Chapter 26 The Hog-Killing Feast

Chapter 26: The Pig-Killing Feast

Song Tingzhou added three servings of rice tonight, four full bowls in total, emptying the rice pot completely.

Chang Jinhua’s heart, which had been light and joyful from earning more money selling tofu today, instantly settled. Fortunately, they had plenty of grain at home, but was Da Lang really that much of an eater?

Worried Meng Wan might be tired from the day’s work, Chang Jinhua didn’t ask him to help. She gathered the dishes and washed them with the leftover warm water in the pot. She also cleaned the small pot, filled it with water, and threw in a piece of firewood.

This water was for the three of them to soak their feet in later. With the cold weather, Meng Wan dared not bathe often. The second he got out of the water, he’d freeze into an icicle; the whole house was freezing except for the heated kang.

Meanwhile, Meng Wan dashed to the small room and hauled out the stuff he and Song Tingzhou had bought that day. “Cousin, come over here.”

Song Tingzhou was reading by the oil lamp. Without a second thought, he followed Meng Wan.

They hadn’t really bought much; Chang Jinhua had already gotten everything they needed. Meng Wan had bought him a few extra packs of candles for his studies, which he’d already stashed in the small room’s chest. The rest was the fabric he’d bought for Chang Jinhua.

“Aunt, today my cousin and I sold fortune characters for three thousand eight hundred wen.”

Meng Wan first shoved the cloth under the quilt, then pulled a small triangular piece of silver from his chest. He and Song Tingzhou had swapped it at a money shop while wandering through town. After dropping seven hundred wen on cloth and pastries, he still had a hundred wen in copper coins left over.

Chang Jinhua dried her wet hands on a rag by the wall. “You sold that much? Every single one? Did anyone actually buy the ones for thirty-eight wen?”

Her voice was thick with disbelief. She’d have spent at most eighteen wen on a spring snake picture. Can you eat a pretty drawing of a kid? That’s enough to buy two jin of pork belly.

Meng Wan was a little smug. “Of course! There were tons of people. Even a bookstore owner wanted me to paint lanterns for the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth.”

The small table on the kang had been wiped clean and wasn’t put away yet, with a white candle stuck in the corner.

Outside the window, the north wind was howling. Inside, the flickering candlelight cast a warm orange glow over Meng Wan’s face.

His brows lifted slightly, his eyes crinkled, and a smile played on his lips as he sat on the edge of the kang, swinging his legs with that charming youthful innocence.

Chang Jinhua’s crow’s feet got deeper, and her voice was full of laughter. “That boss wasn’t just messing with you because you’re a xiaoge, was he? I don’t buy it.”

“Cousin, you explain it to her.” Meng Wan pointed at Song Tingzhou.

Song Tingzhou, seeing they were teasing each other, answered seriously anyway. “Wan Geer is really talented. Shopkeeper Huang treated him like an adult when they talked about the lantern painting.”

“See, I told you so!”

Meng Wan hopped off the kang and handed the triangular silver piece to Chang Jinhua.

Surprised by his gesture, Chang Jinhua blurted out, “You earned this yourself, so you keep it! Why are you giving it to me?”

“You hold onto it for me. I’ll ask you for it when I need it.” He’d already taken her ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and with New Year’s expenses being high, Chang Jinhua might’ve made money selling tofu, but she probably had little left. He should help make up the difference.

If they did get married later, he’d have to work hard to support Song Tingzhou’s schooling. The ten taels were for something else, so Meng Wan held onto them for now.

“My boy really is capable.” Perhaps it was the sentimentality of age, but Chang Jinhua’s eyes grew misty as she took the silver.

Seeing her eyes redden, Meng Wan threw open the quilt and pulled out the cloth hidden underneath. “Aunt, look what I bought you! The shop assistant said this is the finest fine cotton cloth, four hundred fifty wen a bolt!”

“You wasteful boy!!!”

“What cloth costs four hundred fifty wen? That’s outrageous!”

“I won’t wear it. Tomorrow, take it back!”

This time, Chang Jinhua forgot her emotion. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wanting to drag Meng Wan over and give him a beating.

“Aunt, on the way back, I tripped while carrying the cloth. See, it got dirty here. The cloth shop won’t take it back.” Meng Wan laid the cloth on the kang and pulled back the oilcloth to show her a small patch of dirt—he had deliberately rubbed it in the snow at their doorstep.

Chang Jinhua turned her head away. “I won’t look. If you won’t return it, put it in the chest. Such good cloth can be used for baby clothes and blankets later.”

Meng Wan was stunned. “What baby?”

Chang Jinhua turned back and glared at him. “What do you think?”

Song Tingzhou coughed lightly. “Mother, this cloth is Wan Geer’s heartfelt gift. Please accept it and make yourself some clothes. It’s my fault for being useless; you’ve worked hard all these years.” His gaze dimmed at the last sentence.

Song Tingzhou’s words always carried weight. Chang Jinhua sighed. “Mother isn’t bitter…”

She reached out and touched the cloth, sighing, “Even when your father was alive, I never used such good cloth for clothes!”

Meng Wan grinned and chimed in, “I’ll buy you even better ones later.”

Chang Jinhua feigned anger and lightly tapped the back of Meng Wan’s hand. “You think you’re so clever.”

Taking the cue, Meng Wan ran to the kitchen. “I’ll get water to wash my feet.”

Watching his retreating figure, Chang Jinhua said to Song Tingzhou, “Wan Geer is a good child. Whether you pass the exams next year or not, treat him well after you marry!”

Her tone was heavy, and the vertical lines between her brows deepened with her words. Her stern expression made one instinctively sit up straight.

Song Tingzhou was silent for two seconds. What had first drawn him to Meng Wan was indeed his face, but now he couldn’t claim his love for him was eternal.

Yet the fondness and the racing heart were real, as was his desire to marry him. He couldn’t guarantee this feeling would never change, but at this moment, before his mother, he could solemnly promise, “I will never betray him in this life!”

Meng Wan sat on a small stool in the kitchen, leisurely soaking his feet, unaware that on this ordinary night, someone had already made him a lifelong vow.

—The word “love” is simple: an unexpected encounter, a person who stirs your heart in an instant. Words can’t capture the tender whispers or the lingering affections.

Moved by beauty, admired for talent.

Respected for character, fearless for love.

The earthen kang, heated warmly by Chang Jinhua, let Meng Wan sleep soundly that night. When he woke in the morning, all his fatigue was gone.

He dressed under the quilt, folded his bedding, and got off the kang. The moment he opened the door, he shivered from the cold.

Both the front and back doors of the kitchen were hung with cloth curtains. Meng Wan lifted a corner of the front curtain, and his eyes were instantly met with a vast expanse of white. The north wind howled, and crystalline snowflakes blew through the small gap into the house.

He quickly dropped the curtain. Why was it so cold today?

Hearing the noise, Song Tingzhou put down his book, his warm voice drifting from the small room.

“Mother has already gone to Aunt Tian’s house. She left you food in the pot, and there’s warm water in the small pot for washing up, so you don’t get cold.”

“Oh, okay.”

Meng Wan first lifted the lid of the small pot. There was some leftover water at the bottom, with a large wooden basin sitting above it, half-filled with water.

He used a wooden cup to brush his teeth. In summer, they used willow twigs, but in winter, Meng Wan had made a cloth strip and dried some bath beans, grinding them into powder for cleaning teeth.

He didn’t know how to make toothpaste, but the bath beans could foam and worked well. Now Song Tingzhou and Chang Jinhua followed his method. Meng Wan planned to figure out how to make a couple of toothbrushes when spring warmed up.

Toothbrushes weren’t costly to make, and he could sell them, but the biggest problem remained—his lack of influence.

In a small town, villagers generally wouldn’t spend money on them. The town had more spending power, but toothbrushes weren’t frequent consumables. With low costs, he couldn’t price them high, and the effort might not be worth it. In the end, it might not be as profitable as selling tofu.

Meng Wan rinsed his mouth out, poured the leftover water from the wooden basin into the washbasin, then filled the basin with fresh water and set it in the pot to heat up.

The kitchen wasn't that warm either. While the water was still warm, Meng Wan quickly washed his face and dried it with a rag.

"Cousin, did Auntie just head out?" Meng Wan called out toward the small room.

Song Tingzhou walked out from the small room. "She left a bit ago. She said if you don't wanna go, just stay home—it's cold out today."

Meng Wan dished out the food from the big pot. It was a big bowl of hand-pulled noodles with a fried egg on top.

"I'll go anyway. It's boring at home, and I can help her carry some meat."

Meng Wan sat on a little wooden stool by the stove to eat. That morning, Chang Jinhua had fired up the kang again, and the stove still had glowing red coals, keeping things warm.

He tried to slurp a mouthful of noodles—couldn't pull 'em apart. The noodles had been sitting too long and were all clumped up. Chang Jinhua had rolled 'em thick, and Meng Wan felt like he was eating dough soup, so he grabbed a spoon and ate it like that.

He ate the noodles slow, then washed the bowl.

"Then I'll come with you." Song Tingzhou had been waiting nearby, glancing at his book now and then.

"Then you carry the backpack." With the icy ground, Meng Wan didn't wanna carry it anyway.

The two locked up and headed out. Snow was still falling outside.

"Doesn't this heavy snow mess up the pig slaughter?" Meng Wan copied the villagers, crossing his hands and tucking them into his sleeves. When village women did it, it looked kinda trashy, but on him, it was cute and playful, his dark clothes making his skin look snow white.

Song Tingzhou had his hands clasped behind his back, fidgeting, but in the end, he couldn't help brushing the snow off Meng Wan's hair. Then he casually withdrew his hand and said, "We set it up with the butcher from Yangshu Village to slaughter the pig today. It won't be changed easily. Otherwise, before New Year's, the butchers are all booked and won't have time to come to our village."

Meng Wan didn't pay much attention to his gesture and brushed the snow off himself. "That's true. Right before the New Year is the peak time for slaughtering and selling pork. The pig's not even fully butchered yet, and the meat's already pre-ordered."

By the time they got near Aunt Tian's house, the snow had let up a bit, but the accumulation on the road was already up to their ankles.

Meng Wan brushed the snow off himself and spotted Chang Jinhua in the crowd at a glance.

"Auntie, you done shopping?"

Chang Jinhua was lugging a big basket. Hearing Meng Wan's call, she stepped back two paces. "Not yet. Butcher Yang just finished and is now scalding the hair off. Why'd you both come? Did you lock up?"

Song Tingzhou handed her the front gate key. "It's locked. Wan Ge'er was worried you couldn't carry it all, so he had me bring a backpack."

Aunt Tian's yard was packed, with people even perched on the wall to watch the commotion, everyone yapping away.

"Oh, the young couple came together!"

"Wan Ge'er is really handsome. Standing next to Tingzhou, they look so well-matched."

"I saw them at the market in town yesterday too. Tingzhou knows how to take care of Wan Ge'er—he didn't let the young lad carry a single thing." The news of Meng Wan and Song Tingzhou's engagement had spread throughout the village. Most had expected it—Chang Jinhua wasn't foolish. In these hard times, even poor families sold their own children; why would she waste food raising someone else's kid for nothing?

Some were surprised, thinking Song Tingzhou had high standards. He hadn't liked anyone before, and when he finally took a liking to Yang Bao'er, that one called off the engagement. Why would he marry an orphan with no parents? Yet, quietly, the Song family had indeed gotten engaged.

People whispered all sorts of things behind their backs, but since it was the New Year, no one wanted to cause trouble. On the surface, everyone praised how perfect the couple was, repeating the same two lines over and over.

Meng Wan wasn't embarrassed, just a bit fed up.

Someone in the yard was still gossiping. "Good, the Song family is harmonious. Not like that young couple from the Tian family."

"Exactly. From top to bottom, none of them live a stable life. Even if a boy isn't worth much, you shouldn't treat him so badly. Zhu Ge'er doesn't even look human anymore."

Someone warned her, "Ahem, Second Aunt. Don't say anymore. Changxiang is coming in."

Changxiang was the name of Zhu Ge'er's mother-in-law, her maiden surname being Li.

When Li Changxiang entered, the crowd fell silent instantly. She smirked and laughed, "Oh, I heard it was lively in here just now? Why did everyone go quiet when I came in? Second Aunt, what's going on?" She had a sharp tongue and a scheming mind, always trying to dominate in the village. Only Meng Wan could ever put her in her place.

The white-haired old woman, who had been talking eagerly a moment ago, shrank her neck and fell silent as soon as Li Changxiang entered.

Someone tried to smooth things over by changing the subject. "Changxiang, are you here to buy pork too? Why didn't you bring your younger daughter-in-law?"

"Xiaomei is heavy with child. It's freezing out, and I'm afraid she'll catch a chill." Mentioning Xiaomei made Li Changxiang beam, eager for everyone to know her younger daughter-in-law was pregnant.

After chatting a bit, her eyes darted around and landed on Meng Wan.

"Oh, Wan Ge'er is here too? On such a cold day, your aunt actually let you come? What can a young lad like you carry?" She was trying to stir up trouble, still holding a grudge from last time when Meng Wan had caused friction between her and Xiaomei.

Meng Wan squinted, a bellyful of mischief ready to spill out. He linked arms with Chang Jinhua beside him and feigned a sigh. "My aunt works hard selling tofu to make a living, and at home, she cooks and burns the fire. Her hands are all chapped. How could I be ungrateful? Not just carrying a few things—I'd be willing to be her beast of burden."

He almost burst out laughing at that point. Chang Jinhua patted his hand, signaling him not to be naughty.

The villagers nearby praised him for being filial and grateful.

Meng Wan dropped the smile, looking at Li Changxiang with innocent eyes and a sincere tone. "You're lucky, Auntie, with two daughters-in-law serving you. Look at your hands—so soft and smooth!"

Chang Jinhua couldn't help but laugh. Everyone in the village knew that in Li Changxiang's household, Zhu Ge'er did all the work while she played the idle boss. Outside, she pretended to be kind to her younger daughter-in-law. There were plenty of tough mothers-in-law, but someone as subtly cruel as her was rare. The simple villagers often cursed her behind her back.