Reborn to Strive

    That evening, when Shi Zhen returned to Guan Baiyu’s home, the soybean and pigs tail stew had finished cooking, and smelled incredibly delicious.

    Shi Xinghuo was nearly drooling with hunger. He’d eaten lunch with his employer, whose family conditions weren’t too bad, but country folk for the most part hated to waste money on buying food, so there was never any meat. Occasionally they’d eat garlic greens with scrambled eggs, and such, but he remembered Shi Zhen’s explanation and didn’t dare to eat too much of the eggs.

    So the soybean and pigs tail stew smelled particularly good at this time.

    Shi Zhen ladled up two bowls of the stew, giving a bowl each to Guan Baiyu and Shi Xinghuo. While they were eating, he dished up the remainder of the stew, and cleaned the pot to cook some rice.

    Upon seeing this, Guan Baiyu went and lit the fire.

    Although Shi Zhen’s family was poor, when his mom was alive, she cooked. 

   After she died, his dad cooked for a time, then later it changed to his stepmom cooking. 

    When he was 18 years old in his last life, he didn’t know how to cook, and wasn’t interested in learning.

    He was still young at that time, and his hamlet was closed off from the world, and his mentality was still in the Qing Dynasty, always thinking that that kind of work was women’s job. He was a true man, and shouldn’t have to do it.

    He had long ago moved on from that attitude. Before his death, he lived alone for many years, and had developed some decent cooking skills.

    While the rice was cooking, Shi Zhen sliced pickled zhacai [mustard tuber] into julienned strips, and placed them in a bowl. He added water and placed it in the steaming basket. This way, when the rice was done, they’d also have some zhacai soup to go along.

    This was something his stepmom always made. His stepmom and Guan Baiyu alike used the steaming basket to cook another dish, making use of the steam from the rice.

    The salted vegetables and the zhacai were both made by Guan Baiyu. While his granny was still around, she taught him to make them. After she was gone, he made them himself. 

    Fortunately he had these cooking skills. The zhacai factory in the neighboring village had zhacai and zhacai leaves that they didn’t want, because they didn’t grow well, so he took them home to pickle, and was able to preserve enough to last him throughout the year.

    His foster parents raised vegetables, but he couldn’t go over and pick them, rather he himself collected greens here and there along the riverbank. Additionally, neighbors occasionally would give him things, so he had enough to eat.

    Just . . . he didn’t eat meat.

    When his granny was alive, he also never had enough to eat, so he was used to it.

    He didn’t know what his granny was like before, but from the time he could remember, she was only concerned with herself being able to eat and drink well. She didn’t allow her daughter in law, who was nursing a child, to eat meat, let alone the abandoned child she was raising.

    Guan Baiyu raised his head to look at Shi Zhen.

    When this cousin had appeared out of thin air, he initially had some apprehensions, but those had already transformed into reverence and awe.

    This person cherished him the most.

    While the three were eating, Shi Zhen said, “We don’t have enough firewood. I’ll go out to buy some.”

    Guan Baiyu heard, and hurriedly said, “I’ll go with you.”

    When Shi Zhen looked over at him, Guan Baiyu explained, “I know everyone around here. It’ll be more convenient if I follow you to buy the wood.”

    He’d had a difficult life, and inevitably some of the kids in the village taunted and made fun of him.

    But the majority of adults in the village felt sympathy for his lot, and didn’t despise him, especially since his grades were so good despite his difficult circumstances.

    Afterall, he never caused trouble for others, and his biological father had been brought up in the village.

    “I was going to go to Uncle Guan’s to buy . . .” Shi Zhen said.

    Guan Baiyu thought for a moment then said, “Uncle Guan doesn’t have firewood. Since Aunt Guan works at the factory, they don’t raise silkworms, and don’t have mulberry trees.”

    Before they got married, Guan Jianguo’s wife worked at the chemical fiber plant, and after she got pregnant, she took leave, but a year later, she went to work at the sofa factory.

    The sofa factory was a bit far, and had a three shift system. She didn’t come home to sleep, but stayed in the dormitory. Shi Zhen had never met her.

    She had a job, so naturally didn’t raise silkworms. To be honest, raising silkworms was tedious, requiring long hours and a lot of care, and after all that, only resulted in a little bit of money. 

    So the family rented their mulberry trees to someone else, in this case, Guan Baiyu’s foster parents were the ones who leased them.

    Guan Baiyu’s foster parents were very hard working. Every year they bought three or four flats of silk worm eggs — the villagers who raised silkworms all banded together to purchase the eggs in bulk. The eggs were shipped on sheets of paper laid flat.

    During the period of raising silkworms, the ground floor was covered, the upper floor was covered, everywhere was covered in silkworms. The three ate their meals and slept completely surrounded by silkworms.

    But even so, they didn’t earn much. Besides building a house and paying for a funeral, they had to pay for two children to attend school, and were so short of money they had to take out a loan.

    Of course, among the villagers, this situation wasn’t rare. For the sake of appearances, they took on debt to build their two story houses.

    Guan Baiyu took Shi Zhen to his foster parents’ house.

    It was Shi Zhen’s first time meeting Guan Baiyu’s foster parents.

    He originally thought that when he had a little money, he’d buy a gift and visit them. Unfortunately, he was broke. He could only offer a bowl of soybean and pigtail stew. 

    Fortunately, Guan Guangguo didn’t care.

    If Guan Baiyu’s grandparents came over, they would certainly be displeased. Afterall, they had raised this child for them.

    But Shi Zhen was Guan Baiyu’s maternal cousin. According to Guan Baiyu, his mom had already died, and Shi Zhen’s mom had also passed . . . would they still be able to make a fuss?

    Hearing that Guan Baiyu wanted to buy mulberry twigs, Guan Guangguo grabbed a bundle and handed it to him, “I don’t need your money.”

    Zhang Xiumei was displeased, “Other people need to pay, why are you trying to be charitable now?”

    Zhang Xiumei picked up a few bundles of the sticks and told Guan Baiyu, “One yuan.”

    Shi Zhen was just about to take out his money, when Guan Baiyu handed Zhang Xiumei an RMB.

    Upon seeing this, Zhang Xiumei snickered.

    She just knew it, that old lady had definitely given her stash to Guan Baiyu.

    Obviously her daughter was a Guan family member, but that old woman was only concerned about Guan Baiyu.

    Guan Baiyu didn’t say anything, but divided the firewood between himself and Shi Zhen, and took it back home, setting it beside his bed.

    His house was so small that he had to store his rice, firewood, etc. next to his bed.

    They finished carrying the wood inside but the entrance to Guan Baiyu’s foster father’s house remained open, unlike normally when they’d close up early. And Guan Guangguo was rolling a giant vat back over from the neighbor’s house. 

    “What is that for?” Shi Zhen asked.

    Guan Baiyu said, “Someone’s come to butcher the pigs.”

    Someone really had come to butcher the pigs.

    Despite everything, the villagers usually had a lot of leisure time. They all knew that Guan Guangguo had invited someone over to butcher the pigs, and they all came over to watch, and to ask him for the pig blood. 

    Guan Guangguo answered, “Wait and I’ll give you all a bowl.”

    It wasn’t long before the butcher arrived. Seeing who it was, Shi Zhen was surprised — it was the same vendor he’d bought pork from that morning.

    Of course, he didn’t come alone. In all, there were three people who arrived.

    As soon as they arrived, they went to the back of Guan Guangguo’s house to pull the pigs from the pigsty. A few tough guys forcibly dragged the squealing pigs out, pressed them on a bench, to prepare for the slaughter.

    Actually, it was more convenient to kill the pigs directly on the ground, but they hated to waste the pigs blood, so they used the bench to hold the pigs up, and they could collect the blood more easily.

    Pigs blood was a desirable food, as eating it could build one’s blood . . . Guan Baiyu was clearly malnourished, and likely anemic.

    Shi Zhen thought about buying some pig blood, and didn’t forget to take advantage of the opportunity to buy some meat, too.