Yuan Si ate her fill, just as she wished. She was truly full, having drunk another three bowls of fish soup.
This made the old lady even more convinced that her little daughter had received a great blessing. Such a small person, downing four big bowls of fish porridge in one go, eating as much as a grown man. Her daughter was a child who used to be almost full after just one bowl of gruel. For her appetite to suddenly increase so much, who would believe it wasn't the guidance of an Immortal?
Yuan Si didn't know that her huge appetite had unexpectedly added a halo around her, making the old lady's eyes sparkle as she looked at her.
"Si'r, are you full? There's still a little left in the clay pot," the old lady asked her daughter cheerfully.
Ever since the public canteens were established, the family's iron woks had been donated to support the country. So, the only thing they had left at home for cooking was the clay pot the old lady had specifically kept for boiling water. Just now, she had used that clay pot to cook the fish soup for her daughter, using up over half the pot and chopping one-fifth of the fish into it.
"No more, I'm full. Mom, you didn't have any just now. You should drink what's left." Yuan Si lived with the old lady and never thought of eating alone.
"I'm already full, I don't need any. I'll save it and heat it up for you at noon," the old lady said, her face wreathed in smiles.
How could Yuan Si believe the old lady? 'Just yesterday, Mom said that one bowl of porridge was gone after a single piss. She's bigger than me, so how could one bowl possibly be enough to fill her up?'
Yuan Si didn't waste words with her. She went straight to the kitchen, poured the remaining fish soup from the clay pot into a bowl, and held it right under the nose of the old lady, who had followed her in.
"Drink it. We'll cook more at noon."
Seeing her little daughter standing on her tiptoes to hand her the bowl, the old lady was so moved she secretly turned her head to wipe away tears. "Oh, you silly girl. You don't know how to be frugal. We should just eat enough to not be hungry. We don't do any heavy labor, so why eat so much? It's a waste."
"Nonsense. When you eat your fill, your body stays healthy, which saves money. When you eat your fill, you have strength, and you can catch more fish." Yuan Si didn't think this kind of frugality was a good thing. 'Wasn't there a saying, "Money isn't saved, it's earned"? It was the same principle.'
The old lady couldn't win against her little daughter. She also knew that such a big fish would only last three or four days at most in this weather. The two of them would have to finish the whole fish within that time. Even if Si'r ate her heart out, she couldn't finish it all herself, so it should be fine for her to have a little. So, she went along with the girl's wishes and drank the bowl of fish soup.
When noon came, the old lady still had to go help at the public canteen. Before leaving, she told Yuan Si, "Si'r, you don't need to go to the canteen. Just stay home. I'll bring our lunch back." Still feeling uneasy, she added a specific instruction, "We have... that thing... at home, so don't run around. Keep an eye on it."
"Okay, I know," Yuan Si nodded, showing she understood. She hadn't gone to work all morning because of the big fish. Her mother hadn't thought of that yet. 'When she remembers later, she's going to be so upset about the lost work points.'
Back then, few households locked their doors when they went out, so Yuan Si agreed it was necessary to stay and watch the house. Who knew what stray cat or dog might catch the fishy smell and sneak over?
After the old lady left, Yuan Si took out a Spiritual Pearl, sat by the door, and began to cultivate. She only put the Spiritual Pearl away and stood up to greet her mother when she returned carrying two porcelain bowls.
But the sight made the old lady feel a bit troubled. 'This girl is too honest for her own good. I told her to watch the house, and she just moves a little stool to the doorway and sits there without moving. If I had come back any later, how long would she have sat there, baking under the sun?'
'Sigh, I really need to teach her better. My daughter is so earnest, she's bound to be taken advantage of in the future!'
For lunch, the mother and daughter added some water to their two bowls of green porridge and boiled a small piece of fish in it. Their last meal had been too recent, so they couldn't have eaten much more even if they'd cooked it.
The porridge and fish mixture made four bowls. Yuan Si didn't give the old lady a chance to be modest, simply dividing it equally, two bowls for each of them.
After the meal, the old lady didn't let Yuan Si rest, immediately shooing her out to go cut grass. She had remembered that her little daughter hadn't earned her two work points from the morning.
Yuan Si didn't dally. After staying home for so long and eating and drinking her fill, it was a good time to go for a walk and digest.
At this hour, everyone else was still at home taking their afternoon nap, which left Yuan Si to work in peace.
By the time the public canteen started serving dinner around three in the afternoon, Yuan Si was already on her way to turn in her task, carrying a full basket of grass on her back.
That evening, Yuan Si went home early to cook the fish. After the old lady finished her work at the canteen, she brought home two bowls of porridge, poured them into the clay pot, gave it a good stir, and it was ready to eat.
The mother and daughter ate their fill again that day.
The old lady packed up the leftover fish and eel and stored them in the woodshed. It was the coolest place in the entire house. They were running low on salt, so this was the only way they could manage to preserve it for another day.
That night, the two of them did each other's braids for a while, which had now become a daily routine. Then, as they lay in bed, Yuan Si clearly sensed that the old lady wasn't sleeping. She was lying perfectly still, waiting for something.
"Mom, why aren't you sleeping?" Yuan Si always waited until she was sure the old lady was asleep before she began to cultivate.
"How did you know I wasn't asleep?" The old lady thought she'd been pretending quite well. 'How did my daughter find out?' "Oh, oh, was it something that Immortal Master taught you? I understand, I understand. I won't ask."
The old lady chuckled, then whispered to her daughter, "I just wanted to see if that master of yours would come visit you in the middle of the night. Don't Immortals always pass on their skills at midnight?"
Yuan Si was speechless. 'What is she even talking about? I never said that old beggar was my master! And I definitely never said he visited me in the middle of the night. I clearly said I got a needle and used it to spear the fish myself. What does any of this have to do with the old beggar?'
"Mom, an Immortal wouldn't actually come find me in person. They have world-shaking abilities; why would they need to make a special trip? If they really needed me for something, they'd just tell me in a dream. So please, go to sleep. Don't wait up," Yuan Si said, exasperatedly trying to coax her mother.
"What? He's already visited you in your dreams? He must have taught you a lot then! I know, I know, I won't ask, I won't ask. I'm going to sleep right now. You go to sleep too, and remember to learn as much as you can in your dreams! Even if you can't understand it right away, just memorize it by rote. You can figure it out later. Be smart about it!" the old lady said, closing her eyes gleefully.
Yuan Si suddenly found the old lady quite adorable. 'It's actually pretty nice,' she thought, 'to have a mother who's so protective and "understanding" in her own way.'