Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Leftover Food
“Hmm, but I’m hungry,” Chuner said after a moment, looking pitiable.
Madam Xie and Xuexue did not go to the main hall to eat, and since Chuner was timid, she dared not go alone.
“Chuner, after your sister helps our mother apply the medicated oil, she’ll call you back to eat. Play by the door for a while, and don’t go far, understand?”
“Mmm, okay, then sister, please be quick.” After saying this, Chuner ran off to play by the front door.
“Xuexue, mother is fine, you should take Chuner to eat first. If you wait, they’ll have eaten everything, and you’ll go hungry again tonight,” Madam Xie said, enduring the pain in her body.
She could bear her own pain, but seeing her two daughters toss and turn in bed, unable to sleep because of hunger, pained Madam Xie’s heart.
“It’s alright, mother, let’s go back to our room and apply the medicated oil, that’s more important,” Xuexue insisted, disregarding Madam Xie’s objections and helping her back to the room to apply the medicated oil.
By the time Xuexue had finished applying the medicated oil to Madam Xie and came to the kitchen, indeed, not a scrap of leftover food remained. They had eaten it all, almost to the point of licking the plates clean.
“Sister, sister, I’m hungry, is it time to eat yet?” Chuner must have been unbearably hungry as she ran back inside from the outdoors and anxiously asked Xuexue upon seeing her.
Xuexue looked around only to find the kitchen bare, not even a green vegetable to be found.
Xuexue knew that Old Lady Mo had a cupboard in the kitchen to prevent them from stealing food, with eggs and cured meat locked inside it.
“Sister, is it time to eat yet? Chuner is hungry, so hungry that my stomach hurts.”
Chuner put her small hands on her flat little belly, looking at Xuexue with a pitiful gaze. She had smelled the delicious scent of the cured meat being cooked by mother earlier, but she could only swallow her saliva in want.
“Chuner, in a little bit, your sister will cook something delicious for you. For now, go back to our room and keep mother company for a while. In a bit, your sister will bring you something good to eat.”
“Sister, did they eat all the food again?” Chuner, though young, well understood such regular occurrences.
Unable to deceive the sensible Chuner, Xuexue reluctantly nodded.
“Then sister, don’t bother cooking. If grandmother finds out, she’ll beat and scold you again. It’s okay for us to go hungry tonight. In a little while, I’ll drink a few cups of cold water, and I won’t feel hungry,” Chuner said, like a little adult.
Xuexue felt a pang of sorrow hearing this. Chuner was so little, yet she had seen through the ways of the world.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, grandmother won’t find out,” Xuexue knelt down and comfortingly patted Chuner’s back, promising.
“Really?” Chuner was still not reassured.
“Sister swears,” Xuexue lifted three fingers in oath.
“Alright then, just be careful, sister.” Knowing she could not convince her sister, Chuner left for the room, looking back every few steps, filled with worry.
Xuexue looked at the cupboard lock and pulled a hairpin from her head, poking a few times at the keyhole…
With a “click,” the lock opened.
Upon opening the cupboard door, rows of eggs were neatly arranged inside, and several pounds of cured meat lay there, which Old Lady Mo seldom allowed them to eat, hoarded for future use.
Xuexue took six eggs and a strip of cured meat.
Then she meticulously locked the cupboard just as it had been before.
She quickly cleaned the pot and started the fire. She steamed a big bowl of egg custard and cooked the cured meat until tender. After chopping it into several large slices, she carried it back to the room in a basket.
“Chuner, Chuner, mother, come quickly, there’s something delicious!” As soon as Xuexue entered the room, she called out in a hushed voice.
“Wow, that smells great! Sister, what did you cook?” Chuner jumped down from the bed at once.