What a wonderful daughter-in-law.
How could Zhao Zheng bear to hit her!
"Did the old woman do anything?"
"No," Yang Zhaodi said hurriedly.
"I'll go find them tomorrow."
Zhao Zheng had originally just wanted to teach that brat a lesson, but now, it was more than just a lesson. "Are you hungry?"
"No," Yang Zhaodi said, her heart betraying her.
Xiao E had a good appetite, and even when his stomach growled with hunger, he stubbornly said, "I'm not hungry either!"
Gurgle! Gurgle!
Zhao Zheng shook his head and pulled the dead weasel from his backpack. He also took out three pounds of rice and two pounds of eggs. "Zhao Di, wash the rice. Xiao E, boil six eggs, two for each of us."
Yang Zhao Di was astonished. "Godfather, is this the prey you hunted?"
Zhao Zheng nodded and recounted the day's events. Yang Zhao Di hurriedly squatted down to touch Zhao Zheng's foot. "Father-in-law, is your foot okay?"
"No problem."
Xiao E dazedly took the eggs. The dozen or so eggs felt heavy in her hand.
The last time she had eaten eggs was last year.
Zhao Zheng went to the yard to deal with the weasel.
"Sister-in-law, am I dreaming?" Xiao E said with difficulty. "This is rice and eggs... In this year, it's good to have rice porridge and rice bran to fill our stomachs. Rice is so expensive now. I heard from Mrs. Niu next door that it's gone up to fifteen or sixteen wen per pound."
Yang Zhao Di shook her head. Fifteen or sixteen wen? That was all in the past.
She'd visited her mother's family in Yangjia Village today and heard that the price of rice had risen to twenty wen per jin, making it unaffordable for peasants like her.
Unlike their family, they simply cooked the rice into white rice.
Even wealthy landlords probably wouldn't do the same.
"These eggs are so expensive. Do you really have to cook six at once?" Zhang Xiao'e said distressedly. "One egg only sells for six or seven wen."
"I'll listen to you, father-in-law!" Yang Zhaodi said, immediately washing a jin of rice, adding extra water to cook it until it was softer, and then hiding the rice and the remaining eggs.
Zhao Zheng sold the skinned weasel for one hundred and twenty wen and bought some iodized salt and seasonings from the market to marinate it.
Then he went into the room, skewered the weasel meat on bamboo sticks, placed it on a wooden rack, lit the stove, and began to baste it.
"Father-in-law, do you want to grill this meat?" Yang Zhaodi had imagined many ways to prepare it, but she had never imagined Zhao Zheng would grill it.
"Don't you like it?"
"We can make it into pickled meat so we can eat it during the New Year." Yang Zhaodi thought it was a waste. She was used to being poor, and even though she was afraid Zhao Zheng would get angry, she couldn't help but persuade him.
Zhao Zheng smiled faintly, "Let's eat better during the New Year."
Zhang Xiao'e sat in front of the stove with her legs crossed, looking at the greasy meat, her mouth almost watering. Weasel was already an unattainable top-quality meat, so what was better meat?
"Our family's life will get better and better, but there's one thing you have to remember. Don't let anyone know that we have rice and meat at home, otherwise we'll be in big trouble, understand?"
Although he knew the two women were not talkative, the famine was getting worse. He even heard that children were being cannibalized in distant places.
If others knew how well their family ate, they would surely be jealous, and they would have no hope of peace.
"Father-in-law, we can't hide it in time, so why would we tell them?"
"We won't tell them," Zhang Xiao'e promised.
Zhao Zheng nodded, "You should also carry some food on your back during the day and cook more at one time. Tomorrow, I will dig a cellar in the room and hide everything in the cellar..."
The two women nodded repeatedly.
The weasel meat sizzled over the charcoal fire, oozing with oil and seasoning, and exuded a rich aroma.
Zhao Zheng tasted it and said, "It's cooked!"
He then divided the two hind legs between the two women and served them a bowl of rice, two eggs each.
"Eat! You need to get used to this kind of life. This is just the beginning. You're too thin, so you need to supplement your nutrition."
Yang Zhaodi held the bowl and silently wept.
Zhang Xiaoe was also crying with joy. Zhao Zheng was confused. "Why are you crying again?"
"I'm happy." Yang Zhaodi sniffed.
She had returned to her mother's house to borrow food today, and she was met with glares. Her brother and sister-in-law scolded her for being a worthless person, saying she didn't help her mother's family and was even sucking their blood.
Her grandmother called her a money-loser, and her grandfather said he would cut off all ties with her.
If her mother hadn't secretly slipped her some food, she would have returned empty-handed.
Zhang Xiao'e also choked up and said, "I have never eaten so full and lived so well."
"Your good life is the meaning of my efforts." Zhao Zheng smiled and also began to eat voraciously.
At this time.
At Liu Laosi's house.
Liu Tieniu was so hungry that he couldn't sleep.
"Dad, do you smell the smell of meat?" Liu Tieniu tried hard to smell the fragrance in the air.
"Bullshit meat smell, I only smell your stinky feet." Liu Laosi scolded.
"Dad, believe me, I really smell the smell of meat, that kind of very special smell!"
Liu Tieniu was so hungry that he got up from the bed, opened the window, and looked at the Zhao family not far away, "Damn, the smell of meat seems to be coming from their house."
Liu Laosi, who was originally lying dead, got up, stood in front of the window and sniffed hard, "It's not the smell of meat, it's the smell of pine wood. This old dog Zhao is so generous. He didn't sell the firewood he chopped, and used it all by himself. He was not afraid of starving those two delicate daughters-in-law!"
"Dad, I want to get married."
"Get a wife?" Liu Laosi slapped him on the back of the head, "If you can afford to marry one, can you support her? Our family is almost unable to make ends meet. If another person comes, will you cut your meat to feed her?"
Liu Tieniu shrank his neck, "But, the people in the village who are my age have children who are already doing soy sauce. They laugh at you for being useless and unable to get me a wife!"
Liu Laosi was very angry, "If you have the ability, go and marry one yourself. I will never stop you."
Liu Tieniu's eyes lit up, "Dad, what do you say that I should recognize Old Man Zhao as my godfather?"
"What did you say?" Liu Laosi was almost angry to death.
"Dad, don't be angry first. Think about it, all of Old Zhao's sons are dead, which means he has no descendants. If I recognize him as my godfather, those two delicate young wives will be mine, won't they?"
Liu Tieniu's heart was distracted when he thought of Yang Zhaodi and Zhang Xiaoe, "Then Old Zhao's house and land will all belong to our family, and I can marry a wife without spending a penny. How great is that?"
Liu Laosi became angry when he thought of what happened yesterday, "Don't even think about it."
At this moment, a voice came from the bed, "Dad, I think Tieniu is right. He is just a godfather, not his biological father. This famine will eventually pass. Once he is recognized as a godfather and the year is good, then he will all be ours."
"What the hell do you want? He still has brothers."
"His brothers caused his extinction and almost beat him to death. Do you think Old Zhao will still recognize his brothers?"