Chapter 2: Cured Meat and Roast Chicken

The lingering glow of the setting sun fell upon the Zheng family's eaves; water had been sprinkled on the ground before the gate, suppressing the floating dust of dusk and bringing a trace of coolness.

Beside the small table directly facing the main gate, the three members of the Zheng family were eating.

"Wang Guanshi's son was beaten forty times with a plank by the Lady; he was nearly dead when they carried him back."

Zheng Fa held his chopsticks aloft, listening to his mother recount the gossip spreading through the manor.

His younger sister, Zheng Shan, sat beside him, half her body leaning against Zheng Fa, both hands clutching a rice bowl larger than her own head, her entire face buried within it as she ate with relish.

Hearing the gossip from Zheng Mother, the little girl lifted her small head and asked, "Wang Gui? Didn't his family catch the Lady's eye and get selected as the young master's book attendant? Why was he beaten?"

Zheng Fa glanced at his younger sister, seeing her round, bright eyes and the dark green vegetable juice staining the upturned corners of her mouth.

That face, wearing an expression of schadenfreude, showed a child who was small in stature but great in cunning!

Though his younger sister was only six years old, she already understood that the Wang Guanshi's family and their own did not have a good relationship.

Both families were tenant farmers on the Zhao family's Tian Di, yet the disparity in their conditions was immense.

In earlier years, when Zheng Fa's father served as the manor's Huang Guanshi, the Zheng family's life was passable, far better than that of Wang Guanshi's household.

But five years ago, during a beast tide, Zheng Fa's father died tragically while rushing to harvest the crops in the fields.

With the pillar of the household gone and the position of Huang Guanshi lost, the Zheng family's fortunes plummeted.

Zheng Fa's mother struggled to raise a son and a daughter, having to care for the children while also tending the Tian Di, making their days extremely difficult.

In contrast, the Wang family obtained the position of Huang Guanshi left behind by Zheng Fa's father, and their household conditions were visibly improving day by day.

Usually, Wang Guanshi, wary of Zheng Fa as the former Huang Guanshi's son, subtly isolated the Zheng family.

The other few households in the manor were not unaware of this, but with one side being an orphan and widow and the other a Huang Guanshi favored by those above, human nature leaning toward profit and away from harm, the Zheng family's days became even more lonely.

Although children might not necessarily understand the reasons behind the conflicts between adults, the exclusion in words and actions would be even more malicious.

As the only son of Wang Guanshi, Wang Gui was implicitly the leader among the children on the manor, often leading the way in bullying Zheng Fa and his younger sister, Zheng Shan.

Zheng Fa was a different matter; since childhood he had been tall and sturdy, and with a steady temperament, he commanded considerable authority in the eyes of the manor's children, so even Wang Gui dared not go too far.

His younger sister Zheng Shan, however, had a lively personality, loving play and mischief, and thus suffered many grievances, so it was only natural that she felt happy hearing of the other's misfortune.

"What strange face are you making?" Zheng Mother glared at the little girl. "They say Wang Gui has a stubborn and wicked nature, leading the Seventh Young Master astray; the Lady saw this and had him beaten so he would return home and learn proper conduct. If the Lady saw you making such a face, she would beat you too!"

Zheng Shan opened her small mouth, stunned. "I'm not as bad as Wang Gui! Besides, I couldn't become a book attendant anyway; when Wang Gui was selected by the Lady, he showed off throughout the entire manor; others didn't have that chance!"

Zheng Fa shook his head inwardly; he had long understood Wang Gui's character, which was most bullying toward the weak and fearful of the strong, so naturally, he acted arrogantly before their family.

But as for having the audacity to lead the Seventh Young Master astray, Zheng Fa did not believe it.

At this moment, the sky was actually still bright; the Zheng family ate dinner at this hour to borrow some daylight before twilight, saving on lamp oil.

Farming families all ate two meals a day; not just Zheng Fa's family, but even Wang Guanshi's household was the same.

On the small wooden dining table were only two dishes: one plate of lush green leafy vegetables, which everyone on the manor called pig grass leaves, originally cut to feed pigs but also eaten by families who were not very wealthy.

The Zheng family ate this every few days; a large basin of vegetables boiled in water with almost no oil or salt added, truly difficult to swallow.

The other bowl was different; it was a plate of tender bamboo shoots that Zheng Mother had gathered from the mountains early in the morning, and atop the slender, tender shoots lay two pieces that were red and glistening with oil—

Meat!

Two slices of cured meat!

Zheng Shan's mouth was stuffed full of pig grass leaves, her cheeks bulging, yet her big eyes stared fixedly at those two slices of cured meat.

If eyes could eat, those two slices of cured meat would have long been swallowed into her stomach.

She remembered the cured meat had been pickled during the New Year; in total, only a slender strip had been pickled, with Zheng Mother slicing off two pieces every ten days or half a month, consuming it with extreme frugality.

The last time they ate cured meat was a month ago.

Zheng Shan was not greedy; with two slices of cured meat, one for her brother and one for her would be enough...

No, Mother must eat too, so she would just eat half of one slice...

No, just one bite!

One bite would make her very happy!

Finally, Zheng Mother's chopsticks reached toward the two slices of cured meat.

Zheng Shan's eyeballs followed the movement of the chopsticks, and even her small head turned slightly.

The first piece of meat, Mother placed into her brother's bowl.

Hmph, as it should be.

For the second piece of meat, Zheng Shan watched as Mother's hand paused briefly before her.

In the end, it still landed in her brother's bowl.

Zheng Shan blinked her eyes, feeling a tiny bit of grievance in her heart, but she comforted herself: Brother has to work every day, so he needs to eat more meat.

Pig grass leaves are also very delicious!

She lowered her head, not looking at the meat in her brother's bowl, merely chewing the vegetable leaves with greater force in her cheeks, as if she were eating meat.

A pair of chopsticks descended from above her forehead.

The chopsticks holding the meat were so close to her that the aroma of meat seemed to be slapping her face.

Zheng Shan suddenly lifted her head, watching as Zheng Fa smiled and placed a slice of cured meat into her bowl.

"Brother!" She grinned broadly at Zheng Fa, happiness overflowing from her missing front tooth.

"Eat the meat." Zheng Fa patted her small head.

"Mm!" She picked up the cured meat, taking small bites, filled with contentment.

Zheng Mother, watching from the side, said nothing; no matter how much she might value again her son, her daughter was also flesh torn from her own body.

How could she be willing to let her suffer grievance?

Her favoritism toward her son was not without reason.

Not to mention that the heavy work in the fields requires men to do it.

Just speaking of whether there is a man in the household, one's status in the village is different.

If her husband had passed away and Zheng Fa were not here, life for Zheng Mother and the two of them would be even harder.

In Zheng Mother's heart, the one propping up the Zheng family household was this son, Zheng Fa.

That her son was willing to get close to his sister and take care of her also brought joy to her heart.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Fa picked up another piece of cured meat with his chopsticks and placed it into Zheng Mother's bowl.

Zheng Mother raised her eyes to look at her own son, feeling an indescribable sensation in her heart.

After her husband left, she had felt as though the sky had collapsed, wishing she too could have died alongside him.

Unexpectedly, her own son had become more sensible day by day, making her reluctant to leave and giving her some hope for the future.

"At my old age, eating meat is of no use; besides, I don't love eating meat. You are at the age where your body is still growing..."

"Your son has already grown tall enough."

"..."

Zheng Mother looked at her own son's figure, over seven feet and nearly eight feet tall, and found herself unable to refute him.

She also felt puzzled in her heart; in recent years, with the family lacking food and clothing, her own son had somehow grown taller day by day.

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he was already half a head taller than everyone else in the village.

Though the family lived in bitterness, this child had grown into the finest in the entire village.

Making those people in the village dare not easily insult them,

At night, Zheng Fa lay in bed; above him, the green tiles were mottled, and starlight leaked through.

From beside his ear came the sound of his sister, sleeping in the adjacent room, smacking her lips in a dream, along with the rustling of his mother turning over.

The cotton quilt on his body was old; some places were light, others heavy—the light areas felt empty, while the heavy areas had clumped together, making it uncomfortable to cover oneself with and not very warm.

He closed his eyes and sank into deep sleep, full of anticipation.

When he opened his eyes again, the world before him had already changed.

Sunlight shone upon the simple, clean white ceiling of the room, while outside the window, the honking of cars on the street rose and fell in succession.

A down quilt gently embraced his body.

Though the quilt was so gentle, Zheng Fa felt not a moment of attachment.

Barefoot, he jumped off the bed, slipped on his slippers, rushed out of the room, opened the refrigerator, picked up a whole braised chicken and four steamed buns he had bought the day before yesterday at the vegetable market, and put them into the microwave.

The aroma of chicken meat gradually permeated from inside the microwave to fill the entire room.

Zheng Fa took out the freshly heated roasted chicken; the skin sizzled, exuding golden oil, while the steam carried a fragrance that recklessly teased his taste buds.

Paying no heed to the fact that the chicken meat was still scalding hot, he tore off a drumstick and stuffed it into his mouth.

The fragrant, hot chicken meat warmed its way from his mouth down into his stomach, then traveled up along his spine, transforming into a soft sigh of happiness.