Accidentally-Born_C03

Chapter 3

With a thunderous roar from Grandma Li, the Li family immediately became bustling, and everyone except Wang Sufen, who was still recovering from childbirth, came out. Li Mingxi was carrying two wild chickens, while Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei each had three or four fish, standing proudly at the doorway.

Grandma Li, with her three-inch golden lotus feet, muttered as she came out of the west room, while Guihua came from the kitchen, reaching out to take the items. Li Mingnan raised both hands and dodged slightly, saying, “Sister-in-law, don’t move. I have to let Grandma have a look first. We’ve caught so many fish; Grandma should at least make us some dumplings, right?”

Normally, each member of the Li family received four taels of meat tickets per month, and with their large family, they could have dumplings once every two or three months. However, since last year’s bad harvest, they could barely buy enough food and ingredients with their grain and food tickets. Now, relying on cabbage, potatoes, and corn was enough to fill their stomachs.

Grandma Li pulled aside the curtain and came out. Seeing that Li Mingxi and the others were holding chickens and fish, she immediately smiled so widely that her eyes disappeared. Just as she was about to praise her grandsons, Li Mingbei, drooling, came over and said, “Grandma, let’s have dumplings!”

Grandma Li immediately stopped smiling, quickly snatched the chickens and fish from them, and handed them to Guihua. Looking at her three grandsons, who were left empty-handed and confused, Grandma Li gave them a scolding look: “No meat!”

Upon hearing this, Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei immediately began to pound their chests and stomp their feet. “If we had known, we would have brought back a silly roe deer instead!” Grandma Li couldn’t help but retort, “That depends on whether you’re dumber than the roe deer.”

Li Mingbei scratched the back of his head and turned to ask Li Mingxi, who had been silent: “Second brother, does Grandma mean that I’m dumber than a roe deer?”

Li Mingxi glanced at him, bypassed him, and with a broad smile, hugged Grandma Li’s arm. “Grandma, I shot those wild chickens. Let me tell you, as soon as I walked up the mountain, just a few dozen meters in, these two wild chickens appeared out of nowhere, frozen so much that their wings were stiff. They were flying and falling at the same time. I didn’t have to work hard to catch them.”

Grandma Li smiled at her second grandson. “You’re the clever one. You knew to go up the mountain and take a look. Even in this heavy snow, catching wild chickens is not easy.” She touched the chicken’s meat and smiled even more happily. “It’s fatter than it was in the fall. It must have been hiding somewhere for the winter, so it hasn’t lost weight.”

Li Mingxi nodded repeatedly. “Grandma, you’re so wise. Just a glance and you can figure it out. Grandma, you see, I brought the wild chickens back, which saved the life of our old hen. When we make dumplings, can you give me a couple more?”

“One or two, you’re both little gluttons!” Grandma Li glanced at the two wild chickens and then at the seven river fish. With a determined expression, she stomped her foot. “No need to wait for dumplings. We’ll have a good meal tonight.” With that, she put on a thick cotton coat and hat and went outside.

Li Mingbei looked at his two brothers, who were equally confused, and quickly asked Guihua, “Eldest sister-in-law, where is Grandma going?”

“To get some meat!” Guihua smiled, lips pursed.

“We have meat?” The three boys exchanged glances and then burst into cheers. “Great, we get to eat meat!”

Grandma Li circled around the yard and quickly came back holding a small piece of tough pork, with a look of slight regret on her face. “Only about a pound of pork was hidden. I was saving it for the dumplings at New Year’s.”

She handed the pork to Guihua and instructed, “Stew the pork with the cabbage, add plenty of potatoes, and make porridge for dinner. Don’t bother with pancakes tonight.”

Upon hearing they could eat pork, Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei immediately forgot about being scolded by Grandma and, after jumping for joy for a while, put on their hats and went to search for the hidden pork around the house.

Grandma Li sneered. “I’ve been hiding things for a lifetime, and your grandfather never found anything. Do you two brats think you can find my hidden pork? Dream on!” She then instructed Li Mingdong to string the fish and chicken and hang them under the eaves to keep them from being stolen by rats.

The Li family had two large stoves, one in the east and one in the west, both connected to the heated brick bed. The eight-treasure porridge in the east stove had been simmering for more than two hours, soft and glutinous. In the large iron pot on the west side, Guihua was stir-frying the fatty pork, and the fragrant smell of oil quickly spread through the air, causing a chorus of swallowing sounds.

Guihua couldn’t help but glance back. Except for Li Mingdong, who was standing at the door talking to Li Muwu, the other three boys were squatting in a row in the kitchen, their eyes gleaming as they stared at the little bits of meat in the pot. Guihua smiled as she added the cabbage into the pot, then turned and ladled out some porridge for Wang Sufen, reheating the leftover fish soup.

Although the fish soup tasted more delicious, the three boys knew the importance of it. That soup was for their mother’s health, so none of them looked at it. Instead, they all focused on watching Guihua stir-fry the cabbage and potatoes, trying to figure out where the fatty pork was hidden, so they could snatch more when it came time to eat.

When the meal was ready, Guihua first took the fish soup and noodles to Wang Sufen, then brought the rest of the family’s food and the eight-treasure porridge to the table. Grandma Li picked up a piece of meat and put it in Li Muwu’s bowl before clearing her throat and saying, “Eat!”

Immediately, three pairs of chopsticks reached out at the same time, quickly picking the meat from the surface clean. Li Mingbei craned his neck and looked into his two brothers’ bowls. “Second brother got the most, he has three pieces of meat.”

Li Mingdong glanced at Guihua, stretched out his chopsticks from below, and instantly picked out four pieces of meat, stunning his three younger brothers.

“Eldest sister-in-law, you secretly hid meat for big brother!” Li Mingbei wailed.

Li Mingdong picked a piece of meat for both Grandma Li and Guihua, gave Li Mingbei a disdainful look, and coldly muttered, “Silly roe deer!”

“Grandma, my brother called me!” Having been called a silly roe deer twice in one day, Li Mingbei couldn’t help but complain to Grandma Li. She gave him a glance, stuffed a piece of fatty meat into her mouth, and smiled contentedly. As for the complaint about the silly roe deer, if he didn’t pay attention, the two pieces of pork in his bowl would soon be stolen away.

In the next room, amidst laughter and chatter, there were occasional roars and wails. Zhenzhen, listening, couldn’t help but feel happy. In her past twenty-plus years of life, her impression of family was nothing but cold empty houses and endless arguments. But now, Zhenzhen finally experienced the warmth of family, as the legends said.

The weather became colder, and with the New Year drawing nearer, there were still no signs of food being sold on the streets. Grandma Li sat on the heated brick bed in the east room, holding Zhenzhen and couldn’t help but complain to Wang Sufen. “What’s going on these past two years? We got meat tickets but can’t buy any meat. We got grain tickets but there’s no grain in the stores. I think this year’s going to be tough.”

Wang Sufen couldn’t help but sigh. “Last night, Muwu said he doesn’t know where to get the grain from, and he’s not sure if it’ll come in time before the New Year.”

“I think it’s about time,” Grandma Li said, perking up at the mention of higher authorities taking action. “At least the common folk should have a New Year’s celebration.”

She gently patted Zhenzhen’s little hand and continued, “Luckily, ever since Zhenzhen was born, we’ve been able to buy two bottles of milk every day on time. Neighbor Wang Dajiao’s grandson was born at the beginning of the year, and she said the milk station has been out of fresh milk intermittently for the past few months, so it hasn’t been regularly supplied. At least we’re doing better with Zhenzhen.”

Wang Sufen couldn’t help but smile awkwardly as she touched her nose. “It’s just a pity Zhenzhen doesn’t drink milk. I end up drinking it all myself. It feels wasteful.”

“That’s because your milk is good,” Grandma Li wasn’t at all bothered by the cost of the milk. “What’s better than mother’s milk for raising a child? You just keep drinking it. It’s better to raise Zhenzhen into a chubby, healthy little girl than anything else.” Picking up Zhenzhen, Grandma Li gently rocked her. “Isn’t my big granddaughter the best?”

Zhenzhen: Burp…

“Ai, listen, she burped.” Grandma Li laughed heartily as if she had discovered a new world. “Come on, burp again for Grandma to hear.”

Zhenzhen tightly closed her little mouth and shook her head firmly. …Burp…

Grandma Li laughed again. Zhenzhen’s face turned bright red with shame. She was considering whether to cry to distract Grandma Li from her strange laughter when she heard a loud voice from outside: “Grandma, hurry up, the supplies are here on the street.”

Upon hearing this, Grandma Li quickly shoved Zhenzhen into Wang Sufen’s arms, hurriedly went back into the room, took out the keys from her waist, and opened the chest. She took out the grain book, various vouchers, and a handkerchief embroidered with flowers, which contained a stack of money.

Grandma Li, unable to move quickly due to her small steps, said, “Li Mingdong, along with his three brothers and Guihua, are the main ones buying things. Mingdong takes the money and the grain book to the grain shop. Li Mingxi heads straight to the butcher’s with the meat vouchers. The two brothers from the South and North pocketed the food vouchers, grabbed their baskets, and rushed out.”

At home, Grandma Li anxiously waited, sometimes opening the door to peek outside, other times sitting in Wang Sufen’s room. Her words were often disconnected, showing clear signs of distraction. Wang Sufen, who had been the head of the household for over twenty years, knew what was on Grandma Li’s mind. She quickly tried to reassure her, saying, “The grain store has Mu Wu there; we’ll definitely get enough grain. Mingxi is fast, so he’ll get to the meat shop first.”

“You’re right.” Grandma Li nodded and stood up again. “I’ll go take another look.” Grandma Li waited at the door, anxiously staring out for over two hours. Zhenzhen, trying to fight off sleep, silently counted the number of times Grandma Li opened the door. Finally, on the fifty-eighth time, Li Mingdong and his brothers returned, carrying bags of rice and pushing a cart, laughing and talking.

“What did you buy?” Grandma Li happily looked at the large chunk of pork on the cart.

Li Mingdong set the rice bags in the corner, dusted off his clothes, and grinned as he replied, “Two months’ worth of grain and meat for each household. We also got a little sesame oil, a pound and a half of sugar, a pound of salt, half a pound of peanuts, two ounces of melon seeds, and a little sesame paste and tea leaves.”

Grandma Li nodded repeatedly, smiling. “Good, good, good. Hurry and move everything to the kitchen. I’ll lock it all in the cupboard.” While saying this, she rummaged through the basket of miscellaneous items, which included some peppercorns, star anise, and baking soda. As for the several dozen pounds of cabbage on the cart, the Li family had grown enough themselves, so it wasn’t seen as anything special.

After everything was put away, Grandma Li turned around and saw her little grandson trailing behind her like a wilted eggplant. She thought of giving him something to do. “Go catch two fish and bring them back.”

“Forget it.” Li Mingbei, rarely clever, replied, “Ever since my brother and I caught seven fish last time, the river has had a lot of people drilling holes to catch fish. I’ve noticed these days no one has caught anything, so I guess those two times were just lucky.”

“Just go try.” Grandma Li patiently coaxed him. “Think of it as a game. No matter what you catch, Grandma will make dumplings for you tomorrow, with pork and cabbage.”

Li Mingbei’s eyes lit up at the mention of pork and cabbage dumplings. “Second Brother, Third Brother, Grandma says if we catch fish, she’ll make dumplings tomorrow, with pork and cabbage!”

Li Mingxi immediately shoved his homework aside, grabbed a thick cotton coat, and ran out. “Then let’s hurry up!”

Li Mingbei wrapped three large pancakes in paper, tucked them into his coat, and, before leaving, asked, “We’re not being cheated, right?”

“Go ahead, go ahead. I won’t cheat you.” Grandma Li smiled as she sent her silly grandsons off. She then hid the meat, leaving just half a pound hanging from a beam, preparing for the dumplings tomorrow.

The Yongcui River, which runs through the Beicha District, was frozen solid, with a thick ice layer at least half a meter thick. A group of kids were skating, playing ice puck, and sledding, clearly enjoying themselves, unaware of any worries.

Normally, Li Mingbei would rush over to join a game of ice puck, but today his mind was entirely on the dumplings. He didn’t even hear his friends calling for him.

In winter, fishing required first drilling a hole in the ice. To prevent anyone from falling in, the locals had agreed to fish in a designated area. Since many people fished there daily, the ice holes didn’t freeze back, so Li Mingxi found a long stick and poked it heavily to open a hole in the ice.

After drilling three holes, the three brothers squatted by the ice. One was setting up a fish basket, one was putting in a fishing rod, and Li Mingxi had even set up a small net to catch fish.

After eating the pancakes Li Mingbei had brought, the three of them continued to fish seriously. Time passed, and with the sun setting, they hadn’t even seen a scale. Li Mingbei sighed, hitting his fishing rod. ” I don’t believe we won’t catch a single fish.”

Li Mingnan sighed and pulled up his fish basket, suddenly feeling a weight. He immediately laughed, “Come help, there’s a fish in the basket, and it’s heavy. I think it’s a big one!”

Li Mingbei threw down his fishing rod and rushed over to help pull the fish basket out. When they dumped it onto the ice, a four- or five-pound turtle fell out, motionless, not sure if it was dead or alive.

Li Mingnan hesitated. “If we catch a turtle, will we still get dumplings tomorrow?”

Li Mingbei nodded uncertainly. “I think so. This can be used to make a nourishing soup.”

The hibernating turtle: …

Author’s Note:

Small Scene:

Turtle: Who am I? Where am I? Can you let us turtles go?

Kaka: It’s just a coincidence!

Turtle: My great-great-grandfather was done in by you in Nanchacun! How do you want to settle this grudge?

Kaka: Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather wiped out? Where did you come from? Are you an illegitimate egg?

Turtle: … Just cook me already!

The silly roe deer joke: When roe deer are chased by hunters, they bury their heads in the snow, thinking this will make them invisible. Some clever roe deer, who might not have had time to bury their heads, manage to shake off their pursuers. Then, they return to check where the enemy has gone, only to get caught again. ┓(???`?)┏