Chapter 2: 2 Little Gluttonous Cats
As he walked out of the room, he ran right into his younger brother and sister, who had been hiding under the window eavesdropping. When Xu An spotted them, they shrieked and scattered in a panic, running frantically around the courtyard. As they ran, they shouted, "Big Brother’s coming! Big Brother is so scary!"
Xu An laughed and playfully scolded them a bit, then he went back to his room to find some clean clothes.
In high school, everyone wore a uniform: two sets of short-sleeved shirts for summer, and two sets of long-sleeved ones for winter. The shoes were also standardized: the classic domestic brand, Warrior. There were two styles: white with blue trim or white with red trim.
He rummaged through the heavy wooden chest at the head of his bed but only found the four sets of school uniforms—two for summer and two for winter—a black, padded winter coat, two sweaters, two sets of long underwear, and three sets of undergarments. There were no other clothes.
’No wonder my memory is that I’ve been wearing this same outfit all summer. Turns out I don’t have any other casual clothes besides this set.’
The quality of the uniform was surprisingly good. After three whole years of being worn and washed, aside from looking a bit worn, it hadn’t lost its shape, faded, or bled color. It looked like it could last another three or four years.
After changing his clothes, Xu An took 21.50 yuan out of the 51.50 he had and tucked it into his pocket. He placed the remaining 30 yuan under the wooden chest for safekeeping.
He glanced at the alarm clock. ’It’s almost eleven. The market usually closes up around nine. I definitely won’t be able to buy anything if I go now. I should probably head over to the butcher’s on the west end of the village and see if he has any leftover meat I can buy.’
He locked the courtyard gate and instructed the two kids not to open it for anyone before he got back. Only then did Xu An feel at ease enough to head for the west side of the village.
The butcher’s name was Xu Guosheng. Every day, he would slaughter a pig from the pig farm in town and take it to the market to sell. Any meat left over from the market he would bring back home and sell to the villagers at a slight discount.
After walking for a little over five minutes, Xu An arrived in front of Xu Guosheng’s courtyard. Even from a distance, he could hear Xu Guosheng’s wife gossiping in her booming voice.
"We came back late from the market this morning, so we didn’t see it, but I heard Xu An jumped in the river first thing in the morning. When they pulled him out, he was all covered in blood. So scary!"
"That’s just a baseless rumor, don’t spread nonsense. Why would he jump in the river for no reason? I bet he was trying to catch fish in the river and nearly drowned by accident."
"Then how did he get all covered in blood?"
"How should I know? I didn’t see it either, did I?"
Xu An rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. It seemed he was the subject of their gossip.
’This incident will probably be the talk of the village for a while. I’ll just have to get used to it.’
Xu An deliberately stomped his feet for a few steps to make some noise. He pushed open the gate to Xu Guosheng’s courtyard and greeted the two women as if he had just arrived. "Uncle Guosheng, Auntie, do you have any leftover meat from the market today?"
They were in the middle of gossiping about Xu An when he suddenly appeared in the courtyard, giving them both a fright. You could clearly see the fat on their bodies jiggle when they saw him.
Xu Guosheng’s wife reacted quickly. She turned and walked into the house, saying as she went, "We have some lean meat and bones left. How much do you want?"
Meat prices were relatively cheap in 2012. Pork was ten yuan a pound, and large bones were seven yuan a pound.
’I need to make bone broth for Granny, and maybe stir-fry a couple of meat dishes. But we don’t have a refrigerator at home, so I should buy less meat—just enough for two meals.’
"A pound of bones and half a pound of meat should be enough. Thank you, Auntie."
"It’s no trouble at all. There’s not much left, so I’ll just give it all to you. Just give me fifteen yuan for the lot."
As she spoke, Xu Guosheng’s wife handed Xu An a bulging red plastic bag. She took the fifteen yuan from his hand and then pushed him out of the courtyard, closing the gate behind him.
Xu An hefted the bag in his hand. ’It must weigh at least three and a half pounds. Auntie must have been afraid I’d refuse it, so she shut the gate on me.’
Although he was touched, Xu An wasn’t the type to take advantage of people’s kindness. He counted out another five yuan and slipped it through the crack in the gate. He called out loudly, "Auntie, I’ve tucked the rest of the money in the gate crack! Don’t forget to grab it before the wind blows it away!"
The gate was thrown open with a CLANG. Xu Guosheng’s wife only saw Xu An’s back as he ran off into the distance.
She picked up the five one-yuan bills from the ground, shut the gate, and couldn’t help muttering to herself, "Why’d he give me an extra five yuan? I’ll just put it on his tab and charge him five yuan less next time."
Xu Guosheng walked into the kitchen and let out a wail. "Honey, what about the big bones I was saving for soup? You sold them all?"
Xu Guosheng’s wife shot him a glare. She said irritably, "Skipping one meal will be good for your diet. Look at all that fat on you. You jiggle three times with every step. And you still have the nerve to eat."
"Fine, I won’t eat, I won’t eat. Why are you being so mean?" Xu Guosheng muttered under his breath as he turned away, "We have the same body type, so why are you only picking on me?"
There was no one on the road on his way there, but on the way back, he ran into quite a few familiar faces.
Everyone who saw Xu An would first greet him, and then start whispering as soon as they turned away.
’If you’re going to gossip about me, at least wait until I’m out of earshot! I can hear everything!’
Just as he reached his courtyard gate, he saw two little heads peeking through the crack, staring out expectantly. Once they confirmed it was their big brother, they worked together to open the gate, then ran cheering to Xu An’s side and began chattering away.
"Big Brother, we watched from behind the gate the whole time and didn’t open it!"
"Big Brother, what are you carrying?"
"Big Brother, is that meaty-meat? Is it piggy’s meaty-meat?"
"Big Brother..."
"..."
His head buzzing from all the noise, Xu An crouched down and scooped both of them up, one in each arm.
After a little yelp of surprise, the two of them hugged Xu An’s head tightly, completely covering his eyes.
"Kang, Le, you’re hugging too tight. Big Brother can’t see the path. I’m going to fall."
"Don’t fall, don’t fall! Falling is owie!"
The two little pairs of hands holding his head moved down a bit. One clamped over Xu An’s mouth, while the other wrapped around his neck.
’Alright, at least I can see the road now.’
"Giddy-up, big horsey~"
"Hold on tight! The big horsey is starting to walk!"
Xu An deliberately swayed his body, making the two of them squeal and shriek with delight.
He carried them around the courtyard once before putting them down. He opened the plastic bag to show them the pork inside.
"This is piggy meat. In a little bit, it’s going to become super-duper yummy meat patties, and super-duper, extra-duper yummy stir-fried pork.
And these are the piggy’s big bones. We’re going to make soup with them for Granny to drink. After Granny drinks the soup made from the piggy’s bones, she’ll be able to get out of bed and play with Kang and Le."
As Xu An described the food, the two little ones stared at the meat, a drop of crystal-clear drool trickling from the corners of their mouths.
"Eww, you two little gluttons, you’re actually drooling."
Teased by Xu An, the two of them instantly got angry. They wiped the drool from their mouths, pointed at Xu An, and shouted, "Big Brother is the big glutton! The big glutton!"
Granny Xu, who had been lying on her side, listened to the sounds of the three siblings playing outside. She suddenly turned over, a faint smile appearing on her face.
’No matter how hard life gets, as long as we stick together, things will slowly get better.’