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Zhao Liniang lowered her head and thought about it. The next words she said started Zhao Xingde. “Ten catties of lean meat, ten catties of fatty meat, twenty catties of pork belly… Hmm, add another pork rib.”
Zhao Xingde’s eyes widened. This was so much. He rubbed his lip and subconsciously looked for the old opium pipe that had rested on his waist for over ten years. He wanted to smoke. His fingers that were as thin as the roots of an old tree groped his purple belt for a long time but found nothing. It was only then that he remembered he had left it at home when he went out today.
It must have been that money squandering woman at home who took his pipe away Zhao Xingde was surprised at these words. “Why are you buying this much? Will you be able to finish it?” Even buying ribes, which was all bones. Just how much spare money did this family have to waste it like this?
“We can finish it. The two kids at home love eating meat, especially Xuan’Er. It’s very troublesome. He even insists I buy ribs, which barely have any meat on them. He’ll be upset if I don’t buy it, but what can I do? He’s the only son I have. We’re old, so we might not understand. I’ll just buy it back and let that child gnaw on it.” Although Zhao Liniang’s words were blaming, there was no dislike in her eyes. Zhao Xingde saw her like this and remembered Zhao Liniang, who had to force a smile with tears in her eyes last year. He finally realized that this year—the Lin family had changed.
He’d heard from his wife that after Lin Lixuan married Ger Yan, he’d regained his clarity. The two husbands even went to the county town to sell food. It was said the food was an original creation from the Lin family and could earn dozens or hundreds of wen a day. When Zhao Xingde first heard this news, he patted his ass, shook his pipe, and didn’t believe it. He still remembered what Lin Lixuan was like before he became a fool. His mouth would be filled with words that other people didn’t understand. He thought himself a scholar and looked down on countrymen, evening go far as to ignoring his own parents. So how could a person like that sell food on the streets of the county town.
He must have been drunk and heard wrong.
He never expected this… “Think it over. Even if the meat from the village is cheap, you will have to pay a lot to buy these fifty to sixty catties.” Zhao Xingde rubbed his beard. He wished his gray beard could become his lifeline, giving him a sip to satisfy his cravings.
Zhao Liniang waved her hand, looking as if she wasn’t taking Zhao Xingde’s words to heart. “Village chief, you can record it for our family. This is how much we want.”
Zhao Xingde couldn’t help but sigh. Even the richest family in their village was not so generous. “Your Lin family is really lucky this year…”
The smile in Zhao Liniang’s eyes was almost overflowing. “This is the blessing of his father who is underground. Of course, we are also blessed by you, our village chief.”
“What kind of blessing could I give?” As Zhao Xingde spoke, his gray beard shook. When he saw this lively Zhao Liniang, the scene when Lin Lixuan first became a Xiucai appeared before him. He still clearly remembered how Zhao Liniang had shown off her son that year. It had been several years, but this woman was still the same.
Lin Lixuan walked in from outside. He was wearing white robes and an old moon-white jacket. The hem of his clothes were stained with a lot of mud. When he crossed the threshold, he kept his head lowered and rubbed the yellow soil spots on his fingers. Lin Lixuan scraped the yellow mud from his shoes on the stone steps. When he turned around, he saw Zhao Xingde and Zhao Liniang and greeted them, “Mother, Uncle Zhao.”
Zhao Liniang walked over to him and lifted the corner of his clothes with a frown. “How did you get this yellow mud all over you?”
Ger Yan poked a head inside from outdoors. His shiny black hair was combed back in a good-looking bun on his head, which Lin Lixuan had helped him do this morning. It looked very good, but it wasn’t very stable. Ger Yan kept worrying that the bun on top of his head would fall apart, so he didn’t dare move blindly this morning. His neck was so straight as if it was wood that had just been chopped.
The Ger Yan, who used to have dead grass as hair, was long gone. Lin Lixuan had taken scissors to remove the dead hair and split ends and had forced him to drink sesame wolfberries for a month… A handful of sesame seeds and a few wolfberries would be ground into juice. What was even worse was how terrible the color was, black and blue. Just looking at it made people panic.
Lin Lixuan poured him a cup every few days. Ger Yan didn’t like it at first, but later found that besides the weird and disgusting color, it smelled good. It had a faint scent of sesame seeds. The taste was also good. The soft sesame seeds were ground to be very chewable. It was fun and delicious to smash your mouth and chew it a few times.
Ger Yan leaned against the door. His delicate face had a smile. His dimples were crooked when he laughed. The winter light outside was not dim, and a ray of sunlight came in to shine on his face, making him look very pale. “Lin-dage, was having a strength contest in the radish field just now. Who knew he’d use too much strength and was pushed back a few steps and fell into a puddle.”
Lin Lixuan’s tone was helpless and weak. “I wasn’t trying to pull the radish, I was looking at…” He was really too careless. When he saw the lushness of the radish, he also saw the clear puddle behind him. He was curious for a bit and tried to twist a handful of leaves. When he thought he’d pulled it out, he couldn’t stand firm and stumbled into the mud…
Today’s sunshine was just right. The air was cool, and the wind that blew over was cool as well. There was a nostalgic warmth while standing under the sun, making him feel dizzy and lazy. Lin Lixuan had ventured into the vegetable field to see if the peanuts he’d grown had sprouted. He was someone who had never planted anything before, so he naturally didn’t know how long it took for a seed to sprout.
He had just planted the seed not too long ago, so it was naturally still a mound of dirt.
“You weren’t careful even when wearing white. I don’t know what to say to you.” Zhao Liniang pinched the corner of the white clothes that were covered in a layer of yellow mud. “Go get some water to wash the mud off, then dry it by the fire.”
“Okay…” Lin Lixuan walked back to the well on the side of the house, threw the bucket into the well to fetch water. He pulled the rope, and the old wooden bucket swayed as it squeaked up.
He was going to wash his clothes. He had only gone inside because he heard some noise. He was relieved to hear his mother ordered dozens of catties of meat. He felt very satisfied in his heart. What had he experienced in these past few months? From the point where he would starve and couldn’t eat any meat till now. He was very happy just thinking about the over ten catties of meat that would be in his reach soon.
He was happiest being able to eat meat. He was even happier to have even more to eat.
He had long integrated with the mindset of everyone in Jade Creek Village.
Zhao Xingde picked up his yellowed worn-out notebook and simply wrote down the number Zhao Liniang wanted. He only knew a few characters and only knew a few numbers, but even the illiterate had their own way of jotting notes. Lean mean was a horizontal line, fat meat was a circle, pork belly was a circle with a line in the middle, ribs looked like a claw, and pig offal were curved lines like snakes.
Zhao Xingde and Lin Lixuan chatted for a bit. The contents were something he’d often heard. He should show filial respect to his mother and be a good husband to Ger Yan. Zhao Xingde’s saliva flowed everywhere as he spoke. Before leaving, he still wanted to say something more. Zhao Liniang stuffed a bag of home-made snacks for him—it was the newly made sesame mooncakes. The sesame filling was delicate and soft. It wasn’t being sold in stores yet since it was only made yesterday. “Zhao-dage, take some to try.”
“There’s no need. I won’t take your things.” If he took a little bit from every family, then what kind of village chief would he be? The things he’d taken would weigh down his body.
“Take it. Ger Yan made it himself.” Zhao Liniang didn’t easily back down and forced it into his hands. “It’s just a few pieces of food. Take it back and let your little grandson have a little taste.”
“Ger Yan made it himself? Then I’ll take two pieces…” He thought of his little grandson and how he made a fuss of wanting to eat snacks from the county town. The Lin family had good skills, so he could secretly bring back a piece or two. “Don’t tell others…”
“Okay…Village chief, do you still have to go to the other houses?”
“Yes, I must visit every house and ask their opinion.” Zhao Xingde put the snack wrapped in oiled paper into the pocket on his chest. He sorted his clothes and suddenly said to Zhao Liniang. “Did you hear about the accident that happened in the Li family today? If there’s time, have Lin Lixuan go with Ger Yan to take a look…”
“What happened?” Zhao Liniang pursed her lips. Something happened to the Ji family yet again? That Ji Shu had copied them in opening a store. Although business wasn’t flourishing, they still earned a daily income of dozens or hundreds of wen a day. The two families had no other friction besides this. They had nothing to do with each other.
“Oh.” Zhao Xingde was hesitant to speak of this in front of the Lin family. But as soon as he entered the door, he saw Ger Yan, who was so beautiful that he couldn’t recognize him and was warmly invited inside by Zhao Liniang. He was then shocked by the amount of meat they wanted and forgot his earlier plans. “The daughter-in-law of Second Ji, we’re talking about the straightforward Ji Ya, his husband Zhao Qingqing, ran away with another man…Early in the morning, the Ji family gathered a group of people to head to the Zhao residence to cause trouble…”
“What else happened?” Zhao Liniang was shocked that such a thing had happened in their village. She had always heard that this pair of husbands were very affectionate with each other, just like her own child and his husband. They married on the same day as well. It seemed they got pregnant a month or two after their marriage as well. This was a fact that had made her envious for a while.
Ger Yan and Lin Lixuan heard the village chief’s words from the side. The two of them inadvertently remembered the scene they saw that evening. Did it involve this matter? The two of them looked at each other and waited quickly for the village chief’s next words.
“This matter is related to your biological brother…” Zhao Xingde stated the matter slowly. It really was difficult to describe this matter.
A bolt exploded in Ger Yan’s mind. It had something to do with his biological brother!!!!
Could it be the wild man Ji Qian introduced to Zhao Qingqing?
