I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 80: You are a very good person

Yuan Xiu wore the gold ring and gold necklace for a while before taking them off and stuffing them into the deepest part of the wardrobe in a small red cloth bag.

While sorting through the New Year's gifts sent by Ms. An, she was thinking about what to make and send. With these, she only needed to buy a few other things to make what she wanted.

Because she was thinking too much, she didn't even realize Jiang Zhou's hand was reaching out when the lights were off at night. It wasn't until she had almost taken off all her clothes that she remembered the words she wanted to say to Jiang Zhou to be more restrained.

...Let's think about it and try to persuade them again tomorrow.

……

Jiang Zhou thought Yuan Xiu would send him some snacks like radish cakes, fried peanuts, and fermented rice wine. But when he saw her busy preparing things in the kitchen on his day off, he realized he knew too little about his wife.

"What's this for?" Jiang Zhou asked, pointing to a large bowl of glutinous rice flour that Yuan Xiu had prepared.

He knew what sugar was for; he guessed it was for making sweets.

"And what's the purpose of chopping the red dates and walnuts into such small pieces?"

"To make red date and walnut cloud cake, could you help me tend the fire?"

While instructing Jiang Zhou, Yuan Xiu poured glutinous rice flour into a bowl, added appropriate amounts of white sugar, warm water, red dates, and chopped walnuts, and began stirring.

Once the water in the large pot started to boil, Yuan Xiu placed the entire bowl of seasoned glutinous rice flour into the steamer.

"Don't let the fire get too big."

After giving Jiang Zhou her instructions, she went on to do other things.

Jiang Zhou saw her putting rice on the stove to fry, "...Are you planning to send fried rice?"

Yuan Xiu glanced at him. "Why would I send fried rice? I'm making rice puffs, and the first step is to fry the rice into puffs..."

After frying the rice, Yuan Xiu started frying peanuts. She fried the peanuts until they were so soft that they could be crushed with a pinch, then put them in a cloth bag and had Jiang Zhou crush them.

At this time, the cloud cakes in the steamer are also ready.

Wearing gloves, Yuan Xiu carefully poured the steamed, soft white pastries from the bowl onto the cutting board. Holding a cleaver in one hand and pressing the other hand against the scalding hot pastries, she quickly began to cut them.

She divided the white, basin-shaped pastry into several large pieces, and then cut them into thin slices like bamboo strips.

Only at this moment is the cloud cake considered complete.

Yuan Xiu offered the first piece to Jiang Zhou's lips, "Try it."

Jiang Zhou opened his mouth.

"How is it?" Seeing that Jiang Zhou hadn't answered, Yuan Xiu felt a little uneasy. "Is it not good?"

Has her skill declined?

Jiang Zhou shook his head and then nodded, "It's sweet but not cloying, and the texture is soft and chewy—it tastes better than the pastries you buy outside!"

Yuan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought it wouldn't taste good."

She tried a piece and found it quite delicious. Nowadays, pastries are too sweet. When resources are scarce, everyone loves sweets and doesn't like anything that isn't sweet.

The one she made had half the sugar, making it suitable for older people.

Her mother-in-law definitely doesn't lack sugar.

There's no need to make anything too sweet for her.

After making the cloud cake, Yuan Xiu continued making rice candy, and the large stove was conveniently freed up to stir-fry sugar.

After heating the pot, first pour in an appropriate amount of rapeseed oil, then add white sugar and water to make sugar syrup.

"Small fire."

Jiangzhou pulled out two pieces of firewood.

"A little smaller..."

Jiang Zhou pulled out another piece of firewood, leaving only a few embers in the stove. He couldn't help but look up at Yuan Xiu. The steam from the stove made her fair face flushed, and her eyes shone like stars in the night sky.

Three meals a day, all year round.

Wife, kids, and a warm bed...

"What are you looking at?"

Yuan Xiu glanced at him; his eyes were fixed on her, making it impossible for her to ignore them.

She couldn't hold back any longer; if he kept staring at her, her face would turn red.

"Ahem." Jiang Zhou cleared his throat. "Nothing, I just think you're very capable."

This was Jiang Zhou's honest opinion; he genuinely thought Yuan Xiu was very capable.

When she first arrived, he could see the confusion in her heart and the deep-seated lack of self-confidence she carried.

She changed in no time, and a new drive emerged in her.

If you say you want to learn traditional Chinese medicine, then you study it seriously and never slack off for a single day.

She even read those boring textbooks one after another, her desire to learn culture was comparable to that of students preparing for college entrance exams back then.

She also takes such good care of her family, attending to every detail.

Jiangzhou couldn't find a place where she couldn't work.

Yuan Xiu blushed, truly embarrassed by Jiang Zhou's praise.

"Then I will humbly accept your praise!"

This was the first time Jiang Zhou had ever heard her make a witty remark, and he couldn't help but laugh. "You're not being modest at all."

"You're really hard to please. You were the one praising me, not me asking you to. I accepted it and you're still not humble? What does it mean to be humble? Do I have to say, 'Oh, no, no, you flatter me,' before I'm humbled?"

Jiang Zhou nodded: "That's how it's traditionally said."

"Then let me praise you, Battalion Commander Jiang. You're quite capable! You're educated, strong, know how to start a fire, and can even cook."

Jiang Zhou: "...You might as well not have praised me at all."

Yuan Xiu suppressed a laugh, "Mainly because I can't see anything else. Let me praise you a bit more. You're generous and willing to spend money on your wife. Even the sales clerks at the department store know that."

Jiang Zhou: "Barely acceptable."

"Is this barely acceptable?"

"reluctantly."

"What a wonderful wife you are!" Yuan Xiu praised earnestly. "Jiang Zhou, I really feel like I made the right choice to come to the army to marry you. You are a very good person."

Jiang Zhou's eyes darkened instantly. "...It's very pleasing to the ear."

The couple's "praise session" officially ended when the rice candy was ready.

Both parties were very satisfied.

Especially in Jiangzhou, Yuan Xiu's words were very pleasing to the ear, and the rice candy was delicious, sweet and cloying.

In addition to rice candy and cloud cake, Yuan Xiu also made a nourishing red date and walnut cake with walnuts and red dates, which has a completely different taste from cloud cake.

She bought kraft paper, wrapped each item in it, and then took half of the cured meat and sausages she had made herself, asking Jiang Zhou to send them out together.

She made quite a lot, sending half of it home and keeping the other half as New Year's goods for her family.

With the gifts from Ms. An, the two of them didn't need to buy anything for the New Year and were able to live a very comfortable life.

The closer it gets to the end of the year, the busier the hospital becomes.

Yuan Xiu followed Hao Jia as she climbed up and down, sorting through medicinal herbs and documents, running back and forth between the warehouse and the pharmacy. Despite the cold weather, she was working up a cold sweat.

"Xiao Yuan, why are you all sweaty? Are you feeling unwell? If you are, you should tell me. This is a hospital, it's just a short walk away." Hao Jia took the form from Yuan Xiu and asked with some concern.

Yuan Xiu shook her head: "No, I'm just a little tired..."

Before she could even finish saying the word "tired," everything went black, and she collapsed towards the medicine cabinet.

"Little Yuan!"