Accidentally-Born-C27

Chapter 27

Carrying two buckets of lively, wriggling fish, Ming Nan and Ming Bei walked proudly in front, heads held high, looking like battle heroes, while Grandma Li held Zhen Zhen’s little hand and followed behind, taking small steps.

Seeing her two grandsons swaggering in front, Grandma Li suppressed the urge to smack them each with a smoking pipe. “These mischievous boys, what are they showing off for? If it weren’t for our treasure, do they think they could catch fish? Hmph!”

But Grandma Li couldn’t say this out loud, so she occasionally rolled her eyes at her grandsons ahead. Zhen Zhen glanced up at Grandma Li, worried that she might lose her temper and send her eyeballs flying out.

After walking for half a mile, Grandma Li squatted down and gently touched Zhen Zhen’s little face. “Are you tired, treasure? Should Grandma carry you?”

Zhen Zhen, who had never known fatigue in her life, despite her small arms and legs, felt she could walk twenty miles without issue. She shook her head and gave Grandma Li a sweet smile. “I’m not tired.”

Grandma Li looked at Zhen Zhen’s face, feeling sweetness in her heart, and spoke softly in a tone so gentle that if Ming Bei heard it, he would get goosebumps: “Alright, if you get tired, tell Grandma, and Grandma will carry you.”

Zhen Zhen nodded. Seeing that there was no one else around, Grandma Li, recalling the wild goat that had committed suicide at their front gate before the New Year, couldn’t help but ask Zhen Zhen, “The goat we ate before the New Year, was it the treasure who called it?”

Zhen Zhen nodded, a look of nostalgia on her face. “It was so delicious!”

Although Grandma Li had already guessed the truth, hearing Zhen Zhen confirm it still shocked her. When they got home, she pulled Wang Sufen aside to a quiet corner and whispered to her, asking, “Our treasure can not only manage crops, but also animals listen to her. She must have been very powerful when she was a deity.”

Wang Sufen nodded seriously and then reminded Grandma Li, “We can’t talk about gods now; it’s considered feudal superstition. Don’t let others hear.”

“I know.” Grandma Li scoffed. “Some old sayings can’t be ignored. Who knows, some of them might even be true. But we can’t talk too much; what you said about ancient times sounds a bit nonsense.”

Wang Sufen smiled widely. “Isn’t it just a dream? No one takes it seriously. I won’t mention it again.”

Grandma Li took out her pipe, lit it with a match, and puffed a couple of times. She pondered, “I see that our treasure is quite fond of food, always thinking about eating. We can’t have her bringing down goats and rabbits from the mountains every day. No, this year we should raise something ourselves.”

“Alright.” Wang Sufen nodded. “Zhen Zhen is older now and more reliable. I also have more time, and our grains are plentiful. The leftover soybean cakes from oil extraction can be used as feed. We could get some chickens, or even raise a pig.”

Grandma Li took another puff from her pipe. “Raising pigs is too smelly. We can’t keep them in our yard. Our treasure likes cleanliness, and she wouldn’t want a whole pig. Anyway, there’s a large empty space behind our yard. We can ask Dong Zi’s father to talk to the street office and get a fence built there, make a pigpen, and set up a stove. I think Ming Nan and Ming Bei are always distracted from studying. After school, they’re always showing off. Let them gather wild vegetables and make pig feed.”

After Ming Bei handed the fish to Guihua, he was looking around for his mother to show off his achievements. After searching for a while, he finally spotted the two people in the corner of the yard, looking like underground party members meeting secretly. Before he could call out “Mom,” he heard his grandmother assigning him a difficult task, and he nearly knelt in shock.

“Grandma, you’re being unreasonable! What am I showing off? Look at the fish I caught! You couldn’t even buy one this big from the grocery store!” Ming Bei was on the verge of tears, feeling that the most unreasonable person in his family was Grandma.

Grandma Li glanced at her little grandson and said slowly, “If you don’t feed them, that’s fine, but when winter comes and we’re having braised pork with sauerkraut, Sichuan white meat, braised pork, and blood sausage with tofu, don’t expect to get any.”

Wang Sufen, seeing her son’s conflicted expression, added, “The pigs we raise will weigh at least two or three hundred pounds. Honestly, the taste is far better than wild boar. Wild boar meat is too lean. Farm pigs are different. They have fat on them. Braised pork will be so fragrant.”

“Exactly.” Grandma Li raised her shoe sole and tapped the pipe. “Fine, if the kid doesn’t want to raise them, forget it. I don’t even want to waste my soybean cakes.”

Ming Bei immediately panicked. “No, we have to raise them! How can we not? I’ll do it!” He looked around and didn’t see Ming Nan, so he added, “And I’ve got my third brother. He’s way more capable than me.”

Grandma Li smiled. “Alright, it’s settled then.”

Once it was decided, Grandma Li was quick to act. That very day, she sent Li Muwu to talk to the street office. Beicha doesn’t have rural areas; aside from a small town in the middle, everything else is state-run forestry management. People rely on government rations for food and clothing.

For three years, the supply of rations had been delayed, and more and more people had started farming, raising chickens and pigs. As long as you inform the street office or forestry management, there’s no need to report to the government. Raising your own animals meant you could feed yourself and lighten the country’s burden.

Li Muwu talked to the street office, and they agreed to let him build a pigpen behind his house. Li Muwu then went to the forestry management to bring back some wood, erected a fence around the yard, and built a small gate from the back yard so he could go there directly without leaving the main gate.

Once the place was ready, they could buy piglets. Grandma Li thought that since their yard was big, there were plenty of wild vegetables on the mountain, and they had enough food stored, they might as well buy more chickens. After all, they were already raising them, so why not raise more? That way, they could have meat all year round.

At home, Grandma Li made all the decisions, and no one disagreed. She took money and went to buy ten chickens, then spent a lot of effort exchanging money and grain for a piglet.

Building the pigpen would take a few days, as it required dragging wood and building stoves. Grandma Li decided to keep the animals in the yard for now. Zhen Zhen, hearing the clucking and squawking outside, quickly jumped off the kang bed, ran outside to check on the commotion.

What a sight! Ten chickens, each as big as an adult fist, were running around the yard, and the little piglet, blocked by a small fence, was crouching in a corner, looking pitiful. Zhen Zhen was delighted to see so many new animals. She ran around looking at each one, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully before asking Grandma Li, “Have you named them yet?”

Grandma Li laughed and patted Zhen Zhen’s head. “They’re all for eating when they grow up. What names? If you want to name them, go ahead.”

Zhen Zhen waddled over to the little white piglet, inspected it carefully, then smiled brightly. “I’ll call it Braised Pork!” The piglet’s legs gave way, and it instantly collapsed onto the ground.

Zhen Zhen walked around the yard, and not only the pig but all ten of the chickens now had names. There was “Stewed Chicken,” “Chicken Soup,” “Mushroom Stewed Chicken,” “Potato Stewed Chicken,” “Radish Stewed Chicken,” and more. No one knew how she came up with so many food names. Ming Nan and Ming Bei, following behind, were left drooling. The two of them had completely lost their will to do homework and pushed each other out the door. Grandma Li called out, “Where are you going?”

“To drag back some wood to build the pigpen!”

“To build the chicken coop!”

Grandma Li laughed, “Good names. Now they’re all so hungry, they know how to work.” But when she turned around, she saw that all the chickens were scared. The lively chickens from earlier were now drooping, their heads hanging low. Grandma Li hurriedly asked, “They won’t be soft, will they?”

“No,” Zhen Zhen looked up and said in her sweet voice, “They’re sturdy.”

Grandma Li looked at the drooping chickens, still half believing her granddaughter. Given her abilities, she probably had no problem making sure the chickens couldn’t fly away either.

The just-born chicks were spoiled. Wang Sufen took some broken millet and soaked it in water for a while. When she saw that the millet had softened, she drained the water and placed it in a leaky broken basin.

She placed the chicken feed among the poultry, but the little chicks trembled and didn’t dare to move. Wang Sufen was a bit puzzled, but suddenly Zhenzhen clapped her hands: “Eat up.”

Immediately, the fluffy chicks rushed over, completely different from their previous sickly appearance. Each of them was eating happily. Seeing that the chickens were eating and running around, Grandma Li felt relieved. Her granddaughter was right; they were indeed healthy.

The family already had a large chicken coop, and with the addition of these chicks, it was enough. However, since they were too small, Grandma Li didn’t put them in the chicken coop at night but instead found two willow baskets and placed them in the kitchen. The chicks had their own place to sleep, but the little pig was still kept in the yard.

Greed can make people diligent. This was true for Mingnan and Mingbei. Li Muwu and the brothers worked hard to build the pigpen, dragging wood and mixing mud. They patched up the big pot that had been exposed outside the house and built a stove platform. They worked efficiently for two or three days. The braised pork that had been trembling under Zhenzhen’s watch finally had its own home.

Since raising these poultry and livestock, others couldn’t tell much, but it had been keeping Zhenzhen busy. In the mornings, she didn’t even have time to brush her teeth or wash her face. She had to go out first to check on the chickens, opening the chicken coop and calling each chicken by name. One by one, they ran out and stood in a messy row in the yard. Only then did Zhenzhen feel satisfied and begin to instruct them: “Eat well, grow fat!”

The chicks began to chirp. Zhenzhen tried to distinguish their thoughts in her mind. Apart from their instinct to eat, they didn’t seem to have any other thoughts.

It was only recently that Zhenzhen discovered that she could understand all the sounds made by animals. Some were simple expressions of awareness, while others, slightly smarter, could communicate with her.

Today, only one of the poultry seemed to understand Zhenzhen’s naming intention: a chicken named Braised Radish. It seemed to have received a vision of itself being stewed, and it was so scared that it started protesting loudly.

Zhenzhen listened to the endless chirping and felt a bit exasperated. Raising a chicken required communication with them? It was such hard work! If she weren’t worried about her family suspecting something, she could easily make them grow three to four pounds. Now, she even had to comfort them mentally.

Zhenzhen firmly believed that there was nothing wrong with the names she gave. After all, it was all for eating, and it was better to let them accept the truth sooner.

Mingbei woke up, opened the north-facing window, and peeked outside to see his sister standing among the chicks, speaking like an adult: “Stop making noise, even if you do, you’ll end up being eaten, so it’s better to eat more food…”

Mingbei covered his mouth, trying not to laugh, but tears were almost coming out. He kicked Mingnan, who was still sleeping, and waved him over, whispering, “Get up and look at our silly sister.”

Mingnan, with a chicken coop on his head, crawled out of bed and stretched his neck to look out. Zhenzhen, still with her hands behind her back, continued speaking: “The names I gave you are so nice. Braised Pork wouldn’t be causing so much trouble…”

“Stop talking nonsense. Braised Pork was so scared it couldn’t stand for two days and hasn’t been able to stand in the yard since.” The only chicken that could communicate, Braised Radish, boldly spoke up.

“That’s not being scared, it’s just that my aura overwhelmed it.” Zhenzhen proudly lifted her head, trying to prove that she didn’t frighten the pig; it was just that her desire for pork was too strong, and she accidentally transmitted some images to it.

“So it’s still scared, right?”

Zhenzhen waved her hand, no longer wanting to bother with them. She turned to walk to the backyard. “I’m going to check on Braised Pork.”

At the bottom of the window, Mingbei, seeing his sister who was still shorter than the windowsill, stretched out his hand and flicked her head: “Silly little sister, where are you going?”

Zhenzhen covered her head and looked up at Mingbei. Suddenly, she yelled, “Grandma, my brother hit me!”

Grandma Li, hearing the noise, rushed in holding her tobacco pipe. Mingbei was so startled that he jumped off the windowsill and ran out barefoot. Mingnan was delighted, sticking his head out and shouting, “Don’t go out the front door! There’s a hole in your long johns, your butt’s exposed!”

Mingbei could feel the wind blowing on his buttocks without even touching it. He looked down at his bare feet and immediately became embarrassed. Before Grandma came out, he quickly ran back to the window and jumped in. Mingnan held him down and shouted, “Grandma! Grandma! Hurry! We’ve caught him!”

Grandma Li had just come out but quickly turned back, grabbing her tobacco pipe and giving Mingbei two smacks on his backside. She heard the loud commotion inside, and Zhenzhen was so amused she almost couldn’t stand up.

With the addition of the poultry and livestock, the household became much livelier. Guihua was pregnant, and Grandma Li stopped making her do the heavy chores. Raising pigs was mainly handled by Mingnan and Mingbei. The two of them would get up early, cook pig feed, feed the pigs, clean the pigsty, and then hurry back to wash up, change into clean clothes, grab a couple of big buns, and go to school.

The chickens in the front yard were Zhenzhen’s responsibility. Three times a day, she urged Wang Sufen to prepare the chicken feed, and she would take the bowl and walk over to fill the chicken food tray. She would formally announce, “Time to eat,” and that would be the end of her task.

The Li family now had quite a few chickens. There were still three egg-laying hens from last year, and now they had ten little chicks. Li Muwu was afraid that a weasel would come and steal them, so he decided to raise a dog in the yard.

Many people in Beicha raised dogs, mainly for guarding the house and hunting in the winter. The Li family had raised one before, but it had died after fifteen years. When they thought about raising another dog, the conditions weren’t good. But now that things were better, with plenty of chickens, Li Muwu decided to get a dog. After a few days, he brought home a pure black Northeast Wolfdog.

The Northeast Wolfdog was commonly raised in Beicha. They were very loyal to their owners, but the only problem was that they were timid as puppies. If they were scared, it could affect their mental development, making them foolish when they grew up. However, if raised well as puppies, these dogs could be great protectors of the home and excellent hunting companions, capable of taking down a wolf pack of five or six with just three or four of them.

When Li Muwu got home, he placed the little wolfdog on the ground. He was worried Zhenzhen might be scared, so he tried to block her, thinking it would be fine once she got familiar with it. However, as soon as Zhenzhen saw the little dog, she immediately liked it. She skipped past the burly Li Muwu and ran straight to the little black dog, stretching out her hand to pet its fur.

The little black dog turned its head, sniffed Zhenzhen’s hand, and immediately relaxed, lying down as if it were allowing her to do whatever she wanted.

Grandma Li came out and saw Zhenzhen and the newly brought dog being so close. She smiled and stroked her tobacco pipe: “Our Zhenzhen’s names are so good. You should name it too.”

Zhenzhen thought for a moment, then smiled at Grandma Li: “Li Mingzhong.”

When Mingnan and Mingbei came home from school, they saw the little wolfdog in the yard. They were just about to approach when they heard their sister give the dog a crazy name.

“Li Mingzhong? Why does it sound like our names?” Mingbei said unhappily.

Zhenzhen nodded at him: “It’s East, West, South, North, and Middle!”

“Grandma! Don’t play Mahjong during the New Year! Look at what you taught my sister!”

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