Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 38

Chapter 38

When they woke up, frost covered the treetops, a sign that winter was approaching. Ye Xi checked the lunar calendar and saw that the Autumn Equinox had passed yesterday, which meant Cold Dew was not far off. Winter arrived earlier in the mountains than elsewhere.

Ye Xi went to the kitchen, mixed some wheat bran, and went to the chicken coop to feed the chickens and ducks. In just half a month, they had grown considerably, shedding their yellow downy feathers and starting to show their gender characteristics. Ye Xi counted them with his finger and returned from the backyard, closing the gate.

As he walked under the eaves, he suddenly heard a soft deer call. He turned to see that it was the fawn Lin Jiangshan brought back. It had eaten most of the pumpkin on the ground.

Ye Xi said happily, “You’re finally eating?”

The fawn called softly again and stood up docilely. When Ye Xi reached out to pet it, it even nudged its head against his hand.

“Alright, I said last time, if you start eating and survive, I’ll keep you. From now on, you can stay in the courtyard,” Ye Xi said, petting it with a smile.

Lin Jiangshan had shot the fawn with a slingshot, and it had fallen into a trap, breaking its hind leg. Even if they released it back into the forest, it would probably be caught by other animals, so seeing its intelligence, Ye Xi decided to keep it as a pet, like a cat or a dog.

When Lin Jiangshan got up, Ye Xi told him about it. Lin Jiangshan went back to the house, found the Sanqi Ye Xi gave him before, and sat under the eaves, grinding it into powder with a mortar and pestle, mixing it with some healing herbs.

“Keep it if you want, it seems to have a connection with you. Deer in these mountains are stubborn, the ones I hunted before would rather starve to death than eat anything. This one is gentle, and since we’re not selling it, we have to treat its leg. Apply the medicine for about ten days, and it should heal, but it won’t be as agile as before.”

Ye Xi had never kept any animal other than poultry. They hadn’t even had a dog before. He had always wanted a pet, but back then, with the heavy burden of providing food for the family and the high taxes, they could barely feed themselves, let alone a dog. Now, he was actually keeping a deer. The thought made him happy.

Lin Jiangshan applied the herbal medicine to the deer’s hind leg and wrapped it with some cloth. Perhaps sensing that they wouldn’t harm it, the fawn became docile, curling up in the basket.

After breakfast, Lin Jiangshan prepared a basket, taking advantage of the cool morning before the sun rose. “I’ve planted the winter wheat, I’m planning to go to the riverbank today to collect some stones. The reservoir is dug, but it’s not lined with stones yet. If we fill it with water, it will be muddy.”

Ye Xi went back to the kitchen, took a basket, and said, “Then I’ll go with you. The shepherd’s purse and water dropwort by the riverbank are growing well. I’ll dig some up, dry them, and save them for winter. Winter is almost here.”

Lin Jiangshan picked up the basket, and Ye Xi followed him, locking the door. They walked on the mountain path.

The grass by the roadside had withered and turned yellow, and fallen leaves drifted down from the trees, covering the ground in a thick layer. The once lush forest looked desolate.

Ye Xi held Lin Jiangshan’s hand, walking slowly, the crunching sound of dry leaves under their feet. “We probably won’t be able to find pigweed when winter arrives. The two piglets are growing, we need to mix grass into their food so they can grow quickly. We have to collect a few baskets of grass by the river before it withers.”

Lin Jiangshan nodded, always efficient and decisive. “I’ll go cut grass tomorrow, it won’t be delayed.”

Having a capable husband made Ye Xi feel at ease. He only needed to take care of the household and the livestock, leaving the physically demanding tasks and dealing with outsiders to his husband.

They arrived at the riverbank, where pebbles of various shapes were piled up, polished smooth by the river, looking beautiful.

Lin Jiangshan took the basket and squatted down to collect them. Ye Xi rolled up his pants and joined him, picking up the smooth and round pebbles. The reservoir they built at home would look beautiful lined with these pebbles!

The autumn sun wasn’t harsh, and they worked with their backs to the sun, collecting two baskets of beautiful pebbles in the morning.

Lin Jiangshan looked at the ripples in the river. “There are a lot of fish in this river, the ripples are getting bigger and bigger. We might be able to catch a few if we cast a net.”

Ye Xi knew he was skilled at fishing and asked, “Did you bring a fishing net?”

Lin Jiangshan said, “I’ll go back home and get it, you wait here.” He didn’t want his husband to walk back and forth unnecessarily.

Ye Xi said, “Alright, I’ll go dig some shepherd’s purse nearby.”

Perhaps due to the abundant water and moist soil by the river, the shepherd’s purse and water dropwort here were more tender and crisp than elsewhere. Seeing him go back to get the fishing net, Ye Xi took a basket and a bamboo shovel and squatted down by the riverbank to dig wild vegetables.

Shepherd’s purse could be dried and stored, and in winter, they could soak them and use them as filling for steamed buns. Water dropwort was best pickled, becoming sour and crunchy, perfect for stir-frying with minced meat, as a topping for noodles, or as a side dish for porridge. Although they had pickled cucumbers and radishes at home, they weren’t as unique and flavorful as the wild ones.

He dug for a while with his head lowered when Li-ge’er, returning from the fields, happened to pass by. Seeing Ye Xi diligently digging, he quietly approached from behind and gently tapped Ye Xi’s shoulder.

Ye Xi was startled, but seeing it was Li-ge’er, he relaxed.

“Digging wild vegetables?” Li-ge’er asked with a smile.

Ye Xi stood up, stretching his stiff knees. “Yes, it’s late autumn, we have to think about food for winter.”

Li-ge’er said, “I heard the elderly in the village say that it will be very cold this year. They said the weather is unusual this year, summer ended late, and autumn turned cold early. It might freeze people to death this winter.”

Ye Xi said, “Then I have to stock up even more. Four months of winter are hard to endure, people have starved or frozen to death in the past.”

“Winter is the hardest time of the year. The snow piles up higher than a person, and there’s nothing alive in the fields or forest, not even anything to eat. My mother has also been drying vegetables these days, and we have a dozen or twenty pumpkins stored in the cellar, in case the snow blocks the road to town.”

They chatted for a while, and Li-ge’er also squatted down to dig wild vegetables with him. After a while, Lin Jiangshan returned with a fishing net.

He greeted Li-ge’er and went to the river to cast the net.

He cast the net beautifully, creating a perfect circle, then lowered it into the river, a sight that mesmerized Li-ge’er.

“Xi-ge’er, your husband is so skilled!”

Ye Xi smiled. “Didn’t you secretly watch him before?”

When Lin Jiangshan first moved here, Li-ge’er had secretly watched him fishing from behind the reeds while washing clothes in the morning and excitedly told Ye Xi about it when he returned.

Embarrassed by the memory, Li-ge’er blushed. “How would I know he would become your husband later? Stop teasing me! Your husband is skilled, he’ll definitely catch some fish, sell me a couple later!”

The fish in autumn were plump, their scales slightly yellow, and their meat tender and delicate, so the price of fish would increase by a few wen in autumn.

Ye Xi smiled and replied, “Alright, if he catches any fish and has extra, I’ll give you some.”

Li-ge’er sat by the riverbank, waiting for Lin Jiangshan to pull up the net. Lin Jiangshan wasn’t using an ordinary fishing net, but a large, fine-meshed ground net, baited with earthworms or offal. He cast the net into the river and used a pole to stir the riverbed nearby, driving the fish towards the net. Once the fish entered the net, they couldn’t escape. No one in Shanxiu Village had this fishing skill.

By the time Ye Xi and Li-ge’er had filled their basket with wild vegetables, Lin Jiangshan was ready to pull up the net. The fishing net slowly emerged from the shimmering river surface.

This was a strenuous task. The fishing net was already heavy, and now, soaked in water, it was even heavier. Even strong men would have difficulty pulling it up.

Lin Jiangshan could feel something large struggling and thrashing in the net. He pulled hard on the net and shouted to Ye Xi, “Husband, go home and ask Brother and Father to come and help me.”

Ye Xi knew that his husband must have caught something big, so he quickly put down the basket and ran back to the village. Li-ge’er helped by bringing two large stones to weigh down the net on the riverbank, so it wouldn’t be pulled away.

Ye Shan and Father Ye, hearing the news, hurried over from home. Liu Xiufeng and Ye Xi brought their largest wooden basin to hold the fish.

The three men rolled up their pants and pulled the net in the river for a long time before finally dragging it out.

They were startled by what they saw. The net contained at least twenty or thirty autumn ricefish, all plump and fat, their bellies and scales golden yellow, authentic local fish, very delicious.

Ye Shan was stunned and admired his brother-in-law. “Your skills are truly amazing, I’ve never seen so many fish!”

Lin Jiangshan smiled. “It’s not that I’m skilled, I just got lucky today. I saw that the water upstream was shallower, probably because a village upstream opened the irrigation channels and diverted the water for their fields. The water downstream decreased, and with the sun shining, the fish lacked oxygen and gathered together, gasping for air. I just tried my luck and cast the net.”

But this also showed his keen observation skills and unique fishing technique.

Liu Xiufeng was also stunned, looking at the net full of live, jumping fish. “Even if we had ten mouths, we couldn’t finish all these fish. It would be a waste if they died overnight.”

Ye Xi thought for a moment. Li-ge’er wanted to buy fish, and there must be others in the village who wanted some too. He picked two fish and handed them to Li-ge’er. “These two are for you, Li-ge’er. Please do me a favor and ask around the village if anyone wants to buy fish. Not expensive, just five wen per catty.”

Li-ge’er felt a bit embarrassed to accept such good fish from Ye Xi, but Ye Xi wouldn’t accept any money. “I’m taking advantage of you. Alright, I’ll take these two fish and ask around the village if anyone wants to buy them.”

After he left, the Ye family poured the fish from the net into the wooden basin, filling it to the brim. Some could only be kept in the fishing net, submerged in the water for now. Liu Xiufeng hurried home to get a scale.