Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 6

Chapter 6

This meant he accepted. Ye Xi nodded and carried the jar of pickles into the kitchen.

The kitchen was cold and cheerless, perhaps because it hadn’t been used for a long time. A layer of fine dust covered the stovetop. Several cleaned and salted pheasants hung above the stove, and a few grayish-brown large steamed buns were placed in a large bowl on a low table.

Ye Xi placed the jar on the stove and couldn’t help but feel curious about the steamed buns. It was the first time he had seen steamed buns of this color. They didn’t look like they were made of buckwheat flour or mixed with bean flour.

He glanced outside and saw the man tying firewood, so he took the opportunity to quietly poke one of the steamed buns in the bowl. It wasn’t the soft texture he expected, but felt like he was poking a stone. Ye Xi emboldened himself and squeezed it. Rock hard! He suspected that taking a bite of this steamed bun could choke someone to death!

Eating this kind of food, how did this person survive?

There was also a plate of pickles on the table, dark and smelling of smoke when he got closer. He suspected the man had smoked the pickles.

Was this food that a normal person could make?!

After placing the pickles and coming out, the man had finished tying the firewood. Besides the firewood Ye Xi had collected, he had added some cypress branches he had gathered.

Ye Xi blushed slightly. How could he accept his firewood?

The man didn’t seem to mind and said in a low voice, “I’m not taking your pickles for free, consider it payment.”

Ye Xi nodded and was about to pick up the basket when a large hand snatched it away. The man effortlessly carried the basket on his back.

Ye Xi didn’t know how to react to this action. He fidgeted with the corner of his clothes. “I can carry it back myself.”

If others saw this, who knows what they would say? An unmarried young man being so close to a stranger. Even if they were innocent, others wouldn’t say anything good about it.

The man naturally saw his concern and said, “I’ll only carry it for you to the foot of the mountain.” After saying that, he walked ahead with the firewood on his back.

Along the way, the man kept a considerable distance from Ye Xi, making a clear effort to avoid suspicion.

Looking at the figure in front of him, Ye Xi felt grateful. He was wearing a veil, and others would definitely ask him about it, but the man seemed not to care at all.

Ye Xi unconsciously touched his face. If the man saw such an ugly scar, he would probably avoid him as well.

The man walked quickly and soon reached the foot of the mountain. By the time Ye Xi finally caught up, he had been standing under a tree for who knows how long.

Ye Xi took the basket and whispered his thanks. The man didn’t speak, his dark eyes glanced at Ye Xi before turning to go back up the mountain.

“Wait,” Ye Xi called out to the man.

Seeing his profile as he turned, the strong contours outlined by the golden sunlight, Ye Xi pursed his lips and said softly, “I’m the young man from the Ye family in Shanxiu Village. My name is Ye Xi.”

The man grunted noncommittally, as if knowing his name wasn’t important.

Ye Xi blushed slightly and asked his name, “You helped me, but I still don’t know your name. Since… we’re in the same village now, we might have some interactions in the future.”

“Lin Jiangshan.”

Ye Xi silently repeated the name in his heart. For some reason, he found the name very pleasant.

“Alright, if you run out of pickles, you can tell me. I have some more at home.” Ye Xi nodded.

The man seemed to be a man of few words and grunted again, then turned and went back up the mountain without looking back.

Ye Xi carried the firewood all the way home. Liu Xiufeng was spinning linen in the courtyard. Farming families couldn’t afford cotton cloth like the townspeople. Firstly, linen was durable, able to withstand the wear and tear of working in the fields year after year. One piece of linen clothing could last for several years. Secondly, every family knew how to spin linen. By setting aside some time during the less busy farming seasons, they could be self-sufficient in clothing for the whole family, without having to spend money buying it from cloth stores.

“Mother,” Ye Xi called out as he piled the firewood under the eaves.

Liu Xiufeng replied, her hands still busy with her work. She glanced at the firewood Ye Xi brought back and smiled. “This bundle of firewood is good, very neatly gathered.”

Ye Xi pursed his lips without speaking and turned to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He started the fire, the flames dancing in the stove.

The hot oil was sizzling. He poured a basket of green vegetables into the wok, and the kitchen filled with steam. As Ye Xi stirred with the iron spatula, he couldn’t help but think of Lin Jiangshan.

He was a rough man, with a cold stove and terribly made steamed buns, and no one at home to cook warm meals for him.

A drop of oil splashed onto the back of Ye Xi’s hand. He blushed unconsciously, stuck out his tongue, and scolded himself inwardly, “Tsk tsk tsk, Ye Xi, aren’t you ashamed? What does it matter to you whether other people have warm meals or not? Thinking about a man, how embarrassing.”

When Father Ye and Ye Shan returned from the fields in the evening, they brought Ye Xi a handful of wild sweet potatoes wrapped in leaves. They were round and red, and when gently broken open, revealed the dense flesh inside. They tasted very sweet.

He had been pampered like this at home since he was young, never lacking wild fruits. Father Ye had even bought him fruits from town several times.

After the family happily ate dinner, they turned off the lights and went to bed.

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, after a few cock-crows, the Ye family got up. Minor Heat was more than half over, and Major Heat was coming. They had to take care of the rice paddies during this time. It was cooler before sunrise, and farming families all rushed to do more work during this time.

His father and brother went to the fields, and Liu Xiufeng went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables. After picking them, she had to rush to town to sell them at a good price while the dew was still fresh. Each member of the family had their tasks, all striving for a better life.

And Ye Xi’s task was to make a hearty and filling breakfast for the family, filling their bellies.

As the rice harvest season approached, they no longer had to be so frugal with the stored grain from last year, so Ye Xi used mallow and rice to cook a pot of thick vegetable porridge, sprinkled with a little salt, refreshing and warming to the stomach.

He also mixed a plate of cucumbers with sesame oil. The sour beans he pickled a few days ago were also ready to eat. He took out a few, cut them into sections, and drizzled them with chili oil. They were perfect for eating with porridge.

Blue smoke rose from the stove, drifting into the morning mist, awakening Shanxiu Village. Every family was having breakfast, and the more diligent ones were already walking on the dewy paths between the fields, carrying plows and harrows.

The family sat in the courtyard and ate breakfast. The old man who herded cattle in the village led his cow past the Ye family’s courtyard gate. The cow flicked its tail, the bell around its neck jingling, creating a pleasant sound in the morning.

Father Ye greeted the old man with his bowl in hand, “Second Master Liu, you’re out so early to graze your cattle?”

The old man chuckled. His straw-sandaled feet were already wet with dew, his pants rolled up to his knees, revealing his thin and bony calves, but his spirit was excellent, and his voice was strong and powerful. “I’m not grazing cattle today, I’m going to plow the field for the next village. Wang San’s family bought another acre of land and is rushing to plow it for planting.”

Father Ye clicked his tongue enviously. “The Wang San family is doing well. This is the second time they’ve bought land this year, right?”

“Isn’t it? This time, they bought riverside land. I won’t keep you, you eat, I have to go.”

“Alright, alright, go ahead.”

After Second Master Liu led his cow away, Father Ye squatted back down on his small stool and slurped his porridge. “I wish our family could buy a few more acres of land.”

Ye Shan chewed on his cucumber and comforted his father. “Father, I’ll work hard. If the harvest is good this year, we can save up some silver to buy fertile land!”

Liu Xiufeng tapped Ye Shan’s head with her chopsticks. “Silly boy, don’t mix up your priorities. Buying land can wait. You’re eighteen this year, you should quickly find a girl and get married. That’s the most important thing for our family. Zhang Ergou from the same village already has children, and you’re still clueless.”

Ye Shan touched his head and muttered, “Our family isn’t well-off. I should take advantage of my strength to earn more for the family.”

The Ye family’s land wasn’t much, just the few acres distributed by the government, barely enough to feed the family. It was difficult to save any extra money, so they hadn’t been able to buy any other land these past years.

Ye Xi felt guilty. If it weren’t for his burned face, the family wouldn’t have spent their meager savings on doctors and medicine for him. Otherwise, they would have saved a considerable amount, and they could have hoped to buy an acre of good land this year.

Ye Shan saw his younger brother’s thoughts and quickly comforted him, “Xi-ge’er, don’t think too much. You manage the household chores, which is no easier than my farm work. Brother doesn’t want you to get married yet. If you get married, who will cook such delicious meals for me! I’m afraid I’ll lose a lot of weight in a few days.”

Ye Xi was amused. He picked up a sour bean with his chopsticks and placed it in his brother’s bowl, smiling. “Then Brother, quickly find me a good sister-in-law so she can take care of you.”

Ye Shan blushed at being teased by his younger brother and quickly drank half a bowl of porridge, then grabbed his harrow and slipped away.

Liu Xiufeng glared at him angrily and scolded, “Your brother is clueless. At his age, he’s still shy about marriage. I think if he waits any longer, he’ll become an old bachelor, and no girl or young man will want him.”

Ye Xi cleared the table and comforted his mother. “Brother is capable and responsible. If he gets married, he will definitely be good to his wife. With such a good temper, there will definitely be girls who like him. Don’t worry, Mother.”

Liu Xiufeng was in a hurry to go to town to sell vegetables, so she didn’t say anything more, picked up the heavy basket, and hurried out with the other women from the village.

Ye Xi was left alone at home. He first mixed the wheat bran, then went to the field to pull some sweet potato vines, chopped them up, and mixed them with the bran to feed the pigs in the pigpen. He then let the chickens and ducks out and lit some mugwort to smoke out the mosquitoes in the chicken coop.

After taking care of the livestock, the sun had already climbed over the mountaintop, the morning mist dispersed, and the hot day began.

Ye Xi put the dirty clothes in a wooden basin, took a few soap pods from the stovetop, and went out to wash clothes.