Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 36_1

Chapter 36: Chapter 36_1

Having cooked the porridge, Ms. Qin held the baby for Ms. Zhou to eat. She then filled a bowl with fish soup and set it aside to cool.

The crucian carp was fresh, and ginger was added during the cooking process to remove any fishy smell. Ms. Zhou gradually drank half of it, handed the baby to Ms. Qin so she could eat, and then continued to lie down while holding the baby.

Even though only half a bowl of fish soup remained, its fragrance still attracted some attention.

An old woman, seeing the milky-white soup in Ms. Zhou’s bowl, sniffed and asked her, "Ms. Zhou, what kind of soup is that?"

Ms. Zhou had just eaten porridge and was now holding the baby to rest. Upon hearing the woman’s question, she casually replied, "Fish soup."

"Fish soup?"

The woman clicked her tongue in disbelief at Ms. Zhou’s statement. How could something so fragrant be fish soup?

Isn’t fish soup supposed to be really fishy? Could it be that Ms. Zhou wanted to eat alone?

With these thoughts in mind, she somewhat reluctantly said, "Don’t be so stingy. I know what fish soup looks like, and it doesn’t look like that."

Ms. Zhou was weak from her postpartum recovery and had suffered the previous night. Now, she just closed her eyes and didn’t want to speak.

Seeing that Ms. Zhou was ignoring her, the woman rolled her eyes, boldly stepped forward to take the soup, and said, "You’re in confinement and can’t drink much. I’ll help you finish it, so it won’t go to waste."

While reaching out to take the bowl, she was stopped by the smiling Ms. Qin.

"Isn’t this Second Sister-in-law? Have you learned that we have no rice or flour for the new mother, so you came to bring us some?"

Ms. Qin hesitated, glanced at the woman’s empty hands, and then, as though she understood something, cheerfully reached for the woman’s hand: "Second Sister-in-law, are you unsure of how much to bring? There’s no need to be so formal. I’ll accompany you to get the grain."

Upon hearing that Ms. Qin wanted to accompany her to get grain, the woman’s eyes widened in surprise. Ms. Qin was the wicked one! She just wanted a sip of her soup, and now she roped her into this?

No matter what she thought, she managed to force a stiff smile and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, Sister-in-law? I also wanted to borrow some grain for you, but, the times are tough. I want to help but I can’t. You know what I mean? "

Her sister-in-law agreed, "Exactly. Besides, it’s not like we’re expecting fine food during these times. Having some sweet potatoes and chestnuts should be enough."

In times like these, they were being picky about food? eA sour expression crossed the sister-in-law’s face at the thought.

The woman’s words were offensive enough, but the blatant disdain in her tone made Ms. Qin feel indignant. However, given their familial relationship, all she could do was ease the smile off her face.

"What are you saying, Third Sister-in-law? We all know how tough it is to be without good food during confinement. Now that my daughter-in-law has entered our household, she’s like my own daughter. As a mother, of course, I would want her to have the best during her confinement. Or else I’d be heartbroken."

Her words weren’t harsh, but they caused quite a stir. The women knew something that others didn’t: Ms. Qin.

One of them had a daughter-in-law who ran away because she was treated too harshly, and the other had a daughter-in-law who was ordered to work during confinement and consequently couldn’t have another child.

Her words were merely a veiled criticism of their harsh treatment of their daughters-in-law.

"What are you saying, Sister-in-law? I just wanted to try the fish soup. I’ve never had it before. If you don’t want to share, so be it. Why need to say these things?"

Ms. Qin merely glanced at her, then pointed at the fish soup and said, "What’s the big deal, Second Sister-in-law? It’s just soup made from fish. There’s nothing unusual about it. Were you scared stupid yesterday? If you want to have some, ask Tie Niu to catch a few fish from the river for you. All I’ve got left is this half bowl, and it’s not enough to divide among all of you."

Although the village of Lihua is vast, the land each family occupies is small, and the buildings are only separated by walkways.

As soon as Ms. Qin’s words came out, the neighboring families who were resting couldn’t help but laugh. Fish soup was just soup made from fish, right?

Here were these two women, both over forty, coveting a nursing mother’s food. They really seemed to have no shame.

Hearing the surrounding laughter, the two didn’t say much and just squeezed through the crowd and returned to their own people with their tails between their legs.

Little Ms. Zhou had been sensitive during her confinement period. After hearing Ms. Qin’s words just now, she felt warm in her heart and called out to Ms. Qin who was protecting her, "Mom."

Hearing Little Ms. Zhou calling her, Ms. Qin, afraid that she was tired from holding the baby, turned around to take the baby. Seeing Little Ms. Zhou’s reddened eyes, she wanted to pat her hand, but ended up taking out a clean handkerchief to cover her face and said as she was doing so, "You girl, you can’t cry during confinement, crying is bad for the eyes."

"Mom, thank you."

Little Ms. Zhou’s voice was choked up. Her face, which was already a bit haggard, looked even more frail.

Ms. Qin felt a pang of pity seeing this and hurriedly comforted her, "Thank me for what? You call me Mom, and that makes you my daughter. You mustn’t cry, crying during confinement is not good for your eyes."

Little Ms. Zhou nodded then just managed to hold back her tears.

Several young women and girls from the surrounding families also came over to ask about the fish soup.

Although everyone couldn’t afford meat, there were actually not many who thought of catching fish and crabs from the river.

After all, they’re full of small spines and stink when cooked. Add to that the previous incidents of people choking to death on fish bones when they were driven to catch fish due to dire circumstances. Who would dare try again?

Another one, a crab, was all shell, even a day’s work would not yield two tael of meat. It would be better off to take a stroll in the mountains and dig up some wild vegetables.

Now that Li Zheng’s house was making such delicious fish soup, wouldn’t learning to make it add another dish to their meals at home?

The river is so long; there will always be enough to eat.

Previously, some of them had learned from Ms. Lin and caught some river clams to take home, but the dishes they made didn’t taste good. The fish soup now seemed much simpler to prepare.

"This, ah, was taught by Nanzhi. If you want to learn, you have to ask her."

Ms. Qin naturally knew their idea and said it was Nanzhi who taught it, and told them to find her.

Consequently, while Nanzhi and Gougou were munching on sweet potatoes, they saw a group of older girls and young wives marching towards them.

The woman who led the group finally said hesitantly when they got close, "Sister Nanzhi, we want to learn how to make fish soup from you."

Nanzhi looked at them, momentarily speechless: "This ..."

The young wife thought that Nanzhi was unwilling, her face turning red as she said, "We...we won’t learn for free, we’ll exchange sweet potatoes with you."

Nanzhi quickly waved her hands: "No need. Making fish soup isn’t a secret recipe. I’ll just tell you, and you just need to remember."

"Ah!"

Hearing this, the group quickly gathered around Nanzhi.

"The best fish soup is made from crucian carp. Even though it’s small, the soup is very fresh. Before cooking, keep it in well water overnight to get rid of sand and mud. After cleaning the scales, remember to throw away the gills and innards from its stomach, don’t hesitate to discard these."

"If you have some meat oil at home before making the soup, fry it in the oil, the soup will be more flavorful and whiter. If you don’t have meat oil, it’s okay too, just add some green onion and ginger to remove the fishy taste while making the soup, then add some salt when it’s done."

"So, we have to use meat oil?"

A young woman hesitated upon hearing this.