It’s a Stepmother, Not a Sister [70s] - Chapter 8

Jiang Shuangling hurriedly boarded the village cart early in the morning, swaying as it made its way to the county town. There were three other people from the village on the cart, including a gossipy old woman who kept on chattering incessantly, “You, girl, I’ve watched you grow up since you were little. I had originally wanted to introduce my nephew to you, but who would have thought…”

“I thought you would be the college student from our village!”

…

“That Captain Qi looks really good. Shuangling, you have to be careful. Do you think he might have some hidden illness? Otherwise, why would he not marry the nice nurse teacher and instead pick a girl from the countryside like you…”

…

Jiang Shuangling had a faint smile on her lips, no matter what these old ladies said, she just smiled like that, occasionally responding briefly.

Those old ladies felt they were boring, “You, girl, the older you get, the fewer words you say.”

“Girls who like to read are quiet. Look at my Fangfang at home, she’s almost gone wild, can’t even write a few words. But, girls, studying isn’t very useful anyway. What’s important is to marry into a good family.”

“Yes, yes, marry into a good family.”

“If girls like those from the Jiang family marry young captains, then what’s the point of going to university? Just help take care of children properly.”

“Miss Jiang, when you become the captain’s wife in the future, also introduce some officers to the village girls, like company commanders or battalion commanders. My daughter Qianqian is almost eighteen this year, and she needs a match.”

“But she can’t marry someone who’s been married before. My daughter can’t become a stepmother; it’s better to marry a country boy.”

Jiang Shuangling looked at the old lady who said those words, smiling slightly, “I’d also like to help introduce, but officers have high requirements. They want someone literate, preferably with a university degree. Someone like me, who only graduated from high school, can only become a stepmother.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if your Qianqian married a country boy? I also want to marry a country boy, someone close to home. What’s good about marrying an officer? He’s just a captain, not a company or battalion commander. I’d have to follow him around with the army, and there wouldn’t be anyone from my family to help take care of the children.”

The old lady: “…”

When they arrived in the county town, Jiang Shuangling jumped off the cart, paid two cents, and without looking back, walked towards the county town.

Walking on these streets filled with a nostalgic atmosphere, Jiang Shuangling was filled with mixed emotions. Although the surroundings were dusty and worn, with an ancient and quaint appearance, there was a unique charm to it, one that she, as an art student, could capture—the beauty unique to this era.

“If I were to sketch here, I would definitely choose under this bridge.”

Jiang Shuangling crossed the bridge over the river, chuckling at the huge propaganda posters at the bridgehead, marking the imprint of the times.

She touched the braided bun on her chest and thought to herself, “I have also blended into this era.”

Relying on memory, Jiang Shuangling found the supply and marketing cooperative and the grocery store, embarking on her shopping spree. The main purpose was to buy meat. Jiang Shuangling handed over ten pounds of meat coupons and money to the shop assistant, and bought ten pounds of pork in one go.

Such behavior could be considered extravagant, drawing several glances from people around her.

“We’re having a banquet at home.”

After buying the meat, Jiang Shuangling went on to purchase ten pounds of flour, as well as soy sauce, vinegar, white wine, dried tangerine peel, star anise, and other seasonings and spices.

She then bought soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Jiang Shuangling was quite particular about these items. Jiang Che’s toothbrush couldn’t clean teeth at all. It was thanks to these kids not eating sweets regularly; otherwise, they would all have rotten teeth.

She didn’t buy anything else significant, after all, she and Jiang Che would be leaving soon. Buying other things that couldn’t be taken away would just be wasteful.

Although she had a portable storage with her, Jiang Shuangling rarely used it to store things. After all, it was too unreliable. If she accidentally forgot something inside, it would be cleared out the next day.

Better to use it sparingly.

Jiang Shuangling carried dozens of pounds of stuff back home, attracting the attention of many villagers along the way. She hid the meat securely underneath, only letting the flour and spices press on top.

Buying so much did indeed attract attention.

On the way back in the cart, someone lifted her things, directly causing them to sneeze several times from the scent of the spices.

“Shuangling, what are you buying all this for? It’s too strong.”

Jiang Shuangling casually improvised, “Consider it medicinal herbs. Didn’t I fall into the well before? I went into the city to see a doctor to recuperate. They said to use these warming medicinal herbs to boil water and drink to dispel the cold.”

Her words weren’t entirely wrong; many spices were originally medicinal herbs, and they could indeed dispel the cold.

Although it was just a fabrication, it sounded as true as the truth.

The person was somewhat doubtful, “Why do I still smell alcohol then?”

“Auntie, I heard that in the northern regions, they drink alcohol to ward off the cold in winter.”

“…You, a young girl, also drink?”

“Auntie, you weren’t there that day, so you don’t know what my second aunt said.”

As soon as she said this, the old lady immediately realized. In the village, any slight event would become known to everyone. How could she not know?

Thinking that Jiang Shuangling had bought so many things today, she automatically filled in all the answers.

When Li Erhua mentioned in front of Captain Qi that her niece had injured herself falling into cold water, making it difficult for her to conceive, although the marriage eventually happened, it was still affected. So, Jiang Shuangling must have bought so many things to replenish her body.

The person clicked their tongue twice, thinking how unfair Li Erhua was. Leaving aside whether she should have said such things in front of so many people, who caused Jiang Shuangling to fall into the well in the first place? It was her own daughter who bumped her cousin into it. As her mother, she felt no guilt towards her niece, and on top of that…

As Jiang Shuangling returned home with the large bags, her little brother Jiang Che, who had been waiting eagerly at the gate like an anxious puppy, immediately followed behind her like a clingy little pet.

He circled around his sister, his curious eyes fixed on the things she was carrying. “Sis, what’s that?”

Jiang Shuangling stopped in her tracks, set down the things in her hands, and playfully pinched Jiang Che’s cheek with a voice mimicking his childish tone, “Yummy stuff.”

Jiang Che’s eyes lit up as he stretched his little neck to sniff, then quickly covered his nose and stepped back.

The jumble of things piled together emitted a strong smell.

His little face turned pale. Could that really be yummy?

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Jiang Shuangling chuckled, then sniffed herself and realized that earlier, to prevent the smell of the meat from spreading, she had deliberately poured some white wine on the outside. The combination of these scents was indeed overpowering.

It felt like she needed a mask.

“Little brother, go pick some kindling for sis. I’ll make something delicious for you tonight.”

Jiang Che brought some dry firewood over and happened to see his sister performing what seemed like magic in the kitchen, scooping out a large chunk of tender, red pork.

“Sis?”

So much meat, was he dreaming?

“Be good and don’t fuss. We’ll have meat tonight.”

Jiang Shuangling bought ten pounds of meat in one go, and for just the two of them, it was definitely too much. She purposely chose to buy it today because she felt the chill in the air these past few days, hinting at a late spring chill. Taking advantage of this temperature, she planned to smoke some cured meat.

She intended to smoke seven pounds of cured meat and make two pounds of honey-glazed pork jerky, leaving a pound of fresh lean meat for the two of them to eat at night.

After washing and preparing the meat, she retrieved salt, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, fennel seeds, and cinnamon from the cupboard and fried them in the pot to release the aroma of the spices. Then, she mixed white wine and soy sauce to marinate the meat.

A basin of meat, red and white intertwined, was coated with a layer of reddish-brown sauce. The finely ground spices blended into the red meat, while Jiang Shuangling poured more spices on top, filling the air with a strong aroma of five-spice.

She sneezed a few times in a row.

After marinating the cured meat, Jiang Shuangling placed it in a clay jar and submerged the jar in the cold well water, which was roughly equivalent to putting it in the refrigerator.

With the remaining three pounds of meat, she roughly chopped it into minced meat. She took out a portion to make minced meat and vegetable soup and minced meat steamed eggs, which would be their dinner for the evening.

She didn’t cook dishes like braised pork, considering that both she and Jiang Che had previously lacked meat and fat in their diet. They couldn’t suddenly consume too much greasy food; it needed to be a gradual improvement in their diet.

The tender yellow steamed eggs buried with red minced meat, sprinkled with some fresh green onions, were smooth and delicious.

“Sis! It’s so delicious!”

Jiang Che finished a large bowl of white rice in small mouthfuls. Jiang Shuangling estimated that he might have eaten too much, considering his usual appetite.

“After eating, come and help sis.”

Jiang Shuangling chopped the remaining minced meat finer and then flattened it with a rolling pin. She spread a layer of parchment paper on a ceramic tile, then pressed the minced meat onto the parchment paper. Squatting down, she placed it next to the earthen stove for smoking.

The flames from the burning firewood leapt upwards, casting a red glow on the reddish-brown minced meat slices, gradually emitting a strong aroma of grilled meat.

“The wisdom of the working masses is endless,” Jiang Shuangling exclaimed inwardly, greatly admiring herself for coming up with this method.

Although they couldn’t afford to buy pork every day, making pork jerky and properly storing it could at least last for several days or even a couple of weeks.

Eating a small piece every day still counted as having meat.

Jiang Shuangling took out wild honey from her portable storage and mixed it into honey water. Every now and then, she brushed a layer of honey water onto the pork slices.

With each application of honey water, the color of the pork jerky became even more vibrant.

Then she sprinkled some white sesame seeds on top.

The aroma was enough to make the neighboring kids cry out in envy.

Though there were no neighboring kids here, she had her little brother by her side, and Jiang Che’s little head was practically diving into the stove.

Even though two or three pounds of pork jerky wasn’t much, it was still quite troublesome. It took them most of the night, but the two siblings finally finished grilling all the pork jerky.

Having stayed by the stove for most of the night, both of them ended up with faces blackened by charcoal smoke. Jiang Shuangling’s hair was also disheveled, resembling a bird’s nest.

The honey-glazed pork jerky was successfully made, and both of them ended up smelling like sweet honey. Jiang Shuangling sniffed her sleeve and thought that she couldn’t wear this outfit outside.

The irresistible aroma of meat filled the air.

“Sis, you’re so black…”

“You’re even blacker! Don’t come over here. Your little dirty hands need to be washed before touching sis’s clothes.”

“Wait, don’t wash yet. You’ll still get dirty from touching the firewood.”

“Sis, your nose is black too.”