Lin Jinghong didn’t have a suitable weapon, so she crouched low and lunged straight at it.
The wild chicken that was about to flap its wings and fly away from the grass was caught in her hands.
“Run? Why run? Be a good girl and follow your big sister home.” She raised an eyebrow, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.
Suddenly, her back went cold. Sensing danger, she rolled on the ground.
Kneeling on one knee with the wild chicken in hand, she turned her head. At the spot where she had just been standing, a black snake with its tongue flicking out stared at her coldly.
Its body hung coiled on a tree branch.
Lin Jinghong feared nothing in this world, but she was terrified of these soft, slithering things. Her scalp went numb.
Without a second thought, she turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
Not forgetting to hold onto the wild chicken in her hand.
At that speed, the forest erupted into chaos in an instant—chickens flying, dogs jumping, wild rabbits sprinting, and pheasants scattering everywhere.
Even some unknown wild creatures were startled.
Lin Jinghong couldn’t care about anything else. She had only one thought: run as fast as she could.
She fled in panic, and the wild animals fled in panic too.
Bang!
A plump gray rabbit crashed into her. Lin Jinghong stumbled, nearly losing her balance.
The rabbit opposite her was also dazed and dizzy.
Shocking, folks! Lin Jinghong strode forward and picked up the stunned rabbit. With a rabbit in her left hand and a chicken in her right, she sprinted down the mountain.
By the time she reached the hillside, her hair had come loose and was sticking to her forehead. She was panting heavily.
Only then did it occur to her that she could have put the wild game into the Spatial Dimension.
What an idiot.
She caught her breath, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, put the game away, and patted her butt as she headed home.
The advantage of the Lin family living at the foot of the mountain was clear—almost no one would notice her going into the woods.
No one was home. Lin Jinghong had no idea what time it was. She took the game out, slit their throats with a cleaver, then boiled water to clean them.
After all, could a person really be too lazy to eat?
Lin Xiaomei came back carrying pigweed on her back. Seeing Lin Jinghong squatting by the well, plucking feathers with all her might, she was stunned.
“Sis?!”
“What are you yelling about? Come help.” Lin Jinghong didn’t even look up.
“Oh, okay!”
Lin Xiaomei tossed her basket aside, forgetting to feed the pigweed to the pig, and ran over with sparkling eyes. “Are we eating meat again tonight?”
Oh, life was just too good these days.
Luckily, there wasn’t a single neighbor within two hundred meters of the Lin family, because the courtyard wall was only waist-high—what could it possibly block?
The wild rabbit was a bit plumper. The wild chicken, once cleaned, might not even weigh two jin.
Lin Jinghong took a look. She’d stew the chicken into soup. As for the rabbit, she’d stir-fry it directly, adding fried potato chunks into the stir-fry, with plenty of chili peppers for a satisfying kick.
Thinking of the rice in the Spatial Dimension, she took out about two jin while Lin Xiaomei wasn’t looking. Today, they absolutely had to eat a proper meal of steamed rice.
Otherwise, all this meat would go to waste.
She’d just say Su Zhaoying bought it. After all, they’d bought so many things—her family wouldn’t know exactly what was there.
“Sis, this…” Lin Xiaomei was stunned to see so much gleaming white rice in the pot.
“Don’t ask. Just get to work.”
“Oh.”
Seven-year-old Lin Xiaomei obeyed Lin Jinghong the most. She had practically been raised by her older sister.
She trotted off happily to feed the pig, then came back with potatoes to peel.
Most families didn’t peel potatoes—it was wasteful—but since they had the quota pig at home, the peels could go to the pig.
With a swift chop of the knife, the wild chicken was cut into pieces and put into the pot for soup. In winter, the family had stored some dried mushrooms, not many, saved for when food was scarce between seasons.
Lin Jinghong took them out and stewed them with the chicken.
She put it in an earthenware pot. The family only had one iron wok, and it was currently cooking the rice.
She’d have to wait for the rice to finish before stir-frying.
In the meantime, Lin Jinghong went to take a bath. Her body felt sticky and clammy.
The family’s storage room could be used for bathing. She carried water in, but there was no bathtub, so it wasn’t a satisfying wash.
This shabby house—she’d have to renovate it slowly.
She only had two sets of clothes. It was only while bathing that she noticed her current set had been torn in quite a few places during her mad dash through the mountains.
As if it didn’t already have enough patches.
Sigh.
The other set was also covered in patches, washed so pale that the original color was hard to make out. The top was a cotton jacket, and the pants were dark blue-black, baggy and ill-fitting.
Such were the characteristics of the times.
Lin Jinghong washed her hair. It was quite long and thick, but not in good condition—dry and split at the ends.
Summer was fine, but in winter, with hair this long, it wouldn’t dry overnight after washing.
She walked out with her hair loose, and Lin Xiaomei was feeding the chickens.
A seven-year-old girl, and the family’s pig and chickens had all become her responsibility.
“Xiaomei, is the rice done?”
“Done, Sis! I can smell the fragrance of the rice.” Lin Xiaomei drooled, her stomach letting out a protesting growl.
She giggled sheepishly.
“Wait for Mom and Dad to come back before we eat. Go grab some egg cake and peach shortbread from the kang cabinet to tide you over.”
Lin Xiaomei’s eyes lit up. “Got it!”
“Remember to wash your hands!” Lin Jinghong called out.
The little girl ran back out to wash her hands, bustling with energy.
Lin Jinghong shook her head and went to the kitchen. There was a half-wok of rice—seemed like more than two jin.
Whatever.
She scooped the rice into a wooden basin and prepared to stir-fry the rabbit meat.
She diced the meat, prepared dried chilies, ginger, and garlic. There were scallions growing in the yard. The family’s seasonings were limited—just salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and soy sauce.
That was enough.
Heat the wok with oil, and she didn’t hold back—using up all the oil rendered from yesterday’s meat.
Once the wok was hot, she tossed in the meat and stir-fried it, hearing a satisfying sizzle. The aroma of the meat wafted out.
Xiaomei, who was eating egg cake in the yard, dashed to the kitchen door and sniffed eagerly.
Lin Jinghong found it both amusing and exasperating.
After the meat changed color, she scooped it out. She heated the wok again, stir-fried scallions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant, then added the meat and the fried potato cubes back in, tossing everything together.
She added salt and soy sauce.
Finally, she threw in a handful of scallion leaves and took the wok off the heat.
The fragrance spread for miles—truly, it spread for miles.
Lin Xiaomei couldn’t hold back her drooling anymore.
“How much longer until Mom and Dad get back?” Lin Jinghong picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.
Lin Xiaomei winced as she chewed, enduring the heat without spitting it out.
“Soon—the bell for ending work has already rung.”
“Then I’ll cook the last dish and get ready for dinner.” Lin Jinghong directly took out the meat that was hanging in the well.
If this meat wasn’t eaten today, it would definitely go bad by tomorrow.
She quickly whipped up a stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
Lin Erjun and his wife, along with their son, smelled the meat aroma as soon as they crossed the bridge, and the closer they got to home, the stronger the scent became.
“Mom, Dad, you’re finally back! Hurry, let’s get ready to eat!” Lin Xiaomei couldn’t wait to have her meal.
She drew water for the three of them to wash their hands.
On the dining table in the main hall sat a basin of stir-fried rabbit chunks, a pot of wild chicken soup, a basin of gleaming white rice, and a plate of stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
Slurp.
The sound of mouths watering filled the air.
Lin Jinghong picked up the bowls and chopsticks. “No talking. Eat first.”
The Lin family was used to her ways, and with so much delicious food in front of them, who could resist! They’d definitely dig in first.
Each person filled a large bowl of rice and started eating.
“Wolfing it down” wasn’t even enough to describe it.
Wuwuwu, it was so good it made them cry. Life—how could there be food this delicious!
Except for Lin Jinghong, the other four all had the exact same thought.
The family of five managed to polish off every last bite of the meal!
Lin Jinghong ate two big bowls, Lin Xiaomei one big bowl, Lin Xiaodi… went straight for five bowls—and these weren’t those tiny palm-sized bowls either. Lin Erjun ate about the same, and Li Dongxiang wasn’t far behind, putting away two or three bowls herself.