Chapter 7

Two little people leaned listlessly against the door, with light and dark in their eyes alternating from time to time, expressing hopelessness in the present and longing for the future.

“I can’t beat Li Tiezhu, but I can still bite him.” As if he had made up his mind, the little boy clenched his fists and said bravely.

If he can’t beat him, he’ll bite him; if he can’t bite him, he’ll kick him. He always manages to beat him so hard that he won’t dare to steal the insignificant things from his house.

“He can run, you can’t outrun him.” The little girl stated the facts again. The little boy was deflated again. He moved his lips to refute, but saw the little girl running away like a gust of wind.

“Brother, have you found anything to eat?” The little girl stood in front of Yan Mingli who came in the morning light, looking at him eagerly with her round eyes.

“Here, one for you and Mingcheng.” Yan Mingli spread out his palm, with two pheasant eggs lying obediently in his palm. He found them when he went down the mountain, and they were just enough to make breakfast for them.

“Brother, my sister and I can eat just one, you can eat the rest.” Yan Mingcheng also ran to Yan Mingli, looked at the pheasant eggs, swallowed his saliva, and said with difficulty.

“No, I’ve already eaten it on the mountain. When I found the chicken coop, there happened to be a pheasant egg that was kicked to pieces by a frightened pheasant. I couldn’t bring it down the mountain anyway, so I drank it all.” Yan Mingli made up a logically rigorous story, but he didn’t want the two children to be unable to eat even a whole egg.

“Brother, the pheasant’s feet are really strong.” Yan Mingcheng was a smart child. He knew that his brother just wanted to leave the eggs to him and his sister, and he felt a little sad.

“Yeah, it’s quite chewy.” Yan Mingli handed the egg to Yan Mingxue, who had been standing beside him, staring intently at his palm, and said, “Mingxue, go and cook it.”

“Okay, big brother.” After receiving the order, Yan Mingxue immediately picked up the egg as if it were a treasure and ran to the kitchen happily.

The kitchen was actually a doorless partition surrounded by a few tree trunks with branches removed and some branches and straw laid on them. Inside was a stove made of yellow mud with a large iron pot on it. In front of the stove hung a clay pot whose original color could not be seen due to smoke from the fire.

Yan Mingxue built a simple stove with stones in the ash pit in front of the stove, and then carefully took the clay pot off the hook and placed it on the stove.

They were just boiling two pheasant eggs, so there was no need to use a big iron pot. Not only would it waste firewood, but it would also waste water. It was too hard for the eldest brother to pick up firewood and fetch water.

Yan Mingcheng scooped water from the water tank in the corner of the yard into the earthenware jar, then took a few small pieces of firewood from the pile of firewood and grabbed a handful of dry leaves to help start the fire.

“Light the stove.” Yan Mingli bolted the door and went into the kitchen. He hung the half-filled earthenware jar back on the hook, then scooped a few scoops of water from the water tank into the big pot.

“Brother, do you have anything delicious?” When Yan Mingxue saw that his brother was going to boil water in a big pot, he knew that he must have hunted some prey, but he didn’t know whether it was a fresh rabbit or a delicious pheasant.

“Yes.” Yan Mingli rubbed Yan Mingxue’s withered hair with gentle eyes. His sister was really too thin, and he had to work harder.

When Yan Mingxue heard that there was more delicious food, she immediately followed Yan Mingli back to the yard, leaving Yan Mingcheng, who also wanted to go out, sitting in front of the stove, distractedly making a fire.

“Brother.” Yan Mingxue squatted beside Yan Mingli, watching him untie the hay from the firewood, and asked softly, “Can I have a sister-in-law?”

Yan Mingli paused as he gripped the hay, the light in his eyes dimming a little. He pretended to be casual and asked, “Why did you think of my sister-in-law?”

He knew very well that no girl in the area would be willing to marry him given his conditions.

He was very poor and had only three yellow mud houses left by his parents. Not to mention the 66 yuan dowry, he couldn’t even afford the sheets, quilts, new clothes and wardrobe needed for the wedding.

Moreover, he has two younger brothers and sisters. Even if he has the ability to buy these things, no girl would be willing to marry him and become a mother.

Therefore, Yan Mingli’s greatest wish is to raise his younger brothers and sisters. As for himself, he did have fantasies, but reality forced him to put aside those unrealistic ideas.

“Erni’s sister-in-law cooked boiled eggs for Erni the day before yesterday, and gave her brown sugar water yesterday. I also want to have a sister-in-law.” Yan Mingxue’s wish is very simple. It doesn’t matter who the sister-in-law is. What matters is boiled eggs and brown sugar water.

“Don’t we have boiled eggs even without a sister-in-law? These big brothers can do it too.” The eggs boiled in the clay pot haven’t been eaten yet, but he’s craving brown sugar water again?

“Brother, don’t you want a sister-in-law? But I heard from the aunts that you look very capable and many young wives want to do…that with you.” She ran to the evergreen tree at the entrance of the village and heard the aunts talking about it. She didn’t understand what that was, but she was very happy to hear them praising her brother for being so capable.

“Don’t go to the village entrance anymore.” Yan Mingli frowned slightly. What a mess he had just heard. “Also, don’t say those words again. They weren’t nice words.”

“But they praised big brother for being so great!” Her childish words made Yan Mingli very embarrassed.

He was nineteen years old and not a little kid who knew nothing. He would also worry about the erection that wouldn’t go away every morning, and would feel uneasy about his hand that couldn’t help but reach in and then quickly pull out.

“Mingxue, do you still remember the Cai Gen Tan that your elder brother taught you?” Yan Mingli had already untied the hay, but did not rush to scatter the firewood. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Yan Mingxue and asked.

“Brother.” Yan Mingxue looked at him timidly. Wasn’t he talking about his sister-in-law? Why did he suddenly start studying?

“Observe others with a cool eye and listen to their words with a cool ear.” This means observing others’ actions with a cool eye and listening to their words with a cool ear.

“Brother, I’m only six years old.” He didn’t want to be so calm. For example, when he saw a pheasant hidden in the firewood, Yan Mingxue had only one thought, which was to quickly pluck all its feathers, stew it until it was soft and eat it.

“Brother knows…” Looking at his sister staring at the pheasant with fierce eyes, Yan Mingli knew that it was useless to say anything to her now, as she would automatically cover up the fact that there was only the chicken in her mind.

“Brother, the water is boiling.” Yan Mingcheng, who finally completed the task of boiling water, looked at the pheasant lying next to the firewood and swallowed hard.

“I’ll pluck the chicken feathers first.” Yan Mingli scooped hot water from the big pot into the only large wooden basin in the house, then put the pheasant in and boiled it for a minute.

Then pick up the chicken wings, and while the skin is still stretched, quickly stroke the feathers against the direction of their growth.