Farming to Defy My Fate 45

Chapter 45: Laba Festival

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the dry, cold wind scraped painfully against one’s cheeks. A thin layer of ice had formed on the paddy fields. When Zhao An went out, he saw some mischievous children scooping up the ice to throw and play with.

Their fingers and cheeks were red with cold, but the smiles on their faces were so pure and innocent. Upon seeing Zhao An, they immediately dropped the ice in their hands and ran in a flurry towards the classroom, afraid of being late and not getting a good seat.

This was also because life in Zhaojia Village had improved recently, giving the children the capital to be mischievous. In previous years, a family would only have two sets of cotton-padded jackets, and the whole family, old and young, would have to take turns wearing them to go to the latrine. The rest of the time, they would be huddled in bed, eating only one meal a day to save grain. Let alone playing, even getting up to go to the latrine felt tiring.

After the children had fled, the villagers participating in the training ran past from a distance, exhaling white mist. The team leader had already become Zhang Wei. After he returned from Qianzhou for the second time, he had begged Zhao An to let him stay in the village in the name of protecting him, saying that the food on the mountain was not good and he didn’t want to go back.

Zhao An let him stay and had him train the villagers in his place. He didn’t feel tired and led the group in training every day with a sense of duty. It was just that he ate a bit much, finishing at least three large bowls of food at every meal.

Zhao An, wearing his sleeves, finally walked to the classroom. He had lit coal stoves in the four corners of the classroom, but he could still feel the wind blowing in from the half-wall. He could only pat his cheeks to wake himself up and wrote the two-hundred-word short essay he had temporarily composed on the blackboard. It was mainly about the Laba Festival, the types of miscellaneous grains that could be used to cook Laba congee, and some common dialogues.

Because the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was in two days, everyone who came to listen, big or small, listened with great interest. Even the women sitting at the back of the classroom, who were roasting by the fire and mending shoe soles while listening in, also perked up.

They looked at each other, all thinking of going home immediately to prepare the ingredients, feeling that the Laba congee their mothers would cook would surely be the best.

So when Zhao An had them write longan, lotus seed, gorgon fruit, coix seed, red bean, green bean… everyone showed unprecedented enthusiasm and seriousness. Because they all wanted to remember these names to buy them in the city tomorrow. Some of the more impatient ones might even go to the city this afternoon.

The response to today’s class was very enthusiastic, but when Zhao An returned to his own home, it was still deserted.

Hu Sheng had been gone for more than twenty days. He had already fired a kiln of glass. Due to impurities, the color of the first finished products was a lake-green like old-fashioned glass, with some obvious bubbles and gray spots.

Zhao An himself was not very satisfied after seeing it, but the kiln workers who participated in the firing were very happy and had even made some innovations. Because they didn’t know how to blow glassware, they used the casting method, first making molds with ceramics, then pouring in the glass liquid. After it cooled, they would polish and decorate it to a certain extent. The bottles and jars they made in the end actually had a certain rustic beauty.

Zhao An had someone seal up these glassware. Since he had not yet opened up the upper-class trading channels of the Xu Kingdom, he did not plan to sell them. He would wait until Hu Sheng’s side had stabilized, then transport them to the Nanyue Kingdom to sell, or transfer them from there and sell them back to the Xu Kingdom.

Just as Zhao An was casually flipping through a travelogue, his mind racing, he suddenly heard Zhang Wei shout from downstairs, “Young Master Zhao, a letter has come from the General.”

At this, he directly dropped the book in his hand and ran downstairs, only to see Zhang Wei holding a small wooden box. Zhang Wei chuckled and handed the box to Zhao An. “Why did you come out without an outer garment, sir? You should go back and read it slowly.”

However, Zhao An completely ignored his teasing, only said “Thank you,” and ran back with the box.

Opening the box, the top layer was filled with a jumble of small things: dried flowers, a piece of amber with a small insect inside, a round golden pearl, and a small wooden carving that looked somewhat similar to Hu Sheng.

He preciously picked up these small things and then went to read the letters underneath. As expected, he saw that Hu Sheng had been writing to him continuously along the way, telling him about what he had seen and encountered on the road, and wanting to send him some interesting and beautiful things he had found. Later, because he missed Zhao An too much, he had started to carve a small statue of Zhao An with a small knife. It wasn’t until Hu Sheng had temporarily settled down in the Nanyue Kingdom that he remembered that Zhao An must also be missing him very much, so he had carved his own statue and sent it back with the letters he had accumulated along the way.

Some of these letters might have been written on horseback along the way, and the handwriting was very messy, but Zhao An imprinted them in his heart, word by word. He only finished reading and repacked the box in the middle of the night. Then he paced around the room and finally placed it at the very bottom of his wardrobe, treasuring it.

From the next day on, Zhao An swept away his gloomy mood and became cheerful again. At least he could be sure that Hu Sheng was safe in the Nanyue Kingdom. After the greedy border commander had died, the surrounding local chieftains would occasionally attack their camp, but they were all driven away.

For the royal family of the Nanyue Kingdom, the enemies that the border commander had to face were actually the surrounding unruly local chieftains, not the powerful, behemoth-like Xu Kingdom next door. After all, the Nanyue Kingdom was just a subordinate state that had submitted to the Xu Kingdom. How could it be afraid of an invasion from its suzerain state?

Hu Sheng told Zhao An that they had initially gained the trust of the King of Nanyue. He also had preliminary trust in Ma Chuan’s ability and promised to rush back before the New Year.

Since he had received such a promise, Zhao An still decided to properly handle the procedures for the New Year. For example, they had to drink Laba congee on the Laba Festival, so he planned to go to the city today.

Perhaps because it was approaching the New Year, the streets of Changxi County were much livelier. It was almost impossible to see the tragic situation of this year’s natural disaster, where many families couldn’t afford to eat and had to sell their sons and daughters.

Zhao An might have also been infected by the lively atmosphere. By the time he came to his senses, the mule cart was already piled high with a whole cart of New Year’s goods. Most of them were various kinds of food transported from other places, and he had also bought new clothes for Hai Bo and Qin Tong.

Speaking of the food of the Xu Kingdom, the variety was indeed very rich. He could even buy steamed sponge cake with dried strawberries baked inside at a pastry shop. The sweet and sour taste was enough to make one’s mouth water just by smelling it. But the price was still not cheap. A small piece of strawberry dried sponge cake cost ten wen, and a jin of twelve cost a string of cash.

In this way, most of the children who smelled the aroma could only watch Zhao An eat with longing eyes. Even if a child threw a tantrum and cried, the most their parents would do was grit their teeth and buy them a one-wen sugar biscuit to sweeten their mouths.

Some parents were reluctant to spend money, or were simply too short on cash. They could only grab their child’s bottom and give it a couple of slaps, then drag them away.

Zhao An watched this scene while eating his sponge cake. It was lively and vivid, at least more pleasant than the scene of selling children he had seen when he came to the county town some time ago.

Just then, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the building across the street. “Why is Young Master Zhao in such a good mood today?”

Zhao An looked up and saw Feng Shaoping, dressed in a black sable cloak. He didn’t feel embarrassed that his act of laughing at the children had been seen by others. He waved at him cheerfully. “Young Master Feng is also very idle today.”

Wearing sable, which was rarely seen in the south, and sitting in a teahouse open on all four sides to enjoy the scenery. In the cold twelfth lunar month, if one wasn’t idle to a certain degree, they certainly wouldn’t do such a thing.

Feng Shaoping clearly also heard the teasing in Zhao An’s voice. He looked at the little girl next to him who wasn’t even as tall as the window, then grabbed one of her hands and waved it at Zhao An. “The road construction has come to a close recently. I really have nothing to do, so I brought my daughter out for a walk.”

The little girl was wrapped tightly in a red cloak, looking just like a little red envelope. After being picked up by her father, she was stunned for a moment, then shyly turned her face away and buried it in her father’s chest.

Only then did Zhao An suddenly remember that Feng Shaoping was already married and had a daughter, but his wife had passed away.

But he had previously seen that Feng Shaoping was only in his early twenties, and the fact that he was already a father had never felt real to him, until he saw his daughter today.

So, the flamboyant and showy personality that Feng Shaoping had always displayed was not because he was too young at all; it was simply his unchangeable nature.

Zhao An complained in his heart, but on the surface, he still appeared very polite. “Tomorrow is the Laba Festival. Why don’t you bring your little niece to Zhaojia Village for a bowl of Laba congee, Young Master Feng?”

This was purely a polite gesture, but unexpectedly, Feng Shaoping nodded. “Alright, alright.”

The smile on Zhao An’s face stiffened a little, but it quickly returned to normal. Anyway, he planned to cook a large pot of congee to share with everyone who worked for him. It wouldn’t be a big problem to share some with Feng Shaoping.

As a result, on the day of the Laba Festival, Zhao An prepared a full twenty kinds of miscellaneous grains and nuts and cooked two large pots of Laba congee to share with the workers at the kiln.

After everyone had finished the thick congee, the first comment was, “It’s sweet. It’s delicious.”

Zhao An was not unhappy because they didn’t know how to appreciate it. Instead, he was in a good mood because of the smiles on their faces, until Feng Shaoping arrived late.

He not only brought his daughter but also a lot of wine and dishes. He got drunk directly at Zhao An’s house, hugging his daughter and wailing, “Don’t I already have Little Ping? Why do I have to get married and have children again?”

Zhao An frowned at the sight, afraid that he would hurt the child. He quickly took the child out, then had Qin Tong and Zhang Wei carry the drunkard to the guest room.

Then there was the little girl left. Hai Bo brought her hot water to wash her face. Zhao An took her to the guest room and said apologetically, “You’ll have to sleep alone tonight. Will you be scared?”

But the child was much more cheerful than when they had met yesterday. She shook her head. “I’ve always slept alone before. I’m not scared.”

Zhao An patted her on the head. “Alright then. You go to sleep.”