The moment the crackling entered her mouth, a rich, oily aroma burst across her tongue, and her mouth immediately began watering.
Xiaogu smiled as she savored it slowly, unwilling to swallow.
“Sis! It’s so fragrant!”
“Hehe, don’t worry—we’ve got plenty of meat-eating days ahead. I’m going to make sure you eat meat every single day.
One day, I’ll tell you we’re having meat, and you’ll say—’Ugh, meat again? So greasy!’”
“Sis, that’s an exaggeration. I’ve heard people chatting at the village entrance—even the landlords back in the day couldn’t afford to get sick of meat. How could we ever live that well?”
Lin Xiaohe pursed her lips. “Why not? We’ve got to have faith! Decades from now, people will be living that well—so why can’t we?”
“Alright, alright, I believe in you, Sis. I know you can lead us to a good life!”
Xiaogu was still savoring that tiny piece of crackling when Lin Xiaohe picked up a few more and placed them in her hand. “Eat up quick—if they get cold, you’ll get an upset stomach, and that’d be a real waste. All that precious grease would just go right through you.”
“Hehe, okay, okay, I’ll eat them fast.” A few pieces of crackling left the little one completely satisfied, her lips curved upward in a smile that never faded.
She’d never dared to imagine life could be this good—being able to eat white rice congee, and even cracklings!
In a few days, maybe they’d even have thick slices of fatty meat~ Life was finally starting to look promising.
Er Ya held a potato in each hand, unable to believe it! How did Xiaohe’s family have extra food to give her?
Third Uncle and Third Aunt were both bedridden, and the family hadn’t had much surplus to begin with—where did the extra food come from?
No matter how much she’d asked Xiaogu just now, that girl wouldn’t say a word—just smiled mysteriously.
“Daydreaming about what?”
Da Ya was waiting not far away. Seeing her sister in a daze, she gave her a tap on the shoulder.
Er Ya jumped, her whole body jolting, before answering belatedly, “Xiaogu gave them to me. She said Xiaohe told her to.” She opened her hands—two large potatoes lay quietly in her palms.
Da Ya’s eyes darted around. “I’m guessing Third Uncle still had some connections. I remember he used to go up the mountain to find things.
He’d trade them for sugar for Xiaobe and the others. Don’t say a word—just eat them quietly. Don’t let Grandma and the others find out.”
“Of course, I’m not stupid.” Er Ya nodded. “One for each of us. Eat up quick, and we’ll head home after.”
The two wolfed down their potatoes. They weren’t full, but that gnawing, cramping hunger in their stomachs had eased.
“Once we’re back, don’t act any different. Don’t even tell Mom and Dad for now.” Da Ya didn’t think their parents would cause trouble—she was more worried that their honest faces might give something away.
“Okay.” Er Ya always listened to her sister. Da Ya had looked after her since they were little and always had good ideas—she was used to following her lead.
“Do you ever think about splitting off from the family?” Da Ya suddenly spoke up as they walked.
Er Ya was startled. “Sis! What are you saying?”
“I think life would be a lot better if we split off. Even if it ends up like Third Uncle’s family—where they were basically kicked out—it’d still be much better.”
She’d been thinking about this for a long time, even before Third Branch was pushed out. But she never had a say in anything.
Any thoughts she had could only stay thoughts.
But now the urge was growing stronger. Sticking with the old household crowd would kill them off the fastest—especially the First Branch.
At least it would be the two sisters.
Their parents weren’t exactly biased toward sons, but they couldn’t be called unbiased either.
If it really came down to starving children…
Da Ya was already twelve this year—old enough to understand everything.
“Then what do you want to do?” Er Ya knew her sister well. If she was just thinking out loud, she wouldn’t have brought it up.
“Don’t know yet. Let’s wait and see.” Da Ya sighed.
…
That evening’s meal had everyone beaming from ear to ear. The clay pot that had been used to render the lard was now filled with water and rice, bubbling away with a cheerful glug-glug.
Floating on top were chopped-up pieces of crackling, and Lin Xiaohe had even cracked an egg into it and stirred it all together.
This meal was truly better than New Year’s.
Everyone got half a bowl to start, just to take the edge off their hunger, while the pot kept on cooking.
But the clay pot was really too small—it couldn’t even make enough for the whole family in one go. They had to cook dinner in two batches.
Getting a proper pot was becoming an urgent necessity.
The ancestral hall didn’t have such things, and the house they’d lived in before hadn’t had anything as precious as an iron wok either.
The whole family only had one wok—patched over a dozen times—and it was back at the old homestead.
If you weren’t careful with the fire, it would burn right through.
Iron woks were incredibly valuable and hard to come by.
They’d have to figure something out on that front—maybe over there, iron woks had become easier to buy.
“Xiaohe, you eat too! You’re the one working the hardest in this family right now.”
Liu Yuexiu looked at the children with a pained heart—they were all gaunt and sallow from hunger.
Back when they’d split from the family, she’d thought: if she and her husband just put extra effort into the fields, and if he could go up the mountain to find things to trade on the black market, they’d surely live better than they had at the old house.
Xiaohe had also reached school age, and before they could even bring it up, the elders had already made it clear—no girl in the family would ever be allowed to go to school.
But who could have predicted things would turn out this way? They’d toiled away for a whole year, only to be hit by a drought.
A year’s worth of hard work went down the drain—and on top of that, when it rains it pours—the roof beam collapsed.
Liu Yuexiu still remembered that day clearly. That night, for some reason, she hadn’t slept well—floating in that half-asleep, half-awake state.
Then, in an instant, she suddenly jolted awake and opened her eyes—just in time to watch the roof beam falling.
In that moment, her mind went blank. The only thing she could think of was to pull the child sleeping on the outside of the bed tightly into her arms.
The next instant, the beam came crashing straight down.
When she woke up again, both she and her husband had broken limbs. But thank goodness—none of the three children had been hurt.
“Mom, I’m not tired. What’s there to be tired about?” Lin Xiaohe grinned happily. These days, life felt like it was drenched in honey—what was there to complain about?
Before, she’d wake up in the morning and first feed the chickens and ducks. Then she’d go up the mountain with Da Ya and Er Ya to gather pigweed and dig for wild greens.
They didn’t raise pigs themselves—the pigweed was for the brigade. Three baskets a day earned them three work points.
While the adults were out working in the fields, she and Da Ya and Er Ya would also cook lunch and carry it out to them.
In the afternoons, they’d tend to their own private plot, and after that, head back up the mountain to dig for greens and gather firewood.
From dawn till dusk, there wasn’t a single moment’s rest. Now, though, life was much more comfortable.
The food was better, and there wasn’t nearly as much work to do.
Savoring every bite, her heart felt as sweet as dripping honey. The days ahead would surely be even better than today!
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