When Old Mrs. Tian was muttering, she saw Tian Jing return and shouted to the west room, "Fetching pig feed took half the day. Where did she disappear to? It scared me and the old man into thinking the girl had run away."
"There's still food left for you in the pot. It's cold by now, heat it up yourself."
Not coming back for dinner but still expecting food to be saved? Did she think she was some kind of empress? Unable to scold Tian Jing directly, Old Mrs. Tian's inner monologue became quite dramatic.
"I know," Tian Jing said. She placed the basket of pig feed by the chopping block near the courtyard wall and went into the kitchen.
She took out a bowl from the pot, scooped a ladle of water into the pot, placed a bamboo steamer inside, put the rice bowl on the steamer, covered the pot, and squatted by the stove to start a fire.
As she was working the bellows, Chen Yun walked in. "Jing girl, you must be starving. Do you need any help?"
"No, thank you," Tian Jing replied. She pulled the bellows a few times, and the firewood in the stove caught fire.
Chen Yun carefully observed Tian Jing's movements and found her as proficient as ever. Her doubt deepened. "Then I'll go chop the feed. Keep the fire going in the stove."
Tian Jing looked up and said coldly, "Then be quick about it. I need to eat."
"Add two more ladles of water to the pot and throw a few more pieces of firewood into the stove. It won't delay your meal."
Tian Jing glanced at her. "Just that, and nothing more."
If she hadn't been starting the fire herself, she wouldn't have taken on this task. The Tian family were all insatiable.
"Okay, okay," Chen Yun agreed. "I'll just chop the feed and be right back." With that, she quickly left the kitchen.
The rice in the pot was heated. Tian Jing used a spatula to lift the bowl from the bottom of the pot onto the stove. She removed the bamboo steamer, added two ladles of water, covered the pot, and added more firewood to keep the stove burning.
Looking at the bowl of mixed grain porridge, Tian Jing felt troubled.
After all this time, her tongue had become picky. But if she dared to throw the food into the pot for the pigs, she would surely be criticized by the Tian family.
She didn't care about their scolding, but she cared about the food.
Having survived the apocalypse and eaten spoiled food, she couldn't bear to waste grain, especially in an era of low harvests and food scarcity. Wasting food was a sin.
She'd eat it. She was hungry anyway.
Chen Yun came in with the chopped feed and added more firewood to the stove before lifting the lid to pour in the pig feed.
At that time, the conditions weren't advanced enough to separate the pot for boiling pig feed from the pot for cooking human food.
Typically, pig feed was made from freshly cut grass, chopped short with a knife, boiled in water until soft, then a ladle or two of rice bran or wheat bran would be stirred in. It would then be scooped out, cooled in a wooden basin or bucket, and finally poured into the pigsty trough.
This pig feed remained watery, even with more bran added. Only when people's conditions improved and they could afford to boil sweet potatoes for the pigs did the feed become thicker.
This was also why pigs in that era didn't gain much weight; a two-hundred-pound pig was considered fat.
Tian Jing's hometown was in the countryside. When she was in elementary school, she had visited her grandparents a few times. Rural conditions were already quite good then.
The disparity in boiling pig feed across different eras was something she remembered vividly because of a funny incident.
The first time she visited her grandparents' home in the countryside, she saw her uncle's wife boiling half a pot of sweet potatoes in the large stove. She curiously asked her grandmother, "If you boil so many sweet potatoes to entertain us, what if we can't finish them all?"
Her question made everyone burst into laughter.
Her grandparents and her uncle and aunt then talked about how much better the pigs ate now compared to when they were young, comparing the difference between pig feed and human food due to economic conditions.
In that embarrassing situation, Tian Jing, who knew nothing about rural life, naturally remembered it.
Fortunately, her grandparents didn't experience the apocalypse. Otherwise, they would have suffered from lack of food both in their youth and old age.
"Jing girl?"
Seeing Tian Jing standing there with her bowl, lost in thought and radiating sadness, made Chen Yun feel uneasy. She couldn't help but call out to her.
Tian Jing collected herself and quickly shoveled the food into her mouth, swallowing it down in a few bites. Let her stomach digest it; her tongue was protesting.
Back in her room, she climbed onto the heated brick bed and stared at the ceiling. She missed her family. In the early days of the apocalypse, her parents hadn't lasted long. Before they left, they had told her to live well. She had struggled alone, tried her best to survive, but ultimately couldn't escape the zombie siege. However, now, with a new world and a new identity, she had managed to survive, hadn't she?
She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, intending to rest. But she fell asleep, only to wake up to the sound of Old Mrs. Tian scolding someone. She circulated her spiritual energy twice and rallied her spirits. She couldn't show weakness, especially to the Tian family.
Unbeknownst to Tian Jing, Chen Yun had already quietly told Old Mrs. Tian about her behavior in the kitchen. Old Mrs. Tian waved her hand, signaling her not to say more, and managed to get through the next few days.
Leaving her room, Tian Jing heard Old Mrs. Tian berating Tian Ping. She calmly walked past them and went to the outhouse in the backyard.
The two vegetable patches in the backyard had already been turned over. The two paulownia trees seemed to have vanished, and all the land had been tilled.
Thinking of the newly tidied areas in the front yard, Tian Jing curled her lips slightly. The apricot tree she had drained of energy had dissolved into dust. The withered plants in the Tian family's yard were likely the same. Those with guilty consciences would naturally be afraid. Cleaning up all traces was the best way to deceive themselves.
Facing the crude and smelly outhouse, Tian Jing felt no discomfort. The smell of zombies was far more repulsive.
After attending to her needs, she returned to the front yard, washed her hands, and sat by the dining table, waiting.
This time, no one foolish enough dared to provoke her.
During lunch, before she returned, Old Mr. Tian had declared that anyone who provoked Tian Jing would face the consequences, and anyone causing damage to the household would be held liable for compensation by the instigator.
With Old Mr. Tian's warning, the Tian family took it seriously. Moreover, they had heard that they were already looking for a husband for Tian Jing, and she would be married off as soon as possible once a suitable match was found. The Tian family was eager to send the transformed Tian Jing away without further trouble.
This time, Tian Ping was standing to eat. She pouted, using her chopsticks like a fork, scooping up a lot of food at once.
With a bang, Old Mrs. Tian slammed her chopsticks down and pointed outside. "Get out! You were already punished today and forbidden to eat. If your mother hadn't pleaded for you, you wouldn't have gotten a single bite. Who are you trying to show that temper to? Get out!"
Tian Ping's eyes immediately welled up with tears. She put down her chopsticks and the flatbread in her hand, then turned and left the main room.
Old Mrs. Tian was so angry she clutched her chest and glared fiercely at Chen Yun. "Look at the daughter you've raised. No manners at all."
Chen Yun lowered her head and ate, not daring to apologize for her daughter or defend herself. Eating her fill was the most important thing.
The others ate in even greater silence, not wanting to be drawn into the anger, nor wanting to go without food like they had that morning.