Chapter 43

Li Xuewu, emboldened by his nineteen years, half-jokingly proposed a sworn kinship, and the elderly couple offered no objection.

Seeing his own Old Wang calling his wife “Mom” without hesitation, Zheng Shusen dared not voice any opposition.

Zheng Shusen chuckled and said, “Of course, of course, it’s nothing at all. Old Wang, tonight we’ll have at least four dishes—bring out that bottle of Maotai from my study, and let Xuewu drink it with me.”

Li Xuewu picked up the lunch box, opened it, and said, “I knew you had good liquor here, Zheng Dad. Look what I brought—side dishes too. Tonight, you’re not getting out of giving me good wine, hehe!”

Director Wang looked at the braised pig liver, heart, and other delicacies inside the box and said with concern, “You think you won’t get a meal here? You’ve just started work—why spend money on this?”

Li Xuewu placed the lunch box in Director Wang’s hands and said, “Didn’t buy it. Two days ago I went hunting in Changping, braised it all day, and brought it today just for you two to taste fresh.”

Director Wang gave him a light smack. “Just praised you for growing up, and now you’re sneaking into the mountains? Wild boars are dangerous.”

Li Xuewu laughed, pushing Director Wang toward the kitchen. “I’m not the one who’s dangerous—it’s the boar. When I enter the mountains, I’m the fiercest. Say who’s the dish, and who becomes the dish.”

Director Wang laughed and went to the kitchen.

Li Xuewu returned to the room and chatted with Zheng Shusen about his experiences over the past three years—his injuries, then returning to work—and then discussed the current state of both families.

Director Wang went all out, preparing six small dishes, declaring he was delighted to have a sworn son, and even drank two cups with Zheng Shusen and Li Xuewu.

That meal ended with Li Xuewu drinking Zheng Shusen so drunk he could barely sit upright before Director Wang chased him home.

As he left, Director Wang slipped him a watch voucher, saying, “Can’t let you call Mom for free.”

Li Xuewu laughed and shouted he wanted to kowtow to Director Wang: “Call Mom and get a gift? Then I’ll kowtow to you!”

Director Wang, exasperated, brandished the door bar to scare him off.

Li Xuewu ran home laughing and joking.

He Yuzhu finished work and headed home; outside the factory’s back gate, he caught a whiff of aroma.

Cooks’ noses are trained—you don’t need to eat at a restaurant; just smell the scent and you know what’s being cooked.

“The Wanderer from Douluo”

Following the cement pipes along the wall, he heard children’s voices.

“Tasty?”

“Tasty.”

“Tasty.”

“Eat more, eat more! Dip in soy sauce, dip in soy sauce—it’s delicious. Come on, dip it, eat more.”

He Yuzhu stepped closer and saw it was Banggeng, who had stolen soy sauce earlier, with his two younger sisters, Xiaodang and Huaiahua.

He Yuzhu walked up to the three. “Banggeng, you’re eating well, aren’t you? And you’re looking after your sisters—no hoarding.”

Banggeng glanced at He Yuzhu. “Then why did you hit me with the rolling pin?”

He Yuzhu crouched down, patted Huaiahua’s head, and smiled. “You should’ve told me earlier—I’d have given you a whole bottle of soy sauce for free.”

Banggeng sneered. “I don’t want it.”

He Yuzhu, seeing they were eating chicken, asked, “Tell me, where’d you steal this chicken?”

Banggeng replied proudly, “I won’t tell you.”

He Yuzhu turned to Xiaodang. “Xiaodang, tell me.”

Xiaodang glanced at Banggeng, who gave her a look and shook his head.

Xiaodang shook her head too. “My brother told me not to say.”

He Yuzhu smiled. “If your brother says not to say, then don’t say. Fine, listen to your brother. Eat slowly, eat up, Huaiahua.”

He Yuzhu finished speaking, picked up his lunch box, and left.

Xiaodang saw He Yuzhu carrying the lunch box and said to Banggeng, “Brother, look at the lunch box.”

Banggeng quickly raised his index finger to hush her. “If Mom gives us steamed buns tonight, I’ll steal He Yuzhu’s lunch box—we’ll have another feast.”

Xiaodang nodded happily.

At that moment, little Huaiahua said in a baby voice, “Mom says you can’t call him ‘Fatty Zhu’—you have to call him Uncle He.”

Banggeng dismissed her. “What do you know? I’m an adult. Everyone in the courtyard calls him Fatty Zhu—I have to too. Eat faster, soon the broadcast will end and the factory will close—hurry up.”

He urged his two sisters to eat faster.

Huaiahua: “Mm, okay.”

At this moment, the Sihe Courtyard was in its final flurry of daily activity.

Front yard, middle yard, back yard.

People chopping vegetables, picking greens, fetching water.

Children gathered together skipping rope.

Others returning home from work.

Calls, chatter, shouts scolding children.

A crowded, bustling, lively scene.

At this moment, Qin Huaiju was diluting hot water at the faucet to wash clothes—no one knew why her family had so much laundry.

He Yuzhu entered the courtyard with his lunch box, crept behind Qin Huaiju, and tried to touch her twin buns. She noticed, grabbed her unwashed clothes, and swung them at him.

He Yuzhu and Qin Huaiju both chuckled—like a married couple, husband teasing wife.

He Yuzhu laughed heartily. “Washed your face today?”

Qin Huaiju had already spotted his lunch box and asked sweetly, “What’s in your lunch box?”

He Yuzhu lifted it teasingly, then deliberately refused her. “Not today—I promised my sister.”

Seeing her turn away in displeasure, he quickly added to appease her.

“Next time, okay? Today your three kids aren’t hungry—Banggeng took his two sisters to the wall outside the factory and got a beggar’s chicken. Tasted pretty good. The girls ate it like they’d never seen food before. Don’t know where the chicken came from, but it wasn’t from the factory—I bet you’ll see.”

As He Yuzhu spoke, he noticed Qin Huaiju watching him nervously. He pretended mystery, pointed toward the back courtyard where Xu Damao lived, then went inside.

Left alone, Qin Huaiju stared blankly toward the moon gate.

At that moment, Xu Damao returned home and saw a large hole in the chicken coop. He bent down to search, and found one chicken missing.

Xu Damao panicked and shouted inside.

“Ezi, Ezi!”

Lou Xiaoe stepped out.

Xu Damao asked irritably, “Why is our chicken missing one?”

Lou Xiaoe looked confused. “I don’t know. I had a headache all day, lay in bed. I thought you gave it away.”

Xu Damao snapped back, “Who would I give it to? That chicken was a gift from the commune when I screened films in the countryside.”

Lou Xiaoe blinked. “So it couldn’t have just run out of the coop?”

Xu Damao pushed her. “Go look! Check every courtyard—hurry!”

He began searching around himself, then suddenly caught the scent of roasted chicken wafting from He Yuzhu’s back window.

The thought “He Yuzhu always wants to harm me” took over his mind.

He dropped his briefcase and rushed to the middle courtyard, yanked open the curtain, and burst into He Yuzhu’s house.

He Yuzhu was happily warming half a chicken over the stove.

He saw Xu Damao approaching, eyes glazed, staring fixedly at the pot.

He Yuzhu froze—he’d seen hungry people, but never someone who barged in and stared like that.

He Yuzhu said to the dazed Xu Damao, “Hey, don’t let your drool drip in—where are you looking?”

Xu Damao’s eyes bulged wider than ox eyes. He pointed at the pot. “Tell me, Fatty Zhu—where did this chicken come from?”

He Yuzhu shot back immediately, “What’s it to you?”

Xu Damao flew into a rage at this attitude—hey, never seen a chicken thief so brazen.

“Did you steal ours?”