My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration]

Chapter 2: Doing Chores

Xu Zhizhou reluctantly believed him. He picked up his axe and said, “We should finish chopping the firewood and get back early. The sun will be stronger at noon.”

Seeing Xu Zhizhou’s expression soften, Sun Ge’er let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “Yes, we should hurry and finish chopping so we can go back.”

Their group consisted of unmarried ge’ers. While their parents and brothers were busy in the fields, they took care of the miscellaneous chores at home. Cutting grass, chopping firewood, feeding the chickens and ducks, and cooking were the most basic tasks. When things got busy in the fields, they also had to go down and lend their strength.

They faced the yellow earth with their backs to the sky, toiling from spring until winter.

Xu Zhizhou’s hands had thin calluses. He chopped a basketful of firewood, the web between his thumb and forefinger aching from the axe’s vibrations. He chopped for a while, then rested.

The other ge’ers had already finished chopping their firewood. They called out their goodbyes and headed home. There were endless chores at home, so they had to finish early to go back and help.

After finishing his firewood, Sun Ge’er also picked some soapberries on the mountain before heading home to wash the whole family’s clothes by the river. It was the spring planting season, and his father’s and brother’s clothes were caked in mud, black as pitch. Two pairs of straw sandals had already been worn out.

They generally wore coarse linen short robes, a style with a top and trousers, with narrow sleeves and a short jacket that made it easy to work. The color was mostly natural. The main materials for their linen clothes were ramie and flax. Ramie felt prickly but was very durable. Flax was relatively softer and less scratchy, but it was prone to shrinking and losing its shape.

As written in the Shiji Suoyin: “It is said that coarse cloth, cut vertically, is the clothing of laborers, short and narrow.”

The villagers of Qishan Village primarily wore linen. They wore ramie for working in the fields and flax for daily wear. Every household probably had a set of good clothes stored at the bottom of a chest, waiting for festivals, major celebrations, or visits to relatives.

Sun Ge’er said, “Zhizhou, I’m heading back first.”

Xu Zhizhou nodded. His basket was only half-full of firewood. After Sun Ge’er left, Xu Zhizhou looked up at the sky and resignedly continued chopping.

By the time he had filled a whole basket, the sun was shining brightly, high in the sky. The fire in Xu Zhizhou’s heart burned just as brightly as the sun.

He had wanted to make a scene to get Song Changxu to chase him, so he could push the task of chopping firewood onto him and slack off himself. Who knew Song Changxu would be so clueless?

When Xu Zhizhou got home, he grabbed a water ladle and drank, trying to quell his anger. He looked at his reflection in the water vat.

“See? If he isn’t blind, what is he? A boy who doesn’t appreciate his good fortune,” Xu Zhizhou muttered to himself.

The Xu family had no sons, only two ge’ers. His elder brother had gone to the fields with their parents, so today it was his turn to fetch water, cook, do laundry, cut grass, and feed the chickens and ducks.

Xu Zhizhou returned to his room. His room was tidy. On the table lay a half-embroidered purse and a jewelry box. Opening the jewelry box, he found not much jewelry, just a silver hairpin with a small pearl on it. Possessing this silver hairpin was enough to make him the envy of all the other ge’ers.

Xu Zhizhou snorted softly. He had gotten this only after throwing a tantrum in Shuibo Town, refusing to leave, and wailing his eyes out until his parents finally bought it for him.

Although the family had some savings each year, buying a silver hairpin for a thirteen-year-old ge’er was still too extravagant.

If he hadn’t been so clever back then, this silver hairpin would have slipped through his fingers. The jewelry box also contained a few different hair ribbons, a red bean bracelet, and three pearl flower hairpins.

Xu Zhizhou closed the jewelry box. He remembered that the betrothal gifts from the Song family included silver jewelry, but his mother had only let him glance at it before putting it away safely, to be given to him when he married.

He had to prepare lunch for the family. Xu Zhizhou wasn’t much of a cook. His specialty was scallion pancakes. Today, he would knead some dough to make scallion pancakes, dig up some wild vegetables for a wild vegetable congee, and grab some pickles to make a meal.

Farmers went out to work early in the morning. At noon, when the sun was strong, they would eat lunch and take a nap at home before returning to the fields.

Song Ye and Liang Su had gone to the fields early in the morning to sow seeds, and Song Mingyan from their family went along to help.

As noon approached, Song Mingyan stopped his work. “Father, Mother, I’ll go back and cook first.”

Liang Su waved her hand. “Go on.”

The family had ten acres of high-grade paddy fields and another five acres of ordinary fields. The high-grade paddy fields, used for growing rice, could earn them five taels of silver a year after taxes. The remaining five acres were used to grow vegetables, fruits, and more rice.

The vegetables and fruits from these five acres, besides feeding themselves, could be taken to town to sell. Their life was self-sufficient and comfortable.

However, supporting a scholar in the family made their finances a bit tight. In the past, the Song family had thirty acres of prime fields, and with many siblings, they mostly supported each other. By Song Ye’s generation, only Song Mingyan and Song Changxu were left, and heaven was not being generous.

A few years ago, a drought nearly wiped them out. Farmers with land sold it to landlords and became tenant farmers. Being a landlord’s tenant was no different from being a servant. After renting the landlord’s land, they could only make enough to feed and clothe themselves. If the landlord had any orders, they had to help out for free to avoid offending him.

The Song family had survived by selling a few acres of land. As long as they persevered, they could always get through the tough times.

Song Mingyan put down his hoe and went straight into the kitchen to light the fire and cook. By this time, my son, Cheng’er, should be back. Why is there no sign of him?

Kids love to play, Song Mingyan thought, wiping the sweat from his brow. When the food is ready, he’ll come home on his own when he’s hungry.

He had returned to his parents’ home with Xu Cheng after his divorce. Fortunately, his parents had taken him in; otherwise, he didn’t know how he and his son would have survived. Back in his maiden home, his younger brother’s attitude towards him wasn’t good, which Song Mingyan could understand.

He was a married-out ge’er and shouldn’t be freeloading at his parents’ home, adding two extra mouths to feed. His divorce was also bad for the family’s reputation, so his brother resented him.

Understanding this, Song Mingyan tried not to get in Song Changxu’s way and instructed Xu Cheng to disturb his uncle’s studies as little as possible. Even in his own home, he lived with trepidation, but Song Mingyan was already very content. At least at home, he had food and shelter and didn’t have to endure beatings.

It was just that he often felt like a burden to his family.

He scrambled to do all the chores around the house and didn’t dare to eat much at meals.

Song Mingyan picked some vegetables, planning to make a simple stir-fried greens, some coarse grain buns, and fry some soybeans they had at home. He would also grab a handful of pickled cowpeas from the jar, dice them, and make a cold salad.

After getting things sorted in the kitchen, Song Mingyan stood up and went to the courtyard to see if Xu Cheng was back. Seeing no one, he was about to return to the kitchen when he saw Xu Cheng, his face flushed, coming out of a room.

“Cheng Ge’er, didn’t I tell you not to disturb your uncle’s studies? Why don’t you listen?” Song Mingyan’s eyelid twitched, and he immediately pulled Xu Cheng over to scold him.

Xu Cheng shrank back. His face was sallow and thin, but his eyes were bright like black grapes. At first glance, his features weren’t striking, but a closer look revealed their delicate beauty.

He held out his hand, in which lay a piece of snow-white, delicate pastry that smelled of milk.

Xu Cheng said meekly, “Uncle called me over. He gave me a cloud-flake cake to eat.”

“I ate one piece and took another for Father. This cloud-flake cake is so delicious,” Xu Cheng said, still savoring the taste.

This morning, after he had fed the chickens and ducks, his uncle had returned and shut himself in his room. His father had told him not to disturb his uncle’s studies, and Xu Cheng was used to Song Changxu staying in his room and not coming out.

But this time was different. His uncle had called him in and asked him some questions. Although Xu Cheng was a little afraid of his uncle, he still answered his questions one by one.

Song Changxu had only skimmed through the book, and with the passage of time, his memory had become hazy. He learned the general situation from Xu Cheng.

The dynasty he was in was the Ningxing Dynasty, and the current ruler was the ninth emperor, Emperor Pingjing. This emperor had ascended the throne at the age of ten. With a weak ruler and suspicious ministers, major court affairs were decided by the regent ministers and Empress Dowager Xiao. This year, the emperor had just reached the age of maturity.

Song Changxu knew that this world had men, women, and ge’ers. Ge’ers had a similar status to women; they could marry and bear children.

Song Changxu had received the original owner’s memories, most of which were confined to his study desk. The original owner had been supported by his entire family to pursue his studies, but from his memories, Song Changxu understood that the original owner had not studied diligently. Instead, he had fallen into a vicious cycle of comparison and self-validation.

Arrogant yet insecure, conceited yet lazy.

He had called Xu Cheng over mainly to ask about the social customs and relationships in the village.

In ancient times, the land was vast, transportation was inconvenient, and information traveled slowly. The government’s ability to govern so many places was limited, so in the countryside, they generally relied on village elders. Farmers were at the bottom of society. If their interests were harmed, they had to seek help from the village elders. Farmers could survive better by banding together.

Song Changxu had once read a short story about a downstream village fighting with an upstream village over water, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. If they didn’t fight for water, they would have none to drink, but their actions were too extreme. This reflected, in another way, that in smaller places, one could live better by sticking together.

The smaller the place, the more important personal relationships and social etiquette were.

Song Changxu took a pastry from the table and gave it to Xu Cheng. “Here, eat this.”

At first, Xu Cheng didn’t take it. Seeing that Song Changxu didn’t say anything else, he timidly raised his head, took a piece, and began to eat.

As he was leaving, he boldly took another piece. His father had never had such a pastry before.

“Alright, go help Father watch the fire. We’ll be eating soon.” Song Mingyan didn’t take the cloud-flake cake, letting Xu Cheng eat it himself.

He hesitated at Song Changxu’s door, then decided to go back to the kitchen to cook. His younger brother was willing to be nice to Cheng Ge’er, and Song Mingyan felt a small flutter of joy in his heart.

Cheng Ge’er’s father had not been good to him, despising him because he was a ge’er. In his maiden home, Cheng Ge’er was also timid and fearful around Song Changxu. Now that his brother was showing a little acceptance of Cheng Ge’er, Song Mingyan was already overjoyed.

Xu Cheng brought over a small stool to watch the fire and add wood. He said, “Uncle’s room is so big, much bigger than ours.”

“Uncle needs a big room for his studies. And he’s going to marry a husband, so two people will be living there in the future,” Song Mingyan explained.

Xu Cheng: “Then I’ll have an uncle-in-law!”

Xu Cheng was a little excited and a little scared. He hoped his new uncle-in-law would be nice to him, but he was also afraid he wouldn’t be.

Meanwhile, Song Changxu, unaware that they were discussing his marriage, held a book and stared at the classical Chinese text. His mind was blank, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Fortunately, this dynasty already had punctuation. Otherwise, turning a page would reveal a solid block of text, which would be dizzying to look at.

The classical Chinese he had learned was finally coming in handy. He wouldn’t have to be an illiterate man. He never thought his career path would lead him to ancient times.

Song Changxu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Author’s Note:

Little Song: Just have to study honestly. [Shrugs]

Translator’s Notes

1. Ge’er (哥儿)//Ger: brothers, boys, males that get pregnant.

2. Shiji Suoyin (史记索隐): “Seeking the Obscure in the Records of the Grand Historian,” a commentary on Sima Qian’s Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) written by Sima Zhen during the Tang Dynasty.

3. Punctuation (句读, jùdòu): The text mentions that the dynasty has “句读”. This refers to the ancient Chinese system of marking pauses and stops in texts before modern punctuation was adopted. It made classical texts much easier to read and understand.