bookrebus Chapter 217 White Rabbit Milk Candy in Shanghai
Chapter 217 White Rabbit Milk Candy in Shanghai
"Pah! A pound? You'll just eat yourself to death, all your teeth will be rotten, and you'll be so ugly you'll never be able to get married."
Despite his initial fright, Lu Zhiqiang actually reached into the drawer and pulled out a large bag of White Rabbit milk candies. They were precious gifts brought from Shanghai by a friend of his father who was visiting him by train for the Chinese New Year.
When a large bag of White Rabbit milk candy was taken out, the brother and sister stared wide-eyed, their mouths watering.
Lu Wenqian whispered, "Brother, I've had this candy before, it's so delicious. Damn, it's so fragrant, and it tastes sweet, just like milk."
Lu Zhiqiang was surprised and lowered his voice to say, "Where have you eaten this? This is a delicacy that you can only find at Shanghai Department Store."
"My second brother gave it to me, saying it was from Mom."
Lu Zhiqiang's eyes widened, and the White Rabbit candy in his hand suddenly lost its appeal. "You, Lu Jinyang, you ate something good again and didn't share it with me? Just wait and see if we end up fighting."
He was in a menacing mood. He grabbed some instant noodles and White Rabbit candy and was about to quietly close the drawer when Mr. Lu turned around and entered the room. His brows furrowed, and he was about to explode on the spot.
Lu Zhiqiang was so scared that his legs went weak, but suddenly he mustered up his courage. He reached behind him and wiped the bottom of the drawer. There was indeed an empty bag of instant noodles. He straightened his chest, all his courage returned, and he shouted, "Dad, Mom is going to find 180 yuan!"
Mr. Lu grabbed a broom and was about to hit him, "You little brat, how dare you challenge your old man?"
Lu Zhiqiang, emboldened by who-knows-where, had been hunting in the mountains with Li Ju'an these past few days, which had really roused him and made him quite unlike the cowardly man he used to be. Holding up a bag of instant noodles, he pulled out a bag of ten-yuan bills from the bottom of the drawer and was about to shout.
The thick wad of unpaid bills represented Mr. Lu's hard-earned savings. It was originally 180 yuan, but he'd won even more playing cards with Uncle Zhang these past few days, bringing it close to 200 yuan. He was quite pleased with himself. For several nights, he'd been grinning foolishly at his wife, not daring to reveal the reason for his happiness. Mrs. Lu suspected he was having an affair, but after getting nothing out of him at night, she gave him a good slap on the face.
There was still a scratch mark on Lu's father's forehead. When he heard his son about to shout, he quickly lowered his voice and said, "You little brat, you're holding back again. Just say how much you want."
Lu Zhiqiang grinned and took half of it. He pulled out 10 ten-yuan bills. This time, Lu's father was really angry. His eyes widened, and he raised his hand to slap him.
Perhaps it was because Lu Zhiqiang had finally stood up for himself; a man's courage comes from money. He had suffered so much from his father and endured so many beatings when he was a child, wasn't he just waiting for this day to finally get his revenge?
He held up 10 ten-yuan bills, raised his eyebrows and said, "Dad, what's 10 bills? Give me these 10 bills and I'll go buy bullets and bring you back a different kind of meat and pheasant every day. I guarantee you'll have a lot of face in front of your friends who come to Shanghai."
The Lu family has many friends. Back when the old man of the Lu family was still hunting, friends from the south would bring them local specialties, and the old man would reciprocate by giving them some wild game from the mountains. Both sides were very satisfied. Now, friends from Shanghai come to visit the old man by train, but the old man has nothing to offer. He can't very well tell his old friends that the old man won't let them into the mountains.
Now, after thinking about it, Mr. Lu realized that this made sense. Luckily, his friend from Shanghai was still staying at the guesthouse and was also in Northeast China on business. He could send half a wild boar meat over, which would save face and prevent his friend from looking down on him.
Lu's father cursed, "You brat, what a joker!" and said, "Later, you chop up half a pork carcass and send it to Uncle Wu at the guesthouse."
"Okay!"
Just as Mr. Lu had taken the remaining 10 ten-yuan bills and was about to find a new place to hide them, he suddenly saw Lu Wenqian standing in front of him with her little braids swaying and her eyes sparkling. She stretched out her hand and said in a slightly childish voice, "Dad, I'm here too."
Mr. Lu glared, about to curse. "How come they're all dying like this?"
From the door came Lu's mother's voice: "Why are you all silent? Don't tell me you're sneaking around looking for something."
Feeling guilty, Mr. Lu reluctantly pulled out two ten-yuan bills for Lu Wenqian, then quickly put the rest of the money into a noodle bag, stuffed it into his underwear, and went out to talk to Mrs. Lu with a grin.
Seeing a good opportunity, Lu Zhiqiang quickly grabbed some White Rabbit candy and instant noodles, and together with Lu Wenqian, squeezed out of the door and headed straight for the yard. The two siblings laughed heartily after their success; this was so exciting during the New Year!
The two siblings shared the White Rabbit milk candy, savoring the burst of milky flavor in their mouths. Even their saliva tasted like milk. It was so delicious that it was sticky when they chewed it, but they didn't want to put it down.
"As expected of Shanghai's candy, it's really good."
"Brother, where is Shanghai?"
"When I make some money later, I'll take you on a train trip to Shanghai. You can have whatever candy you want, as much as you want!"
Lu Wenqian smiled happily, looking very satisfied: "Oh, brother treats me the best."
……
Li Ju'an drove the dog sled, with a blond-haired dog dragging on it, back to the Li family home. He then shared the pot of pickled cabbage and blood sausage that Lu's mother had sent with his mother and sister.
Li Xiao was overjoyed to receive the preserved plum candy. She thoughtfully shared some with her brother and mother, then happily ate one herself, her smile so sweet it could melt anyone's heart. Li Xiao put the remaining preserved plum candy in a cookie jar and hid it in a drawer.
My mother made steamed buns filled with cabbage and wild boar meat. They were very tasty, and we ate them to our hearts' content with radish strips and pickled vegetables.
These past few days, Lao Qin and Lao Zhang from the security department have come to visit him.
Old Qin flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the ground and complained to him about the wolf's eye. He said that he had gone into the mountains several more times to look for the wolf's eye and had figured it out. So what if it had a broken tooth? It would be good to have it by his side to help with hunting. But he went to Xiongcang several times afterward and, following the footprints on the ground, he never found the wolf's eye again.
Li Ju'an asked, "Could they have been caught in a trap by other hunters?"
Old Qin shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.
Old Zhang from the security department said, "It's also possible that the wolf's eyes led the bear cubs away from the bear enclosure. Didn't you just say there were still bear cubs in the bear enclosure? When wolves and bear cubs stay together, especially wolves that haven't grown up yet, they are most likely to lead the bear cubs away. In a few years, if wolves and bears are walking side by side like this, they might take revenge on the people in the village."
Old Qin took a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaled a smoke ring, stubbed it out, and said, "Damn it, I'd rather have been caught by some other hunter."
While the three of them were smoking and chatting, Lao Qin noticed that Da Hu and the hunting dog were gnawing on pig lungs, without even glancing at the cornmeal soup on the kang table.
He felt a strange pang of unease. He used to raise hunting dogs and even wanted to start a hounding gang. He had specially bought puppies and made cornmeal soup for them, adding two large steamed buns. That one meal was enough for five or six puppies for two meals.
Now, Li Ju'an raises dogs, and they can eat as much meat as they want. The dogs won't even look at steamed buns, and there's no need to worry about them stealing the cabbage and wild boar meat filling.
Old Qin's eyes were complicated as he said, "Little Li, you've taken really good care of your dog."
The three then began to talk about what they had encountered in the mountains over the past few days.
Old Zhang from the security department said that he saw a tractor near the forest farm behind Wild Boar Forest before the Lunar New Year. He concluded that the person driving the tractor was definitely driving without a license. As he spoke, he became increasingly agitated, spitting and cursing.
"It seems like anyone can drive these days. That guy climbed up and onto the tractor, then shifted gears and accelerated. Guess what? The engine was screaming like a pig being slaughtered. He was still braking, shifting into reverse, and pressing the accelerator. If you ask me, he doesn't have a license! He's illegally possessing the tractor."
These days, people with driver's licenses are rare, and people with licenses to drive tractors are even rarer. Old Zhang was yelling and was about to report it.