Chapter 7: “killing Two Birds With One Stone”
Lin Zhao rubbed the heads of the two little cubs. Kids this age learn everything, so cute.
Tie Niu rushed to Er Zai, full of envy, exclaiming, “Er Zai, are you going to eat dumplings?”
His saliva was about to drip down.
“Yeah, my mom is making dumplings today.” Er Zai smiled brightly, proudly showing off.
Lin Zhao didn’t stop him. Her cubs had heard plenty of villagers’ mocking whispers behind their backs, so what if he showed off a bit?
“What filling are you mom’s dumplings?” Tie Niu wiped the corner of his mouth and asked again.
“Pork and scallion.” Er Zai was the most eager little friend for meals and had asked his mom early what filling they’d make today.
Pork and scallion.
Definitely all meat!
Tie Niu’s eyes turned red with envy. “Your mom is so great. I want to eat dumplings too. New Year is still so far away.” His tone was both melancholic and regretful.
His family was doing relatively well—they could have dumplings by year’s end—but other village families couldn’t bear to use that fine flour. They all traded fine grains for coarse grains.
“My mom is the best, the best mom in the whole brigade!” Er Zai looked proud, neck held high.
It was the first time he felt proud because of how well his mom treated them. His face flushed hot with joy, but he was too dark-skinned for anyone to see the redness.
The envy on their little friends’ faces stirred an extremely unfamiliar emotion in Er Zai and Da Zai’s hearts—indescribable, part joy, part wanting to cry.
They gripped Lin Zhao’s hand a little tighter, only knowing to grin widely.
“It’s scorching hot, let’s go home.” Lin Zhao urged. She rarely went out in this sweltering heat and only felt her face burning.
The family of five quickened their pace toward home.
At the Gu Family Old House, the old couple stared at the things Lin Zhao brought, dumbfounded.
First time.
First time receiving something from the third son’s wife.
Gu Fu wanted to say the third son’s wife had finally become sensible, but he was always taciturn. His cracked lips buzzed, but he couldn’t squeeze out half a sentence.
Gu Mu sat there, staring blankly at the small package containing buns and brown sugar, feeling like she was dreaming.
“You don’t know, I nearly died of fright when I saw the third son’s wife coming with things. When has she ever come empty-handed? Suddenly bringing stuff, I thought she’d cooked up some big scheme again… if she caused a fuss, it scared me half to death, my heart pounding like it might jump out.”
“Old man, what’s up with the third son’s wife? She wouldn’t be holding back some big issue, would she?” Gu Mu’s mind was a mess. Her heart hadn’t settled since yesterday.
No mother-in-law faced a daughter-in-law like this. Gu Mu felt truly stifled.
Gu Fu was big-hearted and said, “Why overthink it? If she gives it, just take it. Even if the third son’s wife really comes asking for help, you won’t help?”
“…Of course I’d help.” Gu Mu followed up. “Even just for the kids’ sake, I’d help.”
Thinking that way, she felt completely pinned down.
The Gu Family hadn’t eaten meat in two months, and with the heavy fieldwork lately, it was exhausting. Gu Fu craved that meat fragrance too. He couldn’t hold back anyway, but with the juicy meat bun right there, it was so hard to resist.
“Slaughter some meat another day to replenish everyone.” Gu Fu swallowed and said.
Gu Mu thought to herself how hard meat tickets were to get.
She felt sorry for her husband too—working the fields at his age was truly taxing.
Gu Mu got up, went to the cabinet, opened the paper package, and the wheat fragrance and meat fragrance hit her nose all at once.
She swallowed her saliva, took a meat bun, and stuffed it into the old man’s hand.
“There are three buns. You eat one, and the remaining two go to the cubs at home.”
Gu Fu chuckled and took it, breaking the bun in two and giving half to his wife. “Eat together.”
With that, he took a bite and sighed in satisfaction.
“Just this taste, so fragrant.”
He’d been craving it for years but never splurged.
Gu Mu ate a bun too and said, “It is fragrant. White flour and meat—each alone is fragrant, but together even more so.”
In these times, every family was poor, and everyone’s noses were like radars, sharp as could be.
Tie Dan from the Gu Family’s Eldest Branch passed by his grandparents’ room, smelled the meat fragrance, stopped in his tracks, sniffed with his nose, and excitedly said, “Meat fragrance!”
This shout brought out all the other kids.
Chattering noisily.
Gu Fu and Gu Mu had four sons and two daughters—
The eldest, Gu Yuanshan, married Huang Xiulan. The couple had one daughter and two sons in succession: the daughter, twelve-year-old Gu Lan; the sons, seven-year-old Tie Dan and five-year-old Tie Chui.
The second, Gu Yucheng, married Zhao Liuniang, and they had two sons and one daughter: eleven-year-old Bang Bang, eight-year-old Lai Mei, and two-year-old Yu Yu.
The third was Gu Da Gu Gu Chan, already married.
The fourth was Gu Chenghuai, married to Lin Zhao, with three sons and one daughter.
The fifth and sixth were dragon-phoenix twins, Gu Qingzhou and Gu Xing’er, still in school.
Lately, Gu Qingzhou had been picked up by his uncle and wouldn’t return until before school started.
Tie Dan’s voice wasn’t small. Little Tie Chui and the others swarmed over, clustering at Gu Fu and Gu Mu’s door like they were rooted there, not daring to enter, just staring eagerly.
“Grandma, meat, meat…” Outside the door, two-year-old Yu Yu from the second branch said in her childish toddler voice.
Gu Mu pulled a stern face. “A bunch of kids glued to the chimney—even with the door shut, you can smell it.”
Gu Fu said nothing, still savoring the meat bun’s flavor. So much meat, so fragrant—who couldn’t smell it?
“Divide it among the kids.” The family head felt sorry for his grandchildren.
“Fine, divide it.” Gu Mu said reluctantly, picking up the remaining two buns and heading out, muttering, “So many mouths at home, no good thing lasts till the next day.”
As soon as she went out, her ears were assaulted by her grandchildren’s chatter, noisy enough to make them hurt.
“Grandma, what’s in your hand? Meat? It must be, I smelled it.” The speaker was Tie Dan.
Tie Chui: “Fragrant!”
Eleven-year-old Bang Bang said nothing, but his eyes involuntarily fixed on his grandma’s hand, thinking of the meat’s taste, swallowing saliva nonstop.
Lai Mei was the boldest in the Gu Family, sidling up to Gu Mu: “Grandma, your grandson wants to eat.”
Even two-year-old Yu Yu knew her grandma had something good, tugging at Gu Mu’s pants and nearly pulling them down.
Gu Mu hurried to the kitchen in three steps turned into two, divided the two buns evenly, and distributed them to the kids.
Two buns split into many portions—obviously just two bites each—but the Gu Family kids were all very satisfied. The sensible ones offered a taste to their parents; the less sensible ones wolfed theirs down.
Gu Da Sao was fortunate—her Tie Dan and Tie Chui were both considerate. After tasting the bun, she smiled at Gu Mu: “Mom, where’d the buns come from?”
Gu Er Sao looked at Gu Mu too, equally curious.
“Da Zai’s mom brought them.” Gu Mu said.
Gu Da Sao and Gu Er Sao exchanged slow glances, speechless for a moment.
Lin Zhao?
“How would Lin Zhao bring buns?” Like her mother-in-law, Gu Da Sao’s first reaction was tension, panic, a jolt of nerves.
Gu Er Sao’s mind filled with question marks as she looked at Gu Mu.
Gu Mu said, “She said she wants to build a house and needs your dad’s help, so she brought three meat buns and half a catty of brown sugar as a gift of gratitude.”
Meat buns and brown sugar—Da Zai’s mom was really generous this time!!
Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang nearly changed their view of Lin Zhao, but then thought of Da Zai’s mom’s tricky temperament and shook their heads, snapping out of it.
“Build a house? Why suddenly want to build?” Gu Da Sao asked curiously.
“She dislikes the dust from the earthen house.”
Gu Er Sao looked shocked. “Dislikes the dust from the earthen house—does she want to build a brick and tile house?”
“Of course.” Gu Mu said. “If not a brick and tile house, would the third son’s wife come to your dad?”
She’d seen it early: the third son’s wife never came without a reason—always had something up her sleeve.
Fortunately, this visit was for something good.
Gu Mu wasn’t the kind of bad mother-in-law who tormented daughters-in-law, but that didn’t stop Gu Da Sao and Gu Er Sao from feeling envious. Living separately, being the one in charge—who wanted to be managed by a mother-in-law?!
Too bad envy didn’t help. The youngest brother-in-law wasn’t married, the youngest sister-in-law wasn’t wed—separating households… would take at least three to five more years.
Thinking that way, Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang felt full of regret and let go of their thoughts.
No more thinking—too much and their minds would wander.
–
Meanwhile, Lin Zhao brought the kids back home.
It was the hottest time of the day. She coaxed the children to sleep, then went back to her room for a short nap.
Before sleeping, Lin Zhao saw the task bar update on the right side of the lucky draw wheel.
After she told the kids about eating dumplings in the afternoon, a new task appeared.
「A childhood without delicious dumplings is an imperfect childhood! Please make a batch of dumplings for the kids. Completing the task earns 4 points—keep it up!」
From this, Lin Zhao concluded—
The wheel’s tasks were all related to raising cubs, even tied to their conversations.
Points varied, likely based on task difficulty.
This made it much simpler—care for the kids and earn points, killing two birds with one stone.
After the nap.
Lin Zhao washed her face with cool water and got busy in the kitchen.
Da Zai and Er Zai were gathering bok choy in the backyard with their younger siblings.
Of course, the one-year-old dragon-phoenix twins were just making trouble.
Scolded by their big brothers, the two little ones gazed innocently at them with clear eyes, looking obedient. But once the brothers got busy, they started messing around again.
“San Zai, don’t lead Si Zai astray.” Er Zai said sternly, loudly lecturing his brother.
Si Zai was a girl, and he indulged her, rarely scolding his sister unless for special reasons.
San Zai ignored him, his soft little hands digging happily in the vegetable garden soil.
Seeing he wouldn’t listen, Er Zai raised his hand in anger, voice louder. “San Zai, if you don’t listen, I’ll hit you!”
“Er Zai.” Lin Zhao suddenly appeared in the backyard and called him. “Who are you thinking of hitting?”
Er Zai instantly pulled back his hand, a bit guilty, and complained, “Mom, San Zai keeps making trouble. It’s infuriating.”
“Your brother is still little—teach him slowly. No hitting, especially not your younger siblings. Have I ever hit you?” Lin Zhao said gently.
“No.” Er Zai said, thinking to himself it was because his mom didn’t care about him and his big brother. Afraid she wouldn’t let him eat dumplings, he didn’t dare say it.
Don’t doubt it—his mom could totally do that!
“Pull a few scallions for me.” Lin Zhao didn’t dwell on it. Kids’ matters were for them to resolve—the big picture was fine, so she let it be.
In the vegetable garden, Da Zai quickly pulled five scallions in a few moves, waved the big scallion in his hand, stood up, and asked her, “Mom, enough?”
“A few more.” Lin Zhao said.
Da Zai bent down and pulled a few more, then ran back to give them to her.
Lin Zhao took them, shook the dirt off the roots, and praised, “Thanks, Da Zai. Da Zai is so capable.”
Da Zai’s face turned red. Helping his mom made him very happy.
The vegetable garden had plenty of varieties, all tended by Gu Mu. The twins sometimes watered and weeded too—far more attentive than Lin Zhao the mom.
Lin Zhao took the scallions, told Da Zai and Er Zai to watch their siblings, and returned to the kitchen to prepare the dumpling filling.
Soon, thumping sounds came from inside.
While chopping the filling, a childish voice came from outside.
It sounded familiar—Gu Family Eldest Branch’s youngest son, Tie Chui, same age as Da Zai and Er Zai, grown up together since little. The three little friends were especially close.
Lin Zhao stepped out of the kitchen.
Little Tie Chui tensed up seeing Third Aunt, body rigid, not daring to look at Lin Zhao.
“Third Aunt.” He called softly.
Lin Zhao recalled the original book’s plot about Tie Chui:
In the book, when Da Zai and Er Zai successively had bad luck, Tie Chui this good brother always stuck by them unwaveringly.
Because of this, Gu Da Sao harbored quite a grudge against Da Zai and Er Zai but never said anything harsh.
“Tie Chui’s here. Da Zai and Er Zai are in the backyard with the younger ones—go find them yourself.” Lin Zhao smiled, voice gentle.
“Okay.” The honest Tie Chui agreed and ran to the backyard.
Arriving, he shouted, “Da Zai, Er Zai, what are you doing?”
Da Zai stood up, waving his bok choy, and answered, “We’re pulling bok choy.”
“Tie Chui, want to join us!” Er Zai called enthusiastically.
“Sure.” Tie Chui rushed into the vegetable garden and pulled bok choy with Da Zai and Er Zai.
Soon, Lin Zhao came to the backyard with a porcelain bowl.
Seeing her, the dragon-phoenix twins tottered over for hugs. Seeing the dirt on her two cubs gave the mom a headache. She quickly set down the bowl and stretched her arms to hold the two cubs steady.
“Whose stinky cubs are these?” Her voice was disdainful, but her face held a faint smile.
The identical dragon-phoenix twins flashed matching sweet smiles, wanting to burrow into mom’s bosom. Da Zai grabbed them—San Zai, Si Zai loved their big brother. With one pull, the two little ones stood obediently, no longer fussing.
Lin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I made you a bowl of brown sugar water. Drink if thirsty.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Da Zai said, then called to Er Zai and Tie Chui, “Er Zai, Tie Chui, come drink brown sugar water.”
Lin Zhao knew Tie Chui would feel awkward with her there, so she left the backyard after delivering the water.
In these times, one sip of sweet water could be savored for days.
Hearing “brown sugar water,” Er Zai dragged Tie Chui over. The little friends took turns sipping.
“Da Zai, Er Zai, brown sugar water is so sweet.” Tie Chui’s eyes lit up.
“Really sweet.” Er Zai chimed in.
Gu Family kids were mostly raised by Gu Mu, all well-taught—no domineering, selfish naughty children. With brown sugar water as reward, the backyard kids worked with great enthusiasm.
Time passed, the blazing sun gradually setting.
Da Zai led Er Zai and Tie Chui to move the big bok choy to the cellar. Finished, they returned to the front yard, smelled the meat fragrance from the kitchen, and the five little friends strung up like a skewer of candied hawthorns on the doorframe.
“Mom, are the dumplings ready? So fragrant.” The chattiest Er Zai sniffed rapidly, asking expectantly.
