The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 74

Chapter 74: Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs

Nourished by love, Lin Shuang was exceptionally motivated at work today. Ah Lai, the young apprentice who was her partner, couldn’t help but tease, “Miss Lin, what good thing happened today? You look so pleased with yourself.”

Lin Shuang subconsciously touched her face. “Is it that obvious?”

Realizing her slip of the tongue, she smiled. “We just bought two pigs at home. We’ll have pork for the new year. I’m happy.”

For someone who had lived two lives, answering such a question was a piece of cake. A little white lie would only make their relationship more harmonious.

Ah Lai was also from a poor family. Hearing this, he smiled. “That’s great. Our family also raised a pig for the new year this year.”

Jiang Huaizhen arrived at the second quarter of the Hour of the Monkey(3 PM to 5 PM). After she arrived, she went straight to the roasting room. With a knock on the door, Lin Shuang came out.

The two of them’s gazes met, and they couldn’t help but quickly look away.

Lin Shuang’s gaze swept over the other’s flushed earlobes. While her heart was sweet, her confidence also grew. After all, she had lived two lives. Was she still afraid of an eighteen-year-old girl?

Seeing the things on the chair behind her, she asked, “Did you go shopping?”

Jiang Huaizhen nodded. “Didn’t you promise Ping’er this morning that you would buy her milk candy and pastries? I was afraid you would be too busy later, so I went and bought them first.”

Seeing how considerate and thoughtful she was, Lin Shuang couldn’t hold back any longer and sidled up to her. “Jiang Huaizhen, you’re so good.”

Jiang Huaizhen raised her hand and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “Go and get busy. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Lin Shuang hummed in agreement and then turned back to the roasting room.

After another hour of work, she had finally finished today’s tasks. Just as she was packing up to leave, she heard laughter from outside. She came out and saw that it was Xue Luan.

She was talking to Jiang Huaizhen.

Seeing Lin Shuang come out, Xue Luan pouted. “Sister Shuang, Sister Huaizhen is too good. She even came to pick you up.”

Lin Shuang smiled. “She went to the city to buy things and came here on the way to wait for me to go back together.”

“It’s been three days of being on the way,” Xue Luan clicked her tongue a couple of times. “If there was someone who was willing to come and pick me up every day, I would marry him no matter what.”

Ah Lai, who was next to her, smiled. “Miss Huaizhen is a woman. No matter how considerate she is, you can’t marry her.”

“Why not?” Xue Luan raised her chin. “As long as Sister Huaizhen is willing, I’ll marry her right now.”

Lin Shuang glanced at Jiang Huaizhen and joked, “Look at your face. How many romantic encounters has it brought you?”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “A face can’t be eaten. They’ll know when they grow up.”

Xue Luan said exaggeratedly, “How can a face not be eaten? Looking at this face, I can eat an extra bowl of rice at a meal.”

Just as she finished speaking, a voice came from outside. “You already eat enough at a meal. If you eat another bowl of rice, who knows how fat you’ll get.”

Hearing this, Xue Luan stomped her feet repeatedly and called out “Mother” in embarrassment.

Lin Shuang smiled. “Mrs. Xue is here.”

Mrs. Xue came with an old woman. As soon as she entered, she said to Lin Shuang, “It’s a good thing you’re here to help. The apothecary has finally been able to operate normally these few days. You two don’t have to go back to the village tonight. You can come to our house for dinner.”

Lin Shuang was only thinking of being with Jiang Huaizhen at this moment and smiled as she refused. “You’re too kind, madam. My grandmother has already prepared dinner at home. We have to go back today.”

With an old person waiting at home, Mrs. Xue couldn’t insist. She could only smile and say, “Alright then. We have a long future ahead of us. I won’t force you to eat this one meal today. How is Huaizhen’s wound? If she still needs medicine, you can have Old Yang write a prescription. Whatever medicine you need, you can just take it yourself. There’s also ginseng in the medicine storeroom. I’ll tell Shopkeeper He later—”

Jiang Huaizhen quickly interrupted, “Doctor Xue has already sent some ginseng before. I’ve been drinking the decoction these few days, and the wound has already healed. I haven’t had a chance to thank him in person. Now that it’s all healed, and medicinal herbs are precious, it’s better to leave it for those who need it.”

Mrs. Xue sighed. “What are you being so polite with me for? You saved so many people in this flood. No amount of ginseng is too much.”

Seeing that the two of them wouldn’t accept it, she had no choice but to say, “It’s getting late. I won’t keep you any longer. Go on back, so the old lady doesn’t get anxious waiting at home.”

Only then did the two of them take their leave, take their things to the stable, and ride home.

On the horse’s back, Lin Shuang leaned in Jiang Huaizhen’s arms and said, “Let’s go and look at houses in a couple of days when we have time. With a small courtyard in the city, we won’t have to worry about them closing the city gates at night. When we’ve settled down, we can bring Grandma and Ping’er over, and they can live wherever they want.”

Jiang Huaizhen was sitting behind her, her nose filled with the faint medicinal fragrance from her body. She replied warmly, “Alright. I’ll listen to you.”

…

When they got home, Ping’er heard the sound of horse hooves and ran out of the room.

Lin Shuang was afraid that Jing Lei would step on her, so she reined in the horse from a distance. The black, one-eyed steed strode forward, and Lin Shuang dismounted, untying a large package from the horse’s back.

“Come on, take your milk candy and taro cakes.”

Ping’er skipped over and took the two small packages from Lin Shuang’s hand.

“Auntie is so good.”

“Go, give some to Grandma too.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Huaizhen dismounted, led Jing Lei to the stable, and Lin Shuang carried the remaining things toward the door.

Old Madam Jiang was sitting at the door, watching them, and asked, “What good things did you buy?”

Ping’er came forward to present her treasures, and Lin Shuang lifted the things in her hand. “I bought some pork ribs and three kinds of pork offal.”

“How are you going to cook the pork ribs?”

“How does Grandma want to eat them?”

“Can you make something sweet? My mouth is a little bitter. I want to eat something sweet.”

“Why not? We’ll make sweet and sour pork ribs, a soup with the three kinds of offal, and a stir-fried vegetable dish will be enough.”

Lin Shuang had originally wanted to make braised pork ribs, but the two were not that different. The old woman wanted to eat something sweet, and the little one at home also loved sweet things, so she would make it sweet.

With that, she took the ingredients to the kitchen.

The three kinds of pork offal she had bought this time were pork, pork liver, and chitterlings. The chitterlings had to be washed carefully, and the pork ribs had to be chopped into small pieces and soaked in water to remove the blood.

Just as she had washed the rice, Jiang Huaizhen came in, washed her hands, and said, “I’ll chop the pork ribs.”

Lin Shuang’s hands did not stop. “Your hand is not yet fully healed. If you get your hands oily, you’ll have to wash them again and again. Go and light a fire.”

Jiang Huaizhen did not insist and turned to go to the stove to light a fire.

Lin Shuang was busy. Until now, she still felt as if she were in a dream.

This person was hers now.

In their past life, one of them had had a drastic change in personality, and the other was crippled. They had depended on each other in this valley, and in the end, one had committed suicide, and the other’s fate was unknown. But now, they had become a couple.

Jiang Huaizhen had added firewood to the stove, stood up, and walked behind her. “What vegetables are you going to cook tonight? I’ll go and pick them.”

“Cabbage will be fine,” Lin Shuang replied. “And pick some yellowed leaves to feed the pigs.”

Old Madam Jiang’s health had improved these few days, and she couldn’t sit still. In the morning, she would take Ping’er out to pick wild vegetables for the pigs and also to feed the rabbits. But how could wild vegetables compare to the tender cabbage?

Jiang Huaizhen agreed, her arm brushing against her shoulder as she went out the back door to the vegetable garden.

Lin Shuang was now in the throes of first love. Being lightly bumped by her arm, her heart fluttered for a long time.

Ping’er had run in at some point, pounced on her from behind, and hugged her thigh, holding a piece of milk candy and tiptoeing to put it in her mouth.

“Auntie, have some candy.”

Lin Shuang bent down and took the candy.

“Auntie, is it sweet?”

“Sweet. But you can only have one today. We’ll have sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner, which is also sweet.”

Ping’er nodded and asked, “Can I give some to Dahua and Xiaohua?”

“The candy is yours now. Of course, you can decide for yourself.”

Hearing her say this, Ping’er was happy and skipped out.

Lin Shuang chopped the pork ribs and put them in the pot to boil.

Jiang Huaizhen came in with a cabbage.

“Leave it. I’ll wash it,” Lin Shuang said without looking up, the spatula in her hand stirring in the iron pot.

Jiang Huaizhen hummed in agreement and walked to her side.

“How long do you cook it?” her voice seemed a little lower than usual.

Lin Shuang forced herself not to turn to look at her. “Just cook it for a little while after the water boils.”

The two of them were standing very close. Jiang Huaizhen suddenly asked, “Did you have candy?”

Lin Shuang hadn’t expected this person to be able to smell it. Her face turned a little red, and her voice unconsciously softened. “Do you want some?”

Hearing this, Jiang Huaizhen’s eyes were fixed on her lips.

Being looked at like this by her, a sudden impulse rose in Lin Shuang’s heart, and she turned and moved closer.

Jiang Huaizhen was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.

Her body leaned over, and her thin lips also pressed against hers.

“Mmm…” Lin Shuang couldn’t help but let out a soft hum.

Just as her lips parted, the other’s tongue took the opportunity to enter and gently hook.

The milk candy that had been in her mouth was thus hooked away by the other.

By the time she came to her senses, Jiang Huaizhen had already straightened up as if nothing had happened and had turned to go to the door, her back elegant, as if the person who had just snatched the food from her mouth was not her.

Lin Shuang stood there in a daze.

So this was what it felt like to have your tongues touch.

The moment they touched, the tremor spread to the tip of her heart, making her heart pound.

The flames in the stove crackled, and her cheeks felt hot. She took a deep breath, lowered her head to scoop water to wash the vegetables, but her fingers were trembling slightly, and she had to wash a vegetable leaf several times before she put it in the basket.

It was hot, and the front of the stove was steaming, like a steamer.

First, she made a soup with the three kinds of pork offal, then the sweet and sour pork ribs.

By the time the last dish of stir-fried cabbage was ready, Jiang Huaizhen had already moved the table and chairs and was standing at the door of the main hall, watching her.

Old Madam Jiang sat down first, and Ping’er trotted over to help get the chopsticks.

After Lin Shuang and Jiang Huaizhen had served the old and the young, they sat down together and began to eat.

They had had sweet and sour fish at home before, but this was the first time they had had sweet and sour pork ribs. Old Madam Jiang took a piece, took a bite, and it was sweet. She was very satisfied.

“This is delicious. There are no bones. The sweet sauce with rice, I can eat a large bowl of rice.”

Children had a natural resistance to sweets, and Ping’er also chimed in, “Delicious, delicious—everything Aunt Shuang makes is delicious.”

Only Jiang Huaizhen sat there, eating with her head down without a word.

Lin Shuang’s peripheral vision glanced over, and her heart couldn’t help but think of the scene at the stove just now. Her heart couldn’t calm down at all. It wasn’t until Ping’er, who was next to her, shook her arm that she came to her senses and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Grandma is asking if Auntie is still going to the city tomorrow.”

“I am. I have to go for this period of time, but I can come back earlier at night.”

She had always been decisive in her actions and had earned so much money for the family. Old Madam Jiang never dared to interfere with her actions.

A few days ago, she had been suspicious that she had found someone outside and had lost her heart to this family. But today, she seemed to be fine, and there was no sign of anything unusual. The old woman’s worried heart was finally at ease.

After dinner, it was not yet dark. The family finished cleaning up and sat at the door to cool off. But they saw a few people coming from the road at the entrance of the valley, with the sound of children’s laughter.

Old Madam Jiang’s ears were very sharp. She stood up on her tiptoes and looked in that direction, muttering, “Is Dongzhi here? And who is that…”

Hearing that Dongzhi was here, Ping’er let out a cry of excitement, twisted her body, and ran in that direction.

Soon, a few little girls came running back, holding hands.

Dongzhi was also nine years old this year and was very wild. Especially after she had gone to the prefectural city with Lin Shuang and the others, she had become the king of the children in the village. No matter where she went, there would be five or six children following her, and she was very majestic.

Ping’er was naturally also one of her followers.

Because of Lin Shuang and the others’ relationship, Dongzhi took good care of Ping’er, and the other children also let her have her way. The little girl, who had been bullied by the children in the village half a year ago and had nowhere to cry, had now finally integrated into the circle of children.

Two or three children were running in front, and two old women were following behind.

A closer look revealed that it was Matron Yan and the old grandmother of Dongzi’s family from the village entrance, Old Woman Hai. The two old ladies were chatting and laughing as they walked toward the Jiang family.

Old Madam Jiang’s attitude toward Matron Yan had not been very good before, but she couldn’t stand being without a companion. Now that Matron Yan was willing to associate with her, how could she push her away? After a while, they also started to chat.

Seeing the two old women come over, she stood up and greeted them, trembling. “Why are you here at this time? We’ve just finished eating. If you had come earlier, we could have eaten together.”

Matron Yan said, “We don’t have any rice at home. We’re still coming to your house to eat.”

Old Madam Jiang sneered. “I don’t know if you have any rice at home, but this year, our family didn’t waste a single grain of rice in the fields and let it be soaked by the water.”

Matron Yan’s face stiffened. Her family had only harvested half, and there were still seven mu of land left. But on the day it had just rained, her old man had gritted his teeth and made a decision to rush to harvest in the rain no matter what. After they came back, they had quickly dried it.

After all this, they had managed to save all the grain in the fields.

As soon as the rain stopped, they had quickly dried it, and they had only lost about a hundred catties of rice. But compared to others, it was much better.

Old Woman Hai, who was next to her, quickly came to her rescue. “Our family has little land. It’s a good thing we listened to Shuang’er and harvested it all. My foolish son was originally unwilling to listen, but he was dealt with by my old man, and only then did he become obedient. Later, when the flood came, and he heard Little Jiang and Shuang’er say that they were going to save people, he went without a second thought.”

Matron Yan quickly said, “Our Dalang and Erlang also went and saved a lot of people.”

“Our little loss is nothing. You don’t know, Mancang and Wasong’s families are the ones who are really miserable,” Old Woman Hai said.

“At that time, when Shuang’er was taken away by the yamen, Ma Guihua and Old Woman Hao were so excited. They told everyone that they were fools and didn’t harvest a single grain of rice.”

“Later, after it had been raining for three or four days, they realized that something was wrong and hurriedly asked people to help harvest. But every family’s fields were also in a mess, and no one was willing to help.”

“Lin Mancang blamed Ma Guihua, saying that she had told her to harvest before, but she hadn’t. She had been in the fields for two days in the rain and had said she was sick and wouldn’t do it anymore. Of the eight mu of land, they had only harvested two in the rain, and the remaining six had been soaked in water.”

“Later, when the rain stopped and the sun came out, it all sprouted.”

“Old Woman Hao’s family was the same. Seeing that it was raining, they were anxious, but what was the use? Wasong was drunk all day, leaving his sixty-year-old mother to harvest the rice in the rain. Even a dog would shake its head at the sight.”

“It’s a good thing you bought Ping’er. If she were still there, who knows how she would have been beaten by Old Woman Hao these few days.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, she even said that she wanted to find a new wife for Wasong. Looking at this mess, which girl from a good family would be willing to marry into such a family, and to a cripple at that?”

“Hengtou’s legs are also not good, but isn’t he still working and supporting his family? For someone like Wasong, even if he were able-bodied, you couldn’t expect him to do anything.”

“That Ma Guihua, at a time like this, hasn’t learned her lesson at all. Her mouth is like it’s been dipped in poison, and she’s still cursing at home all day.”

“Cursing is one thing, but after this, no one will listen to her anymore.”

On the drying yard in front of the main door, the snacks and pastries they had bought during the day were piled on a small stool next to it.

A few old women were gathered together, whispering, their voices low, but they were even more lively than the group of chattering little girls next to them.

Lin Shuang sat to one side, holding a handful of snacks and occasionally taking a bite. But her mind was not on these things. She turned her head slightly, her peripheral vision glancing to the side.

The person was sitting upright.

Their sleeves were touching.

The old women were talking animatedly, and no one was paying attention to them. Lin Shuang’s fingertips moved, and she slipped them into her sleeve, gently hooking Jiang Huaizhen’s finger.

Jiang Huaizhen’s body clearly stiffened but did not pull away.

Lin Shuang was satisfied and stood up. “I’m going to feed the pigs.”

Jiang Huaizhen didn’t move.

It was only after her figure had disappeared behind the house that she slowly stood up and walked through the main hall toward the kitchen.

Matron Yan watched the two of them leave one after the other and said to Old Madam Jiang, “After Shuang’er left the Lin family, she’s become more and more beautiful. Now, everyone in and out of the village says she’s a lucky star. You don’t know how much Lin Mancang regrets it now. He fights with Ma Guihua every few days, cursing her for forcing Shuang’er away.”

Old Madam Jiang spat. “He still has the face to mention it? Wasn’t it the two of them who came up with the idea of selling Shuang’er? Now he knows how to absolve himself. Pah, what a thing!”

“No one believes what the couple says now. Everyone is just waiting to see them make a fool of themselves.”

“Pah, they deserve it!”