Chapter 25

On the return journey, they carried just as much as they brought with them, but the three of them didn’t feel tired at all.

Because of the gradually increasing number of belongings and food each day, they would soon be able to eat meat.

They arrived home around noon. Sang Luo heated water to wash the newly bought earthen jar prepared for storing pig oil. After washing it, she filled bowls with clean water and started to render the pig oil using the water boiling method.

For the past few days, the two children have been kept busy with chores whenever they had free time. Today, they didn’t go to till the land but eagerly waited by the stove. Shen Ning, who had exclaimed that the tofu was even tastier than meat the first time they had it, couldn’t remember the taste of meat anymore.

It wasn’t until the water in the earthen jar gradually dried up, and the pork began to sizzle and release oil, that the dominant aroma spread throughout the small cabin. The two children were so entranced by the rich smell of meat in the air that they couldn’t move their feet.

“Aren’t you afraid of the oil splattering?” Sang Luo chuckled, pushing the two children away a bit and carefully managing the heat of the stove.

Shen An and Shen Ning, however, moved closer again, unable to resist the temptation of the fragrant smell in the air. They stood there, sucking in the aroma, unable to move their feet.

“Aren’t you afraid of the oil splattering?” Sang Luo chuckled, pushing the two children away a bit and carefully managing the heat of the stove.

Shen An and Shen Ning, however, moved closer again, unable to resist the temptation of the fragrant smell in the air. They stood there, sucking in the aroma, unable to move their feet.

“Are you ready to eat now?” Sang Luo was tempted to say that it might cause too much heat, but seeing the eager and longing looks on the two children’s faces, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Go ahead, but only have two pieces for now. The oil dregs just came out of the pot, and it might be too greasy. Most importantly, we haven’t had oily food for a long time, so suddenly eating something so oily might upset our stomachs.”

The two children nodded repeatedly, too eager to wait for chopsticks, so they reached out and each grabbed a piece.

Sang Luo gave them a stern look, about to slap their hands away, but Shen Ning had already, with a smile, brought the piece of pork dregs to Sang Luo’s mouth, “Sister-in-law, you should have it first.”

Shen An’s hand, which was a beat behind it, paused in mid-air, not moving towards his mouth. He also looked at Sang Luo.

Sang Luo: “…”

Her raised hand silently dropped back down, and she bit into the pork dregs, savoring the crispiness.

Hmm, although eating this stuff when it’s hot might cause heatiness, I have to admit, it’s most fragrant right when it comes out of the pot.

She smiled and said, “It smells really good. Thanks, An Ning. Go ahead and eat; just be careful not to burn your mouths.”

The siblings each made a sound of agreement and started to chew happily, their eyes crescent-shaped, looking beautiful.

The first piece was eaten joyfully, but they cherished the second one.

Seeing the two children like this, Sang Luo pinched a little salt from the salt shaker and sprinkled it evenly in the bowl. She stirred it with chopsticks and said, “Okay, with the salt added, we can store it for a few days in this weather. If we don’t cook, we can save it for you to enjoy slowly as snacks.”

The siblings were stunned, looking at the small, shallow bowl filled with pork dregs, almost in disbelief.

In the eyes of Shen An and Shen Ning, pork dregs were a luxury that could hardly be obtained a few times a year.

In the past, when rendering pig oil at home, because of its strong aroma, it was hard to avoid. The third aunt would give each of the children in the family a piece to taste.

Of course, this “each” only applied to the siblings; Shen Jin and Shen Yin could always ask for more from their mother. Shen An and Shen Ning couldn’t. 

For several days, the cousins would sometimes get a few pieces, perhaps due to Third Aunt’s instructions to avoid letting Shen Jin and Shen Yin have them, but Shen Jin would insist on eating them in front of Shen An and Shen Ning, making them envy him and Shen Yin.

When Shen An and Shen Ning were three or five years old, they would cry from being teased. Later, when their eldest brother left home, no one would pay attention to their tears. Even when Third Aunt rendered pig oil, she wouldn’t instruct Shen Jin and Shen Yin to avoid them. 

Shen An and Shen Ning gradually realized that their tears were useless, that some things weren’t meant for them to eat just because they wanted to, and that they were different from Shen Jin, Shen Yin, Shen Tie, and Shen Tian. If there were things Third Aunt deemed precious and didn’t want to give them, Shen An would take Shen Ning away and wouldn’t come close.

Now, today, just before those two pieces of pork dregs entered their mouths, the exact taste of this stuff was not so clear to the siblings anymore, but the rarity of it and their longing for it were deeply ingrained in their minds.

“So much for us to snack on?”

He looked at Sang Luo in astonishment.

Sang Luo nodded with a smile and added matter-of-factly, “Of course, there’s also me.”

Sang Luo was never someone with a particularly self-sacrificing spirit; she didn’t think adults should eat nothing and give everything to children. Even though these two children had become part of her family by chance, she believed she would be the same even if they were her biological children.

Shen Ning and Shen An burst into laughter. Shen Ning picked up another piece of pork dregs and offered it to Sang Luo’s mouth, “Sister-in-law, have another piece.”

She is so obedient and clever.

Sang Luo didn’t hesitate; she took a bite, then instructed the little girl, “Next time, don’t use your hands.”

Shen Ning looked at Sang Luo, then at her own hands, puffed her cheeks, “Sister-in-law, I’ll wash my hands clean when I go home.”

“Okay, but if you don’t develop good habits, you might still accidentally eat without washing your hands next time. Diseases enter through the mouth.”

Shen Ning listened and found it reasonable, nodding, “Okay, I’ll remember.”

Sang Luo nodded, smiling as she added salt to the hot oil, stirring it. This would help the pig oil last a bit longer. Meanwhile, Shen An and Shen Ning began to think about where they should hide their pork dregs.

This stuff was so fragrant; it not only attracted people but also insects and rodents.

Sang Luo let them fiddle around, and she herself scooped the hot pig oil into the prepared earthen jar with a large wooden spoon. When the pot used for cooking wasn’t too hot, she poured out the remaining oil as much as possible.

Of course, this method wasn’t entirely clean; there would still be some oil left in the jar. But it didn’t matter; later, when making lunch, she would cook a dish of pig liver soup with vegetables, and all this oil would go into their stomachs.

Originally, these leftover oils were best for cooking eggplants, but unfortunately, they only had one earthen jar at home, and they couldn’t get the oil out, so they had to fry the eggplants first before cooking rice. To cook rice, they would inevitably have to add cold water to the clay pot to bring it to a boil, but that wasn’t feasible.

Clay pots weren’t like iron pots; they couldn’t handle rapid changes in temperature, and it wouldn’t be long before the pot cracked.

If they waited for the pot to cool slowly, the rice would be ready to eat, and the vegetables would be cold dishes. Cold dishes made from pig oil… Sang Luo gave up the thought and decided to deal with it at the next meal.

She got up, saying, “Let’s go; let’s find some perilla, mint, and wild onions.”

Shen Ning hurriedly got up to follow, but Shen An stayed behind, saying, “Sister-in-law, I’ll stay home and watch over these things.”

They had some possessions now, especially in terms of food. Today, there was an unusually large amount, and there was no cabinet in the house to lock things up. The two of them unanimously felt that these things wouldn’t be safe if no one was at home.

Of course, this “watching over” wasn’t to guard against people but against mountain rats and small animals. They lived in the mountains, after all, and with such a strong fragrance, it was inevitable that some small creatures would be attracted.

Sang Luo nodded and casually picked up a stone hoe and grabbed a back-basket.

The fish basket still had to be placed. Their food storage was still limited, but if they went to the county town early tomorrow, they would have to collect the fish basket by evening. As for the other back-basket, it had to be kept for picking the immortal leaves in the afternoon.

Seeing her take these items, Shen Ning was a bit confused. “Sister-in-law, do we still need to use the stone hoe?”

Sang Luo replied, “If we find what we’re looking for, we’ll dig it up with the roots and plant it behind the house. Next time we need it, we can just pick it from behind the house.”

As soon as Shen Ning heard they were going to dig things up to plant, her spirits lifted, and she also grabbed a stone hoe. “That’s great; I’ll dig some up too.”

Shen An also felt a bit eager, but when he saw the oil and pork dregs on the stone platform, along with the remaining raw meat, he suppressed the thought and stayed put.

For several days, Sang Luo had been bringing the two little ones to the nearby stream, and today she took Shen Ning a bit further. After setting up the fish basket, they found the four plants they were looking for—perilla and mint. They dug them up with soil and brought them back, wrapped in a few large leaves.

While waiting at home, Shen An heard the commotion and greeted them as they came out. The siblings happily went together to plant the mint and perilla.

After planting and watering, Shen Ning, feeling a bit uncertain, asked, “Sister-in-law, these mint and perilla are wild plants, so we should be able to grow them, right?”

After the previous failure in vegetable planting, which yielded no harvest at all, it had been a big blow to the two children.

Sang Luo thought about the soil behind their house and realized it wasn’t particularly good. Especially since the area had been leveled when they built the grass hut, there were no trees in the front or back of the house, and there was naturally no leaf litter to enrich the soil. The soil quality was even worse than that of the uncultivated areas with dense trees.

“If you want to grow them well, you should find some decomposed leaf soil under nearby trees. That should help them grow better.”

In fact, Sang Luo had planned to bring some leaf soil from the mountain to use as planting soil. Since they had to rely on growing their own vegetables, composting was a time-consuming process, and it was most convenient to transport the decomposed leaf soil from under trees. Of course, she would need to earn some money to buy two bamboo baskets for transporting the soil.

However, Shen An and Shen Ning couldn’t wait. The siblings collected and worked with several large leaves from nearby trees.

By the time the sun was near its zenith, Sang Luo had prepared lunch.

Half a pot of perilla and pig liver soup.

Apart from fish meat, this was the first time the siblings had eaten “meat” in nearly half a year.

Without rice, there was only half a pot of soup with plenty of pig liver. The siblings were overjoyed, as if it were New Year’s Day. They each filled a bowl with pork dregs. There were only two usable bowls in the house, so Sang Luo used a bamboo tube as a bowl.

To Sang Luo’s taste, the pig liver wasn’t particularly delicious. Without starch and without daring to crack an egg and use the egg white to smooth it, it wasn’t as tender and smooth as the one she had made in her previous life. But Shen An and Shen Ning both said it was delicious. Half a pot of soup wasn’t much, and SangLuo didn’t eat much. After ensuring that the siblings had enough to eat, she divided the meat and soup cleanly between them.

After a short nap at noon, Sang Luo was about to go to the Chen family’s house.

As soon as they heard about going to the Chen family’s house, Shen An and Shen Ning were excited. Shen Ning’s first reaction was to go see the bowl of pork dregs.

“Sister-in-law, can I take a few pieces of pork dregs for Xiao Ya? She invited me and my brother to eat before.”