Jin Yao narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
“It’s not as if there were no anomalies at all. Thinking back on it now, whenever I saw those village elders and greeted them, they always acted cold and aloof toward me. At the time, I simply thought the elders just had quirky tempers.”
“Combined with Mrs. Xu cursing me as a lowborn wretched thing spawned by a lowly creature, I feel my parentage might differ from that of ordinary people. I still need to look into this matter thoroughly. I’ll take a trip back to the village this afternoon—those elders surely know something.”
Liu Dujuan nodded. “Yes, go ask around in the village. Do you need me to find a few familiar wives to help inquire with the elders in their households?”
“No need. You stay out of the village so you don’t run into danger. Let’s eat first. Jinjin must be hungry—after crying for so long, let’s feed the child something first to comfort her.”
Jin Yao cast a glance over at Jinjin, who was squatting nearby wiping her tears, and shook his head, forbidding Liu Dujuan from returning to the village to avoid encountering that crazy woman, Mrs. Xu.
Liu Dujuan agreed. Calling Jinjin over to eat, she went inside the house to bring out the food.
During the time the father and daughter had returned to the village, she had rushed to prepare a meal.
When Jin Yao returned, he had bought some rice, flour, a block of pork fat, and seasonings like salt. After rendering the lard, she made noodles.
Having not eaten noodles in a long time, she intended to enjoy a good meal today.
Jinjin shuffled over to the large stone. When she saw that her mother had brought out noodles, her eyes lit up, and her mood instantly brightened.
Although the noodles looked somewhat uneven in thickness, after being in this world for so long, she was finally getting to eat noodles.
Did this mean there was food at home now?
“Mommy, do we have food at home now?” Jinjin asked Liu Dujuan curiously.
“That’s right. When your father returned from town, he bought rice, flour, and pork fat. Mommy thought of making you a meal of noodles. Unfortunately, we don’t have a cutting board or a kitchen knife, so Mommy rolled out each noodle thinly by hand. See if you like it.” Liu Dujuan ladled a spoonful of pork fat and crackling broth into her bowl, sprinkled a bit of salt, and brought it over to her.
After rendering the pork fat, Liu Dujuan crushed the remaining lard residue with her spatula. She placed a portion in a bowl, intending to use it for stir-frying wild vegetables over the next few days. A small portion was crushed directly in the oil wok, fried with a little seasoning, and simmered with water to create a lard crackling sauce to toss with the noodles, making them immensely fragrant.
For poor families, it was hard to see meat all year round. Even the lard cracklings left over from rendering fat could not be wasted—every single grain had to be put to use.
Jinjin was stunned. Lard residue sauce noodles?
Although she had never eaten it before, it looked delicious, and she was truly starving. Lowering her head, Jinjin dug into the noodles.
After taking a bite, her eyes lit up instantly. Looking up, she praised sweetly, “Mommy, the lard noodles you made are so yummy! They taste completely different from what you made when we were in the village.”
Jinjin meant this praise from the bottom of her heart—these noodles were genuinely delicious.
Liu Dujuan grinned, revealing two small canine teeth, and raised her eyebrows with a smile as she glanced at the father and daughter.
“Back then, I naturally just threw things together casually. They were so terrible to the three of us—they didn’t deserve to eat good meals! Being able to cook the food through for them was already generous enough!”
“From now on, with oil, rice, and flour at home, I’ll make every meal smelling delicious for you two.”
Jinjin and Jin Yao exchanged a glance, and both father and daughter chuckled together. So that was why!
After suffering for several days, the family’s meals were finally back to normal.
A delicious meal of lard residue noodles lifted the family’s originally heavy spirits, bringing smiles back to everyone’s faces.
After lunch, Liu Dujuan called Jinjin back inside the house for an afternoon nap.
Jin Yao, on the other hand, wandered around the large stone.
Feeling a bit sun-baked during the meal earlier, he thought of planting a tree beside the large stone. Watching the sunlight, he walked around testing which direction the shadow fell, where the tree should be planted, and how far away it needed to be so they would have shade while eating on the large stone at noon.
The surface of this large stone was relatively flat, making it quite suitable as a dining table. He also planned to find a few tree stumps and trim them with a cleaver so the three of them could use them as small stools to sit on.
Inside the house, after lying down, Jinjin pulled Liu Dujuan and asked softly, “Mommy, can Jinjin still go to the northern mountain slope this afternoon?”
Hearing this, Liu Dujuan’s expression changed, and she refused immediately.
“No, you can’t! You’re staying right here in our yard to play. Have you forgotten that you rolled down the hillside this morning? If that happens again, Mommy will be scared to death.”
Speaking of this, Liu Dujuan remembered Jinjin rolling down the slope earlier that morning and quickly checked her body for any injuries.
Fortunately, after a thorough check, she found not a single mark on Jinjin, which finally set her mind at ease.
“Go to sleep. You’re tired after fussing all morning. Mommy will sleep with you for a bit!” Liu Dujuan settled her down and spoke softly.
“Okay then… but can Mommy go with Jinjin this afternoon? Little White and I found some red fruits on a tree this morning, and we knocked a few down. Hee-hee, I tried them, and they tasted pretty good!”
“Little White and I also dug up lots of medicinal herbs, but that bad eldest aunt knocked over my small basket and they fell down the hillside. Mommy, can we go pick them back up?”
“All right, how about we go together with your father this afternoon?” Liu Dujuan comforted Jinjin softly.
“Yay! Good night, Mommy!” Having gotten the answer she wanted, Jinjin closed her eyes peacefully to sleep.
Once Jinjin closed her eyes, the smile on Liu Dujuan’s face gradually faded, replaced by a mixture of heartache and hatred.
That wench Mrs. Xu had actually caused her daughter to roll down the hillside and shattered their family’s divine bowl. This grudge was far from over.
In the past, it was fine if she bullied her—after all, Mrs. Xu was the eldest daughter-in-law of the primary branch, and Liu Dujuan had been taught by her parents since childhood that order between seniors and juniors, along with respecting elders and cherishing the young, were the fundamental principles of being human. When her elders bullied them, she could only endure it. But Mrs. Xu had actually tried to take her daughter’s life—this matter could never be forgiven.
At this moment, Liu Dujuan did not yet know that the old woman and Mrs. Xu had colluded to poison Jinjin twice. Otherwise, there was no telling if she would have charged straight into the village holding a cleaver to fight the old woman and Mrs. Xu to the death.
After picking out a suitable spot, Jin Yao picked up his hoe and began digging a hole.
After seeing that Jinjin was fast asleep, Liu Dujuan got up and went outside. Seeing him digging, she asked what he was doing. Jin Yao said he was going to transplant a tree back to block the sun, so there would be shade when eating beside the large stone at noon.
Liu Dujuan then picked up a shovel from the side to help out, and the two worked while talking.
“I ordered a iron wok, a kitchen knife, two hoes, and two shovels in town. I’ll go pick them up in a while.”
“Oh? Did you sell that bear hide and bear paws? Did you have your leg checked out?” Liu Dujuan asked softly.
Because they had discovered what happened to Jinjin as soon as he returned, the couple hadn’t had a chance to talk in detail about Jin Yao’s trip to town.
“The bear hide was sold, but the bear paws haven’t been sold yet. Old Liu said he’d help ask around recently—there are a few wealthy households in town that fancy such things.”
“I went to ask about my leg. They said it’s fine now, so rest assured. All I need to do is nurse it properly from now on and make sure the wound doesn’t reopen and bleed. The two types of medicine Jinjin found were quite effective; we can use those to wash it again and brew medicinal soup to drink.”
Hearing this, Liu Dujuan was relieved and gave a gentle murmur of agreement.
A few days ago, Jin Yao and Old Liu had hunted a bear while out hunting, but neither had made a noise about it. They had quietly taken it to a pig slaughterhouse they knew in town to process, though they hadn’t sold everything at the time.
Jin Yao hadn’t mentioned it at home when he returned, only telling Liu Dujuan in secret not to speak of it. He wanted to hide that money so they could use it when they left the household.