Nan Yu decided to get ahead of the game, even if it was a bit underhanded to cut off Lazy Zhang's potential fortune.
Yet, if Lazy Zhang had not come into all that money, he might not have died so young in his previous life.
You could say Nan Yu was saving his life in a roundabout way. At least, that was how Nan Yu comforted himself.
Besides, whatever was up on the mountain belonged to whoever found it first; there was nothing more to say about that.
He looked toward the direction of the mountains, calculating the quickest route up and pondering when he should make the trip.
Hearing the clattering noises coming from the kitchen, Nan Yu knew his older sister was following instructions and smashing the lock on the cupboard.
Nan Yu smiled with satisfaction, walked toward the kitchen, and said, "Sis, let me smash it. You go to the back yard and catch a chicken."
With that, Nan Yu took the axe from Nan Zhi's hand. Nan Zhi looked at him with a troubled expression.
"Little brother, are we really going to kill a chicken?"
Nan Yu turned his head to look at Nan Zhi.
"It's just... eating a little grain is no big deal. At most, Li Guihua will just yell at us a couple of times. But if we actually kill the chicken, I'm afraid this won't blow over so easily."
Nan Yu sighed. His sister had been suppressed by Li Guihua for far too long; her mindset couldn't possibly change overnight, which was understandable.
Fine, she would take it one step at a time. Nothing could be accomplished in a single rush.
"Sis, listen to me, just go. If Li Guihua dares to say anything extra, I'll just beat them up again, until she doesn't dare to speak."
"Brother, she is our father's woman after all. It wouldn't look good if we, as her children, went too far."
"Sis, what kind of creature is Li Guihua? How many people in our village don't know what she's like? Just look at the four of us. Look at what she's worn us down into. Let's not even talk about the two of us older ones. Look at Xingxing—Li Hai is the same age as Xingxing, but what is Xingxing like, and what is Li Hai like? And look at Xiao Si. Xiao Si was raised by you; you know best what she has had to eat. Sis, remember this: from now on, as long as I am here, I will never let the few of you be bullied again. Just listen to me, go ahead."
Nan Zhi had been worn down for so many years; how could she not want someone to have her back?
She was only afraid—afraid that her brother was only putting up a front for a moment and would soon revert to his old self.
Situations like this had happened before; Nan Zhi could not be blamed for being afraid.
If things really turned out that way, the plight of the four siblings would only become even more miserable.
Yet, looking at the serious expression on her brother's face, Nan Zhi's eyes turned red as she left the kitchen and headed to the backyard.
Seeing his sister go out, Nan Yu knew she was obeying him. He curled the corners of his lips slightly and split open the cupboard lock with a few blows.
Nan Xing and Nan Xing sat by the stove, tending the fire and watching Nan Yu. They had heard everything their older brother and eldest sister said, and knowing there was going to be good food, both children were full of anticipation.
Nan Xing was the youngest, having just turned six this year. She didn't have that many complex thoughts; her head was entirely filled with the prospect of eating chicken. She had never tasted meat in her life!
Every year during the Lunar New Year, Li Guihua would slaughter a chicken, but the four siblings were never allowed to eat the meat. At most, they were allowed to drink a mouthful of chicken soup.
Even when wild boars came down the mountain and the villagers banded together to hunt them, preparing the traditional slaughtered-pork stew in the village square, Li Guihua would make the four siblings go collect their share and bring it home, only to hand it right over to her own children.
Whenever the older brother and sister tried to reason with Li Guihua, she would either beat or scold them, or call their father out to yell at them instead. They had lived like this for so many years.
Now that they could actually eat chicken, Nan Xing felt her mouth watering just thinking about it.
Nan Xing was a bit older and thought things through more. He sensed that his brother had changed greatly and believed his promise to protect them from now on, so he, too, looked forward to eating chicken.
The children were still young, so they didn't have as many worries or overthink things quite as much as Nan Zhi.
Nan Yu looked at the grain inside the cupboard. The white rice and white flour were each about half a bag, while the rest was entirely coarse grain.
This was normal for the era, as fine grain was precious to begin with. Besides, how could Li Guihua possibly let their household keep anything good? It all had to be moved back to her maiden family.
Nan Yu took out the bag of white flour, grabbed the dough-mixing basin, and began scooping out the white flour, hurriedly adding water right after.
Nan Yu knew his sister would surely feel bad about it. If he didn't hurry up and mix the flour so it couldn't be put back in the bag, his sister would surely try to persuade him to eat coarse grain instead.
His sister couldn't be blamed for this; it was just how things were in this era. No one could bear to eat fine grain by itself—they always mixed fine grain into coarse grain. No household ate exclusively fine grain.
Let alone their village, even people in the city living on rationed grain mixed coarse and fine grains together. Who ate only fine grain?
Never mind Nan Zhi; even Nan Xing and Xiao Si tending the fire stared with wide-open eyes, though neither of the little ones said a word.
Seeing the two little ones staring with wide eyes, Nan Yu couldn't help smiling at their reaction.
Nan Zhi came back from the backyard holding the chicken, prompting Nan Yu to quickly add a little more water to the basin before walking out of the kitchen.
"Sis, give it to me. You go ahead and mix the flour so we can make oil pancakes, and I'll kill the chicken."
Nan Zhi didn't argue with Nan Yu; she handed him the chicken and went into the kitchen.
However, just a few seconds after stepping inside, she anxiously ran back out to Nan Yu's side and whispered, "Brother, why did you waste so much white flour?!"
Nan Yu knew his sister would react this way, which was why he had stayed standing there waiting for her.
"How is it wasted? I still feel like that flour isn't enough for the four of us to eat!"
"You? You? Are you planning to make oil pancakes out of pure white flour?"
"That's right!"
Nan Zhi's mouth hung half open, and her eyes were wide.
Nan Yu smiled and gently said to her, "Sis, from now on, we're going to eat fine grains all the time. If we ever really crave coarse grain, we'll eat it then."
Nan Zhi still stared at him with an incredulous look in her eyes.
Nan Yu knew that saying anything right now was useless; after all, she hadn't seen the food actually end up in her own hands yet. They would just take it slow from here on.
"Sis, listen to me and go make the pancakes."
Nan Zhi pursed her lips, looked at Nan Yu for a moment longer, and finally walked back into the kitchen as if she had made up her mind.
Watching Nan Zhi's retreating figure, Nan Yu smiled and slit the chicken's throat with a single stroke.
Yet, just as Nan Yu finished draining the chicken's blood, he heard the wailing and crying of Li Guihua coming from outside the courtyard.
Nan Yu understood: Li Guihua had woken up.
The barefoot doctor had left Nan Yu's home and approached Li Guihua, who was lying on the ground, beginning to examine her condition.
There was actually nothing seriously wrong with Li Guihua; she had simply been overcome by intense emotion and the force of Nan Yu's heavy blow, trapping her breath and causing her to pass out right then and there.