Chapter Eleven Mistake

  Jiang Nang had been staring at the screen for a while.

  The screen is painted with simple trees and beauties, as well as a line of words.

  Jiangniang looked at this line of words, it was a line of seal script. She moved her lips and slowly read it out loud.

  She stared at the screen, her hand on the armrest slowly sliding, drawing out each word of this line.

  She can read and write, and should be quite proficient, perhaps even very good at it.

  Her fingers were stiff and her brushstrokes completely uncooperative, but in her heart it was flowing smoothly.

  Is this really a fool's memory?

  Can an idiot achieve this just because he's enlightened?

  Who are you?

  Who am I?

  There were footsteps outside the door, and it was Ban Qin who had returned, so Cheng Jiaoniang stopped what she was doing.

  But Ban Jin did not enter immediately, but entered the small kitchen instead.

  The sugar in the pot is caramelized into maltose, and half of the chopped peaches are poured in. After a couple of rolls, they are hastily scooped out and arranged piece by piece on one side to dry.

  Without a mirror, Ban Cui faced the water in the vat and primped for half a day, smoothing her hair again and again, smearing soot on her face, looking quite comical. Ban Cui smiled at herself in the vat, but her eyes still showed obvious signs of crying.

  She furrowed her brow and turned a few times, then simply wiped her hands on her eyes as well. The peach also cooled down. She took a deep breath, picked up the plate and quickly ran into the house.

  "Daughter, daughter, how does this time's dish taste?"

  Jiang Yao looked at her.

  Ban Jin smiled and knelt down, placing the plate on the armrest, using a bamboo skewer to pick up one and handing it to Cheng Jiaoniang's mouth.

  Jiang Nang Zhang mouthful swallowed it in one gulp.

  "How is it?" asked Ban Qin.

  Jiang Nang slowly ate without saying a word.

  Ban Jin didn't rush her, smiling as he watched her eat, while chattering away about how he made it.

  "Good." Chong Jiuniang replied after finishing her meal.

  Xie Tong's happy smile, reached out and touched her face, then pretended to be surprised to find something.

  "Oh no, I have ash on my hand." She said, "Mother, did I wipe it on my face?"

  "Yes." said Jingniang.

  "Oh dear, how embarrassing! But since there's no one else around, I won't wash it off." said Ban Jin with a smile.

  Jiang Nang pursed her lips.

  "Alright." she said.

  Half of the celery was tied with peaches to feed her.

  Jiang Nang ate two and then stopped eating.

  "Will the peach pit stay?" she suddenly asked.

  Ban Jin nodded slightly.

  "What else would you like to eat?" she asked.

  "Crack it open and take out the peach kernel," said Cheng Jiaoniang. "Take a pestle to pound it into mush, and bring it over to me."

  Half of the celery didn't ask anything and responded with a voice, then turned around and left.

  On the floor, a trail of footprints was left by socks stained with mud.

  Jiang Yao's gaze passed by.

  "Girl, is this okay?" asked Ban Qin, sitting in front of her shelling peach kernels and occasionally asking a question.

  Jiang Yao leaned against the window frame with her eyes closed, cultivating her spirit.

  "Is there still ginger?" she asked.

  Half of the celery nodded and said yes.

  "Take it and scrape off the skin with chopsticks." said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  He nodded and followed her words.

  "Girl, do you want just the ginger skin and not the ginger?" She carefully scraped off a layer of the ginger skin into a bowl as she asked.

  "Don't," said Jingniang, closing her eyes and listening for a moment. "Alright."

  Bàn qín tíng xià shǒu, dài zhe jǐ fēn xī wàng.

  English Translation:

  Halfway through the celery, he stopped with a few expectations.

  "Daughter, what should I do? Stir-fry, boil or deep-fry?" she asked.

  Jiangniang stretched out her hand.

  "Come," she said.

  Ban Jin moved forward slightly with some confusion.

  "Come." Chong Jiuniang said again.

  Ban Jin hugged the bowl and sat down, facing Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Jiangniang used one hand to hold her sleeve and with the other hand scooped a piece of rice paste from the bowl, then smeared it on Ban Cai's face.

  Bàn qín was startled and felt a chill, with some numbness and stinging pain.

  "Daughter?" she exclaimed in surprise.

  Jiang Niang didn't say a word, and continued to dig out another piece to slowly wipe her face, slowly smoothening it out, wiping the left side first then the right.

  The celery gradually stopped moving, and big tears rolled down one by one. Soon, the tears became more and more, washing away the grayish-black paste on her face.

  Jiangniang wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

  "Wait until you've finished wiping your tears and then cry again, otherwise, you'll have to remake a bowl." she said.

  She bit her lip and forced herself to hold back tears.

  "Girl, don't use your sleeve, it's getting dirty." she said.

  Jiang Nian nodded slightly.

  "It's nothing, it's just your sleeve," she said.

  Ban Jin suddenly let out a sound, and only then did she lower her head to see that it was indeed her own sleeve. She couldn't help but laugh again.

  "My daughter." she cried, with a sob and a smile.

  When night fell, Ban Jin looked in the mirror and her face was as white and tender as ever.

  "Daughter," she exclaimed happily, "it's going so well!"

  Jiangniang lay on the bed, seemingly asleep.

  "Girl." Ban Jin knew she wasn't asleep, and was kneeling on the bedding under the bed, with her hair loose, "You're really something, girl."

  "I can bring a dead man back to life, what are these two slaps of yours?" said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  When she mentioned two slaps, Ban Jin's emotions were somewhat downcast, and she leaned against the edge of Cheng Jiaoniang's bed.

  "Girl, why did they hit me?" She muttered resentfully, "I didn't do anything."

  "It's because you have what they don't, but you refuse to use it for them, so this is your fault," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Half understanding and half not.

  Jiang Yao's words came out of her mouth, and she herself was stunned. The rumbling sound appeared in her mind again.

  You're too good, you're too good, so... you should die...

  She involuntarily stretched out her hand to grasp her collar, panting heavily.

  Ban Jin was startled and hastily knelt up straight, helping her smooth out her chest, repeatedly calling out "wife".

  Fortunately, this time Cheng Jiao didn't faint again, she gasped for a moment and slowly calmed down.

  This time it's not the same sad feeling as last time, but anger.

  The pain of anger is more painful than the pain of sadness. This kind of pain won't make her faint, but will only keep her awake.

  "Daughter." Half of the celery cried out, "It's all the fault of the slave."

  "It's wrong," said Jingniang, exhaling a long breath, "it's wrong."

  "Yes, I was wrong." Ban Jin cried, wiping away tears with her sleeve.

  She thought that sentence was wrong, but her mouth was too lazy to move, so she didn't say anything.

  After drinking a few mouthfuls of water and calming down repeatedly, Ban Jin supported Cheng Jiaoniang to lie down again.

  The night grew darker, and even the chirping of insects subsided.

  Ban Jin carefully knelt for half a day, making sure that Cheng Jiaoniang was safe and sound, before lying down.

  "You're wrong," said Jingniang suddenly.

  At this time, Ban Jin was already drowsy and about to fall asleep with starry eyes, but she was startled and opened her eyes again.

  "Ah?" She didn't react for a moment, and it wasn't until she was stunned that she thought of her daughter answering her own words just now, feeling both amused and tearful.

  "You were wrong." Jingniang continued, looking at the night sky, "At that time you shouldn't have said so many things yourself."

  "What should be done with that slave?" asked Ban Jin in confusion.

  "She said, I don't make decisions myself, let them come find me," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  "Why?" asked Ban Cai, becoming even more perplexed, "How can we shift the blame onto our mother's body?"

  "Because I am your wife," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  It seems like Bàn Xīn understood and yet didn't understand at the same time.

  But what his wife said was always right, she hummed in agreement, nodded heavily, waited for a moment until Madame Chiang stopped talking, then lay down.

  Although she didn't quite understand, for some reason she felt at ease, rubbed her head against the pillow, took a deep breath and comfortably closed her eyes.

  "There's more," said Chiang Niu, "I'm a fool."

  A fool does everything with good reason.

  This time there was no hesitation from Qian Jin, and in response to her were gentle snores.

  The toilet is silent again, all things are quiet and still.

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