Xu Yiyuan watched his cousin’s self-righteous deanor and was struck with dread. His handso eyebrows furrowed slightly: "Fangfang, I don’t know what your school has been teaching you to lead you to say such theories. This isn’t about murder or arson; it’s a matter of fairness versus unfairness. Using power to foster personal connections is, in itself, an act of unfairness. On a small scale, it’s called favoritism, but on a larger scale? It’s using power for personal gain."
Shui Lian noticed Xu Yiyuan’s displeasure and imdiately responded with a radiant smile, "Yes, Yiyuan is absolutely right. Fangfang and I have learned sothing here. This is a matter of discipline; the power granted by the Party and the people must serve the people and originate from the people—it cannot be misused."
She recalled what Tian Sangsang had said earlier.
Xu Yiyuan’s expression finally softened slightly. He glanced at Shui Lian in surprise before continuing to walk ahead.
Yao Fangfang was annoyed: "Xiaolian, why are you mimicking that woman’s talk?"
Shui Lian gently covered her mouth: "Fangfang, you and Yiyuan have just returned—why bother arguing about an outsider and ruining the mood for no reason? You can think whatever you want, but there are so things you shouldn’t say to your cousin. He doesn’t like hearing them; just say sothing pleasant instead. He’s a people’s teacher—his perspective is different from yours."
"But..."
"Let’s go, Qianqian is still waiting for us at ho."
"You’re right," Yao Fangfang grumbled. "But I’m still fuming over that fat woman’s nonsense."
"What’s there to be angry about? She’s just an insignificant person—we won’t have to interact with her in the future anyway."
"Xiaolian, you really are the best."
"We’re friends. If I’m not good to you, who else would I be good to?"
The Xu Family.
"Qianqian, no more eating! If you eat any more, you’ll have a toothache," Xu Yiyuan reached out to take the mung bean cake from his daughter’s hand and pulled her into his arms.
The little girl stared longingly at the mung bean cake, her lips pouting in protest.
"That’s right, Qianqian, listen to your father. Rember the last ti you had a toothache? If your teeth hurt again, you’ll need an injection—are you scared of pain?" Shui Lian’s tone was as gentle as it could be.
The little girl instantly put on a pitiful look, her doe-like eyes brimming with innocence: "Aunt Shui, can I have so after dinner instead?"
"Of course." Shui Lian placed a piece of at and a few green vegetables on her plate. "Eat more at to grow taller, and then have so vegetables to balance it out—it’s nutritious."
Mrs. Xu smiled warmly as she ate her bun, her eyes filled with approval as she looked at Shui Lian.
"Yiyuan, these buns taste different today—did they change the supplier at the town market?"
"No, Mom. I traded so cloth tickets for them by the roadside," Xu Yiyuan shook his head.
Mrs. Xu nodded, "The craftsmanship is quite good. Did they add crab at to these? They have that distinctive crab flavor."
"That’s why they’re called crab roe soup dumplings," Xu Yiyuan explained.
Yao Fangfang was astonished. "Cousin, don’t tell the mung bean cakes and cornbread are from the sa place? They’re so finely made, sweet, soft, and fragrant—better than the high-end snacks sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."
Xu Yiyuan fed his daughter a bite of vegetables, then spoke unhurriedly, "It’s from that woman you were ntioning earlier."
"What! Ugh!" Yao Fangfang sprang to her feet with a loud clatter, threw down the mung bean cake, rushed outside for a sip of water, and returned with a flushed face.
Shui Lian looked at the exquisite cakes, her gaze flickering as realization struck—no wonder they looked familiar.
"What’s the matter? What woman? And why wouldn’t you eat the mung bean cake?" Mrs. Xu asked.
"Aunt..." Yao Fangfang pouted.
Xu Yiyuan cast her a sideways glance and said to Mrs. Xu, "Nothing. These spoiled habits of hers need to be corrected."
Yao Fangfang thought about the delicious mung bean cake she had just eaten. It tasted amazing, but... she couldn’t bring herself to eat anything made by that fat woman. Just imagining that it was made by her thick, grubby hands made her stomach churn.
"What’s wrong with being spoiled? Girls who are a little spoiled are loved more in the future," Yao Fangfang replied. She knew her cousin was unhappy, so she didn’t continue the argunt. Instead, she gently pinched her niece’s little nose: "Qianqian, don’t you agree?"
Xu Qianqian’s eyes curved into crescents, her childish voice chiming, "Auntie is right."
Watching his daughter’s angelically innocent deanor, Xu Yiyuan wanted to say sothing but ended up lowering his head to eat silently.
After the al, Xu Qianqian’s chubby little hands picked up a mung bean cake. Treating it like a treasure, she cradled it tenderly in her palms, smiling so hard that dimples appeared: "Daddy, can I not eat this one? This is that Chang’e rabbit... I want to keep it in my box."
Little Qianqian was born in the year of the rabbit and held a special affection for rabbits. The mont she saw the rabbit-shaped mung bean cake, she couldn’t bear to eat it.
"No," Xu Yiyuan frowned. "If you keep it, it’ll turn into bugs."
"Wah... wah..." The little girl squeezed her eyes shut and suddenly began crying her heart out, tears streaming like pearls. "I don’t want bugs, don’t want bugs, Daddy is bad!"
"Qianqian, Qianqian." Mrs. Xu took the little girl in her arms to comfort her, glaring at her son in mild reproach. "What’s the matter with you? Look, you made Qianqian cry. Qianqian, darling, don’t cry anymore, don’t cry..."
"Mom, I was just being truthful," Xu Yiyuan said, scratching his nose awkwardly. Feeling both guilty and helpless, he gazed at his crying daughter.
"Qianqian, no more crying," Yao Fangfang wiped the little girl’s tears with a tissue. "Auntie brought a gift for you this ti—a pink-dressed bunny doll." With that, Yao Fangfang fetched a rabbit plush from another room.
Little Qianqian finally stopped crying, her round almond-shaped eyes matching her aunt’s as she reached out to hug the bunny tightly. Her small lips murmured softly: "This is my bunny. It... it’s Chang’e... fairy’s bunny. It’s going to fly to the moon." She spoke in her sticky, sweet voice, clutching the bunny without letting go.
Children are just like that—crying so suddenly, but stopping just as easily. Though he rarely spent ti with his daughter, this incident made Xu Yiyuan realize that she was still so little and needed to be comforted.
...
Tian Sangsang picked out so fabric and bought a few daily necessities. As she passed by a butcher shop, she stopped.
In an era where at was considered a luxury, shiny, fatty pork was an especially tempting sight. The fatty portions, glistening with grease, embodied the ideal craving for at. The leftovers could even be rendered into cooking oil. Yet, compared to pure fat, Tian Sangsang preferred pork belly—layered with fat and lean at, it was juicy and brimming with flavor.
However...
Her gaze shifted to the butcher’s corner, where undesirable offal was being sold cheaply as unwanted goods. Tian Sangsang’s eyes lit up like a predator’s.
She envisioned how offal could be transford into various delicacies, especially pig large intestine—cut into small segnts, boiled with mung beans to make a fragrant soup. Paired with the slightly chewy pig large intestine, it was almost indescribable. Then there was pig stomach, stir-fried with chili peppers until hot and oily, the aroma of chilies filling the air. Just thinking about it made her mouth water.
"Comrade, all our at here is fresh. Why not take so pork ho?" The butcher, seeing her stout figure—solidly plump rather than flabby—enthusiastically recomnded his pork. She was clearly soone used to eating well, or how else would she be so round? Though she was a bit too dark-skinned, probably from overexposure to hard toil in the sun.
(Thanks to readers Zichu and at Pine for their rewards of 600 and 500 book coins respectively. Thank you! Muah!)
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