5: Sister
Lu Zaiyang hadn’t expected her to ask him that.
Before he could decline, Lu Laoba quickly interjected, “There just happens to be one! That undershirt you washed this morning, your aunt dried it on the bamboo drying rack. There’s a tear in it that needs mending.”
Sun Zhaodi also hoped the two would interact more, as they were family. “Yes, yes, exactly. Guoguo, help your brother mend it. I’m busy with your uncle’s clothes right now and my hands are full.”
“Okay,” Lu Guoguo hurriedly agreed, ignoring Lu Zaiyang’s hesitant expression. She took the undershirt from the bamboo drying rack, sat beside Sun Zhaodi, rummaged through the sewing basket a bit, took needle and thread, and buried herself in the task.
With the matter settled, anything Lu Zaiyang said would be superfluous, so he remained silent and continued weaving the bamboo basket.
Believing they had facilitated a warmer relationship between the siblings, Lu Laoba and his wife exchanged a smile.
Lu Guoguo diligently mended the tear. After confirming the task was complete, she folded the undershirt and placed it aside. “Brother, I’ve put the clothes here.”
“Thank you.”
Lu Zaiyang nodded.
Lu Guoguo gave a small smile, then ran off to find Sun Zhaodi, who was about to leave.
It was drizzling now. Sun Zhaodi planned to go to the bamboo grove near the big locust tree to see if any tender spring bamboo shoots had just emerged.
“Mom, wait for me.”
Lu Guoguo put on her straw raincoat and shouldered a bamboo basket.
“I’m waiting,” Sun Zhaodi stood at the courtyard gate.
After the mother and daughter left, Lu Laoba looked at Lu Zaiyang with satisfaction. “Zaiyang, isn’t it nice having a sister? Look at the clothes your sister mended for you. Much neater than your centipede-like stitches.”
Lu Zaiyang looked at him gloomily. “And whose fault is that? When you taught me before, it was centipede stitches. I just learned from you.”
“I taught you that way, but couldn’t you have improved it yourself?”
Lu Laoba refused to admit it.
Lu Zaiyang took a deep breath and continued weaving the bamboo basket.
It was a twenty-minute walk from the Lu household to the big locust tree, crossing a stone bridge along the way. Lu Guoguo followed behind Sun Zhaodi, observing the state of the production team.
There were many cultivated fields. Most trees were on the distant high mountains. From a slightly elevated position, about two-thirds of the visible area was farmland.
Many children weren’t wearing shoes, and some, mostly boys, weren’t even wearing shirts. As for houses, Lu Guoguo had only seen three types so far: earthen houses, thatched huts, and houses like the Lu family’s—wooden houses with wicker-fenced courtyards. The latter indicated relatively better-off families.
From the original owner’s memories, brick houses were more common only in the town and the county seat.
Passing the stone bridge, Lu Guoguo noticed a stone stele standing in a corner, overgrown with weeds, though the characters on it were still somewhat visible.
Sun Zhaodi, seeing her looking at the stele, smiled and explained, “This stele was erected by the old team leader back then. It lists everyone who contributed to building this stone bridge. Without this bridge, going to the big locust tree would take an extra half hour. During harvest time, it’s exhausting. Because the old team leader led the bridge construction, many people still remember him to this day.”
“Truly remarkable,” Lu Guoguo praised.
“Of course. It’s a shame the old team leader passed away early,” Sun Zhaodi told her about the old team leader. Since her natal production team neighbored this one, she naturally knew more. By the time they reached the bamboo grove by the big locust tree, the drizzle had stopped.
They weren’t the only ones digging for bamboo shoots there. Lu Guoguo had just taken the hoe from her bamboo basket when she looked up and saw a short-haired auntie in pale green clothes. Hearing their voices, the woman straightened up and turned to greet Sun Zhaodi. “Oh, Guoguo’s mom! I thought I’d be the only one here today.”
Guoguo’s mom?
Lu Guoguo thought this address sounded quite nice.
“It’s Cuihua’s mom. I also thought only Guoguo and I would be here today. After all, not long ago, this bamboo grove hardly had any shoots sprouting. The bamboo grove at Pine Tree Bay has more shoots.”
Sun Zhaodi deftly placed her basket against a bamboo root to prevent it from sliding down the slope.
Hearing Sun Zhaodi address her as “Cuihua’s mom,” Lu Guoguo’s memories of the original owner surfaced. Cuihua was a year older than her, and this family lived about a five-minute walk to the left of the Lu household.
Because the original owner was extremely lazy, many girls in the production team were unwilling to play with her, fearing it would tarnish their own reputations.
The original owner didn’t get along with Cuihua. Cuihua’s mother was protective and had no good feelings toward the original owner either. Their relationship was such that they wouldn’t even greet each other if they met. So, after following Sun Zhaodi to place her basket, Lu Guoguo picked up her hoe and went to search for sprouting bamboo shoots, not greeting the other woman.
Moreover, Sun Zhaodi and Cuihua’s mother’s relationship was also strained. The reason was that once, when Sun Zhaodi was having her period and feeling unwell, Lu Laoba specially went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy brown sugar to make her a drink. When Cuihua’s mother found out, she told others that Sun Zhaodi was deliberately draining Lu Laoba’s resources, or similar unkind remarks.
After exchanging a few words, they each went about their own business, ignoring each other. Lu Guoguo had good luck, digging up six tender bamboo shoots. She imitated Sun Zhaodi, peeling off the outer husk until only the tender part remained before placing the fresh shoots into her basket.
Originally intending to take the opportunity while digging for bamboo shoots to bring out the rabbit, Lu Guoguo became increasingly annoyed upon discovering Cuihua’s mother kept following her to dig shoots.
Cuihua’s mother followed her simply because she thought this lazy girl had good luck finding sprouting bamboo shoots.
But for Lu Guoguo, who wanted to release the rabbit, this was frustrating. So, she didn’t stay alone anymore and returned to Sun Zhaodi’s side, whispering, “She keeps following me.”
Seeing her daughter’s evident annoyance, Sun Zhaodi glanced at Cuihua’s mother, who was too embarrassed to follow further, and whispered back, “Cuihua’s mother doesn’t see very well.”
“Is she sick?”
“Not exactly. I’ll tell you when we get back.”
“Okay.”
After their baskets were more than half-filled with bamboo shoots, the rain grew heavier. Sun Zhaodi prepared to head back. Unwilling to miss this opportunity, Lu Guoguo told her she needed to go a bit further to relieve herself.
Sun Zhaodi nodded understandingly. “Remember to find a hidden spot. Don’t let anyone see you.”
“I know.”
Lu Guoguo quickly climbed toward a higher part of the grove. Sun Zhaodi glanced back and saw Cuihua’s mother staring at her daughter’s retreating figure. “She went to relieve herself.”
Only then did Cuihua’s mother stop following with her eyes. “Why is it just you two coming here? Didn’t Old Lu come?”
“He’s busy with other things at home,” Sun Zhaodi replied flatly.
“You two have a good relationship; everyone in the production team knows that. It’s rare to see you apart.”
Cuihua’s mother’s tone was suggestive.
Hearing this, Sun Zhaodi also remarked, “Well, your relationship with Cuihua’s dad really isn’t that great, is it? You had another argument last night, right? We were about to sleep and could still hear you shouting about something. Why do you argue so much?”
Cuihua’s mother’s face immediately darkened. She grabbed her bamboo basket, slung it on her back, and stomped away angrily.
On this point, her man really couldn’t compare to Guoguo’s mom’s man—that was a fact.
Seeing her leave, Sun Zhaodi snorted coldly.
Lu Guoguo searched for several minutes before finding a suitable spot to release the rabbit.
She had been worried the rabbit’s fur, being too white, might arouse suspicion. She planned to let the rabbit “roll” in the grass a few times after releasing it. However, when the rabbit materialized, it looked quite dirty. Combined with the rain, from its appearance, one couldn’t tell it was a domestic rabbit at all; it just looked like a plump rabbit.
After properly placing the rabbit and watching it squeeze into a crevice between rocks to hide, Lu Guoguo shouted loudly for Sun Zhaodi, “Mom! Come up here quickly! I found something good!”
Sun Zhaodi hurriedly climbed up. “What’s wrong? Saw a snake? If it’s not poisonous, catch it and we’ll stew it for lunch!”
“Not a snake, a rabbit!”
Lu Guoguo pulled her down to squat by the pile of rocks and pointed at the thing hiding inside. “See? So fat!”
“Oh my! Such a fat rabbit!”
Sun Zhaodi swallowed her saliva. “Could it belong to someone’s household?”
“Our production team hasn’t heard of anyone raising rabbits. Besides, raising rabbits would definitely need reporting to the team leader. This can’t be domestic,” Lu Guoguo quickly argued.
“True. You guard that side; I’ll get it!”
Half an hour later, they finally managed to capture the rabbit hiding inside.
Feeling the rabbit’s weight, Sun Zhaodi’s eyes crinkled into happy slits. She transferred her bamboo shoots into Lu Guoguo’s basket, then placed the rabbit, its legs bound with vines, inside. She covered it with two large banana leaves. “Let’s go, hurry back.”
“Right,” Lu Guoguo followed her cheerfully. Both were a bit dirty from catching the rabbit.
When they arrived home, Lu Laoba was fixing a hoe, and Lu Zaiyang was weaving straw sandals.
“What happened?”
Seeing the two covered in dirt, Lu Laoba was startled. Lu Zaiyang also came out from the main room.
“Uncle, Brother, Mom and I caught a rabbit!”
Lu Guoguo set down her bamboo basket and was about to help Sun Zhaodi when she saw Lu Laoba had already helped her take off her basket.
So, Lu Guoguo went to bolt the courtyard gate.
Lu Zaiyang and his father looked at the dirty rabbit Sun Zhaodi had produced, their eyes full of astonishment.
“Such a big rabbit? Where did you catch it?”
Sun Zhaodi vividly recounted how her daughter found the rabbit and how the mother-daughter pair collaborated to catch it from the rock crevice.
“The rocks were embedded in the earth, with a crack just the right size for it to squeeze in and hide. We were so nervous, afraid someone might see. Wouldn’t we have to share the rabbit then?”
“Could it belong to someone else?”
Lu Laoba asked the same question Sun Zhaodi had.
“Our production team doesn’t have anyone raising rabbits,” Lu Zaiyang said this, and Lu Guoguo didn’t add anything more.
Sun Zhaodi nodded. “Guoguo said the same thing.”
“Too fat. Whose domestic rabbit could be raised this fat?” In these times, there was no special rabbit feed; they were raised solely on grass and forage. A rabbit over five jin was indeed rare for a rural household. “Guoguo, how do you want to raise it?”
Lu Laoba asked Lu Guoguo, who had discovered the rabbit.
“Let’s not raise it. Let’s butcher it and eat it.”
Lu Guoguo blinked.
Lu Zaiyang picked up the rabbit. “I’ll butcher it.”
“Zaiyang, skin it properly,” Lu Laoba told the mother and daughter to change their clothes, then instructed his son.
Lu Zaiyang looked at the rabbit in his hand. “The fur color is really good.”
It didn’t look wild.
Wild rabbit fur would definitely be tangled.
Besides, while their hills had wild boar, they really hadn’t seen rabbits around.
Though he thought this, Lu Zaiyang didn’t suspect Sun Zhaodi and her daughter. He took the rabbit to the kitchen’s back door to handle it.
Behind their house was a hillside that people rarely climbed, making it the perfect place to process the rabbit.
After changing her clothes, Lu Guoguo took out the twenty cents and felt it. Old-fashioned paper money, looking quite crisp. Twenty cents in this era were far more useful than in her world.
She clearly remembered the author’s setting in the original novel: one cent could buy five of the cheapest candies at the supply and marketing cooperative. So, twenty cents could buy fifty candies!
Back then, the impoverished Lu Guoguo had drooled with envy. Now she had transmigrated here.
Lu Guoguo clicked her tongue, clenched her fist, and the twenty cents returned to the Space Warehouse.
So convenient!
At noon, Lu Guoguo helped tend the fire while Sun Zhaodi cooked a pot of rabbit meat with fresh bamboo shoots. Everyone ate until their bellies were round.
In the afternoon, after Lu Laoba and his son finished their work, they went to the bamboo grove by the big locust tree to look for rabbits.
Naturally, they didn’t find any rabbits, but they caught two snakes. The larger one looked to be about two or three jin. While Lu Zaiyang was processing the snake meat, Lu Guoguo kept her distance.
She was a bit afraid of such soft, squishy things.
Lu Zaiyang noticed this and was surprised. “You’re afraid of snakes?”
But didn’t she practically want to skin it herself the last time he brought one back?
“N-no, I’m not,” Lu Guoguo stiffened her neck, refusing to admit it.
“If you’re not afraid, process the other snake. I’m swamped.”
Lu Zaiyang pointed to the other snake beside him.
Lu Guoguo shrank her neck back. “Do your own work. You’re a mature adult already; you need to learn to handle your own chores. How can you still ask your younger sister to help?”
With that, she ran off to find Sun Zhaodi.
Ahhhh! So scary!
**