Chef Hua
Chapter 45: Episode 37: Antidote

Chapter 45: Episode 37: Antidote

Grandma Jing, seeing Hua Xiaomai arrive, easily pinpointed the illness of their family and explained it so convincingly that she began to believe a bit, gritting her teeth with hatred, "I knew it, how could that Qi widow be so kind?! I’ve had disputes with her for years, and when she suddenly sent over this soft-shelled turtle, all cleaned up, I thought she was trying to make amends. Little did I expect that her heart could be so wicked, sending us a dead turtle to poison us! I..."

At that moment, she suddenly came to her senses and looked up hastily at Hua Xiaomai, "You said we need to collect... chicken droppings? What are those for?"

"It’s for detoxification!" Hua Xiaomai said with a straight face, "The white part on the droppings of a rooster is called ’white chicken droppings,’ and it’s a remedy for detoxifying and reducing heat! Back in our homeland, there’s this local method, if someone accidentally eats the wrong thing and suffers from stomach pain or vomiting, they use this white chicken droppings to cure it, it never fails! Uncle, Auntie, don’t worry, I know how to use this stuff, you can’t go wrong, just wait a moment, I’m going to gather some now, okay?"

With that, she turned and covered her mouth to giggle, then ran outside.

"Hey... Xiaomai girl, stop!" When Grandma and Grandpa Jing heard about using chicken droppings for detoxification, they were totally grossed out and hurriedly stopped Hua Xiaomai, eager to get a clarification, "You... you said that white chicken droppings can detoxify, how so?"

Hua Xiaomai grew even more serious, frowning slightly as if puzzled, "Of course, it’s taken orally! You put the white chicken droppings in a pot, slowly dry them with gentle heat, then add a little white wine, and it quickly takes effect when taken!"

Grandpa and Grandma Jing simultaneously gagged, swallowing hard to suppress the nausea.

Although they had heard that white chicken droppings were indeed an herbal medicine, how could they bring themselves to ingest such filthy stuff?! And to use their own pot to dry it...

"Ugh!" Another outburst.

Hua Xiaomai didn’t care about their reactions; she had already hurried out to thank Guan Rong who was still waiting outside, escorted her out, and then went around to the west wing to consult with Aunt Hua.

From Jing Taihe’s words, Aunt Hua had already heard that her younger sister intended to treat them with the white chicken droppings, and she too felt a bit nauseous. She urgently waved at Hua Xiaomai, who hastened to her bed, leaned close and whispered, "Hey, you’re not really planning to use that... that thing for our detoxification, are you? I’d rather die clean than eat that!"

"Sister, relax, the white chicken droppings truly can cure you, I wouldn’t trick you with such a critical matter!" Hua Xiaomai deliberately spoke out loud, then glanced at Jing Taihe at the doorway and quickly lowered her voice, "Do you think I’m an idiot? I obviously have another way, just scaring them a bit, who let them say earlier that it was you who poisoned the food and curse our family as no good?"

Although she was not truly Hua Xiaomai, occupying this body obligated her to take responsibility for the original owner. Doing good deeds did not necessarily require leaving one’s name, but bad deeds certainly should not be confusedly blamed on oneself.

Reassured somewhat, Aunt Hua patted Hua Xiaomai on the shoulder, then clasped her stomach in pain, sighed long, and rolled into the bedcovers.

Hua Xiaomai tucked in her quilt, asked Jing Taihe to rest a bit more, and then went to the kitchen for a pair of long chopsticks and a dustpan. Holding her nose, she picked up a few lumps of chicken poop near the chicken coop and then, holding them in her hands, ran back into the main house in apparent panic.

"Uncle, Auntie, I’ve searched everywhere, and there’s very limited white chicken droppings, I’m afraid there isn’t enough!" she said with a worried frown, "At this point, we can only manage to detoxify you two and Grandma for the time being. My sister and brother-in-law are young and strong, they can endure. I’ll think of another method for them."

Having said this, she threw the dustpan onto the table and dashed back to the west-side room.

Another... find another way? Grandma Jing quickly caught a hint from her words, ignoring her stomach pain, jumped off the bed, and chasing Hua Xiaomai, also arrived at the wing room, grabbing her arm and urgently shouted, "Xiaomai girl, you just said, is there another way to neutralize the poison of that dead turtle?"

Hua Xiaomai turned around and blinked her dazzling eyes as if she did not understand, "What do you mean? Don’t worry, the chicken dung white is the fastest in detoxifying effect; no other method compares to it! It’s just that I had no choice but to..."

Grandma clutched her like a lifeline, pulling her even tighter, repeating urgently, "But what method is that?"

"If there is a ready good method, why insist on using the slower one?" Hua Xiaomai muttered to herself, then said helplessly, "Boiling perilla leaf into a thick juice, and then adding ten drops of ginger juice to drink together, it would take at least two days to completely clear the poison from that dead turtle, so I told you, this method is awfully slow!"

"Is it... that simple?" Grandma sighed in relief, "No worries, no worries, your great uncle, me, and Grandma can all just use the slower-effective one then!"

"Ah!" Hua Xiaomai sighed, "I am not a proper doctor, just know a little bit. You are the patient, you have the final say. However, do you have any perilla leaves at your home?"

Grandma thought for a moment, then shook her head blankly, "No... no, that..."

Jing Taihe, who had been standing aside the whole time, suddenly said, "Little sister, you said perilla leaves can especially enhance the flavor of dishes, and our house always keeps some on hand. Why don’t you make a trip back to fetch some?"

Hua Xiaomai hemmed and hawed for a while before reluctantly saying, "Our house... naturally has them, but..."

"Oh, you child, why aren’t you straightforward? If you have something, just say it all at once! Our stomachs are so painful we’re nearly passing out, yet you are still dragging your feet!" Grandma was extremely anxious; even though it was a critical moment, she couldn’t lose her temper with Hua Xiaomai, so she stamped her foot furiously.

"Grandma, it’s not that I’m stingy, I’m really a bit scared..." Hua Xiaomai looked up at her reluctantly, "The reason I wanted to use the chicken dung white to detoxify you, besides its quick effectiveness, is also because it’s your own thing, which wouldn’t make you suspicious. The perilla leaves, my sister’s house indeed has them, and there should be enough for your whole family, but... I vaguely remember, you just said it was my sister who poisoned your food, causing all this, and you said, none of our Hua family are good people. I fear that if you use the perilla leaves, and something happens, you would blame me..."

So she had been waiting here for this! Grandma secretly bit her teeth, but despite the unbearable pain, she had to bow her head temporarily. So with a smile uglier than crying, she softly said, "Xiaomai, you are such a thoughtful child. How could you take what I said in anger seriously? At that time, I didn’t even know what was happening! Now that I understand... your second sister is good, and she didn’t poison the food; I wronged her, and you Hua people... are not all scheming bad people. Just hurry back and fetch those perilla leaves!"

With the conversation proceeding this far, one could hardly expect Grandma to really lower herself and apologize to Hua Erniang, admitting her mistake was already good. Hua Xiaomai turned her head, winked at Hua Erniang when no one was paying attention, and ran towards the Jing’s family courtyard.

Many people in the Jing family old house had been poisoned by the dead turtle meat on New Year’s Eve and struggled for three to four days before finally recovering. Grandma wasn’t someone to be trifled with; without even mentioning fighting with the widow Qi to the death, on the fourth day of the New Year, Hua Xiaomai brought Hua Erniang and Jing Taihe back to her own yard. Seeing that Master Pan’s eldest son was about to bring his sons home, she got busy, spent half a day in her kitchen, and served them freshly made Orange Cake and Crispy Yellow Turnip.

Master Pan’s son came back that evening, and for the next few days, the neighborhood was always lively. Though Hua Xiaomai did not see it herself, hearing the laughter and joy, she felt happy for Master Pan and Grandma Pan.

On the morning of the eighth day, someone knocked on the gate of Jing’s family courtyard. Hua Erniang hurried to open it, only to see Master Pan and his robust son, standing there with beaming smiles.

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Met up with a classmate and updated late, sorry o(╯□╰)o