CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 45: OWNERSHIP OF THE EGG

The sun sets in the west, and smoke rises from every household in Shangling Village as people prepare dinner. Those working in the fields are carrying their tools and preparing to go home.

The men of the Gu Family, who were working in the fields, returned home early today. Mrs. Lv was directing the girls in the house to set the table and serve the dishes.

The dinner table had the usual black porridge and mixed grain buns, along with a plate of stir-fried spinach and some homemade pickled radish strips. On the main table, there were two boiled eggs; Mrs. Lv gave one to the injured Gu Chengchi and, without hesitation, handed the other to Gu Chengyu.

"Mom, I don’t want the egg, give it to Dad! Dad still has to pick honeysuckle. When we sell it tomorrow, can you buy me some buns instead?" With so many eyes on him at the table, Gu Chengyu felt embarrassed to openly indulge. If he gave the egg to anyone, it would be unfair, so he chose to give it to Mr. Gu, whom everyone was unlikely to oppose.

Mr. Gu laughed so broadly that his teeth were visible. "Xiao Bao is so filial, but you should eat it! It will help you grow taller."

Mrs. Lv glared at Mr. Gu, thinking he didn’t even consider her.

The others at the table were indifferent as well, knowing the egg wouldn’t be for them anyway.

Gu Chengyu was thinking to give the egg to his mom if his dad truly didn’t want it. Just as he was about to speak, a small child’s sharp cry drew attention. Although the sound wasn’t loud, it was particularly noticeable in the silence of the dining table.

Gu Chengyu glanced in the direction of the cry and saw it was his sister-in-law’s young daughter, Gu Xing. Mrs. Fang quickly covered Gu Xing’s mouth after hearing the cry.

Gu Xing was almost eleven months old now and had been kept inside the eastern wing, barely seen. Mrs. Fang had run out of milk long ago due to poor diet and overwork after giving birth, leaving Gu Xing to live on thin porridge since she was six months old.

His mom kept a close watch on him, so he could only sneak into the eastern wing occasionally to secretly make some formula for her, doing so only when Da Ya and the others were busy, and in total only three times, the last time being when she was over nine months old.

By eleven months, a baby should be able to eat eggs, right? Gu Chengyu got down from the kang bed with the egg and headed to the other table.

"Sister-in-law, give the egg to my niece. Let her grow tall." Gu Chengyu looked at the little one in Mrs. Fang’s arms, and upon closer inspection, he was shocked.

Her frame could easily be compared to a bean sprout, a small body with a disproportionately large head, a face so gaunt the eyes seemed overly large, her body so emaciated, and her hands holding the bun resembled chicken claws—utterly different from the plump little hands of other babies he had seen.

How did she get so thin? She could rival the orphans from two years into the post-apocalyptic era who lost their families and were without sufficient food or clothing. It’s said that Gu Xing was small and weak at birth, confined inside by Mrs. Fang and receiving little attention from anyone.

"This... is not right, you should eat it. She only eats porridge, who knows if she’ll eat it or not. You eat it, you eat it." Mrs. Fang hugged Gu Xing defensively and moved back, looking flustered. Da Ya nearly got beaten over just a piece of an egg; how would she dare let her young daughter eat an egg? If she did, would her mother-in-law spare her?

Across the table, Da Ya glanced expressionlessly before lowering her head again to sip her porridge.

"Little Uncle, if your sister-in-law doesn’t want it, give it to me! The second and third sons haven’t tasted an egg in so long. Let them have a taste and they’ll remember how good you are!" He only thought of the saliva pooling in his mouth, recalling that her sons hadn’t had an egg for nearly ten days. Last night, the third son had even begged her to secretly buy some.

Gu Chengyu ignored He and knew talking to Mrs. Fang was futile; she was surely too afraid to accept it. He picked up the egg and cracked it on the table, peeling the shell. As the white, soft egg emerged from the red shell, Gu Xing stared curiously at the egg in Gu Chengyu’s hand from Mrs. Fang’s arms.

Gu Chengyu smiled slightly at her, which made her shrink back again.

"Xiao Bao, what are you doing? Hurry up and eat! Not everyone gets to eat an egg." Mrs. Lv glanced at Mrs. Fang sideways, indicating she better understand.

Gu Chengyu said nothing, broke the egg in half, quickly placing one half into Mrs. Fang’s bowl, while the other half went in front of the eagerly watching Gu Mei.

Everyone was stunned. Although the Gu Family didn’t mistreat girls, they were not particularly pampered either. Compared to most village families, the Gu girls had it better, receiving food and drink and helping with chores as expected, though precious foods never came their way. Gu Wan was the exception, of course.

"Give it to my niece, she’s the youngest, and Sanya has to play with me tomorrow." He usually didn’t care for Gu Mei, and the little girl had little presence in the Gu Family, but generally, she followed Da Ya.

After speaking, Gu Chengyu stood to the side watching. Though Gu Mei was shy, she couldn’t resist the allure of the egg, using her chopsticks to delicately eat it, her eyes narrowing in happiness. The last egg she ate was given by Little Uncle too! It’s always with Little Uncle that she gets to eat eggs.

Seeing Gu Mei eat, Mrs. Fang no longer hesitated, breaking the egg into small pieces to feed Gu Xing.

Seeing them eat, Gu Chengyu returned to the main table, confident no one could take it from their stomachs now, especially He, whose eyes were nearly ablaze staring at Gu Mei and Gu Xing.

He had just sat down when Gu Wan threw her chopsticks on the table, declaring, "I’m full!" and angrily retreated to the inner room. Once inside, she lay on the bed, feeling unjustly treated. The eggs didn’t include her, clearly showing favoritism. Xiao Bao preferred to give it to his elder brother’s daughter rather than to her. Isn’t she closer to Xiao Bao?

Gu Chengyu frowned as he watched the inner room. Gu Wan usually never lacked eggs, but such a selfish attitude was concerning. People can’t always be centered on themselves, and being so means facing bigger setbacks eventually. He planned to give her a couple of days to cool off, believing she’d relent when nobody paid her any mind.

Mr. Gu had been pleased to see Gu Chengyu’s care for the younger ones. To think Gu Wan would act so unruly angered him.

"What’s her attitude? Where did she learn this behavior? She’s practically grown up; why don’t you discipline her? You’ve indulged her too much, and now, dares to disrespect elders. Hmph!"

"Why aren’t you doing it? Are you not her father? And you put the blame on me?" Mrs. Lv said, also frowning. This daughter needed some proper guidance.

Gu Chengchi held the egg, "Shall I give it to my sister? My leg’s almost healed."

Meanwhile, Gu Chenglian, not really concerned as he considered himself grown up, saw boiled eggs as something for younger children, so he didn’t think much about it.

"You eat yours, don’t worry about her; it’s all from spoiling her." Mrs. Lv waved her hand impatiently.

"Hurry up and eat; we need to go pick honeysuckle. Eldest and second son, take the baskets and head out once you’re done, and if anyone asks, say you’re going up the mountain to gather more firewood." Mr. Gu was uninterested in these trivial family matters and would rather focus on harvesting the honeysuckle to make money.

"Don’t touch that basketful of grass, leave it for my return." Mr. Gu thought of the treasure inside the basket. With so many people around, it was not the time to reveal it in fear someone might toss it into the pig pen and have it ruined by the pig.

"Why treat that basket of grass so preciously, hiding it in the house?" Mrs. Lv spat at Mr. Gu, finding his behavior hard to understand.

"Just leave it alone if I say so; if anyone touches it, I’ll take it up with them." Mr. Gu said while winking at Mrs. Lv.

Mrs. Lv was initially furious, ready to scold, but upon seeing Mr. Gu’s signal, she quickly understood and scanned around to ensure no one noticed anything strange.

"If you say so, then fine! Old fool."