Chapter 4

Chapter 4

That night, we slept uneasily, but we were warm.

Curled up under my own quilt, I whispered, “Ma, it’s so warm.”

I had never been this warm in winter before.

And after eating dinner that night, my belly was warm too.

It felt as if this was what being alive was supposed to be like.

Ma stroked my head. “Nannan, you called him Father today. Call him that tomorrow too. From now on, always call him that.”

I nodded. “Mm.”

Hunter Zhang treated me much better than my real father ever had.

After that, Ma slowly started making more food.

She didn’t dare cook too much all at once. She increased it little by little.

Only after several days did she finally get a feel for Hunter Zhang’s temper and appetite.

He ate a lot-about as much as Ma and I put together.

But he never stopped us from eating.

If we ate too little, he would frown instead.

He would go up the mountain to hunt. When he caught game, he sold the big ones, and once in a while he kept a little chicken or rabbit and had Ma stew it for us.

He only ate half. The other half he left for Ma and me.

In all the years I’d been alive, I had only eaten meat three times. This was the fourth.

Meat was so delicious. No wonder Grandma and Second Uncle liked it so much.

Seeing how happy I was eating, Ma saved a little extra for me.

I was so busy eating that I didn’t notice I had eaten too much. In the middle of the night, my stomach started hurting.

I rolled around on the bed in pain. Ma rubbed my belly, but it didn’t help, so she ran out and scraped some soot from the bottom of the pot to mix with water for me to drink.

But after one sip, I threw it all up. My stomach hurt so badly it felt like I was going to die.

Hunter Zhang charged into the room. Seeing me like that, he wrapped me in a cotton quilt, hoisted me up, and ran.

Ma stumbled after him, not daring to say a word.

He carried me all the way to the head of the village and kicked open the doctor’s door.

The village doctor and his whole family were startled by him. They started grumbling, but once they saw his face, none of them dared speak.

The doctor took my pulse, then asked what I had eaten over the past few days.

“She ate too much. Food stagnation. Zhaodi usually eats poorly, and suddenly eating this much meat upset her digestion. It’s nothing serious. I’ll prescribe something to make her vomit it out. When you go back, keep her belly warm with hot water. Have her eat light food these next few days, and she’ll be fine after a while.”

He mixed up something-I didn’t know what-and poured it into my mouth. I vomited with a loud retching sound.

The whole room filled with a foul stench.

The doctor’s wife muttered off to the side, “That’s what happens when you’ve never had anything good. No blessing for it. Can’t enjoy a good life even when you get one.”

Hunter Zhang looked up and shot her a vicious glare, frightening her so badly she shrank back into the inner room.

I felt ashamed too.

I had eaten so much meat that I made myself sick. Sure enough, just like Grandma said, I was a starving ghost reincarnated, completely useless.

Hunter Zhang carried me back again. On the road, he asked in a muffled voice, “Never eaten meat before?”

I thought he was questioning me, so I answered softly, “This was the fourth time. Before, I only had one or two pieces.”

At home, they wouldn’t even give Ma and me meat broth. I really had never eaten anything good.

He gave a low grunt. “You’ll be fine once you eat more of it in the future.”

I was wrapped up tight inside the quilt and didn’t hear him clearly.