Early the next morning, Ji Changze got up and went out for a few laps.
He went up the hill and waited for a while. He made a small bow and arrow with branches and vines, and actually managed to snag a pheasant.
The pheasant was dead the moment it was hit. Ji Changze just picked it up, thought about it, turned around and removed the vines on the bow and arrow, wrapping them around its neck a few times.
Seeing its new shape, Ji Changze nodded satisfactorily.
Now, this pheasant that died from a shot with a small bow and arrow had turned into a pheasant choked to death by strangulation.
This death seems to have become more respectable.
The pheasant must be very grateful to him.
When he came home with the pheasant, he happened to bump into the whole Ji family.
Father Ji and Mother Ji, originally thought that their youngest son was sleeping late as before. They were shocked to see him come home with a pheasant in his hand.
“Changze, where did this pheasant come from?”
Father Ji’s appearance and figure were similar to Ji Changguang’s, and he also had the same honest temper. He asked his question openly when he saw the pheasant.
Mother Ji was more alert than her husband, and almost as soon as she saw that Ji Changze was carrying a pheasant in his hands, she got up and hurriedly shut the door.
Although the investigation is not as strict as it was in the beginning, letting Seventh Uncle Ji gather mountain goods from time to time was nothing, but how can mountain goods and pheasants be the same?
(TNote: investigation; meaning that the government investigates what people do to get things outside of the government-approved rations; especially if reported by someone.)
Now, apart from dividing pork every year during the Chinese New Year, the heads of families can’t get oil and water all year round. To put it bluntly, if someone was greedy for meat, a rat coming to one’s feet was a treasure.
But now that the year was bad, even rats were no longer seen.
After closing the door, Mother Ji quickly came to Ji Changze: “Yes, Changze, where did this pheasant come from?”
Ji Changze threw the pheasant to the ground, and his face was full of the familiar smugness in front of his family as he boasted. “I caught it. Dad, Mom, let me tell you, why else would I say that I’m very productive? I woke up early this morning and went out to the toilet. As soon as I came out, I heard a pheasant squawking, which made me upset. Anyway, I couldn’t sleep, so I went up the mountain.”
With that, he kicked the pheasant on the ground. “Well, as soon as I saw it, my body immediately started to gain strength. When I went up, I began to chase it and it started to run. How can it run past me? It has two legs, and I have two legs. My legs are longer than the pheasants’. After my efforts, this pheasant was caught by me, strangled and brought back.”
After listening to Ji Changze’s boasting, none of the Ji family members present believed it.
Don’t they know what Ji Changze is like? He was weak from childhood, outrunning a flying pheasant was insane for anyone, but he couldn’t even outrun another man.
Ji Changguang squatted down and picked up the pheasant and looked at it. He found that the wild grass like vines were still wrapped around its neck. He looked up at his younger brother, “Changze, this pheasant seems to have died after being entangled in the wild grass.”
Ji Changze’s face didn’t change and he immediately changed his stance. “I just remembered it wrongly, it was actually a vine that I wrapped around its neck that killed it.”
The Ji family immediately understood.
It seems that this pheasant was not killed by Ji Changze, but was entangled and killed by vines somehow, and was discovered later.
But still, he was trying to persuade them.
Changze was weak and usually couldn’t run. How can he outrun a pheasant?
Ah, young people just love to talk big…
When Father Ji opens his mouth, he intends to tear the flimsy excuse apart. “Changze, this pheasant… it’s not you…”
Mother Ji suddenly hit his arm and motioned for him not to talk. Father Ji could only swallow the rest of his words, then watched as his wife looked at their youngest son with a praising expression, and spoke in a coaxing, maternal tone.
“Ai yo… Our Changze is really great, being able to catch a pheasant. As I told you, he is the most promising son.”
After saying that, she was still not satisfied and went to look at Ji Changguang again. “Yes, Changguang, your brother is promising, right?”
Ji Changguang nodded and cooperated with her: “Yes, Changze is.”
He felt that his brother was so good and humble that it was rare for him to show off. Even if he was only boasting, he should cooperate.
Not only did he praise it himself, he also went to look at Father Ji to continue. “Dad, don’t you think so?”
Father Ji also reacted, looking at his eldest son, then at his wife, and then at the pheasant on the ground. “Yes, yes, yes, our Changze is just awesome!”
Never mind how this pheasant got here anyway.
Why can others get pheasants from the mountain, but they can’t?! It didn’t matter!
Their family’s Changze is amazing!
No one thought the pheasant was really caught by Ji Changze, after all, they knew him well and they knew he didn’t have it in him.
But you have to praise his actions!
At that time, the Ji’s yard was filled with false praise.
It’s rare to have meat, and it’s such a big pheasant on top of that. Mother Ji was so happy that she directly picked up the pheasant and said she would pluck it to clean it up. It just so happened that there was some salt left in the house before. She could marinate the meat and keep it for a long time.
Ji Changze directly interjected. “What about stewed chicken, then. Mom, I want stewed chicken.”
Mother Ji was now in a dilemma. “Changze, how do we make this chicken stew? We don’t have an iron pot in our house. How can we cook it?”
And now the team won’t let themselves open a fire. So, if they cook it out in the open, what if the smoke comes out and it gets discovered?
(TNote: team; meaning in the 80’s villages were considered farming production teams, and usually the village leaders were the team leaders.)
“I’m going to my sister-in-law’s house today, aren’t I? I’ll take it to my sister-in-law’s home. It just happens to be my first visit, I felt bad not taking something, these city people are cooking their own, and don’t have to sneak around to cook a chicken.”
While talking, Ji Changze put his hand on Ji Changguang’s shoulder, raising his eyebrows and showing pride. “What’s more, my older brother has been taken care of by my Sister-in-law since he married her. Although it’s said that the two have good feelings, our family has to help Changguang hold up some face.”
Ji Changguang was immediately moved.
He really didn’t expect his brother to be so kind to him.
Such a delicious pheasant, yet he was willing to give it to his father-in-law, just to keep up appearances.
Mother Ji didn’t look very good.
Although what Ji Changguang said yesterday made her heart a little bit sad, right now, a pheasant has graced their table. That so much meat was not eaten at home, and rather sent to outsiders…
How could she be willing?!
“Such a big chicken, but we haven’t eaten any of it ourselves. Your sister-in-law is of a working-class family, so how can they lack any meat?”
Seeing the light in Ji Changguang’s eyes dim as a result of his mother’s words, Ji Changze looked like he was careless.
“Older brother, Mom is afraid that if we take the pheasant back, you would be ashamed. There’s no shortage of meat at your sister-in-law’s house.”
How could Mother Ji mean this? She wanted to open her mouth to speak, but Ji Changze pulled her arm aside with a quick glance.
“Mom, this pheasant can’t just be sent over there, it has to be processed. Come on, I’ll go with you to pluck its feathers.”
He waited until he had pulled Mother Ji into the house before he dropped her arm.
Mother Ji shrugs it off. “Changze, why are you stopping me? Our family has ‘given’ their family a son. Now your big brother has become someone else’s and we’re still blindly giving them meat to eat, why should we?”
“Ehhh, Mom, why are you so foolish?”
Ji Changze looked like he was thinking ‘I’m the smart one, I’m the right one,’ and patted the pheasant in his hand. “We can’t stew the chicken in our hands, but your son wants chicken stew. Can you cook it?”
“It’s not all going to be given to them! I’ll just deliver some meat, and with such a large chicken, they won’t even be able to eat half of it. It’s a great deal for their family.”
Mother Ji didn’t feel good.
It’s fine for a good son to go to someone’s house.
It’s not easy to get a pheasant here, so why should it also go to that Liu family?
“Don’t worry Mom, I’m sure I’ll bring back chicken stew if I take this pheasant over there.”
“Bring it back? Who’s going to let go of fresh meat when it’s just sitting there?”
Ji Changze said, “Don’t worry, your son has a plan. Mom, I’m telling you, don’t ever say those things you just said to me in front of my older brother, and anyway, in the future, you’ll say nice things about him in front of him and be more considerate.”
Before Mother Ji’s eyes could glaze over in anger, he then added, “I’m telling you, older brother didn’t really become a kept son-in-law, but you see how good Sister-in-law’s family is to him. If our family keeps pushing him out, it’s not good for him. Think about it, big brother is still filial to you now, but after a long time, he would lose his heart for our family.”
Seeing the expression on Mother Ji’s face become thoughtful, Ji Changze struck while the iron was hot. “Now you have to be kind to Changguang, so that he feels our family is really warm and really good to him. When the time comes, Sister-in-law’s family will not win over his heart again. The real parents who were good to him, or the in-laws, the one to choose is clear to him!
“But if it were his biological parents who treated him badly, and his in-laws, who treated him well, it would be hard to say which one to choose then.”
Mother Ji was full of fire, but when her youngest son said that, she also gradually felt as though the situation was exactly what Changze had said.
Her youngest son is smart! Such a quick thinker!
Ji Changguang waited in the yard with an uneasy face, craning his neck and peeking in.
Finally, the door opened, and he hurriedly stepped forward. He looked nervously at his Mom who came out and dryly called out, “Mom.”
Mother Ji went forward with the pheasant and a smile on her face: “Changguang, your brother is right. Your father-in-law and mother-in-law have taken care of you for so long, and our family doesn’t have anything to thank them with. It’s rare to have pheasants. Mom will clean it up so you can bring it over and thank the in-laws properly. “
Ji Changguang widened his eyes and even stuttered in shock. “Mom, do you really want me to bring the pheasant back?”
The mother in front of him smiled very lovingly, and as far as Ji Changguang could remember, such a smile hadn’t been seen on Mother Ji’s face since he’d moved in with his wife.
His eyes turned red with emotion. “Mom, I don’t want this pheasant. Changze got it. You guys worked hard, you should keep it.”
Mother Ji thought, “Of course, it should be kept!”
But even if pheasants are delicious, the son is more important.
She tried to smile kindly.
“No. You’ve been living in your father-in-law’s house for so long that you should more or less show it. After all, you are the son of our Ji family. How can you live in a house for no cost? Be good, I’ll go clean the poultry.”
Ji Changguang was moved to tears and stood there for a long time as he watched his mother take the chicken to boil water.
Ji Changze tapped him on the shoulder from behind. ” Older brother, I’ve got some fabric. Please help me pack those mountain products. They look better packaged and will sell well … No, it’s better to send it to Sister-in-law’s house to make you look good.”
Ji Changguang was even more touched.
For his parents who gave up eating a pheasant.
For his brother who worked hard to prepare gifts.