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At this moment, Old Tan also returned. “His mother, we’ve delivered to every household, and we still have half a pig left. What should we do with this half?”
Wan Chunmei, while washing the intestines, had already made a plan and smiled as she said, “The large pieces of pork with skin will be smoked to make bacon, and I’ll use the front and rear leg meat to stuff sausages. As for the pig’s feet and head, we’ll keep them to eat in the next few days. The leftover fat will be used to make lard and cracklings.”
Old Tan and the others couldn’t help but drool just listening to Wan Chunmei and laughed, “Sounds good, just the other day, I bought coarse salt in the county town. It’s pretty good, but rubbing it on will make the flavor even better!”
Tan’s fourth and fifth sons leaned in, grinning, “Father, Mother, we want to eat with cracklings.”
Wan Chunmei gathered the cleaned pig intestines and picked up a large bowl of lard, saying, “Alright, children, tonight we’ll fry some cracklings for you to eat.”
Tan’s fourth and fifth sons both had stars in their eyes.
As the sky darkened, the Tan family divided up the work.
Old Tan led Tan Yiliang and Erqian to salt the meat and set up the roasting rack.
Wan Chunmei started frying the lard.
The fourth and fifth sons helped with the work, bringing firewood.
Meanwhile, Tan’s third son was tasked with taking care of his sister.
He knew in his heart that it was the Tan family’s way of making sure he didn’t have to do the farm work, leaving the lightest tasks for him.
Although Tan Sanyuan had long known that he wasn’t born to the Tan family, he was deeply grateful for Old Tan’s years of care and nurturing. He respected them all greatly, and since they had only asked him to look after his little seventh sister, he promised to take good care of her, treating her like his precious treasure.
And now, his precious little treasure had woken up.
Little Qiyue blinked her small eyes, looking around. When she saw the delicate older brother before her, who resembled a porcelain doll, she became fond of him immediately and reached out her hand toward him.
After being here for so many days, she could finally see clearly.
Tan Sanyuan was momentarily stunned, quickly picking her up. Not being very good at comforting children, he called out to Wan Chunmei, “Mother, the little sister is awake.”
Wan Chunmei, who was busy rendering the lard, wiped her sweat and smiled. “It’s alright, you can walk around with her for a bit. She’s just eaten and isn’t hungry yet.”
Tan Sanyuan heard this and walked to the door, holding the child in his arms.
By now, the sky was completely dark, and the house was filled with the aroma of meat. Tan Sanyuan sat on the doorstep with little Qiyue in his arms. He looked up at the starry sky and said, “Little sister, come, let your older brother show you the stars.”
Qiyue stared with her big, grape-like eyes: “Brother, we can’t see them…”
Tan Sanyuan took out a fan from behind him and waved it gently to cool her off. “Look, that’s the Big Dipper. Can you see it?”
Qiyue: “Brother, I can’t see it…”
Tan Sanyuan continued on, pointing at the various stars in the sky, speaking as though little Qiyue could see them.
Wan Chunmei glanced at them and, seeing that little Qiyue wasn’t crying, felt a deep sense of joy. Thankfully, the siblings were getting along so well.
After a moment, her gaze shifted to Tan Liujin, who was lying on the bed. This child was truly well-behaved—he mostly ate and slept. If it weren’t for the need to breastfeed, she might have thought the baby was gone.
She smiled to herself, then fished out the fried cracklings and sprinkled some of the chopped chili paste she had made a few days ago over them. Mixing it all together, she called to Old Tan, “Dear, it’s ready! We can prepare for dinner now!”
By this time, Old Tan had finished salting the meat.
In their humble farm life, without much in terms of luxury, a bowl of cracklings mixed with chili paste was already considered quite a tasty treat.
After Wan Chunmei scooped up the lard, she cut a few pieces of meat and some green vegetables, then put them all together to cook. The dish was ready in no time.
Tan’s fourth and fifth sons were so eager to eat that as soon as the food hit the table, they grabbed a piece of meat with their hands and started eating.
Though the wild boar meat was a bit tough, it tasted amazing. With each bite, the rich meat flavor spread, leaving a lingering aftertaste that was hard to forget.
Once Wan Chunmei finished preparing the food, she took little Qiyue from Tan Sanyuan’s arms. “Child, go eat your meal.”
“How about Mother?” Tan Sanyuan asked.
Wan Chunmei smiled and said, “I’ll hold your little sister. You go ahead and eat.”
Tan Sanyuan glanced into the house and said, “Mother, you go ahead and eat. I’ll take care of little sister.”
Wan Chunmei tucked little Qiyue into her arms, smiling brightly. “Be good, go eat your meal.”
Tan Sanyuan, obedient as ever, didn’t insist any longer. He stood up and encouraged his brothers to eat.
It was a rare occasion for the family to enjoy pork, so each of them helped themselves to a generous serving of rice. In the end, they even wished they could lick the oil from the bottom of the bowls clean.
Old Tan was reluctant to eat the meat himself, continually placing pieces into his sons’ bowls.
The younger ones ate with delight.
Tan Yiliang and Tan Erqian, being more considerate, picked up their bowls and thoughtfully added some pieces of meat into Old Tan’s bowl.
Old Tan’s heart softened, and he chuckled, “Silly child, if I want to eat, I’ll know to grab some myself.”
Tan Erqian smiled and replied, “Got it, Father.”
But in the end, he still added a piece of meat to Old Tan’s bowl.
Old Tan felt deeply moved. These sons of his hadn’t been raised in vain; the hard days of the past had not been for nothing.
He believed, and firmly held onto the conviction, that as long as a person worked honestly and diligently, there would always be a time to rise above.