Chapter 58: Wishing to Invite My Wife to Spar at the Martial Arts Hall

Shredding the radishes took quite a bit of time, and before Jiang Li could finish, A-ning called out to her.

"Mother, the rice is steamed."

She raised her head with a response, picked up the earthenware basin, and walked back into the house.

The brother and sister were already quite adept at steaming rice, but their cooking skills lacked finesse. Usually, as long as Jiang璃 was home, she did the cooking to avoid wasting those hard-earned meats and vegetables.

Cooking meat required more time, and since they still had to practice their martial arts shortly—requiring a period of rest after eating before engaging in any physical activity—she needed to manage the schedule properly.

For the evening meal, Jiang Li planned to prepare two dishes: stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings and a dandelion egg custard.

The preparation was swift. While the rice in the steamer was still piping hot, Jiang Li called out for them to fetch their bowls and start eating.

She carried the steamer and the cookware into the main hall.

Jiang Li thought to herself that when she had some free time later, she would set up a small table in the kitchen so they could simply eat there without having to carry everything back and forth. Besides, the kitchen was quite spacious anyway.

Xue Man was particularly fond of Jiang Li's stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings. Combining the two ingredients created a rare and delightful aroma; the cabbage remained crisp with a hint of natural sweetness, while the pork cracklings lacked the greasiness they usually had when eaten plain. He could easily eat an extra bowl of rice mixed with them, and the dandelion dish was equally appetizing.

Slurping down his food greedily, he finished two bowls of rice and was still drinking the soup. Seeing this, Jiang Li wanted to advise him not to stuff himself too much for the evening meal.

Just then, he put down his chopsticks and puffed out his rounded belly.

"Mother, in the future, we only need to make one of these delicious dishes. I've eaten way too much."

Jiang Li: "..."

A-ning raised her eyes to look at him and retorted crossly, "Just because it's good doesn't mean you have to eat enough for a lifetime in one meal. Can't we eat the rest tomorrow?"

"What can I do when it's this delicious and I can't exercise restraint?"

Jiang Li smiled and interrupted the two of them: "Vegetables digest easily. You'll be hungry again in no time."

That may have been true, but Jiang Li had been generous with the cooking oil, and the dishes contained pork cracklings and eggs—substantive, genuine meat.

Coupled with two bowls of white rice, it was quite filling.

After resting in the courtyard for a while following the meal, the children who came for martial arts practice began to arrive.

Xue Man was still cradling his stomach, preparing to follow her out. Jiang Li frowned slightly and asked, "Is your stomach uncomfortable?"

Xue Man shook his head. "It doesn't hurt, I'm just still a little overly full."

"Then skip the running for now. Just walk around the perimeter by yourself."

Xue Man paused, momentarily fearing that Jiang Li was banishing him from martial arts practice, and his expression changed instantly.

"You can't run on a full stomach. Go take a stroll to burn off some food, move your limbs around a bit, and you can join the boxing practice shortly."

With that, Jiang Li took A-ning and left. Seeing that she wasn't abandoning him, Xue Man nodded obediently.

Watching Jiang Li lead the others away into the distance, he vowed never to stuff himself stupidly like this again.

Yet the food was just too good! Even when full, he had wanted one more bowl of soup, and though soup wasn't filling, who would have thought that drinking it would make his stomach feel ready to burst?

When Jiang Li and the others returned from their run, Xue Man still felt bloated, so Jiang Li told him to go back and rest, letting him sit out the practice session.

Once the practice ended and everyone dispersed, Jiang Li went to find Granny Zhao.

Explaining that Xue Man had overeaten and was suffering from a bloated and uncomfortable stomach, Granny Zhao handed Jiang Li a piece of medicinal herb. "Take this back, slice up a bit of it, boil it into water, and have him drink it. By tomorrow he'll be fine."

Jiang Li smelled the herb; the scent was very familiar. "Is this Aucklandia root?"

Granny Zhao smiled and nodded. "Mm."

Jiang Li was pleasantly surprised. This medicine was highly effective for gastrointestinal discomfort and served as a base ingredient in many stomach remedies.

Assuming it had been dug up from the mountains, she said to Granny Zhao, "Once the wedding festivities are over, let's carve out some time to make a trip into the mountains."

Granny Zhao happily agreed. "Alright."

Then she added, "You haven't been to your vegetable plot these past couple of days, have you? When I passed by your bean patch the day before yesterday, the vines were heavy with pods, and they looked very plump. You should keep an eye on them and figure out when to harvest, before wild hares sneak in and eat them."

Jiang Li nodded repeatedly in gratitude. Remembering the bookstore clerk in the county town who had asked for two hares, she turned back to ask Granny Zhao, "Granny, do you know anyone who has a fishing net?"

"Are you planning to net your bean patch?"

"Yes."

"I do have a net at home, but your plot is so large that the family net is way too small to cover the whole thing."

Jiang Li smiled. "It doesn't need to be huge. I just want to block off a couple of spots. If any rabbits actually wander in, they won't be able to get back out."

Granny Zhao chuckled, "So you're trying to trap hares."

"I'll go take a look. If I see tracks, I'll set up the net. If not, never mind."

Granny Zhao brought out the old hemp-thread net, and by the time Jiang Li headed home, it was already dark.

Xue Man's stomach felt so uncomfortably distended that he was lying flat across a wooden bench. Seeing Jiang Li return, he asked pitifully, "Mother, is my stomach about to explode?"

Jiang Li was momentarily lost for words.

"Nonsense. If stomachs burst that easily, where would we be?"

"You just overate. Granny Zhao gave me some medicine. I'll brew some for you to drink, and after a good night's sleep, you'll be fine by tomorrow."

With that, Jiang Li placed a small iron pot on the stove, stooped to feed a few pieces of firewood into the firebox, and picked up a knife to slice the medicinal root.

Only a small amount of the medicine was needed at a time—just enough boiled into a bowl of water for him to drink.

The medicine didn't smell bad, but it was bitter. Jiang Li remembered drinking it as a child when her grandmother brewed it; because she hated the bitterness, her grandmother used to put a little brown sugar in it while boiling, but now there was no sugar to be had.

After taking a single sip, Xue Man wrinkled his nose.

"Chug it all down in one go, and you'll be well by tomorrow."

Thinking it over, Jiang Li realized Xue Man's bloating stemmed from pouring soup over his rice, swallowing everything hastily without chewing properly, which caused him to unknowingly overindulge.

Half an hour after drinking the medicine, Xue Man finally began to feel some relief.

To think that in this day and age, he had actually managed to eat himself into a food coma...

Jiang Li washed the newly bought earthenware jar and set it aside, then began slicing up the radish greens. Seeing there was more than half a basin's worth—which might not fill the jar if cooked alone—she hesitated for a moment, then went to fetch two cabbages, washed them, and sliced them into the mix.

Once the vegetables were prepped, Jiang Li scrubbed the pot with wood ash, scooped in several ladles of water, and placed it on the stove to boil.

When the water came to a boil, Jiang Li dropped in the shredded radishes. As soon as the water rolled into a boil again, she tipped the cabbage leaves in as well.

The iron pot was somewhat smaller than the earthenware basin, so the vegetables couldn't be cooked all at once and had to be done in two batches.

Seeing the cabbage leaves change color, Jiang Li lifted the pot off the fire.

She then scooped all the cabbage leaves and shredded radishes into the jar before boiling the second batch.

Once all the vegetables were cooked and packed into the jar, Jiang Li poured the vegetable-cooking water directly into the jar until the liquid level just covered the greens.

She sealed the mouth of the jar and carried it over to place it near the stove.

Since this pickled vegetable required heat from the fire, she simply added a bit more firewood and set to work peeling the bark off twenty or thirty yew logs.

She labored deep into the night before finishing the task.

The brother and sister chatted about continuing to pick peaches the following day, lamenting how wonderful it would be if peaches were available for sale all year round.

Jiang Li smiled. Peaches commanded a high price precisely because every household needed them for ancestor worship and offerings; without that seasonal demand, if people simply bought them to eat casually, selling them for three cash per pound would already be a stretch.

Moreover, seasonal fruits like these were only bought for a taste by relatively well-off families, while everyone else just glanced at them and walked past.

They were simply lucky to have stumbled upon those few wild peach trees; it was nothing short of a windfall.

Having finished stripping the yew bark, Jiang Li prepared to wash up and sleep. After heating some hot water, she pulled out the unburned firewood from the stove, dumped in a large dustpan full of broken charcoal, covered it with a layer of ash, and damped down the fire.

This way, the fire wouldn't flare up, yet it wouldn't easily go out either—it would at least hold until morning.

If everything went according to plan, by daybreak the pickled vegetables in the jar would be properly fermented and sour.

Thinking of the tangy, sour flavor she would get to taste tomorrow, saliva pooled endlessly in her mouth.

Although she had gone to sleep late, Jiang Li's mind was fixed on the jar of pickles, and she woke up early.

Her first priority was to check the fire; it was still warm. Checking the jar next, she saw that plenty of juice had bubbled up and overflowed around the rim.

Jiang Li was overjoyed—it had definitely worked.

She hurried over to fetch a pair of chopsticks, removed the lid, and a pungent, rich sour aroma hit her senses. She fished out a piece to inspect; the pickling liquid clinging to the cabbage leaves had formed glossy strands.

Without rinsing it, she bit right into it, and the sharp sourness instantly awakened her appetite.

She carried the jar over to the wall, fetched a pottery basin, and scooped out some flour to knead the dough.

Once the dough was kneaded, she lit the fire, got the water boiling, and only then went to wash up.

As soon as she finished washing, the brother and sister emerged.

The moment A-ning stepped out, she asked, "Mother, the dish you made last night, did it turn out?"

Jiang Li smiled. "It worked, and it's very sour. For breakfast, we're having pickled vegetable and egg noodles."

Seeing Jiang Li's happy expression, A-ning knew the noodles must be delicious, so she turned to Xue Man and asked, "Brother, is your stomach better?"

"It's better."

A-ning said gently, "Then make sure you eat a bit less this time, and don't stuff yourself again."

Xue Man looked at A-ning—this little sister who used to just tag along behind him in silence, letting him call all the shots, was now starting to lecture him.

Then he looked at Jiang Li, feeling a swirl of complex emotions, but he answered A-ning obediently, "I know."

Looking at the two children, Jiang Li chuckled and said, "Soup poured over rice is hard to digest. From now on, try to drink the soup first before eating the rice."

The brother and sister looked at her in confusion, clearly not grasping the reason, but they nodded in compliance anyway.

After washing up, Jiang Li set about making breakfast. The siblings finished cleaning up, let the chickens out, and poured goat's milk into a bowl for Jiang Huahua to drink in the courtyard.

The pickled vegetable noodles were very simple to make: she rendered some pork lard, scrambled two eggs until golden, tossed in a tiny sliver of minced ginger, stirred and mashed them together, poured in cold water, and waited for it to come to a boil before adding the pickled vegetables.

The moment the pickles hit the boiling water, the fragrance burst forth instantly, making Xue Man and A-ning swallow hard.

Once the water boiled again, Jiang Li began tearing pieces of dough and dropping them into the pot to cook.

The dough pieces, torn by hand, weren't uniform in shape, but they absorbed the rich broth wonderfully.

The pot was half-full of pickled vegetable and egg noodle soup, and Jiang Li ladled out a generous, full bowl for herself.

A-ning served Xue Man, giving him only a small, half-filled bowl that looked rather pitiful.

Jiang Li said, "Xiao Man, just eat until you're full. If it tastes good, I'll make it again next time."

"Understood, Mother."

Holding his steaming bowl, Xue Man took a tentative bite of the pickled vegetable first. It was crisp, sour, and refreshing. Who would have thought radishes could be turned into something so delicious? Could this be used to make many other dishes, too?

Lost in the joy of eating, Jiang Li had no idea Xue Man was already mentally inventing several new dishes using the pickles.

Following Jiang Li's instructions, A-ning drank her soup first before eating.

Yet why was it that after drinking this noodle soup, her appetite surged, making her feel even hungrier than before?

She wanted another bowl the moment she finished the first, but looking into the pot, she saw it was completely empty.

Jiang Li gazed at the two little rascals. She never rationed their food ordinarily, but who would have imagined they would turn out to be such gluttons?

"Are you still not full?" Jiang Li asked.

"Full, I'm full."

"It's just that I still want to eat more."