Chapter Five: Liu Tieniu Wants to Propose a Fictive Kinship!

What a wonderful daughter-in-law. How could Zhao Zheng bear to lay a hand on her?

"That old woman didn't try anything, did she?"

"No," Yang Zhaodi replied hurriedly.

"Go and give them some trouble again tomorrow."

Zhao Zheng had originally intended to let that little brat just learn a lesson, but now, it was no longer just a matter of a simple lesson. "You must be hungry, right?"

"Not hungry," Yang Zhaodi lied, her heart at odds with her words.

Xiao E, having a hearty appetite, felt her stomach growling, yet she stubbornly insisted, "I'm not hungry either!"

*Gurgle! Gurgle!*

Zhao Zheng shook his head. He took the dead weasel out of his basket, along with three jin of rice and two jin of eggs. "Zhaodi, wash the rice. Xiao E, boil six eggs—two for each of us."

Yang Zhaodi was astonished. "Father-in-law, is this the game you caught?"

Zhao Zheng nodded and recounted what had happened during the day. Yang Zhaodi hurriedly knelt down to check his feet. "Father-in-law, you didn't get hurt, did you?"

"It’s nothing."

Xiao E took the eggs as if in a trance; the dozen or so eggs felt heavy as lead in her hands. The last time she had eaten an egg was last year.

Zhao Zheng went to the courtyard to dress the weasel.

"Sister-in-law, am I dreaming?" Xiao E whispered with difficulty. "Rice and eggs... in these times, it’s good enough to have some thin rice gruel or bran to fill our stomachs. Rice is so expensive now. I heard Aunt Niu next door say it’s gone up to fifteen or sixteen wen a jin."

Yang Zhaodi shook her head; fifteen or sixteen wen was ancient history. She had visited her maiden home in Yang Family Village today and heard that rice had hit twenty wen a jin—prices completely unaffordable for farmers like them. Yet here they were, cooking rice into plain white steamed rice to feast on? Even a wealthy landlord probably wouldn't eat like this.

"These eggs are so expensive. Are we really going to boil six at once?" Zhang Xiao E asked, feeling a pang of heartache. "A single egg could sell for six or seven wen."

"Listen to Father-in-law!" Yang Zhaodi said. She washed a jin of rice, intentionally adding a bit more water to make it soft, then hid the remaining rice and eggs away.

***

Zhao Zheng sold the peeled weasel skin for one hundred and twenty wen and bought some iodized salt and seasonings from the mall to marinate the meat. He then entered the room, skewered the weasel meat with bamboo sticks, placed them on a wooden rack over the hearth, and began brushing them with oil.

"Father-in-law, are we roasting the meat?" Yang Zhaodi had imagined many ways to cook it, but never roasting.

"Do you not like it?"

"We could make salted meat so we can eat it through the New Year," Yang Zhaodi suggested. She felt it was too wasteful. Accustomed to poverty, she couldn't help but advise him, even though she feared angering Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Zheng smiled faintly. "We’ll eat even better things for the New Year."

Zhang Xiao E sat on the floor before the hearth, hugging her knees. Watching the oil-slicked meat, she was practically salivating. A weasel was already considered top-tier meat, far out of reach—what could be better than that?

"Our lives will keep getting better, but there is one thing you must remember: never let anyone know that our family is eating white rice and meat. Otherwise, there will be great trouble. Do you understand?"

Although he knew the two women weren't loose-lipped, the famine was becoming increasingly severe. He had even heard that in distant places, people had resorted to trading children for food. If others discovered how well they were eating, they would surely be consumed by jealousy, and peace would be a thing of the past.

"Father-in-law, we would hide it even if you didn't tell us; we would never tell anyone."

"We won't say a word," Zhang Xiao E promised.

Zhao Zheng nodded. "Try to eat in private. Cook a bit more at once. Tomorrow, I will dig a cellar in the room to store everything..."

The two women nodded repeatedly.

The weasel meat sizzled over the charcoal fire, the spices releasing a rich, intoxicating aroma. Zhao Zheng tasted it. "It's done!"

He immediately divided the two hind legs between the women, served each a bowl of rice, and gave them each two eggs. "Eat. You need to get used to this kind of life; this is only the beginning. You are both too thin and need to replenish your nutrition."

Yang Zhaodi held her bowl, tears falling silently. Zhang Xiao E also wept with joy.

Zhao Zheng was confused. "Why are you crying again?"

"I'm just happy," Yang Zhaodi sniffled. When she went to her maiden home today to borrow grain, she had been met with cold stares. Her brother and sister-in-law scolded her for being useless, for not supporting her family but instead sucking their blood. Her grandmother called her a "money-losing item," and her grandfather even threatened to sever ties with her. If her mother hadn't secretly slipped her some grain, she would have returned empty-handed.

***

Zhang Xiao E choked back a sob. "I have never eaten this well or been this full."

"Your well-being is the meaning of my hard work," Zhao Zheng smiled and began to eat ravenously.

Meanwhile, at Liu Laosi’s house, Liu Tieniu was too hungry to sleep.

"Dad, do you smell meat?" Liu Tieniu sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent.

"To hell with the smell of meat. All I smell is your stinking feet," Liu Laosi cursed.

"Dad, believe me, I really smell meat! It’s a very special aroma!" Famished, Liu Tieniu climbed out of bed, pushed open the window, and looked toward the Zhao house not far away. "Damn, the smell of meat seems to be coming from their place."

Liu Laosi, who had been lying like a corpse, crawled up and stood by the window, sniffing hard. "That’s not the smell of meat; that’s the smell of pine wood. That old dog Zhao is really generous—he doesn't even sell his firewood, he uses it all himself. He doesn't even worry about starving those two delicate daughters-in-law!"

"Dad, I want to take a wife."

"Take a wife?" Liu Laosi slapped the back of his head. "Can you afford to keep one if you take one? We can barely survive as it is. If another person comes, are you going to cut your own flesh to feed her?"

Liu Tieniu shrank back. "But everyone my age in the village already has kids. They laugh at you for being useless and unable to get me a wife!"

Liu Laosi was furious. "If you have the ability, go get one yourself. I won't stop you."

Liu Tieniu’s eyes lit up. "Dad, what if I go and ask Old Man Zhao to be my godfather?"

"What did you say?" Liu Laosi was nearly choked with rage.

"Dad, don't get angry. Think about it: all of Old Man Zhao's sons are dead, which means his line is broken. If I become his godson, wouldn't those two delicate wives be mine?" Liu Tieniu’s mind drifted to Yang Zhaodi and Zhang Xiao E. "By then, all of Old Man Zhao's house and land would be ours. I could take a wife without spending a single penny. Isn't that great?"

Liu Laosi recalled what happened yesterday and felt angry. "Don't you even think about it."

Just then, a voice came from the bed. "Father of the child, I actually think Tieniu is right. It’s just becoming a godson, not his real son. This famine will eventually pass. Once we establish that bond, when the times get better, everything will be ours."

"You're dreaming. He has brothers."

"His brothers caused his line to end and almost beat him to death. Do you think Old Man Zhao would ever acknowledge them again?"