Chapter 573: Craving for Braised Pork
Qiao Xiaomai didn’t drink the chicken soup she’d made herself. Tong Sanlang cooked up four eggs to make egg custard, then ladled out some of the chicken soup from the ceramic pot to present to Mrs. Zhang.
Mrs. Zhang was cooped up in a room emitting a peculiar odor; her face was yellowish and pale, and she gave a grunt at the sight of Tong Sanlang.
“Mother, drink the chicken soup,” Tong Sanlang said, placing the bowl on the table.
Mrs. Zhang looked at the table and saw it indeed was “chicken soup.” There wasn’t even a single piece of meat in it. Frustrated, she said, “Are you giving me the leftover soup she didn’t finish?”
“Xiaomai did not drink it, I made her egg custard. The chicken meat is supposed to be stir-fried at noon, as my second brother wanted,” Tong Sanlang explained.
Mrs. Zhang glared at him, fuming, but she didn’t know what exactly to rebuke him about.
She knew about Tong Sanlang’s chicken soup, and he had told her he would save half for her.
Now all the soup was hers – a fact she should be pleased about. Google seaʀᴄh noᴠelfire.net
But she couldn’t bring herself to be glad in the least.
She felt so suffocated, so wronged.
“Go on, off with you,” Mrs. Zhang waved him away impatiently.
“If you need anything, call for me,” Tong Sanlang said, before returning to his own room with Qiao Xiaomai.
“Do you want to wash up?” he asked.
Qiao Xiaomai responded with a casual nod of her head.
So, he brought water for her to wash, then carried her to the restroom.
The Tong household had separate restrooms for men and women. But since there was no one else at home, Tong Sanlang carried Qiao Xiaomai into the women’s restroom.
Qiao Xiaomai was uncomfortable at certain overly used parts of herself. He himself had been stamped a few times, but it was not too bad.
“Not comfortable with using the restrooms here?” he asked. “Should I fetch a chamber pot for you instead?”
“No, no, no!” Remembering the peculiar smell from Mrs. Zhang’s room yesterday, Qiao Xiaomai shook her head like a rattle-drum.
At this moment, how she longed for the houses of future generations, with the convenience of having a restroom inside the bedroom!
“Are you sure you don’t need it?”
“I’m positive, really positive,” affirmed Qiao Xiaomai, with utmost conviction.
But then, noticing several wood shavings on the restroom stool, she felt a tightening in her chest. “What is this?”
“Toilet chips,” replied Tong Sanlang.
“Damn!” Qiao Xiaomai was flabbergasted, recalling the original host’s past experience. “You can’t be serious! Your family uses this?”
“We didn’t use this before, but now that we have fallen on hard times, we had to resort to it. Anyways, ever since I bought toilet paper, these chips are mainly decorative,” Tong Sanlang added.
As for whether these toilet chips in the women’s restroom really got used or not, he didn’t know.
What he did know was that the last batch of toilet paper he bought had been divided, forcing him to buy again.
Qiao Xiaomai exhaled deeply, “Okay then.”
Jesus, so poor they can’t even use toilet paper? What a convoluted situation!
Then she remembered the ten-thousand taels of silver she owed Yang Ye from yesterday, further complicating her feelings.
She had never owed anyone money before, and the first time she does, she ends up owing ten thousand taels. Tsk!
“Let’s go and eat,” she tapped Tong Sanlang’s shoulder before hopping onto his back.
The three-day marital leave was almost over; she had to get back to work and earn money!
After feasting on egg custard, tackling a piece of bread, and chugging a big glass of Spiritual Spring Water, Qiao Xiaomai lay back onto the bed, her heart full and her stomach satisfied.
Closing in on noon, Tong Sanlang washed his hands and started to prepare lunch.
It was noodles again, only this time the sauce wasn’t vegetarian. The meat from the wild chicken was stir-fried into the dish.
But for Tong Erlang, this was not nearly enough.
He felt wobbly upon getting up in the morning and was forced to work all morning. At this point, he felt almost weightless.
“Sanlang, when will Xiaomai make another batch of braised pork?” he asked.