The sky was still bright, so Xie Yushu decided to stroll around the ferry a bit more and see if there was anything worth buying.
The ferry was as bustling as ever. As she wandered, she spotted the mistress and servant she’d met the other day shopping nearby.
Sun Wuyou noticed Xie Yushu too and brightened at the sight. “Miss Xie, we meet again!”
Xie Yushu looked up and nodded to them. “We meet again.”
“Are you here to shop too? But there doesn’t seem to be much left—most of the vendors have packed up. It’s all Guizhi’s and my fault for sleeping in. By the time we got here, all the fresh goods had already been snapped up.” Sun Wuyou sounded genuinely remorseful, as if she didn’t realize it might be too much to share such personal details with someone she’d only met once.
Guizhi, standing beside her, shook her head vigorously.
It was clearly Miss herself who’d refused to get up, insisting on “just five more minutes” over and over—how did this become her fault? How innocent was she!
Xie Yushu caught Guizhi’s frantic denial and was amused by the pair’s antics, a smile tugging at her lips.
But she did have something to ask Sun Wuyou. She’d mentioned last time that she was here to procure medicinal herbs. Judging by her dress and bearing, she came from a well-to-do household involved in the medicinal herb trade—likely a large operation with extensive connections. She might know something.
Xie Yushu turned serious. “Miss Sun, I have something I’d like to ask you.”
“Please, go ahead!” Sun Wuyou perked up with interest.
Xie Yushu asked whether there had been any outbreak of summer illnesses like malaria somewhere recently, mentioning that several specific herbs had been in short supply over the past few days.
Sun Wuyou answered quickly: “I haven’t heard of any outbreak. But the shortage of those herbs is real—our family has also been purchasing less of them lately. That’s because the main growing regions had poor harvests this year.”
So it really was a harvest issue. Xie Yushu understood.
The people in Songwan Town didn’t know about this yet—they couldn’t compete with the Sun family’s far-reaching connections.
“Thank you,” Xie Yushu said, about to take her leave, but Sun Wuyou stopped her.
“Wait!”
“Miss Xie, I remember you said you’re from Qingluo Village. I recall the dried goods there are supposedly quite good for medicinal use—could you take us to have a look?”
The Sun family kept detailed records every year on the quality of medicinal herbs from various regions. Sun Wuyou, being frequently exposed to these records, had naturally remembered that Qingluo Village’s goods were of decent quality.
Were they really that good? Xie Yushu didn’t know for sure.
But the village had many streams, was backed by mountains to the west, and had a large flat area where each household’s farmland lay.
The villagers grew crops to sell, raised chickens, ducks, and pigs, and also sold wild mountain goods they gathered and dried goods they’d sun-dried themselves—the quality looked acceptable.
There were also plenty of wild mountain products on the back mountain. Xie Yushu thought it was feasible, and this woman seemed simple and honest—no reason to suspect she’d be tricked.
Xie Yushu agreed, though not for today—by the time they reached the village it would already be dark, and her house didn’t have any extra rooms for them to stay. So she arranged to meet them the next day at the end of Qingluo Village.
Leaving the ferry, Xie Yushu went into town to the toiletries shop and bought a dish soap bar for eighteen wen, stopped by the grain shop for a pound of sweet potato starch for seven wen, and then went to the oil shop to get two pounds of soybean oil for eighty wen—spending a total of one hundred and five wen.
Soybeans were widely cultivated in this era with high yields, and the oil-pressing technology was decent, so oil wasn’t too expensive—though still pricier than rice. Xie Yushu tearfully splurged on two pounds for the sake of good food.
Lard was great for stir-frying, but it wasn’t suitable for deep-frying. Soybean oil was better for that.
The next day, Sun Wuyou didn’t sleep in. She showed up at Xie Yushu’s door just as Xie Yushu had finished washing up and was about to make congee.
Xie Yushu opened the gate to let them in. Sun Wuyou stepped inside and thrust a greaseproof paper packet into her hands. “You’re still hungry, aren’t you? Have some buns—we bought them in town.”
Sun Wuyou chattered away as if she and Xie Yushu were old friends of ten years: “I was so sleepy I could barely open my eyes, but Guizhi bought these buns and they were so fragrant I ate three in a row—so I brought you some.”
Guizhi nodded in agreement. “Miss Xie, eat up while they’re warm. These buns are even better than the ones we make at home. I bought a bunch, but Miss and I ate most of them on the way—this is all that’s left.”
Xie Yushu recognized the scent—they were from her neighbor Su Chi’s stall. This mistress and servant were generous and thoughtful.
She invited them into the main hall to sit and wait while she ate the buns.
Sun Wuyou sat down and looked around, remarking, “Miss Xie, your home is truly… quite bare, isn’t it?”
She and Guizhi had taken an early ox-cart to Qingluo Village, and after reaching the end of the village, they’d had to ask around to find Xie Yushu’s house.
From the outside, it looked run-down enough—but inside was even more startlingly empty, with not a single decent piece of furniture. The main hall had only a table and chairs.
It seemed the intelligent and knowledgeable Miss Xie lived a rather impoverished life.
Xie Yushu didn’t care at all. After finishing her meal and a drink of water, she led the two outsiders out into the village.
Sun Wuyou was completely unpretentious, listing a long string of things she needed: kudzu root, dogwood (jujube peel), tangerine peel, mint, mugwort, and more.
Xie Yushu took them around to different households. Sun Wuyou had sharp eyes—she immediately spotted several families drying exactly the items she was looking for.
She went over and asked politely. After getting the household head’s consent, she pinched the dried goods to check the quality. Satisfied with what she saw, she had Guizhi pay and buy them.
By the end of the morning, the mistress and servant had several large hemp sacks in hand, and Xie Yushu even helped carry some.
Sun Wuyou had found almost everything on her list—only tangerine peel was still missing.
The older the tangerine peel, the better. Xie Yushu actually knew of two households in the village that had several-year-old tangerine peel. How did she know? She’d overheard one household proudly boasting while wandering around the village that their years-old tangerine peel would surely fetch a good price this year.
And that household happened to be right near her place.
In the end, the three returned home fully laden.
It was already noon, and all three were starving. Sun Wuyou rubbed her stomach and looked at little Guizhi. “Guizhi, what should we eat?”
Guizhi replied weakly, “Miss, let’s go back to town to eat.”
Xie Yushu, already thinking about what dishes to make, said to them, “If you don’t mind, I’ll cook.”
Sun Wuyou’s eyes widened in surprise. “Miss Xie, you can cook too?”
Both Sun Wuyou and Guizhi stared at her in astonishment, as if bursting with questions.
Xie Yushu didn’t have time for idle chatter—she was ravenous too. “A little. Want to eat?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
The two answered in unison, agreeing readily enough.
The journey to town wasn’t far, but they had no energy left for the cart ride. They hadn’t expected Xie Yushu’s cooking to be anything special—they just wanted to fill their stomachs with whatever was available.
So Xie Yushu told them to rest while she busied herself in the kitchen.
She’d soaked the rice that morning, so she just needed to rinse it twice before putting it in the steamer.
Then she took out the pork from the cool earthenware jar, gave it a sniff—still good.
For this meal, she planned to make eggplant and long bean stew, and green pepper stir-fried with pork.
Xie Yushu sliced the pork hind leg into thin strips along the grain, added starch and soy sauce, and mixed it well to marinate. The starch would keep the pork tender and not tough, while the soy sauce added color and flavor. She set it aside.
She washed the green peppers, removed the seeds, and sliced them diagonally into thin strips, placing them next to the pork.
Then she washed the long beans and broke them into sections. She removed the stems from the dark purple eggplants and cut them into finger-thick diagonal chunks, rolling them gently as she worked. She lightly coated them with starch until each piece was evenly dusted with a thin, powdery layer.
The starch was the sweet potato starch she’d bought yesterday—it had come in lump form, and she’d spent some time the night before grinding it into fine powder.
After heating the pot, she poured in an appropriate amount of soybean oil. When a bamboo chopstick inserted into the oil produced fine, dense bubbles, it was ready. She first added the starch-coated long beans. The moment they hit the oil, they crackled like firecrackers. She fried them until the skin puffed and wrinkled, then scooped them out and placed them in a bamboo basket to drain the oil.
She could have skipped the frying, but Xie Yushu was picky—she loved fried eggplant and beans. They were more aromatic, more flavorful, and had a better texture. The difference from unfried ones was significant.
She fried the eggplant strips the same way, until the edges turned golden brown, then removed and drained them.
While frying, Xie Yushu didn’t waste a second. She quickly pounded garlic into a paste using a stone mortar.
She took a small bowl and mixed a sauce: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, a small spoonful of vinegar, salt, sugar, a spoonful of starch, and water, stirring until it formed a thick, glossy sauce.
She poured out the leftover frying oil into a bowl, then used the remaining oil in the pot to sauté a generous amount of garlic paste until fragrant. She added the fried long beans and eggplant strips, tossing them continuously, then poured in the prepared sauce. The combined aroma of the sauce and ingredients burst forth, filling the kitchen with a rich, smoky fragrance that made Xie Yushu’s stomach growl even louder.
She was already hungry—now she was ravenous. She quickened her pace.
Xie Yushu tossed everything until every bean and every piece of eggplant was coated in the thick, glossy sauce. She turned up the heat to reduce the liquid, then sprinkled in the remaining garlic paste and took it off the heat.
From the moment the garlic hit the hot oil, an intense, fragrant aroma filled the house. Sun Wuyou and Guizhi craned their necks, inhaling deeply.
They’d been sorting and counting the dried goods they’d just collected when the irresistible smell made them stop in their tracks.
“So fragrant, so fragrant—Guizhi, do you smell that?”
“Yes, Miss. My nose works fine.”
Sun Wuyou exclaimed in amazement, “I didn’t expect Miss Xie could actually cook! I thought she was just throwing something together to fill our stomachs. This is incredible!”
The two food-crazed gluttons immediately dropped their sorting and rushed to the kitchen. By the time they arrived, Xie Yushu had already started on the second dish.
Seeing them come running without a care for appearances, Xie Yushu knew they were starving. She didn’t stand on ceremony. “The rice is done—go ahead and serve yourselves.”
Xie Yushu couldn’t stand seeing idle hands. Since coming here, she’d become more diligent herself, and she wouldn’t tolerate anyone lazing around in front of her.
Guizhi acknowledged and went to fetch the rice. Xie Yushu had soaked enough for three people that morning. Guizhi filled three bowls and carried them out.
Sun Wuyou, meanwhile, was pacing around the freshly cooked eggplant and long bean stew, her eyes fixed on the richly glazed, aromatic home-style dish.
She couldn’t understand it. Her family ate well every day, but not a single dish had ever smelled this rich and savory. It was so tantalizing that she could barely stop herself from forgetting her genteel upbringing and grabbing it with her bare hands.
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