Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 138 - 119 Liang Zhu (6)

Chapter 138: Chapter 119 Liang Zhu (6)

Luo Jun’s life in the Shu region was no different from his life in Shanghai. He never went out, never socialized, and spent every day sitting on the sofa reading novels.

Qin Huai spent an entire afternoon reading novels with Luo Jun and noticed there were fewer gossipy and melodramatic stories, and more of those about immortal cultivation and martial arts.

Luo Jun treated all these different types of novels equally, reading them all. Once he reached the latest installment, he would go to the study and write letters. The letters were piled together, ready to be sent, forming a stack a foot thick, showing that even if he couldn’t comment on them in real-time, it didn’t stop Luo Jun from giving his delayed commentary.

Delayed commentary is still commentary.

Compared to Luo Jun’s life as a homebody that hadn’t changed before and after marriage, Liu Tao’s married life was much richer.

Luo Jun’s house didn’t employ a servant to clean; all the daily cleaning was done by Liu Tao. However, there were hardly any decorations and furniture in Luo Jun’s house, mostly just newspapers and book cabinets. Qin Huai suspected they didn’t hire a servant for fear they might mess up Luo Jun’s precious newspapers.

All the newspapers in the living room were arranged according to the type and date of the publishing house. To prevent the newspapers from getting moldy, Liu Tao would regularly take them out to the yard to sun them.

Today wasn’t a day to sun newspapers, but Qin Huai overheard Liu Tao telling a kid outside to gather a few kids to come over tomorrow to sun the newspapers.

On days without newspaper sunning, Liu Tao would sit in the yard, sunbathe, and listen to novels.

Liu Tao was illiterate, knowing only numbers and dates. It was a genius idea of someone to hire a girl student to come over every afternoon to read novels to Liu Tao, reading works by Zhang Henshui.

Unlike the simple interior decorations and the clutter caused by excess newspapers indoors, the courtyard where Liu Tao listened to books presented another scene.

Large slabs of blue stone covered the ground, a trellis stood in the yard with morning glories and loofahs climbing on it. Besides that, many lush flowers and plants, whose names Qin Huai couldn’t call, were cultivated in the yard. There was a small table for tea, with a chair set beside it.

This kind of yard, if Qin Luo came over to take photos, the caption would probably be: Enjoying tea at leisure, all is well in time.

Unfortunately, such a pretty courtyard had nothing to do with tranquility; it was even a bit noisy.

Every afternoon when the book reading started, the courtyard was filled with people. There were children, girls, and women, all sharing the common trait of not looking very affluent.

Those in slightly better conditions wore cotton, while others wore linen. Everyone’s clothes were washed to the point of fading, with some worn-out ones needing mending. Yet, a redeeming feature was that these people appeared very clean; it was evident they had made efforts to wash and change into clean clothes before coming.

The girl student reading had a very gentle voice, enunciating clearly. Perhaps to make it understandable for Liu Tao, her speech was a blend of local dialect and the soft Wu dialect, with faint traces of Mandarin detectable.

Liu Tao accepted it very well, but it was hard for the eavesdroppers. Qin Huai frequently saw the audience listening with confused looks, and when the student paused for a drink, they’d chirp in dialect among themselves, asking if others understood what was just read.

Even though they didn’t quite understand, it didn’t impede their joy in listening.

Qin Huai understood this feeling; this listening session in the yard was like Liu Tao buying the only TV in the entire village with her own money. The villagers might not understand the TV dramas, but it didn’t hinder their enjoyment of watching.

As dusk began to fall, the reading event concluded.

The people who came to listen made a fuss in a mix of peculiar local accents and Wu dialects to thank Liu Tao. The books were bought by Luo Jun, the person hired by Luo Jun, and they came empty-handed, not even carrying a gift, so all they could offer were a few auspicious phrases.

After all, books were expensive in those days; the price of one novel was enough to sustain a poor family for a month or two. Hiring someone to read was a considerable expense, unaffordable for most families as an entertainment activity.

As the eavesdroppers dispersed, the girl student who read the books stayed in the yard. Liu Tao went inside to get money for the student, and upon entering, found Luo Jun not reading newspapers but eating leftover dumplings from lunch.

"Was it too noisy today?" Liu Tao asked, "If it was, I won’t let them come tomorrow."

"No," Luo Jun replied faintly, with a bit of melancholy, "Finished reading."

Liu Tao chuckled, "You read so fast. It takes me a month to listen to one book. But you finish so many newspapers in just a few days."

While talking, Liu Tao took two bills from the purse and walked outside, "I’m going to pay Miss Zhang, and after that, we’ll go to Master Jiang’s place for dinner. I’ve already had Uncle Liang buy the ingredients and send them over."

Luo Jun nodded slightly.

Liu Tao walked briskly to the courtyard with the money and handed it to Miss Zhang. Miss Zhang accepted the money, glanced at it, folded it, put it into her purse, and kept the purse close, showing no intention of leaving.

"Mrs. Luo, when I finish reading this book, I’m afraid I won’t be able to read for you anymore," Miss Zhang said.

Liu Tao was a bit surprised, "Why? Is it because the pay is too little? I’ve checked, and the price I pay is very reasonable. Your salary is even half that of a teacher at a girls’ school."

Miss Zhang shook her head repeatedly, "It’s not about the salary. You and Mr. Luo are very generous. I’m grateful for this job; it’s noble and quite easy. The problem is with me. My father’s business failed, and he incurred heavy debt. In two months, I must marry into a wealthy family in the Central Plains as a third concubine and will no longer have the chance to read novels for you."

Liu Tao was silent for a moment, then asked, "Your future husband, this year..."

"Forty-seven."

Liu Tao could only sigh lightly. After thinking for a bit, she removed a gemstone earring from her right ear and handed it to Miss Zhang.

"According to novels, at this moment, I should gift you a novel. But the novels were bought by my husband, the jewelry on me was gifted by my husband, except for this earring, which the Class Leader of our opera troupe bought to support my wedding. Because it was so expensive, he could only afford one; the other one was a gift from my husband."

"I come from a lowly background in opera, despised my whole life. Even marrying my husband and becoming his wife, the ladies who play mahjong and watch operas with us still look down on me."

"Before, when we were in Shanghai, my husband hired other girl students to read novels. Some wanted to become my husband’s concubine, some families wanted to do business with my husband, others despised the books I listened to as crude, some taught me to pursue freedom and democracy, and others advised me to divorce. But none like you would pause and explain the plot when I couldn’t understand it."

"You, like my husband, are educated, and never looked down on me."

"When the Class Leader gifted me this earring, he wished me a life of peace, not being driven out. Even if driven out, I could sell this piece of jewelry for money and not starve."

"I give you this earring, wishing you a life of peace."

Miss Zhang quietly accepted the earring and whispered, "Thank you."

"May you live a life of peace."

Miss Zhang left.

Liu Tao wanted to go back inside to call Luo Jun, only to find Luo Jun already standing at the door, touching his bare earlobe with a smile, "I gave the earring to Miss Zhang."

"Just buy another one," Luo Jun said indifferently, "Should we find someone new to read novels?"

Liu Tao nodded.

"Then look for someone married this time, less trouble."

"Oh, and don’t buy those carrots next time; they’re awful. How can something taste so bad?"

"I heard from Dr. Chen that eating carrots is good for the eyes, improves vision."

"If you want to improve vision, eat the gallinule; it’ll work better than carrots."

"What’s a gallinule?"

"A bird mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It looks like a crow with white spots, a useless bird."

Qin Huai: ...

No, it’s one thing to curse plant spirits, but why curse your kind? And you’re even recommending it in a recipe.

"Is it available?" Liu Tao, not familiar with the Classic of Mountains and Seas, thought it was a recipe, "Should I ask Uncle Liang to find one and make soup for you?"

Luo Jun: ...

"No need," Luo Jun said stiffly, "I’ll just eat carrots."