Bai Zhi saw Grandfather frowning, looking very angry. It seemed his mind had wandered off somewhere again. Grandfather was great in every way, except he had a wild imagination.
Not waiting for his response, she directly placed the pork belly she bought into the pot to sear.
The surface of the pork skin had a lot of hair, so it needed to be dealt with. Then she added water, cleaned it thoroughly, and started boiling it again after changing the water.
Bai Dan stoked the fire, while Bai Zhi carried the vegetable basket and went to pick vegetables from the spots she remembered. Grandfather was very diligent. This was the season for eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and green beans.
Upon arriving at the field, she saw everything was ready for picking. Bai Zhi quickly harvested some, and the basket soon couldn't hold any more.
There were also winter melons, but they weren't ready to be eaten yet. In a little over a month, they'd be perfect for consumption.
On the way back, she saw Bai Ye and the others again, but from a distance. They were on a different path. It seemed they were digging for fish mint, which they could sell for money—a common activity for them.
But they never included the original owner in this. Even if they did, the original owner wouldn't have had the time. There were too many chores to do,
like cleaning, taking care of them, doing homework, feeding the chickens and pigs. While they earned money to buy sweets, occasionally they would give the original owner a candy, without ever thinking to help with tasks!
This was their idea of being unbiased.
But Bai Zhi now wouldn't care about these things. She was the female lead while they were side characters. What was she? Cannon fodder. Staying away from them was the key to a good life.
Bai Zhi returned with the vegetable basket. The cucumbers were especially fresh; she took one out, washed it, and took a bite.
It was crisp and delicious, making her feel much better.
The rest would be cooked in the meat soup, which would be even tastier.
The peppers would be used for stir-fried pork, another dish with eggplants. The remaining tomatoes, eggplants, and beans would be saved for the afternoon meal.
For the two of them, one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and soup was plenty.
Before, Bai Dan would just eat whatever, but now with two dishes and a soup, all prepared well,
Bai Dan felt truly fortunate.
"Grandpa, time to eat."
The chopsticks and wooden spatula at home were all handmade by Bai Dan. They even had a bamboo fragrance.
The meat wasn't finished. Bai Zhi divided it into three portions: one for Bai Da and them, another boiled portion would be kept for the afternoon.
It was summer, and the meat would spoil if left out too long.
That was why she cooked two portions at once. Bai Dan saw Bai Zhi's rational allocation and went along with it, not worried at all.
In the afternoon, Bai Zhi planned to do homework at home. She was in the third grade. She would also wash the family's clothes, tidy up, and check nearby for fish mint, not to sell, but to eat—it's good stuff.
There was also Honeysuckle. She remembered there was some nearby. That was her target, drinking it often helped reduce heat.
"Xingxing, eat more. Xingxing, your cooking is great,"
Bai Dan relished the food, thinking if he had cooked it, it would have been a haphazard job.
"Grandpa, you eat too. If it weren't for Grandpa working so hard, Xingxing wouldn't even get to eat meat."
Bai Zhi's heart warmed. Whether in reality or here, Grandpa was the one who cared about her the most. She had to treat him really well in the future.
"In a bit, Xingxing, take some meat to your dad and them. Though he isn't a good dad,"
Bai Dan sighed. This son of his had no sense.
"Okay, Grandpa, I'll go in the afternoon. Dad's not home now, and I'm afraid."
What if they didn't acknowledge it when she brought it over?
"If they dare, Grandpa will send it. You rest at home this afternoon. Grandpa will go chop bamboo and come back before heading over, okay?"
Bai Dan thought back, getting angry. Xingxing's wound had been so scary back then. The doctor said it might leave a scar.
For a girl to have a scar in the future, he didn't even dare to tell Xingxing. What would she do then?
"Okay, Grandpa, don't tire yourself out. I will be heartbroken. You must always be with me in the future."
Bai Zhi added another piece of meat to Grandpa's bowl. The old man, as always, liked to give the best parts to the children; he just ate the garlic chives, not a single piece of meat for himself.
Bai Dan kept putting meat into Bai Zhi's bowl.
"Grandpa doesn't eat meat, it's too greasy."
Bai Zhi put down her chopsticks, pouted, looking unhappy.
"If Grandpa doesn't eat, I won't eat. I too find it greasy."
How could he not like it, it was just that he wanted to save it for her.
"Alright, alright." Bai Dan's nose felt tingly. Xingxing cared about him; he was so happy.
"Grandpa will eat, Grandpa will eat."
He burst into tears as he ate the meat. It was the best meat he had ever eaten, bar none.
After the meal, Bai Zhi cleaned up the dishes and put the remaining meat in the bamboo cabinet Grandpa made, closed it for convenience.
Because it was made of bamboo, it was well-ventilated, so there was no worry about spoilage.
In the afternoon, Bai Zhi started on her homework, sitting in the main room, with the window open, letting in a cool breeze. There were pear trees, loquat trees, and grapevines in the yard, making it very refreshing.
Third-grade homework was no challenge for Bai Zhi, just simple unit questions. She picked up her pen and started writing. The little girl had never done it before, not because she couldn't, but because she had no time.
After a little over an hour, she put the homework away. She grabbed her basket and sickle, ready to head out toward the bamboo forest.
There was a lot of fish mint there, and near the bamboo forest, there was a large patch of wild Honeysuckle. She planned to gather some, process it, and sell it at the pharmacy in town.
In reality, living with Grandpa, Honeysuckle was their main crop, so she was very familiar with processing it. She also knew how to process tea leaves; if there were tea leaves, she'd know how to stir-fry them too.
Speaking of which, there were tea trees on the mountain, but no one took care of them. She should go check them out sometime, pick some, stir-fry them, then brew them into tea.
She didn't like drinking plain water. Tea was much better.
Honeysuckle tea, jasmine tea, she knew how to make these.
She found that there was indeed a lot of Honeysuckle. Bai Zhi was delighted and quickly picked it all.
With time still early, she could process the Honeysuckle first, then the fish mint later as not to mix the flavors.
Freshly picked Honeysuckle needed to be cleaned and dried. Ideally, Honeysuckle should be picked before noon; otherwise, it would open up. Since no one took care of the Honeysuckle here, it had long opened. Picking it now was fine.
After everything was done, it was already afternoon. Without a watch or phone, she could only estimate the time by the sun.
It was time to dig for fish mint. Once cleaned, just adding some soy sauce would make it delicious.
By this time, Bai Dan had brought back the bamboo and was taking the meat to Bai Da's place.
Bai Da was back too. She worked at the cement factory and wasn't too busy lately, so she returned early. Seeing her father bring some meat, she was puzzled.
"Dad, why did you bring meat over?"