Fu Xin Ci felt suffocated, as if she would suffer internal injuries if she didn't vent.
She had no other recourse, as she couldn't curse the court or the Emperor in front of her family.
Fearing she might scare them, she decided to devise a compromise and keep herself busy.
Labor brings joy, and making meat sauce and mushroom sauce was even more delightful, as she planned to make extra to give to her friends.
Fu Xin Ci made up her mind and went to the kitchen with Chun Yu.
The pork, beef, and mushrooms were all diced into small pieces, a considerable undertaking.
Indeed, the hustle and bustle of the smoky kitchen temporarily made her forget her urge to curse.
Her time before dinner was spent in the kitchen. Ning'er, smelling the aroma, sat with his grandfather in the shade of a tree, waiting and occasionally peering towards the kitchen with his dark, large eyes.
Finally, the sauces were ready. A jar of each was packed for their own consumption. The rest were packed into small jars for gifting. Uncle Qi would receive a small jar, as would Uncle Jin's family, and also the eleventh master next door (Meng Qing Huai), as their fruit trees were managed by the eleventh master and Uncle Qi Ren.
Fu Xin Ci was secretly making her plans when she heard her grandfather speak, "Ci'er, do you have any extra mushroom sauce? If so, send some over to your eleventh master and his family."
"Don't worry, Grandfather, I've packed their share," she replied.
"Ah, as one gets older, one tends to overthink things."
"Grandfather isn't old. Grandfather is very healthy," Ning'er, being a sharp child, sensed the sadness in his grandfather's tone and immediately spoke to comfort him.
"Yes, our Ning'er is right. Grandfather is very healthy."
As grandfather and grandson were chatting animatedly, they heard Fu Xin Ci calling Ning'er's name from the kitchen.
"Ning'er, accompany Ke'er to deliver the mushroom sauce to the eleventh master and his family."
"Okay, Ning'er will go right away."
The next day, Grandpa Meng drove the horse-drawn carriage to the seaside with Ning'er.
Now, the task of collecting seafood was entrusted to the soldiers stationed by the sea. During their rest, they could help collect seafood, and Grandpa Meng paid them wages.
Although the wages were not much, the soldiers were content and enjoyed this part-time job, especially the veterans who worked with great diligence, not only organizing and drying the seafood but also sorting it by type after it was dried. Of course, they also benefited by getting to eat seafood every few days.
Fu Xin Ci left home with her grandfather and informed him of her destination.
The old man understood that his granddaughter had many secrets and did not object, only reminding her, "Come home early."
"Okay," Fu Xin Ci agreed readily and then rode off on her horse.
Watching his granddaughter's back disappear from sight, Grandpa Meng then drove the horse-drawn carriage to the seaside.
As soon as Fu Xin Ci reached the hilltop, she was spotted by Xiang Tong and the others.
"Fu Xiao Niu," Xiang Tong exclaimed and rushed towards her as if she were his own sister.
"Xin Ci, the weather has been too hot lately. Do you have anything that goes well with rice? My wife and kids are all listless."
Fu Xin Ci noticed that Xiang Tong's lightning ability had been upgraded, realizing it was the captain's doing. She didn't point it out, but instead took out a jar of mushroom sauce and a jar of beef sauce from her space.
"This is good stuff."
The others who caught up were envious, their eyes sparkling. Fu Xin Ci, startled, turned and ran.
She muttered to herself, "They didn't see me, they didn't see me."
Xiang Tong's assistants saw this cute side of Fu Xiao Niu for the first time and laughed, "I never expected Fu Xiao Niu to be so cute."
"Fu Xiao Niu has always been cute, you just never saw it before," Xiang Tong said, pausing before continuing nostalgically, "To be precise, before Fu Xiao Niu had her accident, the few 'little firecrackers' from Long Teng were quite cute."
"I remember that. Back then, many people secretly told others, away from the Long Teng captain, that the girls from Long Teng were one cuter than the other. Some even had ideas about pursuing those girls," Zhang Feng said with regret.
Qiu Bai looked surprised when Zhang Feng finished speaking, "How come I didn't know?"
"What would you know? Your motto for the day is: 'One person eats, the whole family is not hungry.'"
"Aren't you?"
"Stop. This isn't the time for infighting; we still have a lot to do," Xiang Tong said, intervening as the youngsters started to bicker.
Fu Xin Ci paid no mind to what was being said behind her. She had to find her friends as soon as possible.
"Xin Ci, we're here," Xiao Ai, with sharp eyes, spotted Xin Ci dancing on vines from afar.
"Oh," Fu Xin Ci said. Upon seeing her friends, her first action was to take out various sauces, and finally, some pan-fried small sea fish.
"Don't underestimate these small fish; they are true appetite boosters. Try them yourselves if you don't believe me."
"No need to try, we believe you."
Looking at the glistening, pan-fried small fish, Pang Dun couldn't resist picking one up and putting it in his mouth. The crisp, fishy aroma immediately filled his mouth.
Pang Dun declared affectedly, "Delicious."
However, when he reached for another to satisfy his craving, he found that the captain had already collected the entire basin of fried fish.
"Captain."
"We'll all eat it together at mealtime," the captain said, while also putting away the jars of sauce.
"I let Xiang Tong "rob" me of two jars of sauce just now," Fu Xin Ci felt it necessary to inform the captain.
"So that's why Xiang Tong and his group have been like shadows following us these past few days – all for the sake of getting food from Xin Ci," Pang Dun said with sudden enlightenment, and his friends nodded in agreement.
"It's fine; I only gave him two jars. The main portion is still with us. I was originally going to make some shrimp paste, but the weather was too hot, so I didn't dare to."
"It's good you didn't," the captain said, looking up at the scorching sun in the sky. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before slumping into the shade of a tree. "We can't afford to waste anything."
"When do we ever have the chance to waste anything? Other teams come to our place for food almost every day," Yang Xin Jie wondered if she should be proud or prouder.
"Hahaha, thinking about it makes me laugh. The day before yesterday, Pang Dun was showing off with half a bowl of chicken popcorn, saying he had eaten enough, but then Fa Ge snatched it away and gave it to his son."
Pang Dun hadn't expected his moment to be witnessed by Xu Ru Yi, and he complained with a wronged expression, "I didn't expect Fa Ge's hand to be that quick."
"You should have seen how much Fa Ge's son was drooling."
"..." Pang Dun dared not speak.