Ah Qiao

Part 1

1

"One tael of silver? That'll get you to Qingzhou with some left over," the boatman asked with a smile. "Madam, are you heading to Qingzhou?"
I nodded.

The boatman eyed me with a bit of suspicion.

I was dressed in ordinary clothes and had no luggage with me. Even the basket I carried only held the three hairtail fish I had just bought from him.

"Madam, do you need to go home and pack your things? Or wait for your family to join you?"

I thought for a moment, then smiled and shook my head.

"No, it's just me."
Although the boatman found it strange, he didn't question further after receiving the silver.

The boat set off, and the river was shrouded in a mist, much like the paintings hanging in Meng He Shu's study.

According to the boatman, it would take two days by water to reach Qingzhou.

I felt the few coins in my pocket and touched the jade hairpin by my bun, realizing that I might have been a bit too hasty.

This morning, Meng He Shu had told me that he wanted to eat the double-skinned hairtail fish I made.

When I left, my son, Meng Bai, had also repeatedly reminded me:

"Fairy Sister said last night that she wanted to eat fish. Mother, you must buy four—one for Father, one for Fairy Sister, one for me, and one for yourself."

Honestly, I blamed the boatman—why were there only three fish left?

I was unsure how to divide them among four people, so I felt troubled and wanted to escape.

As I was thinking this, I realized I was getting hungry.

I hadn't brought any food, so I spent fifteen wen to borrow a small stove from the boat's cook and bought a piece of tofu.
I tried to be frugal, but without tofu, the fish would seem too pitiful.

I gutted the fish, scraped the scales, and fried them until they turned golden, then added boiling water.

A pot of creamy, fragrant soup simmered quietly on the stove, making the other passengers sniff the air and peer over curiously:

"Wow, what a delicious-smelling soup."

As the saying goes, tofu gets better with a thousand boils, and fish with ten thousand— the more this soup simmers, the more flavorful it becomes.

By the time I reached for my third piece of tofu, the boatman couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

"Madam, you have excellent cooking skills. How did the soup turn as white as milk?"

I gave him a bowl, and he was overjoyed.

Watching him wipe the bowl clean with a piece of flatbread until it seemed it didn't even need washing, I felt a bit proud.

"It's a shame there's no cilantro; it would taste even fresher."

After finishing the soup, the boatman became more familiar with me.

I learned his name was Chun Sheng, and he learned that my surname was Qiao.

"Did you have a fight with your husband, Madam, and now you're heading home in a huff?"
No, Meng He Shu had a warm temperament.

We had been married for seven years and never had an argument; others saw us as a loving couple.

"... It's not a fight, it's a divorce."

Chun Sheng couldn't contain his curiosity.

"Why did you divorce? Was it about money or someone else?"

I was stumped.

Why indeed?

It wasn't about money, and it wasn't about someone else.

Was it about the umbrella Meng He Shu held over her two weeks ago?

Or the plain silver hairpin Meng Bai gave her last night?

Or was it perhaps today's three fish that troubled me?

It seemed like it wasn't any of these.

Oh, I remembered.

"Because of a bowl of noodles," I said, holding the fish soup as I nodded firmly. "That bowl of noodles was too salty, making me feel like life had lost its flavor."

"Just because of a bowl of noodles?"

Yes, just because of a bowl of longevity noodles.