Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 47

Chapter 47

When Li-ge’er found Li Ran and Ye Xi by the roadside, he saw them smiling at him and knew they must have seen Li Xi.

“What are you two smiling about?” Li-ge’er asked, his neck stiff.

Ye Xi smiled. “Li Xi is a good man, he even came to find you and talk to you.”

Li Ran covered her mouth and laughed. “He even helped Li-ge’er sell seedlings.”

Li-ge’er pursed his lips and said shyly, “That fool.”

“Just wait and see when he separates from his family. Since he made a promise to you, he won’t break it,” Ye Xi said.

Li-ge’er nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

It was almost noon, and the market crowd gradually dispersed. The three of them, having finished their errands, walked back to Shanxiu Village.

Back in their courtyard halfway up the mountain, Ye Xi cooked a simple bowl of noodles for himself, let the chickens and ducks out, had the fawn guard them in the courtyard, and chopped some grass for the pigs.

He went to the cabinet in their room, found Lin Jiangshan’s old cotton-padded jacket, removed the cotton filling, and prepared to make a pair of cotton shoes. As for the jacket, he would buy some new cotton and add it to the filling to make it warmer. Ye Xi had a cotton-padded jacket, a new one his mother made for him last year, which he could wear for a few more years.

After removing the cotton filling, he washed it in a basin with soap berries and then left it to dry in the sun, ready to be stuffed into the shoes.

Ye Xi was reluctant to throw away the remaining fabric, so he sewed it up, added some old cotton, and made a cushion for the fawn’s basket. The weather was getting colder, and it needed to stay warm.

Since the weather was sunny today, he planned to wash and dry their thinner clothes and store them in the cabinet.

Then he noticed that Lin Jiangshan’s pillow had a ripped seam, the filling exposed. Pillows here were usually filled with rice husks or sorghum grains.

Ye Xi remembered a senna tree by the riverbank that had borne fruit. The seeds, after being dried, could be used as pillow filling, promoting sleep, improving eyesight, and clearing the mind, very beneficial.

Ye Xi took a basket and went out. As expected, he found the senna tree by the riverbank, covered in pods. The yellow flowers had mostly withered, leaving behind the full pods.

Ye Xi rolled up his sleeves and started picking the pods. A pillow would require a few catties of senna seeds, and since the pods were small, he would have to pick several baskets.

His arms inevitably got scratched during the process, and after a hard afternoon of picking,

On his way home, Ye Xi went to check if the soap pod tree had any soap pods. They were running low at home and needed to stock up.

He used a bamboo pole to knock down a few clusters from the higher branches, enough for a month or two.

Back home, Ye Xi took a stool and sat in the courtyard, shelling the senna pods, while the fawn frolicked in the courtyard, chasing the chickens and ducks. Ye Xi scolded it a few times, then let it be.

He shelled the pods until it was getting dark, his neck stiff and sore, his fingertips aching.

He went to the kitchen, lit the fire, and scooped a ladleful of wheat flour from the jar and kneaded it into dough. It had gotten colder in the mountains tonight, and the wind howled.

He had bought half a catty of meat in town today. They hadn’t had fresh pork for a while, only cured meat, and Lin Jiangshan was working hard every day, expending a lot of energy. He needed to eat meat regularly to maintain his strength.

Therefore, Ye Xi always used plenty of oil when cooking, even for stir-fried rice, he used lard.

He rolled out the dough into thin, round wrappers with a rolling pin, then minced the pork, added ginger and scallion water, chopped scallions, salt, and hot vegetable oil, and mixed it well with chopsticks, creating the filling.

He planned to make wontons tonight, warm and flavorful.

He placed a spoonful of filling on each wrapper, folded and pinched them to seal, creating plump wontons.

Ye Xi then found some dried shiitake mushrooms from the cupboard, soaked them in hot water until they softened and expanded.

While the water was boiling in the pot, Lin Jiangshan returned. “I went to the fields after work, the winter wheat seedlings have sprouted, green and vibrant. If we have good snowfall this winter, we’ll have a bountiful harvest next year, after the beginning of summer.”

Ye Xi said happily, “Then the seeds my father bought for us are good. If the harvest is good next year, we should save a basketful for seeds.”

Lin Jiangshan washed his hands by the pool. “Mm-hmm, it’s better to use our own seeds, more reliable. The weeds in the fields are growing densely, I’ll find time to weed them after the work on the official road is finished, so they don’t compete with the crops for nutrients.”

Ye Xi listened to his husband’s words, lifted the lid of the pot, added the soaked and sliced shiitake mushrooms, and took out two bowls to prepare the soup base.

He added two spoonfuls of mushroom broth to each bowl, a piece of lard, a spoonful of salt, a lidful of vinegar, some soy sauce, and finally, a few drops of sesame oil.

After the mushrooms were cooked, he added the wontons to the pot. The thin wrappers and plump filling became translucent in the boiling water, the pink pork filling visible inside.

He scooped the wontons into the bowls, a dozen or so for himself and over thirty for Lin Jiangshan. He added a few blanched vegetables and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top.

Lin Jiangshan took a sip of the soup with a spoon, the delicious flavor making his eyebrows almost jump in surprise.

Ye Xi said, “I like my wontons in clear soup, the flavor of the meat and broth is enough. You prefer stronger flavors, you might find it bland.”

He then prepared a small dish of chili sauce for Lin Jiangshan.

Lin Jiangshan dipped the wontons in the chili sauce, ate a few in one go, and then took a sip of the soup, his body warmed, sweat forming on his back.

Ye Xi took a bite of a mushroom in the soup. “Ouch, it’s hot.”

Lin Jiangshan put down his chopsticks, lifted Ye Xi’s chin, and examined his mouth. “It’s alright, no blisters, not even red.”

Ye Xi didn’t dare to eat so quickly and carefully blew on the wontons.

“This is similar to the dumplings in Beizhou, but the wrappers aren’t as thin, and they’re usually eaten dry,” Lin Jiangshan said, looking at the wontons in his bowl.

Ye Xi smiled. “We don’t eat dumplings much here, but wontons are common, especially in cold weather, a bowl of hot wontons warms you up.”

Lin Jiangshan then asked about Ye Xi’s trip to town today.

“I sold the handkerchiefs and bought some fabric for you, to make a new cotton-padded jacket.”

Lin Jiangshan frowned. “Why didn’t you buy some for yourself? You’re a young man, you should wear nice clothes, I’m a man, I can wear anything.”

Ye Xi said, “I have one, a new one Mother made for me last year, I can wear it for a few more years. But yours has several holes, and the filling is thin, it won’t keep you warm. If you get sick, who will I rely on?”

Lin Jiangshan insisted, “I’ll buy you some fabric after I get paid in a few days. We should both wear new clothes.”

Ye Xi couldn’t argue with him and nodded. “Since my husband wants to make me new clothes, I’ll naturally accept them. The pillow at home needs to be replaced, the filling is coming out. I picked some senna seeds this afternoon, we can dry them and use them as filling. I also picked some soap pods, but I’m afraid it’s not enough, we might have to go to the mountains again.”

Lin Jiangshan knew how troublesome it was to pick senna seeds, and he saw that Ye Xi’s fingertips were red, with black stains under his nails.

He held Ye Xi’s hand with distress. “Next time, wait for me to come back and help you with these things. Your arms are scratched, I should be taking care of you, my husband, how can I let you get hurt and suffer?”

Ye Xi felt embarrassed. “You work every day, and you also have to take care of the crops and chop firewood in the mountains, it’s good that I can help you with these small things.”

Lin Jiangshan didn’t think so. Before he had a husband, he was alone, with a cold stove, no one to cook warm meals for him, no one to mend his clothes, and no one to change the quilts when the weather turned cold. Now that he had a husband, someone cooked for him, made him new clothes, waited for him at the gate when it was late, and even raised chickens and ducks at home, making it more lively.

His husband was the best husband in the world!

The next morning, Ye Xi washed the senna seeds in the courtyard, skimmed off the foam, and spread them on a bamboo tray to dry in the sun, ready to be used as pillow filling.

He had planned to wash and put away the thinner clothes yesterday, so he took some soap pods and sat by the pool, washing clothes, then hung them to dry all over the courtyard.

Ye Xi decided to go to his parents’ house to ask his mother for some peanuts to sprout bean sprouts.

As he descended the mountain and entered the village, he saw the village chief’s wife and a few village women chatting.

Ye Xi greeted them, shared some jujubes from his basket with them, and was about to leave when the women insisted he stay and chat. They all liked Ye Xi, finding him kind, hardworking, and practical, especially after the fish-selling incident, they thought he was a good person.

Unable to refuse, Ye Xi sat down on the stone mill at the village entrance and listened to their chatter.

The village chief’s wife chewed on a jujube. “Xi-ge’er, these jujubes are so sweet. If you have more next time, bring some down, and I’ll pay you.”

Ye Xi smiled. “They’re not worth anything, Village Chief’s wife, if you like them, I’ll give you some next time.”

The women praised him for his generosity.

“Hey, have you heard about what happened to the Lin family in the east end of the village?” one of the women said.

Hearing the name, Ye Xi couldn’t help but look up, waiting for the gossip.

“The Lin family? Isn’t it about Yao-ge’er being caught by Qian Ma-zi having a secret affair with a man at night? Everyone knows about it. I don’t think anyone will dare to propose marriage to him anymore, so indecent.”

“Even after that incident, they actually went to the Cao family to cause a scene,” another woman said.

“Oh my, good heavens, after such a shameful incident, they still dare to go to the Cao family? Do they still expect the Cao family to marry him?!”

“I heard from my sister-in-law in the next village that the Lin family is causing a scene at the Cao family’s house, refusing to leave. I think there’s going to be a big fight.”

The women looked at Ye Xi, who remained silent. “Our Xi-ge’er is truly lucky. Although he didn’t marry into the Cao family, he married Lin fellow from our village, and I think he’s a caring, hardworking, and responsible husband. I heard from the village chief that Lin fellow works at the government office and never misses a day of work. Xi-ge’er is living a blessed life.”

The village chief’s wife smiled. “Isn’t he? My husband always praises Lin lad for his diligence and honesty, and he’s also good at farming.”

Ye Xi smiled and chatted with the women for a while, then excused himself, saying he had to visit his parents, and left.

After leaving, Ye Xi thought to himself, the Cao family was so snobbish and harsh, especially Mother Cao, how could they tolerate Yao-ge’er, who now had a ruined reputation, causing a scene at their house?

Thinking back to the night Yao-ge’er was caught, the man abandoned him and ran away.

Could it be that the man was Cao Bin?