Xiaoguo took down three lengths of intestines from the clothes line. It was better not to make everything into Chinese sausages. She would boil half of the sausages and keep them in the fridge. They could be brought out later on when she intends to eat them.

Xiaoguo turned around and took the sausages back to the kitchen. Zhuang Zhuang was putting back the stool that he had been using. He was about to go out and watch Xiaoguo hang the sausages.

“Mother, why did you bring these in?”

Zhuang Zhuang looked curious. Xiaoguo explained to him, “Mother will boil these sausages. I left some to air dry outside. I am splitting them into two portions.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded to indicate that he understood.

“Come, Zhuang Zhuang, light the fire!”

Xiaoguo put the intestines into a pot and added water. She told Zhuang Zhuang to reduce the firewood and keep the fire low.

Zhuang Zhuang took out more than half of the bundle of firewood that he had just put in. “Mother, why are you using a small fire?”

“That’s because we can’t let the water boil. Once it boils, the intestines will break and the meat stuffing will leak out.”

Xiaoguo explained to Zhuang Zhuang. She held a pair of chopsticks in her hand and stirred the contents in the pot. This was to prevent the sausages from sticking to the pot. “You have to cook it over low heat. They should be done in an hour’s time.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded. After lighting the fire, Xiaoguo sat in front of the stove with Zhuang Zhuang.

She felt that it was better to keep an eye on things. They were not using an electric cooker, so the fire and temperature were not easy to control. If she stood guard here, she could keep an eye on the fire. If the fire got too hot, the sausage casing could split and she would end up with a pot of meat porridge. If the fire was too weak, the sausages would not be cooked.

Both of them were just sitting there and chatting when a swallow suddenly landed on the roof. Zhuang Zhuang suddenly thought of something.

“Mother, let me sing you a song that Brother Xiaohu taught me!”

Hearing this, Xiaoguo was thrilled. “Go on and sing!”

Xiaoguo smiled happily. She was looking forward to it. It was wonderful that she could hear Zhuang Zhuang sing.

“Ahem.”

Zhuang Zhuang cleared his throat. “Little swallow, chirp chirp chirp, singing to the house owner, I won’t eat your grains or your corn, I’ll have a nest of babies under your eaves.”

“How is it, Mother?” Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo expectantly, waiting to hear her praises.

“Yes?”

Xiaoguo pursed her lips and rubbed her frozen face. How was she going to answer that?

She had clearly heard Xiaohu singing this nursery rhyme before, but something was not quite right.

As soon as Zhuang Zhuang opened his mouth, Xiaoguo was so shocked that her jaw dropped. “How did he manage to sing so out of tune?”

“Mother?” Zhuang Zhuang urged Xiaoguo.

“Your interpretation of the song is quite original and innovative!”

“I think you did well, but maybe don’t sing it the next time.”

Xiaoguo did not finish her sentence. For the sake of his self-esteem and confidence, she could not say that his singing was bad!

Just a pink outfit was enough to make him ignore her. If she were to laugh at his singing now, she cannot imagine the consequences.

For the sake of their mother-son relationship, Xiaoguo decided to act like a fan. Since her son was so cute, being out of pitch was not a big deal!

Hearing Xiaoguo’s praise, Zhuang Zhuang was so happy that he wanted to sing another song for her.

“Mother, let me sing another song!”

Zhuang Zhuang was about to stand up and sing. Xiaoguo could sense that he was about to use his ultimate move. For the sake of motherly love and filial piety, she decided to interrupt him.

“Sigh, Zhuang Zhuang, the fire is going out.”

Xiaoguo did not even look at Zhuang Zhuang, who was posing at the side. She quickly got up and squatted down with her back facing him. She started adding firewood to the fire.

As Xiaoguo added more firewood, she was glad that the fire had gone out. Otherwise, there would be no reason to interrupt Zhuang Zhuang.

After Zhuang Zhuang got distracted by Xiaoguo, he forgot about singing the song.

Seeing that he wasn’t talking about singing anymore, Xiaoguo heaved a sigh of relief. If she had to go through it again, she could not guarantee that she could hold back.

After adding the firewood, Xiaoguo brought Zhuang Zhuang with her and opened the lid of the pot to look at how the sausages were doing.

As soon as she lifted the lid, a blast of hot air hit her in the face. Xiaoguo’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh no! Don’t tell me the water is boiling!”

When the fog cleared, she could see the contents in the pot. Everything looked very good. The water was almost boiling, but it wasn’t bubbling. It was perfect.

Xiaoguo picked up the chopsticks again and sifted through the intestines. After turning each intestine over, Xiaoguo put down the chopsticks and removed the pot lid. It would be fine if she could maintain the water at this state. Xiaoguo was afraid that the water would boil if the heat was increased.

Fortunately, when the sausages were done, Zhuang Zhuang did not mention anything about singing for Xiaoguo.

Zhuang Zhuang was still so cute and handsome, if he were to just speak quietly!

During lunch, Xiaoguo pan-fried some sausages—three that were non-spicy and one that was spicy. She kept the remainder in the fridge from the other space.

Although Zhuang Zhuang was very sensitive, it was fortunate that he wasn’t so when he was in the kitchen. He never asked Xiaoguo where she kept the food. Hence, Xiaoguo wasn’t worried about storing the sausages in the other space.

As Zhuang Zhuang was still too young to eat spicy food, Xiaoguo ate the spicy sausage while Zhuang Zhuang ate the three non-spicy ones.

During this time, Zhuang Zhuang was very curious about how spicy the sausage was. Even though he could smell the chili, and sneezed from the smell, he was still curious. It was just like us wanting to see a celebrity in the flesh.

In order to satisfy his curiosity, Xiaoguo broke off a fingernail-sized piece for him to try.

Zhuang Zhuang smacked his lips and ate it curiously. As soon as it entered his stomach, the taste hit him. He stuck out his tongue and drank a few mouthfuls of porridge to wash away the spiciness.

Until now, he had never mentioned anything about wanting to eat spicy food.

After a few days, Xiaoguo got up in the morning and thought about how the sausages had been drying outside for more than a week. She had not paid much attention to them during this period of time. She wondered how they were doing.

With that in mind, she headed to the spot where they were hanging.

Compared to when they were first made, the color had turned much darker, and the surface had become dry.

Everything looked pretty good. Xiaoguo raised her hand and pinched them. The insides were still a little soft. She would leave them to dry for a few more days. The sausages were still not ready.

Xiaoguo had planned to cook claypot rice for Zhuang Zhuang for lunch if the sausages were ready. It seemed that she would have to wait a few more days.

At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang ran out and kept asking Xiaoguo how the sausages had turned out.

He was still thinking about what Xiaoguo had said about claypot rice.

Actually, when Zhuang Zhuang heard the name, he was shocked! What? Claypot rice? Claypot?!¹.

Was he going to be cooked?

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo with a pitiful look on his face. At first, Xiaoguo did not understand what was going on. But when she found out the reason, she laughed so hard that she could barely get up.

“What was this silly child thinking? Hahahaha!”

Under Zhuang Zhuang’s resentful gaze, Xiaoguo forced herself to stop laughing and explained to him what claypot rice was.

When Zhuang Zhuang heard her explanation, he was enlightened. So that was the case. No one was going to cook any children.

Xiaoguo suddenly had a mischievous thought. Her expression changed and she said in a low and spooky voice, “I don’t know… if… Zhuang… Zhuang’s… meat… is… yummy… Ah…”

Zhuang Zhuang couldn’t help but shiver when he heard Xiaoguo’s tone. But he realized that she was teasing him, so he imitated her tone and spoke,

“Zhuang Zhuang’s meat doesn’t taste good… my mother’s meat is delicious…”

Xiaoguo almost slapped his butt when she heard that. How did he manage to drag her into this? She snorted and continued asking, “Why?”

“Because I’m a girl… A girl is tender…”

‘Hey! This kid!’

Xiaoguo was both amused and angry. Where did he learn about girls being tender?

When Xiaoguo asked him, Zhuang Zhuang was very honest. He turned around and told her about Xiaohu. He said that Brother Xiaohu told him that the skin of young girls was tender.

Xiaoguo put her hand to her forehead helplessly. Although Xiaohu was a few years older than Zhuang Zhuang, he was just a five-year-old child. How did he know that little girls’ skin was tender?

No matter how precocious ancient children were, this is not something they should know at such a young age…