Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 42

Chapter 42

Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan returned home under the stars. After a day of hard labor, they were covered in sweat. They washed their hands and faces in the spring water pool in the courtyard.

Smelling the aroma of food, they entered the kitchen. Li Ran brought them each a bowl of rice water to refresh themselves. Ye Shan held his wife’s hand and teased, “You, as my sister-in-law, always come to Xi-ge’er’s house.”

Li Ran glared at him. “I come often because I get along with Xi-ge’er! Besides, I’m bored when you’re not home, so I come here to chat and embroider with Xi-ge’er, it makes the day go by faster.”

Ye Xi smiled. “With Sister-in-law accompanying me, I don’t feel bored anymore. We should go to the market together next time.”

Li Ran readily agreed. “Sure, it’s been a while, the last time I went was before visiting my parents.”

Ye Shan shook his head and laughed. These two were truly like siblings.

Lin Jiangshan helped Ye Xi carry the hot clay pot from the stove, his fingers slightly burned. He deliberately touched Ye Xi’s ear, startling him, who glared and scolded him playfully.

Lin Jiangshan smiled triumphantly, he had missed his husband after being away for the whole day.

The chestnuts and sausages in the clay pot were fragrant. When he lifted the lid, the aroma filled everyone’s noses. The golden-colored rice, mixed with carrots and shredded mushrooms, looked very appetizing.

Ye Xi served Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan large bowls of rice. He and Li Ran had smaller appetites, so they used smaller bowls. He didn’t make any other dishes for dinner, just some pickled mustard green stems with chili oil from the pickle jar. Autumn was almost over, and the mustard greens in the field had been harvested. The tender leaves were dried for stir-frying with meat in winter, and the tougher stems were pickled. Having been pickled for only three or four days, they were sour, crunchy, and refreshing, a perfect side dish for rice.

The men were starving and devoured half a bowl of rice before they could speak.

Ye Shan said, “The food at home is much better. The government provides lunch, but it’s just plain vegetables, potatoes and cabbage stewed together, without any meat, not a single drop of oil in the broth. It makes you crave something flavorful. And in the afternoon, they give you a piece of coarse grain steamed bun, filling but not satisfying.”

Li Ran felt distressed for him and quickly added a few slices of sausage to his bowl. “If that’s the case, why don’t you buy food in town? The lamb offal stew at the stall is only ten wen a bowl, very oily and filling.”

Ye Shan and Lin Jiangshan were naturally reluctant to spend that much money. “We only earn thirty wen a day, if we spend ten wen on a meal, what about our families? It’s better to save money and eat at home in the evening.”

Both were caring and family-oriented men, and Li Ran couldn’t persuade them otherwise.

Ye Xi said, “I’ll make you some pancakes in the morning and add some fillings, so you can eat them when you’re hungry.”

Lin Jiangshan was concerned that this would require Ye Xi to get up too early. “A few steamed buns are also fine.”

Ye Xi smiled. “You’re working hard outside to provide for the family, it’s nothing for me to make some food. If you don’t eat well and your health suffers, if the pillar of our family collapses, then our world will truly collapse.”

Li Ran thought it was a good idea. She wasn’t good at making pancakes, but her minced meat chili sauce was excellent. She said to Ye Xi, “Xi-ge’er, you make the pancakes, and I’ll make some chili sauce for your brother and husband to take with them, so they can wrap it in the pancakes, delicious and filling.”

Ye Xi said, “Alright, Sister-in-law, let’s divide the work.”

Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan were touched by their family’s care and consideration.

After dinner, Ye Shan took Li Ran home, and after they left, Lin Jiangshan bolted the courtyard gate, checked the chicken coop, and then went back inside.

The weather was cold, and Ye Xi had already boiled water for soaking his feet. He sat on the edge of the bed, his delicate feet immersed in the warm water, the comfortable temperature making his cheeks flush.

“Husband, you’ve worked hard all day, come and soak your feet.”

Lin Jiangshan took off his shoes, sat beside him, and put his feet in the basin. The water was a bit hot, and as a man, he wasn’t used to it, so he stepped on Ye Xi’s foot, his toes gently tickling his delicate instep.

Ye Xi giggled and tried to pull his foot away, but Lin Jiangshan pressed his foot down firmly.

They played for a while, and when the water cooled down, Lin Jiangshan emptied the basin, took a cloth, held Ye Xi’s ankle, and wiped his feet dry.

“The work on the official road will be finished in a few days. I’m thinking, since winter is approaching, I still need to chop some firewood and store it. I heard from an old official at the government office today that there will be heavy snow this year, and the weather will be exceptionally cold, there might even be a snowstorm. If we don’t stock up on firewood, we might not have enough to heat the kang in winter.”

Ye Xi was reassured by his husband’s foresight and nodded. “Alright, I’ll go with you then, and we’ll stock up on food before it snows, in case there’s a famine in winter.”

It had started raining outside at some point, the raindrops pattering on the roof tiles, the dripping water from the eaves hitting the ground, each autumn rain bringing a chill.

Inside the house, Ye Xi lay in his husband’s warm embrace and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Ye Xi got up before dawn, while the moon was still high in the sky, and smoke was already rising from the chimney of their small courtyard, drifting into the night.

Lin Jiangshan washed up in the spring water pool in the courtyard. When he entered the kitchen, Ye Xi was making pancakes.

He brushed golden oil on the rolled-out dough, sprinkled chopped green onions, and then skillfully folded and flipped the pancakes with his nimble fingers.

The oil in the wok was hot, and when he put the pancakes in, their surfaces sizzled and turned golden brown and crispy.

The kitchen filled with the aroma of cooking oil, and Ye Xi’s spatula flew back and forth. In no time, he had made ten pancakes, cut them open with a knife, revealing the layered texture, each layer coated in salt, pepper, and sesame seeds, crispy and flaky.

“I’ll wrap them in oilpaper for you later, two portions, you can give one to my brother when you get to the road. You won’t be hungry today,” Ye Xi said with a smile.

The porridge in the pot was ready, pumpkin and millet porridge with some wolfberries, nourishing and moisturizing. Ye Xi scooped a bowl and handed it to him.

While Lin Jiangshan ate his porridge, he quickly stir-fried two dishes, wrapped them in oilpaper, and tied them together.

Lin Jiangshan ate his fill of porridge and pancakes, his body warmed.

Before leaving, Ye Xi gave him the oilpaper package with pancakes, telling him to keep it close to his body inside his clothes, and also handed him a water bottle and a handkerchief.

Looking at his lovely husband, Lin Jiangshan was reluctant to leave. Before stepping out, he kissed Ye Xi’s cheek in the darkness and then left.

Ye Xi covered his cheek, blushing and scolding him playfully, “Shameless.”

After the men left for work, Ye Xi fed the chickens and ducks, swept the courtyard, and then started processing the chestnuts they picked yesterday.

After giving his sister-in-law a bag yesterday, there were still quite a few left, more than enough for stir-frying, so Ye Xi sat in the courtyard, peeled and shelled them, and filled a small basket.

He went back to the kitchen, made a dough with lard, added the steamed chestnuts, and made chestnut cakes, adding plenty of rock sugar, making them sweet, soft, and chewy, perfect with tea.

After setting some aside for Lin Jiangshan, he put a dozen or so in a basket and took them down the mountain to share with his sister-in-law and parents.

As he approached his parents’ house, he saw his mother and sister-in-law drying corn kernels in the courtyard, chatting and laughing.

Ye Xi pushed open the courtyard gate and smiled. “I could hear your voices from afar.”

Li Ran patted the corn husks in her hands. “We were talking about that Lame Xiao from the next village, why are you here, Xi-ge’er?”

Ye Xi lifted the basket in his hand. “I made some chestnut cakes with the chestnuts we picked yesterday, Sister-in-law, they taste quite good, I brought some for you to have with tea.”

Liu Xiufeng’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “You live so close, Mother can even have a taste of the cakes you make, I’ve been craving something sweet recently.”

Li Ran went inside to boil some pear water. “The pears ripened a while ago, and we had so many, we dried them. Take some back later, Xi-ge’er, eating pears in autumn and winter is good for the lungs.”

Ye Xi nodded. “Alright, I heard my husband coughing last night, his throat might be a bit sore.”

The sun was out today, not too hot or cold, so they set up a table in the courtyard, drinking tea and eating chestnut cakes. Ye Xi also brought the handkerchiefs he had embroidered these past few days, planning to sell them at the shop in town.

His embroidery was exquisite and lifelike, and Li Ran leaned closer to ask for advice, the two exchanging embroidery tips.

After a while, a group of children ran to the gate, probably attracted by the sweet smell, and stood outside the fence.

Children were sweet-talkers, calling out “Aunt Ye Shan” and “Brother Xi.” Before Ye Xi got married, he would always share his treats with these children, and they would also share wild fruits and crabs they picked or caught with him. Now that he was married, they still called him “Brother Xi” out of habit.

Ye Xi smiled and took some chestnut cakes from the table, giving one to each child, who were overjoyed with the treats.

Li Ran wasn’t stingy either. Since the children called her “Auntie,” she naturally had to give them some snacks.

The persimmons harvested in autumn, stored in the cellar, must have softened and ripened by now, ready to eat, so she went to the cellar and lifted the straw curtain.

Inside was a basket of persimmons. She squeezed one, and it was indeed soft. Li Ran took some out with a basket.

Fruit trees were considered valuable in the countryside, especially during the fruiting season. To prevent children from stealing the fruits, they had to be guarded. Stingy families would scold children caught stealing fruits and even drag them home to complain to their parents.

Plentiful fruits like plums and dates were one thing, but for larger and less abundant fruits like peaches and persimmons, every family would store them for their own consumption. Even if they were sold in town, they would cost two or three wen each.

Seeing the glistening persimmons in Li Ran’s hand, the children, holding their chestnut cakes, stared intently. Ripe persimmons, with their thin skin peeled off, revealed the juicy and sweet flesh, melting in the mouth with a gentle bite.

“Aunt Ye Shan is giving you persimmons!” Li Ran gave one to each child.

The children, receiving two treats, thanked her and ran off happily.