She hadn’t expected to encounter such kind-hearted people as the Gan Family.
During the day, they had given her meat buns, and at night, they provided white steamed bread.
She looked at the members of the Gan Family with gratitude.
“Thank you. Thank you for not looking down on us mother and son, and for being willing to take us in.”
“I’ve never been to school and don’t understand any big principles, but my son has a lot of strength. Please don’t hesitate to order him to do any dirty or exhausting work.”
Hui Niang couldn’t help but smile. “Old Auntie, you’re being too polite.”
Gan Fanren was handsome and Hui Niang was graceful; their children had perfectly inherited their best features.
This family was extraordinary in appearance. For her son to be able to follow such god-like people was truly his good fortune.
Li Zhi’s mother thought this as she took a small bite of the white steamed bread.
Her eyes immediately widened.
No wonder her son ate so fast—this bread was simply too delicious!
It wasn’t inferior to meat at all.
The old lady couldn’t help herself and ended up eating until she was a bit stuffed.
Li Zhi wasn’t doing much better.
He was born with great strength and a massive appetite. This was the first full meal he had eaten since he could remember.
He ate with tears in his eyes.
“This white steamed bread is so delicious.”
“If only I could eat it every day.”
Li Zhi’s appetite was indeed enormous; he ate a total of eight steamed buns.
However, no trace of distress appeared on Gan Fanren’s face.
What their family lacked least right now was food.
“You will. When you grow up, never mind a few steamed buns—you’ll be able to eat your fill of meat at every meal.”
Gan Fanren patted Li Zhi’s shoulder, offering encouragement.
Li Zhi’s eyes widened in terror, and he waved his hands frantically.
“I wouldn’t even dare to dream that big. Even the landlord in our village can’t eat meat every day.”
Gan Tian felt frustrated by his lack of ambition: 【Can you have a bit of backbone? You’re going to be a great general who can hold a pass against ten thousand men in the future. Forget about meat, you’ll be so rich you could probably fill yourself up on silver!】
Gan Fanren asked curiously, “Since you’re so strong, why didn’t you think about joining the army?”
“With strength like yours, if you joined the army, you would surely achieve great things.”
At the mention of the army, Li Zhi sighed deeply.
“I went, but as soon as I joined, I was sent back. They said I ate too much.”
Gan Fanren: “…”
Still, Li Zhi’s appetite was indeed not small.
The food Gan Fanren’s family ate was made with generous ingredients. Whether it was the buns or the white steamed bread, they were all very large.
His two sons were full after sharing one bun together, and even he could barely finish one.
Li Zhi had eaten eight by himself.
“Since you call me ‘Big Brother,’ I, your Big Brother, promise you that I will never let you go hungry. In the future, I will definitely let you eat your fill of meat.”
Li Zhi sighed deeply. “It’s enough that Big Brother has this intention. You don’t need to coax me.”
Gan Fanren made a decision: he would prepare meat tomorrow.
Gan Tian also raised her little fist.
【Who are you looking down on? Tomorrow, I’ll make sure you eat your fill of meat.】
【I’m the woman who unlocked the Meat Area!】
As Gan Tian spoke, she tried hard to crawl toward the bundle.
She wanted to make the meat appear inside the bundle.
The ideal was beautiful, but reality was cruel.
A one-month-old baby couldn’t crawl yet.
She couldn’t even roll over.
After squirming for a long time, she hadn’t even moved half an arm’s length.
【Exhausted.】
Her eyes darted around: 【Sorry, Daddy. I know this is a bit gross, but I can’t let my beautiful Mommy suffer through this, can I?】
Gan Fanren suddenly had an ominous premonition.
Hearing Gan Tian’s inner voice, the family members all turned their gazes toward Gan Fanren in unison.
Gan Fanren felt a small hand slip into the front of his robe.
Then, he felt a chill against his chest.
Something heavy dropped down.
His face turned pale. He quickly turned around and pulled a large chunk of meat out from his chest.
Looking at the greasy meat and feeling the stickiness on his chest, he squeezed two words through his teeth.
“Gan Tian…”
Gan Tian blinked guiltily.
【Daddy couldn’t have figured out it was me, right?】
【Impossible. Daddy can’t read minds, so how could he know it was me?】
【Daddy calling my name must be because he loves me too much, so he just said it randomly. It must be!】
Gan Tian’s dark, bright eyes were like a pair of beautiful pearls. Reflecting Gan Fanren’s handsome and refined face, she gave him a guilty, flattering smile.
Gan Fanren took a deep breath and gave his daughter a gentle smile. “Our Tian’er is so good, so cute.”
【I knew it! I knew Daddy calling my name was because he loves me too much!】
Gan Tian wriggled her body happily, and then, in a moment of excitement, she pooped.
Embarrassed, she pretended to look at the scenery.
She was just an innocent little baby; she didn’t understand anything.
She completely missed the shocked looks from her two brothers.
So it turned out the Divine Goddess was actually their younger sister.
The next morning, Hui Niang started the fire and boiled water early.
She feigned that she had seen someone hunt a wild boar and traded some rice for it.
She used the boiling water to wash the blood off the meat.
She began to chop the meat on a flat stone.
The chunk of meat was truly too large, and the stone wasn’t as useful as a cutting board. After a short while, Hui Niang grew tired.
Seeing this, Li Zhi took the knife. “Let me.”
He was strong and fast. At first, Hui Niang was a bit worried, but seeing that Li Zhi was doing a good job, she went to prepare the other ingredients.
In the blink of an eye, she turned back and found that Li Zhi had chopped the meat into a paste.
She had originally intended to make Dongpo Pork, but now that the meat was a paste, that was impossible.
She couldn’t possibly use all this meat to make buns, could she?
Hui Niang had a bit of a headache.
Her family had eaten quite a few buns lately, and she wanted to change things up.
Seeing that there was still plenty of oil, she had a sudden inspiration and made a large pot of Four Joy Meatballs.
She knew Li Zhi ate a lot, so she made the meatballs very large.
Each meatball was the size of a fist. One bite revealed fresh, tender juices and a rich meaty aroma.
In a flash, Li Zhi had eaten one. When Hui Niang served him the second, his speed slowed down, and he ate it very cherishly.
“Yesterday I was thinking how great it would be if I could just have a bite of steamed bread. I never expected to be eating meat today. Big Brother Gan, you are my biological big brother.”
Two wide streams of tears flowed down Li Zhi’s dark face.
Two meatballs had actually made him cry.
Seeing this, Hui Niang gave him two more meatballs.
“I traded for a lot of meat. In this heat, it probably won’t keep. If you can eat it, then eat it all.”
Li Zhi wasn’t an ungrateful person. After eating four, he stopped.
Hui Niang knew he wasn’t full and urged him to eat more, but he refused to eat any more no matter what.
He took a Four Joy Meatball and waved it in front of many people.
“Hot Four Joy Meatballs, ten wen each!”
On the journey, everyone traveled light. People like the Gan Family, who pulled a small cart and carried a pot, were rare.
The others had been gnawing on dry rations for several days and were already starving. Now that Li Zhi was waving a meatball in front of them, many people reached their breaking point.
“Ten wen? That’s too expensive!”
“Exactly! Ten wen is enough to buy ten buns. You want ten wen for just one meatball?”