Chapter 36: Little Zhi’s Perseverance
"Mmm!" Little Zhi nodded vigorously, believing what her sister said.
"Sister, when can we eat the fish?" Little Zhi stared eagerly at the fish on the rack, unable to move her eyes away, finally restoring the usual smile on her face.
Kids at their age have emotions that come and go quickly, especially when there’s food. The Old Mu Family’s life is really tough. For Little Zhi, at her tender age and during her growing years, just eating enough is a luxury, let alone having something nutritious.
Mu Shuangshuang had long made up her mind to raise this little girl well, so she would be chubby and healthy, ensuring that the other branches of the Old Mu Family would not bully her.
"You little glutton, the fish still needs to wait a bit, but don’t worry. Sister picked some mushrooms and wild vegetables today, ensuring our Little Zhi will have a full tummy."
No pot? Then grill. It’s just a different method anyway. Waiting for the fish to cook was torturous for both Mu Shuangshuang and Little Zhi. After all, a big fish was right there, and the morning’s piece of bread was long gone, making their stomachs growl with hunger.
Mu Shuangshuang decided to talk to distract them.
"By the way, Little Zhi, after Sister left, did Gou Dan tell on us?"
Recalling that snot-nosed brat who dropped his own bread after being hit by her, Mu Shuangshuang suddenly felt energized, and her hunger eased a bit.
"Yes, indeed, Brother Gou Dan is so mean. He clearly didn’t want the bread, threw it away, and yet blamed Sister, saying that Sister hit him. But at that time, only Brother Gou Dan was there."
Little Zhi said indignantly to Mu Shuangshuang. At that moment, Little Zhi’s cheeks puffed up with anger at Gou Dan’s behavior. She was furious but didn’t dare to confront the second aunt.
"Oh, what did Grandma say?" Mu Shuangshuang was a bit curious.
"What else? Of course, she gave him a good beating, pulled down his pants to do it."
"What? Grandma hit Gou Dan?"
"Yeah, when I left, he was still crying."
It turned out that once Mu Shuangshuang left, Gou Dan started wailing, bringing Old Mrs. Mu, who was having breakfast, out of the room. Naturally, Gou Dan started whining, clutching Old Mrs. Mu’s leg and telling her that Mu Shuangshuang had beaten him, pointing to his face claiming it was swollen.
Unfortunately, the skin on Gou Dan’s face was too dark, and with half a piece of bread still lying on the ground, Old Mrs. Mu recalled not having disciplined Mu Shuangshuang earlier over breakfast, and ended up giving Gou Dan a harsh beating, making him howl in pain, even Mrs. Lin couldn’t stop it.
Listening to Little Zhi’s recount of events, Mu Shuangshuang laughed until she shook.
"I can’t take it anymore, Little Zhi, Sister’s internal injuries haven’t healed, I can’t laugh."
Mu Shuangshuang clutched her stomach with a strained expression towards Little Zhi. Little Zhi stared blankly at her sister, unable to comprehend why she was laughing.
Gou Dan is so bad, shouldn’t she hate him?
"Sister, have you forgiven Gou Dan?" Little Zhi’s little mouth pouted, almost ready to cry. "Sister, did you forget when Gou Dan bullied you?"
Mu Shuangshuang paused, realizing the little girl misunderstood. "Little Zhi, Sister isn’t laughing because she forgave him, but because Gou Dan had it coming. What kind of person is Sister? If someone hits Sister, Sister will make sure they pay dearly, how could I let it go so easily?"
Children’s thinking is simpler, there’s only like and dislike, hate and not hate. They don’t understand the subtleties of social nuances, and their emotions are easy to reveal. Mu Shuangshuang didn’t intend to correct these emotions. Children should be children, but she still needed to remind about necessary caution.
"Little Zhi, remember to keep your distance from Gou Dan and the second aunt in the future; they’re not good people."
Mrs. Lin was always scheming against the third branch, so Little Zhi only stood to benefit by staying clear of her.
"Ah, the fish is ready."
Said Mu Shuangshuang, grabbing the fish from the rack, and without caring to let it cool, began tearing into it.
"Ouch~" Mu Shuangshuang burned herself and quickly squeezed her earlobe with the burned hand, and sure enough, the burning sensation faded.
It was a method taught by a senior at the institute, claiming a nerve connected to the earlobe helps with burns, and placing the hand on the earlobe works wonders. Mu Shuangshuang never doubted its effectiveness.
"Little Zhi, this is for you." Mu Shuangshuang handed most of the fish to Little Zhi, keeping only a small tail portion for herself since it had more bones, which Little Zhi could choke on.
Little Zhi swallowed but refused to take the fish.
"What’s wrong? Afraid Sister’s cooking is not good?"
"Sis... Little Zhi doesn’t want so much, can’t finish it."
After speaking, Little Zhi forcefully swallowed her saliva, her stomach grumbling, eyes slightly dim, turning her head away to avoid looking at the fish in her sister’s hand.
"Silly girl, if Sister gives it to you, then eat it. Sister has enough, plus we still have mushrooms and wild vegetables."
Seeing through Little Zhi’s thoughts was part of Mu Shuangshuang’s life, and she understood why Little Zhi hesitated.
"Do you think Sister gave you the bigger part, Little Zhi?" Mu Shuangshuang said with a smile, looking at Little Zhi with soft eyes.
"Sister, Little Zhi doesn’t want to take all the food; I don’t want Sister to go hungry..." Mid-sentence, the little girl started to sob, looking pitiful.
Mu Shuangshuang sighed and re-divided the fish before giving it to Little Zhi.
"Eat, and after we’re done, don’t tell anyone what we had for lunch. Tomorrow morning, Sister will take you out for food again."
During this harvest season of over forty days, the children of the Mu Family didn’t get lunch, so Mu Shuangshuang needed to warn Little Zhi not to forget.
"Yes, Little Zhi knows."
Taking the grilled fish, Little Zhi didn’t care if it had bones, and shoved it all into her mouth. Shocked, Mu Shuangshuang quickly grabbed her hand, soothing her while also removing the fishbones.
Holding the deboned fish piece from Mu Shuangshuang, Little Zhi couldn’t stop giggling foolishly.
"Sister, I feel like you’ve changed a lot."
"How so?" Mu Shuangshuang asked curiously. She wasn’t the original soul, so changes were expected, but she wanted to know Little Zhi’s thoughts.
"Sister used to always get bullied by them, and she was dirty."
Children spoke straightforwardly, Mu Shuangshuang understood and nodded, signaling Little Zhi to continue.
"Now Sister knows how to protect mom and Little Zhi, and she doesn’t stink anymore."
Of course, she, Mu Shuangshuang, had just taken a bath.
"Does Little Zhi like the sister now?" Mu Shuangshuang asked shamelessly. Since she took over the body, she wanted all the love and hate given to it.
She was greedy, not role-playing for others, not even for the original owner.
"Of course, the sister now. Little Zhi has decided, from now on, to stick with Sister, wherever Sister goes, Little Zhi will go too."
"Even if Sister goes to the outhouse?"
"Then Little Zhi will go too. Our outhouse plank is big enough for two."
"..."