1983, Northeast China

Chapter 9 1 Pot of Rabbit Soup

When Chen Shi carried Ya Ya back into the house, steam was already rising from the pot.

The smell of rabbit meat wafted out from under the pot lid, instantly giving the room a more lived-in feel.

Aunt Wang squatted in front of the stove, poking the fire with a stick. "So you know how to come inside? If you stand outside any longer, the rabbit will be cooked."

"So fast?"

"What's the rush? Chop it up so it'll cook through. But this rabbit, once cooked, doesn't have much fat."

Aunt Wang complained, but her eyes were fixed on the pot.

Even the skinniest rabbit is better than none. These days, if you can smell meat coming from the pot, you're considered to be living the best life.

Chen Shi put Ya Ya down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and glanced at Chen Xiulan.

Her complexion was still pale, but her spirits were much better than in the morning.

Ya Ya stood by the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes secretly glancing towards the pot.

"Watch if you want," Chen Shi said. "The pot won't laugh at you."

Ya Ya smiled shyly, "Uncle, if the rabbit is cooked, will it stop running away?"

Aunt Wang was immediately amused. "It's chopped into pieces, how can it run away? Unless it's become a spirit."

"Even if she becomes a spirit, she can't escape." Chen Shi took off the cotton-padded jacket and casually draped it over his shoulders. "Our Yaya is guarding the pot."

When Ya Ya was praised, she immediately straightened her back, as if she were really guarding something important.

Beside the stove, the rabbit skin was already draped over the edge of the broken wooden basin, its fur grayish and still stained with blood.

Chen Shi rummaged through it. "Second Aunt, don't throw this leather away. Let's tan it and sew a glove for Ya Ya."

"Who would want to throw it away? Rabbit skin can be sold for a couple of bucks. What a waste of money." Aunt Wang rolled her eyes at him.

Ya Ya hid her hands in her sleeves. "I don't need them."

"If you don't use it, who will? If Uncle wears it up the mountain, people will laugh at him to death!"

Ya Ya looked down at her hands. "Does Mother have some too?"

Chen Shi's heart softened at the question, "Yes, wait until Uncle catches a few more rabbits. Your mother has some, Xiaoman has some, and Yaya has some too."

"Xiaoman's hands are small," Yaya said seriously. "He doesn't need them yet. Mom has some first, and Second Grandma has some too."

Aunt Wang turned her back, pretending to go add firewood, and muttered, "Han Changgui is a real scoundrel."

As Chen Xiulan listened from the kang (heated brick bed), her eyes reddened again. "Shizi, don't keep thinking about us. Your own family doesn't have much left."

"What do you mean 'yours' and 'ours'? What are you saying here? Have you gone stupid from having a baby? I'm here for you."

Seeing that Chen Xiulan was about to cry again, Aunt Wang tapped the side of the stove with a fire poker, "Alright, alright, stop saying such hurtful things."

Aunt Wang's husband passed away early, leaving her with only one son. In the spring, he went to the south to visit his aunt, having heard that the south was a good place to make a living.

She lived alone in two empty rooms, used to the cold stove and empty pots. She didn't say it, but she always thought about her child.

Chen Xiulan had just given birth, and she was willing to stay a little longer. However, there was one downside: she became more prone to crying as she grew up and wasn't as resilient as she was when she was younger.

Chen Shi opened the tattered bundle.

The two pieces of astragalus root were pitifully thin. He gently scraped them with the back of a knife, rinsed them with hot water, and broke them into several small pieces.

"How are we supposed to eat this? Put it in a pot?" Aunt Wang was a little worried. "Can medicinal roots be cooked with meat? Will it taste good?"

"Just a little bit won't hurt," Chen Shi said. "My dad used to say that people are weak in winter, and astragalus can help boost their energy. Rabbit meat isn't oily, so add some scallions and ginger, and a couple of pieces of this, and you can make a soup that'll warm you up."

Chen Shi threw the astragalus root into the pot and added half a ladle of water.

Seeing his posture, Aunt Wang said, "Your father really has taught you everything."

"He mentioned it before, but I didn't take it to heart." Chen Shi shifted the blame to Chen Mancang, "Now I'm remembering it a little."

Once the lid was on, the bubbling sound became even more pronounced.

After a while, Aunt Wang lifted the pot lid, and white steam billowed out.

Ya Ya instinctively leaned forward, but then shrank back because of the heat.

"You glutton," Aunt Wang said with a laugh, poking the rabbit meat with her chopsticks. "It's almost done."

Chen Shi first ladled a spoonful of soup into a bowl, then picked out a small piece of rabbit liver and brought it to the edge of the kang (heated brick bed).

"Sis, have some soup first."

Chen Xiulan quickly shook her head, "Give it to Yaya, she's growing. You eat too, you've been up in the cold all day, and so has Second Aunt, you've been busy all day too, you all eat."

"We all have them."

"I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry? What do you mean you're not hungry? Do you think you're made of iron? Xiaoman was crying like that, and you didn't even have any milk in your arms. The baby was smacking her lips from hunger, and you still say you're not hungry. If you collapse, who will the two children rely on? Your brother, a grown, unmarried man?"

Chen Xiulan lowered her head after being told off and took a small sip of soup.

The rabbit soup had a ginger flavor and a hint of the earthy sweetness of astragalus. It didn't taste very good, but after the warmth flowed down my throat, my stomach finally felt less empty than before.

As she drank, tears fell into the bowl again.

Ya Ya panicked, "Mommy, are you burned?"

"No," Chen Xiulan wiped away her tears, "Mother is happy."

Chen Shi didn't try to persuade him. It was good to let it out. If you keep things bottled up for too long, your frustration won't dissipate, and no amount of medicine will help.

He served Ya Ya another half bowl, shredded the meat into thin strips and mixed it into the soup, saying, "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."

Aunt Wang went back to her own home and got two cornbread buns, and also grabbed a handful of pickled cabbage.

"I don't have anything good at home, just this. I chopped it up and threw it into the soup to remove the fishy smell."

"Second Aunt, I'll go up the mountain again tomorrow to set more traps. If I catch one, I'll bring it to you."

Aunt Wang glared at him, "If you keep bringing this up with me, I'll hit you with a big spoon. Always thinking about paying back everything, can't people live like this?"

Xiaoman drank a few mouthfuls of milk, seemed to have regained some strength, and hummed a couple more times.

Chen Xiulan looked down at him and touched the child's face with her finger.

Xiaoman's lips twitched, and she grinned as if she wanted to cry.

Chen Xiulan's eyes softened immediately.

Aunt Wang took the bowl from Ya Ya, crossed one leg, and sat on the other side of the kang (heated brick bed) to feed Ya Ya, asking, "Does it smell good?"

"It smells good." Ya Ya swallowed a bite of meat, her eyes squinting from the aroma.

Chen Shi looked at the four people on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Even if it's dilapidated, even if it's poor, even if Han Changgui is still stationed in the brigade, and there's no sign of what happened in Lao Nangou, who knows what Tian Guizhi is hiding.

But right now, there's a fire, meat, and family inside.

Chen Shi was extremely satisfied.

This feels like a home.

He had just picked up his rice bowl when Zhao Defa came over from outside.

He didn't go into the inner room, but just stomped his feet at the door of the outer room to knock the snow off the soles of his shoes.

"I won't go into the postpartum care room."

Chen Shi ladled half a bowl of soup for him, "Uncle Zhao, have a sip to warm yourself up."

Zhao Defa initially wanted to refuse, but upon smelling the aroma, his Adam's apple bobbed.

But after glancing at the pot, he pushed the bowl back, saying, "Keep it for your sister and the kids. I'm just an old man; I won't starve if I go hungry."

There's still some in the pot.

"Even if I had it, I wouldn't drink it."

After Zhao Defa finished speaking, afraid of sounding too abrupt, he took out a small cloth bag from his cotton-padded coat. "Your aunt heard that Xiulan had no food here, so she asked me to bring over some dried mushrooms. Don't think it's too little; this is all we have at home."

Chen Shi looked at the small cloth bag, which was dusty and gray, but it was more real than any words.

Zhao Defa coughed twice, and Chen Shi, remembering his grandson, asked, "How's your grandson?"