Zhu Xiuxiu, who was stunned for quite a while, finally came to her senses. She turned to see Xiaosuisui bouncing around, enthusiastically praising her. Zhu Xiuxiu’s heart took a massive blow.
"Suisui! We have to go home now."
When they left, the old lady had told Zhu Xiuxiu to bring the little girl home early for a nap.
"Miss, wait up!"
Yanchen’s mother hurriedly stopped Zhu Xiuxiu.
"This wild boar was killed by you, so by rights, it’s yours."
A plump wild boar. Just thinking about the juicy, red meat that would come from it makes her mouth water.
But... someone else had risked their life to kill it too.
"This..."
Unknowingly, Zhu Xiuxiu found herself looking at Xiaosuisui.
Xiaosuisui was staring at the boar’s stomach. Zhu Xiuxiu smacked her forehead. If her precious child doesn’t get to eat this boar meat today, will I be struck by lightning?
"Suisui, do you want to eat boar meat?"
Xiaosuisui nodded vigorously, "Eat, eat, eat!"
"Third Aunt, the pink intestines are so yummy!"
Thinking of the intestines she ate the night before, she couldn’t help but salivate.
"Pink intestines?"
Yanchen’s mother was a bit puzzled.
"Oh! It’s the pork intestines. We slaughtered a pig at our home yesterday. She ate a whole bowl of them."
Feeling a little embarrassed, Zhu Xiuxiu entered the courtyard with Yanchen’s mother to wash their faces.
"My name is Wu Yixiu. What’s your name, miss?"
"What a coincidence! My name is Zhu Xiuxiu! Both of our names have ’Xiu’ in them!"
"Such a coincidence, it must be destiny!"
Thanks to their similar names, Zhu Xiuxiu and Wu Yixiu chatted in the house for a while. When they came out, they were both dumbfounded.
"Hold it down, hold it down, don’t move, don’t move. I’m about to slice it off!"
"Hold it steady, hold it steady, catch these intestines!"
Outside, Xiaosuisui and Zhou Yanchen were dismembering the boar, one holding the large intestines and the other wielding a butcher’s knife.
"Stop!"
Zhu Xiuxiu’s heart jumped, and she felt utterly awful. The one holding the butcher’s knife was none other than her little darling, Li Suisui!
The sight of her four-and-a-half-year-old child wielding a butcher’s knife almost as tall as her was...
"What... what are you doing?"
Wu Yixiu clutched her chest, her heart feeling like it was about to leap out.
Xiaosuisui and Zhou Yanchen turned their heads, grinning widely. "We’re cutting the meat!"
The two mischievous children were grinning from ear to ear; their faces couldn’t have looked happier.
They turned back and continued their work.
"Stop!"
Zhu Xiuxiu cautiously approached them, step by trembling step.
"Don’t move, whatever you do, don’t move."
When she finally reached Xiaosuisui, she snatched the butcher’s knife from her hand and let out a huge sigh of relief.
"My goodness, you little devil, you scared me half to death!"
Wu Yixiu also rushed over. When she saw the mangled pig leg and her son clutching a bundle of pig intestines, her vision went dark, and she almost fainted.
Zhu Xiuxiu was quick to catch her.
"Are you all right?"
Wu Yixiu pounded her chest. "Do I look like I’m all right to you?"
She wanted to cry, but more than that, she felt distressed.
"Alright, it’s over, nothing happened," Zhu Xiuxiu comforted her. "Let’s clean up this mess first!"
The pig legs had been butchered without being dehaired. They were taken out one by one to be scraped before the internal organs were cleaned.
It wasn’t until later, when she saw the little girl carrying a big bowl and staring eagerly at the pink, tender intestines, that Zhu Xiuxiu realized.
"Suisui, don’t tell your Third Aunt that you cut open the pig’s stomach just for this bowl of intestines?"
Xiaosuisui blinked. "Tasty!"
"You little foodie!"
Carrying Xiaosuisui and a bowl of tender pork intestines, Zhu Xiuxiu was still dazed by the time she got home, as though she had overlooked something.
「At Zhou Yanchen’s house」
Wu Yixiu sold what wild boar meat she could. What she couldn’t sell, she gave to close acquaintances. Then she cooked a big pot of plainly boiled boar meat.
It wasn’t until after dinner that she had time to wonder, how could such a little child have the strength to butcher a pig’s leg?