Chapter 9

Luo Zhi'er cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks Li Sanmao had used and came outside.

She saw them cutting off a slab of meat to keep for the family to eat.

The rest was to be sold!

Then she saw them about to throw away the internal organs they had scooped out of the pig's stomach...

She immediately felt it was such a waste and hurried over.

"Father-in-law, are you not going to keep these organs?"

Old Man Li looked up and saw it was the third daughter-in-law; the other daughters-in-law had long since kept their distance... because of the stench!

"Heh, that's right, Third Daughter-in-law, have you gone crazy from your illness? These pig organs are full of filth, how can you eat them?"

The eldest, Li Daqiang, was holding a large string of things, including pig lungs, hearts, livers, and so on...

He was planning to throw them into the river under the cover to wash them away.

"Big Brother, can you please not throw them away?"

She quickly stopped Li Daqiang; these were good things! She thought of braised pig intestines, spicy stir-fried small intestines, shredded pig stomach salad, stir-fried pig liver, and pig lung soup...

Just now, she seemed to have seen them giving away the pig ears and trotters to others...

Fortunately, the pig head was still there; she felt it was auspicious to keep it for themselves to process!

Her father-in-law said they were scraps and had given them to Li Erdan.

Had they always thrown them away before?

Li Daqiang also warned, "Sister-in-law, this stuff stinks, it's full of pig shit..."

Little Mrs. Zhou covered her nose.

"Sister-in-law, being a glutton shouldn't be like this. How can you eat this stuff? The contents inside are stinking to death, hahaha!"

Truly, looking at how she had eaten herself into a shape that was no longer human, it was one thing to be a glutton, but why wouldn't she even let those things go...

Mrs. Chen also joined in the teasing, "Exactly..." Looking at her sturdy physique, a woman really ought to dress herself well...

Li Gui looked on with disdain...

Everyone here threw them away; just thinking about it made one nauseous!

"Father, Big Brother, since they're going to be thrown away anyway, you might as well give them to me. I can process them later, and they'll still be edible..."

Old Man Li frowned slightly. Could it be that this third daughter-in-law's brain had developed a problem after her coma yesterday?

Forget it, they wouldn't lose anything; if she wanted to eat them, just give them to her!

In any case, they wouldn't eat them!

"Eldest, give them to the third daughter-in-law."

"Oh, Father!"

Li Daqiang scratched the back of his head and still handed that stinking string of things into her hands...

Luo Zhi'er happily prepared to carry them into the kitchen to wash them, only to be scolded by Mrs. Zhou, who pointed at the back of her head...

"Stop right there! Don't you dare bring that filthy stuff into the house..."

Li Zhenzhu and the others were also clamoring incessantly!

Forget it, since she had already started, she might as well finish; she turned and went to the riverbank...

Using the moonlight, she washed the pig intestines clean...

Miaomiao followed her. Li Sanmao stared at her silhouette, dazed.

After speeding through his own work, he went to the river to find her. "Wife, how do I do it? Tell me, I'll help you wash. It's cold at night, don't touch the water anymore."

Luo Zhi'er sat to the side and directed him...

Li Sanmao followed her instructions, using a stick to flip them over for cleaning.

Then he was dispatched by her to go home, carry his mother on his back, and fetch salt and cornmeal...

He was busy running in circles. Although exhausted, watching her by the moonlight, his autumn-water-like eyes occasionally drifted into a daze, wondering what she was thinking.

From time to time, he would play around with Miaomiao like a child...

There was actually a flutter in his heart...

Gazing at them tenderly, he had never felt this way before; having the three of them together made him feel extremely satisfied.

The next morning, Luo Zhi'er saw the blankets were still somewhat warm, and she blushed a little...

Li Sanmao had already set off for the town before dawn...

She had been held by Li Sanmao's warm, broad chest all night.

Her body hadn't recovered, so naturally, he hadn't touched her. Besides, the room was only so big, and with no other beds, she couldn't force a man who had worked all day to sleep on the ground.

Even though it was summer, the nights were still cool. If she fell ill, not only would it be a struggle, but they wouldn't have the silver for a doctor.

She was too fat; it was quite uncomfortable for the three of them to squeeze together.

Fortunately, this was an old earthen house, so it wasn't that hot inside!

For an obese person, it was still quite taxing! Occasionally she would wake up with a sensation of suffocation.

She even heard someone snoring, but when she woke up and looked, no one was there?

By the time she was woken up groggily again, she realized it was herself.

The snoring was quite loud; the father and son slept quite soundly together, they must be used to it. Being woken up by her own snoring was quite embarrassing...

She lifted her eyes to look at Li Sanmao. The man felt the round head near his chin moving; he opened his eyes, his voice muffled: "Wife, what's wrong?"

"Uh... Husband, I... my snoring, did it disturb you?"

The man chuckled softly and patted her head. "It's fine! Go back to sleep!"

She stretched her aching arms out from under the covers, kicked her legs, and then took a long stretch.

She was a bit tired! She sighed; with these layers upon layers of "swim rings" around her belly, she didn't know how Li Sanmao managed to hold her!

Looking at Miaomiao sleeping soundly beside her, she tucked the corners of the quilt in for her.

No one was clamoring outside the main gate today, because Mrs. Zhou had thought it over and was worried about them selling wild boar meat—fearing the silver wouldn't add up—so she had personally gone along to collect the accounts...

She had originally intended to render the lard this morning, but fearing someone in the house would be greedy, she had shouted a warning before leaving.

Her meaning was: no one was allowed to cut the pig fat to fry it secretly; she would do it when she returned in the evening.

That lard was delicious, and she was afraid they would sneak a taste!

With no one to manage the house, the other two daughters-in-law were also sleeping in, and as for Zhenzhu, she was even more out of the question...

She dressed herself, tidied the room slightly, and woke Miaomiao.

She put on the clothes that had been washed yesterday, combed Miaomiao's hair, and tied it into two small buns, making her look very cute...

She found the wild eggs Li Sanmao had given her yesterday, put them in a basket, and lined the basket with a burlap sack.

She packed a flask of water, picked up two sweet potatoes from the corner of the backyard, took a sickle, and found flint, some pig salt, and a bit of lard from the kitchen...

Then she headed out.

Seeing a somewhat broken iron tea mug placed under the window, she tossed it into the basket as well.

She glanced toward the main house; they were still sleeping!

To avoid the villagers and prevent trouble, taking advantage of the time when they were all still sleeping, the mother and daughter climbed up the slope behind the house.

To better navigate the weeds and small branches, she used the sickle to push the obstacles to both sides, creating a small path that could be walked upon!

She gave Miaomiao a small wooden stick; she walked behind her, also tapping the grass on both sides, fearing there might be snakes...

(End of Chapter)