Lihua was carrying a bucket to draw water from the well in the courtyard when she heard He Yan say he wanted to eat the chicken soup her mother was making. She couldn’t help shooting him a reproachful glance.
That chicken was supposed to be kept for laying eggs. How could he have the nerve to eat it?
He Yan couldn’t help laughing.
Look at how stingy his dear Lihua was being. Did she really think he would eat her family’s food without giving them anything in return?
Bai Su looked at the two of them exchanging flirtatious glances right in front of her.
Ah, young people these days!
The air was practically thick with the sickening sweetness of romance. She couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
“It’s already this late. Why haven’t Guihua and Meihua come home yet?”
School only lasted half a day on Saturdays. They had been busy moving and organizing their belongings, and it was already midafternoon. Normally, Guihua and Meihua would have returned from school long ago.
There was a shortcut from the town school back to Heping Production Brigade. To save time traveling to and from school, Guihua, Meihua, and the other children from the brigade usually took that mountain path together.
Surely Lu Erjun, that spoiled brat his grandmother had doted on, wasn’t making things difficult for Guihua and Meihua because he hadn’t gotten any eggs or white-flour steamed buns?
Bai Su called out to He Yan.
“Xiao He, Auntie needs a favor. There aren’t many people along that road back from town. Go with Lihua and help bring Guihua and Meihua home.”
He Yan was already overjoyed at the thought of becoming neighbors with his dear Lihua.
Now that Auntie Bai thought highly enough of him to let him accompany Lihua to fetch her sisters, he was even more delighted.
As they walked toward the mountain path leading to the brigade, He Yan noticed that Lihua was dawdling behind him. He stopped and urged her, “Lihua, hurry up.”
What if someone saw her walking together with Brother He Yan?
Lihua glared at him. “Who asked you to come with me?”
“Auntie did.”
He Yan smiled at her. “You’re so pretty that Auntie is worried you might run into some hooligan along the way. That’s why she asked me to accompany you.”
There was a mischievous, roguish quality to He Yan’s smile. With his hands tucked into his trouser pockets, he stood a few steps away, watching her.
Sunlight fell across his face, and his eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked at her!
And he had just said she was pretty enough to attract hooligans?
Lihua’s face turned bright red.
“I-I think you’re the one who looks like a hooligan…”
The road from town to Heping Production Brigade was quite winding. Near the brigade, however, a smaller path branched off and crossed a hill, providing a shortcut home.
With He Yan gazing at her so intently, Lihua’s heart pounded wildly. After snapping at him, she simply broke into a light run along the fork in the path.
He Yan followed closely behind.
After crossing the hill and entering a patch of woodland, they heard Guihua shouting in the distance.
“Lu Erjun, don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll throw stones at you!”
“Weren’t you acting so tough at school? You wouldn’t even share a piece of steamed bun with me!”
“Bet you didn’t expect me to wait for you halfway home! Now I’ve finally got you!”
Guihua’s shouting was accompanied by Meihua’s frightened sobs.
Lihua anxiously hurried forward.
He Yan, who had been following behind, suddenly shot past her and rushed out of the woods.
Seeing that Lu Erjun was about to bully Guihua and Meihua, the tall, broad-shouldered He Yan charged over and grabbed him by the back of his collar.
“Well, look at you, brat! Think you’re something special? Have you started acting like a highway bandit now?”
This was the second time Lu Erjun had been compared to a highway bandit!
When he saw that it was He Yan, whose family had a bad class background, Lu Erjun struggled furiously to break free.
“Who do you think you are? I’m teaching my cousins a lesson! What’s it got to do with you?”
“How is it none of my business? I’m their brother-in-law.”
He Yan slapped Lu Erjun across the face.
“If you ever dare bully Guihua or Meihua again, I’ll beat you to death, you little beast! Understand?”
Lu Erjun’s cheek burned from the slap.
When he saw Lihua running over behind He Yan, he began shrieking.
“Lu Lihua, you shameless bitch! Tell your lover to let me go!”
“Grandma wanted to marry you off to Liu Laizi, and you still dare fool around with the son of a landlord tyrant?”
“I’m going to tell Grandma when I get home and have her beat you to death!”
Then Lu Erjun remembered that Bai Su had reported his grandmother and mother to the commune authorities.
He quickly changed his threat.
“I’ll have my dad beat you to death!”
Lihua had already turned scarlet when He Yan declared himself Guihua and Meihua’s brother-in-law.
Now, seeing that Lu Erjun still wouldn’t behave even after being slapped, anger flared in her chest.
Since moving out of the Lu family’s house, Lihua had become much more assertive.
“His mouth must be full of filth! Brother He Yan, give him a few more slaps!”
“You hear that? Your Sister Lihua told me to hit you.”
He Yan seized Lu Erjun by the arm and smacked him several times on the head.
“Running to Grandma to complain? Running to Daddy to complain? What are you, still a nursing baby?”
“If you want your father sent away for reform through labor, go home and tell him I was the one who hit you.”
“Let’s see whether your father dares come looking for trouble with me!”
“You little brat, you’re still far too green to take me on.”
He Yan yanked Lu Erjun off his feet, threw him to the ground, and stamped on him hard.
Only then did he leave Lu Erjun behind and follow the sisters down the path.
Guihua turned curiously to look at He Yan before leaning close to Lihua.
“Big Sister, are you dating Brother He Yan?”
Lihua was already regretting asking He Yan to help beat up Lu Erjun.
Hadn’t she practically admitted that he was Guihua and Meihua’s brother-in-law?
Flustered, she pinched Guihua.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Stop making things up!”
Meihua also looked at her eldest sister curiously.
He Yan noticed the sisters’ little exchange and couldn’t help smiling.
They had already crossed the hill, and Heping Production Brigade lay just down the slope. There was no longer any danger.
“You three go ahead. I’m going up the mountain for a bit.”
Leaving the sisters to talk among themselves, He Yan disappeared into the mountain woods…
Guihua and Meihua had never imagined that after spending a morning at school, they would return to find that their family had moved into their maternal grandfather’s empty house.
They had even gotten the sewing machine their grandmother treasured so much that she wouldn’t let anyone so much as touch it.
A bamboo fence now surrounded the yard, and inside was a clucking chicken.
Meihua leaned against the fence, staring at the chicken with her mouth practically watering.
“Big Sister said we’re going to slaughter this chicken to nourish ourselves. Fourth Sister, are we really going to get to eat chicken?”
“Maybe we shouldn’t eat it!”
Guihua was craving meat just as badly, but she resisted the temptation.
“We should keep it for laying eggs. Then we’ll have eggs to eat.”
Just how badly were these two children craving meat?
Bai Su came outside carrying a knife and a bucket of hot water she had prepared. Seeing the sisters hovering around the chicken, she couldn’t help laughing.
“We’re slaughtering it! We’ll eat this one, and later we’ll get two chicks to raise for eggs.”
Bai Su asked Guihua to help catch the chicken. She tied it down on a slab of bluestone and was just about to bring down the knife.
At that moment, He Yan returned carrying a shoulder pole loaded with firewood.
He raised the creature dangling from his hand and shouted, “Auntie, spare the chicken!”
“Slaughter this rabbit instead! Keep the chicken for laying eggs!”
He handed the rabbit to Bai Su.
“Auntie, I set a trap yesterday. I went to check it just now, and look what I caught! Such a fat rabbit! Let’s stew it and have a proper housewarming feast.”
He Yan stacked the firewood beneath the eaves, then glanced at Lihua.
His look clearly said that he wasn’t going to eat her family’s chicken for free.
When Meihua saw the rabbit dangling from He Yan’s hand, her eyes widened.
Good heavens!
Not only could this man bring them meat to eat, but he could also help beat up Lu Erjun.
She approved of this brother-in-law!
Who could possibly resist the temptation of a plump rabbit?
Delicious bunny, here I come!
Meihua rushed over in a few quick steps and took the rabbit from He Yan.
“Mom, don’t slaughter the chicken! Let’s eat stewed rabbit instead! We’re having stewed rabbit tonight!”
The prospect of eating meat made Meihua even happier than she was during New Year…