The translation of steaming rice into porridge is:

A guest stayed at the home of Chen Taiqiu (Chen Shi). Taiqiu asked Yuan Fang (Chen Ji) and Ji Fang (Chen Chen) to The two brothers cook. The two brothers were lighting a fire and heard Taiqiu talking with his guests, so they stopped to eavesdrop. I forgot to put the grate while cooking and all the rice fell into the pot. Taiqiu asked: "Why didn't you steam the rice?"

Yuan Fang and Ji Fang knelt on the ground and said, "You were talking to the guests, and we were both eavesdropping. In the end, we forgot to put the grates, and the rice was cooked." It's all turned into porridge." Taiciu said, "Do you still remember what we said?" The brother replied, "I probably remember." So the two brothers knelt on the ground and talked together, and Taiciu and the guests. Nothing was missed. Taiqiu said: "In this case, just drink porridge, why bother to eat?"

Source - "Shishuoxinyu"

"Shishuoxinyu" is a book written in the Song Dynasty of Southern Dynasty in China. A notebook novel produced during the Wei and Jin Dynasties (420-581), which mainly records the anecdotes of people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It was compiled by a group of literati organized by Liu Yiqing (403-444), Linchuan King of the Liu Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, with annotations by Liu Jun of the Liang Dynasty. The original eight volumes of the book are divided into ten volumes with Liu Jun's annotations. The current version is divided into three volumes, divided into thirty-six categories such as virtue, speech, political affairs, literature, founder, and magnanimity. There are more than a thousand chapters in the book. It records the anecdotes of celebrities and aristocrats from the late Han Dynasty to the Liu and Song Dynasties, mainly stories about character comments, simple talks and witty responses.

"Shishuo Xinyu" (also known as "Shishuo") mainly records the anecdotes and mysterious talks of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It can also be said that this is a record of the romantic affairs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Collection of stories. Among the thirty-six subjects in the three volumes of Shishuo Zhen, Jiewu, Suhui, and Dahuang are all positive praises.