Chapter 15: Heaven is actually quite kind, isn't it!

The old lady carried a basket on her back and led Minghui home, only to hear Lingxi muttering softly to herself that the Heavens were actually quite kind.

“What’s this, Lingxi-er? You’re not afraid of the Heavens anymore?”

Over the years, because of Pei Fuzhu’s antics, Pei Lingxi—who hadn’t originally believed much in the Heavens—had become deeply superstitious, even worrying that if she offended Pei Fuzhu, she would be struck by lightning.

Hearing Lingxi take the initiative to speak of the Heavens for the first time in her life, the old lady found it quite curious.

The old lady didn’t intend to ask further; the truth was...

In their household, with Pei Fuzhu’s constant preaching, talk of the Heavens was really nothing rare.

Mentioning the Heavens inevitably led to mentioning Pei Fuzhu, and mentioning Pei Fuzhu always felt like bad luck.

The old lady carried the basket she had brought back, lifted the bamboo mat covering the wall, and entered Lingxi’s small kitchen. “Grandma bought quite a bit of beef. After dinner, I’ll make you some beef jerky.”

*Eh, beef?*

Lingxi was surprised. In her memory, this Pei Lingxi seemed to have only eaten it when she was very, very young, back when her father was still alive.

“That’s right! A cow fell into a ravine in Gujia Village and died, so Grandma went and bought a good amount.”

Beef was truly a rarity in these times.

Cattle were labor animals, and private slaughter was forbidden.

Since they had encountered this opportunity, who knew when the next one would come!

For the past two days, the old lady had been thinking about going to Gujia Village herself to find out what kind of person that young man her younger sister-in-law had recommended really was.

Unexpectedly, with the beef being sold in Gujia Village, her going there wouldn’t seem suspicious at all.

That young man in Gujia Village had a father who was the brigade leader, and he himself was a formal worker in the city. He was good-looking, had a good job, a good reputation in the village, and was known to be filial and upright.

His family—two older brothers and two sisters-in-law—were all steady, hardworking people.

The only drawback was that he had a younger brother who was lazy and didn’t work.

But his parents were still around, and he had two older brothers above him; no matter what, it wouldn’t fall to the third son of the Gu family to support that younger brother.

Once the family split up, they would be two separate households.

Even if they didn’t split up, the young man worked in the city, and by the time Lingxi followed him there, whatever happened at home would have nothing to do with her.

The old lady had calculated and reconsidered, and no matter how she looked at it, this candidate seemed truly excellent.

She was just about to talk it over with Lingxi when she saw Lingxi following her into the kitchen, also carrying a basket.

Lingxi leaned in with a grin. “Grandma, I have some pork belly here. Can you make me some braised pork? Grandma’s cooking is so delicious; I love the braised pork you make the most.”

A few days ago, when she had just woken up, the old lady had made it once, but she had eaten it all by herself. This time, with so much meat, she finally wouldn’t have to eat alone.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Since her precious, sweet, darling Lingxi-er wanted to eat it, the old lady naturally wouldn’t refuse, but then she paused.

Pork?

Where did it come from?

She glanced over and saw the contents of the basket, freezing in place.

“This is... from a wild boar?”

Did she run into a wild boar?

The old lady subconsciously assumed that Lingxi had encountered a wild boar, found it too heavy to bring back, and had only cut off a piece of meat and chopped off a leg.

Lingxi-er had been raised spoiled by them; she was always delicate and lacked for nothing.

That was exactly the kind of thing she would do.

She couldn’t even bring herself to feel bad about the wasted meat; she grabbed Lingxi’s arm and looked her up and down. “Next time you see a wild boar, just run! Didn’t I tell you not to go into the mountains? How could you run into a big beast like that in the woods?”

Lingxi quickly tried to soothe her.

“No, no, this was given to me by someone else.”

As she spoke, her face turned red, and her eyes darted around, not daring to look at the old lady.

The old lady: “...”

!!!

Huh?

She stood stunned for a moment, finally realizing it wasn’t her imagination. The old lady’s aged face instantly crinkled into a smile like a chrysanthemum.

“My Lingxi-er has grown up! Do you have a young man you like?”

She pulled Lingxi up and down to inspect her, and seeing Lingxi’s face grow redder and redder, looking as if she wanted to hide herself away, the old lady laughed even more happily.

“Oh my, oh my! To be liked by our Lingxi, that young man must be very handsome.”

Lingxi blinked. *Aha...*

Was her obsession with good looks that obvious?

Then again, Fourth Brother really was very handsome!

The old lady tapped her on the head. “You were raised by Grandma; how could I not know you!”

Lingxi giggled, lowered her head to rub against the old lady’s arm, and acted spoiled. “Grandma, keep it a secret for me, okay? I still want to observe him a bit more...”

“Yes, yes, yes, you must observe him well.

What’s his family situation? What’s his character like? Will he hit his wife in the future? Can he support a family?

I’ll help you inquire about all that later. We’re in no rush.”

Lingxi felt increasingly guilty the more she heard.

She, she, she, she didn’t even know what Fourth Brother’s current situation was!

The old lady had already turned her attention to the basket. She took the meat out piece by piece. Not noticing Lingxi’s guilty expression, she felt a little more at ease as she looked at the meat.

In these times, bringing two catties of meat to someone’s house was enough to serve as a formal betrothal gift.

And it wouldn’t be considered stingy at all.

Now, for someone to be so generous as to give a whole pig leg, plus five or six catties of pork belly, and just give it away for free—well, the young man Lingxi had taken a fancy to must be in a pretty good situation.

His circumstances shouldn’t be bad at all.

Seeing that the old lady had stopped asking and was taking the meat to the well to clean it, Lingxi quietly let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t hide her thoughts well; if she kept talking to the old lady, she was afraid she would let the secret slip.

She snuck away and returned to her room, only to see little Minghui, who had been there for who knows how long, winking at her.

Lingxi: “...”

Ha...

Little one, what is that supposed to mean?

Four-year-old Minghui made a shushing gesture, quietly tugged on Lingxi’s hem to pull her away from the kitchen, and then lowered his voice: “Little Aunt, you’re feeling guilty!”

Lingxi: “...”

!!!

She subconsciously glanced toward the small kitchen.

The next instant, she froze.

Ha...

That just made her look even guiltier!

“Little Aunt, Minghui wants to eat cake.” Little Minghui began to negotiate with Lingxi. “If Minghui eats cake, Minghui won’t see anything.”

Lingxi: “...”

“Then Little Aunt thanks you, Minghui!”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome.” Little Minghui waved his hand with a serious expression.

Lingxi couldn’t help but laugh. She held him and sat on the narrow kang by the window in the outer room, pulled over the snack box, took out two pieces of mung bean cake, placed them on a small plate, and handed it to him.

“You can’t eat too much, okay? There’s meat for dinner later, so our Minghui needs to save room for meat!”

It seemed children shouldn’t eat too much of anything.

Little Minghui got the pastry and nodded in satisfaction. Little Aunt used to only give him one piece a day.

Little Minghui ate happily, then suddenly thought of something. He whispered mysteriously, “Little Aunt, Great-Grandma went to buy meat today and chatted with a lot of old ladies. She was asking around about your future husband!

Great-Grandma seems quite satisfied.”

Little Minghui was very bright; Uncle Pei and Pei Jin had started teaching him the *Three Character Classic* when he was three.

Therefore, he spoke very logically.