Chapter 91

Just as the Zhou family was having a lively dinner, a little girl named Qingqing ran from the back yard to a courtyard on the left side of the front yard. This courtyard was originally empty, but now it was occupied by the Bai sisters.

Qingqing, holding the clay doll given to her by Zhou Chong, ran quickly into the bedroom and put it down. Then she took out a paper package, which contained snacks given to her by Aunt Wang. However, she had not been willing to eat them and had kept them wrapped in paper, holding them in her arms as she came back.

Qingqing then ran to the west side of the courtyard, where a simple kitchen had been set up. A young girl in a blue dress was trying to light the fire, but due to her lack of experience, she had put too much wood in the stove, making it hard to ignite. Instead, it produced a thick smoke, causing her to cough continuously, her face covered in soot, looking very embarrassed.

In addition to the girl lighting the fire, there was another woman in a blue dress cutting vegetables at a cutting board. However, her movements were clumsy, and the cabbage she cut was of uneven sizes, indicating that she had never cooked before.

"Little Aunt, Little Aunt~! Here are some snacks for you!" Qingqing took out a piece of cake and ran happily to the girl lighting the fire, trying to put the cake in her mouth.

"Cough~ Cough~ Qingqing, be good, Little Aunt doesn't eat. It's too smoky here. You should go out and play, so you don't get choked by the smoke!" The girl lighting the fire coughed while telling Qingqing to go out. Her eyes were watering from the smoke, and the soot on her face formed streaks, making her look quite amusing.

Qingqing's eyes also hurt from the smoke, so she didn't go any further. Instead, she turned and ran to the woman cutting vegetables, holding up the cake and saying, "Mother, try this. This is the cake Aunt Wang gave me. It's very delicious!"

The woman cutting vegetables, upon hearing Qingqing's words, squatted down and looked at Qingqing with a gentle smile. "Since Aunt Wang gave this to Qingqing, Qingqing shouldn't let Aunt Wang down. You should finish the snacks, okay?"

Qingqing nodded, understanding but not fully comprehending, and said, "Okay, Qingqing understands!"

"Good, you're so well-behaved. Go wait in the room for a while. Mother and Little Aunt will finish dinner soon!" The woman gently stroked Qingqing's head, her beautiful face showing a loving smile. Qingqing, seeing that her mother and Little Aunt were busy, nodded again and ran back to the room to play.

The two women in the kitchen were the Bai sisters who had just moved into the Zhou family's residence. The woman cutting vegetables was Qingqing's mother, Bai Junwan, and the girl lighting the fire was Bai Junwan's younger sister, Bai Mengwan. These two sisters were previously the daughters of a wealthy family and spent most of their time on their hobbies. Their father was also very open-minded, so they had never learned how to cook, and now they were struggling to prepare a meal.

After much effort, Bai Mengwan finally managed to light the fire, and the smoke in the kitchen decreased. Soon, the water in the pot boiled, and Bai Junwan took a small bowl and scooped out half a bowl of rice from the rice bin. However, she hesitated for a moment, then poured back half of the rice before rinsing it with water and putting it into the pot.

The white rice grains tumbled in the boiling water, quickly turning into a pot of rice porridge, or more accurately, rice soup, because there were very few rice grains, and the surface was mostly clear broth.

After making the rice soup, Bai Mengwan boiled the cabbage in the pot. Their kitchen was very simple, with only some basic cooking utensils, a rice bin, and a few cabbages. The only seasoning they had was coarse salt, so the cabbage could only be boiled with salt.

"Sister, we've been eating cabbage for many days. Can we change the taste?" Bai Mengwan, while serving the boiled cabbage into a bowl, complained to her sister.

Bai Mengwan was about the same age as Zhou Chong, with a delicate face, fine eyebrows, and eyes like water. Despite wearing a simple dress and having some soot on her face, her natural beauty could not be hidden. If compared to her sister Bai Junwan, the two sisters looked almost identical, except that Bai Mengwan was younger and more innocent, while Bai Junwan, as a young woman, had a more mature and intelligent appearance.

Hearing her sister's complaint, Bai Junwan smiled helplessly. "Mengwan, when we fled from Nanjing, we were in a hurry and didn't bring much money. We have very little left, so we need to be frugal. But the embroidery I'm working on is almost finished. Once it's sold, we should be able to get some silver, and then we can buy some good food to celebrate."

Bai Mengwan actually knew the family's situation and had only complained casually. Hearing her sister's words, she felt a bit embarrassed and gave her sister a smile as an apology. However, Bai Junwan couldn't help but giggle at her sister's soot-covered face and then took a towel to wipe her face.

The two sisters carried the food back to the main hall and called Qingqing, who was playing, to join them for dinner. However, when the lively Qingqing saw the rice soup and boiled cabbage on the table, her little face showed disappointment. She looked up at her mother and Little Aunt and said softly, "Mother, when can we eat meat?"

No matter how well-behaved Qingqing was, she was still just a five-year-old girl. In the past, she had lived a life of luxury, but after the family's recent misfortune, she had suffered greatly with her mother and Little Aunt, falling from heaven to hell. Now that they had finally settled down, they could only drink rice soup and eat cabbage every day. Even Bai Mengwan, who was an adult, couldn't help but complain, let alone a little girl like Qingqing.

Bai Junwan was already feeling very upset about her sister's complaint. Now, hearing her daughter's simple wish to eat meat, which she couldn't fulfill, she felt a lump in her throat, and tears welled up in her eyes, almost spilling over.

However, despite her pain, Bai Junwan held back her tears and comforted her daughter. "Qingqing, be good. It's almost the New Year. When the New Year comes, Mother will definitely make you some meat, okay?"

Qingqing realized that her words had troubled her mother, so she immediately nodded and said, "Okay, Qingqing is very well-behaved. Mother, don't be sad. Qingqing doesn't want to eat meat anymore!"

Hearing her daughter's understanding words, Bai Junwan felt her eyes well up again, and tears streamed down her beautiful face. She quickly lowered her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then forced a smile and stood up to serve Qingqing. She put the few grains of rice in the soup into Qingqing's and Bai Mengwan's bowls, leaving only the clear broth for herself.

Bai Mengwan had been watching her sister and Qingqing. When she heard Qingqing say she wanted to eat meat, she felt a sharp pain in her heart, her eyes turning red, and tears almost spilling over. Then she seemed to remember something, her face showing hesitation, but soon her expression turned resolute, as if she had made a decision.

During this meal, the Bai sisters didn't speak, and even the lively Qingqing only focused on eating. After they finished, Bai Junwan tidied up and returned to the bedroom, where she picked up an embroidery piece on the table. Although she couldn't cook, she was very skilled at embroidery. Since moving into the Zhou family's residence, she had been thinking about how to support the family, and embroidery seemed to be the only way to earn some money.

To avoid disturbing her sister, Bai Mengwan sat on the bed with Qingqing and told her stories to put her to sleep. However, when her gaze fell on her sister's thin shoulders in the lamplight, she felt a pang of sadness, regretting that she hadn't learned more embroidery skills. If she had, she could have helped her sister reduce some of the burden.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chong was listening to Zuo'er's mysterious story about the ghost in the back garden. She said with a pale face, "That night, I couldn't sleep, and the moon was very bright. So I stood by the window to admire it, and I heard a series of 'thud thud' sounds coming from the back garden, as if someone was knocking on something. It was really scary!"

However, Zhou Chong didn't believe her at all. He smiled and patted Zuo'er's head, saying, "There are only a few of us living in the back yard, and I wasn't home at the time. You and Aunt Wang were living together, and there was no one else in the back yard. How could there be someone knocking on something?"

Seeing that Zhou Chong didn't believe her, Zuo'er became a bit anxious and said, "Really, I really heard the sounds from the garden. It was too dark, and you weren't there, so I didn't dare to go and check."

Seeing Zuo'er's determined look, Zhou Chong finally believed that she had heard something strange in the garden, but he still didn't believe in ghosts. He thought it was probably the sound of an animal, and Zuo'er, being timid, had mistaken it for a ghost.

Thinking about this, Zhou Chong pinched Zuo'er's cute little nose and said with a smile, "Alright, whatever is in the garden, now that I'm back, all the ghosts and monsters will be scared away. Nothing can harm my little Zuo'er!"

Hearing Zhou Chong's affectionate words, Zuo'er felt very reassured. In her heart, her brother was the family's protector, just like her father used to be. No matter what difficulties they faced, as long as her brother was there, everything could be solved.

After comforting Zuo'er, Zhou Chong returned to his courtyard, which was separated from the back garden by a wall. Although he had been away for many days, Zuo'er had been helping him clean, and the steward, Xu, had even lit the fire, making the room very warm. Zhou Chong was indeed tired from the boat trip, so after washing his feet and changing into his nightclothes, he lay down and fell asleep. However, just as he was sound asleep, he was suddenly woken up by a series of "thud thud" sounds.