Chapter 16: Chicken Soup with Pork Stomach Pot

Chapter 16: Chicken Soup with Pork Tripe

The next day, as usual, Shutong and Nanny Dong had already headed out to set up their stall before five o'clock, leaving breakfast in the pot.

At six o'clock, Su Yanli and his two sons washed up and ate breakfast. By the time they finished, it was around six-thirty. He went to work, Su Dalang went to the study to read and practice calligraphy, and while Su Ruojin tidied up the kitchen, she prepared an extra meal for her mother.

In addition to eating the breakfast sold by the family—youtiao with soy milk, xiaolongbao, and shaomai—Cheng Yingzhen was provided with a rotating menu of seven different dishes that never repeated, such as red date and longan porridge, Codonopsis and Angelica pork kidney soup, and mixed chicken porridge. The main goal was to replenish her blood and qi to restore her vitality.

Today it was her turn to have wontons. Su Ruojin had originally wanted to make shrimp wontons, but unfortunately, since Bianjing was in the north, it wasn't easy for ordinary people to find large shrimp, so she had to give up on the idea.

The freshly wrapped wontons were neatly arranged on a plate, waiting to be boiled once Cheng Yingzhen woke up and finished feeding her youngest brother. Su Sanlang was young, only three years old, so Su Ruojin would also prepare a portion for him whenever she made postpartum meals for her mother.

Hearing a sound from the master bedroom, Su Ruojin hurried inside. "Mother, you're awake!"

"Mhm." Cheng Yingzhen was feeding her youngest son. She looked up at her daughter. "Is Sanlang awake?"

"Not yet," Su Ruojin asked. "Is Little Brother finished eating?"

Cheng Yingzhen nodded. "Almost."

Su Ruojin stood by the bedside. Seeing Su Silang's chubby little face, she found him incredibly adorable and couldn't resist reaching out to touch him gently. "Mother, his face is so puffy. Looking at him from the side, he really looks like a little butt. No wonder people call them 'little butts'... so that's where the term comes from!"

He was simply too cute!

Cheng Yingzhen wore a tender, motherly smile. "Silang is luckier than Sanlang; he eats well and grows plump. His little face doesn't look like a little butt at all."

The mother and daughter teased Silang for a while until the "little butt" closed his eyes and fell back into a deep sleep.

"Mother, I'll get your washing water."

"No, I can do it myself." Cheng Yingzhen tried to avoid letting her six-year-old daughter do anything she could do herself.

"It's fine."

Su Ruojin dashed out and returned a moment later carrying a small copper kettle. By then, Cheng Yingzhen had already put on her clothes and gotten out of bed. She quickly took the kettle, walked to the washstand, and washed herself.

"Go and bring Sanlang over. I'll wash him, and then we can have breakfast together."

"Okay!"

Cheng Yingzhen ate breakfast with Su Sanlang in the bedroom. After eating and tidying up slightly, she went back to lie on the bed, tending to the baby while half-closing her eyes to rest.

Su Ruojin took Su Sanlang to the study for Su Dalang to watch over. She went to the kitchen to do some housework and discovered they were out of soy sauce. Putting on her hat and gloves, she grabbed a small jar and left the house. Braving the north wind, she left Guihua Lane, crossed two small alleys, and reached a grocery store that sold soy sauce.

Just as she was leaving the alley, she was nearly bumped into. She quickly stepped aside to avoid a collision. A middle-aged woman was pulling an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, rushing into the alley. As they ran, the woman didn't forget to plead with Su Ruojin: "If anyone chases after us, please, little lady, just say you didn't see us!"

Before Su Ruojin could respond, they had disappeared deep into the alley.

The weather was too cold. Su Ruojin pulled her scarf tighter under her hat and continued toward the grocery store. After walking for four or five minutes, a group of three to five people came running toward her—men and women alike, charging recklessly like bandits. "Don't let them escape! Quick... don't let them get away..."

Su Ruojin was quick and stepped aside again. In broad daylight, were the soldiers of the Bingma Bureau really going to do nothing?

"Big brother, there are three different alleyways here! Which one do we go down to chase them?" The group stood at the intersection of the crisscrossing alleys, looking distressed.

In the West Bridge Lane area, if one didn't live here long, it was like a maze. Without a guide, a newcomer would feel as if they were being led in circles by a ghost, unable to find the exit.

Even if the five of them split into three groups, they would likely still get lost. Six-year-old Su Ruojin didn't meddle in other people's business; in fact, she was quite wary of the strangers and hurried along to buy her soy sauce.

It was a cold winter day, and before the warmest sunlight of the afternoon arrived, the grocery store, which was usually quiet, was surrounded by people. Groups of three and five were gathered, chattering incessantly.

Su Ruojin placed the small jar on the counter. "Boss, ten wen of soy sauce, please."

The shopkeeper's eyes were fixed on the distant alleyway, looking deeply preoccupied, as if she hadn't heard someone asking for soy sauce. Su Ruojin had to remind her again. "Boss..." The woman clearly had no intention of doing business.

Su Ruojin had no choice but to wait patiently for her to react while pricking up her ears to listen to the gossip. Before long, she had pieced most of it together.

It turned out the fleeing mother and daughter were from the north. Their husband had died, and instead of helping, their clansmen had not only seized their property but also intended to sell the mother and daughter to divide the silver. The pair had fled to the capital to find a distant cousin who ran a grocery store. The cousin, pitying her relatives, had taken them in. However, the cousin's mother-in-law could not tolerate the mother and daughter, so she secretly sent word back to the daughter's husband's family. Now, the clansmen had come to capture them.

If they couldn't tolerate them, they should have just let them leave. Why push them into a fire pit? What kind of hearts did these people have?

Su Ruojin shook her head and picked up the small jar to head back.

As she entered Guihua Lane, the clansmen were standing before the patrolling soldiers of the Bingma Bureau, bowing and scraping with extreme flattery, babbling away. Even without listening, it was obvious what they were saying.

Su Ruojin let out a deep sigh and walked into the alley with her head down to go home.

Su Yanli was a scholar and had many books at home. Since Uncle Shutong was often tricked by Su Ruojin into bringing back news of the latest gossip, she knew that in the Great Yin Dynasty—which resembled the Song Dynasty—it was a tacitly accepted practice for clansmen to "eat the widow" (seize the property of a deceased male relative). They believed the property belonged to the clan, and that widows and their daughters had no right to enjoy it.

Under normal circumstances, clansmen could claim property on the surface, but they had no right to sell a widow. A widow could remarry. However, in the ancient era with extremely low productivity, once clansmen caught hold of a family with no male heirs, they would never let a widow go easily; they would find every way possible to sell her and split the silver.

It was utterly hideous.

Su Ruojin returned home in a low mood. She first listened at her mother's bedroom door; it was quiet inside, so the mother and son were likely asleep. She then went to the study, where Su Dalang was leading Su Sanlang in playing Nine Linked Rings. Seeing her return, the two hurried to greet her.

"I'm going to prepare lunch. Are you two coming?" The weather was cold; one trip out for supplies would last them three or four days.

There was fire in the stove and the kitchen was warm, so the two Su brothers quickly followed Su Ruojin.

Su Ruojin had already decided what to eat for lunch: sautéed mung bean sprouts, pan-fried tofu, braised pork with cabbage, and chicken soup with pork tripe. Three dishes and one soup—meat and vegetables, rich in nutrition.

She started with the most time-consuming dish: chicken soup with pork tripe, which was one of the famous Hakka dishes from Guangdong.

The ingredients included chicken, pork tripe, and goji berries. It would have been even better with ginseng, but unfortunately, given the Su family's current situation, they couldn't afford it. Su Ruojin could only add more red dates. Salt, sugar, scallions, ginger, garlic, and cooking wine were essential.

Once all the ingredients were prepared, she took out the pork tripe and chicken that Nanny Dong had cleaned the previous night. First, she put the pork tripe in a pot and brought it to a boil over high heat. After scooping out the blanched tripe, she stuffed the chicken pieces into the tripe, adding scallions, ginger, and garlic. She then used toothpicks to seal the opening and placed it in the pot to simmer over low heat, adding salt, sugar, cooking wine, red dates, and goji berries to the stew.

(End of Chapter)