That night, Gu Ye did not head over to 9th aunt’s house next door. After Mrs. Liu and the lot went to bed, she retrieved the hidden bowl of hare meat from the dimension.
Gu Ye shared the same bed stove with her brother. The stove was divided into two areas with one straw curtain and she slept in the inner half. She lifted the curtain between them and pushed the still steamy bowl of hare meat in front of her brother. She blinked and said to him, “Ge, I saved this for you specifically. Mrs. Liu didn’t know about it. Hurry up and eat!”
During dinner, Gu Ming spent more time taking care of her and barely had any meat himself. None of those escaped the observant Gu Ye.
When Gu Ming saw that there were almost 7-8 pieces of hare meat, he smiled like a little rat who stole some oil. He gave his sister a thumbs up and said, “Good job, mei mei! But don’t do something like this again. If that woman finds out, she’d beat you again!”
“Don’t worry, she won’t find out!” Gu Ye pinched off a piece of meat and placed it in her brother’s mouth, “Hurry up and eat. It won’t taste good anymore when it gets cold.”
“Mei mei, you have some too.” The two of them happily split the half a bowl of hare meat, their little stomachs all protruding out. Gu Ye fell asleep happily with a full stomach. Before she felt into deep sleep, all she could think of was: it felt so good to have meat! When I have some free time, I must head into the mountain and bring home more hares and pheasants for dinner….
The next morning Gu Ye got up when the sky was barely lit. She started prepping the porridge first, then used the yeast she found last night to make some buns. The dried biscuits the last few days tortured the original owner’s weak stomach too much the last few days. She must learn how to use limited resource to achieve the best value.
Breakfast was steamed buns with picked vegetables and crushed corn porridge. Gu Ye wasn’t sure which dynasty she was in, but they already have corn and potatoes, so at least after the Ming Dynasty?
Picture: Steamed roll
Source: 360adsolutions.com
Picture: Crushed corn porridge
Source: m.sbar.com.cn
While she was in deep thought, she sudden felt a gust of air behind her head. Crap! Gu Ye tried to dodge it immediate, but unfortunately this little body’s reaction time was subpar. She avoided being hit on the back of her head but she was struck on her shoulder. Gu Ye grimaced and staggered backward. She stared unhappily at Mrs. Liu and asked, “Why did you hit me?”
When Gu Ming saw that, he immediately rushed over and dragged his sister behind him. He stared viciously at Mrs. Liu, who was walking out of the kitchen with the fire iron in her hand, “Mei mei got up before the sun was even out to make breakfast for everyone. She didn’t even stop to take a break, nor has she done anything wrong. Why did you just hit her for no reason?”
Gu Qiao was heard all the ruckus and walked over. He peeked into the room and said unhappily, “It’s so early in the morning. What now?”
“Me? Look at your good daughter! She’s getting bolder and bolder. She was stealing behind my back!” Every time Mrs. Liu collected eggs from the chicken coop, she’d count the number of eggs in the can. Just now when she was counting, she noticed that she was short one egg and was about to go insane! That damned child was home by herself all day yesterday, of course she was the one who stole it! Who else could it be?”
“And what have I stolen?” asked Gu Ye nonchalantly. Her shoulder burning from the pain. She was trying very hard to suppress the anger with her but it constantly wanted to bubble to the surface. Shit! What kind of days were these? It was hard just to have enough to eat. In her past even, even at the beginning of the chaotic ages, and before her mad apothecary skills shone through, she hadn’t lived days worse than these!!
Locking eyes with Gu Ye’s fierce look, Mrs. Liu felt a slight shiver but immediately pointed at her nose, jumped up and down and said, “Eggs! I am missing one egg. It has to be you who stole it! Who else could it be?”
Gu Ye casted her a cold look before she turned, went inside Mrs. Liu and Gu Qiao’s house and carried out Xiao Zhuang who was sound asleep.
“Gu Ye! What do you think you are doing? Have you gone mad? Put your brother down!” Gu Qiao thought she was going to hurt his precious son. He took a step forward and swung at her face with no hesitation.
Gu Ye took two steps back immediately and avoided the slap to her face. Then she gave him a deep look that was completely devoid of any emotions and shook awake Xiao Zhuang. She asked, “Xiao Zhuang, did you like the egg yesterday? You want another one?”
As soon as he heard about food, Xiao Zhuang, who was just about to throw a fit from being woken up, perked up immediately, “Yes! The egg was delicious! The meat was even more delicious!! Mom! More eggs! More meat!”
The kid told the truth. When Mrs. Liu heard that, she was put on the spot immediately and wasn’t sure how to react. Her face darkened slightly, and, with the fire iron still in her hand, ran inside the eastern quarter. Da Zhuang’s crying could be heard along with Mrs. Liu’s shouting, “Speak! Did you give your brother an egg? Did you not have enough to eat or the drink? Why didn’t you tell me if you wanted an egg? I am going to beat the crap out of you!”