The next day, Yu Li returned after delivering goods. As soon as she arrived at the butcher shop, she saw Yu Jin standing not far from it.
Yu Jin was dressed in coarse cloth attire, her clothes dull and gray—a typical outfit of a rural family. The clothes bore numerous patches and stitches, evidence of frequent mending.
She stood there somewhat uneasily, staring at the butcher shop, hesitating to go inside. No matter how clever she usually was, she was still just a fourteen-year-old village girl. Having never seen much of the world, it was her first time visiting the county town, and naturally, she felt a bit timid.
Yu Li walked over and called out, “Ah Jin.”
Yu Jin turned her head in surprise and joy. When she saw Yu Li, she instinctively moved closer, grabbed her sleeve, and called out, “Elder Sister.”
Yu Li patted her on the head, as if comforting her, reassuring her not to be afraid.
She asked, “Why didn’t you go inside?”
Yesterday, she had arranged with Yu Jin that once she arrived in the county town, she should come to the butcher shop to wait for her. She had also given her the shop’s address. Before heading out to deliver goods, she had specially instructed Zhang Yaoping to help guide her younger sister into the shop to wait for her.
Since it was Yu Jin’s first time in the county town, she would undoubtedly be nervous, so having her wait at the butcher shop seemed like the best option.
“There were too many people…” Yu Jin said, somewhat embarrassed.
It was still early morning, and the butcher shop was bustling with customers buying meat.
However, that wasn’t the main reason. The real issue was that her elder sister wasn’t inside, and she felt too shy to bother strangers.
Yu Li didn’t say much, simply leading her toward the shop.
She asked the people crowded around the shop to make way and brought Yu Jin inside.
Someone looked puzzled and said to Zhang Yaoping, “Xiao Zhang, has your butcher shop hired another girl? What happened to the one who was here before?”
He remembered that the previous girl was literate.
Although she was very thin and looked quite disheveled, she was neat and clean. After looking at her for a while, she didn’t seem so unattractive.
But the two girls who had just gone inside were definitely not the same one.
Those two girls were clearly sisters; their facial features were somewhat similar. Especially the one carrying the bamboo basket—she was so stunningly beautiful that it was dazzling. Even though she was dressed plainly and carrying a bamboo basket, she still felt out of place in the surroundings.
Maybe it was because she was too beautiful—so beautiful that she didn’t look like an ordinary woman struggling through life.
Before Zhang Yaoping could say anything, someone nearby chuckled and said, “What are you talking about? They haven’t hired anyone new—it’s still the same girl. Didn’t you recognize her?”
“What?”
Sure enough, the man stared in shock, his eyes wide.
Everyone around burst into laughter, asking him if he hadn’t come to buy meat in a while.
“If you came here regularly, you’d know the butcher shop hasn’t changed its staff.”
“It’s true I haven’t been here for a while. A while back, I took my family to visit relatives in the provincial city and stayed there for over half a month before coming back,” the man replied, still deeply shocked. “How could it be? That girl looks nothing like the one before!”
One was dark and skinny—so skinny that she even looked a bit unattractive.
The other was also thin but not so thin that it made her look ugly. Instead, she had a delicate and fragile beauty. And then there was that face—her features were exquisite, her skin was fair, and she didn’t look like a girl from a poor family struggling to make ends meet.
While it wasn’t unheard of for girls from poor families to be good-looking, they usually endured the sun and wind to make a living, leaving their skin rough and weathered. How could she possibly have such fair skin?
It would be more accurate to say she looked like a girl raised in a wealthy household.
Her demeanor was entirely different from the people around her.
“What’s so strange about it? I heard that the girl fell ill some time ago and didn’t come to the shop for a while. Doctor Xu from Huichun Hall prescribed her some tonics to help her recover. After taking them for over half a month, she ended up looking like this.”
“That’s true. She rested for several days, and when she came back, none of us recognized her.”
“These days, you can see her delivering goods every day. It’s like she changes a little every day. Watching her day by day, it didn’t feel like much, but then all of a sudden, she turned into this.”
“Come to think of it, Doctor Xu’s medical skills must be amazing. I wonder what kind of tonics he gave her to nourish her into looking like this.”
“Hey, maybe I should take my two daughters to Doctor Xu and see if he can prescribe some tonics to make them prettier too.”
“Prescribe tonics? I heard a single dose costs two or three hundred wen. Can you afford it?”
“So expensive? Forget it, forget it. My daughters aren’t ugly anyway. They don’t need it.”
…
The crowd chatted away, and soon the topic shifted to Doctor Xu of Huichun Hall. Before they realized it, the conversation had veered completely off course, and no one paid any further attention to Yu Li’s transformation.
—
Yu Li took her younger sister to the backyard of the butcher shop, poured her a cup of tea, and let her sit and rest.
She set down the bamboo basket, drank several bowls of tea herself, and then rolled up her sleeves to clean the yard.
Every day after slaughtering pigs, the yard had to be cleaned and rinsed with water. Sometimes, if Yu Li returned early, she would help with the cleaning and sharpen the butcher knives.
When Zhang Fu saw this, he offered to give her extra payment for her hard work, saying that labor should be compensated.
Since Yu Li declined, he instead started giving her a piece of meat to take home as a token of appreciation.
Yu Jin couldn’t just sit there watching her elder sister work, so she quickly said, “Elder Sister, let me help you.”
She rolled up her sleeves as well, picked up a broom, and began helping to clean.
Yu Li didn’t refuse, noticing her sister’s unease, so she let her join in.
Both sisters were efficient workers. By the time Zhang Fu, Uncle Luo, and Tu Laoda returned, the courtyard was already spotlessly clean. Even the bloodstains on the ground had been rinsed away with water.
Seeing the young girl working alongside Yu Li, Zhang Fu paused for a moment before remembering that Yu Li had mentioned her younger sister would be coming to the county town to find her today.
He smiled and asked, “Li Niang, is this your younger sister?”
Yu Li nodded in acknowledgment and introduced them. Turning to Yu Jin, she said, “This is Zhang Fu, Brother Zhang. He’s the owner of the butcher shop. Just call him Brother Zhang.”
Yu Jin, feeling a bit nervous, softly called out, “Brother Zhang.”
Zhang Fu responded warmly to the greeting and said, “It’s rare for Li Niang’s younger sister to visit. How about staying for lunch today? I’ll stew a pork knuckle for you two.”
Yu Li’s eyes lit up, and she replied without hesitation, “Sure, thank you, Brother Zhang.”
Yu Jin, not knowing what else to say, decided to follow her elder sister’s lead and also said, “Thank you, Brother Zhang.”
Zhang Fu chuckled and said to Tu Laoda, “Now there are two little sisters calling me ‘Brother.’ I guess I can finally say I have sisters now.”
Tu Laoda didn’t seem very pleased. “What’s there to be smug about? You’re only two years younger than me.”
Zhang Fu grinned cheekily. “Two years younger is still younger, so I’m the brother, and you, Tu Laoda, are the uncle.”
Yu Li, meanwhile, introduced her younger sister to everyone, saying, “This is my younger sister’s first time in the county town. She’s thinking of finding some work here. Later, I’ll take her out for a look around.”
Since Yu Li was well-acquainted with everyone at the butcher shop, she didn’t need to be overly formal with them.
Upon hearing this, everyone kindly asked what kind of work Yu Jin was looking for and if she needed their help.
Yu Jin’s face turned slightly red as she felt a bit embarrassed. She replied softly, “I’d like to take a look around first. I’m not sure yet what to do.”
Seeing how shy the young girl was, everyone was tactful and didn’t tease her. They simply said that if she had any questions, she could feel free to ask them.
Yu Jin gratefully said, “Thank you.”
She could tell that these people were being so warm toward her because of her elder sister. Seeing how well they treated her sister here, she felt reassured.
Noticing that Yu Jin was still holding a cleaning cloth, Zhang Fu said, “Li Niang, it’s your sister’s first time here. How could you let her do chores?” Then he added with a compliment, “You two cleaned the courtyard so well. Looks like we don’t have much to do today. You’re really capable, Li Niang.”
“It’s nothing,” Yu Li replied. “There wasn’t much work anyway.”
She didn’t mind doing some chores. After all, the butcher shop people often took good care of her, giving her plenty of free meat to take home.
After cleaning the courtyard, Yu Li fetched a bucket of water from the well and scrubbed her hands several times with soap beads. Then she went to a room in the backyard to change her clothes.
She was reluctant to wear new clothes for work, so she always wore old ones and changed into fresh clothes afterward.
The butcher shop had several rooms used for storage and rest, and Zhang Fu had even assigned her a room to use for breaks. However, Yu Li rarely rested there.
After changing her clothes, Yu Li took her younger sister and left the butcher shop to explore the county town.
Learning that Yu Jin hadn’t had breakfast yet, Yu Li brought her to a small roadside stall selling steamed buns and wontons. She ordered ten meat buns and five bowls of wontons in one go.
Yu Jin’s eyes widened. “Sister, that’s so much!”
“Can we even finish this? And it’s so expensive. A single meat bun costs three wen, and ten wen for four.”
Still, it was expensive.
“Not much,” Yu Li said calmly, picking up a steaming hot meat bun and handing it to her sister. She then shifted the rest in front of herself. “These are all mine.”
Yu Jin: “…”
As they were eating the buns, the wontons were ready as well.
Five bowls of wontons were brought out, sprinkled with green onions, emitting a delicious aroma.
Yu Li placed one bowl of wontons in front of her sister and shifted the other four bowls to her side. “These are mine.”
Yu Jin: “…”
Yu Jin silently lowered her head to eat the wontons, almost forgetting how big her sister’s appetite was.