Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Splitting the Money

Fortunately, the cutting board survived An Ning’s second chop. Once she finished cutting the chicken, she quickly moved aside. Lin Cuihua caressed the cutting board with a pained look before starting to cook.

In this household, Lin Cuihua did most of the cooking. She was the better cook, and even though the ingredients were simple, her food always tasted better than anyone else’s.

"Watch from the side and learn. You don’t want to get married and not know how to do anything."

"Do I have to know all this just to get married? Can’t I just be good at other things?"

Lin Cuihua just rolled her eyes at An Ning’s question.

"Just watch quietly. Don’t talk."

An Ning pouted. ’I’m not allowed to talk whenever I ask a question. Was my question really that wrong?’

An Ning couldn’t figure it out for the life of her. She watched Lin Cuihua rinse the cut-up chicken several times under cold water.

"Let me tell you, you have to wash the chicken several times. It’s best to wash it until the water runs clear. That way, the stew won’t have a gamey taste."

Lin Cuihua talked as she worked, teaching An Ning everything she could.

Her sister-in-law beside her wasn’t idle, either. She got the scallions, ginger, and garlic ready. Once Lin Cuihua was done with the chicken, she started adding it to the pot.

"You don’t need too much oil. The chicken has its own fat. Just stir-fry it for a bit, until the skin gets a little crispy. That’s when it’s best."

"Then throw in the scallions, ginger, and garlic and give it a quick stir-fry."

SIZZLE—

A plume of smoke rose from the pot, carrying the distinct aroma of stir-fried meat. An Ning took a small step forward, watching as Lin Cuihua once again poured in a little of the black liquid from the glass bottle.

"We’re out of soy sauce."

Lin Cuihua turned the bottle upside down and shook it twice to no avail. Setting it aside, she picked up a small paper packet and sprinkled a bit of a brown, powdery substance into the large pot.

An Ning’s nose twitched. The smell was sharp and pungent.

"Mom, is this poison?"

An Ning’s words made Lin Cuihua’s hand tremble, causing a good deal more of the thirteen-spice powder to fall into the pot.

"Didn’t I tell you to be quiet!" Lin Cuihua quickly folded up the rest of the thirteen-spice powder and turned to hand it to An Ning. "Honestly... where do you get these ideas from? Poison, really."

"It’s thirteen-spice powder. Here, hold this."

An Ning took the packet. She was only curious and hadn’t really thought it was poison. Still, she curiously opened the thirteen-spice packaging and took a close whiff.

"ACHOO—"

A massive sneeze blew most of the already scant amount of thirteen-spice powder away.

"ACHOO— ACHOO—"

An Ning couldn’t stop sneezing. For the first time, Lin Cuihua thought that her daughter was quite a handful.

"You’ll be the death of me! Who on earth sniffs thirteen-spice powder?!"

Lin Cuihua snatched the paper packet back and pushed An Ning out of the kitchen.

"Go wash your face with some water, quickly!"

Sneezing all the while, An Ning washed her face for what felt like an eternity until the pungent smell finally went away.

Once she was done, she decided not to go back inside. Instead, she stayed in the yard and watched her sister-in-law prepare the chicken feed.

The An family kept five hens and a rooster in their front yard.

Every day, the five hens would follow the big rooster on a stroll through the village, searching for tasty morsels.

Most of the chickens in the village were raised this way. To tell each family’s flock apart, they would tie different colored strips of cloth to the chickens’ legs.

"An Ning, just watch from the side for now. You haven’t done this before," Zhou Guifen said.

As she spoke, she deftly chopped up some wild vegetables with a large knife, added a little bran, and mixed it all together to make the chicken feed.

The feed had just been prepared when An Ning saw their family’s rooster strut through the gate, followed by five obedient hens.

"He’s back."

An Ning’s tone held a note of surprise. He was so punctual.

"Of course. He knows he can’t get a full meal out there, so he has to come home, doesn’t he?"

The chickens walked straight to the trough and began pecking at the feed. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

An Ning squatted down curiously to watch them, extending her spiritual power toward the big rooster.

The rooster lifted its head several times, as if something was touching it. But when it found nothing, it lowered its head and went back to eating.

An Ning lost track of how long she’d been squatting there. Then, with a CLING-CLANG from the main gate, she turned her head. She saw her eldest brother ride in on a bicycle, dragging a foot to brake. Her second brother, who had been riding on the back rack, hopped off.

"Little Sis, watch out!"

"Hey now, Second Brother! You know how clumsy you are. What if your hundred-plus pounds had crushed Little Sis!"

An Guoqing didn’t even get off the bike; he just reached out with one hand and steadied An Guoming as he started to stumble.

"I was so excited, I forgot."

An Guoming scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Alright, I’m going to return the bike."

An Guoqing turned the bike around in the yard, gave a push with his foot, and rode out.

Meanwhile, An Guoming took a red silk scarf from his pocket.

"Little Sis, this is for you. Eldest Brother and I bought it together. Your sister-in-law said you picked the most mushrooms."

An Ning took the red silk scarf from An Guoming. ’What’s this for?’

She didn’t ask, however, and just followed An Guoming into the house.

"Dad, Mom, I’m back! I borrowed the village chief’s bicycle and gave him two baked flatbreads as thanks."

"I found a buyer for the mushrooms. He paid thirty cents per jin. We had twenty-seven jin in total, so we sold it for eight yuan. We used one yuan and eighty cents of that to buy a red silk scarf for Little Sis."

An Guoming took out the money and placed it on the kang.

Zhou Guifen, standing to one side, didn’t reach for it. But Lin Cuihua had never been a wicked mother-in-law. She said directly, "Daughter-in-law, you should keep the money from the mushrooms yourself."

’Once you’re married and have your own family, you have to think about your own little household.’

"Mom, Little Sis’s share is in here too. She picked the most. I only picked ten jin, so I’ll just take three yuan."

Her sister-in-law reached out, counted out three yuan, and refused to take a single cent more.

Lin Cuihua pointed to the money on the kang. "An Ning, you can take the rest."

An Ning didn’t want to take it at first, but she remembered what An Sancheng had taught her and picked it up. ’Even brothers keep clear accounts.’ She had remembered that.

Just as the money was divided, her eldest brother returned. A fragrant aroma was now wafting from the chicken in the pot.

Lin Cuihua added the leftover mushrooms, potato vermicelli, and potatoes to the pot. Then, she lined the inside of the pot with a ring of flatbreads made from a mix of cornmeal and white flour and let it all continue to stew. This meal was truly a New Year’s-level feast.

"Time to eat!"

Lin Cuihua’s standard call to dinner rang out. But today, everyone in the An family was surprisingly quick to the table. It made An Ning wonder if something was wrong with her own body. ’Have I gotten slower?’

But the moment a large bowl of chicken was placed on the table, all such thoughts vanished. It smelled so good.

"An Guoping, take a bowl of this over to your great-uncle’s place."

"Okay!"

An Guoping took the bowl Lin Cuihua had already prepared and shot off like an arrow. As he ran, he carefully shielded the bowl with his hand. He knew that even if he himself got hurt in a fall, he couldn’t let any harm come to the meat.

No one in the An family touched their chopsticks. They all waited until An Guoping returned. Only then did An Sancheng pick up his chopsticks and say the single word, "Eat."

An Ning couldn’t wait. She immediately picked up a piece of meat. She had no idea what cut it was, only that it was tender and fragrant the moment it entered her mouth. The unique, savory flavor of the meat was delicious.

She loved it.

’Oh, right,’ she suddenly remembered. ’Back on the mountain, Second Brother was about to say something about the wild pheasant. Now I’m very interested in hearing what it was.’