Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Inside the dilapidated house, steam was rising.

The broken iron pot, missing half of its surface, seemed to be under a spell at that moment.

Zhao Shanhe didn't hesitate, his blade flashing up and down.

Roe deer meat is lean, but it can't help but gain a lot of weight for autumn!

He specifically chose the ribs and the back section of meat with a thick layer of white fat, and cut it into squares the size of mahjong tiles.

"Sizzle—!"

Although there was no soybean oil, the fat inside the roe deer's belly was readily available.

The chopped lard was thrown into the hot iron pot and melted instantly. A rich, domineering aroma of lard exploded like a bomb in this bare house!

"Gulp."

Lin Xiu, who was tending the fire, couldn't help but swallow hard.

Niu Niu, who was sitting on the kang (heated brick bed), was so hungry that she lay down right next to the stove, her eyes wide open, as if afraid that the meat would grow wings and fly away.

"Wife, add snow water! Simmer over high heat!"

Zhao Shanhe gave the order.

The meat chunks were put into the pot and stir-fried in hot oil until they changed color and made an enticing sizzling sound. Then, snow water was added and the broken pot lid was put on top.

Less than half an hour later.

Glug... Glug...

As the broth in the pot boiled, an irrepressible aroma of wild game wafted out through the cracks in the broken door and along the chimney, rampaging through the cold winter night!

"It's ripe!"

Zhao Shanhe lifted the pot lid.

White steam rose up.

The dark red roe deer meat tumbled in the oily broth, topped with a thick layer of golden fat. Each piece of meat was soaked in the broth and trembled slightly.

Around the pot, a ring of plump, white dough rolls soaked up the broth, their bottoms fried until golden brown, making your mouth water just looking at them.

"Here you go, Niu Niu, this fattest one is for you!"

Zhao Shanhe picked up a piece of meat with trembling fat, blew on it, and stuffed it into his daughter's mouth.

"Ouch! It's hot..."

Niu Niu was so hot she kept gasping for breath, but she kept her little mouth tightly shut, unwilling to spit it out.

One bite and your mouth is filled with juicy goodness!

The long-awaited aroma of meat assaulted her taste buds, and the little girl's eyes narrowed into slits with happiness as she mumbled, "Daddy...it smells so good! Even better than during the New Year!"

"Xiuer, you should eat too. This piece is hindquarter meat, it's tender!"

Zhao Shanhe then picked up a large piece of meat, all lean, and gave it to his wife.

Lin Xiu held the bowl, tears falling into it one after another.

"Honey, this is such a waste... So much meat, how much cornmeal could that be exchanged for..."

She is distressed.

If this meat were taken to the black market and exchanged for coarse grains, it would be enough to feed the whole family for a month.

"eat!"

Zhao Shanhe's face darkened, and he forcefully pressed the meat into her bowl:

"Follow me, Zhao Shanhe, and this will be a regular occurrence from now on! If you try to save money by not eating it, you're slapping me in the face!"

Looking into her husband's determined eyes, Lin Xiu finally took a bite.

So fragrant.

The fragrance penetrates to the bone and warms the heart.

Meanwhile, at Old Zhao's house.

The atmosphere here, however, was as somber as if a funeral had just taken place.

The room was as cold as an icebox.

Because no one was fetching water, the water tank was empty;

Because no one was chopping firewood, the stove pit was filled with wet wood, which only emitted black smoke and did not catch fire, filling the whole house with a choking smell.

"Ouch...it hurts so much...Mom...it hurts so much..."

On the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, the third brother, Zhao Shanlin, was lying there like a dead dog.

His right wrist was swollen like a steamed bun, dangling at an odd angle—it had been broken by Zhao Shanhe's "joint twist" during the day.

Because she couldn't bear to spend money to go to the hospital to set the bone, Li Cuihua, the old woman, only found a folk doctor to apply two plasters to his wound.

Now that the medicine has worn off, he is in so much pain that he is rolling around on the kang (a heated brick bed), and his bedding is soaked with cold sweat.

"Damn Boss Zhao... he's so ruthless... ouch..."

Zhao Shanlin groaned as he glanced fearfully toward the door.

He was truly terrified of being beaten. The cold look in Zhao Shanhe's eyes during the day still gave him nightmares.

The second son, Zhao Shanhai, huddled on the kang (a heated brick bed) wrapped in two layers of old cotton quilts, his face ashen.

His Zhongshan suit, which he had prepared for the blind date, was still wet, covered in porridge stains.

At that moment, he was kicking the stove door in frustration.

"Mom! Why is it so cold in here? Where's the food? I can't even get a bowl of hot porridge! I have to write reports tomorrow!"

"Drink, drink, drink! All you ever think about is drinking! That half-pot of noodles was stolen by your bandit brother! We've been drinking nothing but thin soup for days!"

Old Lady Li Cuihua knelt on the ground, trying to blow out the fire. She was choked by the smoke, tears streaming down her face. Her face was covered in soot, and she looked as wretched as a beggar.

"Who's going to fetch water? Who's going to chop wood? That damned ingrate! He's trying to freeze us all to death!"

Looking at her crippled third son and her spoiled second son, Li Cuihua felt immense regret.

It's not that I regret driving the eldest brother away, it's that I regret not forcing him to fill the water tank and chop the firewood before he left!

Amidst the wailing, the door was pushed open.

Zhao Xiaoyu, the younger sister, who was dressed in a chilly outfit, walked in carrying her schoolbag and wearing her newly bought little leather shoes.

As soon as she entered the house, she was choked by the black smoke and coughed twice, her brows instantly furrowing into a deep frown.

"Cough cough! What's going on?"

"Second brother, Mom? Why does the room look like a pigsty? Why is third brother lying there groaning?"

"Where's my brother? I'm starving! Why hasn't he cooked yet?"

In the past, whenever she came home for vacation, her older brother would have already steamed the egg custard and warmed the house, waiting for her.

What's wrong with me today?

"Don't mention that beast!"

Li Cuihua slammed the fire poker in her hand down and embellished her account of the family division that day:

"...He's gotten too big for his britches! He's gone mad! Not only did he break your third brother's hand, but he also stole all the food and bedding from the house!"

"He's trying to drive my whole family to their deaths! That heartless ingrate, he's going to make me so angry I could die!"

Zhao Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Immediately, her face revealed extreme disdain and contempt.

"Pshaw, I don't think it's a big deal."

Zhao Xiaoyu threw her schoolbag onto the kang (a heated brick bed), looking at her wailing mother as if she were a fool:

"Mom, don't you know my older brother? He's like a donkey, he won't move no matter how you lead him, and he'll just back down if you try to stop him."

"He's just feeling resentful and wants to cause trouble, to get attention. Break Third Brother's hand? I think Third Brother just tripped and fell. With that cowardly eldest brother, would he dare to lay a hand on him?"

She simply didn't believe that her older brother, who could be beaten and scolded at will, could turn the world upside down.

In her eyes, her eldest brother was a servant of the family; he didn't even know how to survive without this family.

Stealing the food? That must be because he can't survive in that dilapidated mud house anymore, and he wants to use this as leverage, waiting for Mom to beg him to come back.

"Alright, stop howling."

Zhao Xiaoyu straightened the red scarf around her neck, raised her chin, and looked arrogant:

"I'm going to the dilapidated house at the west end."

"I'll give him an ultimatum. I'll tell him that as long as he comes back quickly to chop up the firewood for the whole winter, carry back the stolen grain, and kowtow to his third brother to admit his mistake, I'll forgive him for being ignorant this time and still acknowledge him as my brother."

After saying that, she turned and left without even glancing at her third brother, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) grimacing in pain.

In her view, as long as she, the "hope of the whole family," was willing to condescend to ask him, her eldest brother would definitely come back crying and begging.

……

Fifteen minutes later.

At the west end of the village, outside a dilapidated mud house.

A snowstorm raged.

Zhao Xiaoyu walked along, her feet sinking into the muddy snow. Looking at her little leather shoes covered in snow and mud, she shook her feet in disgust.

"This shabby place reeks of poverty..."

She already had a picture in her mind:

The eldest brother and his family of three must be huddled on the cold, unheated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), guarding the little bit of food they had stolen, shivering from the cold, filled with deep regret.

With this sense of superiority, she walked to the door of the dilapidated mud house.

I was just about to kick the door.

call--

A night breeze swept by.

A rich, overpowering aroma of meat, with a distinctly sizzling, greasy fragrance, suddenly filled her nostrils!

"Gurgle."

Zhao Xiaoyu's throat made a sound uncontrollably.

That's... the smell of braised pork?!

No, it smells even better than braised pork! It's the aroma of wild game that you can only smell during the Chinese New Year!

"This...this is impossible!"

Zhao Xiaoyu's eyes widened.

Didn't my brother steal some cornmeal? Where did this poor wretch get the meat?!

In that instant, her sense of superiority crumbled, replaced by an extreme feeling of being deceived and anger.

OK!

So it turns out he didn't run away from home; he was hiding here eating alone!

Mom was so hungry at home that she was eating pickled vegetables, and my third brother was groaning in pain. I was eating meager meals at school, and you were secretly hiding so much meat from the whole family?!

"Zhao Shanhe! You heartless bastard!"

Zhao Xiaoyu screamed, her jealousy tearing away her mask of civility.

Bang!

She kicked open the broken wooden door!

"What the hell are you doing?! We can't even get hot water at home, and you're hiding here..."

The cursing stopped abruptly.

The door opened.

The heatwave inside, carrying an even stronger aroma of meat, hit Zhao Xiaoyu head-on, making her dizzy.

She stood frozen at the doorway, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

She saw that the eldest brother, whom she believed was suffering, was sitting cross-legged on the scorching hot kang (heated brick bed), his face flushed and his forehead even covered in fine sweat.

The large bowl in front of him was filled to the brim with glistening chunks of meat.

On the stove, there was a large bowl of white steamed buns!

On the ground nearby lay two freshly peeled roe deer skins, still dripping blood!

Heaven.

This is paradise!

In comparison, the room she had just been in was practically a pigsty!

"Father... there are bad people..."

When Niu Niu saw Zhao Xiaoyu's distorted face, she was so frightened that she almost dropped the bone in her hand and instinctively shrank into Zhao Shanhe's arms.

Zhao Shanhe was putting a piece of fatty meat into his mouth.

Hearing the noise, he didn't stop moving, and didn't even look at the person at the door.

He put the meat in his mouth and deliberately chewed it making a "smacking" sound. A little bit of the grease dripped from the corner of his mouth, making it look incredibly tempting.

After swallowing, he slowly raised his eyelids and glanced at his little sister, who was standing in the wind, frozen like a quail.

That look in his eyes was no longer the doting and ingratiating look of before.

It's more like watching a stray dog ​​come begging for food.

"Hey, isn't this our college student who never lifts a finger?"

Zhao Shanhe picked up his chopsticks, pointed to the snow outside the door, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips:

"What's wrong? Instead of enjoying a good life at home, you've come to my doghouse to sniff around?"