"Sis, sis~"
"Ah?"
Just when Su Yunjin's cheeks were roasting from the heat, she saw Daisy tugging at her clothes.
"Sis, what does lard taste like, is it yummy?"
Daisy stared at her with big, watery eyes, full of anticipation. It would've been better if her lips weren't so greasy.
"Didn't you just eat some?"
"I ate it too fast and couldn't taste it."
Chen Jie laughed upon hearing this; it had become a traditional event. It was the same with the fish soup last time.
Chen Jie chuckled, "Alright, Yunjin, scoop out some sorghum rice to make a meal. Let's have sorghum rice mixed with lard today, okay, my little glutton?"
While speaking, Chen Jie gently pinched Daisy's cheek.
Daisy nodded eagerly: "Mhm, mhm."
Su Yunjin didn't say much and went to scoop the rice, while Chen Jie told her, "Right, Yunjin, set aside ten pounds of sorghum rice specially. I'll take it to Uncle Erba later. Uncle Erba gave us five pounds of rice last time, we have food now, so we should pay it back."
"Yeah, that's only right."
Su Yunjin went inside to fetch the rice.
Chen Jie continued to make oil, and soon the rice was ready.
Carrying the bag of rice and taking two pounds of streaky pork,
"Yunjin, I'm heading over to Uncle Erba's place. Keep an eye on the oil in the pot."
"Okay, I got it."
Chen Jie left, and on the way, he passed by the big tree where people cooled off. Villagers greeted him, and seeing Chen Jie carrying both rice and meat, someone promptly asked, "Jiu Si, you've got both rice and meat there, where are you off to?"
"Ah, just bought some rice and meat, I'm taking some over to Uncle Erba."
Upon hearing this, the man immediately laughed, "Haha, Jiu Si, you're always so good to your uncles."
Chen Jie picked up on the insinuation in his words, 'uncles,' as he had more uncles than just Uncle Erba; wasn't Uncle San Liu sitting right there?
If it had been the old Chen Jie, he might have felt awkward, but the current Chen Jie wasn't so easy to manipulate.
Chen Jie just laughed it off, "Hehe, true, but when I was in trouble, only Uncle Erba gave me a helping hand. Uncles aren't all the same, are they?"
After that, Chen Jie excused himself, "Anyway, I better get going, my family's waiting for me to eat."
Chen Jie strode toward Uncle Erba's house. Watching his departing figure, Chen Sanliu's face turned green with anger. Who was that a slap in the face for?
What did he mean by 'uncles aren't all the same'?
That Chen Jiu Si, so full of himself just because he bought some pork—who cares!
And that Chen Erba, what kind of person is he? So cunning, only making himself look good. Serves him right for being a cripple, born bad to the bone.
The more Chen Sanliu thought about it, the angrier he got. He stood up and headed home, and the people cooling off around him said, "Old Chen, you're not staying any longer?"
"I'm not staying, I'm hungry. Going home to eat."
"Hey, didn't you say you weren't cooking today at noon?"
"Can't I change my mind? Today at noon, I'm not just going to eat; I'm going to eat well. I'm going back to have salted meat fried with wild greens."
...
Watching Chen Sanliu's back, a few of the old staff exchanged looks and laughed, pointing at Chen Sanliu.
"That guy is full of schemes. When Jiu Si was down on his luck, he would have hid if he could've. Now that Jiu Si is doing well, he wants to come back for a share, tsk tsk~"
Everyone shook their heads involuntarily, their faces rife with mockery. Truth be told, who among them didn't have their own small plans? Yet to act so shamelessly was rarely seen.
Chen Jie arrived at Uncle Erba's house, pushed open the gate, and called out, "Hu Zi, Uncle Erba, are you home?"
Hu Zi and Uncle Erba were busy weaving baskets when they heard the voice and came out. Chen Jie lifted the rice and meat in his hand.
"Uncle Erba, I've come to return the rice."
Uncle Erba and Hu Zi were taken aback, and upon hearing the voice, Aunt Erba also came out of the house. Seeing Chen Jie with the rice and meat, she too was astonished.
Chen Jie repeated his intention, and leaning on his cane, Uncle Erba said, "Jiu Si, your family is struggling; just keep it for now, no need to return it so soon."
"No need, I've found a way to make a living," Chen Jie replied. "I bought quite a few things today and the rice must be returned. Here, Auntie."
Chen Jie stuffed the rice into Aunt Erba's hands.
"Oh my, Jiu Si, this must be at least ten pounds; it's too much, too much."
Aunt Erba, just by lifting the bag, could tell the amount of rice she was holding. She spoke out, and Chen Jie insisted, "It's not too much, please keep it. You've taken good care of us these past days. Take the meat too; Hu Zi is growing and needs it."
"Oh, Jiu Si..."
"Let's not talk about all this," Chen Jie interrupted. "I'm leaving now. No need to see me off. Hu Zi, go on back. We're all family here; no need for formalities. Goodbye..."
Chen Jie strode off.
Aunt Erba's face flushed with shame as she looked at the rice and meat in her hands.
"Head of the house, this?"
Chen Erba hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, "It's Jiu Si's kind intention, keep it."
"This, this doesn't feel right. Before, I... oh my..."
Aunt Erba, reflecting on her previous disdain towards Chen Jiu Si, was filled with regret.
She was a typical rural woman, quick to quibble over minute benefits from others, but feeling uneasy once she accepted favors, always sensing an indebtedness.
After a moment, she went into the house and quickly picked a bowl of big yellow apricots.
"Hu Zi, take these apricots to Jiu Si and tell him to wrap them up before eating; they're a bit sour."
"Aye," responded Hu Zi.
After saying this, he chased after Chen Jie.
He quickly caught up to Chen Jie, explained the reason for his visit, and Chen Jie didn't refuse. Touching the somewhat hard apricots, he said, "Okay, thank Aunt Erba for me, and go back."
With a wave of his hand, he said farewell, and Hu Zi soon passed Chen Sanliu's house.
Just at the entrance, he saw Aunt San Liu standing at the door. In the past, this woman would avoid Chen Jie like the plague, but today, she was unusually enthusiastic.
"Oh, Jiu Si, you're busy, huh? Come by the house when you have time. Your Uncle San Liu was just talking about you yesterday."
Chen Jie nodded absently and managed to get by, thinking it was probably because they saw him bringing meat to Uncle Erba's house and were jealous.
Chen Jie couldn't be bothered with her.
As Chen Jiusi walked away, Aunt San Liu went into the house and saw Chen Sanliu sulking. "I just saw Chen Jiui Si. It looks like he was coming from Erba's place."
Chen Sanliu sneered, "I suppose they have a deep uncle and nephew bond."
"But that's not right. You are his uncle too. Why does he bring meat to Erba's house but not to ours? What kind of nephew does that make him?" Aunt San Liu said angrily.
"Hmph, when Chen Yongwang was living, he was biased, teaching Chen Erba the craft and refusing to teach me medicine. If he had been willing to teach me, I would have been a doctor by now, enjoying fine food, not stuck farming every day."
Chen Sanliu was so upset that he even mentioned his uncle's name. But he failed to consider that most of his family's wealth came from Chen Yongwang. Chen Erba's family only learned basket weaving. It was clear whom Chen Yongwang favored back then.
Now Chen Sanliu felt aggrieved. Truly a case of greed being insatiable as the snake that swallows an elephant.