Chapter 23 is Personal Talent

   "Second sister and third sister pickled this! They didn't mean to hide it from elder sister. Don't be angry, elder sister." Seeing the action of elder sister, Su Xiaomei was so frightened that she almost fainted.

  The eldest sister doesn’t know how to pickle pickles, so I don’t let them pickle pickles either. But there was nothing to eat at home, and it was too uncomfortable to eat the corn bread all day long, so the second and third sisters secretly marinated a little.

  Su Xiaomei's words broke Su Wen's illusion about the original body.

   "Second sister, third sister has never played with little swallows since she was a child, so the pickled vegetables are delicious and not smelly."

  Looking at Su Xiaomei's anxious eyes, Su Wen thought of a superstition in the countryside. In the rural areas in the past, girls had to learn how to pickle pickles, make pasta, make dumplings, etc. before they got married.

  Adults say that girls will catch little swallows, and pickled vegetables will stink.

  So the grown-ups all watched, not letting the daughter touch the little swallow.

   This is a superstitious statement, and the root is still in patriarchy. Boys are mischievous, they can climb trees to catch birds and dig out bird nests.

  Girls can't do anything, they can only help with housework at home, feed pigs and chickens, and work in the fields when they are a little older.

   "It's okay, I'm not angry." Su Wen waved her hand, "You fire up the wok, and I'll fry the pickles."

  Pickles are not popular in rural areas. One is that they are eaten for every meal. Many people eat them for a lifetime, and there is no oil or water. But Su Wen's method is different. She doesn't simply take the pickles out of the jar and put them on a plate to eat.

   Instead, wash the pickles first, and wash them several times with clean water. After the salt is gone, cut it up, put a lot of oil in the pot, heat it up, put ginger, spring onions, and peppers and stir-fry.

  The pickles fried with oil and shallots and garlic are completely different from before. Su Xiaomei was bold enough to secretly squeeze a little bit into her mouth while Su Wen wasn't paying attention, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

  Is this... a pickle?

  How can it be so delicious?

  Su Wen pretended not to see Su Xiaomei's greasy mouth, and brought the dinner to the small dining table under the pomegranate tree. It happened that Su Qing and Su Xiu also came back, and the four sisters sat down to eat after washing their hands.

  Su Wen ate slowly, watching the three younger sisters gobble up all of them, and couldn't even speak. So he put down his chopsticks and tapped a few times on the table with his fingers.

   "Knock knock knock..."

  The three stopped at the same time, looking at Su Wen nervously.

   "Sister, I'm sorry, we shouldn't rob you." Su Xiu blushed and bowed her head to apologize.

  Su Wen: "..."

"I'm not angry, and you didn't rob me." She explained helplessly, and then said seriously: "I just want to tell you that you must maintain good etiquette and upbringing when eating. From now on, you must be strict with yourself. As a big sister, I have the responsibility to cultivate you into talents, instead of living a mediocre life. When you are old, you can find a random man in the countryside to marry."

  Su Qing didn't know why, but her face suddenly turned pale.

  She thought of her mother who died in order to give birth to her younger sister. When her mother was still alive, she would wash them clean every day and strictly demand them. They are not allowed to talk about pilaf, and they cannot use chopsticks to turn over the plate when eating.

  Many details, she has long forgotten. Now that I heard the elder sister's words, I suddenly thought that what followed was shame. She is only one year younger than the eldest sister, but she is far inferior to the eldest sister.

  Su Xiu's eyes were full of horror, "Sister, can we also become talents?"

   "Of course." Su Wen nodded confidently. In her opinion, the sisters of the Su family are smart, sensible, hardworking...all of them are talents.

  (end of this chapter)