Chapter 231: Chapter 101 Three Little Pigs_3
"Her conduct behind the inner chambers is profound with propriety, expressing kindness to all her relatives; harmonious within and without, the family’s way is successful."
The elderly Grand Preceptor picked up the sliced fish again, and said indifferently, "After all, it’s only natural for a family to help each other."
...
By mid-September, the air turned crisp and dense, with dew settling into frost.
At night, the grass beneath the windows in the courtyard was coated with a thin layer of snow-white frost. Yin Zheng collected the half-finished orange lantern into a basket and brought it back inside.
Lu Tong sat at the desk combing out her loosened braids, wearing only a thin mid-layer garment that was made too large, making her look even more frail.
Yin Zheng, distressed by the sight, said, "How come I feel the young miss has grown thinner lately? It must be because of being overly busy these days. You are already thin, and now you look like a gust of wind could blow you away." She mused to herself, "Tomorrow I’ll have Dai Sanlang choose some meaty bones to stew for a good meal."
She always paid attention to Lu Tong’s livelihood; Lu Tong lifted her eyes, looking at the reflection in the mirror.
The lady in the mirror had a slender neck and raven hair cascading down her shoulders. Her entire face was no bigger than a palm, excessively delicate, with a pair of quiet, frosty eyes staring back at her.
Perhaps it was because she seldom looked into a mirror during those years at Luomei Peak. Now gazing at the familiar face in the mirror, she felt a certain strangeness.
Yin Zheng, still troubled by her mistress’s thinness, said from behind, "You always eat the same as us... Didn’t you dislike eating when you were little, and that’s why you refuse to put on weight now?"
Disliked eating when she was small?
Lu Tong shook her head, "No, when I was little, I always ate a lot."
Yin Zheng looked doubtful: "Really?"
"Really."
The young lady in the mirror looked at her, her beautiful and graceful face blurred by the lamp’s glow, gradually transforming into another visage—plump, tender, and full of childish innocence.
It was the face of a little girl.
The little girl wore double buns secured with black gold butterflies, her face as delectable as a white, fresh bun. Lu Tong smiled, and the little girl in the mirror smiled back at her, her grin tainted with a bit of sly pride.
Lu Tong’s gaze drifted far away.
She hadn’t lied.
As a child, she had a sweet tooth and always ate a lot. Before leaving Changwu County, Lu Tong had been a chubby girl.
Among the three children in the Lu Family, Lu Rou was elegant and beautiful, and Lu Qian handsome and intellegent. Perhaps heaven had been too generous with the appearance of the first two Lu children, and by the time it came to Lu Tong, there was little grace left.
She was greedy with food—whenever the family bought fruit or sweets, she grabbed the most and felt hungry again quickly, often complaining about being hungry before meals were ready. The neighbors in Changwu County all knew her, and as a young girl with her fetching round face, passersby often gave her peanuts and candied fruits, which made her cheeks even plumper, like a white, steamed bun.
While chubby might suggest good fortune in a child, by adulthood, it doesn’t seem as clever, particularly when compared to Changwu County’s most beautiful elder sister.
Liu Kun’s sons, Liu Zide and Liu Zixian, would mock her behind her back: "Fat pig, watch out or you’ll never get married!"
She learned of their taunts and ran home crying, only to be seen by Lu Qian returning from school. After learning the full story, he went to the Liu Family to fight the brothers.
The fight was fierce, and upon his return, their father made Lu Qian go to the Liu Family to apologize. He also punished both Lu Rou and Lu Tong by making them copy lines—a tradition in the Lu Family: when one made a mistake, all three were punished.
Lu Tong was already feeling aggrieved, and this added to her distress. She copied lines while cursing the Liu brothers and vowed to slim down to her sister’s slender figure within half a year, cutting her daily food in half from that day forth.
However, she became hungry before half a day had passed.
Hungry to the point of seeing stars at night, when her parents had fallen into deep sleep, she couldn’t bear it and stealthily climbed out of bed to search the kitchen for leftovers. Finding none after a thorough search, Lu Rou and Lu Qian came in from outside.
With a woeful face, Lu Tong lamented, "Why is there no leftover rice?"
"It’s your own fault for refusing to eat during the day. Dad gave it all to me," Lu Qian teased her on purpose.
"You!"
"Shh, keep it down," Lu Rou chided Lu Qian with a tap, "Stop teasing her."
Lu Qian pulled out a few sweet potatoes from behind him: "It’s too late for baking. Let’s just roast some sweet potatoes so we don’t wake up mom and dad, or you’ll have to copy lines for a few more days."
The thought of copying lines made Lu Tong’s head ache, so she hurriedly agreed: "Alright, alright, sweet potatoes it is."
Lighting the stove in the kitchen was troublesome, so Lu Qian brought out the warming brazier, placed it by the door, and started a fire. He buried the sweet potatoes in the hot ashes.
The aroma of sweet potatoes slowly filled the kitchen.
Lu Qian used a pair of tongs to fish them out of the fire, while Lu Rou peeled them and handed them to Lu Tong. Leaning against the wall and sitting on the ground, Lu Tong took a bite of the steaming sweet potato, feeling a comforting warmth spread throughout her body.