Chapter 10

The situation ended with Wang Shuai sniffling while eating.

Aunt Sun Cuifang angrily slammed the door curtain: “Wang Yuedong, all you know is how to hit! What else can you do besides hitting children!”

Wang Yuedong, the big uncle, was being scolded by both his wife and his mother, and in his anger, he threw his stick down: “Don’t you see what kind of brat this kid is!”

He was also feeling aggrieved. What was wrong with hitting the kid? If the child didn’t listen, was he supposed to watch him grow up crooked?

But every time he hit the child, it felt like he had done something unforgivable, and the whole family would blame him.

The problem was that Wang Shuai had made no improvement!

Wang Yuedong held his head in frustration. He couldn’t understand it. Both he and Sun Cuifang were honest and simple people. How did they end up raising a mischievous kid like Wang Shuai, who couldn’t stay out of trouble for even a day?

Wang Yuedong was so angry he couldn’t eat his meal, and Sun Cuifang, also upset, left the meal half-eaten.

Jian Li felt sorry for her grandmother and started serving Wang Shuai more food.

As the center of the storm, Wang Shuai, who had just been hit, started asking for things while still teary-eyed.

“Grandma, I want fifty cents.”

“Here! Grandma will give you!”

Wang Shuai smiled through his tears: “Grandma, you’re so nice! I’ll be good to you in the future!”

As for Jian Li, who was the cause of everything but didn’t say a word: …

Now she finally understood why this kid had developed from petty theft into the core member of a fraud gang.

Wang Yunyun seemed to have gotten used to everything. She silently finished her meal and went to wash the dishes.

She was like an invisible person in the family—no one treated her harshly, but no one paid much attention to her either.

But sometimes, that’s how it is. When Wang Shuai caused chaos, everyone in the family seemed to forget about her for a brief moment.

She was just too easy to manage.

Wang Yunyun, the easygoing one, later became one of the most determined women in the family to never marry, along with Jian Li.

Later on, Wang Yunyun once told Jian Li:

“Marriage feels too troublesome, and raising children is exhausting both physically and mentally.”

A naughty younger brother, an irritable father, a protective mother, and a grandmother who favored boys over girls. Wang Yunyun had no interest in family life.

Jian Li helped Wang Yunyun pack things and pulled her along, even though Wang Yunyun clearly kept her thoughts to herself: “Let’s go, sister, let’s have some fun.”

Jian Li couldn’t comfort Wang Yunyun. The problem with their family was that even if you knew what the issue was, the problem couldn’t be solved overnight.

So, she chose to…

Go have some fun first.

Wang Shuai seemed to have forgotten that it was Jian Li who got him beaten, and he poked his head over to ask: “Sister, where are you guys going?”

Jian Li’s mind wandered: “We’re going to catch crawfish!”

Wang Shuai immediately lost interest: “Why catch those? They’re dry and tasteless.”

He’d rather catch cicadas, wouldn’t grilled cicadas taste better than crawfish?

Jian Li teased: “What do you know? Right now, it’s popular in the city to eat crawfish. Don’t believe me? Catch some, and I’ll cook them for you!”

Upon hearing “the city,” Wang Shuai became skeptical: “Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? Crawfish are a rare delicacy in the city right now. If you think it’s not tasty, it’s because you don’t know how to cook it.”

Wang Shuai: “Sis, don’t lie to me.”

Jian Li patted her chest in assurance: “I’d never do that, I’m not that kind of person.”

Wang Shuai eyed her suspiciously: “Last time, you said Sun Wukong was the son of Taishang Laojun, that the Red Boy was Nezha’s brother, and that Zhu Bajie…”

Jian Li: …

Wang Shuai: “You’ve lied to me so many times. The stories you told aren’t even how they are on TV.”

Jian Li laughed awkwardly. Every year when she visited her uncle’s house during summer vacation, they didn’t have a TV, and Wang Shuai used to beg her to tell him the story of Journey to the West.

At that time, she didn’t know what got into her, but she loved to tell the story in a jumbled way.

One moment, she’d be talking about the alchemy furnace, the next moment, she’d jump to the Spider Cave.

Wang Shuai thought his sister, who came from the city, surely knew the right version, so he believed the made-up parts she came up with.

Until…

The uncle’s family bought a small black-and-white TV.

Jian Li coaxed Wang Shuai: “I promise I won’t lie to you this time.”

At that point, Wang Shuai, who hadn’t yet become a criminal, had no guard up. He eagerly rushed to grab a bucket.

“Let’s go, I know where there are lots of crawfish.”

On the east side of Wangjiacun, there was a winding creek. On the mud flats by the creek, there were some small holes. Wang Shuai, with his impressive skills and courage, caught several crawfish with his bare hands.

Jian Li and Wang Yunyun didn’t dare touch them, so they searched for more holes. Occasionally, they almost got pinched, causing them to scream in fright.

Wading through the creek, Jian Li also caught a few half-grown river crabs.

It was midday, and many people had eaten and were taking naps. At this time, only these half-grown children were wandering around outside.

Wang Shuai, Jian Li, and Wang Yunyun hadn’t gone far when they ran into another group of kids playing in the water.

The creek, though shallow, had some small deep pools. Adults usually kept an eye on the kids and wouldn’t let them go there, but the children didn’t care, and they thought those places were good for playing. So, they’d sneak off to play when the adults weren’t looking.

“Wang Shuai! Let’s go, let’s play in the water!”

Wang Shuai had already gotten bored with catching crawfish, and as soon as someone called him, he wanted to drop everything and run.

Jian Li grabbed him: “We agreed to catch enough for a bucket.”

Wang Shuai glanced at the bucket that was about three-quarters full: “Sis, this is enough, if we catch more, they’ll crawl out.”

Jian Li still didn’t let him go: “Then you’re not allowed to go…”

Wang Shuai’s eyes darted around, and Jian Li knew this little guy was calculating how to slip away from her.

“Don’t go soaking in water. I’ll take you to the town to buy something.”

Wang Shuai immediately became obedient, looking at her with wide eyes: “Really?”

Jian Li: “Can you stop asking if it’s true every time… as if I have no credibility?”

Wang Yunyun, who was happily catching small crayfish on the way, suddenly became flustered when Jian Li mentioned going to the town.

“Jian Li, you can’t run around like that. You’re not familiar with the roads.”

The town wasn’t far, but the roads were all small, so Wang Yun Yun was worried.

Jian Li: “The three of us can go together.”

After sending the bucket of crayfish home, the house was quiet, and Jian Li didn’t know if her uncle and aunt had returned yet. Jian Li hopped onto her uncle’s bike, and since she was tall, she pedaled while Wang Yunyun and Wang Shuai followed one in front, one behind.

Jian Li warned, “If I fall, you both better be ready to jump off.”

Wang Shuai, clearly experienced, patted his chest: “Sis, don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Wang Yunyun, gripping her arm anxiously: “What exactly are we going to do in the town?”

Jian Li grinned: “Shopping!”

Before she left, her mom gave her thirty yuan for spending money. Jian Li didn’t plan to do much, but as soon as she saw Wang Shuai and Wang Yunyun, she suddenly got an idea.

She was going into second year of junior high, and she wanted to start saving some money for herself.

Is that too much to ask?

The three of them quietly rode to the town, which took about ten minutes. The town itself was small, just one or two busy streets.

Jian Li bought each of them an ice cream, the big round snowman kind.

Wang Shuai pouted, biting off the snowman’s mouth: “Here, give it a kiss~”

Wang Yunyun turned her head, unwilling to look at her embarrassing younger brother.

Jian Li: … Now she understood why her uncle loved to beat him.

After wandering around the town for a while, Jian Li turned to a dry goods store and bought some chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and shamelessly asked for a few bay leaves and star anise.

Wang Shuai scratched his head, looking at her purchases: “Sis, what do you need these for at second uncle’s house?”

Jian Li paused, realizing she had forgotten that her second uncle lived in town!

Wang Yunyun also glanced at the things: “If second aunt sees these, she’ll give you the cold shoulder.”

Jian Li: “Let her do whatever she wants.”

She wasn’t going there anyway.

Her grandmother had four children, with the oldest being her aunt and her mom, followed by two uncles.

Her eldest uncle started farming early, while her second uncle was the only one in the family who got an education with the whole family’s support. After graduating from teacher training school, he was assigned to teach in town. He married a fellow teacher, and they had a son, who also became a teacher.

Since her second uncle’s family left farming, they had a certain scholarly pride. Whenever they met the younger generation, they were always giving lectures. Jian Li didn’t want to hear the lectures, so she naturally didn’t want to visit them.

“Maybe another day.”

She still had a lot of things to do when she got back today.

Jian Li wasn’t in a hurry to leave after buying her things; she wandered around the town for a few more circles and came to a conclusion.

The consumption level here was too low.

The small crayfish she caught, apart from keeping some for herself, she also planned to sell.

But in the town, the market only opened every other day in the morning, and by afternoon, there weren’t many people. Naturally, there was nothing to expect in the evening.

Jian Li thought about where to sell the crayfish and decided to head to the nearby county town.

Wang Jia Zhuang was only five or six kilometers from Tao County, so riding a bike wouldn’t be a problem.

She figured out where to go and happily took the two of them back home.

Her uncle and aunt had been in a fight all afternoon, neither of them had paid attention to where the kids went, and it wasn’t until the afternoon that they saw the large bowl of crayfish in the house.

Her uncle casually said, “This must have been caught by Wang Shuai.”

After a long silence, her aunt responded with a simple “Mm.”

When Jian Li came back, the two had already resumed their usual state.

Her aunt smiled and asked how Jian Li wanted to cook the crayfish.

Jian Li rolled up her sleeves: “I’ll cook!”

Her mom, Wang Mengmei, was a divine chef, but unfortunately, she didn’t know many dishes, and the few she made were the best as side dishes to go with alcohol.

Jian Li planned to impress her aunt with her cooking skills.

Then…

She failed.

Jian Li was covered in dirt and humiliated, and after being tortured by the rural stove, she had to swallow her words.

Her aunt happily took the spatula: “Alright, you said it, I’ll make it.”

City kids, how many of them could use a rural stove? Even herself, before marriage, she only casually made food and couldn’t even control the heat.

Jian Li had to step back and become the assistant.

With every step she guided, a strong aroma spread from the stove, and the kitchen was filled with the pungent smell of spice.

Her aunt coughed: “Jian Li, this is too spicy. Should we add some water?”

Jian Li, though also feeling the heat, insisted: “No need!”

How can crayfish be good without spice?

When the crayfish finally came out of the pot, the pungent, tear-inducing smell still lingered, and everyone gathered at the table, none of them daring to touch it.

Gosh, just the smell alone was so spicy, could anyone eat this?