Chapter 6: Don’t Want Me, But You Want My Chickens?

Early the next morning, when Li Long woke up, he felt the room temperature had dropped significantly. Rubbing his cold hands and feet, he dressed quickly, walked over to the stove, and poked it with the fire hook, only to find the fire inside had long since gone out.

He had been exhausted when he returned last night and hadn’t replenished the coal from the shed, so now he had to restart the fire from scratch.

Pushing the door open, Li Long rubbed his hands, trotted to the coal shed, pulled out a few reeds for kindling, grabbed a handful of corncobs, and hurried back into the room with two pieces of firewood.

In just that short time, his ears were already red from the cold.

He opened the stove door, used the hook to clear out the ash, laid down the reeds, spread out the corncobs, added the firewood, covered the lid, and pulled out his kerosene lighter. Bending over, he lit the reed fuzz inside the stove door. Once he saw the fire catch, he shut the door.

He was just tidying up the ash when the door was pushed open. Li Qiang walked in, rubbing his hands together. “Uncle, Mom says to come over to wash your face and get ready for breakfast.”

“What’s for breakfast?” Li Long asked while scooping up the ashes.

“Cornmeal porridge, pickles, cornmeal pancakes… oh, and steamed buns!” Li Qiang’s eyes were shining.

“That sounds great,” Li Long said with a smile.

“It’s not. I still want meat,” Li Qiang whispered. “Sister doesn’t let me say it, but I know she wants some too…”

“Then we’ll have meat at noon,” Li Long said, carrying the ash-filled shovel outside. “How about that?”

“Awesome! Uncle, what kind of meat?” Li Qiang asked, looking up with bright, expectant eyes. “Is it those little sparrows again? Those are tasty, but there’s so little meat on them.”

“Rock partridges,” Li Long said, patting Li Qiang’s head. “Don’t rush, eat your breakfast first.”

“What’s a rock partridge? Mom doesn’t let us kill the chickens at home; she says they’ll lay eggs next year.”

“These aren’t from our house.” Li Long went outside to dump the ash, left the shovel by the door, and led Li Qiang into the west room.

Steam from cooking and boiling water made the outer kitchen humid. Liang Yuemei was stir-frying pickles. Seeing Li Long come in, she said while flipping them in the pan, “Xiao Long, hurry and wash your face; we’re ready to eat.”

“Right.” Li Long replied. He went to the basin stand in the corner, saw it had been refilled with fresh water, and gave his face a quick splash.

Li Qiang had already run into the room he shared with Li Juan and shouted at his sister, “Sister! Uncle says we’re having rock partridges for lunch!”

“What?” Li Juan was folding their pillows and quilts and hadn’t heard clearly.

But Li Jianguo heard it from outside and scolded, “What rock partridges? Where would you catch those now?”

Li Qiang felt wronged. He walked over to Li Jianguo and stubbornly insisted, “It was my uncle! My uncle said we’re eating rock partridges for lunch.”

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei both looked at Li Long.

“I caught a few last night,” Li Long pointed outside. “I left them in the snow. I plan to pluck and clean them after breakfast.”

“How many?” Li Jianguo asked, looking astonished. He knew exactly what his younger brother was capable of. Let alone catching partridges, he wouldn’t even lift a finger to help slaughter a chicken at home. Had he been possessed or something?

“Five.” Li Long held up his hand, proudly splaying his five fingers.

“Let’s go take a look!” Li Jianguo was skeptical.

“I want to see too!” Li Qiang shouted and followed Li Long.

Li Juan didn’t say anything, but she followed along as well. Liang Yuemei wanted to go too, but with food cooking on the stove, she had to stay put and listen to the commotion from the courtyard.

Li Long walked to the snowbank against the wall, uncovered the crust with a wooden shovel, and raked it a bit, revealing the rock partridges huddled together.

“One, two, three… five! Sister, there really are five!” Li Qiang counted happily as Li Long laid them out one by one.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Li Jianguo shot him a glare and whispered to Li Long, “Xiao Long, where did you catch these?”

“By the edge of the field,” Li Long pointed toward the east. He was just about to tell him the specific location when he heard footsteps and barking dogs coming from outside.

Li Long wanted to put the birds away quickly, but it was already too late.

A girl appeared at the main gate.

Li Long glanced at her but didn’t say a word.

Li Jianguo smiled and took the initiative to greet her, “Oh, Shufun is here?”

Wu Shufun hadn’t expected to see the two brothers and both children outside. She hesitated for a moment. Then, when she saw the rock partridges at Li Long’s feet, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

The words she had prepared on the road were suddenly stuck in her throat. Hearing Li Jianguo’s greeting, she looked flustered and didn’t know what to say.

Staring at the birds, Wu Shufun thought to herself that breaking up could wait a day or two; it didn’t really matter.

To be honest, Wu Shufun was quite pretty. Although she was wearing a big, flowery cotton-padded jacket, her pants had clearly been tailored to fit her slim figure, and she wore trendy cotton-rubber shoes and a fashionable headscarf. Li Long had been attracted to her back then because of her pretty face and her sense of style.

It was just a pity he hadn’t realized that behind that pretty face lay a fickle heart that valued wealth over loyalty.

Seeing Wu Shufun staring intently at the birds, Li Jianguo thought that since she was his brother’s girlfriend, he should be hospitable. He smiled and said, “That… Shufun, look, Xiao Long caught these partridges yesterday, why don’t you…”

“Big Brother,” Li Long immediately understood what his brother was thinking and cut him off. He took one look at Wu Shufun and continued, “Brother, wait until I ask her a few questions.”

Li Jianguo knew that in their relationship, his brother was the submissive one, especially since Wu Shufun was pretty and had many admirers. Seeing his brother suddenly taking the initiative made him feel good, so he said, “Go ahead and ask.” He turned to Li Juan and Li Qiang and said, “You two, get into the room.”

Then he turned and walked toward the house himself. It was better not to listen in on a couple’s conversation.

However, Li Long didn’t care who was listening. He looked directly at Wu Shufun and asked, “Did you hear from Gu Ermao that I got fired, so you came here to break up with me?”

What? Break up?

Li Jianguo stopped in his tracks, turning around in surprise to look at Li Long, then at Wu Shufun.

Wu Shufun hadn’t expected Li Long to bring up the topic first. She was suddenly on the defensive. But she was definitely going to break up with him. She was worried Li Long might say something unpleasant, so she rushed to speak:

“Yes, let’s break up. You got fired, so you must have done something bad! We were seeing each other, but it was you who pursued me. I thought you were sincere and had a future. I didn’t expect you to have such bad character. Being fired is something that affects a whole lifetime, and I don’t want to be… implicated…”

She didn’t continue. She knew Li Long’s temper—he was vain and cared about his reputation. Breaking up was fine; it was just a shame about the rock partridges. If they hadn’t broken up, Li Long would have definitely given her two, maybe even three.

Maybe he’ll give me one just to save the relationship? Do I want it?

Li Long saw the look on her face and knew exactly what she was thinking.

You can break up with me if you want, but you want to eat my chickens?

Not a chance!

[End of Chapter]