Early the next morning.
Before dawn had even broken, Sister-in-law Zhao came over to the Zheng household to help Gu Lin prepare the cold side dishes for that day’s sale in the county town. The vegetarian dishes had already been prepared the previous day, so Gu Lin had Sister-in-law Zhao scald the chicken and pig ears, then chop them up and pack them into bamboo tubes separately.
Thanks to Sister-in-law Zhao’s help, Gu Lin was not as rushed as before, and today he finally had time to prepare breakfast. He took out the flour, kneaded the white dough, and cut it into thin strips. Into bowls, he added lard and finely chopped green onions, poured in boiling hot chicken broth, and finally topped it with the snow-white noodles.
Of course, these alone were not enough for breakfast, so Gu Lin fried three eggs and placed them into the three bowls of noodles respectively. Then, heading toward the direction of the woodshed, he called out, “Sister-in-law Zhao, breakfast is ready.”
Catching the aroma wafting through the air, Sister-in-law Zhao swallowed and said, “No need, I already ate at home.”
In this day and age, whose grain wasn’t precious? Being given a job by Gu Lin was already a tremendous kindness; she had no desire to be so oblivious as to eat his food as well.
Hearing her response, Gu Lin said nothing more. He walked straight into the woodshed, half-coaxing and half-pulling her by the arm out of the room. “In our house, there is no such thing as eating alone. If we eat, we eat together.”
Through the past few days of getting along, Gu Lin had shed his initial distance and reserve toward Sister-in-law Zhao, gradually growing closer and beginning to reveal his most authentic self.
With no way to argue with him, Sister-in-law Zhao said, “Alright, alright, Lin-ge’er, walk slower. Sister-in-law will listen to you.”
Pulling Sister-in-law Zhao to sit down at the main table, Gu Lin sat in the middle, Zheng Hao on the left, and Sister-in-law Zhao on the right. Looking at the two of them, Gu Lin said with satisfaction, “Let’s dig in.”
Gazing at the noodles on the table, Sister-in-law Zhao hesitated to make a move. Fine flour noodles were a precious and expensive luxury; in all her decades of life, Sister-in-law Zhao had only eaten them a handful of times. The last time was six years ago, when Zhao Dagen built a house for a wealthy gentleman in town, earned some money, and bought white flour mantou back from the county town. Receiving it, she couldn’t bear to eat it; she only took a single bite and gave the rest to Zhao Dagen, yet she still remembered that sweet, fragrant taste to this day.
She hadn’t expected Lin-ge’er to be eating fine white flour noodles bright and early in the morning. Looking at the snow-white noodles in her bowl, Sister-in-law Zhao picked up her chopsticks, reluctant to touch them. Glancing left and right, she saw that the young ge’er had already picked up his bowl and started eating, and the Zheng boy across from them was following suit right behind. Judging by the accustomed expressions of the two, they were clearly used to eating white flour.
She had previously felt that Lin-ge’er must be having a hard time doing business in the county town and couldn’t be making much money, but now it didn’t seem quite so bad. She couldn’t help letting out a breath of relief, as orphans and widows had a terribly hard time surviving in this day and age.
Though she didn’t know how much money he was making, Sister-in-law Zhao didn’t pry. Gu Lin had helped her family too much; without him, her little family would have long since fallen apart. Therefore, regarding certain matters of his, as long as Lin-ge’er didn’t mention them, she would pretend not to know.
And whenever Lin-ge’er needed help, she would step up without a second thought.
Sister-in-law Zhao picked up some noodles and ate. The noodles were chewy, savory, and remarkably flavorful, undoubtedly a delicacy for someone accustomed to coarse grains year-round.
Once the morning noodles settled into her stomach, Sister-in-law Zhao felt a warm glow spread through her belly. By the time she finished the noodles, she couldn’t resist drinking down every last drop of the soup.
On the other side, compared to Gu Lin’s slow and deliberate chewing, Zheng Hao ate at an increasingly rapid pace. Before Gu Lin had even taken a few bites of his noodles, Zheng Hao had already polished off a massive bowl. It should be noted that Zheng Hao’s bowl was the same size as Gu Lin’s, yet the portion of noodles in his bowl was three times that of Gu Lin’s.
Gu Lin had only discovered Zheng Hao’s massive appetite over the past few days. Previously, he had assumed the boy’s appetite matched that of an ordinary child, so the meals he prepared every day were proportioned for one adult and one child.
It wasn’t until a few nights prior, when Gu Lin had eaten some snacks in the county town and felt completely full by dinnertime, that he barely touched the food on the table, leaving a large portion untouched. He had originally felt regretful about having to throw away so much grain and thought to himself that he must cook less in the future. Instead, Zheng Hao put down his empty rice bowl and looked at him, asking, “Are you full?”
At the time, Gu Lin thought the boy was just asking casually, so he replied offhandedly, “I’m full.”
Following that, he watched as Zheng Hao pulled the remaining dishes toward himself and single-handedly finished off three plates of food, enough to feed more than two people.
At the time, Gu Lin’s mouth dropped open in utter shock. He simply couldn’t believe this was a normal appetite for a ten-year-old child, though looking back at their meals together over the past few days, he realized the plates on the table were always completely empty by the end.
Frowning slightly, he looked at Zheng Hao. “Have you been holding back and going hungry these past few days?”
Hearing his question, Zheng Hao reacted a bit strangely. First, he fell silent for a moment, then lifted his gaze to look at him. “I’m used to it. It’s always been like this.”
Watching the ge’er before him, Zheng Hao carefully observed the changes in his expression and the question he had just asked. What kind of reaction was Gu Lin showing?
It was as if going hungry was an extraordinary and terrible thing.
However, a cold edge flickered across the corners of Zheng Hao’s lips. In this day and age, wasn’t going hungry the most common thing in the world?
Take Lower River Village and the dozen surrounding villages, for example, how many people could honestly say they ate their fill from the beginning of the year to the end?
Not getting enough to eat was the norm. Unless one was a wealthy landlord or gentry family, almost everyone went hungry. The Zheng family’s situation was already considered decent compared to other households in the village, since they at least had solid meals every two or three days and meat on occasion.
Though Zheng Hao hadn’t eaten his fill very often either, he at least hadn’t withered away to skin and bones.
That was simply how the world was.
Seeing the boy’s fierce exterior paired with a calm tone as he expressed that he hadn’t been eating enough, Gu Lin felt a twinge of heartache. “You shouldn’t hold back in the future. If you’re hungry, you need to speak up; the family isn’t short of this bit of grain. You’re at the age where you’re growing, so you need to eat well and sleep well.”
A momentary pause rippled through Zheng Hao’s otherwise cold and harsh expression, though Gu Lin missed it. Gu Lin belatedly realized that Zheng Hao’s massive appetite had actually been traceable all along. First of all, the boy’s strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, and sustaining that kind of physical power naturally required a massive intake of food.
Still feeling somewhat uneasy, Gu Lin instructed Zheng Hao, “I keep the grain in the woodshed. If you get hungry in the future, just get up and cook. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to make complicated dishes; you can just boil a couple of eggs to stave off your hunger.”
Faced with the young ge’er’s eyes brimming with care and worry, the refusal resting on the tip of Zheng Hao’s tongue couldn’t be spoken. “Alright.”
Throughout their conversation, Sister-in-law Zhao kept quiet. She knew that Gu Lin and Zheng Hao’s relationship had previously been tense, and seeing them get along so well now brought her a deep sense of comfort.
Seeing that they had finished eating, Sister-in-law Zhao stood up to collect the bowls and chopsticks into the woodshed. Zheng Hao’s hand reached out halfway before freezing; he then turned to look at Gu Lin, who said somewhat helplessly, “Give it a few days and it’ll heal.”
Noncommittal, Zheng Hao turned around, went into his room, and shouldered his book basket.
County Town.
The marketplace remained bustling and noisy. An older woman with a weathered face stood behind a small stall, looking somewhat nervous in the face of the crowded streets. Beside her, a young ge’er remained entirely calm as he reassured her, “Sister-in-law, you don’t need to be so nervous. Just think of these customers as people from the village, and chat with them while selling your food.”
“How can that be the same?” Sister-in-law Zhao waved her hands dismissively.
Gu Lin replied, “How is it not the same? Think about it, Sister-in-law: when you sell things, you have to introduce them to people. Once you start introducing them, you end up chatting, and once you start chatting, how is it any different from chatting back in the village?”
With Gu Lin putting it this way, Sister-in-law Zhao’s attention was distracted. Her initial nervousness slowly faded away. Looking at the steadily growing queue ahead, then turning to look at Lin-ge’er beside her, she took a deep breath.
Gradually calming down, Sister-in-law Zhao said, “I am fine now. You go ahead and get to work, Lin-ge’er.”
Seeing that her expression still retained a hint of tension, but her demeanor wasn’t as headless and panicked as before, Gu Lin said, “Alright, Sister-in-law, give it a try first. If anything comes up, just call me.”
Watching Gu Lin turn and walk away, Sister-in-law Zhao took another breath to bolster her courage. Then, lifting her gaze toward the front of the queue, she raised her voice, though slightly trembling, it was clear and ringing: “Everyone line up properly, we can start selling the cold dishes now!”
At the front of the line stood Mother Sun, who arrived the earliest every day. She didn’t recognize Sister-in-law Zhao at first, but as she drew closer and saw the woman’s face, she exclaimed in astonishment, “Aren’t you that woman from the other day?”
How was it that after just a few days apart, color had returned to her face, and her mental state looked so much better?
Hearing a tone of voice very similar to the women back in Lower River Village, Sister-in-law Zhao felt a sudden sense of familiarity, and her nervousness completely vanished. “Thank you for remembering me. I had matters to attend to the past few days and couldn’t come, but now that I’m free, I’m back.”
Having spent many years mingling among the wives, mothers, and aunties, Mother Sun possessed a very sharp intuition regarding certain matters. Looking at Sister-in-law Zhao, she asked, “Is the matter concerning your son resolved?”
Sister-in-law Zhao didn’t conceal it either, smiling from the bottom of her heart. “The county magistrate is a good official; he sought justice for our family.”
Not only did Mother Sun hear this, but the people behind her heard it as well. A wave of shock rippled through them as they wondered how a mere humble vendor could possibly move the county magistrate to punish an official.
Several men dressed like scholars stepped forward immediately to inquire, hoping to glean some news about the magistrate.
Yet, though Sister-in-law Zhao looked simple and honest, her speech was as slippery as an eel. When asked about other things, she answered them one by one, but when pressed on the details of how the magistrate punished Junior Official Chen, she simply repeated, “The magistrate is upright and honest,” and “The magistrate delivers justice for the people,” without revealing a single useful piece of information. Seeing this, the scholars closed their mouths and walked away one by one.
Watching the retreating figures of the scholars, Sister-in-law Zhao felt a bit helpless. It wasn’t that she deliberately wanted to whet their appetites and refuse to tell them, but rather that before leaving the county yamen that day, Junior Official Li had explicitly warned them not to leak any details of the case, otherwise it would incur the magistrate’s wrath. Naturally, Sister-in-law Zhao wouldn’t invite trouble upon herself.
Seeing Sister-in-law Zhao surrounded and questioned by a crowd of people, Gu Lin hurriedly stepped in to rescue her. “There are only thirty portions of shredded chicken left! Who else wants some?”
Seeing that no further information could be squeezed out of Sister-in-law Zhao, the crowd gradually lost interest in watching the gossip.
Now hearing that their favorite shredded chicken was running out, they quickly formed a neat line and called out to Gu Lin: “Lin-ge’er, I didn’t get any yesterday, you have to save a portion for me!”
“Lin-ge’er, I don’t want the shredded chicken, leave me a portion of the cold tossed pig ears!”
“I want both the shredded chicken and the cold tossed pig ears!”
Seeing that the crowd was no longer focused on Chen Mu’s affair, Sister-in-law Zhao let out a sigh of relief. Noticing that Gu Lin had been mixing cold dishes in the back for a long time, she hurried over to swap places with him.
Gu Lin took off the gloves he had especially custom-made at the fabric shop, handed them over for Sister-in-law Zhao to wear, and walked to the front. Using a voice, he had practiced for a long time, though it couldn’t overpower the crowd’s chatter, it carried a presence that commanded attention: “There are only a little over a hundred tubes of vegetarian side dishes left, with a limit of two tubes per person. Customers further back who wishes to purchase, please return tomorrow.”
At those words, wails of lament rose from the crowd in front of the stall. The first hundred customers beamed with triumphant relief, while those further back wore expressions of deep regret.