Chapter 17 - Parental Love (1/2)

Yu Xiaocao glared at her brother. “Are you stupid? Why would we let Grandmother know? Can’t we learn from Eldest Aunt’s example? She eats food on the sly all the time!”

Their eldest aunt, Madam Li, never came back from her maiden home empty-handed. However, all of the food she brought back was hidden in her rooms. Only when no one was around would she surreptitiously take out some snacks and eat them with her son.

Yu Xiaocao bought ten more meat buns and had the hawker wrap them up carefully in oiled paper. The wrapped package was then stuffed into their battered ceramic pot. Earlier, they had placed some old rags on the top to hide their precious abalones. They also used the same tactic now to hide their forbidden pastries.

By the time the two of them arrived at the city gate, they could see that Uncle Ma was already there, waiting for them. The older matron who sold vegetables was also there. Her face was lit up with happiness. Judging by the large empty basket next to the woman, it wasn’t hard to see why.

“Xiaosha, Xiaocao, hurry up! We’re just waiting for you two!” Uncle Ma stood up when he saw them and waved to the two siblings.

“What about the lady who was selling eggs?” Yu Xiaocao inquired as she hopped onto the donkey cart. “She’s not here yet.”

The older lady who sold vegetables smiled, “Oh her? She sold off all of her eggs earlier and left already. She asked me to help her bring her basket back home. Xiaocao, what’s in that pot of yours? It looks pretty heavy.”

Yu Xiaocao sighed dejectedly, a sad expression on her little face. “My mother made some fermented soybean paste. We had wanted to see if we could sell them for a few copper coins and buy some coarse grains back home. But we couldn’t even sell a copper coin’s worth earlier! And now we’re down the four copper coins that we used for the ride here!”

When the matron heard it was soybean paste, she lost interest in the contents of the pot. She comforted the little girl absentmindedly and then leaned her body against the side of the wagon and dozed off.

Yu Hang couldn’t help but stare at his little sister when he heard her glibly lie between her teeth. Where did she learn to lie so easily? That’s not good. When he got back home, he needed to remind his mother to raise her more carefully. Otherwise, his sister might grow up to be too crooked.

When the two siblings arrived back to their village, they saw a familiar, tall figure standing on the road, waiting anxiously for them.

“Father? Father! We’re back!” Yu Xiaocao balanced the heavy ceramic pot in her hand as she ran with a staggering gait towards Yu Hai.

Yu Hai put down the game in his hands, effortlessly lifted his daughter up in the air, and faced his son with a stern look on his face. “You’re pretty brave, huh? You took your little sister out without a word to anyone, eh? Two little kids running around without anyone to look out for you. What if you guys encountered some bad people?”

He then turned to his daughter and spoke in a softer tone, “Cao’er, in the future, if you want to go into town tell father! Father will bring you there. It’s already past lunchtime, you must be hungry right? Father made sure to leave three steamed rolls [1] for you. You should eat them while they’re still hot!”

Ehhhh! Doting only on the daughter, he was truly a fool for his youngest daughter!Yu Xiaocao had a bashful expression on her face while being carried by her father. She wriggled out of her father's grasp and said, “Older brother and I have already eaten in town! We ate two large meat buns! I’m so full now, father! I also bought some for you too! You should eat them while we walk!”

Yu Xiaocao knew her grandmother’s miserly temperament. Since her father had steamed rolls for them to eat, it meant that he had to go hungry. This man woke up at the crack of dawn to go hunting in the mountains and later had to go into town to sell his game. It wasn’t right for him to go hungry.

Yu Xiaocao forced three pastries into her father’s hands. She looked at the mangled and bloody game on the ground and felt her heart skip a beat. “Father, I want to eat roasted pheasant. Is it possible to leave one of these for me?”Hunting today went so-so. Yu Hai had only caught some small game: two Reeves’s pheasants, three wild hares, and two plump nondescript wild birds.