Xing Muzheng had, of course, done this kind of work before — just not in a long time. Wang Yong had never seen it, and hurried to say, “Commander, allow your subordinate to do it!”
“No need.”
Xing Muzheng was tall and broad, and even squatting down he took up a lot of space. His long legs folded in, but still crowded the area, almost pressing up against Qian Jiaoniang. She suddenly felt the wide-open outdoors become stifling. She paused, put down the half-plucked pheasant, stood up, and smiled. “Wang Yong, you and your Commander pluck the rest. I’ll go cook the rice.”
Without waiting for a reply, she walked off. Wang Yong scratched his head, then looked up — only to meet Xing Muzheng’s cold stare. He groaned inwardly. What had he done to offend the commander?
Liu Ying, still unable to get Xing Pingchun out of the water, looked back and saw Xing Muzheng plucking rabbit fur — like the sky had fallen. “Nephew! How can you do such filthy work? As the saying goes, gentlemen stay out of the kitchen! And you — so refined — how can you do this? Madam Qian! Madam Qian! What are you doing? Get over here and take over!”
Qian Jiaoniang was upstream rinsing rice, a fair distance away. She pretended not to hear. Liu Ying shrieked again, but Jiaoniang remained relaxed, running her fingers through the rice in the pot. Liu Ying was so angry she stamped her foot.
Xing Muzheng said, “Aunt, no need to call her. It’s just a small task.”
“How can this be a small matter? A man cooking brings misfortune! That Qian woman is utterly unreasonable! Muzheng, take a break — I’ll do it!”
As she spoke, Liu Ying rolled up her sleeves, insisting on taking over. Xing Muzheng had no choice but to yield, though with all the fuss, he could’ve finished plucking the rabbit by now.
Jiaoniang didn’t need to turn around to know what was happening. She feigned ignorance, wandered down the stream to stand beside Qingya, and watched Xing Pingchun paddling around like a dog. Her own sticky body itched to jump in and play too.
After calling Xing Pingchun ashore, Jiaoniang finally returned with the pot in her hands, walking back slowly. When she saw Liu Ying plucking rabbit fur, she feigned surprise. “Auntie, why are you doing that? Wang Yong, what are you doing? Auntie is our guest from afar — how can you let her work?”
Wang Yong: “…”
Now he understood. He was always the one who got dragged into things without knowing why.
Liu Ying had come to act like a noble, but ended up plucking rabbit fur instead. She was stifling with frustration, but with so many people around, she couldn’t throw a fit. Since the rabbit was already done, she could only act gracious. “We’re all family — it’s no big deal!”
Qian Jiaoniang sighed repeatedly, set down the pot, and quickly pulled Liu Ying aside, not letting her do any more work. She herself pretended to pluck a few fine hairs, then tossed the rabbit back to Wang Yong and said it was up to his skill now.
It turned out Wang Yong hadn’t been boasting—he cleaned the wild chicken and rabbit, skewered them with a pair of swords that had been seared over the fire, and set them up over the campfire prepared by Ah Da and the others. As they roasted, the aroma wafted out, making Xing Pingchun, Tian Yongzhang, and the rest drool all over the place. When they were done, Wang Yong tore off a rabbit leg, and Xing Pingchun’s mouth nearly turned into a waterfall.
Wang Yong wrapped the rabbit leg in clean oilcloth and respectfully offered it to Xing Muzheng. Xing Muzheng told Tian Linwen and Liu Ying to eat it, but Tian Linwen declined repeatedly. Xing Muzheng then passed it to Qian Jiaoniang, who didn’t stand on ceremony—she tore off a piece and popped it in her mouth. The crispy skin and tender meat truly tasted like something from the heavens.
Liu Ying fumed inwardly. If she’d known it would go to Qian Jiaoniang, she’d have eaten it herself!
Xing Pingchun was so hungry he could chew his own tongue. Qian Jiaoniang tore off a piece for Qingya, then gave a piece to him. Xing Pingchun didn’t even bother reaching out—he just bit it straight from Qian Jiaoniang’s hand and chewed happily, exclaiming how delicious it was.
Wang Yong tore off another rabbit leg. Xing Muzheng, a straightforward man, didn’t insist further since Tian Linwen and the others had declined. He grabbed it and began eating. As he looked at his wife and son across the fire, even this oft-eaten roast rabbit suddenly tasted better than ever.
The Tian family members swallowed hard in secret. Luckily, the rabbit was large, and they could still get a few pieces. Everyone was hungry and dug in with great appetite.
Xing Pingchun gnawed on a rabbit bone, then suddenly remembered something. He put the bone down and said crisply, “Great Aunt, my mother told me this afternoon she didn’t let me eat the sugar figurines because she was afraid people might spit into them. It wouldn’t be clean, so she didn’t let me eat them.”
Liu Ying was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that village woman to care so much about cleanliness. But why was the boy telling her this? She didn’t eat children’s treats. She gave a perfunctory reply and kept eating her rabbit meat.
Xing Pingchun continued, “We all blamed my mother wrongly. I apologized to her this afternoon.”
Was he trying to show off how well-mannered he was? Liu Ying gave another half-hearted response, “Good boy, good boy.”
“Great Aunt,” Xing Pingchun said solemnly, “you stood up for me this morning and scolded my mother. But you did it by mistake. You should apologize to her too.”
Everyone around the campfire was stunned. Qingya was so delighted she nudged Qian Jiaoniang—this son was absolutely worth raising!
