Chapter 7

The first to slam the door and storm out was Gu Daniu, because aside from him, no one else in this household currently had the privilege of door-slamming.

“Who’s wailing like a banshee this early in the morning?” Gu Daniu stood at the doorway, his eyes practically shooting flames at Gu Chenshi. “Have you listened to how loud you are compared to anyone else in this village? Are you trying to summon the whole village to come laugh at us?”

Gu Chenshi complained aggrievedly: “Xin Xin won’t open the door, and she hit Qiuhe. Didn’t you say yesterday that Xin Xin should do housework?”

Gu Daniu fell silent for a moment, then came to knock on Gu Xinxin’s door: “Gu Xinxin, get up. Did you hit your sister?”

Gu Xinxin’s voice came from inside: “No, Gu Qiuhe has always been a liar since she was little. Dad, you know that. Besides, with my stepmother here, I wouldn’t dare lay a finger on Gu Qiuhe even if I had ten times the courage.”

Gu Qiuhe cried and jumped around: “She hit me! She hit me several times!”

Gu Xinxin opened the door with a sigh: “Qiuhe, why are you lying again? The other day when I was too sick to get up, you said I wasn’t eating and ate all my food. If Xiangrong hadn’t been afraid I’d starve and given me his portion, I probably wouldn’t have had the strength to get up at all. And just two days ago, you insisted I ruined your clothes, but later the neighbor girl Er’ya said you tore them yourself climbing a tree. And a few days before that, when Dad told you to cook, you forgot and blamed me, saying I didn’t start the fire for you…”

The list of offenses was endless.

Gu Qiuhe cried until she hiccupped: “No, this time you really did hit…”

Gu Daniu cut in impatiently: “Enough! Gu Xinxin, go make breakfast.”Simple and brutal there would be no fair judgment here.”

Gu Xinxin went to cook. She couldn’t just do anything, or Gu Daniu might not tolerate her until her marriage. Besides, she needed to eat too, and she was afraid Gu Chenshi might spit in her bowl.

She started the fire to cook porridge first, then, following her memory, opened the flour sack to take out some white flour. The Gu family lived relatively well by village standards, three meals a day, with one meal containing refined rice or flour, and meat every few days or three times a month.

As for eggs, they could have them every two or three days.

Old Mrs. Gu’s craving was purely out of greed.

Gu Xinxin decided to make egg pancakes to go with the millet porridge. With pickles, it could be considered… a top-tier meal.

She used the lard freely after making several pancakes, the oil jar was short by a large spoonful.

When she brought out the food, Gu Chenshi’s eyes bulged like copper bells. Gu Daniu, however, didn’t seem particularly surprised and immediately grabbed an egg pancake to stuff in his mouth.

Gu Xinxin was quick as she set down the bowls and chopsticks, she snatched two pancakes, one for Gu Xiangrong and one for herself: “I made these according to headcount. Since Dad hunts to earn money for the family, he gets two. Everyone else gets one.”

One pancake wouldn’t fill anyone up, but that was fine they could have more porridge.

Gu Chenshi’s face darkened: “Girls only need half…”

As she reached to grab the pancake from Gu Xinxin’s hand, Gu Xinxin swiftly took the one from Gu Qiuhe instead: “Qiuhe is both a girl and young, so she shouldn’t even have half just one bite to taste it.”

Seeing Gu Qiuhe about to snatch it back, she immediately placed Qiuhe’s portion into Old Mrs. Gu’s bowl: “Grandma is old. She should eat more good food to stay healthy and live a long life.”

Gu Qiuhe stood frozen in place. Snatching it away didn’t seem right but not snatching it… that egg pancake smelled so delicious, her mouth was practically watering just from the aroma.

When she looked over at Gu Xinxin again, Gu Xinxin had already eaten half of hers in a few quick bites. She stood up and hid behind Gu Daniu: “Dad, does our family not feed people even when they work?”

Gu Daniu tapped his chopsticks on the table: “Everyone settle down.”

Gu Qiuhe burst into loud sobs: “I want to eat the egg pancake! I want it!”

Gu Chenshi looked at Old Mrs. Gu, who quickly bit a circle of tooth marks around her egg pancake—there was no helping it, she was old and couldn’t match Gu Xinxin’s speed or strong teeth. Gu Chenshi had no choice but to painfully give half of her portion to Gu Qiuhe.

Gu Xinxin sighed: “Anyone who didn’t know better would think our family is dirty poor, having to split a single egg pancake like this. Dad, if people see our family so poor we can’t even afford a proper meal, they’ll probably look down on us.”

Gu Daniu paused for a moment. Gu Xinxin continued: “Marriage requires matching social status, doesn’t it? If our family is truly too poor to afford a bite of food, I might as well not marry at all. Otherwise, if I marry someone equally poor, wouldn’t you have to subsidize us, Dad?”

Gu Daniu drank the last mouthful of porridge and called Gu Xiangrong: “Come with me up the mountain first.”

During this season, the weather was hot and the mountain animals were lazy, mostly active only in the early morning and evening. So, hunting had to be done early if it got too late, visibility would be poor and dangerous.

Gu Xiangrong hurried to follow, glancing back at Gu Xinxin as he walked. Gu Xinxin waved at him.

As soon as father and son left, Gu Chenshi couldn’t restrain herself. She stood up and lunged toward Gu Xinxin, reaching out to grab her hair, this was her usual method. Grab the hair, deliver two hard slaps, and Gu Xinxin would surely be subdued.

But today her plan went awry. Before she could even touch Gu Xinxin’s hair, somehow a stool appeared under her feet. Her knee slammed right into it, and her body tumbled forward over the stool.

Gu Xinxin immediately stood up and backed away: “Oh dear!”

She cried out on Gu Chenshi’s behalf as Gu Chenshi landed headfirst on the ground. Gu Chenshi shouted to Gu Wenshu and Gu Qiuhe: “Help me up!”

Gu Wenshu quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks. While everyone else had finished eating, he still hadn’t had his fill and had been lingering at the table nibbling pickles. Now he came over, grabbed one of Gu Chenshi’s arms, and pulled hard: “Get up.”

Gu Chenshi scrambled to her feet; her face twisted with rage and charged at Gu Xinxin again. Gu Xinxin immediately dashed toward the main gate, shouting as she ran: “Dad, save me! My stepmother is trying to beat me to death…”

Gu Chenshi’s movements halted instantly. She hadn’t forgotten what Gu Daniu had told her last night if Gu Xinxin’s reputation was ruined…

If Gu Xinxin ran out shouting like this, it wouldn’t be her own reputation that suffered, but Gu Chenshi’s.

Why hadn’t she realized before how annoying this wretched girl could be?

Flustered, she straightened her clothes so no one would guess she’d been fighting. A stepmother beating someone even if justified would lose moral ground. She hurried after Gu Xinxin out the door: “Xin Xin, you’ve misunderstood! I was just asking you to clean up the kitchen. What are you running for?”

Facing the neighbors, she said with a helpless expression: “I asked Xin Xin to cook this morning, but she was a bit unwilling. I was just telling her how can a grown girl not know how to cook? If she can’t cook and doesn’t want to lift a finger, who would be willing to marry her in the future?”

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