“Stop laughing.”
Meng Yuanzheng was feeling a little embarrassed too. The lighting was poor, so Lin Miaoyin couldn’t tell whether he was blushing. He moved a couple of steps to block the snake’s body from her view, then reached down and tightened the piece of clothing around his waist to make sure it wouldn’t fall off and expose him.
Lin Miaoyin became serious. “Fine, I won’t laugh. I’ll hold it in.”
Then she proceeded to scan him from head to toe with her eyes.
There was nothing she could do. With such a large, glowing specimen standing right in front of her, it was hard not to look.
Meng Yuanzheng had lived a comfortable life before and had been well cared for, so his skin was smooth and delicate. But after coming to the countryside, no matter how careful he was, he couldn’t live as comfortably as he had in the city. Especially in summer, his neck was one shade from the sun while his chest was another.
Broad shoulders, a slim waist…
He really, really looked good.
Meng Yuanzheng felt extremely uncomfortable under her gaze. His eyes flickered, and he coughed lightly.
“You should go to the kitchen first. I’ll clean this place up.”
Thinking about how dark the kitchen was, Lin Miaoyin suddenly worried that another snake might crawl out of the pile of firewood.
She shuddered and immediately said, “I’m not going. I’ll stay here. It’s already dead, so I’m not afraid anymore.”
Meng Yuanzheng took the kerosene lamp and crouched down to examine the snake.
“This snake isn’t poisonous. Do you want to eat it?”
“What?”
“The meat can be eaten.”
“This…”
Seeing that she was still a little afraid, Meng Yuanzheng added, “It’s actually very tasty.”
Lin Miaoyin’s eyes immediately lit up.
Meat was incredibly precious in these times. The wild animals in the mountains had practically all been hunted already. Since this one had practically delivered itself to their door, of course they had to eat it!
Besides, the snake was quite fat. It was about as thick as a child’s arm and nearly a meter long.
“Eat it, eat it! But I don’t know how to prepare it.”
She crouched beside Meng Yuanzheng. In her eyes, the snake’s body had already turned into a piece of delicious meat. It wasn’t scary anymore.
Meng Yuanzheng reached out, grabbed the snake by the tail, and lifted it up.
“I’ll do it. You just prepare some seasonings.”
“You know how to cook?” Lin Miaoyin asked in surprise.
“Didn’t I know how to cook before?” Meng Yuanzheng replied.
Lin Miaoyin looked strangely at his profile.
Wouldn’t it be stranger if you actually knew how to cook?
“I’m telling you, don’t force yourself. A snake isn’t like chicken, duck, or fish. It’s not that easy to prepare. We’d better take it to my father and brother and ask them to help.”
She genuinely meant to ask her family for help.
But Meng Yuanzheng seemed to take her words as an insult to his abilities.
He glanced at her, pressed his lips together without saying anything, and walked away carrying the snake.
Lin Miaoyin stood up and stared at his bare, clean back, falling into deep thought.
There was something strange about this man.
She turned around and saw the bloody mess on the ground. It looked disgusting, so she was about to find a shovel and clear away the dirt.
Before she could do anything, Meng Yuanzheng had already returned with a shovel.
He quickly scraped the area clean, scooped up the bloody dirt, and carried it outside.
Why had this man suddenly become so hardworking? He hadn’t even put his clothes back on before starting to clean!
Something was definitely wrong.
Still, his newfound hardworking attitude was a good thing. It meant she could be lazy instead.
Once Lin Miaoyin had thought it through, she happily went to cook, already looking forward to eating snake meat the next day.
She poured water into the pot and lit the fire. Then she searched through the house for whatever seasonings they had left.
After rummaging through everything, she only found some dried, shriveled old ginger, along with basic seasonings such as salt, soy sauce, and dried chili peppers.
The snake had been thrown into a wooden bucket and covered with a bamboo tray.
While the water heated, Lin Miaoyin nervously returned to the room. She carefully took out some pickled vegetables.
She couldn’t help remembering the image of the snake coiled in the corner.
She quickly put the lid back on the jar and hurried away as if something were chasing her.
The sweet potato porridge was bubbling away.
She was cutting the pickled vegetables when Meng Yuanzheng came in carrying the bucket. It was filled with his dirty clothes.
He put the bucket down and naturally went over to tend the fire.
As Lin Miaoyin continued cutting the vegetables, she suddenly remembered something.
“Go put some medicine on your injuries. Use the ointment Comrade Zhu gave you.”
She waited.
There was no response behind her.
She turned around and saw Meng Yuanzheng quietly staring at the flames inside the stove, holding the fire tongs completely still in his hand.
“Are you possessed or something?”
She put down the knife and walked over to pat him on the shoulder.
Meng Yuanzheng came back to his senses and looked up at her.
“What is it?”
“I told you to go put some medicine on your injuries.”
“I’m tending the fire.”
“Forget the fire. Go put your medicine on!”
She snatched the fire tongs from his hand.
Meng Yuanzheng looked helpless and rested his hands on his knees without moving.
Lin Miaoyin really wanted to kick him in the butt.
“Look at your face! What a mess it is, and you’re still not putting any medicine on it. Your back and the rest of your body are injured too, aren’t they? No medicine, no dinner!”
After giving Meng Yuanzheng a good scolding, he finally stood up and went back to the room to apply the ointment.
Lin Miaoyin felt exhausted.
Being around him was almost like being around her first love.
Her first love had also been a complete idiot—slow-witted and clueless. Whenever she was with him, she had felt more like his mother than his girlfriend.
And now Meng Yuanzheng was acting exactly like a son.
When he returned, the porridge was already cooked and the pickled vegetables had been cut and placed on the table.
The two of them sat across from each other and ate.
After finishing one bowl, Lin Miaoyin put down her chopsticks with a troubled expression and cautiously asked,
“Hey, do you want to eat some meat?”
“?”
Meng Yuanzheng looked at her.
“Didn’t we just catch a snake?”
“Not that.” Lin Miaoyin put down her chopsticks, stretched her neck forward, and leaned closer to him.
“I mean pork.”
She stood up, closed the door, then returned to her seat and continued in a low voice.
“We used up all our meat coupons a long time ago. My parents can’t keep supporting us forever either. We still have more than half a year left here. We can’t eat sweet potatoes and pickles every day.”
“I know you used to live in the city, so your food must have been much better than what we have here. You’ve been here for half a year and barely had any meat. You must be craving it badly.”
She was trying to lure Meng Yuanzheng into joining her.
It was better to have two people working together than one. And if he was involved too, she wouldn’t have to worry about him reporting her.
Meng Yuanzheng held his chopsticks and listened seriously.
After she finished speaking, he answered,
“I am craving it.”
“Then let’s find a way to get some meat!”
“Do you have meat coupons?”
“No.”
“Do you have a way to get some?”
“No.”
Meng Yuanzheng frowned.
“Then why did you bring it up?”
Lin Miaoyin quickly said, “There’s the black market!”
“The black market?”
“Yes. You don’t need coupons there. You can exchange things for food or just pay more money.”
She thought she had made herself perfectly clear.
But instead, Meng Yuanzheng frowned even more deeply. His voice became stern.
“I don’t care where you heard about it. Don’t mention it again.”
“Why?”
Lin Miaoyin couldn’t believe it.
Who was Meng Yuanzheng?
He was the man who had cried because he couldn’t eat meat when he first came to the countryside. He had even swallowed his pride and married the production captain’s daughter just to improve his living conditions.
Now she was voluntarily suggesting that the two of them work together to get some meat, and he was actually refusing without even thinking about it?
“This is very dangerous. If we’re caught, both the buyer and the seller will be in serious trouble. Even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think about your parents. Your father could be dragged into it too. At best, he could lose his position as production captain. At worst, he could end up in prison.”
Meng Yuanzheng’s voice was low and serious.
It wasn’t that serious.
Lin Miaoyin had come from an era of a free-market economy. On top of that, she knew that within a year or two, the rigid planned economy would begin to change.
The black market of today was merely an early sign of the greater freedom that would come in the future.
“Fine, we won’t go. Why are you being so fierce?” she said angrily.
Meng Yuanzheng remained unmoved.
“Anyway, remember this. Don’t go anywhere near a black market.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do?”
“Your parents have the right to, don’t they? If you go, I’ll tell them.”
Lin Miaoyin nearly spit blood.
This jerk!
She had just thought he had changed.
Now it seemed his true nature was still just as annoying as ever.
“I’m full! You wash the dishes!”
She angrily stood up, kicked the stool aside, and went to take a bath.