I stood on the balcony, hanging the meat while taking out my phone.
I opened Zhang Ying’s shop.
The latest announcement read:
“Everyone, good news! This year’s new batch of smoked meat will be available soon. Please look forward to it! The quality is still as excellent as ever!”
It had been posted three days ago.
Who had told her I was making smoked meat?
There was only one possibility.
Liu Xiulan.
Liu Xiulan knew I had started making the meat and immediately told Zhang Ying.
Zhang Ying then posted the announcement.
A complete production chain.
I made it.
Liu Xiulan handled the delivery.
Zhang Ying sold it.
They split the profits.
I provided the labor, the money, and the skill.
And in return, I got one sentence:
“You can just make another batch.”
I gripped my phone as the wind on the balcony made the pieces of meat sway gently.
Fine.
This year, I would make thirty kilograms.
More than I had ever made in any previous year.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, I neatly packed twenty kilograms of the real smoked meat and placed it in a suitcase.
The remaining ten kilograms were locked in the refrigerator at my parents’ home.
Chen Beicheng was extremely surprised when he saw me pulling such a large suitcase.
“You’re bringing that much?”
“Yeah. It’s Lunar New Year. Everyone can have some.”
He grinned.
“Mom will definitely be thrilled.”
“She will.”
I said.
### Chapter 5
On the afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, we arrived at Liu Xiulan’s house.
The moment we walked through the door, Liu Xiulan smiled so broadly that her wrinkles all bunched together.
“Oh, Tangtang, you’re here. Come in, come in.”
Her eyes immediately fell on the suitcase behind me.
“That suitcase is so heavy. What good stuff did you bring?”
“Smoked meat. I made quite a lot this year.”
Liu Xiulan’s eyes immediately lit up.
It wasn’t the joy of a mother-in-law seeing her daughter-in-law.
It was the calculating look of a merchant seeing a shipment arrive.
“Good, good. Take it to the kitchen. I’ll take care of it.”
“No rush, Mom. Let’s wait until Nanxuan and his family arrive and eat it together.”
“Sure, sure.”
My father-in-law, Chen Jianguo, was watching TV in the living room.
He nodded at me in greeting.
He was a man of few words who never involved himself in family matters.
Whatever Liu Xiulan said, he simply went along with it.
He barely seemed to exist in the household.
I pulled the suitcase into the living room and didn’t leave it in the kitchen.
Chen Beicheng followed behind me and asked quietly,
“Why did you leave the suitcase in the living room? Didn’t Mom tell you to put it in the kitchen?”
“It’s easier for me to get things if I leave it here.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t think much of it.
That evening, only the four of us had dinner.
Liu Xiulan made a few dishes and urged us to go to bed early.
I took the initiative to help her wash the dishes.
While I was washing, she stood beside me drying her hands and casually asked,
“How many kilograms did you make this year?”
“Thirty kilograms.”
“Thirty kilograms? That much?”
She couldn’t hide the delight in her voice.
“Yes. Pork was cheaper this year, so I made more.”
“That’s perfect. Nanxuan’s family needs some. They all love the things you make.”
“Okay.”
I answered very decisively.
Liu Xiulan was even happier.
She patted me on the shoulder.
“Tangtang really is so sensible.”
I smiled.
I said nothing.
At noon on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Nanxuan and his wife brought their children over.
The two children, the older one four and the younger one two, ran all over the house the moment they came through the door.
Zhang Ying walked in wearing a cream-colored cashmere coat and a scarf, carrying two bags of fruit.
“Sister-in-law!”
She waved at me enthusiastically.
“It’s been so long. You look great.”
“You too. That coat is beautiful.”
“Oh, I just bought it online. It wasn’t expensive.”
I glanced at the watch on her wrist.
I didn’t recognize the brand, but the watch face was encircled by a ring of tiny diamonds that sparkled brightly under the living room lights.
Chen Nanxuan came in behind her carrying two cases of milk and nodded at me.
“Sister-in-law.”
“You’re here. Come sit down.”
Everyone exchanged greetings for a while.
Liu Xiulan busied herself making tea and cutting fruit, hugging and kissing her two grandchildren over and over.
She didn’t spare me a single glance.
I sat quietly in the corner of the sofa, cracking sunflower seeds.
Chen Beicheng and Chen Nanxuan talked about work.
Zhang Ying reported to Liu Xiulan on how the two children were doing.
The older one was about to start kindergarten.
The younger one already knew how to call her Grandma.
The whole family was cheerful and harmonious.
And me, the elder daughter-in-law, was nothing more than an unnecessary backdrop in that picture.
It didn’t matter.
No children.
No sense of existence.
I kept cracking sunflower seeds.
At dinner, Liu Xiulan set a table full of dishes.
I made two dishes.
Smoked meat stir-fried with garlic shoots and steamed smoked meat with taro.
I deliberately took the meat from the suitcase I had brought.
The moment the dishes were served, Zhang Ying immediately picked up a piece.
“Sister-in-law’s cooking really is impossible to fault. It smells amazing.”
Liu Xiulan immediately chimed in:
“That’s right. The smoked meat Tangtang makes—there isn’t another family in the whole city that can match it.”
“Mom, you’re flattering me.”
“Not at all, not at all.”
Chen Nanxuan also took a bite and nodded.
“It really is delicious. I look forward to it every year when Sister-in-law makes it.”
Look forward to it?
Did he miss the taste?
Or did he miss the profits from his wife’s shop?
I smiled and didn’t respond.
After three rounds of drinks, Liu Xiulan, taking advantage of the alcohol, finally spoke.
“Tangtang, you made thirty kilograms this year, right?”
“Yes.”
No comments for this chapter yet.