"Sis, sis~"
"Huh?"
Su Yunjin's cheeks were still burning when she noticed Ruirui tugging at her clothes.
"Sis, what's pork lard crackling taste like? Is it yummy?"
Ruirui's big watery eyes stared at Su Yunjin with anticipation. If only her lips weren't so greasy, it would've been even cuter.
"Didn't you just eat some?"
"I ate too fast to taste it properly."
Hearing this, Chen Jie couldn't help but chuckle. This had become a running family joke—last time, it had been about fish soup.
Chen Jie laughed and said, "Alright, Yunjin, why don't you scoop out some sorghum rice and cook it? How about we have sorghum rice with pork lard crackling for dinner tonight, hmm? My little greedy cat."
As he spoke, Chen Jie gently pinched Ruirui's cheek.
Ruirui nodded fervently. "Mm-hmm."
Su Yunjin didn't say much and went to scoop the rice, while Chen Jie turned to her again and said, "Oh, Yunjin, make sure to scoop out ten pounds of sorghum rice. I'll take it to Uncle Erba later. Last time he gave us five pounds of rice, so now that we have some food, we should return it."
"Mm, that's only right."
Su Yunjin went inside to bag the rice.
Chen Jie continued refining lard, and soon the rice was all packed.
With the rice bag in hand, he also picked up two pounds of pork belly.
"Yunjin, I'm heading over to Uncle Erba's house. Keep an eye on the pot of lard."
"Alright, got it."
Saying this, Chen Jie headed out the door. On the way, he passed the old pagoda tree where villagers often cooled off in the shade. They greeted Chen Jie as they saw him carrying both rice and meat, and a curious one asked, "Jiu Si, where are you off to with all that rice and meat?"
"Ah, just bought some rice and meat. Thought I'd bring a share to Uncle Erba."
Hearing this, the villager burst into laughter. "Haha, Jiu Si, you really are good to your elders."
Chen Jie understood the undertone of his words. Elders? Uncle Erba wasn't his only elder—wasn't Uncle San Liu sitting right over there too?
The old Chen Jie might've felt troubled by such remarks, but the Chen Jie of today wasn't someone to mess with.
Chen Jie chuckled and said, "Haha, yeah, but you know, when I was down and out, only Uncle Erba lent me a hand. Elders come in all kinds, don't they?"
After that, Chen Jie continued, "Alright, I'd better get going. Got people waiting for me at home for dinner."
With that, Chen Jie strode off toward Uncle Erba's house. Watching his retreating figure, Chen Sanliu's face turned livid. *What was that supposed to mean—'elders come in all kinds'?*
Chen Sanliu was fuming now. "That Chen Jiusi—just a petty man who got lucky! So what if he's got some pork, huh? Who even cares?"
And Uncle Erba—*what kind of person is he anyway? So calculating, always flaunting himself. Serves him right to be a cripple. Damn born-loser, that's what he is.*
The more Chen Sanliu thought about it, the angrier he became. He stood up and headed home, but not before someone under the shade called out, "Old Chen, not staying a bit longer?"
"Not staying, I'm hungry, going home to eat."
"Hey, didn't you say you weren't cooking lunch today?"
"Changed my mind, alright? Not only am I eating, I'm cooking something good. I'm going back to stir-fry some salted meat with wild vegetables."
...
Watching him storm off, the other villagers exchanged knowing glances and smirked to each other. One pointed at Chen Sanliu and said, "That guy's full of schemes. When Jiu Si was down, he couldn't have hidden any farther. Now that Jiu Si's doing well, he suddenly wants to cozy up for perks. Tsk tsk~"
As they talked, several villagers couldn't help shaking their heads, their faces filled with mockery. *Everyone's got their own little calculations, sure, but to be so shameless about it—now that's something else entirely.*
Chen Jie arrived at Uncle Erba's house, pushed open the courtyard gate, and called out, "Hu Zi, Uncle Erba, you home?"
Hu Zi and Uncle Erba were busy weaving baskets. Hearing the voice, they came out, and Chen Jie raised the rice and meat in his hands and said, "Uncle Erba, I'm here to return the rice."
Both Uncle Erba and Hu Zi blinked in surprise at the sight. Even Aunt Erba came out upon hearing the commotion, and when she saw Chen Jie holding both rice and meat, she froze for a second too.
Chen Jie explained his purpose again, and Uncle Erba, leaning on his crutch, said, "Jiu Si, your family's still struggling. Just keep it for now—you don't need to return it so soon."
Chen Jie said, "No, I've found a steady source of income now. I bought plenty of supplies today. This rice has to be returned. Here, Auntie."
Chen Jie shoved the rice into Aunt Erba's hands.
"Oh my, Jiu Si, this must be ten pounds! It's too much, way too much," Aunt Erba said, lifting the bag and immediately estimating the weight.
Chen Jie replied, "It's not too much, not too much at all. Please accept it. You've taken good care of us these past days. And this meat too—keep it. Hu Zi's still growing; he should eat well."
"Oh, Jiu Si..."
"Alright, enough talk. I'm off now. Don't see me out—Hu Zi, go back inside, go back inside! We're family; no need for formalities. I'm leaving..."
Chen Jie strode off confidently.
As she stared at the rice and meat in her hands, Aunt Erba's face was filled with guilt.
"Husband, this...?"
Even Uncle Erba hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. "It's Jiu Si's genuine gesture. Let's accept it."
"But... but it feels wrong. I used to treat Jiu Si so..." Aunt Erba trailed off, recalling how dismissive she had been of Chen Jiusi in the past, and she couldn't help feeling remorseful.
She was a typical rural woman—stingy when others took advantage of her, but uneasy when she benefited from others. She always felt like she owed them something.
After thinking for a moment, she went inside and quickly came back out with a bowl of yellow apricots.
"Hu Zi, take these apricots to Jiu Si and tell him to let them ripen a bit before eating. They're a bit sour," she instructed.
Hu Zi said, "Alright," and chased after Chen Jie.
He quickly caught up with Chen Jie and explained why he was there. Chen Jie didn't refuse. He touched the slightly hard apricots and said, "Alright, thank Aunt Erba for me. Now go on back home."
He waved and bid Hu Zi farewell. Soon, he passed by Chen Sanliu's house.
Just as he approached the door, he saw Aunt San Liu standing there. This woman used to avoid Chen Jie like the plague, but today she was oddly warm and welcoming.
"Oh, Jiu Si, busy as always, huh? Come by our house sometime. Your Uncle San Liu was just saying yesterday how much he missed you."
Chen Jie nodded perfunctorily, brushing her off, thinking, *Miss me? Ha, you just saw me bringing meat to Uncle Erba's house and got jealous.*
Chen Jie couldn't be bothered to engage further.
After he walked away, Aunt San Liu went back inside and saw Chen Sanliu sulking. She said, "I just saw Chen Jiusi. Looked like he came out of Erba's place."
Chen Sanliu sneered. "Oh, such deep uncle-nephew bonds."
"Hey, wait a minute. You're also his uncle. Why does he bring meat to Erba's house but not ours? What kind of nephew is that?" Aunt San Liu said indignantly.
"Hmph," Chen Sanliu scoffed. "Back when Chen Yongwang was alive, he was just as biased. Helped Erba learn a trade but wouldn't teach me medicine. If he had, I'd be a doctor now, living the good life. Why would I be stuck farming every day?"
He was so upset that he didn't even care to use their family's honorific for the late elder. But he conveniently forgot how most of his family's wealth had come from Chen Yongwang. Uncle Erba merely learned basket-weaving, and everyone back then knew who'd truly benefited the most.
And yet, now he acted like the victim—*some people's greed truly knew no bounds.*