In his previous life, after Chen Yang rose to prominence...
To alleviate his guilt, he spent a lot of energy trying to distract himself.
Besides practicing marksmanship and learning wilderness skills, Chen Yang also studied cooking for a period of time, and his dishes were delicious and visually appealing, comparable to those of a four-star hotel chef.
On the table, there was a plate of stir-fried wild pheasant and a plate of stir-fried wild green sunflowers.
The aroma of the two dishes distracted Chen Yuanchao from washing his face. He took the towel his wife handed him, wiped his face haphazardly, and went into the house. Seeing the dishes on the table, Chen Yuanchao swallowed hard.
Chicken?
It was stir-fried with chili peppers. It didn't look like the daughter-in-law's cooking.
Liu Shufang followed him into the house and was met with her husband's questioning gaze.
"Don't look at me, it was your son who did it."
"Him?"
Chen Yuanchao was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Where did this brat learn this skill? Where is he now?"
"Inside the house."
Liu Shufang gestured towards Chen Yang's room with her lips.
After preparing a table of dishes, Chen Yang had carried the basket containing pheasants and rabbits to his room. The elderly couple had no idea what Chen Yang was up to.
Chen Yuanchao was more concerned about Lin Anyu's condition, so he asked in a low voice, "How is Anyu? Is she alright?"
"Anyu hasn't eaten or drunk anything and has been in her room all day."
"What kind of mess has this brat made... Call Anyu out and give her something to eat. People can't go hungry forever."
"You think you can just shout it out?"
Liu Shufang rolled her eyes, turned to look at Lin Anyu's room, and shook her head helplessly.
Chen Yuanchao walked to the table and sat down, staring at the chicken on the table for a long time. Then he took out his old pipe from his pocket, lit it, and took a few puffs.
The strong smell of tobacco mingled with the aroma of chicken on the table, creating a tangled mess. Just like Chen Yuanchao's complicated feelings at this moment, the room was filled with emotion.
Chen Yuanchao was furious with Chen Yang's actions last night that harmed Lin Anyu. But Chen Yang's actions today made Chen Yuanchao realize that his son had taken some action to make up for his mistakes. This was something to be pleased about. But like Liu Shufang, Chen Yuanchao worried that his son's change was only temporary, and that he might soon revert to his old ways.
That's how things are; once it happens, it's a tangled mess that's hard to unravel.
Chen Yuanchao took a deep drag on his pipe, smacked his lips, then frowned and tapped the end of the pipe on the ground a few times to knock out the ash.
"Wife, do the villagers know what that scoundrel did last night?"
"It's not your fault. Last night you threatened to beat and kill your son, making such a commotion. Today, several women came over to ask what happened in our family last night."
"So what did you say?"
"Of course I only said that Chen Yang lost money and got a lecture from you."
Family scandals should not be aired in public. Hearing his wife's words, Chen Yuanchao breathed a sigh of relief. He put away his pipe and stared at the dishes on the table for a long time.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to accept your son's favor?"
"Hmph, what's there to be grateful for?" Chen Yuanchao's eyes widened. "I raised him all these years, so he should cook this dish for me!"
"What do you mean by 'should' or 'shouldn't'!" Liu Shufang said irritably. "You know how difficult it is to get mountain produce. Who knows what kind of suffering my son went through to get this plate of pheasant."
As she said this, a hint of pride flickered in Liu Shufang's eyes. In previous years, during the famine, many people from Niujiawan went hunting in the mountains behind the village.
However, very few of them caught any wild game, and several people even went missing in the mountains. So apart from the village's old hunters, basically no one hunts in the back mountains. With that spare time, why not cultivate a couple more acres of land? Who knows, they might be able to harvest more grain next year.
Liu Shufang suddenly realized that her son was quite capable.
"Hmph, some people went up the mountain last year, spent several days feeding mosquitoes, and what happened?"
"Stop! Stop! Hold on!" Chen Yuanchao was afraid that his wife would bring up his embarrassing secrets.
Why bother with that? They couldn't go against food. Especially meat! It's because they hadn't had any meat in their stomachs for years.
Chen Yuanchao decisively picked up his chopsticks. "Alright, this brat is quite capable, managing to get this whole table of food. It'll get cold if we don't eat it soon." After saying that, Chen Yuanchao picked up a piece of chicken and handed it to Liu Shufang's bowl.
"Eat up, and remember to bury the bones in the yard after you're done, so the neighbors don't know."
"Do you really need to tell me that?" Liu Shufang rolled her eyes.
Feeling awkward, Chen Yuanchao asked again, "Where is Chen Yang?"
He had already eaten. Before Chen Yuanchao returned, Chen Yang had already finished dinner and hurriedly returned to his room to plan for tomorrow.
Now, the prey in his hands included a pheasant, a rabbit, and a dove. The weather in March and April meant these wild animals had a strong smell, so he needed to process them quickly. He took the pheasant out and saved it for the family's food for tomorrow. The rabbit remained packed in the basket, ready to be taken to town early the next morning to try his luck and see if it could fetch a good price.
Around 7 or 8 pm, many homes in Niujiawan had already lit dim kerosene lamps. In this era, towns already had electric lights, but in impoverished mountain villages like Niujiawan, the villagers still used kerosene lamps or candles. And so, most people only lit the lamp when they were doing something — they would never dare to leave the lights on all night.
Liu Shufang tidied up the kitchen, held up a kerosene lamp, and knocked on Chen Yang's door. But after knocking for a while, Chen Yang did not respond. Upon closer listening, one could hear soft, even breathing sounds coming from the room. Liu Shufang guessed that her son must be asleep.
She turned around and walked to the table. The husband verbally expressed disdain for the dishes Chen Yang had prepared, but surprisingly, he drank two cups of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
"I wish my son could always be like this..."
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, her husband's slightly flushed face was illuminated. Liu Shufang knew her husband had drunk too much, so she didn't say anything, turned around to boil water, and prepared to wash up and go to bed.
After last night's turmoil, the Chen family enjoyed their first peaceful night.
The next day, it was still dark. Feeling refreshed and full of energy, Chen Yang slung his basket over his shoulder and left home early in the morning. To get to the town, he had to walk more than ten kilometers along a mountain road. Chen Yang jogged all the way, and thanks to his good physique from his youth, he reached the town in three hours.
At this moment, it was only around eight or nine in the morning. But today was market day — which happened on odd-numbered days — so the market in town was especially crowded. When Chen Yang arrived, the market was already packed with people.
The market mainly sold ordinary agricultural products, with very little meat. Wild rabbits, a type of mountain product, were definitely a rare find. But under normal circumstances, ordinary people wouldn't buy it, nor could they afford it.
But Chen Yang wasn't in a hurry at all. He stood at the market entrance for a while, then strolled down the street and stopped in front of a restaurant run by a supply and marketing cooperative. In those days, these restaurants were all state-owned. Their consumption level was very high.