PCJ – Chapter 94 A Visitor Arrives

“During the New Year, bring us another house protection talisman. I’ll give you a big red envelope,” Wang Fang said, not genuinely wanting Zhang Jiaohua’s chestnuts. Chestnuts were common in Meizi Mountain, and because they couldn’t be sold, many chestnuts rotted in the mountains. While many animals in the mountains ate these nuts, chestnuts had a spiky shell that made them difficult to eat without wisdom. Wang Fang merely wanted to chat with Zhang Jiaohua.

“Sure, sure,” Zhang Jiaohua readily agreed, delighted at the prospect of business. He then hurried home with his basket.

As soon as Zhang Jiaohua left, Zhang Enzhong emerged from the house. “Is that little rascal gone?”

“Keep your voice down, don’t let Jiaohua hear you,” Wang Fang quickly checked outside. Seeing that Zhang Jiaohua had long disappeared, she relaxed.

Zhang Enzhong snorted, “So what if he hears? I haven’t asked him to return that hundred yuan. That little brat tricked me out of a hundred yuan. He could have told me the reason earlier. Instead, he let me ruin two batches of tofu and then conned me out of a hundred yuan.”

“What does it matter? If you hadn’t caused trouble at their house, would he have tricked you? Everything happens for a reason. You caused trouble without reason, so you deserved to be taught a lesson. Consider that hundred yuan as the cost of learning a lesson. I’m telling you, don’t provoke Jiaohua again, or you’ll regret it,” Wang Fang warned.

“I won’t bother with him. Do you think I’m afraid of a little kid?” Zhang Enzhong dismissed her concerns.

Wang Fang, seeing her husband’s stubbornness, got angry. “Don’t underestimate Jiaohua just because he’s a kid. No one in this village can outwit him. Last time, he just didn’t tell you the reason. Next time, he might make sure you can’t make tofu at all. Even though he’s a child, he’s got the Meishan heritage. Outsmarting you is too easy for him.”

Zhang Enzhong, being a smart man, knew this well. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have refrained from asking Zhang Jiaohua for the money these past few days. Zhang Enzhong was meticulous, always leveling the beans in the tofu mold to maximize yield. He’d count the beans if he could.

“I’m just saying, I’m not really going to provoke him. As an adult, I don’t need to pick a fight with a kid,” Zhang Enzhong softened his tone, seeing his wife’s anger. Now that she was pregnant, she was the household’s empress, and everyone had to take good care of her.

Zhang Jiaohua returned home with the hopping Zuan Shanbao, quickly emptied the chestnuts into a bamboo tray, took out the two wild chickens, and shouted, “Mom, Mom…”

Zhang Youping and Liu Qiaoye came out, surprised to see the two wild chickens.

“Did you catch these yourself?” Liu Qiaoye asked in astonishment.

“How could I? One was caught by Zuan Shanbao, and the other by a Weasel.” Zhang Jiaohua hesitated but decided to tell the truth. Kids usually don’t lie to their parents.

“A weasel!” Liu Qiaoye and Zhang Youping exclaimed together.

“Yeah, it was strange. The weasel deliberately killed the chicken and brought it to me. I think it’s the same one from the fight at the dumb’s house last time,” Zhang Jiaohua explained.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. Just say Zuan Shanbao caught both,” Liu Qiaoye quickly advised.

“Who would I tell?” Zhang Jiaohua scratched his head. Except for the dumb, no kids played with him, and the dumb was closely watched by his parents, Zhang Benrui and his wife, making it impossible for him to visit.

Originally, the dumb and Zhang Jiaohua had planned to pick chestnuts together, but Ma Jinxi refused to let him go. Besides school, the dumb rarely had a chance to play with Zhang Jiaohua.

“Son, heat some water. Let’s clean these chickens and stir-fry them with oil. They’ll last us a few days,” Liu Qiaoye instructed, placing a pot of water on the stove.

Zhang Jiaohua skillfully fed some wood into the stove, added some pine needles underneath, struck a match, and soon the dim kitchen was illuminated by the yellow flames. Although electricity had reached Meizi Village in the eighties, it was unreliable. The fifteen-watt incandescent bulbs used in most homes barely outshone kerosene lamps. During peak hours, they were even dimmer. The long rural power lines, mostly bare aluminum, suffered high losses, making electricity expensive at nearly a yuan per kilowatt-hour, a significant cost for income-limited rural families. Even after four or five years of electrification, some households still used kerosene lamps.

With autumn cooling the air, the stove’s fire transformed from summer’s scorching heat to a cozy warmth.

As Zhang Jiaohua fed more wood into the stove, it crackled and popped loudly.

“Firecrackers! Must be a visitor,” Zhang Jiaohua joked.

“Who would visit at this hour?” Liu Qiaoye laughed.

“Don’t listen to this boy. There’s no way someone would come now,” Zhang Youping said, splitting a pine root with an axe.

“Son, if your mom and I go to Guangdong to work, you’ll either stay with your grandparents or your maternal grandparents. Which do you choose?” Liu Qiaoye asked, bringing up plans for after the New Year.

“I’m staying home. I can cook and do laundry. With Zuan Shanbao, I’ll be fine. I need to raise rabbits and feed pigs. Selling them will earn more than you working away,” Zhang Jiaohua stubbornly replied, not wanting to leave home.

“Then make dinner today. If you can cook everything well, I’ll agree to let you stay home alone,” Liu Qiaoye challenged, hoping to discourage him.

“That’s easy,” Zhang Jiaohua said confidently.

When the water boiled, Liu Qiaoye and Zhang Youping stepped back. Zhang Jiaohua carefully placed the chickens into a wooden basin and poured the boiling water over them. Using tongs, he rolled the chickens in the water to ensure they were evenly scalded. After a thorough scalding, he quickly plucked the feathers.

Despite his age, Zhang Jiaohua had done this often, working efficiently. In no time, the chickens were plucked clean. Cleaning wild chickens was similar to domestic ones; once scalded, the feathers came off easily.

As Zhang Jiaohua struggled to cut open the chicken with a kitchen knife, footsteps sounded outside.