Chapter 60: Refined Piggy

After getting home, Huang Wei began making the pickled cabbage.

It was actually quite simple to make. The amount of salt determined the production time and storage duration. Less salt meant a shorter pickling time. More salt meant a longer production time, but also extended how long it could be stored.

Huang Wei didn’t plan on waiting a long time to eat it, and Cheng Luyun also didn’t want to wait that long.

Generally, pickled cabbage needed about a month to pickle, depending on the weather and region. But to eat it sooner, Huang Wei deliberately used less salt. She estimated about seven days until the first batch was ready.

The mustard greens had already been washed; only the process remained. She first lit the earth stove and boiled a pot of water.

When the water was bubbling and boiling, she placed the large basin of mustard greens in. They mustn’t be cooked for long—just a short while, about three minutes, then removed. This step wasn’t to cook them, but to soften them.

Freshly washed mustard greens were crisp. If placed directly into a container, the leaves would break. If they all broke inside the glass jar, the resulting pickled cabbage wouldn’t be good.

Back in the day, her adoptive mother was the best pickler in and around the village. Having made pickled cabbage with her for so many years, Huang Wei knew the process like the back of her hand.

After blanching the greens for a short while, she judged they were about ready and pulled them all out, setting them aside. She also poured out the water used for blanching into a large stainless-steel basin, setting it aside to cool in the shade. The weather was getting hot; it could only be cooled in the shade and would take quite a while.

Using this free time, she went to the backyard to check on the pig.

Earlier, Cheng Luyun had said she’d cook the pig slop. While Huang Wei was glad to have one less chore, she suspected the pig might not appreciate it. When she reached the backyard, the pig’s trough held what looked like very proper pig feed.

It looked much better than what Huang Wei had made yesterday. Such refined piggy feed for such a refined little piggy.

It’s just that the refined little piggy didn’t seem satisfied. Seeing Huang Wei, it immediately oinked a few times.

She recalled her first day here, when the pig ate Cheng Luyun’s leftovers without much fuss. Yet now, it didn’t want Cheng Luyun’s cooking.

Back during the first instance cycle, the pig had eaten Cheng Luyun’s leftovers so happily that she couldn’t tell if it was actually a living pig or not. Now, she still couldn’t tell, because later on, even Huang Chengcheng stopped liking Cheng Luyun’s cooking. She looked at piggy, piggy looked at her. She looked at the pig feed, piggy nosed at the pig feed.

“You…” She hesitated, wanting to say something. After all, today’s pig slop was made by Cheng Luyun. If it didn’t eat it properly, tonight’s dinner might be the Pig Slaughter Feast. Just as she was about to offer piggy some heartfelt advice to “behave yourself,” a call of “Brother Wei!” from Cheng Luyun summoned her back to the front yard.

“Brother Wei, what were you doing?”

Cheng Luyun had a small basket in hand, filled with quite a few vegetables. The kitchen’s supply, which should have run out after three days of consumption, mysteriously replenished itself daily. She hadn’t known where they came from before, but now she saw Cheng Luyun putting on an act, carrying a little basket of vegetables inside.

Huang Wei looked down at the basket. That size couldn’t possibly have held today’s pile of mustard greens. Clearly, the vegetables entered the kitchen by other means.

In response to the question, she answered honestly. “I went to the backyard to check on the pig.”

“Checked on it? How is it?”

She thought for a moment, then replied very honestly and sincerely. “Very fat. Would definitely make a delicious Pig Slaughter Feast.” If piggy knew what she was saying in front of Cheng Luyun… it would probably want to rush out and headbutt her: Is this what you meant by ‘behave yourself’?

At the mention of the Pig Slaughter Feast, even Cheng Luyun’s eyes lit up. Anyone who grew up in the countryside loved a Pig Slaughter Feast—that real abundance of meat.

After moving to the city, having too much meat might feel greasy. But back in the countryside, working from dawn till dusk without a moment’s rest, you were utterly exhausted. Yet if you could eat a table full of meat dishes, no matter how tired or bitter, everyone’s face lit up with joy.

Cheng Luyun’s eyes curved into a smile. “Brother Wei wants to make a Pig Slaughter Feast? That big fat pig has been raised a long time. We could render a lot of lard too.”

She nodded, rolling up her sleeves to get back to making pickled cabbage, and said to Cheng Luyun, “We’ll do it next time.”

This displeased Cheng Luyun. Last night’s issue hadn’t been settled yet, and here she was again, making her unhappy. Couldn’t she say something nice? Her blunt honesty was infuriating. Her displeasure seeped into her voice, the gentle tone gone. “Why next time? I say choose an auspicious day; today is just fine.”

Not seeing Cheng Luyun’s expression but hearing her voice, Huang Wei knew she was in a bad mood. She hesitated before saying, “That pig is fat. Our family can’t eat it all.”

Cheng Luyun froze. She really wanted to say that yes, they could. She and Huang Chengcheng together, they could eat a lot.

But the image of Huang Wei making them take a bath earlier surfaced. She’d said she had no smell and was even fragrant, but who knew what she really thought? What if she actually found her smell unpleasant? Cheng Luyun had never suffered such indignity. Huang Wei claimed to like her, yet constantly made her feel frustrated.

If she said now she could eat it all, would Huang Wei give her an incredibly shocked look, thinking eating that much was just too much? Might she even secretly glance at her, thinking she’d get fat from eating so much?

Just the thought of it made Cheng Luyun’s skin crawl. She was very particular about her appearance. That’s why she preferred good-looking things. Her tolerance for Huang Wei this long had something to do with her looks. If she were ugly, she would have been swatted away the first time she got close. Her gender had something to do with it too. If she were a man, she wouldn’t even let her get close.

Things developing like this was completely unexpected. A person like her, so concerned with beauty, if she were called fat by a pretty girl… she would be truly devastated.

Cheng Luyun struggled, hesitating to speak, but ultimately said nothing. She just angrily placed the vegetable basket in the kitchen and stormed back out.

When Huang Wei came out of the kitchen, she had already moved on to the next step. The water in the basin had cooled. She added salt and stirred. Then she went to the storage room and found several large glass jars. She bundled the prepared mustard greens and placed them in the jars. Once filled, she poured in the saltwater.

After the saltwater covered the greens, she sealed the jars.

The jars, full of mustard greens, were incredibly heavy. They needed to be moved deep into the utility room, a task that felt like it would break her back. Unable to manage, she came out looking for Cheng Luyun to help. But Cheng Luyun was clearly still angry. Huang Wei guessed she was mad about being kissed yesterday and wanted to see her struggle, so Cheng Luyun just watched, wanting Huang Wei to move the jars alone.

But Huang Chengcheng was a good child, usually very considerate of her. She came running over, pitter-patter. “Daddy, Daddy, I’ll move them!” Without a second word, she easily lifted a jar with her small hands and carried it to the spot she pointed out.

Huang Wei gave her a thumbs-up and patted her head.

With the flower crown on her head, Huang Chengcheng grinned, utterly delighted. After the praise, Huang Chengcheng ran over to Cheng Luyun, wanting praise from her too. But not only did Cheng Luyun not want to praise her, she felt like giving her little bottom a few swats.

Chengcheng looked up at her expectantly. Cheng Luyun had no choice but to bend down too and pat her head.

Huang Chengcheng smiled even more happily. But looking up, she noticed Cheng Luyun wasn’t wearing a flower crown. She asked softly, “Mommy, where’s your flower crown?” As she asked, she touched the little yellow flowers on her own crown.

The hand patting her head paused, then withdrew.

“I need to work. Wearing it gets in the way. I put it away first.”

Only then did she pout and say, “Okay.”

The flower crown had been put away, but not because it was inconvenient for work. It was because flowers eventually withered. Better to preserve it now, while it’s in full bloom, so she could see it later. She rarely received gifts from others, let alone sincere ones. She found it novel, so she treasured it.

She had to keep this from Huang Wei. If Huang Wei knew Cheng Luyun treasured the flower crown she gave her, Huang Wei would be absolutely insufferable.

The morning’s pickled cabbage was finished, and soon it was almost ten o’clock. She took Huang Chengcheng to herd the ducks back home. Around noon, the weather got hot, and the water surface temperature would rise. Even big ducks couldn’t stand it, let alone ducklings. So they had to bring them home before it got too hot.

Both wearing straw hats, they held hands, big and small, and headed toward the pond.

Along the way, villagers who had been busy all morning were also heading home. Their work schedule was quite regular, just like when they were alive.

Although forced to do farm work, the villagers didn’t labor under the scorching midday sun.

In this aspect, Huang Wei found Cheng Luyun quite contradictory.

Her earlier analysis suggested Cheng Luyun and the Huang Family villagers weren’t on the same side. There was bad blood, perhaps even antagonism, between them. Maybe the villagers had done something to her, which was why she made them farm every day even now, after they were dead ghosts. But aside from this, she hadn’t punished them further, nor given them excessively heavy labor.

If she had a grudge against the villagers, she’d definitely make them work from dawn till dusk without a moment’s rest.

Huang Wei was sometimes mischievously wicked. As she greeted the villagers, in her mind she pictured herself cracking a little whip to make them run. Walking on the field ridges, her eyes drifted to the fields. These villagers were always doing the same repetitive labor. Such a waste of the land. This perfectly warm weather… wouldn’t it be a shame not to plant some fruit trees?

Looking at the bare fields before her, she felt a strong urge.

Piggy: Danger!