Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 5

Chapter 5

After the Ye family’s broken engagement was gossiped about for a while, it gradually faded. Farmers didn’t have much time to talk about other people’s affairs; Minor Heat was approaching, and the busy summer season was upon them.

As the heat began to rise, Father Ye and Ye Shan went to the fields to fertilize, weed, and control pests and diseases, ensuring a ripe harvest by the arrival of Major Heat. After feeding the chickens and ducks at home, Ye Xi prepared to go into the mountains to gather some firewood.

Boiling pig food every day consumed a lot of dry firewood. Since his brother and father had to tend to the crops, Ye Xi naturally took on these chores.

Locking the house, Ye Xi went out carrying a basket on his back. He collected some twigs along the foot of the back mountain. The mountains were densely forested, blocking out the scorching sun. Walking under the shade of the trees, stepping on the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves, he felt cool.

The further up the mountain he went, the more dead branches there were. Ye Xi took advantage of today to collect more, so he wouldn’t have to make another trip soon. When the basket was full and tied tightly with hemp rope, he realized the sky had turned overcast. The bright sun was hidden by dark clouds, and the light dimmed, all signs of impending rain.

No longer able to collect more, Ye Xi picked up the firewood and hurried down the mountain. He had only walked a short distance when he heard the sound of rain hitting the leaves, starting sparsely and gradually becoming denser.

Large raindrops fell on his cheeks and shoulders, accompanied by deafening thunder. Lightning cracked across the sky, and the animals in the forest scurried away.

Seeing the rain getting heavier, Ye Xi hurried down the mountain in a panic. The firewood on his back wasn’t light, bending his spine and weighing down his steps.

The rain-soaked mountain path became muddy and slippery. Ye Xi, not paying attention, tripped over a tree vine on the path and stumbled forward a few steps. Before he could regain his balance, he slipped and fell to the side of the path with a thud. Fortunately, he grabbed onto the vines by the roadside in time, preventing himself from rolling down the slope.

The heavy firewood pressed down on his back, pinning him to the ground, unable to get up. Ye Xi felt a burning pain in his knees and elbows. He hissed as the rain poured down on him, dripping from his eyelashes.

Through the rain and fog, a tall figure appeared on the path ahead, wearing a straw raincoat and a wide bamboo hat, carrying two pheasants in his hand.

Ye Xi watched as the person approached, rain dripping from his straw raincoat, until the straw sandals stopped in front of him.

Ye Xi looked up blankly. The face under the bamboo hat was firm and resolute, with sharp features. Although he looked a bit stern and intimidating, he also exuded a sense of calmness and stability, like a man who could withstand any storm.

The man didn’t speak. He simply dropped the pheasants he was carrying and bent down to pick up the firewood from Ye Xi’s back. It was a large bundle, but he moved it effortlessly. Ye Xi felt the weight on his back disappear, suddenly feeling light.

He quickly got up from the ground. His blue coarse cloth clothes were covered in mud and water, looking particularly disheveled. There was even a large tear on his knee, likely from being scraped by a stone.

“Th-thank you,” Ye Xi whispered his thanks, not daring to look at him. This man was too tall; he could barely reach his shoulder.

The man didn’t speak. His deep, dark eyes swept over Ye Xi’s face before he picked up his pheasants and continued walking.

Ye Xi took a step to pick up his basket, but after two steps, he couldn’t help but hiss in pain. His elbows and knees hurt badly, let alone carrying the firewood down the mountain.

“Excuse me, can you help me?” Ye Xi softly called out to the man.

The man in the straw raincoat stopped and turned slightly, as if waiting for Ye Xi to continue.

Ye Xi pursed his lips. “I hurt my knees and arms and can’t move. Could you please help me move this firewood to a hidden place? I’ll come back for it another day.”

The man finally looked at Ye Xi’s knees, and after a moment, nodded and said in a low voice, “Alright.”

This was the first time Ye Xi heard the man’s voice, and it was surprisingly pleasant.

“Thank you so much.”

The man returned. He saw that Ye Xi was drenched, his hair plastered to his cheeks, the white gauze stuck to his face, his head bowed, like a wounded little white rabbit.

He took off his bamboo hat and handed it to Ye Xi.

Ye Xi was a little flustered. He had already troubled him, how could he take his hat? He quickly waved his hand. “No, you wear it. I’m already soaked.”

The man held the hat in the air for a moment, then placed it at Ye Xi’s feet, picked up the bundle of firewood, and said quickly, “Come get it when the weather is clear, the house halfway up the mountain.”

After saying that, he left.

Ye Xi picked up the bamboo hat and finally realized that the man was the stranger who had moved to their village.

Without time to think, Ye Xi hurried down the mountain. When he got home, he discovered that his arms and elbows were badly scraped, the oozing blood diluted by the rain, staining his clothes.

Liu Xiufeng quickly brought hot water to carefully clean Ye Xi’s wounds, then went to the courtyard to cut some hemostatic herbs, crushed them with a mortar and pestle, and applied them to his wounds.

At dinner that evening, when his family asked how he got injured, Ye Xi stirred the brown rice in his bowl with his chopsticks and replied evasively, “I was going to the mountain to gather firewood, but it suddenly rained. I was in a hurry coming down and fell, and the firewood was left on the mountain.”

He deliberately concealed his encounter with the stranger.

Hearing this, Ye Shan felt distressed for his younger brother. “Then you stay home and rest well. I’ll go to the mountain and bring back the firewood another day.”

Ye Xi’s eyes widened, and he quickly said, “No need, Brother, I’ll go get it myself tomorrow.”

After dinner, Ye Xi washed up and went back to his room. Lying in bed, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. When he turned over, his elbow accidentally brushed against the blanket, causing him to hiss in pain. The image of the man in the rain flashed in his mind: the tall figure, the deep, dark eyes. He was a bit cold and intimidating, but it didn’t change the fact that he was a good person.

He didn’t know why, but even though it was his first time meeting this man, and he didn’t even know his name, let alone his background, Ye Xi felt that this man was a good person.

Staring at the dark roof, Ye Xi muttered, this person wasn’t like a Hu barbarian as his brother described, but rather a bit handsome, as Li-ge’er said.

Besides, this person helped him and even gave him his bamboo hat. A Hu barbarian wouldn’t have such kindness.

After the heavy rain, there were several consecutive sunny days. The weeds in the fields grew rapidly. Besides helping in the fields, Ye Xi also had to set up the trellis for the cucumber vines in the vegetable garden. The beans on the bamboo trellis had grown quickly these past few days, and he had harvested a large basin. Besides boiling them as a staple food, the rest had to be pickled in a ceramic jar to make sour beans, which could be eaten as a side dish with porridge in the morning or as a topping for noodles.

Ye Xi was skilled at making pickles. The pickling liquid was clear, without any white film, and the pickled vegetables were crisp and tasty, neither too sour nor lacking in flavor.

After washing the remaining two jars at home, Ye Xi brought the salt jar and evenly applied three layers of salt. He placed the washed, green cucumbers in cooled boiled water, filled the jar’s rim with clean water, and sealed it. They would be ready to eat in four or five days.

After making the pickles, the sun was just past its zenith, and it was still early. Ye Xi remembered the bundle of firewood he had left on the mountain a few days ago. After some thought, he went into the kitchen and brought out a small jar of pickles.

After walking for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finally saw the house halfway up the mountain. Since Blind Liu’s death, Ye Xi hadn’t been here much. He heard it had been abandoned for a long time, with grass growing on the roof. When the wind blew at night, it would make whistling sounds, which was quite scary.

Ye Xi looked around. There was no one around. He had deliberately chosen a less-traveled path to avoid being seen.

Clutching the jar of pickles nervously, he walked to the front door of the house. The door was unlocked. He stretched his neck and peered inside.

The courtyard was swept clean, and several salted fish were drying under the eaves. The broken tiles on the roof had been repaired, and it no longer looked dilapidated. It now seemed like a decent house.

“Is anyone there?” he gently knocked on the tung oil-painted door with his knuckles.

The house was quiet. Suddenly, a flock of birds flew out from the nearby woods, flapping their wings and flying away, startling him.

He knocked on the door twice more, but there was still no response. Ye Xi decided to leave and come back another day.

Just after he walked about ten meters away from the house, he saw a man walking on the mountain path, wearing brown coarse linen clothes and carrying a basket in his hand.

Ye Xi recognized him as the stranger he had met in the rain that day.

The man obviously saw him too. He paused slightly, then walked over with a blank expression.

Seeing the man getting closer, Ye Xi unconsciously tightened his grip on the jar, becoming nervous.

“Um, I’m here to get my firewood.”

The man grunted and walked into the courtyard. Ye Xi had no choice but to follow him.

After entering the courtyard, the man went to the woodshed and brought out the basket of firewood. He sat down under the eaves and casually started twisting straw ropes.

Ye Xi was puzzled. He had clearly tied the firewood that day, why was it loose now?

The man looked up and saw Ye Xi staring at the firewood, so he said, “The rain was heavy, the firewood got wet. I dried it for you.”

After several days of drying, the firewood had become very dry and could be burned in the stove immediately.

Ye Xi said gratefully, “Thank you, I appreciate it.” Remembering the jar of pickles he had brought, he touched his nose and said shyly, “I made some pickles at home. If you don’t mind, I’d like to give you a jar.”

The man looked at the jar in Ye Xi’s hand, didn’t refuse, and lifted his chin towards the house next to him. “The kitchen is there.”