Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 45: The flavor I’ve been waiting for!

Chapter 44

The flavor I’ve been waiting for!

Tianchen clung to Huan Tan and refused to let go until his brother gave him a knock on the head, causing a bump. That’s when he finally let go and sat with a sulky face. Huan Tan had to go get a big lump of sugarcane sugar to bring him back to smiles, looking like a delighted madman.

"Did you really bring this sugar lump for him?" Tianrong asked, tiredly.

"My wife brought it, thinking we might use it to cook," Huan Tan replied, amused.

After getting the sugar lump, Tianchen dashed into the kitchen. He crushed the sugar into small pieces and stuffed it into his round-faced niece’s mouth.

"HM!" Xiaolin’s eyes widened as the sweetness of the sugarcane sugar melted in her mouth, making her nod vigorously with pleasure.

"Where did you get this from?" The little mouth opened to accept more sugar offered by her uncle.

"It was Big Brother who brought it. Is it sweet?"

Xiaolin frowned when her uncle mentioned Big Brother, but realizing he was the only tall male guest, she nodded.

"Hurry and take the dishes out, uncle," the plump figure jittered slightly in good spirits, feeling happy after getting a dose of sweetness.

"Can’t I finish this sugar lump first?" Tianchen closed his eyes, savoring the sweetness.

"Others are waiting to eat, Uncle."

"Not even for a moment?"

"No, Uncle."

"Is that Xiao Chen?" Huan Qingqing turned to look at the young man with a neat face.

Tianchen blinked before breaking into a broad smile.

"Sister!" Huan Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction.

"You’ve grown up into a young man now," she handed him a plate of stir-fried water spinach, which he took with a shy face before carrying the plate outside.

The meal was served in the hall, and everyone started to dig into lunch. The one who seemed to enjoy the food the most appeared to be Huan Tan. He went for three servings of rice, leaving the gluttonous men of the Tang household, including Huan Qingqing and the twins, open-mouthed in astonishment.

"Do you always eat this much?" Xiaolin leaned to whisper to the person beside her.

"No, but the food today is delicious," Huan Tan whispered back.

"So delicious that you need three servings of rice?"

"Well, these rice bowls are so small, four or five scoops, and it’s gone," they whispered back and forth for a while before sitting up straight as Hui Song turned to ask them.

"Are you from another town? Xiaolin mentioned you’re a merchant, right?"

"Yes, Uncle, we come from Jingnan," Huan Tan replied.

"Oh, the neighboring town. Are you here in Jiangnan for business?"

"Not really. I’m just touring with my wife and son," Hui Song nodded in understanding.

Xiaolin tugged at the big man’s sleeve next to her, Huan Tan just looked confused. The round child puffed up before mouthing something towards her father.

Huan Tan quietly went "oh" and looked over at Tianrong, who was engaged in conversation with someone else, then turned back, raising his eyebrows in question again at the chubby child beside him. Xiaolin nodded at him until her bangs fluttered.

"A’Rong, I’d like to visit the docks for a bit, could you take me?" He spoke to the person across but glanced at the chubby-cheeked child. Seeing her smile until her eyes closed, he felt understood.

"The docks?" Tianrong responded. "I can take you, but when would you like to go?"

"Right now."

"I’ll come too!" Tianchen raised his hand enthusiastically, smiling so wide that all his teeth were almost showing.

"Why would you want to go?" Tianrong asked his brother.

"Just for fun, Big Brother. I’ve never been to the docks before."

"We’ll go another time. I need to take Brother Tan on an errand."

"Big brother, I want to go too," the young boy leapt to sit beside Huan Tan and hugged his strong arm. Tianrong saw this and slapped his forehead.

This kid, what’s with him?

"I want to go too, father," Ching Lang said.

"Me too," Ching Long added.

"I want to go too!" Xiaolin also added.

"No," Tianrong instantly refused, causing Xiaolin to pout.

"I want to go too."

"Why would you go? Huh? Do you remember what happened last time?" Tianrong poked his daughter’s little nose.

"I won’t be naughty."

"Even if you’re not naughty, you can’t go."

The chubby child crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks in a sulk, and stared at her father for a while. He showed no signs of relenting, so she turned to the tall man beside her for help.

Huan Tan watched the chubby child blink rapidly at him, then looked at her father’s face, which Tianrong shook to indicate he shouldn’t permit it. The young man, surrounded by four clingy "monkeys," sighed.

"Fine, let’s all go then."

"Yay!"

Two ke later, the round Xiaolin, now in a new pink outfit with her hair styled like a bao bun matching her chubby cheeks, was neatly ready. She rested her chin on the window sill of the carriage, looking out at the landscape where trees were starting to sprout young leaves.

Her only goal for the day was the beloved fish sauce she had been dreaming of since before the winter. Today, she was determined to bring home her golden fish sauce treasure!

Initially, Tianrong didn’t want his daughter to come for fear she might rush to strangers again. However, the chubby child wailed and wheedled Huan Tan for a long time. Once the young man agreed, Tianrong didn’t dare say anything more. Moreover, Tianchen and the twins also begged to come along.

After traveling for about an hour, they arrived at a large dock. Though winter hadn’t fully passed, the dock was bustling. After parking their carriage, the entire group entered the market next to the dock, with the most excited being the round child in the pink outfit.

The four who were following Huan Tan saw him moving quickly ahead and hurried to catch up. When they noticed he had stopped in front of a stall run by foreigners, they looked puzzled.

Xiaolin then jumped to tightly grab Huan Tan’s thick hand, shocking him and her father, but the naughty child did not care. She was still smiling and looking around with excitement.

“If I walked with dad, he’d definitely stop me. This is good, hehe.”

"Hey, your father has been staring at me so much I’m rotting apart." said Huan Tan as he clenched his teeth, glancing at Tianrong who was following him with a grim expression.

The girl’s round face looked at the environment full of local and foreign shops around her. There were so many people walking around, it was hard to gasp. Some were dressed similar to what she was familiar and some were unique. There were tall people with golden hair, tall pale people with black hair, people with headscarves and long breads, and more, both men and women. Even the brothel was open during the day. She did not actually see the brothel but women dressed in hot colors with red lips, trying to talk to men walking by.

Not far from here was a large pier with dozens of ships docking. The ship sizes varied from medium to bigger than someone’s house. Some ships even had workers transporting things up and down all the time. It all seemed so chaotic and constantly loud.

Xiaolin saw various different spice shops she did not know of. There were also clothing stores, laminate shops, brassware shops, accessory shops, herb shops, and galore! She then regretted not paying attention to her Asian history classes, it was now too late. All she could do was move on and look for something else she was more familiar with instead.

“There!” The chubby girl jumped up and down with her chubby little fingers pointing at a group of short-haired folks lifting things and some were watching a pot of soup.

“There it is, indeed” Huan Tian looked in the same direction with excitement. He hurriedly walked towards the group of people in front of him before realizing that there was a round figure tagging along with him, causing him to bend over and pick up the girl before continuing his walk.

“Achhh, old man, let go of mee” Xiaolin struggled. How dared this tall man carry her like a side pillow?

“Brother, big brother took Xiaolin that way” Tianchen informed his brother while pointing at the two.

The following four individuals sped up their pace as they saw Huan Tan sped up his pace. Confused, seeing that he stopped at a foreign stall.

Chubby Xiaolin was placed on the ground with her expression so obviously upset but as soon as she saw the people before her were the ones she was looking for and the fermented fish jars near her, she did a little dance.

“Why are these people staring at us like this?” Said a man in a familiar language, causing Huan Tan and Xiaolin to look at each other with thrill.

"Maybe they want to buy something. You should ask them," suggested another man, nudging a companion who was sitting polishing a clay pot on a stove.

"Do you wish to buy something?" asked a thin man, approaching them and inquiring in the dialect of the Daqing region, though it was somewhat difficult to understand.

Xiaolin tugged at the sleeve of the person beside her. Huan Tan looked at the chubby child, who was once again putting him on the spot. He sighed before asking.

"Do you have any seeds for sale?"

At this, Xiaolin quickly turned to look at the tall man, her heart racing with the desire to rush towards the fish sauce but knowing she couldn’t, so she just stood there silently.

"Ah, we have only rice and a few vegetable seeds," replied the vendor.

"And what else do you sell?"

"Lead, ivory, black pepper, dried corn, cardamom, cloves, cotton, and pottery," the vendor listed.

Xiaolin was astounded; they even had ivory for sale!

Right, if she remembered correctly, in her original world, ivory was a tribute that Thailand offered to China. But here, they were selling it openly?

Huan Tan looked down at the chubby child beside him. Not being much knowledgeable about history due to his limited education, he wasn’t particularly interested in these items. He raised an eyebrow inquiringly, wondering what to do next. Catching a glimpse of the four behind them, who were now interested in some sweets at the opposite stall, he nudged the child beside him.

"Hurry up with whatever you’re doing; they’re getting distracted," he whispered to the chubby child. Xiaolin looked back and saw it was as he said, so she spoke up in a clear voice to the vendor in front.

"Uncle, I want the fermented fish sauce! Will you sell it to me please?"

"Y...You!" The scruffy-haired man pointed at the chubby little girl in shock. How could she speak his language!

"What do you say?"

"Who are you people, and how do you speak our language?" Another man who had approached upon hearing the conversation asked urgently.

"We come from the same place as you," Huan Tan pulled the chubby child behind him, eyeing the sword the second man held. He looked clearly Thai, with sharper features and darker skin than the locals here. They should be able to tell.

The two men scrutinized Huan Tan, then whispered among themselves before turning back to face them again.

"And her?" the first man asked, looking at the white-skinned chubby child hiding behind.

"I taught her the language myself."

"And why are you here, dressed like the locals?"

"I came on a ship with the intention to trade, but ended up marrying a woman from Daqing and settled down here," Huan Tan explained.

Xiaolin’s eyes widened, and she covertly gave a thumbs-up for his performance. She observed the two men in front of them, who still seemed a bit skeptical. But because of the clear and fluent language used, which was too sophisticated to be merely interpreted, they didn’t act as defensively as before. Thankfully, they refrained from drawing their swords on Huan Tan and the chubby child.

"And why does she want to buy fermented fish sauce from us?"

"I’ve told her about it."

After a long consultation, the two men agreed to sell a small jar of fish sauce for one silver tael. Xiaolin continued to inquire until she obtained a handful of lemongrass seeds and a small package of tamarind. The chubby child grinned broadly, clutching the cloth package tightly, momentarily forgetting all the mischief she had caused earlier.

Huan Tan, carrying a jar of fish sauce in one arm and the chubby child in the other, looked down at the oblivious child with a hint of exasperation.

"Have you been so absorbed by this child’s body that you’ve lost all common sense?"

Hearing his whisper, Xiaolin chuckled awkwardly.

"I apologize."

"It’s too late," the young man said, moving forward with the chubby child in tow, unwilling to wait for her short legs to catch up.

"All this fuss over just that?" She mumbled under her breath.

"You nearly got us decapitated, and you still think it’s ’just that’? Didn’t you see the swords they were holding?"

Xiaolin shrunk back, her complaint silenced. Reflecting on her actions, she realized she had indeed been thoughtless. Living as a child for months had almost made her forget that she was actually twenty-three years old.

Tianrong, indulging the two children and the precocious youngster, ended up spending quite a bit of money. When he turned around and saw his daughter being carried at Huan Tan’s side, looking forlorn, he quickly took her into his arms.

"What’s wrong, my child? Tired?" He asked gently.

Xiaolin shook her head slightly and rested her chubby cheek against her father’s shoulder, looking visibly downcast. Huan Tan sighed deeply at the sight.

"And what did Brother Tan get?"

"Oh, it’s something for your daughter. There wasn’t much interest here. Let’s head back to town."

Xiaolin remained gloomy throughout the trip back. Even though Tianchen and the twins tried to cheer her up with sweets, she only shook her head, requesting only that her uncle catch some fish from the stream. Upon returning home, the plump child secluded herself in her bedroom, leaving those who had scolded her feeling guilty.

"Xiaolin, your uncle caught some fish."

After a while, Tianchen returned with several fish, unaffected by the past three months of winter. They were still plump and appetizing as ever.

Xiaolin asked Zhang Ruo to steam two of the fish and to make a spicy soup with another. She had a special task in mind for herself.

She peeled onions and garlic, setting her pan and adding them to roast, along with some dried chilies. Once done, she placed them in her small mortar. Despite her long efforts, they wouldn’t crush.

"What are you making?" Huan Tan approached the sulking child at the back of the house.

"Grinding tilapia."

"Grinding?"

"Nam Prik."

The chubby child’s expression remained serious, causing the tall man to sigh. He took the small mortar from her and began to crush the ingredients himself, easily turning the stubborn mix into a consistent paste.

Being a child is tough! I want to grow up already!

Once the fish was properly cooked, she had the tall man debone it while she opened the jar of fish sauce, its fragrance wafting through the air. She mixed a spoonful with the steaming fish juice, seasoned with a bit of fish sauce and lime juice.

"Yum! It smells so good," the chubby child swayed with anticipation, swallowing her saliva as she waited for Huan Tan to finish mixing the fish meat with the chili. She then stirred in the seasoned fish sauce, took a taste, and exclaimed,

"Hmm! The flavor I’ve been waiting for!"

Huan Tan, intrigued by her enjoyment, also took a taste. His eyes widened in surprise. This was a flavor he had longed for as well.

For dinner, the two of them heartily enjoyed the chili paste with fresh bean sprouts and lightly boiled morning glory. That’s all the vegetables they had. The others watched from a distance, enjoying their steamed fish and spicy soup, occasionally glancing over at the pair enjoying their meal at another end of the table.

"What are they eating? It smells so peculiar," Hui Song whispered first.

"It looks delicious," Tianchen followed, swallowing his saliva.

"Could it be the jar Brother Tan was carrying?" Tianrong squinted thoughtfully.

‘Nam Prik’ (Thai chili paste)

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