"I know, Sister Manman. It was our own decision," Lian Yeye said, "I don't want to have dealings with Taicang either. My mother is terrified of them. The county town has never looked up to our family, and now that we don't go there, there's nothing they can say. We don't have any wealth on us anyway."
Lian Manman laughed. Lian Yeye was a child with a clear mind, and that was a good thing.
And so, the next day, when Wu Lang and Xiao Qi went to school, they took everything to the town and sent it off to Taicang.
...
During the twelfth lunar month, when breath turns to ice, it was time once again to slaughter the New Year pig.
Lian Manman's family had raised three pigs of their own, as well as three purchased from the Upper Room, all of which had grown fat and strong. The family had already agreed to slaughter one pig, not to sell any of it, but to keep it for their own consumption and for giving gifts.
