Chapter 5: One Jin of Pork

“Why are you going to the county?” Jiang Cuihua’s face didn’t look too good.

“…I’m going to buy something,” Liu Yinyin replied sheepishly.

This morning, as soon as she got up, she noticed that Jiang Cuihua had a gloomy expression and seemed to be in a bad mood.

However, it probably wasn’t because of her.

Jiang Cuihua truly seemed upset but had no interest in asking what Liu Yinyin planned to buy in town. She simply said, “Come back early.”

Liu Yinyin nodded in agreement. As she turned around, she saw her eldest sister-in-law sitting under the eaves, stitching the soles of a shoe.

After thinking for a moment, she walked over and quietly asked, “Sister-in-law, what’s wrong with my mother? She doesn’t seem very happy.”

Her sister-in-law scoffed and lowered her voice, “It’s all because of your second aunt!”

“Second Aunt? What did she do?” Liu Yinyin murmured, suddenly realizing that something seemed odd.

Her second sister-in-law had indeed been acting strangely. After working hard for so long, today was finally a rest day for the women of the family. Yet, her second sister-in-law had voluntarily gone to work in the fields.

“Her?” The eldest sister-in-law clicked her tongue twice before continuing, “She spread the news everywhere about something that wasn’t even confirmed—claiming that she was pregnant. And guess what…?”

She rolled her eyes and went on, “Last night, she got her period. She was never pregnant in the first place!”

For the past few days, the second sister-in-law had been taking advantage of her supposed “pregnancy.” She chose the easiest tasks at work and did absolutely nothing at home.

Afraid of overexerting herself and “harming the baby,” she had even taken a day off.

But in the end… it all turned out to be nothing.

“She wasn’t pregnant?” For some reason, Liu Yinyin felt as though she had overlooked something important. However, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Still, everything suddenly made sense.

Jiang Cuihua had been eagerly hoping for another grandson, only to find out that her second daughter-in-law wasn’t pregnant at all. No wonder she was so unhappy.

“Exactly! Always causing trouble,” the eldest sister-in-law added with disdain, clearly unimpressed with her sister-in-law’s behavior.

Liu Yinyin simply smiled and remained silent. As a younger, unmarried daughter in the family, it wasn’t her place to meddle in household matters.

Once she confirmed that Jiang Cuihua was merely in a bad mood and nothing serious had happened, Liu Yinyin packed up her things and headed out with her basket.

Liujia Village wasn’t far from the county town—it only took an hour to walk there.

During the slack farming season, there was an ox cart that took people to the county on even-numbered days, but it cost a penny per ride.

Liu Yinyin didn’t want to spend money on the ox cart, so she walked for an hour to get to town.

When she arrived, she was struck with a sense of awe.

She hadn’t expected the county town to be this underdeveloped. While it was certainly better than the mud-brick houses in the village, it wasn’t by much.

Most of the buildings were single-story houses, made of either red bricks or gray bricks, giving the town an old-fashioned look.

Liu Yinyin had no particular reason for coming to the county; she simply wandered around.

The town had a supply and marketing cooperative as well as a department store.

She went inside to look around but didn’t buy anything.

For one, she was reluctant to spend money.

Secondly, resources were scarce during this time. Essential goods like grain, oil, and meat required ration tickets to purchase.

A rural villager like her? It would be a miracle if she had any ration tickets.

Sigh!

Not being able to buy things freely was really inconvenient.

After roaming the county for a while, Liu Yinyin left empty-handed.

It was only when she was near home that she used the system to buy one jin of pork—half fat, half lean. She placed it in her basket and covered it with a cloth before heading back.

By the time she returned, it was almost noon. Jiang Cuihua and her eldest sister-in-law were busy preparing lunch in the kitchen.

Liu Yinyin carried her basket straight into the kitchen and said to Jiang Cuihua, “Mother, I bought a jin of pork in town. Let’s cook it for lunch.”

Jiang Cuihua was so shocked that she nearly dropped her spatula. Her eyes widened.

“…What did you buy?”

She must have misheard. Did her daughter just say she bought meat?

Liu Yinyin took out the pork from her basket and showed it to her, blinking innocently. “I bought a jin of pork so we can all have a good meal.”

It wasn’t that she was craving meat—Liu Yinyin had the system, so she could secretly enjoy some meat whenever she wanted. But… eating alone all the time didn’t sit well with her.

Jiang Cuihua was surprised for a couple of seconds before she asked in confusion, “Where did you get a meat coupon?”

She knew her daughter had some money, but these days, money alone wasn’t enough to buy meat.

Liu Yinyin had already thought of an explanation on the way back, so she confidently said, “Well, when Gu Cheng left for the army, he left me a meat coupon. I just hadn’t used it yet.”

Of course, this was just an excuse to fool Jiang Cuihua.

Gu Cheng did receive a high stipend and good benefits, and he did send various ration coupons home every month.

However, Liu Yinyin wasn’t the one in charge of the Gu family’s finances. The money and ration coupons that Gu Cheng sent home all went directly to his mother.

The fifty yuan he had secretly given Liu Yinyin before leaving was already the most he could do. He hadn’t left her anything else.

But since Gu Cheng wasn’t around anymore, even if Jiang Cuihua was skeptical, she had no way to verify the truth.

“Really?” Jiang Cuihua eyed her suspiciously, though she didn’t dwell too much on it. She was more concerned that her daughter might have gone somewhere she shouldn’t have.

Liu Yinyin nodded seriously, her face completely earnest.

Thinking about how her son-in-law was indeed capable, Jiang Cuihua ultimately chose to believe her and didn’t press the issue further.

Liu Yinyin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had gone through quite a bit of trouble just to improve the family’s meals a little.

However, Jiang Cuihua didn’t dare to cook the entire jin of pork all at once. She cut off about a quarter of it and decided to make a dish of stewed cabbage with pork.

The pork had both fat and lean parts. Jiang Cuihua sliced the fatty meat into thin pieces and tossed them into the pot to render the fat.

Soon, the fat in the pan began to sizzle, releasing a fragrant aroma of cooking oil into the air.

As Liu Yinyin inhaled the smell, she suddenly gagged, feeling nauseous. The scent made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Yinyin, what’s wrong?” Liu Dajie, who had been fanning the fire while still dazzled by the sight of the rare pork, looked up. She immediately saw her sister-in-law covering her mouth, looking like she was about to throw up.

Liu Yinyin waved her hand and said, “It’s nothing, I just feel a little queasy. Mom, I’ll go rest in my room for a bit.”

The smell of the pork fat was becoming more and more unbearable. If she stayed any longer, Liu Yinyin feared she wouldn’t be able to hold it in.

Jiang Cuihua’s heart clenched, but she forced herself to stay calm and said, “Alright, go out quickly.”

“Mom… Yinyin couldn’t be…?” Liu Dajie hesitated, leaving her sentence unfinished. But judging from her sister-in-law’s reaction, it really seemed like she might be pregnant.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Getting pregnant isn’t that easy. She’s probably just exhausted lately.” Given her daughter’s current situation, Jiang Cuihua absolutely didn’t want her to be pregnant.

Liu Yinyin went back to her room and drank a large bowl of water, barely managing to suppress the sudden wave of nausea.

To be honest, she was starting to panic.

The original host…

Liu Yinyin carefully recalled that Gu Cheng had returned to the army after the Lantern Festival, which was nearly two months ago.

And during that time, the original host… didn’t seem to have had her period.

Liu Yinyin: “…”

Oh, dear heavens!

Was she about to become a mother out of nowhere?!