Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 2: Pork Lard Rice

The author's choice of words is absolutely precise—Xiao Xian flew out, with a few straws dangling from her mouth. During her time at Yunteng Sect, out of the need for "spatial development," Xiao Xian, heedless of advice, repeatedly climbed cliffs and cliffs to pick flowers and plants. After crushing several people and squashing numerous piles of flowers and plants, her master Yun Qing reluctantly forced her to learn a Cultivation Technique, the only one she knew, called "Cloud Ascension Technique."

The "Cloud Ascension Technique," when practiced to a high-level, allows one to fly through the air and cover a hundred miles in a day. However, for someone like Xiao Xian, with limited talent and inadequate absorption of Spiritual Energy, she could only stay at the first-level. So far, her record with the Cloud Ascension Technique involved "flying" about ten meters with a maximum height of three meters.

"I was struck by lightning," Xiao Xian did not care whether she could fly or not; she remembered that a moment ago, a muffled thunder had pierced through the hole in the roof, hitting her directly on the crown of her head. In her urgency, she hid in the garbage space, uncertain whether she was still in it now.

"My hands are here, and so are my feet. I can see them, and touch them. The chamber pot is gone, and so is the woodshed." Xiao Xian spun around in place, her feet on a piece of hard, firm ground. Due to poor lighting at night, Xiao Xian could only use the touch under her feet to determine whether she was in the space.

"Garbage space, oh garbage space, although you are trash, you are still my Zhou Xiaoxian's lifesaver. Please accept my bow," Xiao Xian was so moved she almost cried her eyes out, leaning over the tilled field, barely touching the ground with her forehead before her fingers brushed against some wild grass.

"That's not right. The garbage space has always been barren, what's this fluffy thing?" In a burst of excitement, Xiao Xian scooped up some soil and looked closely. It was slightly red, whereas the soil in her space was yellow.

From afar came shouting, "Xiao Xian," urgent yet tinged with anxiety.

"I am here," Xiao Xian felt warm inside as she listened to the voices and watched the crowd approaching. It must be Yun Qing coming to find his incompetent disciple; the Sect Leader, despite his harsh demeanor and fierce scolding, genuinely cared about her.

Just as Xiao Xian was about to move forward, her left foot lifted, but her right foot failed to find the ground, causing her to lose balance and fall face-first into the grass and mud.

"Xiao Xian, your grandfather has told you many times, your legs are bad, don't run around when the adults aren't paying attention," the light illuminated the mud-smeared face, as the old man, heart aching, lifted his granddaughter and massaged her legs.

The elder holding her, his white beard and face covered densely with wrinkles, wore clothes neither gray nor white, which looked nothing like her master Yun Qing. She knew although her master was ancient, he was famously well-preserved, always appearing much younger than his age.

Xiao Xian dared not speak and just leaned on the old man's shoulder, scrutinizing the people around. All of them were odd, wearing clothes with torn sleeves and pant legs (short sleeves and short pants), carrying "torches" that didn't need wood to burn (lanterns).

"Where did this wild fire torch come from that set the haystack on fire?" A few villagers were inspecting the haystack where Xiao Xian had hidden earlier, beating off a few patches of flames.

The old man's granddaughter probably hid in the haystack just like her and was struck by lightning too; consequently, she had transformed into the old man's granddaughter. Xiao Xian realized that she had also shrunk in size, now having the stature of a five or six-year-old child, her legs being uneven—the left leg three or four centimeters longer than the right, making her a classic limper.

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If the rather authoritative old man discovered that she was not his granddaughter, she wondered if he would, just like her sisters who had descended the mountain, burn her as if she were a demon. For the sake of preserving her life, Xiao Xian decided to keep quiet for the time being.

On the way home, the old man walked with some difficulty but refused to put Xiao Xian down, and like all elderly people, he talked non-stop about the life and hardships they shared, narrating everything clearly.

It wasn't until they reached one of only two mountain paths in the village that Xiao Xian saw the few blue-gray houses where she and her "grandfather" lived.

"I'll warm some food for you," said the oddly dressed old man after first washing his little granddaughter's face with warm water and changing her clothes, without scolding her. He then walked into the kitchen.

The old man's name was Zhu Shijun, the former director of the Jing City Tobacco Bureau, a high-ranking old cadre. This year sixty-three years old. Three months ago, due to political turmoil, he was removed from his position, and later, under the pretense of recuperating, he was sent to the Southwest Mountain Area to recover his health.

The original owner of this body was also named "Xiao Xian," who is six years old this year and a granddaughter of the elder. Her parents couldn't take care of her for some reasons, so she was temporarily brought to this Southwest mountain village called Ge Village by the old man, Zhu Shijun.

Xiao Xian didn't know what a bureau chief was, but when she saw the villagers only daring to follow behind and speaking in hushed tones as the elder carried her home, it seemed no different from when the Sect Leader of the Yunteng Sect went out.

The elder was busy in the kitchen while Xiao Xian examined the interior environment of the house.

Zhu Shijun had come here under the pretext of seeking treatment, so his residence was considered high-standard in the village, being the only house like the village's broadcast station to have electricity supplied all night. The Southwest Mountain Area being prone to rain and bugs, the roofs were sharply inclined to prevent leaking, and the walls had just been whitewashed, carrying a hint of the smell of lime.

There were four rooms inside and outside; the place where Xiao Xian sat was commonly known as the dining room in rural households, and also where the village chief and others would come to visit the elder. The room was clean, with a dustpan and broom placed in a corner, and windows covered with green gauze. Several stools and a square table lacquered in vermilion were there. At one end of the table, a braided black cord (electric wire) was propped up, and at the other end, a glowing transparent sphere (electric bulb) hung.

On the table, there was a shiny, polished cold-water jug, and beside the teapot was a square, brick-like gray box.

What intrigued Xiao Xian the most was the glowing transparent sphere, but since she was currently physically disabled and could not stand up, she could only curiously reach out to touch the gray box, when the elder came out with a bowl of rice.

The meal was prepared earlier in the evening and kept warm on the stove. While eating, Xiao Xian sneaked out, and it was not until the elder learned that Xiao Xian had just had a conflict with some kids from the nearby Miao Clan settlement at the village entrance, and ran away crying.

"Are you hungry? Eat it while it's hot," Zhu Shijun, seeing his granddaughter sitting on the long bench, touching the only "Tecsun" radio he brought from the city, turned it on for her.

The gray box started singing with human voices, humming a song just like the one her master sang while bathing; Xiao Xian was so scared that she nearly fell to the ground again. The elder placed the hot rice in front of her. A pair of chopsticks, a bowl of rice, a simple meal.

Zhu Shijun loved his granddaughter very much, but he did not overly indulge Xiao Xian. After coming to the village, actions like eating meals and wearing clothes were tasks that the six-year-old Xiao Xian had to complete by herself.

The rice in the coarse porcelain bowl was piled up like a small mountain. The Southwest Mountain Area was not rich in produce, besides going down the mountain to the market, every household depended on the harvest from their small plots of land to sustain their meals. Having been accustomed to the rich meals in Beijing, Xiao Xian initially refused to eat every day after arriving in the village, and only reluctantly started eating some rice after being frightened a few times by Zhu Shijun brandishing his cane with a stern face.

The bowl was filled not just with rice, but there were a few pieces of white pasty substances at the top, and brown soy sauce mixed with the pasty substance, slowly melting in the steam, exuding a never-before-smelled fragrance that was very tempting. She was indeed hungry, taking up the chopsticks, she took a big bite of rice immediately.

The soaked and softened lard permeated each grain of rice, the oily rice stimulating Xiao Xian's taste buds and tongue. The rice was even hotter with the oil, but Xiao Xian couldn't care less about that; stirring with her chopsticks and blowing the heat away, she quickly finished the rice.

"What is this?" Xiao Xian had never eaten such delicious food at the Yunteng Sect. After eating, she still remembered to lick the tips of her chopsticks. This bowl of rice unknowingly brought her closer to Zhu Shijun.

Watching his granddaughter's greedy look, Zhu Shijun stroked his beard and smiled, "Pork lard mixed with rice, back when your mom was... a child, she loved the pork lard mixed with rice I made the most," the elder's eyes unknowingly turned red, and to prevent his granddaughter from seeing his embarrassed state, he took away the empty bowls and chopsticks, and went into the kitchen, masking the sound of his sniffles with washing noises.

The gray box that sang continued its "yi yi ya ya" song for a long while, and Xiao Xian still couldn't figure it out. After Zhu Shijun finished tidying up, he took Xiao Xian back to her room.

Among the four rooms, the kitchen was the farthest north, the second room was the dining area, the third room was Zhu Shijun's, and the innermost was Xiao Xian's room. The elder made the bed for his granddaughter and coaxed her to sleep before turning off the lights.

"Where is this? And why am I here?" Xiao Xian curled up under the covers, touching the soft quilt and clean bedding, which was much better than her treatment at the Yunteng Sect where the firewood room didn't have fragrant bedding or a spacious bed, "I should first check out the space."