When the two of them arrived home, they saw An An and Momo sitting together on the stone at the doorstep, playing while constantly glancing in their direction.
It wasn’t until they spotted the two figures that they excitedly ran over.
“Little Uncle, Little Aunt, you’re finally back!”
“Yes, we’ve been waiting here for so long.”
The two little ones circled around them, jumping up and down as they spoke.
Gu Yan hadn’t expected them to be waiting outside and asked, “Why are you out here? Where’s Grandmother?”
“Grandmother fell asleep. We didn’t want to disturb her, so we came outside to play in the dirt. Little Aunt, I’m hungry. What are we going to eat later?”
Seeing Little Aunt reminded An An of the delicious egg soup from the morning. After playing all morning, he was now starving, so he couldn’t help but ask.
Lu Zhaozhao was hungry too—after only that thin morning soup, it was impossible to feel full. She immediately replied,
“Don’t worry. Little Aunt will make you some buns in a bit. Here, look at this. Take it and share it with your brother. Go play first.”
“Wow, it’s maltose candy! Thank you, Little Aunt! Brother, come on, let’s share the candy.”
An An’s eyes lit up when he saw the candy in Little Aunt’s palm. He hadn’t eaten candy in a very long time, so seeing some made him truly happy.
Momo saw the candy too. He smiled politely at Lu Zhaozhao and said, “Thank you, Little Aunt.”
Then he happily ran off to share the candy with his sister.
The sweet taste was really delicious.
After sending the two kids off, Lu Zhaozhao and Gu Yan began unloading their things. Gu Yan, seeing the smiles on the children’s faces, felt a pang of guilt.
He realized he had been an incompetent Little Uncle. Even though he had money, he had never thought to buy the kids candy. He had ignored the simple fact that they were still children, thinking merely keeping them from being hungry was enough.
It wasn’t until he saw their joyous smiles that he recognized his mistake.
Lu Zhaozhao didn’t notice his mood change. After putting away the purchased goods, she realized that the household was running low on firewood. That wouldn’t do—later they would need a lot to render lard and steam buns—so she immediately started giving instructions to Gu Yan:
“Husband, go chop some firewood. This isn’t enough; we’ll need it later.”
“Okay.”
Gu Yan said nothing else, picked up an axe, and went out to chop wood.
Lu Zhaozhao took out the pork fat to start rendering lard. But before that, she needed to knead the dough. The warm weather meant it wouldn’t take long to rise. There was still some firewood at home, so rendering lard wouldn’t be a problem. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
She actually had some experience with rendering pork fat, having done it at home before. One day, she had seen videos online of people rendering pork fat and mixing it with rice. The smell was irresistible, and her childhood cravings were awakened. She had loved this dish as a child, but after growing up, everyone bought vegetable oil from the supermarket, and she hadn’t eaten pork fat with rice in years.
The taste brought back cherished childhood memories.
She put the pork fat into the pan, and as the familiar sizzling sound started, the nostalgic feeling of childhood returned to her.
She didn’t understand why people online claimed eating too much pork was unhealthy. Everyone had switched to vegetable oil. In her experience, eating pork had never harmed her—her body had been strong throughout her youth. If not for bad luck, she would not have passed away young. Pork fat was simply the best!
By the time Gu Yan returned with the two little ones carrying firewood, the lard was almost done. The entire yard smelled of crispy fried pork bits.
Momo sniffed happily and said, “Little Aunt, what are you making? It smells so good!”
“It really smells amazing! An An is even hungrier now—he used the energy from that candy to gather firewood! Little Aunt, do you think this will be enough?”
An An, excited by the aroma, proudly placed the little pile of firewood he had carried into front of Lu Zhaozhao, his expectant expression unmistakable, as if saying, Little Aunt, praise me, praise me!
Lu Zhaozhao was amused by his lively antics. She poked his small forehead with her finger and laughed:
“What a clever little rascal! Little Aunt sees you helped with the firewood—An An, you’re amazing for being able to work at such a young age. Momo, you’re great too! Come over and try the crispy pork bits I just fried. Are they tasty? Later, we’ll make wild vegetable buns for you.”
She couldn’t stop laughing at how adorable the little girl was. She placed a piece of fried pork into An An’s mouth, then one for Momo.
Both chewed a few times, their faces lighting up with innocent joy.
In unison, they praised, “So delicious!”
Seeing their delight, Lu Zhaozhao scooped a little into a small bowl and let them take it to eat nearby.
Then she carefully poured the rendered lard into the nearly empty container and checked the dough. She had placed it near the fire earlier to rise faster, and upon lifting the lid, it had risen perfectly.
She quickly mixed the leftover wild vegetables from the morning’s egg soup into the filling. The wild greens had grown well, and she had prepared extra in the morning, so now it could be used immediately.
She didn’t pay attention to Gu Yan, who was splitting firewood and organizing things nearby. He had nothing better to do, and storing extra wood was a good idea.
After all the effort, they would enjoy a few extra buns later.
Thus, the whole household—except the bedridden grandmother—was busy in the yard, and the atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious.
Lu Zhaozhao’s movements were quick and skillful. Since crossing over into this life, perhaps due to inheriting the original owner’s habits, she felt more adept at household chores than in her previous life.
In no time, the cleaned table was filled with plump, white buns.
The makeshift table—a door panel without legs balanced on stones—was simple but functional and spacious enough.
By the time the little ones finished the fried pork bits, most of the buns were already made.
Seeing the abundance of buns, the two children were ecstatic, running in circles around Lu Zhaozhao and the stove while muttering,
“Time to eat buns! Time to eat buns!”