosphere with laughter, and they spent the whole day like that. They had finished the fish and prawns that they caught, as well as the vegetables and meat. Needless to say, the thirty or so roasted sparrows were not spared from their feast. Truthfully, they could skip their dinner after that, so Miao Cui Lan merely prepared some porridge for whoever was hungry later.

On the next day, Miao Chu He left for the academy while Tong Yu Er unwillingly sent him off at the village’s gate. They parted after saying their goodbyes.

Ever since they had gotten married, the two of them had more goodbyes than meetups. However, Tong Yu Er knew that her husband was studying hard. Even though it was to pay his sister and brother-in-law back, was it not for her too? Although she was kicked out by her parents, she did not feel any resentment towards them. Instead, she felt very guilty because she had broken her parents’ hearts. She hoped that one day, her husband would become successful so that her parents would accept their marriage and acknowledge him as their son-in-law…

Ever since Lu Xiao Shu learned how to catch sparrows, she would try to catch them from time to time, together with her siblings and friends who came to their house. Despite failing a few times because they were not patient enough, they would still catch several sparrows in the end. At night, their auntie would fry the sparrows, and the siblings happily ate them all. Sometimes, they would bring the sparrows to the forest nearby with their friends, and they would roast the sparrows on bamboo sticks.

After the first month of the new year, the busy season for farmers came as Spring was here, and they had to start working on their crops in the farmlands and the gardens. Other than taking care of the paddy field, they had to check the crops in their gardens, hill farms, and bamboo farms as well. They needed to remove the weeds, especially the ones in the bamboo farms. They would have to loosen up the soil first before pulling up all the weeds. This was so that the bamboo shoots could grow big and tall in March and April.

Moreover, the Lu Family had to make beancurd, so it was natural for them to be busier. Even with Tong Yu Er’s help, they still had to hire two helpers who were familiar with them to help out with the job.

The only good thing was that Lu Xiao Shu and her sister did not need anyone to look after them anymore. They could play with each other without anyone worrying about them.

On this day, there was a visitor who came from the Miao Family’s village. It was their third great uncle’s youngest son. He greeted everyone with a bright smile and asked if Miao Cui Lan was free the next couple of days. He wanted her to go back with him because they had something to tell her.

Miao Cui Lan’s heart dropped when she heard about it. It had been a long time since she was no longer part of the Miao Family. Even though her father had passed away, she had grown a lot closer to the others from the family since then. The elders never said anything much about her, seeing that she was respectful and helpful to Miao Chu He. Therefore, they turned a blind eye towards her.

However, there should be nothing that needed her presence to discuss.

As such, Miao Cui Lan smiled at the messenger, but her questioning was to no avail. Her cousin scratched his head awkwardly and smiled, “Cui Lan, I don’t know what they wanted you for, but they looked quite happy, so I think that it must be good news.”

Miao Cui Lan simply smiled and nodded, “Since the elders want me to return, I’ll definitely be there! Though I’m not free tomorrow because I have to deliver some soybeans to town. I’ll leave in the morning after tomorrow. Please let my third great uncle and the others know about this.” After that, she prepared a huge bag of freshly made beancurd and a bundle of dried hard beancurd skin for him, telling him to bring them back for his family.

He tried to decline it with a smile but ended up accepting it. He also promised that he would send them her message.

Miao Cui Lan was puzzled as to why the elders would call her back. She gave up selling beancurd that day, and she had her husband deliver them for her instead. Meanwhile, she sneaked into the Miao Family’s village after preparing lunch to ask someone she was close to about it. From there, she found out that Madame Xia had visited her third great uncle yesterday. That made her feel somewhat uneasy.

She had already expected that her third great uncle must have wanted to talk to her about Madame Xia. However, she did not understand why her cousin spoke with a bubbly smile, telling her that it was probably some good news.

Everyone in the Miao Family knew how her relationship with Madame Xia was. If Madame Xia had visited her third great uncle, why would that be a good thing to her? Perhaps Madame Xia went nuts and wanted to give her part of the family’s properties? However, she was not a part of the Miao Family though…

Something’s wrong! Miao Cui Lan suddenly thought back to the time when Miao Chu He mentioned that Madame Xia had him try to borrow money from her for Miao Tian Bao’s wedding. Could it be…

Miao Cui Lan’s face turned dark. She knew that something must be up.

She could almost guess what Madame Xia planned to do. Madame Xia must have brought it up voluntarily, and her third great uncle said it was a good thing. Could it be that Madame Xia wanted her back as a Miao family member again?

Only something like this would need her to involve the elders, and it would be something that the elders approve of being a ‘good thing’.

As for Madame Xia, Miao Cui Lan scoffed, of course it would be a good thing! As soon as she agrees to it, she would become Madame Xia’s ‘daughter’, and Miao Tian Bao would become her brother. How could she not get involved with Miao Tian Bao’s wedding if that was the case? It would then become a must for her to put in money and effort for his wedding!

Madame Xia had really thought about it well!

She, who was now a widow, was their father’s second wife, so she could use her position as Miao Chu He and Miao Cui Lan’s elder to suggest it to their third great uncle. Meanwhile, Miao Chu He could not disagree, same for Miao Cui Lan. Instead, they would have to be grateful to her and be overjoyed at the news.

Otherwise, they would be labeled as heartless and disrespectful to their ancestors. It would be a very insolent act.

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Miao Cui Lan could not help but hold a grudge, that wench was really going to cause her a lot of damage!

All these years, she had grown to love the peaceful days. Why would she put a collar on her own neck? Perhaps the mess she and her husband had gotten into back then was incomparable to what was happening now.

Being kicked out of her own family was nothing.