1983, Northeast China

Chapter 47 Helper's Meal

"Is it good?" Chen Shi reached out and ruffled Ya Ya's hair.

Ya Ya was happily eating a sugar triangle when she heard the question. She nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice.

"If it tastes good, then eat it in big bites." Li Cheng was getting impatient. "You're biting like a rat is gnawing at it. It's making me anxious."

Aunt Wang slapped him on the back again, saying, "You're so quick to talk. If you didn't speak, no one would sell you off as a mute."

Ya Ya was amused by him, lowered her head, and took a big bite of the sugar triangle in her hand.

The brown sugar syrup gushed out and got on the corner of her mouth. She quickly stuck out her tongue and licked it off, then looked at everyone embarrassedly.

Chen Xiulan took a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. "Slow down, no one's going to take it from you."

"Let Xiaoman smell it," Ya Ya suddenly said.

She held the bowl and moved closer to Xiaoman.

Xiaoman was half asleep when the heat made her little mouth move.

Ya Ya cheered up, "My little brother wants to eat too!"

"He has no teeth," Li Cheng said.

"He can eat it when his teeth come in," Ya Ya said generously. "I'll save it for him."

Aunt Wang laughed from the side, "You eat yours first. By the time his teeth grow in, your eldest uncle will have eaten the whole pot."

Li Cheng protested, "Why is it me again?"

"Because you can eat the most."

"I also did the most work."

"Then I'll give you one more." Aunt Wang picked up a sugar triangle, deliberately waved it in front of him, and then put it back in the basket. "You have to resist the temptation. There are people waiting to eat at the old house."

Li Cheng slapped his forehead. "Oh no, I almost got dizzy from the sweetness."

Chen Shi also stood up, stuffed the half sugar triangle that Aunt Wang handed him into his mouth, the hot sugar made his tongue tingle, and he slurped it twice, which made Chen Xiulan and Ya Ya laugh for a long time.

"Yes, it needs to be delivered; it's not appropriate to take too long."

Aunt Wang quickly lifted the second drawer and picked out the white steamed buns one by one into the basket. Chen Xiulan chopped a bowl of pickled vegetable dumplings and added a few drops of lard.

"There aren't enough sugar triangles, so we'll keep them for our own families," said Aunt Wang. "Giving each of the workers a steamed bun isn't unfair to them."

Chen Shi nodded, "Uncle Zhao, Old Scarface, Sanzhu, and a few others who help out, all of them."

"And me?"

Aunt Wang casually handed him one, saying, "Eat, eat, you can't be left out."

"uncle."

Chen Shi turned to look at her.

Ya Ya pushed her sugar triangle forward, "I've already eaten one, so I'll give Uncle a sweet one too."

Li Cheng's heart melted completely. This little girl really made his heart ache. "What's yours is yours. You don't have to give it to anyone else from now on. Your uncle has steamed buns."

Aunt Wang shoved the basket into Li Cheng's arms. "Let's go. If we dawdle any longer, those people at the old house will start gnawing on the window paper."

Those who come to help out at the old house are all honest people.

The window paper had been pasted on the last two doors, and several people were still busy working on it. Even Zhao Defa was checking each door one by one, listening to see if the hinges were still rattling.

Li Cheng burst through the door carrying a basket, his voice booming uncontrollably, "The food's here! Stop pretending you're not hungry!"

Sanzhu was closest to him. He lifted the coarse cloth and saw several large, snow-white steamed buns in the basket. "White flour ones?"

Upon hearing this, the people in the room gathered around.

It's not that we've never seen white flour buns before, but now it's the end of the year, and let alone white flour being rare, even if we had it, we'd save it for the New Year so that the elderly and children could have a taste. Who would be willing to take it out and give it to the people who help with papering windows and repairing kang beds?

"Thank you for your help today, uncles and brothers. We don't have much good food at home, but each of you can have a steamed bun, plenty of cornbread, and a bowl of fish soup to warm you up."

The earthenware pot was wrapped in a cotton-padded coat, and steam was still rising when it was opened. Oil droplets floated on the surface of the fish soup.

"Shizi, this meal is prepared with care," said the old scarred man, holding up his bowl.

Zhao Defa nodded repeatedly, "People say that helpers don't care about the food from their employers, but employers know whether they're willing to help or not, and they can tell just by eating one meal."

Sanzhu was young and had been starving for a long time, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He grabbed a steamed bun and took a bite. "This is much better than cornbread."

A man working nearby was also carrying a bowl of fish soup. He carefully blew on it and said, "The Chen family is really going to rise up this time. A while ago, a few women got together and said that the old Chen family house was unbearably cold. But today, it looks like it's about to become lively again. They're even serving white flour for meals now."

This is not flattery.

In his mind, Chen Shi was now vaguely resembling Chen Mancang. He knew how glamorous Chen Mancang had been in the village back then.

Someone, biting into a steamed bun, asked half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Shizi, what kind of connections have you found up in the mountains? If there's anything you can help with in the future, don't just think of Li Cheng, help us uncles too."

Li Cheng was displeased upon hearing this, "What do you mean you're only thinking about me? You can't even see that my hands are all worn raw?"

Sanzhu laughed at him, "Skinning it off didn't stop you from eating it."

The people inside the room also started laughing.

Chen Shi smiled as well, his eyes still filled with expectation as he looked at the person who asked the question; he didn't rule out the possibility of a definitive answer.

"There's no such thing as free money on the mountain," he said. "It's just a matter of walking a few more steps and taking a few more glances. If I really need a helping hand, I'll definitely call for help."

Old Scarface understood the hidden meaning in his words, took a sip of the fish soup, and glanced at the person who had just asked the question.

"That's true. As the old saying goes, 'Those who live near the mountain live off the mountain,' but the mountain doesn't support lazy people."

Zhao Defa broke the steamed bun in half, added some pickled vegetables, and said, "From now on, if anyone says that the Chen family has no one to uphold their reputation, I will be the first to disagree. A half-grown boy can accomplish this much; he is no ordinary person."

Chen Shi wasn't flattered. He distributed the remaining pancakes, saying, "I'll remember everyone who helped out today. I'll need your help again in the future."

"I'll still get this meal from now on, even if you're busy," Sanzhu said, finishing the fish soup in his bowl. "Even if you're not busy, I'd still like to come and freeload a meal."

On the way back, Li Cheng was still grinning as he carried the empty basket.

He had never been praised like this before. Even though he was thick-skinned, he was still embarrassed by the praise, even though it was thanks to Chen Shi.

As he was laughing, his expression turned serious again, as if he had remembered something.

"Oh, right, Shiko."

Chen Shi looked at him.

"Back then, when you were chatting with Uncle Zhao, Old Scarface told me something, saying he was afraid you'd get anxious, so he told me to tell you slowly."

"What's up?"

"Those outsiders weren't counted as child abductors."

Chen Shi wasn't surprised at all by the news. "How did you remember that? Did he say anything?"

"They said it was Han Changgui's debt, and the debtor came looking for it." Li Cheng became more and more angry as he spoke. "They even said that it was the end of the year and things couldn't get out of hand, or it would have a bad impact."

"I understand," he said.

Li Cheng grew anxious, "So you knew?"

"Right now, Ya Ya can eat in peace." Chen Shi looked at Ya Ya. "They don't dare to touch Ya Ya casually. This outcome isn't the worst for us."

Li Cheng gritted his teeth, "It's just so frustrating."

"Just remember the frustrations, it's not like we're letting them go. Right now, we don't have the ability to compete with others."