Chapter 14 The Cellar

"We don't need to worry about the cabbage, with the hot weather there's still vegetables to eat, so let's keep the cabbage for ourselves. How could I have forgotten Aunt Tian's family? Send a portion of buns to Aunt Tian as well. If someone really asks, just smile and don't say anything. If they really press you for answers, just blame it on me. But they likely won't ask."

Lu Aiguo slapped his forehead. He thought it over and felt that probably no one would ask, since flour and meat are both scarce items that you can't easily buy with money. He guessed no one would be so insensitive as to press for answers. But even if someone did, he could certainly be vague about it.

"It's important to make sure Xiaoyun understands clearly, so she doesn't let anything slip. It's better to keep this kind of thing under wraps."

No matter how he had obtained the items, Lu Aiguo knew he definitely couldn't let the whole village know, as that would not only inspire envy but also hatred, which could lead to disaster. If it wasn't for the fact that there were too many pork buns and the weather was too hot, he truly wouldn't dare to take out so many at once.

Xia Yuan was clearly aware of this principle as well and nodded before gently coaxing Lu Yun with kind words. Lu Yun, without waiting for her to speak, nodded repeatedly, making a promise.

"Mom, I know, I won't tell anyone. If others find out we have so much food, they'll all want some, and then we'll have none left for ourselves. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul," she assured.

"Xiaoyun is so clever. Remember, no matter who asks, you can't tell them, or we won't be able to keep our things safe. Good girl, Mom will make you dumplings to eat tomorrow," Xia Yuan said with relief, nodding.

Lu Aiguo also praised her from the side, "Our dear daughter is smarter than the rest. Tomorrow, I'll have your mom make you scallion pancakes with eggs for breakfast first, then we'll have steamed rice for lunch. Xiaoyun must have never eaten steamed white rice before. We'll get some soy sauce and cook braised pork to go with it, delicious. Then dumplings in the evening."

Lu Aiguo found himself salivating at his own words. Seeing the pork buns in front of him, he couldn't hold back any longer, grabbed two, handed one to Xia Yuan, and then took a big bite out of the other, chewing as he asked Lu Yun, "Can you eat more? If you can, have another piece."

"I can't eat anymore." Lu Yun patted her little stomach and sighed with a hint of regret, amusing both Lu Aiguo and Xia Yuan with her mature manner.

"Stop teasing her or she'll get a stomachache. If that happens, I'm blaming you," Xia Yuan said with a playful glare, taking a bite of her bun.

"Ow, that really hurts, take a look, did I get hurt?" After receiving such a glare from Xia Yuan, Lu Aiguo jokingly moved closer to her, pointing at his chest and calling out, "Ow, ow."

"What are you doing? You're a grown man behaving like a child; careful or the child will laugh at you," Xia Yuan immediately retorted. However, Lu Aiguo didn't care and continued to cheekily cling to Xia Yuan, acting spoiled.

Lu Yun twitched the corner of her eye, pursed her lips, and ran out of the kitchen. Her perception of her father's silliness refreshed its lower limits; showing off their affection in front of her, a "child," was really shameless.

Cough cough, she'd better go tidy up the main room, it's better than being the third wheel here, like a glaring lightbulb.

Seeing that Lu Yun had run away, Lu Aiguo felt very pleased with her perceptiveness and teased Xia Yuan even more, "You see, our daughter is so considerate, she knows when to leave us alone."

"You, shameless," Xia Yuan spat at him, pushing him away irritably, then pointed at the supplies and asked, "Where's the storage cellar?"

"Heh heh. Without me telling you, you'd never find it," Lu Aiguo chuckled, walked to a corner of the kitchen, and moved several bundles of firewood in front of Xia Yuan. He scraped a few times, then lifted a plank that was the same color as the ground. A hole big enough for only one person to enter appeared on the floor.

Coming over to look, Xia Yuan saw that there was a wooden ladder leading down into the darkness, but she could still see the bottom. The cellar was about the height of two people and roughly half the size of the kitchen. There were bamboo shelves at the bottom, which seemed a bit empty.

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"Here, this is our family's cellar, pretty hidden, isn't it? Shitou and I dug it together. Took us over half a month, avoiding people as we did."

"Why would you make such a secretive place if there is nothing to it?" Xia Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Just for fun, and to hide things," Lu Aiguo said with a proud smile, "You've seen those tunnel warfare movies, right? That's Shitou and my favorite movie."

"Shitou, what exactly is his background? I've heard people outside say that his dad isn't actually his grandparents' biological child, is that true?" When it came to Shitou, Xia Yuan couldn't help but be curious and asked.

"It's true. To talk about Shitou's background, that's quite a long story."

Lu Aiguo paused for a moment, began moving things towards the entrance of the cellar, and started to speak.

"They say Shitou's dad was born on the road while his parents were fleeing from disaster. His birth mother was ill, very seriously, and the small place couldn't treat her. He also had an older brother who wasn't much older than him.

His dad needed to take his mom to see a doctor and also take care of his older brother, which was too much to handle. They had no choice but to leave Shitou's dad in the care of another family first. Unfortunately, the times were too chaotic, and later on, the family that took him in couldn't survive locally and had to flee the famine with him. By the time Shitou's dad was six or seven, they made it to our village. By then, only Shitou's foster father and Shitou's dad were left, and seeing that his foster father was near death, he told Shitou's dad everything before passing."

Speaking of Shitou's background, Lu Aiguo couldn't stop sighing, "Then after that, Shitou's dad was adopted by a Lu Family in the village who only had daughters and no sons. They thought he could stay and be either their son-in-law or be raised as a son."

"In the beginning, Shitou's dad lived quite well, but unexpectedly, in a couple of years, that family had a son of their own. From then on, Shitou's dad was treated as a laborer and was constantly nagged by his foster mother to remember to repay their kindness. That's why no matter how unreasonable Shitou's grandmother could be, Shitou's dad never said a word. It was only tough on his wife and child."

"Because of such a background, Shitou has always especially wanted to fulfill his father's dying wish, to leave this place, to go outside and find his real grandparents, to fulfill his father's heart's desire."

Lu Aiguo let out a long sigh, "But how easy can that be? Let alone the fact that it's extremely difficult to leave our village, even if you do get out, with such a vast world and being separated by a generation, without any other clues, how can you find them, where can you even start to look?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yuan couldn't help but feel somber, "Yeah, the chances of finding them are truly slim."

"Alas, it's just a thought after all. Having a thought gives people direction. Once you get to know Shitou, you can't help but like him. He values relationships and loyalty. During the famine that year, we were starving and went deep into the mountains to hunt. I wasn't careful and fell off a cliff, and Shitou grabbed my hand immediately. How could he, a small kid, have the strength to pull me up? Knowing we couldn't both end up down there, I told him to let go, but he just wouldn't release his grip. Stubborn as a mule. I talked until my mouth was dry, and even cursed at him, but that didn't make him let go."

Recalling the past, Lu Aiguo's eyes reddened slightly, his speech halted, and even his movement stopped.

"So what happened afterward?" Xia Yuan asked anxiously, as she had never heard this story from Lu Aiguo before.

"Well, of course, I was fine in the end, but it left a memento," Lu Aiguo said with a wry smile, pointing to the scar on his face as he continued.

"In the end, we both fell down. At that moment, I thought we were done for, dying two at a time – too much of a loss. But having someone with you isn't too bad, I figured if I died, in my next life, I'd have him reborn as my son, and I'd raise him well as a way to repay him. Turns out we were both lucky. The King of Hell didn't want us and left us hanging in a tree. Though we were a bit battered, we thankfully kept our lives."

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