Accidentally-Born-C16

Chapter 16

The bighead carp, also known as silver carp, is the tastiest among them. In the past, catching a bighead carp meant that just its head could make up an entire meal. But today, the Li family had a bountiful harvest—over ten pounds of fish and several hundred pounds of wild boar meat. Grandma Li felt generous and instructed Guihua to cook heartily to make up for months of sparse meals.

Zhenzhen sat in Wang Sufen’s arms, opening her little mouth and eagerly eating the silver carp meat that Wang Sufen fed her. The wild silver carp was not only fresh but also tender, especially the fish head, where the meat was slippery and jelly-like. It didn’t even need chewing—just a light press with her little tongue and it would slide down her throat. After drinking the bland mother’s milk for over seven months, Zhenzhen finally tasted the delicious flavor of fish again, and tears of joy nearly fell from her eyes.

In no time, half a bowl of fish meat was gone. Zhenzhen patted her little belly, still feeling a bit unsatisfied. Watching her brothers’ chopsticks weave between plates, she quickly pointed at the fish head and said, “Eat! Eat!”

“Not enough yet?” Wang Sufen tilted her head, looking at Zhenzhen’s little face. “You’ve eaten quite a lot already.”

Zhenzhen, in utter despair, regretted being so young. If she were a year older, she would have grabbed the fish head herself and eaten it, unlike now, where it took so much effort.

“Eat!” Zhenzhen insisted again, her expression filled with urgency, fully showing her desire for the fish head. Grandma Li, seeing this, immediately softened: “Since you like it, I’ll leave the fish head for Zhenzhen. She can have another serving tonight.” She then instructed Mingbei, “Go get a plate and take out the big fish head for your sister.”

Mingbei shoved a piece of pork belly into his mouth, then rushed out in a few steps. Like the wind, he returned, placing the plate next to Wang Sufen, and immediately stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth.

Seeing Mingbei’s mouth full of grease, Zhenzhen couldn’t help but giggle. Mingbei, thinking she craved meat, picked a fatty piece and offered it to her. Zhenzhen looked at the thick layer of fat and quickly shrank back, burying her little head in Wang Sufen’s arms.

Seeing Zhenzhen refuse to eat, Mingbei shoved the piece into his own mouth and mumbled, “Is my sister a bit silly? Why doesn’t she eat such delicious meat?”

“You’re the silly one!” Grandma Li shot him a glare. “Your sister is way smarter than you. This fish meat is tender and good for the brain—it’s the best thing. That thick fatty meat can be kept for oil, but you want your sister to stew it? You’ve been hungry for half a year, now you have eaten so much fatty meat. You’ll be running to the toilet all night, really, you’re such a fool.”

For a moment, everyone who had been stuffing fatty meat into their mouths paused. Then, as if they hadn’t heard, they continued eating. After all, being able to eat meat so freely was a rare treat. This kind of meal hadn’t been so bountiful since last year’s New Year, when the few pounds of pork bought were mostly used for making dumplings. Every time a dish was made, there were only a few slices of meat—today, however, they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Thinking about dumplings, Mingbei finally lifted his face from the bowl, swallowed the meat in his mouth, and turned to Grandma Li to discuss. “Grandma, let’s make some dumplings! There’s meat and cabbage.”

Grandma Li chuckled and shot him down, “No flour!”

“But there’s still some cornmeal, and you might even have white flour hidden in the locked cabinet!” Mingbei, having been working around the house, had gotten familiar with the kitchen’s supplies.

Grandma Li rolled her eyes at him, “You really don’t know how to live wisely. The corn we dried and ground into flour takes over a month to process. Who knows when the grain supply will arrive? The little flour we have won’t even be enough to make porridge for your sister. Don’t worry about it. For now, we have meat to eat, and you’re still thinking about dumplings. How about you go to the sky instead?”

Mingbei put a piece of spine bone in his bowl and, while chewing, mumbled, “I’m not little. When I grow up, I might even go to the sky.”

Grandma Li couldn’t help but laugh at his response. “Fine, I’ll wait for you to grow up. If you can’t make it to the sky, I’ll tie a hundred firecrackers to you and send you up.”

While the two were bickering, Li Muwu and Li Musen each poured themselves a small cup of sorghum liquor, sipping it slowly and savoring every drop.

Li Musen took a sip, then another bite of meat, looking at his son and nephew happily eating, feeling content. He couldn’t help but praise Mingxi, “I thought after the hunt, we’d be relying on Mingnan and Mingbei. But Mingxi, though always looking gentle, turns out to be quite the hunter. From now on, when we eat wild boar, it’ll be thanks to Mingxi.”

Just as Mingxi was about to spit out a fishbone from his mouth, he was so startled by the praise that he swallowed it whole, bending over to cough violently.

Li Musen leaned down to check on Mingxi, who had turned bright red. He quickly asked, “Are you alright, Mingxi? Why do you get so worked up when someone praises you? I’ll give you a good word tomorrow when I go out.”

Mingxi coughed so hard that tears were almost falling. He weakly waved his hand from under the table, clearly signaling his wish for no more praise. Mingdong, seeing this, grabbed a piece of bread, broke it into small pieces, and kept feeding them to Mingxi. Mingxi, almost choking, tilted his neck back but thankfully swallowed the fishbone.

After washing his face, Mingxi returned to the table, shivering. “Grandma, school’s starting soon. How about I take the train with my brother tomorrow?”

Grandma Li glared at him, “It’s still over half a month. Your brother is going to Ice City and needs to leave a few days early. Why are you in such a hurry to go to Yidong? You can take the train three days before school starts. For now, eat more meat to fill up and make up for the wild boar you brought back.”

Mingnan and Mingbei, finally full, had some time to talk. They looked at Mingxi with eyes full of curiosity. “Bro, when you get back, tell us how you managed to crush the wild boar’s head?”

Mingxi lowered his head and kept gnawing at the sauce-covered spine bone, pretending he didn’t hear them.

Mingnan, feeling awkward, turned to ask Li Musen, “Uncle, how do you kill wild boars? Can you take us next time?”

Li Musen, laughing, replied, “Sure, if you’re not afraid, you can come with us. But you’re not allowed to piss your pants when the time comes!”

Mingbei puffed out his chest immediately, “I’m not scared! I’ll be as brave as my second brother!”

Mingxi swallowed another piece of wild boar meat, silently shedding tears in his heart: There’s no way I’m going, it’s terrifying, I almost pissed my pants.

While listening to the family chat, Zhenzhen kept eating the fish meat. Her small belly soon grew full, and she started to feel sleepy, yawning as her head drooped.

Wang Sufen saw this and took her to wash her face, then laid her down on the bed in the east room. After patting her twice, Zhenzhen fell into a deep sleep.

Wang Sufen had been feeding Zhenzhen fish, and She hadn’t even properly eaten her meal. Watching Zhenzhen breathe steadily and sleep so soundly, Wang Sufen covered her with a cloth and went back to eat.

Hearing the sound of Wang Sufen’s footsteps leaving, Zhenzhen secretly opened her eyes. Once she confirmed that there was no one else in the room, she turned over, facing the window, and allowed her consciousness to leave her body.

In the afternoon, when they were on the mountain, Zhenzhen had seen something glowing golden. Before she could get closer, Wang Sufen had woken her up. Zhenzhen wanted to take advantage of the time when everyone was eating to go back to the mountain and investigate further.

Summer days are long, so Zhenzhen set her course and didn’t stop along the way, heading straight for the place she had seen earlier. Perhaps because she had a goal, it felt like she had moved into the forest in no time.

Slowly sinking about three to four meters underground, two large wooden boxes were placed side by side, each with a big brass lock hanging on it. Peering through the boxes, she saw that the first one was neatly packed with gold bars. In her two lifetimes, even in her previous life at a gold counter in a mall, she had never seen this much gold. Zhenzhen wiped her mouth, then backed out of the first box and looked into the second one.

Compared to the neatness of the first box, this one was somewhat messy. Gold bricks, gold ingots, silver bars, and coins like the Yuan Da Tou¹ were piled halfway up the box, with some gold and silver jewelry and jade bracelets tossed on top. At the very top, there were several guns. Remembering how Grandma Li had once told Guihua about the bandits before the founding of the country, Zhenzhen speculated that this was probably something the bandits had buried before running away, planning to dig it up later.

Zhenzhen rose to the surface and looked around. This place was relatively flat on the mountain, and there was a large stone weighing dozens of kilograms placed nearby, likely used as a marker.

Since she had already found these two boxes, Zhenzhen decided not to leave them for the bandits. Her consciousness merged with the earth again, and she moved the two boxes several hundred meters up the mountain, burying them deeply in a desolate area, then pulled her consciousness back.

Zhenzhen opened her eyes, and it was already dark. She listened carefully to the sounds coming from the west room, where lively conversation could still be heard. Zhenzhen felt really sleepy and turned over, falling into a deep sleep again.

Meanwhile, in the west room, it was bustling. After Ming Dong had finished eating, he went back to the room to check his ceremonial attire. Ming Xi, with a deep psychological scar from the wild boar, hadn’t eaten much meat and followed Ming Dong into the room. Ming Nan, Ming Bei, and Ming Rong and Ming Guang from Uncle San’s family were still sitting at the table, holding back burps and not wanting to leave, their eyes fixed on the pig’s bones on the table, waiting for a while before nibbling on another piece.

Li Musen, in a much better mood than a few days ago, maybe because he was too happy, had drunk only two cups of wine but was already feeling tipsy. He kept calling Li Mu Wu Brother and laughing nonstop.

Grandma Li, sitting cross-legged on the bed in the north room, was smoking her pipe. Watching her sons and grandsons full of energy, she felt quite happy. After finishing a bag of tobacco, she knocked on the edge of the bed and called over Wang Sufen, Liu Xiuhua, and Guihua. “It’s hot now, and the wild boar meat is hard to preserve. Tomorrow, when you go back to your parents’ house, bring some pork to relieve their cravings.”

The three of them exchanged looks, all wearing expressions of uncontrollable joy. Grandma Li smiled and said, “Sufen and Xiulan each take thirty pounds, and Guihua takes ten. Guihua, after eating, boil all the fatty meat at home, remove the bones, and split it between the two families. The rest, salt and sauce it, and keep it to eat slowly.”

Guihua agreed. Wang Sufen, seeing that Grandma Li was in a good mood, took the opportunity to ask, “Mother, do you think I can bring Zhenzhen with me when I go back tomorrow? Since she was born, her maternal grandparents and uncle have only seen her once and haven’t seen her again.”

Grandma Li hesitated a bit when she heard this, because Wang Sufen’s family was about twenty miles away. She was worried that the long trip would tire Zhenzhen out. Seeing the hesitation, Wang Sufen quickly said, “How about we have Mu Wu borrow a big cart, and we take a cart?”

“Alright.” Grandma Li nodded. “Then you all leave early tomorrow morning, have lunch, and come back. Take a little blanket for Zhenzhen, so if she falls asleep on the way, you can cover her. Don’t let the wind blow on her.”

Wang Sufen quickly agreed, “I’ll remember.”

Grandma Li thought for a moment and still felt uneasy. “Also, bring Zhenzhen’s water bottle with you. When you get to your parents’ house, see if they have that fine cornmeal that’s been milled three times. If they do, make some porridge for Zhenzhen for lunch. If not, just let her have milk. She can’t digest anything else.”

“Alright!” Wang Sufen continued agreeing.

“Also…” Grandma Li scratched her head. “Isn’t your sister-in-law’s little boy, the one called Stinky Ball, just three years old? That’s the age for trouble. You’ll need to keep an eye on Zhenzhen. Don’t let Stinky Ball scratch Zhenzhen’s face.”

Wang Sufen quickly replied, “You’re right. When Ming Bei was that age, he used our iron comb to scratch Ming Nan’s bald head. Don’t worry, Mother. When we get to my parents’ house, I’ll keep Zhenzhen in my arms and not put her down.”

It seemed there were no more problems, but Grandma Li still felt uneasy. This was the first time her granddaughter was going out, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to adapt.

“What time will you be back?” Grandma Li pursed her lips, a troubled look crossing her wrinkled face. “Or maybe you can just bring me along.”

Wang Sufen:…