Goldfield
Chapter 26: Reputation

Old Yu took one serving of sauteed eggplant with garlic. Because his teeth began to come out of his mouth, he likes to eat soft foods like eggplant stir-fry, without realizing he devoured almost half a plate of eggplant alone.

After hearing Yu Hai's opinion, the old man also felt satisfied with his food, naturally not giving his praise. "Yes yes! It tastes so good! Xiaocao from our family has talent, her cooking skills are better than her mother. Xiaocao's mother managed to raise him. There is a proverb - the student has surpassed the teacher. Third son, is that how it goes?"

Old Yu was quite proud of the sentence he remembered and thought highly of himself. He held his beard as he took a sip of wine and slapped his lips in relief. Our Yu family is quite cultured!

"Dad, you said it perfectly. Yet all Xiaocao dishes were fried in oil. Our family usually only boiled vegetables with a little salt. No fat is added, so of course not as tasty as vegetables fried in oil. In the future our family should cook vegetables this way!"

After finally eating a satisfying meal at his family home, his third son, Yu Bo was in a good mood and closed his father's glass.

Old Yu shook his head after he heard what his son said, "You should know your mother's personality. If we buy pork every day to make lard, it will hurt his stingy heart more than cutting his meat directly!"

At this point, Yu Hai interrupted, "We don't need to use lard, vegetable oil can be used instead. Didn't our family keep some dried soybeans from last year? We can take them to the oil plant in exchange for soybean oil to cook. Food cooked with oil should still taste good."

If they used soybeans as a trade and not money, maybe his wife would be more willing? Old Yu carefully calculated the possibility of his wife agreeing to this.

When Yu Bo saw how happy everyone was at home eating food cooked with oil, he reconsidered their circumstances. Choking on emotion, he could not help but put down his father's chopsticks and mndesak calmly, " Dad if others find out that our family is feeling too heavy for my educational interests, can I still be in the academy again? Will no one really reveal this? Dad, please advise mom not to be stingy. There's been people gossiping behind my back.."

Scholars highly value their reputation. Yu Bo had heard bad rumors about himself, such as 'He lived in a big manor in the city, ate and drank well, he said, while parents and siblings at home should count some of the many pancakes made with coarse grains they can eat, every meal..' His main goal again this time was to persuade his mother to stop being stingy for the sake of his reputation and to stop the rumour-makers from discrediting him. But as for her son she was very familiar with Madam Zhang's temperament. Therefore, he could only talk about it with his father and have him discuss the situation with his mother.

The lady knew it was always hoping that she could finish off half a copper coin for something that cost one. He was stingy to everyone in the family, including himself, and always limit how much food people can eat.The sons of both are on the verge of starvation with their bone-clad skin and their gait is unstable. Old Yu usually turned a blind eye to his wife's miserly ways.

However, if his savings started to affect their son's reputation, then it couldn't continue! Their youngest son is destined to become an official, and it will be disastrous if his wife's miserly ways cause his son to miss the opportunity, Old Yu reaches a resolution and decides he needs to talk to his wife about the situation.

That night under the lights, the old couple discussed their situation. For the sake of her son, Madam Zhang clearly did not mind. The next day, the old woman went to the oil factory herself and swapped half a sack of soybeans for a pitcher full of soybean oil. In addition, he no longer limited how much coarse grain pancakes people ate.

Without strict restrictions, the family food warehouse naturally disappeared faster. Madam Zhang's heart trembled at the rising expenditure and inwardly shouted, 'Who is spewing nonsense. I wish a mouse would go and eat his tongue!'

The people who benefited the most with this change, of course, were Yu Xiaocao and the rest of the second branch. At least now, everyone in the family, big and small can eat until full. Moreover these few days Yu Xiaocao would intercept and take the hunted produce from his father to eat by himself. Slowly the members of the second branch began to develop.

Sometimes Zhao Han divided the meat he caught from his trap to give the children extra food. They also often loot small white fish in the river.

For most people, wild fish were slippery and difficult to catch, but Yu Xiaocao never had any trouble harvesting fish. Although in Zhao Han's heart felt strange, he never tried to figure out how the little girl caught fish.

Teenage boys can always eat more than older ones. In fishing villages near the sea, boys and girls, in addition to collecting seafood or tending to the yard garden, are of little use.

For the sake of the reputation of her youngest son and future career, Madam Zhang's heart ached greatly as she increased the food rations for her family. Two months after the change, family spending more than doubled.

The increased expenditure combined with entering menopause caused Madam Zhang to hate everyone she saw. When the man goes to sea, if the old woman does not scold the adults, she hits the children. Complaints came out of him in an endless stream.

During the meal, Madam Zhang barely managed to stem her weakness in an attempt to calm the egos of the men. But his eyes were swirling like daggers. Anyone who takes an extra flatbread will get the hate spotlight. He naturally hoped that his daughter-in-law and their group of brats would wisely eat less.

But her hope was in vain, her eldest daughter-in-law would not know wisdom even if it hit her face. As long as there was food on the table, he would eat it. His eldest grandson passed on his mother's habits and devoured food at the table as if he were a starving animal.

Although his second son-in-law had a weak and timid personality, his two daughters were nothing like their mother. Although Madam Zhang was going to glare at them until she felt her eyes were about to pop out and her wajh was about to explode, the two boys ignored her as if nothing had happened. HIf they could not give their mother pancakes anymore, they would take one pore of sayutran for their brothers again.

Now that there is oil added to their food, it does not matter whether the dish is boiled or fried, the taste of all the food has improved tremendously. Each meal led by the family of his eldest son, became a brawl to snatch as much food as possible. Those who have sluggish hands will not be able to take the leftovers off the plate.

The second hand of the chit flew so fast on the table that one could only see its shadow. After their hands stopped, their craven mother who never dared to take food, the grumpy older brother and the youngest brother, all bowls were full of food. Not only were his two grandchildren taking food for their families, but their own appetites were also voracious. Seeing all this made Madam Zhang's heart flutter.

In the past, with only the mischievous Xiaolian, it was easy enough for Madam Zhang to hit the girl a few times and then ask the brat to obey her. Now that there was an additional troublemaker, Yu Xiaocao became more difficult to maintain discipline due to the pain in his nails, but yelling at him was enough to 'scare' him into unconsciousness.

The situation that happened before his third son and his family left was a perfect example of the difference now. At that time three stew baskets containing steamed scrolls had been brought to the table. Little Hell immediately transferred one to his mother, and also gave two portions to his two male relatives who had not even sat down. He acted as if he was the master of the house!

Madam Zhang really can't stand this kind of offense anymore. Her personality never received any humiliation while sitting down, so when her anger flared up, the old woman patted your bench with her heavy hands. But before Madam Zhang could open her mouth to begin shouting, the little boy's eyes rolled to the back of her head and fell unconscious.