Chapter 12 Different Fates for the Same People
Because they had deliberately saved half of the mushroom stewed chicken at noon, Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan didn't cook any other meat dishes for dinner. The two of them ate steamed buns and cornbread with the mushroom stewed chicken. Xie Wanniang only ate one white flour steamed bun that was bigger than her fist, while Jiang Yuan ate one steamed bun and two cornbread.
After dinner, Jiang Yuan, as usual, rushed to wash the dishes. Xie Wanniang was not idle either. She cut the pork fat into pieces, put it in a pot and rendered it into a light yellow and translucent hot lard, then scooped it into a jar spoonful by spoonful.
After the liquid lard cools down, it will turn into the familiar, snow-white lard paste.
The remaining pork cracklings won't go to waste. Xie Wanniang has already planned to use them and chives as filling for steamed buns or dumplings tomorrow night. They'll taste delicious.
As for the lard stuck to the wooden spoon and iron pot, Xie Wanniang plans to "make use of it" tomorrow morning by adding water to cook a large pot of vegetable and mixed noodle soup for her and Jiang Yuan's breakfast.
Xie Wanniang was afraid the pork belly would spoil, so she not only diligently rubbed it with salt and hung it in a cool, ventilated place, but also planned to make braised pork with it for lunch tomorrow.
Jiang Yuan had just finished eating all the mixed grain steamed buns, so tomorrow at noon he could just have braised pork with white flour steamed buns. This standard of living would make Fucun the best, and it should easily be in the top three.
While working, Xie Wanniang happily told Jiang Yuan about her preliminary plans for tomorrow's three meals.
Jiang Yuan wasn't as emotionally expressive as she was, but his occasional "hmm" and "okay" still revealed that he was actually in a good mood.
After finishing her work in the kitchen, Xie Wanniang took her medicine, and the two of them moved the mugwort, honeysuckle, and plantain that had been drying in the sun for half an afternoon into the house.
By this time, it was completely dark. In order to save lamp oil, the two quickly washed up and went back to their rooms to rest.
The next day, with Jiang Yuan's help, Xie Wanniang first moved the medicinal herbs to the yard to continue drying them. Then she ate breakfast, drank her medicine, and locked the door with Jiang Yuan before heading into the mountains.
On the way, the two encountered several villagers from the same village, and everyone, whether openly or seemingly unintentionally, cast curious glances at Xie Wanniang.
Xie Wanniang looked back confidently. With Jiang Yuan by her side as her protector, she was still full of confidence even when being scrutinized by several people at the same time.
On the contrary, the villagers who were looking at her quickly looked away when she stared at them.
They would either simply greet Jiang Yuan or stop to chat with him about trivial matters. The most frequently mentioned topic was the aroma of meat that always wafted from Jiang Yuan's house.
From their conversation, Xie Wanniang learned that although Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu made a living by hunting, they did not eat meat every day. The situation where she ate a whole chicken a day, as she had done after moving in, only happened during festivals.
Furthermore, Jiang Yuan used to not only wander around the small hills near the village, but he would go deeper into the mountains and forests to look for more valuable and easier-to-sell prey such as wild boars, foxes, and wild sheep.
To put it bluntly, Xie Wan's mother has been wasting money and dragging everyone down these past few days...
Feeling slightly guilty, Xie Wanniang silently clenched her hands, deciding to tell Jiang Yuan tonight that she wanted to go with him to gather herbs in more remote mountains.
Jiang Yuan was unaware of what she was thinking, but he noticed that Xie Wanniang was not as happy as she was yesterday.
After a busy day, when it was time for dinner, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but ask Xie Wanniang, "Are you unhappy?"
Xie Wanniang was taken aback. She was just about to tell Jiang Yuan that they would go to a more remote mountain area together tomorrow when it suddenly started to rain.
Jiang Yuan reacted quickly, rushing out to stack the baskets of herbs that were drying, and carried all six of them into the main room.
Xie Wanniang originally wanted to go out as well, but now there was no need for her to go out.
She looked at Jiang Yuan with sparkling eyes, "You're so strong!"
Seeing that she had become lively again, Jiang Yuan's mood improved considerably. He said, "I have practiced martial arts since I was a child, so this weight is nothing to me."
Xie Wanniang's eyes lit up even more, and she excitedly moved closer to Jiang Yuan, "What? What? You're actually a martial arts master?"
Jiang Yuan waved his hands repeatedly, "I wouldn't call myself an expert."
He was only fifteen years old. Although he had been studying and practicing diligently, his strength was still far inferior to that of one of his teachers.
Thinking of something, he instructed Xie Wanniang, "Don't tell anyone about this."
Although Xie Wanniang didn't understand why he was giving her such instructions, she still nodded vigorously without hesitation, "I will definitely keep it a secret."
Jiang Yuan quickly moved the basket to Hao Yu's room where he was now staying, and then neatly arranged them at the head of the kang (heated brick bed), trying to use the heat of the kang to help the medicinal herbs evaporate moisture as quickly as possible.
After doing all this, he walked out of the bedroom and into the main room, where he sat down to eat with Xie Wanniang.
The two occasionally exchanged a few words amidst the patter of the rain, but most of the time they simply sat facing each other and ate their meals earnestly.
After they finished eating and put down their chopsticks, Jiang Yuan looked at the rain that was starting to subside and said to Xie Wanniang, "When the rain clears up, I'll help you move your things to the east wing."
Xie Wanniang shook her head, "I don't have much stuff, I can just pack it up and move it over myself."
On their way down the mountain today, Jiang Yuan briefly told her about some of his situation. Now Xie Wanniang knows that he lives with a man named Hao Yu.
According to him, the house next door originally belonged to his adoptive parents, but later, in order to pay for his adoptive father's medical treatment, he persuaded his adoptive father to sell the house to the village head's family.
Hao Yu, who now lives with him, is both his master and his cousin. After his adoptive father passed away and he was kicked out by his adoptive father's brothers and nephews, Hao Yu, who had never publicly acknowledged their kinship, took him into his home under the guise of being his master.
Jiang Yuan didn't tell Xie Wanniang what Hao Yu had gone out to do. He only explained to Xie Wanniang why he had settled her in his own room on the first day, instead of sending her directly to the north room of the east wing, which was for guests to stay in.
He told Xie Wanniang that he had taken the time to clean all three rooms in the east wing these past few days, and that as long as Xie Wanniang didn't want to leave, she could continue to live in his east wing.
From his words, Xie Wanniang sensed his confidence, an attitude completely different from her previous cautiousness when she was dependent on others.
Xie Wanniang thought that his adoptive parents and his cousin must have loved him very much, so that he had never experienced the family atmosphere of being out of place with other people, or the desolation and helplessness of possibly losing his current stable life at any time.
She had to admit that, for a moment, she felt a deep envy for Jiang Yuan.
In her past life, she had no parents. In this life, although she has parents, they are mostly absent from the public eye. It can be said that she grew up in both lives by watching how others perceived her.
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