Chapter 57: Rural Girl

After First Aunt dealt with the chicken feathers and cleaned the chicken guts, she handed them to Second Aunt to make chicken soup.

Unlike Second Aunt, First Aunt’s culinary skills were not good.

They could be making the same dish and following the same steps. However, Second Aunt could make everything delicious while the dishes of others were lacking.

Therefore, whenever an important guest came to visit, they would leave the cooking to Second Aunt. The others would help.

Second Aunt did it without any complaints.

She was just cooking, picking vegetables, washing dishes, and so on. She didn’t have to do any heavy work.

The kitchen work was not tiring either.

In fact, she was very happy to hear everyone praise her culinary skills.

Second Aunt did not add much seasoning to this chicken soup. She only added ginger slices and a few red dates.

Before making soup, Second Aunt stir-fried the chopped chicken and put in the rice wine she had steamed to remove the fishy smell. Then she added some salt. When the chicken in the pot had dried, she placed it in the casserole and added water.

In the small courtyard, there was a small stove for burning firewood. The chicken soup was boiled there.

She started cooking with high heat before simmering it.

The young lady, who had never touched onion water since she was young, stood near the stove and watched with relish. She even asked, “Is this how you make such delicious chicken soup? I heard that the food made from burning firewood is especially fragrant. As expected, this is the case.”

Her family was so well-off. It was a detached villa, but there was no firewood for cooking.

His second aunt smiled and nodded. “That’s right.”

“Then how long will this soup take?” Gu Qingming asked.

“After the fire boils, it takes more than two hours to simmer over medium and low heat,” his second aunt said. “If you want to let it simmer until the taste is strong and delicious, it will take at least three hours to reach the heat.”

“Oh, I see.” Gu Qingming nodded in understanding.

“Aunt, can’t you cook soup?” Shi Jiahao asked curiously and doubtfully. “You’re already so old, can’t you cook?”

“Ahem…” Gu Qingming was a little embarrassed to be questioned by the little guy about her inability to cook.

Before she could answer, Jiahao continued, “That Sister Chunhua is the same age as you. She knows how to cook.”

“Sister Chunhua?” Gu Qingming looked at her second aunt in confusion.

“Chunhua is a girl from our village,” her second aunt said. “Alas, their family favors boys over girls. In order to give birth to a boy, her parents gave birth to seven girls in a row before they had a boy. Chunhua is the eldest. She has been helping her parents work since she was young. When she was a little girl of more than three years old, she wasn’t even as tall as the stove, but she had to carry her sister on her back and step on a stool to cook for the family. She also had to wash the family’s clothes and clean.”

When Gu Qingming heard this, her heart could not help but feel a little heavy.

She had heard that many people in the countryside favored boys over girls.

Oh, not to mention the countryside, even the rich people in the big cities, such as some of the big families she knew in Sea City, had wives give birth to one child after another in order to have a boy to inherit the family business. They even found mistresses to give birth to them. As long as there were no boys, be it from the first wife or mistress, they would continue to give birth.

Thinking of this, Gu Qingming felt that she had grown up in a honey pot.

In the Gu family, be it her parents or grandparents, they had never favored boys over girls.

Ever since she was young, she had been treated as a treasure wherever she went.

At home, her parents doted on her. When she returned to her grandparents’ house, she was cherished. Their love for her was obvious.

Gu Qingming asked hesitantly, “How is that Chunhua now?”

Born into a family that favored boys over girls, life was usually not easy.

Back then, Lan Ruomei made up a story and told her that she was born into a family that favored boys over girls. She rambled on about how biased her parents were, how she was treated differently at home, and how miserable she was. It made Gu Qingming pity her.

Back then, her kindness to Lan Ruomei was because of her pitiful background.

Second Aunt sighed softly and said, “After Chunhua came of age, a matchmaker came over to propose marriage. However, her parents wanted a very high betrothal gift for their only precious son. Those families who came to propose marriage were frightened away on the spot when they heard about the high betrothal gift. As a result, Chunhua has not had a successful matchmaking session.”

Gu Qingming asked in surprise, “How high a betrothal gift must it be to scare people away?”

“126,000!”

“126,000?” Gu Qingming said in confusion. “That’s not high!”

Second Aunt smiled and said, “Ming’er, this is a rural village, not a rich city like yours. Betrothal gifts here are only around 40,000, at most 60,000. Yet Chunhua’s parents want a betrothal gift of 126,000 dollars. Wouldn’t they scare people away?”

Gu Qingming was a little embarrassed.

She really didn’t mean to say that the betrothal gift wasn’t high.

She just didn’t have this consciousness yet. The standard of living in the countryside was not high.

Even if the standard of living in the countryside was good, it could not compare to her family.

“Then Second Aunt, how old is that Chunhua? How is she now?” Gu Qingming asked curiously.

“Chunhua is 22.” Her second aunt shook her head. “Girls around here are usually married by 20.”

“Ha, so early?” Gu Qingming did not understand. “Why are they getting married so early?”

Speaking of which, she married Lin Haotian at the age of 21 or 22 in her previous life. It was quite early.

“It’s not too early to get married at 20,” his second aunt said. “Some girls graduate from junior high and get married at 15 or 16.”

“At 15 or 16 years old, a girl’s still underage,” Gu Qingming said in confusion. “She shouldn’t be able to get a marriage certificate yet.”

“If you can’t get a marriage certificate, you can get engaged and hold a banquet first. Then, you can have children. When you’re old enough, you can get a marriage certificate,” his second aunt said. “In our generation, many people get married and have children at 15 or 16 years old. They only hold banquets, but they never get a marriage certificate in their lives.”

Gu Qingming was speechless.

Were rural girls actually so pitiful?

At such a young age, they had to get married and have children. There were even some who did not have a guarantee for the rest of their lives.

Her heart could not help but feel a little heavy.

Seeing that Gu Qingming was in bad spirits, the two little fellows skipped over.

They each held Gu Qingming’s hand and said, “Aunt, let’s go. We’ll take you to a fun place.”

Gu Qingming’s slightly depressed mood was quickly lifted by the two innocent little fellows.

She smiled and asked, “Okay. Where are you taking me to play?”

Second Aunt waved her hand and said with a smile, “Go, go. When it’s time for dinner, you can come back. Little Junxuan, Little Jiahao, you have to take good care of Aunt, understand?”

“Yes, Grandma (Second Grandma),” the two little ones replied happily.

Second Aunt immediately said happily, “You guys responded so quickly. It’s Aunt who should be taking care of you.”

“We’ll definitely take good care of Aunt.”

The two little fellows clenched their fists and said firmly.

It was very cute!

“Haha…”