Translated by Serena Love

Proofread by Soupysuspicions

Edited by Lavender and Ladyhotcomb

Chapter 9

Zhao Lanxiang wondered if he had overheard her earlier conversation. She felt a bit embarrassed and considered explaining herself, but then she remembered the rumors about him and Pan Yu in the cornfield.

She averted her gaze and walked calmly to the well for water.

Zhao Lanxiang knew she needed to change habits she’d developed over the years, particularly her tendency to follow He Songbai without thinking. She had to be patient. She admitted that the gap between the 19-year-old He Songbai and the 40-year-old man she knew was vast. At 40, they could talk to each other and their love felt sweet.

However, that didn’t mean she could successfully be together with the nineteen-year-old him. Everything had its own destiny. Her primary reason for being here was to prevent him from going to prison, not to entangle him in a romantic relationship.

With this realization, Zhao Lanxiang felt a weight lift from her shoulders and heart.

She cleaned the pungent pig intestines with salt, then washed the pig trotters carefully. She scraped them delicately with a knife and kneaded them as if they were dough. Under the clear water, the white pig trotters looked almost adorable. Her mouth watered at the thought of cooking them with her newly acquired spices.

Half a pound of pig trotters actually did not contain much meat. Once prepared, it resulted in only about a few pieces. But Zhao Lanxiang, who was reserved in terms of spending money from her pocket, could only temporarily suppress her gluttonous heart.

Fortunately, both items were quite affordable, costing only a small meat ticket: two cents for a pound of large intestine and one cent for a pound of pig trotters. She had deliberately chosen the fattier pieces. It was too early to think about it, and it was too late to stew a five-spice pig trotters.

Sister He hadn’t finished work yet, and it wasn’t time for the He family’s dinner, so Zhao Lanxiang used their stove.

She blanched the pig trotters in water and marinated them in wine and soy sauce for half an hour. Next, she heated a frying pan with oil and slices of ginger. She wrapped the seasonings in gauze to create a spice bag, then placed the trotters in a small pot to simmer slowly. She cooked them until the water had nearly evaporated, leaving the trotters gelatinous and shiny.

The water in the pot bubbled, filling the air with a satisfying aroma as Zhao Lanxiang closed the lid.

He Sanya arrived home first, setting down her heavy load of pigweed. The delicious scent wafting from the kitchen drew her in. The overpowering aroma intensified her hunger, and she found herself salivating. However, upon seeing Zhao Lanxiang in the kitchen, she hesitated. Casting a longing glance toward the stove, she turned and headed to the well, where she filled a large bowl with water and gulped it down, followed by a bite of bitter cabbage.

Zhao Lanxiang, who had been focused on her cooking, was surprised by the little girl’s sudden appearance. She noticed He Sanya by the well, drinking only water and eating raw wild vegetables.

She invited the child into the kitchen and lifted the pot’s lid to reveal eight tender, glistening pieces of pig trotter. She filled a bowl for He Sanya, picked up a piece with chopsticks, blew on it to cool it down, and placed it in the bowl.

“Eat.”

He Sanya smiled, revealing her tiny white teeth, and eagerly nibbled on the pig trotter, her fingers twitching like a small animal’s. Unfamiliar with the complexities of the adult world, she had grown used to people’s cold stares. Even when she was beaten, she didn’t cry, but accepted it numbly, like an emotionless puppet.

However, even a small act of kindness could ignite the warmth in her eyes, making them as inviting as the stove’s flames. After finishing her meal, she licked the remaining sauce from the bowl.

He Songbai witnessed this scene when he returned from feeding the pigs.

In the dimly lit room, the flickering stove light outlined the silhouette of a gentle woman, who was squatting by the stove, and his stupid sister, who was eagerly licking a small bowl clean.

Everything seemed harmonious, except for the fact that Sanya was eating meat provided by this woman.

His face darkened, and he shouted at Sanya, “Who told you to eat other people’s food?”

His voice, tinged with the hoarseness of adolescence, was low and filled with barely controlled anger. He strode over to He Sanya in just a few steps, lifted her up with one hand, and slammed a few crumpled tickets onto the table. “Don’t feed her again,” he said stiffly.

Zhao Lanxiang instinctively took a step back. He Songbai’s menacing expression made her feel as if he were about to strike someone.

He then did just that, spanking He Sanya’s butt and sending her to stand in the corner. Despite the punishment and the soreness, He Sanya had managed to eat two pig trotters. As she stood facing the wall, she wiped her mouth and savored the memory of the taste.

In truth, she didn’t even know she had been eating trotters. How could she recognize a taste she had rarely experienced? This impoverished child had only a few chances each year to eat pork. Those trotters would later become an unforgettable flavor in her life.

Zhao Lanxiang wanted to laugh but was angry at the same time, so she stepped up to He Songbai and said, “I’m the one who gave her the food. She only knows what a child should know. Do you want to beat me too?”

He Songbai froze on the spot, a wave of embarrassment and sadness washing over him. How badly he wished for his lovely sister to be able to eat her fill. She had never had a proper meal in her life. She didn’t even have milk to drink when she was two or three months old. He had worked till he was exhausted and then continued to work even harder, she still went hungry.

He blamed God for her being born into the He family, for her following him in vain.

His eyes, dark and clouded, met Zhao Lanxiang’s gaze briefly before he turned toward the kitchen. He grabbed two handfuls of brown rice and began preparing dinner for the family.

The way he looked at her broke Zhao Lanxiang’s heart.

...

When Sister He returned that evening, He Sanya greeted her from the corner with a smile.

Zhao Lanxiang served her fried pig intestine and trotters along with a bowl of rice, smiling as she said, “I enjoyed the meal you prepared last night. Please have some of what I’ve cooked today.”

Sister He quickly shook her head. Although last night’s meal had been generous by their standards, using more rice than usual, it paled in comparison to the meat and rice Zhao Lanxiang had prepared.

Zhao Lanxiang had already placed a generous portion of intestines into Sister He’s bowl and said with a smile, “Even though it’s meat, it’s just offal and not worth very much. Sister, you can eat without worry!”

This friendship was too expensive. Sister He felt deeply moved by this kindness and looked at Zhao Lanxiang with gratitude. She soaked the rice in hot water and took a bowl to the back room for her grandmother. Whenever the family had something special to eat, they always saved some for her. The rice that Zhao Lanxiang had brought was fine-grained and incredibly soft, almost melting in their mouths. It was delicate and smooth with a slightly sweet flavor, a far cry from the coarse grains they usually ate, which could be rough on the throat.

Sister He finished her meal with a mix of guilt and satisfaction. This meal was a delicacy that she had never experienced before in her life. After Zhao Lanxiang finished eating, she scraped up all the remaining sauce for her younger sister to enjoy. That evening, aside from He Songbai, the He family went to bed full and content.

Later that night, after Zhao Lanxiang had taken a shower, Sister He discreetly entered her room. She placed a stack of money on Zhao Lanxiang’s table and carefully tucked it under the celadon vase.

This money happened to be the same “rent” that Zhao Lanxiang had paid the day before.

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