A skill is like a rice bowl. Regardless of how close you are with someone, you don’t give away your rice bowl so easily.
“Call me Sister and I’ll teach you.”
“Dream on.” Sheng An rolled her eyes before picking up her pile of clothes and walking off.
When Sheng An was a child, she loved to follow Sheng Ning everywhere and call her Sister. Unfortunately, all she got in return was Sheng Ning’s scorn and ridicule; Sheng Ning hated this extra burden her stepmother had brought along with her. As a result, Sheng An never called her Sister again.
Sheng Ning rubbed her nose and could only laugh bitterly.
Sheng Third and Shen Luhua came back after a long day’s work in the fields, and Sheng Ning prepared a basin of water for them to wash their faces and placed it in the central room.
Sheng Third nodded his head in approval, while Shen Luhua was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Ningning, you don’t have to trouble yourself,” she said. “I can do it.”
Sheng Ning placed the face towel in the water basin. “It’s fine.” She straightened up and said with a smile, “You worked hard in the fields all day. I’ll go with you one of these days to help pull the weeds.”
“No way! You can’t do such rough chores.” Shen Luhua looked at her soft and fair skin and couldn’t bear to subject her to that.
Sheng An, who was wiping the table off, said resentfully, “Mom, was I found among the garbage? Are you even my biological mother? You’re always yelling at me to do those same chores, but when she volunteers on her own, you tell her no?”
“Shut up, you wench.” Shen Luhua glared at Sheng An sternly. Terrified, Sheng An quietly went back to cleaning the table.
“D*mn wench! Why are you wiping it so hard? Did the table do something to offend you?”
“Fine! I’ll just sweep the floor, then!” Sheng An huffed as she flung the cloth down and went out to the yard to find a broom.
Seeing them bicker, Sheng Ning wanted to intervene, but on second thought, she realized they were arguing because of her, and getting involved would only make her seem fake and like she was taking advantage of the situation. It wasn’t at all appropriate for her to say something.
She picked up the cloth and wiped the table again. Then, she went into the kitchen and brought out the dishes she prepared earlier: Chinese cabbage dumplings, and flatbread that she baked in the afternoon. There wasn’t much oil or water in the dumplings, but they tasted delicious nonetheless. This was especially true of the flatbread. It was baked to tasty perfection; just looking at it was enough to whet a person’s appetite.
Sheng Third ate three pieces of flatbread in a row and complimented his daughter. “Your cooking skills are really good, Daughter.”
“Ningning, eat a little more.” Shen Luhua placed some of the soybean sprouts from lunch’s leftovers into Sheng Ning’s bowl.
“Thank you, Mom!”
“Sure!” Shen Luhua was overjoyed, and she looked at her with a smile.
Sheng An wanted to throw a word in, but when she raised her head and saw how happy her mother looked, she changed her mind. She lowered her head and took a large, forceful bite out of the flatbread.
When Sheng Ning was young, she relentlessly bullied Shen Luhua. Sheng An secretly witnessed her mother crying alone in the kitchen many times, but she knew it wasn’t easy being a stepmother, so she had no choice but to suppress her resentment toward Sheng Ning.
After dinner, Sheng Ning gathered everyone together.
“Father, I’ve decided that I’m going to teach all of you how to grow bean sprouts. During the fair, you can sell them and make a little extra money.”
“Will anyone buy them?” Shen Luhua asked hesitantly.
“Soybeans are cheap. Everyone can afford them, and it doesn’t cost much to sprout them. We can give it a try. But growing bean sprouts in the summer is tricky, and if you don’t learn how to do it properly, it’s really easy to spoil the soybeans.”
Shen Luhua was worried about wasting food and immediately objected to the idea. “In that case, let’s not learn it at all! We can’t afford to waste any soybeans!”
“I think it’s doable.” Sheng An’s eyes were shining. If Sheng Ning was willing to teach her, what reason did she have not to learn? It wasn’t as if she was stupid. “I’ll do it. I want to learn it! I’m confident that I’ll be able to do it without wasting any soybeans.”
“Mom, I’ll teach An’an well. I’m sure she’ll be able to do it.” Sheng Ning nodded her head approvingly at Sheng An.
This time around, for the first time, Sheng An didn’t roll her eyes at her.