Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 590: Chapter 307: The Thoughtful Daughter

Thinking of a son and a daughter, Huai Zi’s heart swelled with tenderness. He wanted to say something to Juhua but couldn’t get the words out, afraid she would misunderstand and think he was anxious to have a baby. He unconsciously reached out to tuck the fine hairs at her temple behind her ear, then gently caressed her small earlobe and gave her a brilliant smile.

Juhua smiled back, holding the bowl up to him and gesturing for him to have another piece. Their eyes lingered on each other for a moment before Huai Zi ate another Nangua cake. He then took the bamboo canteen, drank two large gulps of water, and rinsed his mouth.

After he finished, he didn’t dawdle. He immediately stood, hoisted his carrying pole, and headed out, saying to Juhua, ”If I work quickly, I can finish up earlier tonight and come home to keep you company.”

Juhua nodded. After watching him leave, she rushed to finish shelling the rest of the chestnut burrs—it was only a little over a pound of chestnuts—and then went to cook the noon meal.

The busy day passed, and by dinnertime, everyone was especially relaxed, chatting and laughing freely. It was nothing like the noon meal, which was always a frantic rush because they had to return to the fields right after eating.

Zhang Dashuan noticed a bowl of steamed chestnuts on the table. He picked one up with his fingers, tossed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and a moment later, spat out the skin. He smiled and asked Juhua, ”Why didn’t you dry and roast these? It’s such a waste to just steam them.”

Juhua laughed. ”Listen to you, Father. It all ends up in our stomachs just the same, so what’s the waste? I didn’t shell that many this time, so I couldn’t be bothered with the extra trouble. I just steamed them beside the rice pot to eat them fresh. They’re not bad this way, all soft and mealy.”

Huai Zi chuckled. ”These are too small—not very satisfying. When the banli grow bigger, I bet they’ll be delicious.”

Juhua chimed in, ”Banli braised with chicken is the absolute best. Around April or May, if you use a young rooster, the flavor is out of this world.”

He quickly asked, ”Really? Where have you eaten that?”

Juhua froze. ’I let it slip again!’ she thought, and hurriedly tried to cover her tracks. ”I just heard someone talking about it. You can just imagine how good it must taste; you don’t even need to try it.”

He held back a laugh. ”That’s for sure—what doesn’t taste good with chicken? It’s just like what Gou Dan’s mother always says: ’Anything cooked with pork is bound to taste good.’”

Juhua and Huai Zi pursed their lips to hide their smiles, thinking the saying was indeed quite apt.

Zhang Yang shoveled down his rice in a few quick mouthfuls, then poured half of the bowl of chestnuts out. He said with a grin, ”I’ll take these to school. They’ll be a good snack for when I get hungry tonight.”

He, Little Shitou, and Liu Sixun now had to go to the school at night as well. Juhua found it pitiable. ’It’s just like cramming for a big exam. Those poor boys often stay up so late their eyes are bloodshot. Becoming a Scholar is no easy feat.’

Juhua quickly said to him, ”I made some congee in the clay pot. It would be better to eat that tonight. These chestnuts are fine as a snack, but if you eat too many, they’ll make you bloated.”

Yangzi laughed. ”A few of us will be sharing them, how could we eat too many? I’ll eat the congee when I get back tonight. Sister Juhua, thank you so much for preparing something for me to eat every night. If I pass the exam and become a Scholar, I’ll have to give you the top credit.”

Juhua said with a beaming smile, ”Aren’t you afraid Father and Mother will get jealous if they hear you say that? If we’re talking about top credit, of course it should go to them. After all, they’re the ones who raised you.”

Zhang Yang turned his head and saw that, sure enough, Zhang Dashuan was glaring at him with a dark expression. He hastily cried out, ”Everyone gets credit, everyone gets credit! Come on, Dad, don’t be in such a hurry to get angry. Your son doesn’t even know if he can pass yet. If we start fighting over the credit now, people will laugh at us if they overhear.”

He scolded him good-naturedly, ”Who’s fighting? You’re the only one going on about it. Now hurry up and get to school! Sigh! This studying is such a grind. Look at you, you’ve lost so much weight.” After speaking, she got up to help Juhua clear the dishes.

After finishing the housework, Juhua didn’t have time to check on little Hulu. She found a scrap of cloth, wrapped a Copper Coin in it, and her needle flew as she began to sew a shuttlecock.

Huai Zi sat beside her, watching. He reminded her, ”Aren’t you missing something? It needs a quill to be any good. You have to pull the stiffest feather from a rooster’s tail; it’s the hollow shaft at the bottom that you need.”

Juhua nodded. ”Zhao Qing said her family just butchered a duck, so they have a quill like that. She should be bringing it over later. Actually, a goose feather quill is the best—it’s thick enough. Chicken and duck quills are too thin. You can’t stick enough feathers in, so the shuttlecock won’t be stable and will be hard to kick.”

Huai Zi laughed. ”Let’s make do for now. Later on, we can get a few geese to raise. Geese just eat grass; they’re easier to care for than ducks.”

He then asked if she had the rooster feathers ready, and Juhua told him about plucking them from a live chicken that morning. This made him chuckle. ”Most people wait until they butcher a chicken to pull its feathers. But you, you just went and plucked them right off. That chicken must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into you.”