This time, Xia Xiaonuan bought another basin, a bowl, a kettle for boiling water, a bucket for holding water, and a fairly large jar. She had dozens of catties of wild boar lard and planned to render it into oil once she got home, and the jar would be just right for storing it.
After finishing all these purchases, she bought herself a wooden comb. It had been a long time since she last combed her hair; every day she just loosely gathered her hair with both hands and pinned it up. Now, she finally had a wooden comb of her own.
After buying the comb, she thought for a moment and bought ten jin of white flour and twenty catties of cornmeal. Hesitating over and over, she also bought a quilt, because she hadn’t been sleeping under any covers these past few days, simply lying down to sleep directly at night. Lastly, she bought a few chi of cloth, wanting to make herself a pair of shoesthe pair she currently wore was so tattered it could barely stay on her feet.
Looking at all these items, she felt immensely satisfied. Putting everything into her spatial dimension, she happily headed home.
Upon returning home, she quickly organized her purchases, lit the stove pit, and checked the remaining tens of catties of pork in her space. She discovered that the raw meat she had frozen and put in was still frozen solid, and those few pieces of cooked meat still retained a trace of warmth. This discovery filled her with immense joy once again, proving that her spatial dimension possessed a preservative function: whatever went in stayed exactly as it was forever, without rotting or spoiling.
When she came out of the space, she was holding a potato. She washed it with water, shredded it, and put the shredded potatoes into the pot along with some water. Then she took a handful of cornmeal, diluted it with cold water, poured it into the pot, and tossed in a few torn pieces of wild boar pork. She cooked up a pot of corn mush porridge.
When the aroma filled the entire room, she ladled out the mush, putting one bowl into the space to save for tomorrow’s meal, while she sat on the kang and ate the other bowl herself. After finishing the large bowl of porridge, she felt warm all over, breaking out in a slight sweat. It felt wonderfully comfortable.
Suddenly, the courtyard gate let out a creaking sound as it was pushed open. Xiaonuan was somewhat surprised; normally, no one ever visited her place. Who would come to see her when it was almost dark?
Hurriedly jumping down from the kang, Xiaonuan wanted to go outside and see who had arrived. The moment she pushed open the door, she saw her older cousin Xiaoju standing in the courtyard, just about to reach out and pull the door open.
Seeing her emerge, Xiaoju stopped in her tracks: “Xiaonuan, I heard you hunted a wild boar weighing several hundred catties? Is that true?”
Hearing this, Xiaonuan guessed she must have heard it from Xu Wenbin’s daughter, Xu Guihua. Because Xu Guihua and Xiaoju were around the same age, the two of them always hung out together doing needlework or digging for wild herbs on the mountainaltogether, they were very good friends.
Besides, they had processed and gutted that wild boar very late last day, and Xiaonuan’s house was the very westernmost dwelling in the village. Aside from her eastern neighbor Xu Wenbin’s family, everyone else lived quite far away and couldn’t have heard a single sound. For Xiaoju to find out about this so quickly, it was a high probability that Xu Guihua had told her.
Yet Xiaonuan felt no fear whatsoever. She calmly replied, “It’s true. I did indeed hunt a wild boar yesterday.”
Seeing her admit it so readily, and noticing that she was wearing a brand-new set of clothesthough made of plain dark blue coarse cloth with no patterns, they were undeniably new and looked warm enoughXiaoju flew into a furious rage:
“Xiaonuan, you’ve got some nerve! Since you hunted a wild boar, why didn’t you carry it back to the house? Who gave you the audacity to handle it on your own?”
Hearing this, Xiaonuan didn’t show the slightest bit of weakness: “Carry it back to the house? Carry it back to whose house? Apart from this place, do I have any other home? Of course I carried it back to my own home! Besides, where I bring my wild boar has what to do with you? Even if I threw it into a big ditch, it’s none of your business!”
“Xiaonuan, don’t be so shameless! Right now, you better take all the wild boar meat in your room and bring it over to my houseGrandma is waiting to eat!” Xiaoju said arrogantly.
“Grandma? Whose grandma? Have you forgotten that you guys wrote a severance agreement with me? Have you forgotten that you drove me out in the freezing cold? Have you forgotten that old woman was the first one screaming crazily and insisting on kicking me out? In this world now, aside from my own life, I have no parents, no mother, no father, and zero relatives. Everything about me has nothing to do with you lot. Why on earth should I bring my wild boar meat to your house? Go back and tell your dad, your mom, and your grandma: I’m keeping the wild boar meat to eat myself. If you want it, keep dreaming!”
Hearing this, Xiaoju raised her hand, wanting to strike Xiaonuan. Having gotten used to beating her habitually, even though Xiaonuan had severed ties with them, sheer muscle memory made her raise her hand to hit Xiaonuan without a second thought.
Xiaonuan tilted her head to dodge, then reached out to grab Xiaoju’s arm. With a few quick pulls, she dragged Xiaoju toward the main gate and gave her a powerful swing, actually hurling Xiaoju right over the courtyard wall!
Landing outside the gate, Xiaoju struggled for a long time before managing to climb back up. Clutching her arm, she wailed tearfully and scurried back home.
Standing in the courtyard, Xiaonuan watched Xiaoju run back crying. She knew Xiaoju had gone home to complain and that her family would probably come over soon. Yet she felt not an ounce of fear; she had discovered for herself that ever since entering the Southern Heavenly Gate, she no longer feared themand right now, she wasn’t scared at all.
If you dare come bully me again, she thought to herself, just see if I dare beat you up.
With that thought, she pushed the door open and went back inside. Taking out another large bundle of firewood, she sat in the dark tending the fire to heat the kang. She wanted to bake her little brick bed until it was piping hot, then lie down and pull up her new quilt for a wonderful, sound sleep.
Before the bundle of firewood was even finished burning, the courtyard gate was pushed open again, and several voices shouted as they barged in.
Guessing that Xiaoju had brought reinforcements, Xiaonuan pulled a burning wooden stick straight out of the stove pit and stepped outside. She wanted to see who had come this time and what they were up to.
Opening the outer room door, she saw Xia Shitou in front and Du Dingxiang behind them. Both were shouting loudly as they pushed through the courtyard gate.
The moment they saw her step out, the two of them charged toward her simultaneously, screaming:
“Xiaonuan, why didn’t you carry such a huge wild boar back home?”
“Xiaonuan, how much meat must a wild boar that big yield? How dare you keep it all to yourself without sending a single piece to us?”
“Xiaonuan, I heard you went to town to sell meat today! Hurry up and hand over the money you made from selling the meat, and hand over the remaining meat so I can take it back. You aren’t allowed to keep a single piece, or else the two of us will beat you half to death tonight!”
Xia Shitou and Du Dingxiang howled and shrieked, especially Du Dingxiang, who looked practically unhinged.
Looking at their scabbed faces, Xiaonuan felt as though she were staring at two vampires. Calmly, she said:
“I have no relation to you anymore, and I don’t want to speak another word to you. Get the hell out of here right now, or don’t blame me for being impolite.”
“Get out? Not until you hand over the money and the wild boar meatjust see if we leave! Oh, and that set of clothes you’re wearing, strip them off right now too. Otherwise, we are definitely not leaving. If you really tick me off, the two of us will jump you together and guarantee we beat you half to death!” Du Dingxiang shouted, standing akimbo and stamping her feet in rage.