Chapter 139: Early Morning

Chapter 139: Early Morning

Wang Xiaocui was an early riser by nature. Despite chatting with Su An until midnight the previous day, she woke up promptly at five in the morning.

She slipped out of bed without a sound, unlatched the chicken coop door, and opened it so the chickens could forage at dawn.

She washed and diced sweet potatoes, added broken rice, and simmered them on low heat. The pantry was nearly empty, so she figured she'd buy more later. For breakfast, sweet potato porridge with pickled garlic and leftover roasted chicken would do.

After fixing breakfast, Wang Xiaocui brought the radish leaves and dried sweet potato vines she'd gathered the day before to the kitchen door and started chopping them on a wooden block.

These were for pig feed. At the beginning of the year, she'd gotten a piglet on credit, promising to pay after selling it at year's end. After a year of fattening it up, the pig now tipped the scales at 140 to 150 pounds.

She'd planned to sell it once it reached this size to repay the money she'd borrowed for Su Ping's connections and to settle the debt for the piglet.

It didn't make sense to keep the pig any longer. It ate too much and wasn't gaining weight.

But then "Su An" wrote, telling her to save for a dowry. The pig buyer had come by, but the offer was low. So she decided to hold onto it a bit longer. In two months, at year's end, the price would be better. But "Su An" turned out to be a fraud.

She dumped the chopped pig feed into a big pot, scooped two ladles of bran from the pantry, and added them on top. She lit a fire with pine needles, tossed in some firewood, and let it simmer.

A pig that size needed a big pot of feed daily. After starting today's feed, she had to head out for tomorrow's. Since the "Su An" who asked for money was fake, she decided not to keep the pig any longer. She planned to call the pig buyer the next day to appraise it and sell it if the price was right.

After the pig feed boiled, she removed the firewood and threw in two short, thick logs. These thick logs burned slowly and didn't produce much flame, so she didn't need to keep an eye on the fire constantly.

Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten. Wang Xiaocui took a sickle and a bamboo basket and headed to the field. She wanted to take advantage of this time to gather tomorrow's pig feed and return in time to have breakfast with Ping Ping and An An.

Because she had stayed up late the previous day and had only dozed off briefly on the train after a day of travel, Su An was sleeping deeply.

Su Ping, however, woke up early. When he came downstairs and saw that his mother had gone out and his sister was still asleep, he quickly woke up Ren San to go pee.

Su Ping stood at the door keeping watch, waving his arms to hurry Ren San along. Ren San was very obedient, limping on one foot and running in a hobble. After Ren San went back upstairs, Su Ping finally relaxed. He hadn't figured out how to tell his mother yet.

He was simple-minded and didn't think too much about it. He thought that at worst, he could secretly hide and share half of his own rations with Ren San.

On the table, under a cover, there was a plate of sliced roasted chicken and a bowl of pickled garlic scooped from a jar.

Su Ping ran to the kitchen and indeed found a pot of sweet potato porridge on the small stove.

Taking advantage of the moment, he found a clean bowl, scooped some porridge, added two pieces of roasted chicken and two cloves of garlic, and stealthily carried it up to the attic.

By the time Su An got up, Su Ping was already washing the dishes.

Seeing his sister awake, he quickly greeted her, "An An, you're up? I'll get you some hot water. Breakfast is on the table; I've already eaten."

After pouring hot water for his sister, Su Ping glanced uneasily at the attic and said to Su An, "Mom's gone out. I noticed the bamboo basket and sickle under the eaves are missing, so she must have gone to the field to gather pig feed. I've already scooped out the pig feed from the pot and spread it out to dry. I'll go pick up Mom and feed the pig when I get back."

Su An was still half-asleep and instinctively nodded at her brother's instructions, "Okay, okay."

After speaking to his sister, Su Ping headed south. In Village 93, the northwest was surrounded by mountains, and the southeast was bordered by rivers and fields.

If Mom had gone to the field, she could only have gone to the southeast.

Although it was only around seven o'clock and the air was still misty, many households had already started their daily chores. Some were carrying baskets to the field to pick vegetables, some children were leading cows to graze, and some men were carrying hoes ready to work.

Su Ping had a simple nature and was not easily angered. When answering people, he often spoke from a child's perspective, and his words frequently made people laugh. So, when villagers encountered him, they liked to chat and tease him.

Moreover, the previous day, Wang Xiaocui had proudly shown off her children's return to the village. Now, seeing Su Ping on the road, everyone watched him with great interest.

"Su Ping, isn't the city nice? Why did you come back to the countryside? Are you going back to the city?"

Su Ping cocked his head and looked at the other guy, "I don’t know, I need to ask An An."

"Su Ping, does your dad treat you well? Is your stepmom good-looking? Is she prettier than your mom?"

Su Ping shook his head, "Dad’s not great, but my mom’s prettier."

"You’re old enough now. Has your dad in the city talked about finding you a wife? You thinking about getting a wife?"

Su Ping felt a bit embarrassed by the question. Though he wasn’t the sharpest, he knew what a wife meant—someone to sleep with and have kids.

"No, I don’t want a wife. When my mom comes back, she wants me to take care of An An. I don’t want a wife; taking care of a wife costs a lot."

Su Ping’s answer had everyone laughing.

"What a fool, doesn’t even want a wife."

A young man teased Su Ping, "Hey, Su Ping, let me tell you, taking care of a wife isn’t expensive, just feed her. Not only can she have kids, but she can also do your laundry and cook. Aunt Jinhua told me your mom sent you plenty of cash, isn’t that enough to raise a wife?"

Su Ping shook his head, "I don’t know."

He didn’t want to chat with them anymore; he felt like everyone was making fun of him.

He sped up and soon left the group behind.

The southern fields were flat plains, and one could see people standing in the fields from afar.

Su Ping glanced a few times and spotted Wang Xiaocui by the stream.

He hurried over to Wang Xiaocui, "Mom~, why’d you get up so early? If you need anything, just let me know. Uncle said you need to sleep more."

Wang Xiaocui, bending over to wash pigweed in the river, looked up and smiled at Su Ping, "Why are you here? Have you had breakfast?"

Su Ping grabbed Wang Xiaocui’s arm, pulling her away from the stream, "I’ve eaten, Mom. You go back and eat, I’ll take care of the rest. I can do it."

"You go back, An An is alone at home. Hurry back, she might get scared."

Wang Xiaocui was both amused and exasperated. When Su Ping was young and always running around, she always told him to take care of his sister, or An An would get scared.

She didn’t think he’d still remember now that he’s grown.

Seeing Su Ping continuously urging her to leave, Wang Xiaocui nodded with a smile, "Okay, okay, I’ll go back now. Just throw the pigweed into the river and stir it a couple of times to shake off the dirt."