Chapter 3: Cooking for the Pigs

Zhang beamed with excitement. “This is perfect! With thirty taels of silver, we can finally renovate our house, and Yaozu can go to a private school.”

For a farming family like theirs, thirty taels was an amount they might not earn even in three years.

Outside the door, Xiang Xinyao clenched her fists tightly. So the original owner wasn’t biological daughter—no wonder they treated her so cruelly.

No wonder they had treated her like livestock since she could remember, making her do all the hard labor. And now, they even wanted to marry her off to the crippled son of the village chief in exchange for a hefty bride price.

Fine!

If that’s how they wanted to play it, then she wouldn’t hold back either. She didn’t owe them anything, let alone a debt of gratitude.

Since she was still stuck in Dawai Village, she had to use the name “Hu Zhaodi” that everyone in the village knew. But once she left this place, she would never use that name again.

“Mother, I’ll go find that brat now,” Hu Dashan’s voice rang out.

Hearing this, Xiang Xinyao quickly stepped away from the courtyard, pretending to carry the wild rabbit she had hunted, with a timid and fearful expression as she walked toward home.

Just as Hu Dashan opened the door, he saw Hu Zhaodi return. He couldn’t help but curse, “You little wretch, you’re still alive? Why didn’t you just die out there?”

Inside, Xiang Xinyao rolled her eyes, but outwardly, she lowered her head submissively. She lifted the rabbit in her hand and waved it slightly.

“Father, I went hunting and got lucky today—I caught a rabbit.”

Seeing the rabbit in her hand, Hu Dashan rushed over, snatching it away. “It’s late. Why are you standing around? Go cook and feed the pigs!”

“Oh, I’ll get on it right away,” Xiang Xinyao replied meekly, a cold glint flashing in her eyes as she headed toward the dilapidated kitchen.

Hu Dashan eagerly took the rabbit to clean it, savoring the thought of finally tasting meat. They had rendered a bit of lard that morning, but the family hadn’t eaten proper meat in ages. This rabbit would be a real treat.

In the kitchen, Xiang Xinyao opened the grain jar. There was only a bit of cornmeal left, so she took all of it and mixed it with wild vegetables to cook a large pot of porridge.

When it was ready, she carried the entire pot to the pigsty and fed it all to the pigs.

After finishing with the pigs, she returned to the kitchen to put the pot away, just as Hu Dashan walked in with the cleaned rabbit.

“Brat, is the meal ready?” Hu Dashan asked gruffly.

“It’s ready, and the pigs have been fed too,” Xiang Xinyao replied.

Hu Dashan opened the pot, only to find it empty. “Where’s the food you cooked?”

“I fed it to the pigs, of course! Didn’t you tell me to cook and feed the pigs?”

Furious, Hu Dashan hurled the rabbit at her. “You stupid brat! I told you to cook and feed the pigs, but you actually fed the pigs the food you cooked! What am I supposed to eat now?”

Catching the rabbit, Xiang Xinyao feigned innocence. “Father, you said to cook and feed the pigs. So I cooked and fed the pigs—how could I have misunderstood?”

Hu Dashan grabbed a broom, ready to beat her, but stopped himself. He remembered the plan to marry her off to the village chief’s son. If she were injured, how could they proceed? Reluctantly, he put the broom down.

“Cook another pot of food. The family still needs to eat!”

Xiang Xinyao shrugged. “Father, the cornmeal and wild vegetables are all gone. What’s there to cook?”

Hu Dashan opened the grain jar and saw it was empty. The last of the cornmeal was indeed gone. His face turned red with anger, and he nearly fainted.

“That cornmeal could’ve lasted the family three to five days if we’d rationed it! You wretched brat, you did this on purpose, didn’t you? I’ve never seen you feed the pigs like this before!”

Feigning confusion, Xiang Xinyao replied, “Father, you’ve never asked me to cook and feed the pigs before.”

Hu Dashan felt a tightness in his chest, his breathing heavy. The broom he had just put down was lifted once more.

“I’ll beat you to death, you little wretch! How dare you talk back to me? You good-for-nothing! Why didn’t you just die out there?”

Hu Zhaodi looked at him, feigning shock. “Father, so you’ve always wished I’d die outside? Fine, I’ll grant your wish right now!”

Without hesitation, she turned and bolted out of the courtyard, clutching the cleaned rabbit. A sly grin played on her lips as she ran.

Hu Dashan froze for a moment before realizing what had happened. The rabbit he had painstakingly prepared was gone! Panicking, he took off after her.

“Hu Zhaodi, you little wretch, stop right there!”

“Father, I’m your daughter, which makes me the ‘little wretch.’ That means you’re the ‘big wretch,’ and Grandma’s the ‘old wretch.’ You want to kill me? You think I’d just stand there and let you? Do you take me for a fool?”

Hu Dashan was so furious his head felt like it might burst. He ran after her with all his strength, but after chasing her halfway up the mountain, he had to stop. The dense forest ahead made him hesitate—he didn’t dare venture too far in.

Thinking of the thirty taels of silver they’d lose if anything happened to Hu Zhaodi, he stayed at the forest’s edge, shouting, “Zhaodi, come out! It’s dangerous in there. Come out, and I promise I won’t hit you!”

Hiding nearby, Hu Zhaodi smirked coldly. Smearing some leftover rabbit blood on her face, she stashed the rabbit into her space. Picking up a stick, she began hitting a small tree to create a commotion, shouting, “Ah! Father, help!”

She whacked the tree a few more times before tossing the stick aside and sprinting toward the edge of the forest, yelling, “Father, run! It’s dangerous!”

Startled, Hu Dashan didn’t dare look back. He immediately turned and dashed downhill.

After running a good distance, he finally stopped, panting heavily, and glanced back. To his surprise, Hu Zhaodi was trailing not far behind, gasping for breath and looking like she might collapse.

This little wretch could run that fast?

Then Hu Dashan noticed the rabbit was missing from her hands. “Where’s the rabbit? The rabbit I cleaned—where is it?” he demanded between gulps of air.

Looking terrified, Hu Zhaodi stammered, “A giant python ate it! If it hadn’t been for the rabbit, I’d be in its stomach by now. Father, that python was huge—bigger around than you! It scared me to death!”

Her face was pale, her expression one of pure fear. Hu Dashan couldn’t help but believe her.

Compared to the rabbit, this wretched girl was worth thirty taels. Missing a meal wouldn’t kill anyone.

Forget it—better not hit her. If something really happened to her, the thirty taels would vanish too.

“Let’s go home,” Hu Dashan said, surprisingly mild. “You stupid girl, why did you run? I’m your father—I wouldn’t actually kill you, would I? Now we’re down a rabbit, and I’ll have to go hungry tonight.”

Hu Zhaodi sneered inwardly but put on a remorseful face. “Father, I was scared! As long as you don’t hit me, I promise I won’t run anymore.”

“Fine. As long as you behave and take care of your younger brother, I won’t hit you,” Hu Dashan replied dismissively.

Hu Zhaodi smiled. “Alright, let’s go home.”

After running for so long, Hu Zhaodi felt she had exercised enough for the day. The original body was frail, but training would take time.

Hu Dashan, on the other hand, had chased her on an empty stomach. His legs were weak, but he forced himself to keep walking back to the house.