Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 81

Chapter 81

On the road, Lin Jiangshan drove the ox cart, and Ye Xi sat beside him, taking out the pancakes from his bag. They ate their pancakes as they traveled to town. Ye Xi had also brought a water pouch filled with warm tea-infused goat milk, a comforting drink.

He fed Lin Jiangshan a sip and said happily, “Last year, we had to get up early and walk to town, carrying everything on our backs. Now we have our own ox cart.”

If they walked, they would have to get up over an hour earlier, carrying heavy loads and hurrying along, not like now, riding comfortably in the ox cart, eating pancakes.

Seeing his husband so happy and no longer needing to endure hardship, Lin Jiangshan felt a sense of accomplishment. This was why he worked so hard to save money and build a strong foundation for their family. “Yes, when we have more land and a mountain of grain stored, we’ll buy a mule or a donkey, and maybe even a horse, so we can travel even faster, no more long and tiring walks.”

Ye Xi smiled happily. “We have an ox cart now, and if we have a horse-drawn carriage in the future, I might even find it too fast! Our life is truly improving!”

Lin Jiangshan held his husband’s hand, their future full of hope.

They met two or three people on the road, asking for a ride to town, and Lin Jiangshan, since they were going the same way, didn’t charge much, just two wen per person.

The passengers, finding it cheaper than other ox carts, gratefully sat at the back, looking at Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan.

“You two are so young, and you already have an ox cart, you’re living a good life.”

“You’re so tall and strong, a true pillar of your family, must be a good farmer, and your husband is so handsome and refined, a virtuous housekeeper, you must be living a prosperous life.”

Hearing their praises, Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan exchanged smiles, this was the result of their hard work, their life getting better and better.

When they arrived in town, they chose a prominent spot on the main street. It would be crowded today, villagers bringing calamus and mugwort to sell, colorful strings, fragrant sachets for children, more stalls than usual.

Although life in the mountains was simple, they valued these festivals, rare occasions for celebration, and the market in town offered more variety than usual.

Lin Jiangshan paid three wen for the stall fee to the market official and returned, saying, “I heard there will be dragon boat races and duck catching at the Min River this afternoon.”

Ye Xi unpacked their goods. “We probably won’t be able to make it back in time, we’ll watch next year. Can you swim, husband?”

Lin Jiangshan nodded. “Yes, I often swam in the river when I was young.”

Ye Xi smiled. “Then you can catch ducks next year, and we’ll make duck soup.”

As they were talking, a woman came to their stall with a basket. “Young Master, how much are the zongzi?”

Ye Xi quickly greeted the customer. “Five wen for a sweet one, six wen for a meat one, all made with freshly soaked glutinous rice yesterday.”

Seeing the woman hesitate, Ye Xi, skilled at selling, quickly unwrapped a candied date zongzi and a salted egg yolk zongzi and offered her a taste.

“Your zongzi are delicious, comparable to the ones from the restaurants, alright, I’ll take four sweet ones for my children and six savory ones for lunch.”

Ye Xi quickly strung ten zongzi together with a straw rope and handed them to her. The woman paid and then smelled a rich, milky aroma. “Pastries made with milk solids?”

As a townswoman, she had been to pastry shops and restaurants and recognized the treat.

“Made with goat milk, Madam, try some,” Ye Xi said, wrapping a small piece in a bamboo leaf and offering it to her.

The woman took a small bite. “The ones in the shops are all honey-sweet, you added something else, tea leaves? It’s delicious, I’ll take two pieces, it’s a festival today, I’ll take them home for my children.”

“Tea-infused honey milk pastry, made with quality ingredients, four wen per piece,” Ye Xi said, wrapping two pastries in bamboo leaves for her and receiving eight wen.

After the woman left, Lin Jiangshan, who was selling charcoal beside him, smiled. “Your pastries are selling well, husband, two pieces can buy a whole bundle of my firewood.”

Ye Xi said, “It’s just a novelty for the festival, we can’t do this every day.”

The market became more and more crowded, Dragon Boat Festival was a major holiday, and many people came to shop. Even the price of pork had increased by two wen.

Ye Xi’s zongzi were selling well, and those who came to buy zongzi would also see his milk pastries, and those who bought pastries would also buy a few zongzi.

Lin Jiangshan’s firewood also attracted customers, and after some bargaining, he gave a customer a three-wen discount and carried the firewood to his house.

When he returned, Ye Xi’s stall was bustling. His pastries smelled even better than the ones from the shops, and the price was only half, so those who were hosting guests or visiting relatives bought his pastries, wrapping them in oilpaper or bamboo baskets, just like the ones from the shops, saving half the money.

Lin Jiangshan quickly helped his husband with the business.

By noon, the market crowd started to disperse, many leaving early to watch the dragon boat races.

Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan packed up their stall and went to a noodle stall for lunch, they had made a good profit today.

Ye Xi said generously, “Let’s have meat noodles today! Two bowls of pork noodles with lard broth!”

Lin Jiangshan, seeing his husband’s happy expression, nodded. “Alright, since my husband is treating, I won’t be polite!”

Two steaming bowls of noodles arrived, topped with chopped scallions and cilantro, and two large pieces of braised pork. After a busy morning, they quickly ate their fill.

On their way back, they met a few villagers from Shanxiu who wanted a ride, so they charged them a small fee and took them back.

Ye Xi took the remaining zongzi to the Ye family. Only his sister-in-law was home, she couldn’t go out and join the festivities, being close to her due date.

His father and brother had gone to the Min River to catch ducks, and Li Ran, craving wild vegetables, said their mother had gone foraging.

Ye Xi chatted with her for a while and gave her a colorful string he bought at the market, a gift for her unborn child. Seeing that Liu Xiufeng had returned and Li Ran had company, he prepared to leave.

Liu Xiufeng invited him to stay for dinner. “Have dinner with us before you go.”

Ye Xi, thinking about the livestock at home, said, “We left early this morning before dawn, they must be hungry, I have to go back and feed them, I can’t be lazy.”

Liu Xiufeng didn’t insist and asked if the salted duck eggs were ready, as they had to eat them today.

Ye Xi replied, “They’re ready. I’ll ask my husband to cut some calamus and mugwort to hang by the door, and also sprinkle some realgar.”

Liu Xiufeng gave him a few more instructions before letting him go.

Back home, Ye Xi cooked pig feed, fed the chickens and ducks, and after finishing all the chores, he was thinking of sweeping the fallen leaves and clearing the weeds in the corner of the courtyard when he saw a snake, the same color as the dry leaves, and he turned pale with fright, dropping the broom and retreating.

Lin Jiangshan, returning with mugwort, saw his husband’s pale face and learned that there was a snake in the courtyard.

He took a pair of tongs, went to the corner, killed the snake, and threw it away. Snake meat was edible, and many villagers would skin and stew it into a soup, considered nutritious and even medicinal, the gallbladder of venomous snakes could be sold to pharmacies. But Ye Xi was afraid of snakes, turning pale at the sight of them.

Lin Jiangshan naturally wouldn’t keep it. After dealing with the snake, he came back and saw Ye Xi still standing there, looking shaken, so he quickly sprinkled realgar around the house, especially in the corners and the woodshed, where insects often hid, before locking the door.

His husband was truly frightened, and Lin Jiangshan, feeling distressed, said, “Let’s get a cat from the village, cats can catch snakes, I’ll be more at ease.”

Ye Xi nodded. “Li-ge’er’s family got a cat from the village a while ago, they said it can catch mice and guard the grain storage. We should get one too.”

Lin Jiangshan thought for a moment. “How about we also get a dog? We need a guard dog for the house, we have so much poultry now, and also a cow and a goat.”

“Alright, I’ll ask around the village tomorrow. We need to bring a catty of salt as a gift for a cat, and a red envelope for a dog.”

Cats and dogs were valuable in the village, and if someone wanted one, they had to bring a gift. Cats caught mice, essential for protecting stored grain, and dogs guarded the house, or at the very least, could be sold for meat. Ye Xi couldn’t stand people who ate dog meat.

Sometimes, during winter, people would even come to the village to steal dogs, so closer to the New Year, every family would tie up their dogs, not letting them roam freely.

Li-ge’er’s family almost had their large black dog stolen before, and the villagers, seeing it, had chased the thief away, who eventually jumped into the river and escaped.

Dogs were intelligent and loyal, raised with their own food, and everyone in the surrounding villages hated dog thieves.

After calming down, Ye Xi went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and Lin Jiangshan hung the mugwort and calamus by the door.

“We’re harvesting the winter wheat the day after tomorrow, I’ll sharpen the sickles later.”

Ye Xi agreed and took four salted duck eggs and four zongzi from the kitchen and steamed them. They didn’t need to cook rice today.

He had met Li-ge’er and Li Xi at the market today, selling pork, and this piece of streaky pork belly was the one he had specifically asked them to save for him, a must-have for the festival.

He sliced the pork belly thinly, blanched and chopped the bracken ferns he had picked, and stir-fried them with dried chili peppers and garlic slices.

That night, they ate dinner in the courtyard under the lamplight. He peeled the salted duck eggs, the yolks oily and sandy, not too salty since they hadn’t been pickled for long, a good accompaniment for wine.

After eating the zongzi, it was time for realgar wine.

Ye Xi couldn’t handle alcohol, but because of the Dragon Boat Festival custom, he forced himself to drink a cup, his face flushing slightly, his eyes becoming misty.

Lin Jiangshan talked to him, and Ye Xi just leaned against him, giggling foolishly.

He had never seen his husband like this before, and Lin Jiangshan, unable to resist, carried him back to the house and made passionate love to him, Ye Xi’s soft sobs audible even in the middle of the night.