Chapter 18: Accidentally Becoming a Master Chef

Xiaoxiao was cooking while calculating her future path, thinking from having a hefty twenty taels to being broke and now owing five taels—truly a disgrace to her fellow transmigrators. Everyone else seemed to get richer as they crossed, but she was getting poorer! She must figure out a way to make money, but how? It was a vexing problem indeed.

It was then that she realized her sisters-in-law were staring at her. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"Younger sister-in-law, didn't you say you can't cook?" the second sister-in-law asked puzzledly.

"Oh, I can't cook at all, but I bought so many spices! I figured it'd be tasty as long as I added those!" Xiaoxiao could only respond like this. She wasn't inherently skilled in cooking. As long as she followed the steps and added the spices, it would turn out fine, although surely better than anything her sisters-in-law made without spices. She was quite confident about that.

Just then, there was noise from outside, probably the four men returning from the mountain. Everyone hurried out to welcome them, even the children, who circled around excitedly! Sometimes they would bring snacks from the mountain for the children.

"Little uncle, little uncle, what tasty things did you bring today?" Yang Liuliu pulled on uncle Yang Dong's clothes, asking excitedly. Yang Liuliu was her second brother's daughter, just turned three this year.

"Here, take these!" Yang Dong pulled out a handful of fruits from his pocket and distributed them among the three children.

After washing up, the men entered the house with the children, delighted to see the food of the day. They hadn't expected meat, and it smelled delicious. They sat down and noticed the women's gloomy faces, in stark contrast to the jubilant children.

"Mom, this meat is really tasty," said Yang Shulin as he stuffed his mouth. Yang Shulin was the son of the eldest sister-in-law, four years old this year. The eldest sister-in-law also had a daughter, Yang Guangguang, eight years old! Poor children grow up fast, and in the family, it was Guangguang who looked after them.

"Eat slowly and remember to thank your third aunt. This meat was bought and cooked by your third aunt. Mom doesn't have such cooking skills."

The men were even more perplexed upon hearing this. Not only had their third sister-in-law bought meat, but she had also cooked it herself. Hurriedly, they took a bite and were pleasantly surprised. The family usually just boiled their meat and had never tried this method before. They hadn't realized their third sister-in-law had such skills!

"Thank you, third aunt, you're amazing! This is the tastiest meat I've ever eaten!"

All the men in the room nodded and agreed emphatically, causing Xiaoxiao to blush. "Actually, I just bought some spices. Our family used to only boil the food in salt, so the taste was lacking! Now that I've bought spices, every meal will be delicious from now on, hehe."

She had also made shredded radish soup in the morning, but without the spices, it was no different from what her sisters-in-law would make. She truly had the spices to thank for unwittingly turning her into a great chef!

"Father, how much did we make from the game today?" The mother-in-law, anxious about the one-month deadline to repay the money, couldn't wait any longer and asked even before finishing her meal.

Usually, to ensure safety, the grandfather and other village men hunted together and rarely went alone. After hunting, they would sell the game at the Village Chief's house. The Village Chief's eldest son was responsible for collecting the game and delivering it to the town or the county, saving everyone the trouble of selling it themselves and sparing their time, though at a lower price. The money received was then divided among the hunters.

"We didn't catch much big game today, so our family only got eighty wen!"

"What are we going to do now!" The more the mother-in-law spoke, the harder it was to stop her tears, as she spilled all of today's troubles.