“W-What’s going on?”
Fenniang covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide as she stared at the pot of porridge in disbelief.
“Mother, why is there so much more porridge in the pot?”
“I can’t even see the wild vegetables anymore! It’s all porridge!”
“Mother, I want some porridge too…”
Her three sons immediately crowded around the stove. They all stood there in stunned silence as they looked at the pot of thick porridge that could actually serve as a proper meal.
Even in years of abundant harvests—let alone during a drought—not even a landlord’s family would dare eat porridge this thick.
The rice and wheat harvested twice a year were treasures the family couldn’t bear to eat.
A small portion was kept as seed for the next planting season. The rest was taken to the grain shop in town and exchanged for cheaper coarse grains such as beans, sorghum, and buckwheat, yielding two or three extra jin of food.
At most, they would trade for a little millet and occasionally cook a pot of millet porridge as a rare treat.
There was a reason it was called coarse grain.
It was rough, bitter, and difficult to swallow.
But when it was ground into flour with a stone mill and cooked together with wild vegetables into porridge or steamed buns, it could at least keep the family alive a little longer.
“Maybe… because I added the leftover perilla seed cake after pressing the oil today. Perhaps it kept swelling the longer it cooked.”
Something flickered in Zhuo Chang’an’s eyes.
He quietly tugged on the still-dazed Fenniang’s sleeve and reminded her in a low voice,
“Mother… serve the meal.”
“R-Right… Right.”
Fenniang nodded repeatedly.
“I… I put in quite a large piece today.”
Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she ladled the thick, almost paste-like porridge into each child’s bowl until they were full.
“Come… eat while it’s hot.”
At the dinner table, everyone stared at the heaping bowls before them.
For a long while, no one dared take the first bite.
It had been so many days since they’d seen porridge this thick that the entire family was left speechless.
Zhuo Changfu took a deep breath, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Mother… I’m not dreaming, am I?”
Zhuo Changgui swallowed hard and asked carefully,
“Mother… can we really eat this?”
Fenniang turned to look at Zhuo Dawu, her expression indescribably complicated.
“I feel like I’m dreaming too…”
Zhuo Dawu held his bowl, at a complete loss for words.
“This is truly strange…”
He looked at his wife.
“How much of that seed cake did you put in?”
Fenniang looked utterly bewildered.
“Not… not very much…”
“Father, Mother, let’s eat.”
Zhuo Chang’an cast Zhuo Ling a meaningful glance before speaking softly.
“Ling’er must be starving.”
Although Zhuo Ling had long grown tired of eating underground city survival rations, she was so hungry now that her stomach felt hollow.
The “temple of five organs” inside her belly was protesting noisily.
She had already picked up her bowl and started eating.
Fenniang nodded uneasily.
“Y-Yes… let’s eat.”
The room fell silent except for the sound of everyone swallowing mouthful after mouthful of porridge.
There wasn’t even a dish of pickled vegetables to go with it.
Even so, in less than three minutes, every bowl on the table had been scraped clean.
Zhuo Changfu wolfed his food down in just a few bites.
Licking the porridge from the corner of his mouth, he sighed with satisfaction.
“It’s so delicious!
“Porridge made with seed cake really tastes amazing…”
“Why does it taste a little like chicken?”
Zhuo Dawu sighed in astonishment.
“Our family hasn’t eaten meat for over a year, has it?
“I must be imagining things. Why does it taste like chicken to me?”
Fenniang nodded vigorously.
“I thought the same thing. It tastes as though it was cooked with chicken broth…”
“Mother! More!”
Patting his round little belly, Zhuo Changgui held out his bowl, polished so clean it could practically be used as a mirror.
“Changgui wants more! More!”
Fenniang couldn’t help laughing.
She pulled him into her arms and said affectionately,
“Not today. If you eat too much all at once, your tummy will hurt.”
“But I want it!”
“I want porridge! I want more!”
Zhuo Changgui immediately began crying at the top of his lungs.
“Changgui, be good.”
Zhuo Chang’an wiped his little brother’s mouth and patiently coaxed him like a grown-up.
“Tomorrow Mother will buy white rice and white flour.
“Then Changgui can eat as much as he wants.”
The moment he heard the words white rice and white flour, Zhuo Changgui instantly stopped crying.
…
It had been a very long time since the family had eaten a full meal.
Half a pot of thick porridge had given every one of them a happiness they’d never felt before.
Burp…
While cleaning up the stove, Fenniang bent over—
Only to let out several loud, satisfied burps in a row.
Her face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment.
Zhuo Changfu lay on the heated kang, rubbing his swollen stomach as he sighed contentedly.
“I finally feel full!
“Mother, are we really buying white rice and white flour tomorrow?”
“You little rascal. You’re dreaming.”
Zhuo Dawu chuckled and lightly smacked him.
“Grain is far too expensive now.
“We’ll only buy enough to cook porridge for your little sister.
“You boys can just have a little of the soup.”
“Even getting a bowl of the soup is enough!”
Zhuo Changfu said eagerly.
“Father, I’ve almost forgotten what white rice porridge tastes like.”
“Changgui wants some too!”
Zhuo Changgui hurriedly raised his hand.
“Father… what does white rice taste like?”
As dusk gradually fell…
Taking advantage of the quieter evening, Zhuo Chang’an balanced a carrying pole across his shoulders and headed to the village well to fetch water.
Children from poor families grew up early.
Ever since his father’s leg had been injured, his thin shoulders had taken on every heavy chore in the household.
Meanwhile, Zhuo Ling leaned against the fence, curiously looking around in every direction, greedily admiring the legendary surface world she’d only ever heard about in the underground city.
The earth here was covered with real flowers, grass, and towering trees.
Everything was lush and green.
The sky was a genuine, brilliant blue.
The sun and moon truly hung overhead, taking turns crossing the heavens.
Even the air was filled with the scent of nature.
Other than the temporary lack of delicious food…
This place was perfect.
She’d eaten her fill at dinner, but her mouth still felt unsatisfied.
It seemed to be missing something.
Thinking of the eggs she’d sold earlier, she couldn’t help regretting not keeping one for herself.
She wanted to taste a real egg—the kind only the wealthy in the underground city could afford.
“Hey, Foolish Girl! Foolish Girl, come here.”
Xiaohu waddled over to the fence on his chubby little legs and crooked a finger at her with a smug grin.
“Come here. I’ll show you something good.”
Zhuo Ling couldn’t have cared less.
“What is it?”
“Look! An egg!”
Xiaohu proudly shoved a plump egg right in front of her face.
“My father brought it home for me! It was boiled in the stew broth from the restaurant’s big pot.
“It’s so delicious!”
During a famine, let alone in normal years, eggs were usually saved and taken to town to exchange for necessities like needles, thread, oil, and salt.
What family would willingly let their children eat one every day?
Xiaohu’s father worked as a cook at a restaurant in town.
From time to time, he managed to sneak a little food home.
The rich aroma of braised meat drifted from the egg.
Zhuo Ling instinctively sniffed.
It really was something wonderful.
Speak of the devil…
Looking at her widened eyes, Xiaohu became even more pleased with himself.
“Foolish Girl, I get to eat eggs.
“Do you?”
“My mother said your family can barely afford porridge anymore… Haha!
“I’m not giving you any!
“I’ll make you drool!”
“Look.”
Zhuo Ling suddenly pointed upward.
“An airplane.”
“Huh? What? What… airplane?”
Xiaohu instinctively followed her finger and looked up.
At that very moment, the egg disappeared from his hand.
Seriously?
He’s that easy to fool?
If you’re this gullible, maybe you shouldn’t be going around calling other people idiots.
Zhuo Ling stuffed the braised egg into her mouth in one bite.
Her mouth was so small that the egg filled it completely.
It was her first time eating a real egg.
It tasted wonderfully savory, fragrant, soft, and delightfully chewy, with a rich, unmistakable egg flavor.
The only problem…
It was a little hard to swallow.