Chapter 96: Chapter 58: A Visit from Relatives

With Qingmu gone, the house suddenly felt much emptier. Although he was a man of few words, he was always home for all three meals. Now, with one person missing at mealtimes, Juhua found it very hard to get used to.

Qingmu had taken a leave of absence from the academy, so Mr. Zhou’s meals had to be delivered by Zheng Changhe. Mother Yang still went out every day with a carrying pole, her baskets laden with cooked pork offal to sell. Afterwards, she would return home with fresh, unwashed offal and pig heads.

One day, while Juhua was boiling a pig’s head, Big Mouth Zhao arrived.

He was wearing an old padded cotton jacket and carrying a basket. He grinned at Juhua and said, “Juhua, come quick and see what this is!”

Juhua looked over, puzzled. “What is it?” She leaned in closer and saw a small black puppy and a rabbit in the basket. Her face lit up as she asked excitedly, “Oh my! Brother Big Mouth, how did you know I wanted to get a dog? And what’s with the rabbit?”

Big Mouth Zhao laughed. “I heard your brother ask Third Uncle Zhao the other day if his dog was pregnant yet, and Third Uncle said not yet. It just so happens my aunt’s dog had three puppies, so I got one for you. As for the rabbit, I set a trap on the mountain and collected three of them this morning. I’m giving one to you to eat.”

Juhua thanked him profusely. Without any ceremony, she lifted the rabbit out and set it aside for her father to handle when he got back. Then she took out the little black puppy. Seeing the small, fluffy ball in her arms, she smiled and asked, “It’s so tiny. What should I feed it?”

Big Mouth Zhao laughed. “It’s a dog, no need to be so fussy. Some cornmeal mush will do. Once it’s grown, won’t it eat its own poop anyway!”

Juhua shot him a disgusted look and asked, “Brother Big Mouth, you’ve picked out a wife, haven’t you? When are you getting married?”

Big Mouth Zhao blushed a little and chuckled. “Next year, I guess. I just don’t have the money. If I did, I could get married by the end of this year.”

Juhua told him, “Brother Big Mouth, you’re still young, so getting married next year is fine. It’s good to save up more money. Oh, I forgot to tell you, when you have free time, go to the mountain and gather some acorns. After being soaked, they can be used as pig feed. You can raise a couple more pigs next year, and when they’re big, you can sell them for money to get married.”

She went on to explain in detail how to process the acorns and even brought out four blocks of acorn tofu from the kitchen for him to take home and cook.

Big Mouth Zhao was stunned. “Is this really made from acorns?” he asked in disbelief. “And pigs will eat them?”

Juhua quickly waved her hands. “Brother Big Mouth, don’t be silly! This is for people to eat. The pig feed doesn’t have to be ground so finely. Here, let me scoop some for you to see.”

Seeing he still didn’t quite get it, Juhua explained it all over again. She scooped some of the soaked acorns for him to take home and test on his pigs. Of course, she made sure he took the tofu as well.

Big Mouth Zhao grinned from ear to ear. “Looks like I won’t have to worry about the silver for my wedding next year!”

Seeing how focused he was on getting married, Juhua couldn’t help but laugh.

Big Mouth Zhao scratched his head, embarrassed. After a couple of chuckles, he quickly said to Juhua, “Well, I’ll be heading home then. If the pigs really eat this stuff, I need to hurry to the mountain and gather more.”

Juhua nodded. She suddenly felt a pang of regret. ’I should have told people about this sooner. While there are still some acorns on the mountain, they’ve been rained on and soaked. I’m afraid many have rotted. It’ll be a huge hassle to sort through them, and you can’t feed the rotten ones to the pigs.’

So she reminded Big Mouth Zhao of this one more time.

He quickly replied, “I get it. I’ll just have to be careful when I’m shelling them. If they’re all rotten, there’s nothing to be done. I’ll just have to wait until next autumn to gather more.” With that, he hurried off.

A few days ago, Qingmu had told the village chief about the acorns. Zhang Huai and Zhao San had gotten the tip from Qingmu even earlier. As a result, in the past two days, more and more people had been going to Little Qing Mountain to gather acorns. People would also stop by Juhua’s house from time to time to ask how exactly to prepare them.

Zheng Changhe would patiently explain it to them, showing them the processed acorn kernels he had prepared and the tofu Juhua had made from the rinsed acorn flour.

Seeing so many visitors, Juhua hid in her room, warming herself by the fire and doing needlework.

Around noon, her mother, Mother Yang, came home, bringing Juhua’s second maternal aunt with her.

This Second Aunt, of the Lin family, was a pretty young woman. Her hair was done up in an attractive bun, sleek and shiny, and her clothes were brightly colored.

She brought her sons, Laicai and Laishou. Laicai looked to be about seven or eight, with handsome features. He had a “chamber pot lid” haircut, with just a small, sky-pointing braid tied at the very top of his head. He had a devious, mischievous look about him. Laishou had just learned to walk and was being carried on his mother’s back in a cloth sling.

When she saw Juhua’s veiled face, she was taken aback for a moment, then said with a beaming smile, “Juhua, I haven’t seen you in so long! Look how tall you’ve grown! Oh my! That face covering looks much better. Sister-in-law, our Juhua is actually quite pretty. Laicai, Laishou, hurry and greet your older sister!”

As she spoke, she set Laishou down from her back and carefully tugged at her new jacket, which was adorned with large red flowers, smoothing out any wrinkles. She spoke in a soft, gentle voice; anyone who didn’t know her would think she was the most virtuous of women. Juhua, however, knew that her words could be infuriating.

Laicai’s dark eyes darted around. He ran up to Juhua, lifted her veil to take a peek, and then, with a shudder, quickly dropped it in disgust. He yelled, “Sister Juhua, I thought you’d gotten prettier! Turns out you look the same as before.”

Juhua watched his restless, energetic antics and thought, ’Here comes trouble. This one is a real handful. He torments me every time he visits. Both of them, the big one and the small one, are nothing but trouble. Second Aunt must have heard that Mother is making some money selling pork offal and has come looking for a handout.’

She didn’t say much, just gave a polite and proper greeting, “Second Aunt!”

Aunt Lin responded with a broad smile, then told Laishou, “Go on, play with your sister.”

’Play with his sister? More like make his sister babysit him!’ Juhua’s head started to ache. This Second Aunt was truly an expert at ordering people around.

While inviting Aunt Lin to sit, Mother Yang said to her, “Juhua has to make lunch. You rest for a bit. I’ll take this chance to wash the pork offal, and we’ll eat soon. Laicai, are you hungry?”

Laicai was busy looking here and there. Hearing his great-aunt ask, he couldn’t wait to shout back, “Great-Aunt, I’m starving!”

Mother Yang then said to Juhua, “Get him some crispy rice to eat, just to tide him over. Go on and start making lunch.”

Juhua answered in assent and went to the kitchen to get some crispy rice for the boy to gnaw on. Then she started preparing the meal.

After Mother Yang left for the river to wash the pork offal, Aunt Lin moved a small stool, hugged the brazier Juhua had just been using to warm herself, and sat at the kitchen entrance to watch Juhua cook.

Juhua was bustling about, tending to things on top of the stove and below it, all while fending off an endless barrage of questions about how to wash the offal, how to cook it, and how much money her mother made each day. The aunt chattered on and on, but never once offered to help, not even to stuff a handful of firewood into the stove. ’She’s probably just worried about getting her new clothes dirty,’ Juhua thought.

Zheng Changhe had finished his tasks and gone to the mountains with some other people, so there was no one around to lend her a hand.

Juhua was so busy she was about to lose her mind. She mostly ignored her aunt, or would respond with a mosquito-like hum that was impossible to make out. Anyway, that’s how the old Juhua used to be.

Seeing that she couldn’t get a straight answer out of Juhua, Aunt Lin lost interest and went into the main hall to sit on the foot warmer.

Juhua finally let out a sigh of relief.

But just as she had mostly finished cooking, she heard a commotion from Laicai in the courtyard. Feeling uneasy, she ran out to look. Oh no! The boy was holding a long bamboo pole and chasing the flock of chicks, which were scattering in a frenzy all over the yard!

The chicks squawked and clucked non-stop as he chased them, flapping their wings and flying and hopping everywhere, kicking up clouds of dust. Some even flew into the small vegetable garden, trampling a whole patch of lush green spinach and onions, a sight that made Juhua’s heart ache.

She quickly tried to stop him, “Laicai, what are you doing chasing the chickens? Stop it!” As she spoke, she ran over to shoo the chickens out of the vegetable patch.

Laicai stopped and said to her with a grin, “Sister Juhua, I’m trying to catch one to kill and eat. It’s been so long since I’ve been to Great-Aunt’s house, shouldn’t you kill a chicken for me?”

Juhua fought back the urge to beat him. With a stern face, she said, “There will be plenty of food for you at lunch. These chickens are too small to be killed yet.”

Unexpectedly, Aunt Lin overheard from inside the house and chimed in with a laugh, “Oh my! You call that small? It must be over a pound already, right? With some garlic, you could make two bowls!”

Juhua was so angry she didn’t want to respond. ’How did Second Uncle end up marrying a woman like this?’ Worried her aunt would keep nagging, she said unhappily, “These chickens are being raised to lay eggs, so we can save some money for my brother’s wedding.”

Inside, Aunt Lin seemed to pause for a moment before laughing again. “Oh my! Juhua really knows how to run a household. Your mother sells pork offal every day, how could you be short on money?”

Juhua was about to go crazy. Forcibly suppressing her anger, she ignored her aunt and was about to head back to the kitchen when she saw Laicai had grabbed the little black puppy by the scruff of its neck and lifted it into the air. He watched it struggle, laughing and cheering triumphantly.

The little black puppy dangled in the air, its four paws flailing wildly. It let out a pathetic “YIP! YIP!” towards Juhua!

She rushed over, rescued the puppy from Laicai’s grasp, and scolded him, “What are you tormenting it for? Be careful it doesn’t bite you, then we’ll see if you’re still laughing!”

She was actually quite scared. ’If that dog had bitten him just now, who knows if it would get infected? If it did, with the level of medical care here, he’d be a goner for sure!’

Laicai stuck out his tongue, giggled, and ran off.

Juhua carried the little black puppy into the kitchen, mixed some warm broth with cold rice, and fed it.

When she turned and came back out, she found Laishou had blocked the main entrance by taking a big, golden-yellow dump. In the dead of winter, the freshly-made pile was steaming, sending up puffs of white vapor.

After the kid was done, he stood up, turned around, and grinned happily, pointing at the pile and studying it for a good while. ’He’s probably thinking about touching it!’

This time, she was furious from head to toe!

From inside the house, Aunt Lin called out, “Oh dear! Baby’s made a poo-poo. Juhua, quickly come help Laishou wipe his bottom. Don’t let him get it on his clothes—that padded jacket and pants are brand new. He only just put them on today.”

Juhua really wanted to ask her, ’Isn’t that *your* son?’ But considering the woman was her elder, she held her tongue.

Swallowing her anger, she went inside to find two sheets of coarse paper and wiped Laishou’s bottom. Then, she scooped a shovelful of ash from the stove, covered the pile of dung, swept it up, and threw it out.

She comforted herself, ’At least it’s a pile of manure. It can fertilize a vegetable, can’t it?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep