Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Making Rice and Meat Porridge—So Delicious Wang Jianguo did not touch the food. He slowly held the candy in his mouth. When he looked at Zhang Dapan, its sweetness turned bitter. Zhang Dapan’s words were like a basin of icy water, completely extinguishing even the joy Wang Jianguo had felt at seeing his two daughters come back to life. Wang Jianguo glanced at the sky outside. The rain was coming down in torrents, with no sign of stopping. In a disaster year like this, everyone protected their own children and guarded their family’s lives. Yet his wife had only her younger brother in her heart—not their daughters, and not him. Wang Jianguo’s fists slowly tightened. After passing once through the gates of death, he no longer held out even the slightest hope for Zhang Dapan. His expression gradually turned cold and calm. The food—he, Wang Jianguo, was going to keep it. And if Zhang Dapan dared to take it, he did not mind dying together with the Zhang Family. This food was the life of his two daughters. Zhang Qibao did not touch the food on the kang again. After what Eldest Sister had said, her own brother truly did not know how he could continue speaking. Zhang Qibao hoisted the bamboo basket onto his back, grabbed Zhang Dapan, and headed toward the kitchen. With Zhang Qibao supporting her, Zhang Dapan still struggled desperately to get back to the food on the bed. “No, this won’t do. Qibao, don’t pull me. Hurry and take this food—” Zhang Qibao covered her mouth and dragged her into the kitchen. “Eldest Sister! If you won’t take it, then I’ll never acknowledge you as my Eldest Sister again! I finally grew up enough to understand gratitude, and this is how you strike at me? Do you think your little brother isn’t capable, that I can’t support my own family?” Zhang Qibao shouted loudly in the direction of the bedroom. Although he had no idea what his brother-in-law might think or do, he still had to say what needed to be said. “Qibao, no, that’s not what Eldest Sister meant.” Zhang Dapan hurriedly tried to explain. How could she be trying to strike at her Qibao? How could she think that her Qibao was incapable of supporting his family? Their Qibao was the best treasure of all. He was good-looking, kind-natured, had married such a quiet and virtuous wife, and had so many obedient, lovable children. It was because their Zhang Family had Qibao that their family line had flourished so greatly. Three sons! “If you don’t accept it, then I’ll never call you Eldest Sister again. Eldest Sister, don’t worry. We have food at home. From now on, I’ll bring you food every so often…” Zhang Qibao sent his words once more toward the bedroom. Inside, Wang Jianguo heard every word, and his expression shifted slightly. Zhang Dapan was about to say something, but Zhang Qibao stuffed a milk candy into her mouth. She opened her mouth in shock, only for her younger brother to manually mute her. She could only quiet down and hold the candy in her mouth without eating it. Only after they reached a corner completely out of Wang Jianguo’s sight did Zhang Qibao remove his hand from over his sister’s mouth. He would not let Eldest Sister speak. Instead, he took another handful of candies from his pocket and stuffed them all into her pocket. “Sis, don’t ask anything. Go check on Niuniu and Jiujiu first.” Zhang Dapan came to her senses as if waking from a dream. She finally remembered her two daughters and hurried unsteadily toward the bedroom. Zhang Qibao warned her again, “You’re not allowed to say anything about refusing the food. And from now on, you’re not allowed to bring things from here back to the house. Whatever I give you, you have to accept.” Zhang Dapan heard him, but did not take it to heart. Her little brother must have gone crazy today. Maybe he would be back to normal in a couple of days. When that happened, she could take everything back. This mother finally went over to her two biological daughters, who had each died once already, but she did not dare look at her husband leaning against the wall. Not even though she knew her husband was staring at her without blinking. Using the knife from Eldest Sister’s house, Zhang Qibao cut off a small piece from the pound of meat left in his Magical Space and chopped it finely. Then he took out two bowls of rice and began cooking porridge. The soft, glutinous rice mingled with the aroma of meat, and before long, the fragrance had filled the entire house. Zhang Qibao’s stomach gave two unhelpful growls. Only then did Zhang Qibao remember that ever since his rebirth, he had not eaten a single bite of hot food. What Zhang Qibao did not know was that a crowd had already gathered outside Wang Jianguo’s courtyard. “It smells like rice. The fragrance is so strong. The Wang family must be cooking rice porridge.” “Nonsense. It definitely isn’t the Wang family. I heard that a few days ago, as soon as the relief food arrived, Zhang Dapan sent all of it back to her younger brother’s house.” “What a sin! Wang Jianguo is such a good man. How did he end up with a wife like Zhang Dapan?” “Back then, Zhang Dapan was good-looking, and her family was well-off. People are hard to predict. Three years east of the river, three years west of the river.” “I heard the Wang family ran out of food long ago. That big, strong man even knelt to borrow food from my house, saying that his two daughters were about to starve to death.” “Did you lend him any?” “Of course not. My family has two children too. He wasn’t borrowing food—he was borrowing lives! If kneeling could get me food, I’d gladly kneel for three days and three nights.” “Enough, all of you. It has to be the Wang family. My nose is sharp. Smell it—I can even smell meat…” “Should we go in and take a look?” “I wouldn’t dare. I peeked through the crack in the door just now. Wang Jianguo was covered in blood. He looked like he was about to kill someone.” Wang Jianguo heard the voices outside the courtyard and quickly understood that the aroma of the rice porridge had drawn people over. In these times, when people were starving, they could risk even their lives for a bite to eat. After eating the candy, Wang Jianguo had recovered somewhat, but he knew he was merely forcing himself to hold on. If he had not smelled the porridge Zhang Qibao was cooking and found hope in his heart, he probably would not have lasted much longer. But he knew that he was a man. As long as his daughters were still alive, he could not collapse. He ignored Zhang Dapan, who was touching her daughters’ faces and shedding crocodile tears. When the three-year-old Jiujiu saw Zhang Dapan come over, she called out longingly, “Mama.” It was an instinctive attachment. The child was still young and understood nothing. Wang Jianguo was unwilling to teach them from childhood to hate their own biological mother. He only felt sorrow for his daughters—and for himself. Wang Jianguo picked up the knife and slowly made his way to the door. He calmly looked at the people gathered outside without saying a word. He merely knocked the knife in his hand against the shabby wooden door. The people gathered outside saw Wang Jianguo covered in blood and the bloodstained knife against the doorframe. They scattered at once. They suddenly remembered that Wang Jianguo had once been the most fearless young man in the surrounding villages. When he had still been very young, he had gone into the mountains and killed a wolf by himself. Zhang Qibao placed the table on the earthen kang. Zhang Dapan had already picked up the awakened Jiujiu and was feeding her porridge one mouthful at a time. Zhang Qibao ladled out a large bowl of porridge and placed it in front of Wang Jianguo without saying anything. But he clearly saw Wang Jianguo’s throat bob and the hand beneath the table tremble. Zhang Qibao pretended not to notice. With her mouth full of meat porridge, Zhang Dapan slowly closed her eyes. She felt as though she had died once and come back to life, as if she had just awakened from a terrible nightmare. Fourteen-year-old Niuniu leaned against the quilts, holding her own bowl and sipping the porridge in tiny mouthfuls. She did not look at her mother, Zhang Dapan. She did not know why her Uncle had come to bring them food. But she knew that her mother had sent all the food to her Uncle’s house, completely ignoring whether she, her little sister, and her father lived or died. She knew that her father had fed them his blood. She knew that she had died once, and that her Uncle had brought her back to life. Wang Jianguo’s hand trembled the entire time he drank the porridge. He was hungry—desperately hungry—but he did not dare drink too quickly or make too much noise. A stomach that had been empty for too long could not bear it. And he was afraid this was all an illusion. If he made too much noise, the illusion would shatter, and he would once again be facing a lifeless room containing four blood-soaked corpses. He, Wang Jianguo, and his entire family of four were all dead.