Free Web NovelChapter 405: Chapter 214: Clarification
Juhua listened to her mother ramble on without interrupting, her gaze lost in the lettuce patch. The stalks were already half a foot tall, each one growing strong and vigorous. The leaves fanned out like a pagoda, layered one on top of the other, growing shorter, narrower, and more delicate toward the top. They were green with a hint of red, glistening with a fresh, tender sheen under the sun.
She suddenly cut her mother off and said, "Mother, I didn’t throw myself in the lake."
Her mother looked up, staring at her in astonishment.
Juhua met her gaze and said firmly, "Just like Little Shitou, I fell into the lake by accident. I wasn’t trying to end my life by jumping in."
Her mother was stunned for a long moment, her eyes beginning to sting. Her lips trembled for a while before she asked in a hoarse voice, "Is that true?"
Juhua nodded. "It’s true. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t think you would have believed me back then."
’Under the circumstances at the time, trying to explain would have only made things worse. People might have thought I was just saying it to save face, and my family would have thought I was only saying it to comfort them.’
Tears suddenly streamed down her mother’s face. She said through her sobs, "I knew it! How could my Juhua be so desperate? How could you be willing to leave your father, mother, and brother behind!"
Juhua said softly, "That’s right. Juhua would never leave her father and mother, and she wouldn’t leave her brother either. She was still young then and wasn’t thinking about much. She didn’t even blame Brother Huai Zi."
As she spoke, her own eyes shimmered with tears—for that little girl, and for her mother and Zheng Changhe.
But her mother didn’t catch the hidden meaning in her words and thought Juhua was simply referring to herself. Smiling through her tears, she said to Juhua, "Your father and I were so muddled. We never even asked you, and we were afraid bringing it up would just upset you. Oh! If your Aunt Zhang finds out, she’ll be overjoyed. You have no idea how hard these past two years have been on her. She’s felt even worse than I have."
Juhua smiled. "Then go ahead and tell her, Mother. But don’t promise her anything—I still need to think about the matter with Huai Zi. The two things are unrelated."
Seeing Juhua’s determined expression, her mother nodded. "I understand. I’m happy to see you have your own ideas. But Juhua, you have to be careful. It’s not easy to find someone who will truly be good to you. If you don’t fancy Huai Zi, you need to start making other plans and keeping an eye out for other people. I was afraid you weren’t satisfied with Huai Zi, which is why I told Aunt Zhao I’d have to ask you first. The man she mentioned sounds quite good, too."
Juhua pressed her lips into a smile. ’It can’t be helped,’ she thought. ’I can’t exactly hedge my bets, can I? No matter how great that other man is, I don’t know him at all. But as for Zhang Huai... I already like him a little. I just want to be sure how deep those feelings go.’
Seeing her just smiling without a word, her mother said, "I’m serious. So tell me, what should I say to your Aunt Zhao?"
Juhua smiled. "What else can you say? Just tell her I’m not looking to get married right now. We can’t just keep the man waiting. He’s already twenty-two. Even if he were willing to wait, what if I choose Brother Huai Zi in the end? Then he would have waited for nothing!"
Her mother nodded. "You’re right, we can’t do that. I’ll talk to your Aunt Zhao tomorrow. Sigh... your Aunt Zhao really has your best interests at heart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t think of you every time she meets a suitable man. The men she suggests are always reliable—never anyone who looks down on you, nor anyone so terrible you’d be ashamed to be seen with them."
Juhua was touched to hear that. "Aunt Zhao is a truly kind person," she said.
As mother and daughter talked, they finished weeding the lettuce patch. Juhua carried the bundle of lettuce leaves to the front yard, drew a bucket of water from the well, and washed her hands and the vegetables.
After having a heart-to-heart with her daughter, understanding her worries, and learning that her fall into the water two years ago was an accident, Juhua’s mother felt exceptionally relieved and lighthearted. She called out to Juhua in a cheerful voice, "Why don’t we butcher that duck today? It won’t take long to prepare. If we don’t have time to eat it for lunch, we can have it for dinner."
Juhua nodded. "Alright! Let’s do it. A few more days of feeding it won’t make it lay eggs, it’s just a waste of feed."
Hearing this, her mother chuckled.
And so, thanks to her mother’s good mood, the unlucky duck’s time was up ahead of schedule. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Juhua looked at the plump, tender duck and frowned. If she were to remove all the skin and the fat from its underside, she was afraid her mother and grandmother wouldn’t approve—they both preferred richer, oilier food, since their daily meals were usually quite plain.
But Juhua disliked the thick layer of fat under the skin, a habit purely from her past life where she would have thrown away such greasy skin. This duck was raised on all-natural feed, so she certainly couldn’t do that. Still, she planned to render the fat from the skin separately instead of red-braising it all together with the meat.
