Old Jiang's House

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The family went to sleep soundly that night. Tang Shushui had to wake up and make his share of food for the Old Jiang family as old age compensation. They never did this before because they were scared they would have to feed Father Jiang and his family but now that their family was considerately well off they came to demand this act be fulfilled. Tang Shushui didn't want to, but it was written black on write on the separation paper. If he didn't do this he would basically be stating that the separation paper was void and he was unwilling to do that, and he was more unwilling to feed the Old Jiang family daily even if it was once a month.  

He came up with an idea last night while thinking about this problem. When he was an assassin he undoubtedly got physical to be able to fight or kill his target but his favorite approach was mentally torturing his target.

He read through Old Lady Jiang when she came over. She was a superficial woman filled with greed and mostly cared about herself. Seeing how she blamed her own son for something he had no control over says what kind of person she is. So, he decided that he would cook a feast when going over to the Old house for the first time. He would make sure to feed them well, well enough for them to have other ideas and expectations, those expectations and ideas would lead them to their end.

Besides, he inquired about the family and they were all bunch of no goods. Old Lady Jiang had five children. Going in order it would be Jiang Yu Sixin, Jiang Yang Yan, Jiang Lao Gen, Jiang Tan Bingwen, and Jiang Xingjuan. Seeing the last two names you could see the favoritism. The fourth child's name meant 'the master of arts', while the fifth child's name mean 'lucky and beautiful'. Based on the information he got Old Lady Jiang was illiterate so she went and paid a scholar to name them. She could pay to name her children but refused to pay to save one? It was just stupid!

He learned that she favored them because she had them at old age. She had the fourth child at forty while the fifth child at forty-five. She was sure that these children would bring them good luck so she favored them more. The fourth child was the only son she sent to school. Her other sons either farmed or worked in town, but they were still living the high life compared to Father Jiang.

 Jiang Yang Yan married his wife, Nang Huan, and gave birth to Old Lady Jiangs first grandson, Jiang Hao Liwei, whom she favored very much. Jiang Lao Gen married Li Fang as his wife and gave birth to two daughters and a son. Jiang Tan Bingwen just recently married Deng Liqui a girl from the city who finished her studies. The fifth child had yet to marry.

The Old Jiang Family couldn't be considered wealthy but they weren't dirt poor eighter. They had to be a little well off for them to be able to marry a city girl into their family. Tang Shushui processed all the information he got as he cooked the food. 

He made a big bowl of white chicken noodles, cooked twelve pounds of braised pork belly, ten jin of white rice, made two dozens of pork meat buns, wrapped about forty spicy pork dumplings, made a bowl of simmered beef soup and miso soup, and made a side dish of kimchi cucumbers. For dessert, he made some mung bean cakes and moon cakes. He even added some drinks for them. He would make sure to feed them.

When the family woke up they each ate a bowl of shrimp noodles with dumplings. The adults cleaned the kids and Tang Shushui dressed them. He made sure to dress up the kids well. The kids looked different from two months ago. Their sunken cheeks were now filled with fat, and their skin wasn't as rough as it used to be. They now looked like fat white buns, which was rare in this village. The elder's winkles have also reduced a lot and they looked as good as ever. The newly arrived Shen family still looked skinny but they looked healthier than before, especially the baby. Tang Shushui and the people from his age group all looked fantastic.

When he finished dressing them up the kids looked adorable. The adults also looked good, though they didn't look filthy rich they still looked somewhat wealthy. Tang Shushui packed up the food and big container and gave them to the husbands to carry.

The family departed from their house to Old Jiang's house. It didn't take them long to arrive at the Old Jiang's house. When they got there the door was locked. Tang Shushui was already pissed but still forced a smile on his face. They knew well they were coming today but locked the door on purpose, so they could wait out in the hot sun. Wasn't the Old Lady just blatantly disrespecting them?

"Oh, Sister-in-law you here? The kids must've locked the door, I must have forgotten to unlock it. Please come in." It was Nang Huan who opened the door. Even though she spoke politely, the fact that she didn't apologize showed her stance.

"It's fine Grandma. Old age must be getting to you, so it's normal for your hearing to be affected." Tang Shushui said in a concerned voice, but the underlying meaning made people behind him stifle a laugh.

"It's not grandma! It's Aunt!" Nang Huan said, gritting her teeth while glaring at Tang Shuhsui hatefully.

"Oh, right I'm sorry, it just you had some resemblance to Old Lady Jiang." Tang Shushui dealt another blow with a gentle smile on his face.

"Just come in!" Nang Huan said angrily not provoking the sharp-tongued Tang Shushui once more.

"Thank you, Auntie." Tang Shushui thanked her politely as they entered the yard.

When they made it into the yard, they were led to a table in the yard. There were many people seating at the table, including many children. He glanced at them, and they were all looking toward his father-in-law with contempt in their eyes. He directly ignored him and brought his family to seat at the table.

"Why did you bring so many people?" The Old Lady grumbled angrily.

"What do you mean people? You invited my family so I brought my family." Father Jiang responded with an expressionless face. The people at the table seemed taken aback. The Old Lady was about to say something but was directly cut off by Mother Jiang.

"We came here to eat, not to hear complains."  Mother Jiang interrupted without the slightest fluctuations in her tone. The family was even more shocked. This was the daughter-in-law they used to boss around? They were shocked but they snapped back to reality remembering what they were here for.

Though the Old Jiang Family had yet to be separated, they still had to cook with their own grains and money every fifteen of the month as an act of fillial piety. The daughter-in-laws started taking out their food one by one, without waiting for his father-in-law, the oldest to start.

The second household took out five jin of cooked rice, two jin of boiled pork, and a side dish of stir-fried leeks. The third household took out fifteen white flour meat buns, and a pot of chicken soup. The fourth household took out five jin of cooked white rice, four jin of stir-fried pork, a pot of fish soup, and a bag of sweets. The fourth household faces help pride. They then turned to Father Jiang's household, eagerly staring at the big lunch box. Tang Shushui did not disappoint them and started taking out the food right away.

He took out a big pot of white noodles, twelve pounds of braised pork belly, ten jin of cooked white rice, two dozens of pork buns, about forty spicy pork dumplings a bowl of beef soup, and miso soup, a side dish of kimchi cucumbers. The Old Jiang family was already stunned by the amount of good food there was. They have not seen such good food in all their years of living. So when Tang Shushui started pulling out desserts they were already salivating. For dessert Tang Shushui took out a box full of moon cakes, and mung bean cakes. He even brought drinks, which were lemon ice tea and sour plum tea.


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