Chapter 10: No Stomach Aches
The crowd held various opinions, and their stories were inconsistent. In the group, an old woman with triangular eyes kept rolling them around, though it was impossible to tell what she was pondering!
Su Wan returned to her courtyard, a thin layer of sweat already on her forehead. She couldn’t tell time by the sun, so she could only estimate based on intuition. The room on the west side was where her brothers slept. Su Wan pushed open the door and walked in; the quilts on the kang (heated brick bed) were folded neatly. Su Wan gathered all their dirty clothes and fetched water in a wooden basin to soak them.
She distinguished between clean and dirty clothes by the smell of sweat. Between the five brothers, there was a huge basin of laundry. In this era, there was no soap for washing clothes; wealthy families used honey locust pods, while rural folk used wood ash. It could only remove the sweat odor; by beating the clothes with a wooden stick, it counted as clean—as long as the sweat smell was gone.
“If only there were soap,” she thought silently. Making soap was quite simple; all she needed was lard and wood ash, which would trigger a saponification reaction.
Taking advantage of her free hands, Su Wan carefully walked around the house. She discovered that this family was truly poor. Aside from some essential furniture, there wasn’t a single decent item to be found. The interior furnishings were very crude, and there were holes in the wall cracks where sunlight shone through, casting circular spots of light on the floor. Furthermore, the furniture in the house was aged, tattered, and dilapidated.
Using a large broom made of bamboo fibers, she swept the courtyard, and then swept the house inside and out. Su Wan calculated what to make for her brothers for lunch.
Given the family’s conditions, there was certainly not enough rice to go around. Finding several pumpkins in the cellar, Su Wan decided to steam pumpkin rice for lunch; pumpkins were sweet and filling.
There were also a few bags of sweet potatoes and potatoes in the cellar. She would use the potatoes to pan-fry some cakes. She remembered that on the way back, there were many purslane plants on the field ridges, so she would pick some to make a cold-tossed salad.
No sooner said than done, Su Wan grabbed a small basket, went out, and picked a basket of purslane. After picking and washing them, she cut the pumpkins into small pieces and shredded the potatoes. The preparations were nearly complete.
The river was not far from home. She took the clothes to the river to wash them, hung them in the courtyard upon returning, and immediately had to hurry to the well to fetch licorice water.
There were fewer people by the well; at this hour, everyone had likely gone home to cook. However, there were still a few old men sitting there chatting.
After collecting the water, she ran as fast as she could. Su Wan didn’t know where her brothers were working, so she had to ask around. To the east of the village lay a vast expanse of golden rice paddies, where people were buried in labor in their respective fields.
Su Wan asked along the way until she found the place. Everyone was puzzled by this unfamiliar, beautiful young girl. When someone asked who she was, she generously replied that she was the daughter of the Su family.
At this moment, the five brothers were sweating profusely in the fields. Su Yun, tired, sat on the ground and complained: “I forgot that our Yueyue is gone; we didn’t bring water to the field. I’m dying of thirst!”
Usually, when they went to the fields, Gu Yue would bring them water. Now that Gu Yue was gone, they all felt that Su Wan wouldn’t have the awareness to do so.
“Remember to remind me this afternoon; I’ll bring it!” Su Jing said while harvesting rice. He wasn’t an ordinary bookish scholar who only knew how to read; coming from a rural background, he still had plenty of strength.
“I’ll go back and bring some water!” Su Yi threw down his sickle, mostly because he was thirsty too.
“Big Brother!” A young girl’s call rang out not far away. Upon hearing the voice, Su Jing looked up, and the other four brothers followed his gaze.
The sunlight was blinding, and it was hard to see clearly until Su Wan got closer to them.
“Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother! I’ve come to bring you water!”
Su Wan had run until she was sweating. She hugged the water jar, panting, with wisps of hair stuck to her face.
“Wanwan, how did you know we were here?” Su Jing dropped his sickle to go and take the water jar from her.
“Big Brother, it’s not like I don’t have a mouth; I just asked. It’s such a hot day, you brothers must be thirsty. I brought you water!”
Su Chen, Su Mu, and Su Yi glanced at Su Yun, who had just been complaining. Su Yun’s face turned red: “What are you all looking at me for? Didn’t you guys not expect it either?”
He stood up and was the first to take the bowl covering the jar to pour some water. Upon seeing that the water was actually yellow and that some tree roots had poured out with it, he exclaimed: “Su Wan, where did you get this muddy water?”
Su Yun didn’t hesitate to splash the water from the bowl. Everyone had been waiting eagerly to drink, and yet…
“Fourth Brother, this isn’t muddy water. This is licorice water. It’s sweet! I even specially kept it in the well for a long time to cool it before bringing it to you!”
Su Wan pouted, explaining defiantly. Why did they always think so poorly of her?
“Nonsense. How could I not know that there is a grass in this world that is sweet? Won’t it cause a stomach ache?” Su Yun continued.
“Su Yun, how are you talking?” Su Jing scolded in a low voice.
Hearing this, Su Mu walked up, snatched the bowl from Su Yun’s hand, poured himself a bowl of water, sniffed it, and then tilted his head back and drank it in one go.
“No, Second Brother, is it that necessary? Are you that thirsty?” Su Yun was very impressed by his courage, not even afraid of getting a stomach ache.
The cool, sweet licorice water went down his throat, instantly dispelling the heat of September and that sense of irritability. Su Mu was amazed. He glanced at Su Yun indifferently: “Shut up!”
Immediately after, Su Mu poured a second bowl and drank it dry, then wiped his mouth with satisfaction! “This water is indeed sweet; it’s licorice root!”
Only then did Su Jing laugh. He took the bowl and drank a bowl, wearing the same expression as Su Mu. He drank two bowls in a row, followed by Su Chen and Su Yi, who drank it with great satisfaction, leaving only Su Yun standing there with his throat burning.
“Fourth Brother, are you really not drinking? It’s refreshing and sweet!” Su Yi smiled and licked his lips.
“I don’t believe it. Is it really that good?” Su Yun said one thing but did another; as soon as he took a sip himself, he hugged the jar and drank directly.
“Old Fourth, leave some for me!”
Su Chen reached out to snatch it; he had harvested the most rice and had the most strength, so he was naturally the thirstiest.
“It’s gone, it’s gone! It’s finished!” Su Yun drank it all in one breath; not a single drop would pour out.
Su Wan watched him get slapped in the face, feeling quite smug, thinking, Little guy, did you think I couldn’t handle you?
“It seems I’ll have to boil an extra pot tomorrow, or it won’t be enough for you brothers to share!” Su Wan smiled, revealing her white teeth, looking incredibly cute.
Su Jing also looked at her with a smile, using his sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead, extremely gently: “Wanwan is truly clever. How did you know this method?”
