Chapter 172
Before the Jiang family's estate was confiscated, Jiang Mingzhe thought he would never have a child in his lifetime.
Once, Jiang Mingzhe hated the heavens for their unfairness, wondering why he was made to live in a family where his parents didn't love him and his brothers were constantly at odds.
He hated God for letting him be filled with hope for a child time and time again, only to watch in despair as they passed away before even being born.
Ye Yunniang would never know just how grateful Jiang Mingzhe was when he found out she was willing to keep the child.
Ye Yunniang would be even less likely to know that when Jiang Mingzhe learned the child was healthy, he was moved to tears.
"Sometimes I wonder if the surname Jiang is a curse to me. That's why those children all left me."
Jiang Mingzhe didn't have much affection for the mothers of those children, but he had genuinely looked forward to every single child.
"So, don't let Pingping change his surname. Let him grow up well under the blessing of the Li family." Jiang Mingzhe was truly afraid that if his son changed his surname, something bad would happen to him.
He couldn't bear the blow of losing another child.
"You don't mind? Aren't you afraid of what people will say?"
"If I minded such things, I would have died a long time ago." Jiang Mingzhe had been gossiped about since birth. He had long since learned to let it go and not care.
"Alright, Pingping won't change his surname," Ye Yunniang promised Jiang Mingzhe.
In private, Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei what Jiang Mingzhe had said.
"If he treats you with a sincere heart, you must treat him sincerely too. Remember not to be suspicious of each other. When a couple lives together, they need to discuss things and compromise." Cai Damei passed on her years of experience to Ye Yunniang, afraid she wouldn't have a good life after marriage.
"Mhm, I will." Ye Yunniang earnestly took it to heart. Then she brought up how she wanted to learn how to argue from Cai Xiaomei.
"Your aunt actually learned from me. When arguing, you only need to remember one thing." Cai Damei said, holding up a single finger.
"The goal of an argument isn't to win, but to infuriate the other person to death.
No matter what the other person says, don't think about defending yourself. Instead, calmly grasp their loopholes and weaknesses, and beat them while they're down."
Ye Yunniang nodded, committing it to memory.
This year's New Year's Eve was very different for the Li family.
It was a peaceful New Year following the end of two years of droughts and floods, so the Li family no longer needed to scrimp and save when preparing the holiday dishes.
Most importantly, this New Year, the children's father was present.
Ye Yunniang had decided on the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner a few days in advance, and she woke up early to start getting busy.
Pan-frying, stir-frying, boiling, and deep-frying, she prepared a large table full of delicacies.
The whole family sat around the table, raising their glasses to celebrate the New Year's reunion.
"Where is Daddy?" Cai Shuyi's sudden question made the atmosphere at the table freeze.
"Your father is busy." Cai Damei picked up a piece of crispy fried pork, which Cai Shuyi loved to eat, with her chopsticks.
"Mother, I miss Daddy," Cai Shuyi said, then picked up the crispy fried pork and started eating.
She nodded and said to Ye Yunniang, "Sister-in-law, the crispy fried pork is so delicious."
"If it's good, eat some more." Ye Yunniang put two more pieces into Cai Shuyi's bowl, then served a bowl of mutton soup for Cai Damei.
"Mother, taste the mutton soup I made and tell me how it is?"
Cai Damei took it and took a sip. It was quite good.
Catching Ye Yunniang's eye, Li Pan spoke up, "Grandma, the teacher said my grades are good, and next year I can go study in Class B. In three years, I can take the imperial exams."
"That's wonderful! The ancestors are blessing us. After the New Year, we must go burn joss paper for your father and grandfather."
"Okay," Li Pan replied. "We'll go on the third day of the New Year."
"Alright, we'll go on the third day. Bring more of that strong Shaodaozi liquor. Your grandfather loved to drink it."
"Okay, I'll go buy some the day after tomorrow," Li Pan agreed.
"Eat up, don't let your chopsticks rest," Ye Yunniang urged everyone to eat.
After the reunion dinner, the children went to set off fireworks and firecrackers. Jiang Mingzhe went along to keep an eye on them.
Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei sat together chatting.
"Mother,"
"Between Bao Min and me, it's over, and that's that." Cai Damei knew what Ye Yunniang was going to say.
"Shushu is still young; she needs her father's company."
"I haven't stopped Bao Min." It was Bao Min himself who didn't want to come see Shushu.
If Bao Min wanted to see Shushu, it would be useless even if Cai Damei tried to stop him.
Ye Yunniang understood and said no more.
"Mother, I'm going to knead some dough to make dumplings." Ye Yunniang went to the kitchen to prepare the dough.
Jiang Mingzhe walked into the kitchen. "I'll mince the meat and mix the filling."
"Do you know how?"
"You underestimate me." Jiang Mingzhe rolled up his sleeves, washed the meat, and swiftly minced the filling.
"Who did you learn from? Chef Jin?"
"It was Chef Jin, not Jin Dachuan."
Jiang Mingzhe told Ye Yunniang about how he learned to cook.
In his childhood, Jiang Mingzhe was frequently punished because of Jiang Mingde's framing.
Starvation was the most common punishment.
Unable to bear the hunger, Jiang Mingzhe would sneak out of his courtyard and go to the main kitchen to find food.
After going many times, he was discovered by the kitchen staff.
The head chef of the kitchen at that time was Jin Dachuan's father.
Knowing that Jiang Mingzhe had a hard life, he didn't let anyone report it to Old Madam Jiang. Secretly, he taught Jiang Mingzhe how to cook.
Once Jiang Mingzhe learned how to cook, he stopped going to the main kitchen for food. He used his New Year's money to buy a set of cooking utensils outside, as well as food and drink ingredients.
Whenever he was punished again, Jiang Mingzhe would secretly cook in his courtyard.
Gradually, he developed excellent culinary skills.
"When my New Year's money ran out, I had to find ways to make money so I wouldn't go hungry. Later on, I fell in love with the thrill of making money." As Jiang Mingzhe spoke, his hands efficiently minced the filling.
Once the meat filling was minced, he cracked in an egg and added minced ginger.
Since Li Ping didn't eat scallions, Jiang Mingzhe made scallion water and mixed it into the filling instead.
"Smell it, how is it?"
Ye Yunniang leaned down to smell it. It was full of a savory aroma, very good.
The dough was ready, left to rest for a while, and then rolled out into wrappers to make dumplings.
After the children finished setting off fireworks, they ran into the kitchen wanting to help make the dumplings.
Ye Yunniang didn't refuse; she rolled up their sleeves and taught them how to fold them.
With the children joining in, the dumpling making went a bit slowly.
By the time they finished, it was midnight.
Jiang Mingzhe took Li Pan out to set off firecrackers.
Li An, Li Ping, and Cai Shuyi gathered around the pot, waiting for the dumplings to cook.
After eating the delicious dumplings, Ye Yunniang had the children wash up.
Cai Shuyi was carried back to her room by Cai Damei to rest.
Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe washed up last, tidied up, and returned to their room.
In the early hours of the morning, Ye Yunniang was awakened by the sound of firecrackers outside.
Opening her eyes, she saw Jiang Mingzhe's chest.
"Sleep a little longer." Jiang Mingzhe pressed Ye Yunniang into his embrace.
Ye Yunniang murmured sleepily and went back to sleep.
When she woke up again, she heard the sounds of people coming to offer New Year greetings outside.
Jiang Mingzhe was already gone. There was a note left beside her.
"I'm going to the New Year's meeting in place of the brat."
Ye Yunniang smiled.
She got up, got dressed, and opened the door, seeing that no one was coming by at the moment.
She hurried to the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, plain congee was kept warm on the stove, and a plate of stir-fried dried radishes sat on the table nearby.
She thought of last night when Jiang Mingzhe had asked her what she wanted for breakfast.
"We've eaten nothing but meat today. I just want to have some plain congee and dried radishes."
Pairing it with the dried radishes, Ye Yunniang ate two bowls of plain congee.
Cai Damei walked into the kitchen.
"Mother, would you like some congee?"
"I've already eaten. I'm taking Shushu to your aunt's house to give New Year greetings."
"Alright," Ye Yunniang replied.
After Cai Damei left, Ye Yunniang felt that something wasn't quite right.