Work ended at six, but Xiao Mandong started cooking at four. Stir-fried pork liver, braised pork intestines, pickled cabbage stewed with pig's blood, braised pork lungs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and cold cucumber salad—of course, the cucumbers and tomatoes came from the space. Also braised pork with potatoes, pork belly stewed with vermicelli, a braised fish for each table, and finally, a plate of fried peanuts.
Ten dishes per table, and the tables were set up right outside the clinic's main gate.
Before work even ended, the aroma was drifting everywhere. The people who had come to help yesterday caught the smell and could barely wait to knock off. Word had it there was also homemade liquor, so they worked even harder.
Xiao Mandong had Zhou Qichuan help her summon the men who had worked on the house repairs to come eat. She sent her sister to invite the brigade captain, the party secretary, the women's director, and the squad leaders. Song Xiangjun was tasked with keeping watch—anyone who hadn't shown up yesterday was not allowed at the tables. Once everyone was seated, she would serve the food.
She herself went to the fields to notify the educated youth who had helped the day before.
Soon quitting time arrived. Those planning to eat hurried home, washed their hands and faces, and changed into clean clothes before coming back.
Everyone had gathered, and Xiao Mandong was just dividing up the dishes when she heard Song Xiangjun calling for her from outside. She handed the ladle to Xiao Manxue. "You serve the dishes. I'll go see what's happening."
Stepping out of the clinic gate, she saw Wang Yuanyuan sitting by one of the dining tables, craning her neck and arguing loudly with Song Xiangjun.
"What right do you, an outsider, have to chase me off? We're cousins—real relatives, do you understand?" Wang Yuanyuan was absolutely furious. Xiao Mandong had gone to the fields today to call people but had deliberately left her out. She wouldn't admit publicly that they were truly related, but did Xiao Mandong and her sister not know perfectly well who Wang Yuanyuan really was? With all these outsiders being fed, was one extra pair of chopsticks really too much?
"Do you dare admit that you're the child born from my uncle having an affair with your mother?"
"Because if you do admit it, I'll write a complaint letter and have the authorities investigate thoroughly. After all, the way your mother treated my former aunt-in-law and my own cousin was anything but fair."
Wang Yuanyuan hadn't expected Xiao Mandong to bring that up again. She had thought that the other day was just a momentary outburst of anger upon seeing Xiao Manxue get beaten. She never imagined Xiao Mandong would keep pressing the matter. If word got out in the village that she was a bastard child, her reputation would be no better than a capitalist's daughter—perhaps even worse, because country folk were extremely conservative about such things.
Wang Yuanyuan had been driven to the brink by Xiao Mandong recently. She lunged straight at her, but Xiao Mandong sidestepped easily and dodged her. However, someone stuck out a leg and tripped Wang Yuanyuan, sending her sprawling face-first into the dirt.
"You... you actually dared to dodge? You're insane!"
Wang Yuanyuan scrambled up awkwardly, covered in dirt, and pointed at Xiao Mandong while cursing. She couldn't believe Xiao Mandong was leaving her no way out. Didn't she realize that the Wang family was her only remaining support?
"You charged at me, and I'm not supposed to dodge? Do I look that stupid to you? Besides, my mother has already publicly severed ties with us sisters through the newspaper. Do you know what 'severing ties' means? It means we have nothing to do with our mother anymore—let alone your Wang family. We have even less connection."
Now that Cripple Liu and Hu Guizhen had been dealt with, it was Wang Yuanyuan's turn. She hadn't mentioned the severed ties before because she didn't know her mother had withheld her sister's living allowance. Since the mother had been so ruthless, was there any point in keeping her at all?
Wang Yuanyuan saw the crowd laughing at her and had no face to stay. Clenching her teeth, she stormed off.
Back in the kitchen, the dishes were already plated and being carried out. Except for the tomato eggs and cucumber salad, every dish had meat. Everyone was stunned by the spread.
"Who would've thought Comrade Xiao was so generous? This is better than New Year's dinner—even weddings don't have food this good."
And everyone noticed that the pork offal, which they usually disliked, was surprisingly delicious.
The staple was the same for everyone: two-grain rice, so fragrant it was intoxicating. And the liquor—usually they only treated themselves to cheap sweet potato liquor if they were desperate, but this Comrade Xiao was serving them sorghum liquor. Two bites of meat, a sip of wine—sheer bliss.
Everyone felt the two hours they'd worked yesterday had been worth it a hundred times over.
Xiao Mandong raised her voice to the crowd again: "Yesterday was a big misunderstanding, and I put you all through trouble. Today is my way of apologizing. I hope you all eat and drink well. Thank you."
"You're too kind, Comrade Xiao. Don't worry—from now on, if anyone dares to bully you, I'll be the first to come after them."
"That's right. Neighbors should look out for each other. No one in our village is going to lose face—rest assured."
Wang Yuanyuan hadn't gone back to the educated youth point. Instead, she hid around the corner, inhaling the aroma of meat and staring at the food on the tables. Her mouth watered. The meals at the youth point were watery and tasteless, and she hadn't had meat in a long time. She had thought she could come bum a good meal today, only to be thrown out.
Saliva kept pooling in her mouth. She was starving. Then she thought of Xiao Manxue.
She seized a chance to call Xiao Manxue aside, her tone full of reproach: "Manxue, I'm your cousin. Your family is hosting a meal and you didn't even invite me? Isn't that going too far? We're family, we grew up together! How can you treat me like this? Fine, I won't hold it against you. I'll wait here—you go scoop me out a portion. That braised pork with potatoes will do, and give me some of that rice too."
Xiao Manxue hadn't heard the earlier quarrel, but she still had no intention of paying attention to her.
The old Xiao Manxue might have been too embarrassed to refuse, or might have tried to keep up appearances for the sake of family. But after yesterday's events, she knew that if she didn't stand up for herself, she would only keep bringing her sister endless trouble.
What family? When she was at death's door yesterday, so many people had gone looking for her, and this cousin of hers by blood hadn't even shown her face. Now she remembered they were relatives?
Xiao Manxue's eyes were full of contempt. "Scoop you food? Did you leave your face at home? Calling yourself my cousin? Do you even deserve that? You're just a bastard child. Don't try to claim kinship with me—it turns my stomach."
She turned to leave, but Wang Yuanyuan grabbed her arm. She couldn't believe Xiao Manxue would talk to her like that. How dare she? For as long as she could remember, Xiao Manxue had been a pushover. Now she spoke so viciously.
"Xiao Manxue, how dare you speak to me like that! You really need to be taught a lesson. Your mother's remarried, your father's been sent down, and your sister got married but still came to the countryside—who knows if she got caught sleeping around and her in-laws threw her out."
"Slap!" A heavy palm cracked across Wang Yuanyuan's face. Wang Yuanyuan stared in disbelief. The damn bitch had actually hit her?
"Xiao Manxue, you actually hit me!"
How could Xiao Manxue tolerate Wang Yuanyuan slandering her sister like that?
"What if I did hit you? Since when do I need to pick a date for that?"
Wang Yuanyuan raised her hand to hit back, but no sooner had her arm gone up than a foot kicked her to the ground.
Wang Yuanyuan looked at the two sisters standing in front of her with such a threatening stance that she felt genuinely afraid. She scrambled up from the ground and turned to run, shouting, "Just you wait, I'll make you regret this!"
Her aunt's letter would arrive in a couple of days—then we'll see how they try to explain themselves.
And as for that bastard child, she would definitely have her brother teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget.
