Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 44

Chapter 44

In a blink of an eye, it was Start of Winter. The thin quilts were put away, and two thick quilts from Ye Xi’s dowry were taken out from the cabinet to be aired. They would need them in a couple of days.

Ye Xi used a feather duster to dust the quilts in the courtyard. The weather was good these few days, perfect for airing them so they would be warm and fluffy.

After dusting the quilts, he noticed his sister-in-law, Li Ran, standing at the courtyard gate, smiling and waiting for him to notice her.

“Sister-in-law, you’re here. Come in, why are you standing at the gate?” Ye Xi asked, holding the feather duster and smiling.

Li Ran said, “I wanted to surprise you, but seeing you working so diligently, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Ye Xi smiled and went to the kitchen to refill the teapot. “Sister-in-law, why are you acting like a child?”

Li Ran glanced at the quilt airing in the courtyard and praised, “Did you embroider this quilt cover? The embroidery is exquisite, the carps swimming so vividly.”

Ye Xi brought out a plate of sugar-glazed chestnuts and gave her a few. “I embroidered it as part of my dowry before I got married.”

Li Ran peeled a chestnut, ate the soft and sweet nut inside, and chatted with Ye Xi.

They had only been sitting in the courtyard for a while when another person arrived at the gate, Mrs. Wang, a kind woman with a good reputation in the village.

“Is Xi-ge’er home?” They heard her voice from outside the wall before they even saw her.

Ye Xi stood up to greet her. “Yes, I’m here.”

Mrs. Wang was plump and slightly overweight, the walk up the mountainside must have tired her out, and she was still panting when she sat down in the courtyard.

Ye Xi offered her tea. “Aunt Wang, have some tea and catch your breath.”

Mrs. Wang drank half a bowl of tea in one gulp and finally caught her breath. She saw Li Ran and greeted her, “Ye Shan’s wife is also here.”

Li Ran nodded. “I came to visit Xi-ge’er and chat.”

Mrs. Wang acknowledged and looked around Ye Xi’s courtyard, praising, “Xi-ge’er is capable, you and Jiangshan are living a good life. Look at this courtyard, so clean and tidy, and there’s even a pool. We only have wells at our houses, this is the first time I’ve seen a pool.”

Ye Xi sat on the side and smiled. “Digging a well in the mountains is time-consuming, expensive, and it’s not easy to find water. Fortunately, there’s a mountain stream nearby, using spring water is much more convenient.”

Mrs. Wang said, “You two are truly living a good life. Digging a well costs three to five taels of silver, you can use that money for other things. Spring water is sweeter than well water. Oh, Xi-ge’er, you even planted flowers!”

Ye Xi loved flowers, and Lin Jiangshan would bring back beautiful wild flowers and orchids whenever he saw them in the mountains, planting them by the courtyard wall. Gradually, they had a small flower garden.

Ye Xi replied, “I just planted them casually, to pass the time.”

Mrs. Wang’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Jiangshan is good at pleasing his husband. Few men in the village, from seventy to twenty years old, are willing to plant flowers for their wives, they just grow loofah and pumpkin flowers in the courtyard.”

Her words made Ye Xi and Li Ran laugh.

After chatting for a while, Ye Xi finally asked, “Aunt Wang, is there something you need?”

Mrs. Wang sighed. “My daughter is engaged, to a family in Shanyan Village next door, and she’s getting married next month. Her quilt covers aren’t even embroidered yet, and her wedding dress is crooked. I don’t expect her to be able to embroider the quilt covers.”

Ye Xi understood. “Aunt Wang, are you looking for me to embroider the quilt covers for your daughter?”

Mrs. Wang readily admitted, her face troubled. “My clumsy daughter has never been good with needlework, and she’s not patient enough to practice. Now that she’s getting married, she needs dowry to show off. If she doesn’t have a few good quilt covers, it will be a laughingstock when she puts them on the new bed at her husband’s house. I have no choice but to ask you, Xi-ge’er. I’ve seen your embroidery, it’s the best in the village.”

Ye Xi thought for a moment. He still had to make a cotton-padded jacket and cotton shoes for Lin Jiangshan, he didn’t know if he would have time for such a big project.

Seeing his hesitation, Mrs. Wang quickly held his hand. “Xi-ge’er, Auntie has always doted on you since you were young. I’ve never been stingy with the apricots and other fruits in my courtyard, always giving you some whenever you came. You must help Auntie with this.”

Ye Xi pursed his lips, unable to refuse. “What about the payment?”

Since he was doing the work, they had to discuss the price.

Mrs. Wang, hearing his question, knew he had agreed, and quickly smiled. “I won’t shortchange you, five hundred wen per quilt cover, one tael of silver for two.”

The price was reasonable. If he worked quickly, he could finish them in a month, earning one tael of silver for the family. Ye Xi nodded with satisfaction. “Alright, Auntie, I’ll do it. Have you chosen the patterns?”

Mrs. Wang said, “Of course, it has to be something festive and auspicious, symbolizing a happy marriage. Mandarin ducks playing in the water is a must, and for the other one…”

She hadn’t decided on the other one yet.

Li Ran pointed at the quilt cover airing in the courtyard. “Auntie, carps swimming in water or twin flowers blooming are also good choices, symbolizing prosperity and beauty.”

Mrs. Wang exclaimed and stood up, walking over to the quilt and touching the embroidery, very satisfied. “I told you Xi-ge’er’s embroidery skills are excellent, look, it’s so lifelike. Alright, the other one will be flowers blooming in prosperity.”

Ye Xi smiled. “Then Auntie, please bring the quilt covers as soon as possible, so I can start working and finish them for your daughter quickly.”

Mrs. Wang, happy to have settled this matter, left with a lighter heart.

Li Ran said enviously, “It’s so good to have skills, embroidering two quilt covers can earn one tael of silver.”

Ye Xi chuckled softly. “Sister-in-law, you haven’t seen how troublesome it is to embroider quilt covers, not just the stiff neck and sore eyes, but it also takes a lot of time. If it weren’t for needing the money, I wouldn’t want to take on this job.”

“Is your family short of money?”

Ye Xi shook his head and explained his and Lin Jiangshan’s plan. “We want to buy that sandy plot of land in spring, and if we buy the land, we’ll also need a cow. Both require a lot of money, and I want to help my husband share the burden.”

His husband was either working on the official road construction or hunting and chopping wood in the mountains. He had gone fishing two or three times but hadn’t caught much. He also had to tend the crops in the field, truly exhausting. If they bought the land and a cow next year, he wouldn’t have to work so hard, and the crops in the field would provide enough income.

Li Ran said, “Although you’re the younger brother, you’re more organized and have better plans than us, your elder brother and sister-in-law. I wish I could help out the family like you.”

She now regretted not learning other skills, having only watched her parents butchering pigs since childhood.

Ye Xi offered her some advice. “I heard your mother is skilled at making cured sausages. You must have learned something from watching her since childhood. The New Year is approaching, why don’t you discuss with my brother, since you have a few pigs at home, you can slaughter them before the New Year, make cured sausages, and sell them in town, that could also earn you some money.”

Villagers could make cured sausages for the New Year, and townspeople would buy them at the market. If the sausages were delicious and affordable, they would definitely sell well.

Li Ran’s eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, “That’s right, I’m good at that!”

They agreed to go to town tomorrow. Ye Xi would go to the fabric store to sell the handkerchiefs he had embroidered and buy some fabric for Lin Jiangshan, and Li Ran would go to the spice shop to inquire about the prices of spices for making cured sausages.

After sitting for a while longer, Li Ran left.

Ye Xi got up, mixed chicken feed, and fed the chickens and ducks. He then cut pigweed, boiled pig feed, and poured it into the trough, watching the two pigs eagerly eating.

After taking care of the poultry, Ye Xi went to the vegetable garden to tend the vegetables. The scallions and garlic were growing well, already reaching his knees.

The loofah vines had withered, and the last loofah of the year had been harvested. Ye Xi picked the largest ones, their insides already mature and fibrous, perfect for making loofah sponges for washing dishes.

There were still two small and tender loofahs at the end of the vine, enough for a simple blanched dish.

He also picked some tiny chili peppers, the last batch from the chili plants before winter, small but extremely spicy, enough to make one gasp for air.

He removed the withered chili plants and loofah vines, turned the soil in the vegetable garden, returned to the kitchen, and took out a basket of wood ash from the stove, scattering it evenly on the soil as fertilizer.

He then planted some cauliflower and mustard green seedlings in the cleared space. Caulifower was cold-resistant and easy to grow in winter.

Mustard greens could be pickled with chili, a spicy and delicious side dish for rice or porridge. Eating spicy food in winter kept the body warm, and the extra mustard greens could also be stir-fried.

After planting the vegetables and watering the garden, Ye Xi prepared to go back and cook dinner.

Just as he reached the door, Lin Jiangshan returned, carrying a bamboo basket.

“You’re back early today, I haven’t even started cooking yet,” Ye Xi said with a smile.

Lin Jiangshan said, “Then I’ll help you tend the fire.”

“Okay.” Ye Xi then asked, “What’s in the basket?”

Lin Jiangshan handed him the bamboo basket. “I passed by the riverbank and saw many river clams. The river water isn’t too cold yet, so I collected some. They’ll be gone in ten days or half a month.”

Ye Xi smiled, shaking the bamboo basket filled with half-round, yellow-shelled river clams. “What a coincidence, I just cleared the vegetable garden and picked two loofahs. We can make clam soup with loofah tonight, very delicious. I haven’t had them in a while, they’re delicious but require a bit of work to prepare.”

Lin Jiangshan rolled up his sleeves and smiled. “My husband provides the culinary skills, and I’ll provide the labor, I’ll help you clean the mud and sand.”

Ye Xi said, “Alright, then my husband has to work!”