"Let’s go, thank you for your guidance, Liu Shenpo. Come back with me, and I’ll get you the money," Zhang Juyun said.
"Alright! Alright!" Liu Shenpo agreed readily.
Not long after the three of them left An Hao’s place, they encountered An Ping who had just returned from school, his hands clutching something tightly bound in a woven bag.
Seeing Song Yueqin, An Ping was reminded of how she had bullied his sister An Hao, and he passed by her without even giving her a glance.
With his things in hand, he arrived at An Hao’s home and, finding no one there, he used the key to open the door.
The peach blossoms in the courtyard were beginning to fade, their withered petals strewn all around. An Ping tossed what he was holding to the ground, threw his school bag onto the kang bed inside, grabbed a broom, and began sweeping the yard.
He had only swept half of it when An Hao arrived home.
Seeing that An Ping was back and working, she walked over with a smile, "Our An Ping has really grown up, looking out for his sister like that."
"That’s right," An Ping patted his chest, "From now on, I’ll protect you. You won’t be alone anymore."
"Well done. I haven’t doted on you for nothing," An Hao said as she placed the school bag back inside, washed her hands, rolled up her sleeves, and came out, "I’ll make you steamed white rice tonight."
"Eh. Alright, sis," An Ping jumped for joy, three feet into the air.
He liked eating with An Hao because she was a good cook, and her meals were delicious.
She had no income right now, but An Ping occasionally brought things from An Shuchao’s house, and while Bai Xue let him do so without question, Zhang Juyun could only watch helplessly.
An Hao got ready to steam the rice and also chopped up the only bunch of spinach they had in preparation for cooking.
An Ping came in, throwing the thing he was holding down in front of An Hao: "Sis, guess what good stuff I brought back for you?"
"You’ve brought back something tasty?" An Hao was skeptical. She put down the knife she was using to chop vegetables and went to untie the woven bag, and as soon as she opened it, she was hit with a powerful stench of feces.
She pinched her nose and disdainfully peered inside, spotting a big paper package within.
"What is this?" An Hao held her breath and used a stick she picked up from the ground to pry open the paper package.
When she opened it, she saw it was a set of pig intestines.
And it was pig intestines still filled with feces.
"An Ping, where did you get this?" An Hao couldn’t help but ask.
"Someone gave it to me. A few days ago, I saw a group of kids fighting, three big ones were picking on one small one. So I stepped in to help out, playing the hero. Just so happens the kid’s dad saw me helping his son. The kid’s dad was right in the middle of butchering a pig and insisted on giving me a piece of meat as thanks. Sis, how could I accept that from him?"
"And then what happened?" An Hao asked, all ears.
"He insisted on giving it to me, but I firmly declined. Then he said, how about this—the pig intestines are actually quite tasty, just a bit dirty. I don’t want to deal with the hassle of cleaning them, so you take them. So, I brought them back," An Ping explained.
After hearing this, An Hao laughingly burst out, "They were probably worried you wouldn’t accept it and said that on purpose. Pig intestines might look gross, but they are good stuff once they’re cleaned up."
"Sis, shall we cook this tonight?" An Ping was really craving it; he trusted his sister’s culinary skills completely.
An Hao looked at the stinky, feces-covered intestines and shook her head, "Let’s not fuss with it now. Just throw it into the water and soak it for the time being. This thing needs to soak for at least a day before it can be eaten."
An Hao glanced at the pig intestines and nodded her head, "Okay then. I’ll come over and eat it tomorrow night!"