Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 299: Chapter 289 Wasting Soup by Spilling It (New Year’s Day Bonus Chapter)

Not until Shen Yunfang set a dish of jam in front of each child did the meal continue.

Tingting and Erni seemed to be in competition, grabbing fries from the table and dipping them into the jam before shoving them into their mouths, as if they were in a contest to see who could eat the most.

Shen Yunfang saw this but pretended not to, thinking that if their mothers didn’t care, she shouldn’t interfere. After all, she had already taken the small jar of jam, and there was only a little bit left at the bottom. Whoever ate faster would get it; there would be no more after that.

The meal proceeded intermittently until it was finished. Liu Shuli spoke little from the start to the end of the meal. After Shen Yunfang tried to engage her in conversation a couple of times and failed, she stopped initiating conversation. She talked quite a bit with Mrs. Wu about things in the family housing area instead.

As for Qiu Fengmei, it was as if she was a duck, happy to chatter away on her own whether or not anyone was listening.

After the meal, Shen Yunfang told everyone to rest inside and let their food digest, while she took it upon herself to clear the table.

Mrs. Wu was a diligent person; she couldn’t just watch Shen Yunfang work alone while the rest were lounging about. So, in the end, it was Liu Shuli and Qiu Fengmei watching the children inside, Shen Yunfang washing dishes in the kitchen, and Mrs. Wu responsible for clearing the table.

There were ten dishes in total, for ten people counting adults and children. There was hardly anything left on the plates, except for some fried radish balls and fried mushrooms. The rest were just soups and broths, like quail stewed with potatoes. The quail was definitely gone, and not many potatoes were left, fewer than ten pieces in total. All the substantial food was finished.

Shen Yunfang, holding the plates, was about to dump the contents to make washing them easier.

"Yunfang, what are you doing?" Mrs. Wu stared at Shen Yunfang with wide eyes.

Shen Yunfang’s movement paused, and she quickly realized that dumping out the soup at this time would seem wasteful, even if it might become a common action in the future.

She quickly explained, "Oh, I wasn’t doing anything. I was just thinking that my dog Taxue hasn’t eaten yet. I would mix this leftover soup with some coarse grains for her, letting her too have a taste of the new year." She justified her action of dumping food as if she was preparing an extra meal for her dog.

Mrs. Wu nodded, thinking she might have misunderstood, but still felt that Shen Yunfang was not living frugally by feeding such good food to a dog.

However, before she could speak, Qiu Fengmei, who had overheard a bit of the conversation, quickly ran out from the room, "What are you giving to the dog?"

"Well, I saw there were just some potatoes left in the soup, and I thought of giving it to our Taxue..."

"Oh my goodness, you’re giving such good stuff to the dog? The soup is full of meat flavor. At night, mixed with some sorghum rice or dipped with steamed buns, it’d be delicious." Qiu Fengmei smacked her lips, "If you don’t want it, just let me take it later, I’ll keep it for dinner."

Shen Yunfang was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, Sister-in-law, if you don’t mind, you can take it away later."

"My goodness, what’s there to mind or not mind about," Qiu Fengmei rolled her eyes and said, "Being able to eat our fill is already good enough, where do we have the luxury to be picky, eh?"

She added, "If there’s anything else you don’t want, just give it all to me."

"Alright," Shen Yunfang readily nodded. Anyway, those leftover scraps, if not for her, would have to be thrown away, so it was better to give them to her and make her happy. "Sister-in-law, there are also some mung beans and soybeans left at home. I didn’t gauge the amount well when soaking them, so you can take some home with you later when you leave."

Wu Guoqiang’s wife quickly shook her head, "No need, no need, you should keep it for yourselves to eat." She understood that these were expressly meant for her, and not as Yunfang had said, excess that couldn’t be eaten.

Nowadays, no family was wealthy, and those who could occasionally afford to sprout some beans were already considered good households.

Since the residential quarters allotted to each family had such a small yard space, even if everyone planted vegetables all year round, it would hardly be enough to feed a large family. Therefore, it was impossible to, like back in their hometown, have their own plot to grow beans and other things for sprouting.

Every month, each family could buy some beans with their grain ration, but food rations were always insufficient, and beans did not fill one up like corn or other such staple foods. So many times, instead of beans, families would exchange them for corn or cornmeal to satisfy hunger.

In Wu Guoqiang’s home, since he earned a bit more and had three children to feed—although the kids were small, when it came to eating, they could out-eat each other—his wife could only aim to buy food that would keep them full. Foods such as mung and soybeans were bought occasionally for holidays or festivals, but it was a rare treat to be able to sprout some for a change of diet.

"I really did soak too much. At home, we don’t often eat these things, so I didn’t gauge the quantity correctly and ended up soaking two large bowls’ worth. We didn’t use even a third of it today, and there’s so much left over. How could Hongjun and I possibly finish it all? Beansprouts don’t keep well if left too long, and it’d be a waste if they went bad, so please, Sister-in-law, no need to be polite with me," Shen Yunfang half-truthfully explained. The part about soaking too much was true, but saying they couldn’t finish it was not.

She had intentionally sprouted extra so that the leftovers could be stored away, and whenever she wanted to eat them, she could just take them out and stir-fry. However, after Qiu Fengmei had directly asked her for the leftovers, Shen Yunfang realized she couldn’t just let Qiu Fengmei take things home; she should also think about giving something to Wu Guoqiang’s wife and Liu Shuli.

Logically, if her family had leftovers, she should have offered them first to Wu Guoqiang’s wife and Liu Shuli, and then Qiu Fengmei, in order of closeness. Yunfang felt that the leftover soup was probably much the same as next door, and in her mind, it wasn’t something one should offer to others, as it would be disrespectful. But the reality was that someone had taken the initiative to ask her for it, and she had agreed without thinking. After doing so, she then remembered that she should have asked Wu Guoqiang’s wife if she wanted it first. If she did, Yunfang should have given it all to her, considering that her husband, Li Hongjun, was closest to Wu Guoqiang, and she was supposed to be closest to Wu Guoqiang’s wife. Moreover, Wu Guoqiang’s wife had been kind to her, even thinking of bringing her half a chicken after slaughtering one a few days ago; that was kindness indeed.

So, in an attempt to make up for her oversight, she had offered to give some beansprouts to both sisters-in-law.

In her opinion, beansprouts were a better offer than soup that others had already taken from.

Seeing that Shen Yunfang was sincerely offering, Wu Guoqiang’s wife no longer refused and nodded, "Alright, then I’ll shamelessly take some." It was important not to decline a sincere offer, as doing so could strain the relationship. Relationships were fostered through mutual give-and-take.

"Yunfang, do you still have any of that jam from today’s dinner table?" Wu Guoqiang’s wife recalled her two daughters sweetly licking the small dish and, summoning her courage, asked.

"The jam..." Shen Yunfang was momentarily unsure how to respond.