Chapter 586. Suspicions (1/2)

Old Man Jin shook his head and solemnly thanked them before he brought the whole group to the three-roomed building on the east side. The smile on his face became more sincere as he said, “This three-roomed building normally doesn’t have people living in it. You all can first place your luggage here. In a bit, when my three daughters-in-law come back, I’ll have them help you clean things up. Xiaohu’zi, quickly go to the back courtyard and pick some vegetables so we can start the fire and help the guests make food!”

“No need, no need! We will do things ourselves!” Without waiting for Xiaocao’s command, Chunhua and Qiushi began to clean up the rooms. The east building had three rooms. Zhu Junyang and Su Ran were assigned to one, Xiaocao and her two maidservants were in another, while the last one was for Hou Xiaoliang, who had gotten lucky this time and had his own room.

When Old Man Jin’s three daughters-in-law came back with baskets full of corn on their backs, they had already finished cleaning and organizing the three rooms. The beds had been made with their own bedding and Yu Xiaocao took her two maidservants to the kitchen to begin cooking. They made a large pot of preserved meat with rice and stir fried some old string beans with stewed meat. In addition, they also made simmered eggplant casserole, stir fried old cucumbers, and spicy and sour cabbage. The portion sizes of all of the dishes were quite large and was enough to feed their group as well as Old Man Jin’s family. After all, they couldn’t just make the host family wait to eat just because they borrowed their kitchen, right?

When she saw that Old Man Jin’s three daughters-in-law had to haul back giant baskets of corn after working an entire day in the fields, she instructed Hou Xiaoliang to bring two of the more gentle horses to help them bring their harvest back. After getting their host’s permission, she picked out some more tender ears of corn from their basket and boiled them to eat.

The sweet smell of cooked corn lured Xiaohu, who had been taking care of his mother this entire time, out of the room. He sidled by the kitchen and lightly sniffed the air with his nose. Not only did the smell of tasty preserved meat hit his nose, but he also identified a new, sweet and savory odor. It made the saliva pool in his mouth.

Yu Xiaocao took out a just cooked ear of corn from the pot and waved it in the air to cool it a bit before she beckoned the young boy over, “Xiaohu, come here and try your family's corn. See if it tastes good or not.”

When Jin Xiaohu found out this corn was planted by his family, he didn’t try to be polite and took the corn back to the room, “Mother, are you feeling better ah? It’s already been two days since you last ate. Eat some corn to fill your stomach first. In a bit, I’ll go help Eldest Aunt to make supper.”

“Corn?” Xiaohu’s mother had slept a bit after taking a pill and now felt much better. Her chest no longer felt as tight as before and she already had an appetite again. She took the ear of corn from her son and asked, “Did you eat any yet?”

“That noble young maiden boiled many ears, so I’ll go grab some more later. Eat this first, okay? This is the corn that our family grew and it smells quite delicious. It must be good!” Jin Xiaohu secretly swallowed down his saliva and coaxed his mother to eat.

Xiaohu’s mother broke the ear in two and handed him half. She only began to gnaw on the corn in her hands after she saw him happily eating his share. The corn was soft and tender underneath their teeth. The more they chewed, the tastier it became. Even Xiaohu’s mother couldn't help but eat bite after bite. After she inadvertently finished her portion of corn, she finally realized just how delicious it was.

“Mother, it looks like noble guests that are here this time aren’t the same as the ones we had last time. Although the man dressed in black doesn’t look like someone we should offend, their servants haven’t tried to bully or walk all over us. As for that young maiden who has skin as white as snow, she doesn’t have any of the airs or arrogance of a noble family’s young miss. She even personally went into the kitchen to make food! I peeked in there earlier and saw that she made a lot of food. There’s a layer of preserved meat on top of the rice they cooked and they also made big portions of the other dishes. The spread is even better than what we eat during the New Years.”

After Xiaohu finished eating his corn, he took his mother’s finished cob and threw it into a corner in the courtyard. There were hens over there and they clucked excitedly over the new food.

“The fact that they just gave us these medicinal pills for free shows us that they’re not bad people. We’re only a mere hunter’s family and have nothing of worth for them to covet. These people must have good hearts, so we must remember their kindness.” Xiaohu’s mother gently stroked her son’s head and smilingly advised him.

“Then...I’ll go see if the traps we set earlier have any game in them. If they do, should I give them to the guests to add to their meal?” Jin Xiaohu no longer felt as resentful as he did earlier towards Xiaocao and the others. However, he still felt a bit conflicted inside.

However, as soon as he exited the room, he discovered that the courtyard had an additional two giant, monstrous animals——one black and one white wolf? Or were they dogs? One of them had a still twitching roe deer in its mouth while the other had a gray bird.

“Are...are these two animals your pets?” Jin Xiaohu watched as those two placed their caught prey in front of the maiden dressed in pink like they were presenting treasures. Then, the two large creatures lay down in front of her, acting cute and begging for pets. Their actions didn’t suit their large and ferocious looking exteriors at all.

Yu Xiaocao raised her head and saw that Jin Xiaohu had a face full of bewildered alarm and also a bit of anticipation. She grinned at him, “That’s right ah! Don’t judge these two foolish ones by their appearances. Without their owner’s command, they won’t harm anyone. Especially Little Black, he’s the good-natured one of the two. You can pet him if you like!”

The stupid roe deer that Little Black brought back suddenly jumped up from the ground and began to scramble around the courtyard in a panic. Little Black violently jumped over and used one claw to powerfully press the roe deer onto the ground until it couldn’t budge. Only after that episode did Jin Xiaohu discover that the prey that these two brought back didn’t have a single injury on them. As for the dusty gray bird that had been brought back by the white wolf, it was still calling out on occasion.

“Oh ho! It’s a hazel grouse ah! The sky has hazel grouse meat while the ground has donkey meat. Miss, you all are quite lucky today!” Old Man Jin had gone back and forth two times to help his family move the corn, and they had finished harvesting about one mu’s worth of corn. The corn had been piled in the courtyard. Old Man Jin made a quick estimate and was pretty sure that their harvest had exceeded a thousand catties. This year, they would be able to save quite a bit of money that was normally used to buy grain during the winter!