Chapter 14: For Educated Youth Xie and Educated Youth Lin

“You stoke the fire, and I’ll cook the fish,” Su Wanwan said as she headed toward the kitchen. “The fish I make is delicious—I guarantee you’ve never tasted anything like it.”

To avoid raising suspicion, it was better to let Second Brother handle the fire since she was inexperienced. She warned him not to let the flames get too high.

With a smaller flame, things were less likely to go wrong. She needed to ease herself into this new environment gradually.

For dinner, Su Wanwan prepared sauerkraut fish over the large stove. The sauerkraut was homemade by Su’s mother—authentic aged sauerkraut, not like the pit-fermented kind common in modern times.

She cooked a large pot, dividing it into two portions, each topped with chopped scallions, minced garlic, dried chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns, then finished by drizzling hot oil over the top to release the aromas.

One portion was placed in a basket, along with a serving of cold cucumber salad, then covered with a cotton cloth.

Handing the basket to Second Brother, she said, “Second Brother, this is for Xie Zhiqing and Lin Zhiqing.”

Su Heng lifted the cloth and glanced inside, swallowing hard. “Sis, you really think ahead. You know, if we eat their food, they won’t spill about us catching fish. Why didn’t you make this dish before? It smells amazing.”

Su Wanwan replied, “You never caught big fish before. This dish only tastes good with large fish. Hurry up, eat when you get back.”

“All right.” Su Heng took the basket and left.

Su Wanwan glanced at the little black dog lying on the ground. “Quick, follow Second Brother. Make sure Xie Beishen and Xie Zhiqing recognize you. Next time, take me along. I’ll give you that spirit spring water we had last time.”

“Woof,” the dog wagged its tail and darted out.

While serving her family, Su Wanwan also gave the little black dog some to drink. Ever since the dog had drunk the spirit spring water, it seemed to understand her words perfectly. It was incredibly clever.

Since she drank the spring water, not only had her health improved, but her memory sharpened as well. Looking at Second Brother’s textbooks, she found she could remember everything after just one glance.

Suddenly, she heard the rhythmic meowing of a cat—three meows, a brief pause, then three more. She finally remembered: this was the secret signal between Ma Zhiming and the original owner.

In recent days, she hadn’t been the one cooking, so she’d only occasionally heard a few cat calls without connecting them to anything.

Now, as dusk approached, she feared that the man lurking below still had designs on her.

The book had him kill her family, but letting him die easily was too generous. His rightful end was on the farm.

After all, the original owner’s family had perished there.

She pulled out from her space a powder called Seven-Day Pain Powder. A friend in the modern world had once given it to her to use on her unfaithful boyfriend, along with Seven-Day Itch Powder and Seven-Day Laxative—each bottled separately.

This powder was colorless and tasteless, and symptoms appeared on the third day after contact with the skin.

Pain would spread from a localized area to the entire nervous system, lasting until the seventh day, and in this era, medical technology was insufficient to diagnose the problem.

Since symptoms only appeared on the third day, no one would suspect poisoning.

Which powder should she use first? The itch first, then the pain, or the other way around?

She retrieved a basin from the space, added the pain powder and water, then stirred it with a firewood stick from the kitchen.

After stirring, she threw the stick onto the stove to burn.

A sly smile tugged at her lips. “This time, you’ll get the pain powder. Next time, I’ll try the itch powder on you.”

Listening for the cat’s meowing, she lifted the basin to the kitchen window and splashed the water toward where Ma Zhiming crouched. She heard a faint shout outside, then returned the basin to her space.

“You won’t die from this, but if you dare lay a hand on me, be prepared for retaliation.”

Ma Zhiming was sneaking around a corner when a basin of water splashed over him, causing his body to shudder. Luckily, it wasn’t hot water, or he would have been discovered.

He hadn’t seen the woman for a whole week and was gnashing his teeth in frustration. Once he lured her in, he’d make sure she knew his power.

Reluctantly, he retreated.

Meanwhile, Su Heng took a similar path to Xie Beishen’s house.

Lin Yu was preparing to cook when he saw Su Heng approaching with a basket.

“What are you doing here?” Lin Yu asked.

Worried about being seen, Su Heng quickly entered the room and placed the basket on the table. “Xie Beishen, I know you don’t cook fish, so I brought some. Just heat it up yourself. I’ll come back tomorrow to get the basket.”

Before Xie Beishen could respond, Su Heng had already left.

The little black dog followed Su Heng, sniffed around Xie Beishen’s side, then returned home with Su Heng.

Lin Yu watched the black dog trailing Su Heng and glanced at the basket on the table. He couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Grinning, he took the dishes out of the basket and set them on the table. “This smells incredible. Luckily, the rice is already cooked. I’ll go get some.”

Xie Beishen sat up, inhaling the rich aroma of sour and spicy fish. The golden broth was topped with bright red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, while the fish meat was snowy white—just the sight of it whetted his appetite.

Lin Yu quickly brought two bowls of steamed rice, placing one in front of Xie Beishen. Without further ado, he picked up a piece of fish and ate it, nodding repeatedly and mumbling, “Delicious.”

Xie Beishen also took a bite. The tender fish melted instantly in his mouth, bursting with sour, spicy, and fragrant flavors. The sauerkraut was especially appetizing.

Even the cold cucumber salad was remarkably good.

Lin Yu ate while saying, “The Lin family lady’s cooking is truly exceptional—better than the state-run restaurant.”

Xie Beishen nodded in agreement. It was the first time he’d tasted fish prepared this way.

They finished by ladling the broth over their rice—pure bliss.

At the Su household, Su’s mother sighed in amazement. “Daughter, how did you make such delicious fish? We never knew you could cook so well.”

Su’s father couldn’t stop eating either. He’d never tasted anything this good.

As for Su Heng, he was practically about to lose his tongue from delight.

Su Wanwan’s mother in the modern world ran a restaurant chain; she grew up immersed in culinary arts. How could her cooking not be excellent?

Yet the flavor today was still slightly off—probably because she was still unaccustomed to the large stove.

She teased, “Mom, you always put in too little oil and no seasoning. How can it taste good?”

Her mother suddenly remembered something and hurried to the kitchen, opening the oil bottle to find it nearly empty, which pained her heart.

She put down the bottle and returned to the dining table, glancing reproachfully at her daughter. “The oil is all gone, and you wanted it to last a whole week.”

Su Wanwan was at a loss for words. There had hardly been much oil left in the bottle to begin with, and she still felt it was insufficient.

This was the hardship of poverty. If only she had prepared supplies the night before she came here.

It was hard to go from luxury to frugality. At least until she earned money, she’d have to adapt. She would also have to ration toiletries and other items stored in her space.

Before going to bed, Su Wanwan went to the kitchen and took out half a fish from the batch she had just marinated, storing the rest back in her space. She surveyed the kitchen contents.

There was a bag of sweet potatoes, half a small bag of cornmeal, half a bag of sorghum, about two or three pounds of wheat, and roughly the same amount of rice.

She placed half the cornmeal, the wheat, and the rice into her space, then poured a little oil from a bottle in the cupboard into the oil container and put the bottle away.

From the chicken coop, she left one chicken behind and put the other three into her space.

They were truly poor. Aside from these items, there was nothing else. Tomorrow when Nai and her family arrived, they would undoubtedly clear everything out.

She decided to let them carry the sweet potatoes and sorghum themselves; otherwise, their plan for the next day would be difficult to execute.

Having taken care of everything, she finally went to sleep.