Chapter 4

According to Chu Jiujiu, the rabbit ran to her feet by itself, and then she pounced on it like a hungry tiger and pinned it under her. Chu Shao had only one idea about this.

Silly people have silly rabbits.

…

Pulling the rabbit's ears, Chu Shao felt incredible.

This rabbit is too fat, at least seven or eight kilograms.

In those days, the trees on the mountain were public property and could not be cut down, but wild fruits and mushrooms were free for everyone to pick. Hunting of large animals was prohibited, but rabbits and pheasants were allowed to be caught at will. The production team only distributed meat once a year, and the people could not afford it, so they went up the mountain to catch rabbits and pheasants. The larger rabbits on the mountain were almost completely gone, and Chu Shao had never seen such fat rabbits before.

Under Chu Jiujiu's gaze seeking praise, Chu Shao quickly and efficiently killed the rabbit, and then began to pluck its hair and bleed it.

Chu Jiujiu had no pressure eating meat, but this was the first time she saw an animal die with her own eyes. She was so scared that she was stunned for a moment, but after a while, she recovered.

Only a princess in an ivory tower who has no worries about food and clothing would cry and lament how adorable rabbits are and how they can be eaten. Now she and her grandfather are starving to death. Even if a unicorn appeared before her, she would grab it and eat it without hesitation.

While Chu Shao was preparing the rabbit, Chu Jiujiu looked around. Since there was no pot, they would have to roast it. Squatting beside Chu Shao, Chu Jiujiu enthusiastically offered a recipe: "Mix two tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of oyster sauce, an appropriate amount of sugar, and an appropriate amount of five-spice powder in a bowl. Apply to the entire rabbit body, massaging gently until the flavors are absorbed. Marinate for two hours, then heat at 200 degrees Celsius, turning it over every ten minutes. After roasting for fifty minutes, apply honey to the skin and roast for another ten minutes before serving."

Chu Shao didn't understand what she was reciting at first, but slowly he understood and the expression on his face disappeared. After Chu Jiujiu finished speaking, he laughed meaningfully, handed the rabbit to Chu Jiujiu, and started to build a fire.

After the fire was set up and the rabbit was placed on it, Chu Shao did nothing else.

Not to mention those complicated seasonings, Chu Shao didn't even add salt.

Chu Jiujiu was petrified on the spot.

She had realized that her grandfather was poor, but she didn't realize that he was so poor!

There's no salt!

Is this the legendary ups and downs of life?

Chu Shao kept looking at the fire, and occasionally he would look up at Chu Jiujiu, who was devastated. Suddenly, Chu Shao's eyes fell on the huge and strange necklace on Chu Jiujiu's chest.

"Put the necklace away."

Chu Jiujiu was puzzled: "Why?"

Chu Shao pursed his lips and said, "No one wears jewelry here, so put away your necklaces and hairpins."

If you wear jewelry, people will say you are a capitalist. Even children know this, but Chu Jiujiu doesn’t.

Chu Jiujiu didn't understand the reason behind it, but she still took it off obediently, stuffed the hairpin and necklace into the pocket of her skirt, and even took off the hair tie. Sitting on the folded coat, looking at the colorful hair tie in her hand, Chu Jiujiu suddenly had an idea: "Grandpa, do you think this can be sold for money?"

The Chu family only had this one precious daughter, so all her things were the best. This seemingly insignificant hair tie had cost over 200 yuan. Chu Shao glanced at it and thought it was indeed a good thing, but...

"No, private transactions are prohibited now. Selling things is speculation and you will be sent to a labor camp."

Chu Jiujiu was curious: "What is a labor camp?"

Chu Shao: "It's where people who make mistakes are imprisoned."

Chu Jiujiu: "Then why is it called a farm?"

Chu Shao: "Because it's a farm."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

She held her chin up in her hand and thought for a moment before asking, "Isn't it similar to a cowshed?"

Chu Shao looked at her in surprise, "Do you know the bullpen?"

Chu Jiujiu immediately regained her confidence. She raised her head and said proudly, "Of course, I saw it in a book. Grandpa, you don't know, I have a very good memory. There are many books in my house. Even if I don't understand them, I will flip through them. As long as I have read them, I will always remember them. Isn't it amazing?"

Chu Jiujiu looked like she was waiting for praise, but Chu Shao didn't, like the others, immediately praise her as a genius. He turned the rabbit over and looked at Chu Jiujiu: "You have a lot of books at home. What do your parents do for a living?"

Speaking of her parents, Chu Jiujiu's chatterbox nature was immediately activated. She told almost everything about her family situation, from her father's struggle history to what kind of braids her mother liked to braid for her hair. She covered every detail in a bizarre and bizarre way.

Chu Shao understood half of it and half of it. At the beginning, he would try his best to collect information, but later on, he became numb and only had one thought left in his mind.

This kid really grew up in a honey pot.

But the situation took a turn for the worse. Chu Jiujiu talked about how she showed her skills and escaped the fate of being sent to an orphanage after her parents got into trouble, and how she lived alone for almost a year. She didn't say how she felt, but Chu Shao understood without her having to say it.

Because that's how he got here too.

Chu Jiujiu finished speaking, and Chu Shao did not comfort her. He just tore off a piece of the roasted rabbit and let her eat it. Chu Jiujiu ate the roasted rabbit without any seasoning, and felt her heart was more bitter than her tongue.

What does it mean? Will grandpa let her stay?

Chu Jiujiu was very resistant to the orphanage, and even more so to being adopted. Her mother had said that in this world, only parents were reliable. Besides her parents, she trusted no one else. Grandpa was her father's father, so she trusted him, too.

In this strange era, if her grandfather didn't want her, she would probably still be sent to an orphanage. I don't know if the social workers here are easy to deceive. If not, what should she do?

Chu Jiujiu is a small person, but she has a lot of thoughts. She just described her tragic life experience in order to arouse Chu Shao's sympathy. Chu Shao certainly received the sympathy, but he is a rationalist by nature, and emotional stories cannot change his mind.

However, Chu Jiujiu's inadvertent mention of her resistance to outsiders made him hesitate for a moment.

Indeed, he had been struggling with whether to go to the brigade headquarters and ask someone to send Chu Jiujiu away. He was struggling to support himself, so how could he support a nine-year-old girl? Her origins were unclear, and there was no food supply. Add to that his precarious life, and if he continued to show off his strength, he might end up killing her.

Chu Shao asked her, "How did you get here?"

Chu Jiujiu described her dream, but she was cautious and didn't tell anyone about the necklace.

As expected, Chu Shao's next sentence was: "Can you still go back?"

Chu Jiujiu immediately shook her head: "No."

In fact, she didn't know whether she could go back, but even if she could, she would definitely not go back.

There was nothing there except the cold house. From the moment she saw Chu Shao, she had decided that she would stay here, listen to her parents, and live with her grandfather.

When Chu Shao realized that he wanted her to leave, Chu Jiujiu immediately started begging: "Grandpa, please let me stay. Although I can't catch fish, I can learn. I can also catch rabbits. I will stay in the mountains every day and catch rabbits and pick fruits for you. I know our family is poor, but it's okay. You don't have to worry about me. I live in the mountains and support myself. Just come and see me when you have time."

Chu Shao: "Do you think you are the White-Haired Girl?"

Chu Jiujiu choked. She didn't know who the White-Haired Girl was. After a pause, Chu Jiujiu's eyes began to gather strength, and tears quickly flowed out. She sniffed twice and choked out, "Grandpa, I won't be a burden to you. I, I have nowhere to go. My parents are gone, and I don't have any relatives. Grandpa, I..."

Chu Shao looked at her expressionlessly, chewing the rabbit meat a few times.

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

Swallowing her tears, Chu Jiujiu changed her pitiful look and started to act like a spoiled brat. "I don't care. I'm here, so I won't leave. You don't have to worry about me. I'll just live in the mountains. If I'm lucky, I'll live a few more years. If I'm unlucky, I'll just become a dinner. It's the law of the jungle, I understand."

Chu Shao swallowed the rabbit meat and finally responded, "Yeah, he does look a bit like a Chu family member."

Chu Jiujiu: It turns out that grandpa only responds to tough demands and not soft words.

...a bit cheap.

After Chu Jiujiu was full, she complained in her heart that Chu Shao was still not full. A big rabbit weighed nearly eight kilograms, and after processing, there were still six kilograms. Chu Jiujiu was full after eating less than one kilogram, while Chu Shao finished four kilograms by himself, and in the end only a rabbit leg was left.

He would never take the rabbit legs back. He would rather feed them to the dog than give the food to the Zhang family.

Chu Shao casually picked up a banana leaf and wrapped the rabbit leg in it. He began to clean the fire. Suddenly, he said, "Don't talk nonsense after you go down the mountain."

Chu Jiujiu was listless. After hearing this, she hesitated for a moment and raised her head: "Does going down the mountain mean that I should stay?"

What if I don’t stay?

It was fine when he didn't know who she was, but now that he knows, if he still sends Chu Jiujiu away, he will have to spend every day in worry.

He already has enough people to worry about, and if there's one more, he can't handle it.

Chu Shao didn't like to talk, let alone express his feelings, so he repeated, "Don't say anything you shouldn't say."

There was no explicit refusal.

That means you agree.

Chu Jiujiu was so happy that she almost jumped up. She immediately expressed her loyalty: "Whatever Grandpa says is what it is. I will never say anything nonsense!"

Chu Shao, however, didn't quite believe her. He half-knelt on the ground, propping up his upper body. "If you say anything nonsense, someone will send you to a labor camp or a cowshed. Do you understand?"

Chu Jiujiu still had no idea how horrible the labor camp and the cowshed were, but she knew what it meant to be sent away. After all, she was still a child. Chu Jiujiu was frightened and nodded quickly, "I understand."

Chu Shao stopped talking. He was thinking about other things while his hands were busy. After finishing the fire, Chu Shao looked up at the sky. It gets dark late in the summer. It might be four or five o'clock in the afternoon. If he went down the mountain now, the sunset would be there by the time he reached the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Fulai must have filed a complaint. I wonder how the Zhang family plans to deal with him.

Touching his belly which hadn't been this full in a long time, Chu Shao thought expressionlessly.

Chu Shao kept his thoughts to himself and never shared them with anyone. He walked ahead, and Chu Jiujiu followed, taking one deep step and one shallow step, always looking down. She didn't say a word. When they reached halfway up the mountain, Chu Jiujiu suddenly pointed in a direction and said, "Grandpa, there are people over there."

Chu Shao looked over and saw only a thin figure flash by.

Chu Shao's somewhat vigilant eyes relaxed, "It's okay, it's someone living in the cowshed."

The people in the cowshed were busy with their own affairs and would not get involved in village affairs, so they were not there to arrest him.

Chu Shao finished speaking and continued walking down. Chu Jiujiu wanted to take another look, after all, Chu Shao had just scared her with the cowshed. But the man disappeared in the blink of an eye, his movements so agile that Chu Jiujiu had no choice but to turn around in disappointment and quickly run a few steps to catch up with Chu Shao.

In the setting sun in the bamboo forest, the grandfather and grandson walked leisurely, unaware that the situation down the mountain had been noisy for a long time.