Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 64

Chapter 64

After their trip to the market, Lin Jiangshan wouldn’t let Ye Xi go again, afraid he would catch a cold. Minor New Year’s Eve was approaching, and Ye Xi needed to clean and prepare the house. So, Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan went to the market, selling all the remaining charcoal except for what they needed themselves, and the cabbages, radishes, pumpkins, and winter melons from their garden and cellar were all exchanged for copper coins.

Their family’s savings had grown, and they could have a good New Year.

Ye Xi caught a chicken from the coop and slaughtered it, thinking that Minor New Year’s Eve was still a festive occasion, and his husband had been working hard at the market, braving the wind and snow, he deserved a good meal.

He bled and plucked the chicken in the courtyard, washed it clean, and took it to the kitchen.

The dried mushrooms they had saved from autumn were perfect for soup now. Ye Xi had been saving the morels and porcini mushrooms they picked from the forest, drying and storing them in a basket hanging from the rafters. Today, he could finally use them for soup.

He put the chicken pieces and mushrooms in a clay pot, added some chestnuts, wolfberries, and red dates, covered the pot, and let it simmer.

Ye Xi placed the pot on the charcoal brazier in the main room, sat on the kang, and embroidered handkerchiefs, a bed warmer by his feet, the bright sunlight reflecting off the snow outside through the papered windows. Unnoticed, the snow outside intensified.

A heavy snowfall was a sign of a good harvest next year, but with such strange weather this year, no one knew what to expect.

The fawn and goat were curled up at the foot of the kang, dozing, and as Ye Xi finished embroidering a handkerchief and was about to cut the thread, Li-ge’er arrived, bringing Li Xi with him. Ye Xi quickly invited them in.

Li-ge’er said, “We’re here to buy your pig. Li Xi is planning to sell meat in town tomorrow, the market is closing tomorrow, so he wants to buy the pig today and slaughter it.”

Ye Xi led them to the pigsty. Lin Jiangshan had built a partial cover with straw and cleaned the pigsty every day. The two pigs looked plump and healthy.

Li Xi smiled. “Master Lin takes good care of them, these pigs are fatter than others, and their skin looks healthier.”

Ye Xi smiled. “Just be diligent, feed them a mixture of pigweed and rice bran every day, and clean the pigsty, they eat and sleep well, naturally they’ll grow well.”

Li-ge’er said, “You’re good at raising anything. Your goat is also healthy, producing plenty of milk. The goat milk you gave me made me gain weight.”

Ye Xi said, “If you like it, I’ll give you more, I can’t finish it all myself.”

Li-ge’er shook his head. “If you have extra, you can sell it in the village, the mothers who don’t have enough milk would be willing to buy it for their children, you can earn some money that way. I won’t drink anymore, I’m afraid I won’t be able to fit into my wedding clothes.”

Ye Xi chuckled, and they chatted and laughed outside the pigsty while Li Xi entered the pigsty. Butchers had a certain aura about them, and the pigs, sensing it, oinked and backed away.

Ye Xi asked, “Have you chosen which one you want?”

Li Xi said, “They’re both good, either one is fine. I’ll wait for Brother Lin and Brother Ye to come back and help me.”

In the late afternoon, Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan returned from the market. Knowing that Li Xi was coming to buy a pig, they rolled up their sleeves to help.

Ye Xi and Li-ge’er didn’t dare to watch and hid inside, watching the three strong men push a pig out of the pigsty with a rope around its neck, tie its legs, and lay it down in the courtyard, the pig squealing loudly.

They went to a family with a large scale in the village, paid five wen to have it weighed, and it was two hundred and ten catties.

Live pigs cost eight wen per catty, and butchers would slaughter them and sell the meat in town for twelve or thirteen wen per catty, earning the difference.

Li Xi was grateful and said as he pushed the pig away on a cart, “I’ll ask Li-ge’er to bring you some offal after I slaughter the pig.”

Ye Xi and the others weren’t ones to take advantage of others. Ye Xi smiled and said, “Don’t bother, you should sell it at the market and earn more money. Once you and Li-ge’er are married, we’ll be neighbors on the mountainside, easy to visit each other. You can bring us these things later. Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Can you help us slaughter our pig?”

“If you need me, Master Lin, I’ll definitely come!”

Li Xi and Li-ge’er left with the pig, and Ye Xi invited his brother to stay for dinner. “I made chicken soup this afternoon, Brother, stay for dinner, I’ll pack some for Sister-in-law to take home.”

Ye Shan said with a troubled expression, “Your sister-in-law has been experiencing severe morning sickness recently, she can’t stand the smell of meat, she even says I smell bad and refuses to be near me. I can’t help it, I’ve been handling cured meat and sausages these past few days, I’m bound to smell, but I can’t upset her. I won’t have the chicken soup either.”

Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan laughed at their brother’s complaints and advised him to be more patient, it would be better when her morning sickness subsided.

After everyone left, Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan cleaned the pigsty. It got dark early in winter, and after washing their hands, they had dinner.

The chicken soup had simmered all afternoon, and when they opened the lid, the golden broth glistened with oil, the chicken meat tender and falling off the bone.

Ye Xi gave Lin Jiangshan a piece of chicken and took a mushroom for himself, plump and juicy from absorbing the chicken broth.

They sat by the charcoal brazier, enjoying the hot pot, their bodies sweating, and after a few bowls of the nourishing chicken soup with wolfberries and red dates, they felt warm and invigorated.

As the saying went, “Nourishment in winter, warmth throughout the year.” After Winter Solstice, people would stay indoors and make nourishing soups to strengthen their bodies, more effective than medicine. Ye Xi thought he should make more stews and hot pots, they had chickens and ducks at home.

“I’ll ask the village doctor tomorrow if he has any medicinal herbs for soup, like gastrodia elata, astragalus root, codonopsis root, or ophiopogon japonicus, they’re very nourishing. We’ve worked hard all year, it’s time to nourish our bodies.”

Lin Jiangshan’s nose was slightly sweaty from the hot food, and he spat out a chicken bone, nodding. “I’ll ask when I have time.”

After dinner, it was completely dark, and the snow intensified again, accumulating on top of the previously melted snow, even thicker now.

The oil lamp was lit in the room, and Ye Xi brought his money box, sitting on the kang and counting the money.

“When you finished working on the official road, we only had about ten taels of silver, and now it’s almost full.”

Lin Jiangshan had sold about five taels worth of charcoal, plus the income from Ye Xi’s vegetables and candied winter melon, and they had also sold some of their chickens and ducks a few days ago. With all this income, their savings had grown considerably.

“Li Xi gave me one hundred and fifty wen for the pig today, I’ll put the silver in the box and save the copper coins in the jar for daily expenses.”

Ye Xi carefully counted the money in the money box, about twenty-three taels, double what they had before, and there were over four hundred wen in the jar, enough for the New Year’s expenses.

Ye Xi said happily, “This is a considerable amount, many families haven’t saved this much. We have enough to buy the land and a cow next spring! We won’t need much money for the New Year, and if we save a bit more, the copper coins in the jar will become silver too. Then, in spring, we can buy piglets, chicks, and ducklings, I’m even thinking of raising rabbits.”

Lin Jiangshan, seeing his husband’s joy, was also happy, even more motivated to work hard and save money. “We’ll raise whatever you want, husband, you manage the household so well, we have enough food and clothing, you’re the head of this family.”

Ye Xi hugged the money box and smiled. “Then you have to build a rabbit hutch for me next spring, next to the chicken coop. We have plenty of wild grass on the mountain, it will be convenient to feed them.”

Lin Jiangshan readily agreed, helped Ye Xi put the money box in the cabinet and lock it, and they turned off the lights and went to bed.

Outside, the winter wind howled. Ye Xi, his feet warmed by the bed warmer, snuggled against his husband, warm and cozy. But as he drifted off to sleep, something felt amiss.

He opened his eyes and saw his husband staring at him intently, his eyes almost glowing.

“I want to… can we…?” Lin Jiangshan’s voice was husky.

He had been working hard day and night, busy with the market stall, and hadn’t dared to bother Ye Xi at night. Now that Minor New Year’s Eve had arrived, and they had a few days of rest before New Year’s Eve, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Smelling his husband’s scent, he felt an increasing urge, his body pressing against him.

Ye Xi shyly lowered his gaze, silently agreeing.

Lin Jiangshan, seeing this, rolled over, pressed him down, removed his clothes, and kissed him passionately.

The next day, Ye Xi could barely get out of bed, his body sore. Lin Jiangshan pulled him back into the warm bed, and they whispered sweet nothings for a long time. It wasn’t until the chickens and ducks started clucking from hunger, and the fawn and goat came to the door, butting their heads against it, that Ye Xi insisted on getting up. Lin Jiangshan, still relishing last night’s passion, tried to prevent Ye Xi from getting dressed, teasing him until he blushed and threatened to scold him, and then he finally got up obediently.

The snow from last night covered the courtyard, and Ye Xi asked Lin Jiangshan to clear the snow while he went to the kitchen to mix chicken feed. He fed the chickens and ducks, then cut some vegetables and sweet potatoes for the fawn and goat, which were following him.

When he came out, Lin Jiangshan had already cleared the snow and was washing the soiled bedsheets by the pool.

Ye Xi, happy to see his husband’s diligence, leaned against the kitchen door and asked, “What are we having for lunch? There’s still half a pot of chicken soup left from last night.”

Lin Jiangshan didn’t care what they ate, as long as his husband cooked it. “Whatever you make is fine, you’re in charge of the kitchen, I eat anything.”

Ye Xi decided to make rice noodles with chicken soup, and after lunch, they had to slaughter a pig.