Chapter 19: Chapter 19

“What is everyone quarreling about? Why are you snacking when it’s not yet time to eat?” Gu Yunshen interrupted Zhang Xiaohui before she could finish her sentence.

When Gu Yunshen heard the commotion over there, he knew that Zhang Xiaohui and Gu Ruoqing would bully Gu Qingyao, so he went over to take a look.

As the only able-bodied male in the family, Gu Yunshen spoke with authority. Zhang Xiaohui and Gu Ruoqing did not dare say anything after being reprimanded by Gu Yunshen.

However, their eyes brightened when they saw the game that Gu Qingyao had brought back!

“Pheasant, and a rabbit!” Gu Ruoqing was surprised and delighted. She had come home to discover the red braised pork, and also a heap of pork ribs which had not yet been cooked. Now, she saw two pheasants and a plump rabbit. There was so much meat!

It was more meat than they normally ate in a year!

Gu Yunshen was also stunned when he saw the things that Gu Qingyao had brought back!

“Yao Yao, where are these things from? Why is there so much?”

Gu Qingyao put down the red braised pork before replying. “I found the wild herbs and the mushrooms myself. I caught one of the pheasants, and Brother Beihan gave me the rest.”

“I ran into him on my way home and he gave me a pheasant and a rabbit. I gave him some wild herbs, about two kilograms of mushrooms, as well as ten pheasant eggs.”

Gu Yunshen nodded and did not say anything.

Their family was on good terms with Mo Beihan’s family. Gu Qingyao and Mo Beihan had grown up together and were good friends.

Whenever Mo Beihan came back to visit his family, he always brought something for Yao Yao. When his own nephews came back, they would always give something to the Mo family. This had been their practice for many years.

Gu Yunshen said with a smile, “That’s great, I’ll put this away. You…”

Gu Yunshen raised his head and glanced at Zhang Xiaohui. “Hurry up and prepare the meal. Heat up the red braised pork. Then make some brown rice porridge and add some wild herb pancakes.”

Gu Yunshen had to be detailed with his instructions because he understood Zhang Xiaohui’s personality all too well. She was lazy, greedy, and completely indifferent to the welfare of others. If he did not spell it out, she would finish all the fine grain in the house.

Finally, Gu Yunshen took the game and went out after directing Gu Ruoqing to help Wen Ruyu in the fields. Zhang Xiaohui remained in the kitchen to help Gu Qingyao light the fire and prepare dinner.

The brown rice was placed in a pot and left to boil. Gu Qingyao rinsed a portion of wild herbs and chopped them coarsely before mixing them with two types of flour. When the small pot was hot, she placed the red braised pork in it to heat. The red braised pork was oily and she used it to grease the pot so that the pancakes would also have some oil.

There were only six medium-sized pancakes. Besides that, there were two white flour buns steaming in the big pot for Grandfather and Grandma.

They were old and could not manage the coarse grain.

The white flour buns were made of fine wheat flour, mixed with only a little cornflour. They were a rare find.

Even the buns in the state-run restaurant were seldom made purely of white flour. Usually, they were made of two or three different types of flour, mixed together.

After that, Gu Qingyao added a dish of dried radish, and that was dinner. Farmers ate a simple dinner. There was meat tonight, so no one would feel that the meal was inferior.

Because at this time, many people were going hungry.

When the dishes were placed on the table, Zhang Xiaohui and Gu Ruoqing fought for the meat. They were so busy they did not even bother to eat the porridge or the pancakes, but focused on stuffing meat into their mouths. The rest could not bear to even look at them.

Gu Qingyao felt disgusted when she saw that their mouths were all greasy, but they were still frantically stuffing their faces.