Two small crucian carp, Chen Jie brought them to the well, fetched some water, and used a knife to cut open their bellies, removing the internal organs, wiping away the blood near the bones, peeling off the black membrane, and scraping clean the scales and mucus on their bodies.
This way, the fish soup wouldn't have any fishy smell.
Chen Jie was excellent at cooking. Back when he had just left school, he worked as an apprentice in a restaurant for a while, so he knew his way around basic dishes.
Not far away, Ruirui squatted and watched Chen Jie, her eyes full of curiosity. Could the bad brother-in-law actually cook?
Seeing Ruirui so absorbed, Chen Jie smiled and waved at her. Ruirui shook her head, hesitating to come closer. But when Chen Jie waved again, Ruirui hesitated for a moment. Reluctantly, her curiosity won out over her wariness about the fish soup, and she approached.
Chen Jie smiled and said, "Ruirui, why is your sister crying?"
Ruirui froze for a moment before responding, "It used to be because you hit her. But today, um... Ruirui doesn't know. It's just that when you scolded those bad people outside, my sister started crying."
After listening to this, Chen Jie asked, "How do you know those people are bad?"
Ruirui said, "They always talk behind my sister's back, calling her a jinx who cursed Dad and Granny Chen to death. That's why she cried."
"Oh."
Chen Jie nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.
*A woman, in this rural place where rumors could crush a person, without a man to stand up for her—it's no wonder her life was so bitter.*
Chen Jie continued washing the fish. At that moment, Ruirui suddenly broke the silence.
"Brother-in-law."
"Hmm?"
Chen Jie looked at Ruirui, who stared at him seriously and said, "Can you promise not to hit my sister anymore?"
Chen Jie's expression stiffened. Then he saw Ruirui, as if summoning all her courage, say, "If… if you really can't resist hitting someone, you can hit Ruirui instead…"
Hearing this, Chen Jie gave a bitter smile. *These sisters really had a tough life.*
Using the back of his clean hand, Chen Jie gently rubbed Ruirui's head and said, "Alright, brother-in-law promises you: I won't hit your sister anymore. No one is allowed to hit her from now on."
"Mm."
Upon hearing this, Ruirui grinned joyfully and stretched out her small hand.
Chen Jie: "What are you doing?"
"Let's pinky swear."
Ruirui spoke with her childlike voice, smiling as she watched him. Chen Jie wiped his hands with a cloth and said, "Alright, come here."
Their two little pinkies hooked together.
"Pinky swear, hang it upside down, no changes for a hundred years."
"Seal it with a stamp."
Their thumbs met, completing a childishly solemn promise.
At that moment, Su Yunjin, her eyes red from crying, walked out of the house and saw this harmonious scene. For a fleeting moment, she felt as though she was looking at her younger self and her father. A faint smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
Ruirui pulled her hand back, feeling like she had accomplished something important. Turning around, she saw her sister, and her face lit up as she dashed toward her.
"Sister!"
Su Yunjin picked her up, and Ruirui whispered, "Sister, I just made a promise with brother-in-law."
"What kind of promise?"
Su Yunjin asked, but before she could get an answer, Chen Jie interjected, "Ruirui, promises are supposed to be secrets. You can't tell anyone, alright?"
Ruirui straightened her face and then replied seriously to Su Yunjin, "Yes, promises should stay secret. I won't tell you, sister."
Hearing this, Su Yunjin became intrigued. Just what kind of promise could be so mysterious?
Ruirui, however, maintained an expression that said, "My lips are sealed; I won't tell you anything," which amused Su Yunjin. She couldn't help but playfully pinch Ruirui's nose.
Chen Jie finished washing the fish. Su Yunjin walked over and said, "Let me do it."
Chen Jie said, "No need. When it comes to simmering fish soup, I'm the expert."
As he spoke, Chen Jie said, "Does the house have any scallions, ginger, or garlic?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin shook her head and said, "No."
Chen Jie froze for a moment but didn't say much. He walked over to the stove and noticed the wild vegetables picked today, which included a few wild scallions. Thinking it over, he said to Su Yunjin, "Wash the scallions. Give me the roots, and mince the scallion leaves."
"By the way—is there any lard at home?"
"Adding a little lard to fish soup makes it taste even better."
Su Yunjin shook her head; there wasn't even enough grain at home, let alone luxury items like lard.
Lard, essentially rendered pork fat, was the only way for people like them to supplement their diets with oil and fat in this era. It was incredibly expensive—something beyond Chen Jie's family's means.
Chen Jie sighed and then looked at the meager amount of rapeseed oil left. This was the only cooking oil the household had.
*This really was a home stripped bare.*
Chen Jie said, "Alright, just cut the scallions."
He poured the rapeseed oil into the pot, heated it, seared the fish on both sides until golden, sautéed the scallion roots, then added hot water. The only seasoning was coarse salt.
Staring at the pot of creamy white fish soup, Chen Jie became lost in thought.
*The biggest challenge right now was survival. The family's meager three acres of fertile land had already been lost to gambling, and there wasn't a single grain of food left in the house.*
*To make matters worse, there were now three mouths to feed, including himself.*
*The most important thing right now was figuring out how to keep everyone fed. It would be a pathetic fate to have survived traveling through time only to starve to death.*
*Without land or production resources, the path of a self-sufficient farmer was no longer an option.*
*The only viable routes now were entrepreneurship or manual labor.*
Chen Jie briefly considered producing items like glass, soap, refined salt, and white sugar, but he quickly dismissed these ideas.
*The world revolved around martial arts.*
According to his memories, this was a world where strength was revered. Not only in small counties, but even in larger cities, guilds operated on equal footing with the government.
Take the two largest guilds in Mianshui County: the Fishing Guild and Guild Cao.
The Fishing Guild controlled all the village fisheries in Mianshui County, as well as the trade of aquatic products in town, alongside other industries within the city.
The Guild Cao, on the other hand, managed transportation at the docks and operated related businesses within the city.
Together, these two guilds held a monopoly over the county's economy.
Even the County Magistrate had to show courtesy to the leaders of these guilds.
For the ordinary folks of Mianshui County, the only path to escaping their socioeconomic class was to join a guild. If one could earn recognition, becoming a minor leader, then they'd become someone of status in the county.
In this world, survival meant integrating into a guild, much like the Green Guild's dominance in the Shanghai Beach of old.
As for pursuing the imperial exam to become an official? Forget it. The Daqian Empire, established after the Northern Mulan people defeated Qian Song, explicitly forbade Han people from taking the civil service exams or holding government positions.
This decree effectively closed the door for scholars. It was the reason why Su Yunjin's father, despite being educated, never received official recognition or respect.