Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 84

Chapter 84

In the evening, Ye Xi kneaded dough in the kitchen, planning to make noodles with meat sauce. Freshly ground wheat flour was fragrant, perfect for noodles. The cucumbers in the garden had started fruiting, small and slender, their tips still bearing yellow flowers, tender and crisp. He picked two, sliced them thinly, and set them aside as a topping for the noodles. He made thin and long noodles and added them to the boiling water.

Lin Jiangshan returned, his body tired from harvesting wheat in the fields all day.

Ye Xi added the noodles to the pot and brought a basin of hot water for him. “Soak your feet, it will help you relax.”

Lin Jiangshan took off his straw sandals and soaked his feet, his back relaxing, the fatigue easing.

Ye Xi, cooking in the kitchen, chatted with him. “Did you finish harvesting the owner’s wheat?”

Lin Jiangshan replied, “The owner hired four or five harvesters, all skilled and fast, they finished the last few acres today. The owner, pleased with the speed, gave us each an extra ten wen, I’ll give you the money later.”

Ye Xi, mincing meat, smiled. “We still have some money for daily expenses, there’s no rush. I heard from Grandma Wang today that the price of wheat is high this year, everyone is selling their grain.”

The new kitten was still shy, hiding in the woodshed, refusing to come out. The fawn and goat looked at it curiously, then, seeing that it was hiding, started playing in the courtyard.

Lin Jiangshan, soaking his feet, scolded them for fear they would trample Ye Xi’s flowers, then said, “I heard about it, they say there might be a war in Beizhou, so the grain merchants are hoarding grain, hoping to sell it to the government and make a profit.”

Ye Xi rinsed the dried peas and steamed them until soft.

“I asked my mother when I came back, they’re also planning to sell some, but we’re not selling ours, we’ll store it as you said, the granary is empty anyway.”

Lin Jiangshan said in a low voice, “Tell your father-in-law not to sell too much, they should keep some.”

Ye Xi looked at Lin Jiangshan under the eaves. “What’s wrong, husband?”

“If there’s a war in Beizhou, the price of grain will definitely increase rapidly. If the autumn harvest is bad, and we don’t have enough food during the lean season next year, from winter to next spring, it will be difficult and expensive to buy grain.”

Ye Xi frowned. “The weather seems good this year, will there be a disaster?”

Lin Jiangshan smiled. “I might be overthinking it, but the weather was unusual last winter, the snow came late and then it snowed heavily, I’m afraid there might be a drought this summer. There’s a saying in Lingnan, ‘Late and heavy snow in winter, drought and no rain during Summer Solstice,’ I think we should be prepared.”

Ye Xi knew his husband had seen more of the world and was more experienced, and besides, they didn’t need the money from selling grain urgently, they had ten taels of silver saved, enough for their expenses. It was better to have grain stored at home for peace of mind.

“I’ll take care of household matters, you make the decisions, husband. We’ll store the grain. I’ll tell Brother when I have time, he shouldn’t rush to sell his grain either, Sister-in-law is about to give birth, they need to have enough food.”

As they were talking, the peas in the pot were cooked until soft, easily mashed with chopsticks. Ye Xi added minced meat to the wok, stir-fried it with soy sauce until fragrant, then added the peas and made a meat sauce.

He placed the noodles in bowls topped with shredded cucumber, added a spoonful of the freshly made meat sauce, and mixed it well, coating each noodle with the thick sauce.

Ye Xi didn’t like strong flavors as much as Lin Jiangshan, so he didn’t add chili oil, while Lin Jiangshan added a few spoonfuls to his bowl, mixing it with the meat sauce, fragrant and delicious.

Ye Xi peeled two cloves of freshly harvested garlic for him, the perfect accompaniment for the noodles. After finishing the noodles and the soup, Lin Jiangshan sighed contentedly.

After dinner, Ye Xi added some minced meat and noodles to the kitten’s bowl in the woodshed and gave the remaining noodle soup to the fawn and goat.

Lin Jiangshan checked the chicken coop and pigsty, bolted the courtyard gate, and then they went back to their room to rest.

Ye Xi had been keeping his pregnancy a secret, and now that Lin Jiangshan was back, he felt nervous about telling him.

Lin Jiangshan washed up in the courtyard, then came back to the room, blew out the lamp, and pressed his chest against Ye Xi’s back, his rough hand reaching under his clothes, the touch sending shivers down Ye Xi’s spine.

He had been busy with farm work and hadn’t had time for intimacy lately. Now that the work was done, he could sleep in tomorrow and check on the crops in the field, preparing for irrigation and rice seedling cultivation.

He hadn’t touched his soft and delicate husband for days, and he couldn’t hold back anymore, his breathing heavy and rapid, his hand almost reaching Ye Xi’s chest.

Ye Xi blushed and stopped his hand. “No…”

Lin Jiangshan’s voice was low and concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Ye Xi turned around, his eyes dark and bright, and pursed his lips. “We can’t, I’m pregnant.”

Lin Jiangshan froze, staring at Ye Xi, then finally understood.

“You’re saying… you’re carrying my child?!” His voice was filled with uncontainable excitement.

Seeing his joy, Ye Xi’s heart overflowed with happiness. “Yes, I went to the doctor today, he said I’m a month along.”

Lin Jiangshan’s eyes glistened with tears. He had never imagined that after years of being alone, he would marry a wonderful husband, have warm meals every day, and now, his husband was even carrying his child!

His and his husband’s child! Carrying his blood, calling him “Daddy” in a soft voice, what a joyous occasion!

Lin Jiangshan hugged his husband tightly, burying his face in his neck, his voice choked with emotion. “We’re having a baby! I’ll definitely spoil him! I’ll make him a small wooden horse, take him to the market to buy treats, I’ll be a doting father!”

Ye Xi’s eyes also teared up, and he patted Lin Jiangshan’s back. “Yes, my husband will be the best father.”

Ever since Ye Xi became pregnant, Lin Jiangshan took on all the heavy work, even helping with the laundry when he had time. He had also wanted to help with the cooking, but after burning the rice twice and making inedibly salty dishes, Ye Xi forbade him from entering the kitchen.

He was a farmer’s son himself, not one to be pampered just because he was pregnant, he could still handle the household chores, and if he needed help in the later stages of pregnancy, he would ask Liu Xiufeng or hire a village woman.

Lin Jiangshan agreed.

The weather became increasingly hot in the days after Summer Solstice. The cicadas, arriving earlier this year, chirped incessantly in the trees, an irritating sound.

Lin Jiangshan returned from the fields, carrying a hoe, and Ye Xi was weaving straw mats under the eaves, for the summer months.

“The sweet potatoes and potatoes in the field are ready, I dug up a nest, they’re large, seven or eight in a single nest,” Lin Jiangshan said, washing the mud off his feet.

Ye Xi was delighted. “Our new land is truly fertile, after harvesting the sweet potatoes and potatoes, we’ll have a mountain of them, enough to eat until next year.”

Lin Jiangshan finished washing his feet, sat beside Ye Xi, and started sharpening his hoe with a whetstone. “I saw many grain merchants in the village today, all with horse-drawn carriages or donkey carts, many villagers are selling their grain.”

Ye Xi, weaving the straw mat, felt a bit worried. “If the weather is bad this year, like the drought you mentioned, and the autumn harvest is poor, those who sold their grain will have a hard time in the second half of the year.”

But it was none of their business, and if they tried to advise them, they might even be accused of jinxing them.

“We’ll harvest the sweet potatoes and potatoes tomorrow, and then irrigate the fields and plant the rice seedlings soon,” Lin Jiangshan said.

Ye Xi, knowing that his husband had a plan, felt reassured.

The next day, Father Ye and Ye Shan came to help them harvest the sweet potatoes and potatoes.

With each swing of the hoe, they unearthed a nest of potatoes, large and golden yellow, and the sweet potatoes were even bigger than fists, red skin and yellow flesh.

After harvesting one acre, they had over ten loads, a sight that brought joy to their hearts.

The men dug, and Liu Xiufeng and Ye Xi collected the potatoes and sweet potatoes.

“Xi-ge’er, your land is good, and your crops are growing well. Although potatoes and sweet potatoes aren’t as good as wheat or rice, they’re still filling, we relied on them during hard times. With these, you won’t have to worry about food for two years.”

Ye Xi threw a potato into the basket and asked, “Mother, did you sell your wheat?”

Liu Xiufeng shook her head. “We were planning to sell some, to save money for a safety lock for your sister-in-law’s baby, but your husband advised us not to. Your brother and sister-in-law also said he’s more farsighted than us, so we should store the grain. We have the fishpond now, we don’t have to rely on selling grain, so we listened to him and didn’t sell any.”

Ye Xi was relieved. “Food is more important than money, as farmers, we just want to have enough food and clothing.”

“That’s right,” Liu Xiufeng smiled.

After a while, three children came running from the field ridge, and when they reached their field, they rolled up their sleeves and patched pants and started collecting potatoes.

Liu Xiufeng, thinking they were here to cause trouble, stood up and shouted, “Hey, whose children are these, taking things from our field?”

Ye Xi recognized them as the He family’s children and quickly stopped his mother. “They’re from the He family, they’re not here to cause trouble.”