Chapter 1: Bacon and Roast Chicken The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the eaves of Zheng's house, and water was sprinkled on the ground in front of the door, suppressing the evening dust and bringing a hint of coolness. At the small table facing the door, three members of the Zheng family were having dinner. "The son of Steward Wang was beaten with forty sticks by the Madam. He was almost dead when he was carried back." Zheng Fa held up his chopsticks and listened to his mother talking about gossip from the village. His younger sister Zheng Shan sat next to him, half of her body leaning on Zheng Fa. She held a rice bowl that was bigger than her head in both hands, with her whole face buried in the bowl, eating with relish. Hearing the gossip from Mother Zheng, the younger sister raised her head and asked, "Wang Gui? Didn't his family catch the Madam's eye and be chosen to be the Seventh Young Master's servant? Why did they get beaten?" Zheng Fa glanced at the little sister and saw that her round eyes were bright and the corners of her upturned mouth were stained with dark green vegetable juice. This little guy with a gloating expression on his face, he is such a smart kid! Even though the little sister is only six years old, she understands that the relationship between Manager Wang's family and her own family is not good.
Both families were tenant farmers on the Zhao family farm, but their conditions were very different. In the early years, when Zheng Fa's father was the manager of the farm, the Zheng family lived a decent life, much better than Manager Wang's family. But five years ago, during a monster rebellion, Zheng Fa's father unfortunately died while trying to harvest the crops in the fields. With the death of the pillar of the family and the loss of his position as manager, the Zheng family's fortunes fell into decline. Zheng Fa's mother lived with a son and a daughter. She had to take care of the children and the fields, and her life was extremely difficult. On the contrary, the Wang family inherited the management position left by Zheng Fa's father, and the family's conditions were improving. Normally, Steward Wang was afraid of Zheng Fa, the son of the former steward, and isolated the Zheng family in some way. The other families in the village could also see the difference, but on one side was an orphan and a widow, and on the other side was a steward who was favored by his superiors. People tend to seek profit and avoid harm, so the Zheng family's life became even more lonely. Although children may not understand the reasons behind conflicts between adults, the exclusion through words and actions can be even worse. Wang Gui, as the only son of Manager Wang, is somewhat of a bully in the village. He often takes the lead in bullying Zheng Fa and his younger sister Zheng Shan. Zheng Fa was not so bad. He had been tall and strong since he was a child, and had a calm personality. In the eyes of the children in the village, he was quite dignified, and even Wang Gui did not dare to go too far. My younger sister Zheng Shan has a lively personality and loves to play and make trouble. She has suffered a lot of grievances because of this. It is normal for her to be happy when she hears that the other party is in trouble. "What are you doing weird?" Mother Zheng glared at her younger sister. "It was said that Wang Gui had a bad temper and brought the Seventh Young Master to learn bad habits. Madam saw it and made him eat a stick and go home to learn some rules. If Madam saw you like this, she would also beat you up!" Zheng Shan opened her mouth blankly, "I'm not as bad as Wang Gui! Besides, I can't be a servant. When Wang Gui was chosen by the Madam, he showed off all over the manor. Others don't have this opportunity!" Zheng Fa secretly shook his head. He had long seen through Wang Gui's character. He was the type who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Of course, he was arrogant in front of his family. But he didn't believe that he had the guts to lead the Seventh Young Master in doing bad things. It was actually still early at this time. The Zheng family had dinner at this time to take advantage of the daylight before dusk and save some lamp oil. Farmers all have two meals a day, not only Zheng Fa's family, but also Manager Wang's family. There were only two dishes on the small wooden dining table. One was a plate of green leafy vegetables, which people in the village called pig grass leaves. They were originally cut to feed pigs, but not very wealthy families also ate them.
The Zheng family eats this every now and then. A large pot of vegetables is boiled in water with almost no oil or salt. It is really hard to eat. The other bowl was different. It was a plate of tender bamboo shoots that Zheng's mother had picked from the mountains early in the morning. On top of the long, thin bamboo shoots were two bright red, greasy pieces of - meat! Two slices of bacon! Zheng Shan's mouth was stuffed with pig grass leaves, her cheeks were puffy, but her big eyes were fixed on the two slices of bacon. If eyes could eat, she would have swallowed these two slices of bacon long ago. She remembered that the bacon was pickled during the Chinese New Year, and only a thin strip was pickled. Zheng's mother cut two slices every ten days or half a month and was very frugal in eating. The last time I ate bacon was a month ago. Zheng Shan was not greedy. She only needed to give her brother one slice of bacon, and her brother one slice. No, Mom wants to eat it too, so she will eat half of a piece... No, one bite! One bite and she was happy! Finally, Zheng's mother's chopsticks reached out to the two slices of bacon. Zheng Shan's eyes moved along with the chopsticks, and even her little head moved slightly. The mother put the first piece of meat into my brother's bowl. Well, I should. For the second piece of meat, Zheng Shan saw her mother’s hand pause in front of her. Finally, it fell into her brother's bowl. Zheng Shan blinked her eyes, feeling a little aggrieved, but comforted herself: her brother still had to work every day and had to eat more meat. Pigweed leaves are delicious too! She lowered her head, not looking at the meat in her brother's bowl, but chewed the leaves harder with her cheeks, as if she was eating meat. …… A pair of chopsticks fell from above her forehead. The chopsticks holding the meat were so close to her that the aroma of the meat was almost slapping her in the face. Zheng Shan suddenly looked up and looked at Zheng Fa as he smiled and put a piece of bacon in her bowl. "Brother!" She grinned at Zheng Fa, happiness pouring out from her missing front teeth. "Eat meat." Zheng Fa touched her little head. "Hmm!" She picked up the bacon and took small bites, feeling very satisfied. …… Zheng's mother saw it but didn't say anything. No matter how much she valued her son, her daughter was also a piece of her flesh and blood. Why would I be willing to suffer injustice? It's not without reason that she favors her son. Not to mention that the heavy work in the fields needs to be done by men.
For example, whether there is a man in the family or not, the status in Zhuangzi is different. If Zheng Fa was not around after her husband passed away, life would be even more difficult for Zheng's mother and her husband. In Zheng's mother's mind, the one who supports the Zheng family is her son Zheng Fa. She was also happy that her son was willing to be close to his sister and take care of her. Unexpectedly, Zheng Fa picked up another piece of bacon and put it in Zheng's mother's bowl. Mother Zheng looked up at her son, feeling an indescribable feeling in her heart. After her husband left, she felt like the sky had fallen and she wished she could die too. Unexpectedly, her son became more and more sensible, which made her reluctant to let him go and gave her some hope. "Mom is so old now, eating meat is useless, and I don't like it. You are in the period of growing up..." "My son has grown tall enough." "..." Mother Zheng looked at her son, who was over seven feet tall and almost eight feet tall, and was unable to refute. She was also puzzled. Although the family had been short of food and clothing in the past few years, her son was growing taller day by day. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he was half a head taller than everyone else in the village. Life was hard at home, but this child was the best-looking one in the village. So that those people in Zhuangzi would not dare to insult him. …… At night, Zheng Fa lay on the bed, with mottled green tiles above his head and starlight streaming through. I could hear my sister smacking her lips in her dream in the next room and the sound of my mother turning over. The quilt I was wearing was old. Some parts were light and some were heavy. The light parts were empty, while the heavy parts were clumped together. It was not very comfortable to cover myself with, and it didn’t keep me warm very well. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep in anticipation. When I opened my eyes again, the world before my eyes had changed. The sun shines on the simple white ceiling of the house, and the sound of car horns on the street outside the window can be heard one after another. The duvet hugged his body softly. The quilt was so soft, but Zheng Fa didn't want to linger on it for even a moment. He jumped out of bed barefoot, put on slippers, rushed out of the room, opened the refrigerator, picked up a whole braised chicken and four steamed buns he had bought at the market the day before, and put them in the microwave. The aroma of chicken gradually spread from the microwave to the entire room. Zheng Fa took out the freshly heated roast chicken. The chicken skin was sizzling with golden fat, and the heat and fragrance teased his taste buds unscrupulously. Regardless of the fact that the chicken was still hot, he tore off a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth.
The fragrant and hot chicken warmed his stomach from his mouth, then went up his spine and turned into a sigh of happiness. (End of this chapter)
