The next morning sun hwa woke up feeling refreshed, having slept earlier till dawn broke naturally
She felt lighter and high spirited, she didn't idle instead she stood up, grabbed the quilts and took it out, where she spread it on the cloth line then she headed to the kitchen where she gathered some firewood and then she poured in a bit of kerosene and lit the fire, before placing a pot of water to boil
The cold air made her toes curl subconsciously and as the water boiled she took out her toothpaste and tooth brush to brush her teeth at a corner of the wall
"Sister hwa….." the little guy walked out of the room next to hers, rubbing his puffy eyes slowly, it was the best sleep he had, had in ages
"Come brush your teeth" Sun hwa called him over, then she took out his own toothpaste and brush. He didn't argue instead he begun to seriously copy his movements in brushing his own teeth
By the time they were both done brushing and rinsing their mouth, the water in the pot had boiled hot "how old are you?" Sun hwa asked staring at the little guy whose yellow hair fell over his face, obscuring his naturally blue eyes
"10" he replied with a low grunt, sun hwa couldn't help looking him over. The little guy who looked to be seven years old was actually 10? Yet she said nothing.
Instead she poured several large scoops of hot water into the bucket and a lesser ratio of cold water, which she carried to the bathroom for his bath
"You can wash yourself right?" She asked and to this he nodded, though he did prefer when she washed him
As no one had ever washed him, since he could understand things
"I'll go make breakfast, once you're done wrap yourself in this towel and call my name
I'll bring your clothes, it's cold outside so don't come out until I come to you" Saying this sun hwa handed him, his bath soap and bath sponge after which she let him be and proceeded to the kitchen to make breakfast
There was still some potatoes left hence she threw in 3 pieces into the coal to bake and in the pot she poured in some rice and wild boar broth to make fragrant rice porridge, the leftover steamed buns was placed in the steamer to steam
While In another stove stop, she placed the wok and begun to stir fry some fatty wild boar meat mixed with beefy parts, which was stir fried in soy sauce, scallions, a bit of Chilli paste for spice, minced garlic, chopped ginger and salt, with a bit of sliced cabbages added into the mix
The delicious aroma made her stomach growl loudly, even the little guy who was bathing couldn't help swallowing hard
"Sister hwa…." He called softly, already imagining the delicious taste of the food, sun hwa quickly rinsed her hand in warm water then she wiped it clean and hurried into the house, where she grabbed a long pant, cotton padded jacket and a pair of shoes
"Here" sun hwa handed the small bundle to him, then she headed back to the kitchen to finish up
The rabbit still needed to be dealt with hence while the food boiled, she begun to skin both rabbits, after which she chopped up the parts, gathered the innards and for the meaty part, she made a base sauce with fresh minced garlic,mashed ginger, soy sauce, Chilli flakes, honey and rice vinegar
Which was rubbed in throughly, coating the meat throughly then she covered it all up to rest for the rest of the day or more
By this time she took off the steamed buns, scooped a big bowl each of fragrant rice porridge, a bowl each of stir fried wilds boar with cabbages and the 3 pieces of baked potatoes were placed in a separate bowl
"It smells delicious" the little guy couldn't help swallowing as he sat, his blue eyes shining brightly at the spread on the table
"If it's delicious, then you should eat well, so you can grow taller" sun hwa replied as she begun to eat, she had a lot to do for the day hence she needed to eat more to have the energy to go through the day
Luckily her nausea has lessened hence she ate with ease, finishing a bowl of porridge with stir fried boar meat, two large buns and one baked potato. The little guy also finished his meal and took the bowls to the kitchen to clean while sun Hwa left to have her bath
"It smells so fragrant here" Aunt Lin spoke from the gap on the door, her youngest grandson had been drawn by the delicious aroma, now the rascal was making a scene not wanting to eat unless it's what the neighbors are having
"Fifth wife, come open the door" she shouted, the little guy paused his movement of washing dishes, his blue eyes narrowed slightly however with sun hwa still in the bath, he dared not open the door hence he cleaned the bowls without caring about the door
Sun hwa only came out half an hour later bundled up and secured from the cold
"Aunt Lin, what are you doing here?" Guo Jinyi's voice came from outside, seeing Jinyi Aunt Lin's eyes darkened
"Seeing a neighbor, the Wang family isn't enough for you or you're so idle. A Married woman spending her time in other people's houses is unheard of" Aunt Lin scoffed in disdain as she glared at Guo Jinyi
"Sister Jinyi" sun hwa opened the door and pulled Jinyi inside, shutting the door immediately before Jinyi could reply Aunt Lin
"You should have let me reply that nosy thing" Jinyi scoffed angrily "fifth wife" Aunt Lin knocked anxiously, unwilling to let go of the free meal she was eyeing
"Aunt Lin" sun hwa opened the door and frowned seeing the child rolling on the floor with tears and snot plastered all over his face. A disgusting sight indeed
"My Bao'er wants to play over at yours" Aunt Lin smiled but the calculation in her eyes didn't escape sun hwa's eyes
"My family and yours aren't close, why are you here exactly" sun hwa spoke directly, she wasn't about to waste words with the likes of Aunt Lin
"Bao'er smelled what you cooked and he's unwilling to eat the plain porridge and mixed grain buns we made for breakfast" Aunt Lin sighed dramatically
"So you're here so I can give you my family's food?" sun hwa asked with a raised brow "taking advantage of people is all you do Aunt Lin, that greedy ghost of yours might as well eat sand" Guo Jinyi pointed angrily, the thought of this people eyeing sun hwa's things made her boil with anger
The location the fifth son had chosen for the house was good, away from the villagers and on the mountain part, yet this Lin family from top to bottom knew no good but eyeing all the good stuff while pretending to be good
"Guo Jinyi is this how the third Wang branch family raised you! Zhou chunhua a black bellied snake! Only knowing how to sow discord" Aunt Lin cursed with spittle flying out from her rage
Sun hwa stepped back unwilling to have the disgusting spittle anywhere close to her "my family doesn't have any food, I only cooked enough for one meal" Sun hwa finally spoke up, she didn't want the argument to go any more than this
"Such a shame, but you can give us some meat, we can make a few dishes from it, good neighbors should help eachother
Even I, an old lady couldn't help swallowing from the delicious aroma" Aunt Lin laughed happily, already imagining what she'd make from the meat and how she'd come ask for more
"Our families aren't close Aunt Lin, this bit of meat I almost lost my life for
Your able bodied son's can go hunting too" with that sun hwa slammed the door shut, unbothered by the vulgar words that spilled out of Aunt Lin's mouth, even the unsuspecting Bao'er got a good beating from her rage
"That wretched old hag" Guo Jinyi sighed heavily, the little guy continued filling the bowl which he used to water the sprouts at the backyard
"Why did you come so early" sun hwa asked as she gathered the herbs and begun to sort them, there was a lot she intended to make from this batch of herbs such as beauty tonics, beauty masks, toners,
All very good stuffs
"The men have gone up to harvest, with the weather getting cooler, winter would come sooner than expected
There's maize, sourghum, wheat, millet, peanuts, cotton, yellow, red and golden sweet potatoes" Jinyi replied as she watched sun hwa grinding herbs
"Mm, I'll wait for harvest to be delivered here, I want to enroll the little guy in the primary school at the village entrance" sun hwa's words made Jinyi turn to the little boy seriously watering plants g
"Isn't he the bad luck star?" Jinyi swallowed as she stared at those pair of expressive blue eyes
"Don't be fetish sister Jinyi, he's just as human as everyone else" sun hwa shook her head in disapproval and Jinyi swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue back