Chapter Twenty-One: The Neighborhood

Upon returning home, the grandfather clock in the room chimed right on the dot, as if on cue. It was exactly eight o'clock.

At that moment, Wang Susu was in the courtyard, tidying up several large bamboo trays filled with dried sweet potatoes and some common medicinal herbs. She had taken them out to air-dry, seizing the opportunity of the fine weather.

And indeed, the weather was lovely. Now that February had arrived, the temperature changed with each passing day. Aside from the chill in the early mornings and late evenings, the rest of the day was quite pleasant. Today was a perfect example: the spring breeze was growing warmer, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the air already carried a hint of early spring. In a few days, when the grass and trees began to sprout, the gentle spring breeze would carry the fragrance of flowers and plants—a scent so refreshing it would gladden the heart. It would be delightful to place a lounge chair under the warm sun, lie back, and simply soak in the rays.

"We've run out of white flour," Wang Susu said, looking up and smiling at Chen Ling while she continued to pack away the bamboo trays. "I had intended to steam some cornmeal buns, but mice got into the jar and ruined everything with their droppings and urine. I’ll have to make dried sweet potato porridge for breakfast."

"That's fine," Chen Ling replied. "When I go to the county town, I'll buy a few bags of flour from the mill."

He walked over to Wang Susu, picked up two pieces of dried sweet potato, and began to chew. They were hard and a bit tough, but once chewed, a touch of sweetness emerged. It wasn't just sweet, though; there was a slight earthy taste to it, likely from being stored too long. Chen Ling smacked his lips. It had been years since he’d eaten this. In his past life, he had often drunk dried sweet potato porridge as a child; his family had been poor, and the porridge was filling. It was made by slicing up sweet potatoes and yams and letting them dry in the sun. Back then, food in the countryside was scarce, and there was heavy labor to be done. They would add the dried slices to the porridge just to feel full—a "false fullness," really, as it would pass quickly, but it served its purpose to stave off hunger.

"I'll go see if the pot is boiling," Chen Ling said, popping another piece of dried sweet potato into his mouth before turning toward the house.

He had gone out to the fields early that morning, so Wang Susu had cooked breakfast on the iron stove. The porridge was made with water from the courtyard well, and Chen Ling planned to add some water from the grotto stream. Through his experiments over the past few days, he had concluded that one could drink at most a bowl and a half of the grotto water daily; any more than that had no additional effect. In terms of local bowls, a bowl and a half was roughly two liters. Within that limit, the water was beneficial to the human body.

Usually, a person wouldn't drink two liters of porridge in one sitting, but Chen Ling wanted Wang Susu to share in the benefits, so almost every meal was prepared using the grotto's water and vegetables. In just a few days, Wang Susu had begun to glow; her skin was rosy and fair, and every expression she made radiated a stunning charm. Sometimes, a mere glance was enough to make Chen Ling’s heart race.

"Huh? Heiwa, Xiaojin, you two little rascals, where did you run off to?"

Chen Ling poured two bowls of grotto water into the porridge, intending to feed the puppies some goat milk while he was at it. But after searching the house and checking their kennel, he couldn't find them anywhere.

"Susu, have you seen Heiwa and Xiaojin?" Chen Ling asked as he walked out into the courtyard.

Wang Susu was taken aback. "Aren't they in their kennel?"

"No!" Chen Ling frowned. He called out for them twice more, but there was no response.

Wang Susu felt puzzled. "I haven't seen them since I woke up. I assumed they were sleeping in their kennel." She thought for a moment, then added, "Could they have followed you out when you left earlier?"

"It's possible," Chen Ling mused. He tried to recall, but even though he hadn't noticed them following him, they weren't in the house or the yard. They were still so small that they could easily have lagged behind and gotten lost. "I'll go look for them."

Just as he was about to step out of the yard, he heard the whimpering of puppies, followed immediately by a woman's harsh scolding and shouting.

"It's Heiwa and Xiaojin!" Wang Susu cried out, rushing toward the gate in a panic, with Chen Ling close behind.

Outside, they saw a woman wearing a wine-red turtleneck sweater kicking Heiwa and Xiaojin toward the gate of their own yard. She was using considerable force; each kick sent the puppies tumbling two meters away, leaving them yelping in pain.

"Dongmei, stop! Those are my puppies!" Wang Susu shouted, trying to intervene.

But the woman ignored her, delivering a brutal final kick that sent both puppies flying out the door. The two little creatures let out a miserable, piercing wail.

"Qin Dongmei! What are you doing?" Wang Susu’s face flushed with anger. "I told you those were my dogs! Didn't you hear me?"

"So what if they're your dogs? Does that mean they can run into my yard and chase my chickens?" Qin Dongmei arched her eyebrows, crossed her arms, and sneered. "Two filthy little mutts, sneaking into someone else's coop at the crack of dawn. You're lucky I haven't beaten them to death."

Qin Dongmei had narrow, slanted eyes and lacked even a third of the beauty of her sister, Qin Qiumei. With that cold sneer on her face, she looked particularly mean-spirited.

"What chicken would be scared of puppies this small?" Wang Susu trembled with rage. "You knew they were our dogs. You did this on purpose!"

"I did do it on purpose, so what?" Qin Dongmei put her hands on her hips and scoffed. "You’d better keep a close eye on those two filthy runts. If they dare come into my yard again, I’ll kick them into the cesspit to drown."

"You... you're being unreasonable..." Wang Susu was no match for such a shrew; her face turned bright red, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Kick them into the cesspit?" Chen Ling said, his voice ice-cold. "Try it right now. If I lift a finger to stop you, I'll take your last name."

His expression had darkened the moment he saw Qin Dongmei kicking the puppies. Now, seeing her reduce Wang Susu to tears with her cruelty, his demeanor became even more menacing.

"Ha! Take my name? I wouldn't want a useless son like you," Qin Dongmei said with a look of disdain. She had never respected Chen Ling. To her, he was just a good-for-nothing parasite, a waste of space that no one in Chenwang Village looked up to. If he had even a shred of manliness, she wouldn't have dared to speak to Wang Susu like that in front of him.

But before she could finish her sentence, a loud *bang* echoed through the air. Qin Dongmei watched in horror as Chen Ling kicked the stone gate pier beside her entrance, snapping it clean off and sending it crashing to the ground.

"What did you say just now? I didn't hear you," Chen Ling said coldly.

Qin Dongmei shuddered. She looked from Chen Ling to the shattered stone pier, shaken to her core, yet she still stiffened her neck and stammered, "C-Chen Fugui, who are you trying to scare...? They're just two filthy mutts, why are you acting like a lunatic? You dare break our gate pier? Wait until Wang Chunyuan gets back, and you'll see how he deals with you..."

Chen Ling cast her a fleeting glance and snorted, no longer deigning to engage with her. He pulled Wang Susu, who was cradling the two puppies, toward their home. Before stepping through his gate, he threw one last remark over his shoulder:

"You can insult me all you want; I won't lower myself to your level. But if you ever dare speak to my wife like that again, I will tear your house down. We'll see if Wang Chunyuan dares to say a single word when that happens."