ALL NOVEL
Chapter 18
The birds in the mountains chirped tweet-tweet.
The flowing water babbled lah-lah.
Qin Luoxia felt certain her husband would not believe her.
So she carried the wild boar to a mountain stream with flowing water.
She came up with a good plan.
Put the wild boar down.
A live wild boar was a bit scary, but not as frightening when dead.
Qin Luoxia butchered the wild boar by the waterside.
Her spear became a meat cleaver.
She only realized today how useful this long spear really was.
It could be taken apart, the shaft separated into three sections.
Take one section and attach it to the spearhead, it could be used as a short knife, extremely convenient for butchering meat.
Qin Luoxia worked very decisively and efficiently.
First she cut off the wild boar's head.
When she reached the bony areas, she used her strength to cut through the connective tissue.
In the afternoon, the slanting sun
Shone on the mountain stream, the falling water like a beaded curtain in varied colors, beads dropping one by one.
The colored beads fell into the deep pool, rippling circles upon impact.
By the pool stood a woman with ample bosom, long legs, and long hair. Her back was very fit, her buttocks quite shapely.
She possessed a natural sensuality.
Not the weak willows and gentle breeze kind of beauty appreciated in the capital, but the tall and voluptuous exotic beauty.
She looked up, wiping the blood from her hair.
Standing below the mountain stream, facing the water droplets, blowing in the cool breeze, at ease.
If not for the chunks of wild boar meat at her feet, this scene could have depicted a very beautiful portrait of a lady.
After cooling off, Qin Luoxia found large leaves to wrap up the chopped wild boar meat, placing them in a basket. She covered them with grass, and carried it home on her back.
Walking down the road, thinking of her family soon able to drink meat broth and eat meat, Qin Luoxia could not restrain a smile across her face.
She quickened her pace, jogging a little.
...
The setting sun in the west.
The birds chirped noisily, urging travelers home.
Jiang Mianmian's sleepy face was smushed flat.
Jiang Yu worked while glancing over at her sister.
She felt her sister was really like a cotton ball, soft and cuddly.
When asleep, she snored lightly, extremely well-behaved.
She said it wasn't a lie that eating refined grains made her sister fairer and better looking.
Now her sister looked completely different from when she was born.
Back then she was dark as a little mouse.
Now she was fair as snow, with a perky little nose, rosy lips, and very long eyelashes. With eyes closed while sleeping, her long curled lashes were just lacking in density. Her hair had also darkened.
She looked more and more like a miniature version of father.
The more she looked, the more heartache she felt.
Because she was too focused, Jiang Yu accidentally pricked her own palm with the needle, raising a blood blister.
She quickly sucked it into her mouth, as oozing blood would be wasteful.
Jiang Yu thought about Jiang Wan's visit yesterday.
Every encounter with Jiang Wan led to misfortune. Last time when mother had a difficult labor, she went to ask for some refined grains, but met Jiang Wan instead. Jiang Wan said she would get it for her, but there was no grain given in the end. Jiang Wan even fainted, and Jiang Yu was unjustly beaten for it.
This time was similar. Jiang Wan came to deliver things herself, yet big brother was nearly beaten to death.
Her mind wasn't too bright, but she summarized two points.
Firstly, contact with Jiang Wan only brought ill fortune and disaster.
Secondly, she felt that going against Jiang Wan's prohibitions could be the right thing to do.
Jiang Yu sucked her finger, thinking what she could do if she really went to the city as a maid. She should have a whole set of new clothes first, right? She heard maids of rich households all dressed very well. Not sure about new shoes, after all she would be just a maid, keeping up appearances was enough.
She had never served people before. At Master Liu's home she only helped out with chores and errands, never getting close to the masters.
She heard that young master would beat people when he had fits, and worried she might beat the young master to death if she retaliated.
But if outnumbered, she would still get beaten, like every visit to the Jiang residence, always being bullied for being alone.
Moreover she had never left home before, still afraid.
Forget it, she shouldn't do foolish things just to defy Jiang Wan.
A scene suddenly flashed across her mind - one day, she would be dressed in fine silks and satins, embroidered shoes with gold beads, many gold hairpins glittering in her hair, sitting in a grand eight-man carriage, parading through the streets.
Thinking of this scene, she couldn't help grinning at her own daydream.
Jiang Mianmian woke up to see big sister sucking her finger, frowning one moment and silly smiling the next, still sucking her finger...she was so startled, could big sister have awakened some psychic power?
She reflexively sucked her own finger too, though to be honest, sucking a finger covered in her own saliva was quite unhygienic.
If she could stand, she would definitely go wash her hands eight times before sucking her finger!
Just then, she seemed to hear familiar footsteps outside the yard.
Heavy, one step at a time, very steady.
It must be mother coming back.
Jiang Mianmian anxiously cried "Yiya yaya",
wanting milk, want milk!
Sure enough there was soon a knock on the door. Since it was just Jiang Yu and little sister at home today, she had locked the yard gate.
She heard mother's voice outside and ran to open the door.
Qin Luoxia's basket on her back was packed full of grass poking out.
Though it should not be heavy, it made a heavy muffled thud when set down.
Jiang Mianmian cried louder,
desperate to drink milk.
Hearing her daughter's cries, Qin Luoxia's breasts also swelled, but she endured and first went to change and freshen up briefly before feeding.
Jiang Mianmian hugged her food bowl recklessly gulping down mouthfuls until her little stomach was filled. Only then did she have the strength to contemplate.
She suddenly noticed the milk today seemed to have a mingled bloody stench, very heavy blood smell.
What was mother up to?
Even hunting wouldn't leave such a strong bloody odor?
Mother's scent was like that of her forensic science upperclassmate, who joined them for a meal one day and said she just finished dissecting a fresh corpse after an internship...
Jiang Mianmian looked again at the basket mother put down at the yard entrance, fresh red blood slowly seeping out!