Chapter 8: A Bowl of Rabbit Meat

Chen Xiaohu carried a cloth bag containing five jin of sorghum rice and headed toward Chen Jie’s house.

He had only walked halfway when he saw Chen Sanliu and his family, who had just finished their meal and were basking in the sun under the roots of a large tree.

"Uncle."

Chen Xiaohu nodded in greeting.

Chen Sanliu nodded indifferently upon seeing Chen Xiaohu, but a young man in his twenties sitting beside him spoke up: "Huzi, what are you doing with that rice bag?"

Chen Xiaohu replied, "Brother Jiu-si’s family has run out of food, so I’m taking some over to them."

"Oh my, you child, are you stupid!"

Hearing this, Chen Sanliu, who had been silent until now, stood up and said, "That boy Jiu-si is a lost cause, addicted to gambling. Everyone else is doing their best to avoid him, yet your family is still sending things over. Is your family wealth that deep? Go back, go back."

Chen Sanliu spoke to Chen Xiaohu in an earnest, admonishing tone.

Chen Xiaohu, however, said, "Uncle Sanliu, my dad said that Brother Jiu-si has turned over a new leaf."

"Turned over a new leaf, my foot! If he can turn over a new leaf, then listen to your uncle and go home quickly, otherwise, that bit of grain you have will be gone for good."

"That’s right, Huzi, don’t be a fool. That Chen Jiu-si deserves to starve to death. We should stay far away from him. Last time he came to our door to borrow grain, we pretended not to be home. You’re still going to give him some now? Are you stupid!"

The young man in his twenties also chimed in to persuade him.

Looking at his uncle and cousin who were trying to dissuade him, Chen Xiaohu hesitated and said, "Alright, then I’ll go home and ask my dad."

With that, Chen Xiaohu turned and headed back toward his home.

Watching Chen Xiaohu leave, Chen Sanliu looked toward Chen Erba’s house and said, "That cripple Erba is also a fool. The grand-uncle is already dead, and there’s no more profit to be squeezed out, so why bother with that outsider?"

Chen Sanliu shook his head as he spoke.

"If only Grand-uncle had passed his medical skills on to you instead of him, we wouldn't be in this situation today," the young man added.

The two shook their heads, feeling quite indignant.

They didn't know what their grand-uncle had been thinking; since he had no son, he should have passed his medical skills to his nephews. What was the point of taking in a live-in son-in-law? He just ended up with a degenerate offspring who only knew how to squander the family fortune.

They cursed Chen Jie for being a spendthrift in their hearts, but they never stopped to think that the very first time Chen Jiu-si ever gambled, it was this cousin right in front of them who had taken him there.

Once Chen Jiu-si became addicted, he stopped playing, and after that, Chen Jiu-si’s family fortune declined until it reached the state it was in today.

And the root cause of all this was that their grand-uncle refused to pass his medical skills to his father. Even when his father had knelt before the grand-uncle back then, begging to provide for him in his old age, the stubborn old man had refused.

Chen Xiaohu returned home. Seeing him back so soon, Chen Erba asked, "Did you deliver the grain?"

Chen Xiaohu shook his head and said, "I ran into Uncle Sanliu on the way."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erba put down the half-woven basket in his hands and asked, "What did he say?"

"He said Brother Jiu-si is a bottomless pit and told us not to waste our grain."

Chen Erba frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Do you think he’s right?"

Chen Xiaohu was stunned for a moment, then replied, "I don’t know, that’s why I came back to ask you, Dad."

Chen Erba’s expression softened slightly as he said, "Chen Sanliu may disregard kindness, but I cannot be like him. Take the grain over, just take the long way around."

"Got it!"

Chen Xiaohu set off again. Chen Erba sighed, and at that moment, his wife came out of the room and said, "Erba, Chen Sanliu received so much favor from the grand-uncle and doesn't care, and you received far less than him. Why are you meddling in that business?"

Chen Erba glared at his wife and said, "What does a woman like you know? Go cook."

As he spoke, Chen Erba continued weaving the basket. Each basket was worth two coppers; if he wove one more, he could earn two more coppers.

In truth, his wife was right. Compared to Chen Sanliu, Chen Erba hadn't received many benefits from the grand-uncle.

Chen Sanliu was born with a silver tongue. When the grand-uncle was alive, he often went to curry favor. The grand-uncle was a famous doctor in the surrounding villages and made good money. Since he only had one daughter, in this world, that was effectively the end of his line.

Therefore, he was very good to his nephews. For instance, when Chen Sanliu got married, the grand-uncle paid to build him a new house and gave him three mu of paddy fields as a foundation for his livelihood.

One could say that was the treatment a biological son would receive.

Chen Erba, however, was clumsy with words and not very favored by the grand-uncle. Seeing that he was slow-witted and disabled, the grand-uncle helped him learn a trade, having him study basket weaving from an old craftsman in the next village.

That was how he earned his living today, and because of that single favor, he remembered the grand-uncle for his entire life.

As for Chen Jiu-si, although he was born to a live-in son-in-law, he was still entered into the Chen family’s ancestral register. Since he called him "uncle," he didn't treat him as an outsider.

In the past, when he was addicted to gambling, he couldn't do much about it, nor could he afford to, but now that he showed signs of turning over a new leaf, he couldn't help but give his nephew a hand.

Chen Xiaohu took the long way around and arrived at the Chen house. He knocked on the door, and soon someone came to open it—it was Su Yunjin.

Chen Xiaohu immediately greeted her: "Hello, Sister-in-law."

Su Yunjin had a very good impression of Xiaohu and asked, "Xiaohu, what brings you here?"

Xiaohu said, "My dad asked me to bring some sorghum rice for your family."

Xiaohu gestured to the rice bag. Hearing this, Su Yunjin didn't know if she should make the decision, but just then, Chen Jie’s voice rang out from inside: "Who is it?"

Su Yunjin said, "It’s Xiaohu. Since your brother is home, you can give the grain to him."

"Oh, okay."

Hearing this, Xiaohu went into the courtyard to find Chen Jie.

Xiaohu used to have a very good relationship with Chen Jie, but unfortunately, later on, Chen Jie became addicted to gambling, drank heavily, and hit people, so Chen Erba stopped letting Xiaohu play with him.

Xiaohu had seen his father’s hardships from a young age and knew that their family’s meager savings couldn't be squandered, so he stopped hanging out with Chen Jie.

When Chen Jie saw it was Xiaohu, the relevant memories flooded his mind. All in all, this was a sensible child.

Chen Jie asked Xiaohu, "Huzi, what’s up?"

Xiaohu said, "My dad said your family ran out of food, so he asked me to bring some sorghum rice."

Chen Jie felt moved in his heart. He silently noted this kindness of providing help in a time of need and smiled, "Good. Yunjin, take it. We can just make a pot of sorghum rice. By the way, Huzi, I caught a fat rabbit today and I’m stewing it right now. Want to stay and eat some?"

Rabbit meat?

*Gulp!*

Hearing those two words, Xiaohu swallowed hard, but he still shook his head and said, "No thanks, Brother Jiu-si. There are still a lot of baskets to weave at home, so I won't stay long."

He turned to leave, but Chen Jie immediately said, "Wait a second."

He went to the pot, looked at the rabbit meat stewed with wild vegetables that was already cooked, and ladled out a large bowl.

"Here, Huzi, take this back and thank Uncle Erba for me."

"Ah, this, this won't do, Brother Jiu-si, I can't."

Huzi still wanted to decline; this bowl of rabbit meat was far more valuable than five jin of sorghum rice. This was meat!

Chen Jie said, "Alright, don't refuse. Be a good boy, or your brother will get angry."

Huzi couldn't refuse any longer, so he took it and carried the bowl of meat home. When he returned, his mother had finished making the wild vegetable buns. Seeing Huzi bring back a bowl of meat, she was shocked and asked, "Where did this meat come from?"

Huzi said, "Brother Jiu-si gave it to me."

"This..."

The woman didn't know what to say.

Uncle Erba returned and happened to see the bowl of rabbit meat. Huzi said sensibly, "Dad, Brother Jiu-si gave this to us. Should I take it back?"

Uncle Erba paused for a moment and said, "Keep it and eat it. It’s Jiu-si’s kind intention."

"That doesn't feel right, it makes it look like I was after his bowl of meat. How about this, Huzi, take six wild vegetable buns to Jiu-si. Your mother made these well, with an extra half-bowl of sorghum flour. Since you’re taking the bowl back, just take these along."

"Okay, I’ll go right now."

Huzi poured the meat from the bowl into their own bowl, and his mother picked out six of the largest wild vegetable buns, which he then delivered back to the Chen house.