Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 65

Chapter 65

People in Nanchuan Prefecture loved rice noodles. When they tired of noodles, they would have rice noodles. Dried rice noodles were sold in town, fifteen wen per bundle, enough for two or three meals.

Ye Xi had never bought dried rice noodles, he always felt that freshly made ones tasted better. He went to the kitchen, scooped a ladleful of rice, and used the small millstone at home, a crude one Lin Jiangshan made from a stone he found in the mountains, to grind the rice into flour. It was enough for the two of them.

He sifted the rice flour with a bamboo sieve, added a small bowl of wheat flour and some potato starch, kneaded it into a dough, added some vegetable oil, covered it, and let it rest.

Ye Xi asked Lin Jiangshan in the courtyard, “Should I boil some water? I asked Li Xi to come and slaughter the pig.”

Lin Jiangshan replied, “Yes, I’ll sharpen the knives while the water boils, so we can bleed the pig properly.”

Ye Xi said, “We can’t finish a whole pig, I’m thinking of curing half, making some cured meat and sausages, and storing the rest as fresh pork in the jar in the courtyard.”

Lin Jiangshan brought a whetstone, sprinkled some water on it, and said, “We’ll save two pieces of leg meat and take them to your family.”

Ye Xi was surprised. “What for?”

Lin Jiangshan smiled. “Your family made all their pork into cured meat and sausages to sell this year, they probably don’t have much fresh pork left. Take two pieces back for your parents to cook, you often bring things back from home, shouldn’t we give them something in return?”

Ye Xi’s heart warmed, he had truly found a good husband, and he nodded happily. “Alright, I’ll take them tomorrow.”

They cleaned the cellar, and by the afternoon, the dough was ready. Seeing that Lin Jiangshan was hungry and was already roasting ciba to fill his stomach, Ye Xi quickly went back to the kitchen to cook.

He used a bamboo tube with several small holes drilled in the bottom, put the dough inside, and pressed down firmly, the thin noodles extruding from the holes.

The leftover chicken soup from last night was perfect for the rice noodles. He brought the soup to a boil, added some tender greens, shredded tofu skin, and a few meatballs, then added the rice noodles.

After the noodles were cooked, he added some chopped chives and scallions.

A steaming hot bowl of chicken soup rice noodles. Ye Xi filled a large bowl for Lin Jiangshan and handed it to him.

They sat under the eaves, enjoying the view of the snow-capped mountains against the blue sky, the snow-covered pine forest on the mountainside, chatting and eating their noodles.

After a bowl of noodles, their bodies warmed up, and Lin Jiangshan even finished all the soup.

Ye Xi took the bowls to the kitchen to wash and boiled a pot of hot water.

In the late afternoon, Ye Shan and Li Ran came to visit, to help with holding down the pig during slaughter.

Ye Xi quickly invited his sister-in-law inside to warm up by the fire. “Sister-in-law, you’re pregnant, why are you out in the snow? What if something happens? Mother will be heartbroken!”

Li Ran sat on the kang and smiled. “I finally have a chance to go out, I wanted to visit and chat with you. They won’t let me go out, only allowing me to walk around the courtyard. Your brother is home today, so he brought me here.”

Ye Xi hadn’t seen his sister-in-law for a while, and they sat on the kang, chatting.

“Is your morning sickness over, Sister-in-law?”

Li Ran made a face. “I still can’t stand the smell of meat or oily food, just craving snacks. A few days ago, I even snuck into the cellar and ate a couple of pickled mustard green stems from the jar.”

Ye Xi smiled. “Then I’ll make you a bowl of hot and sour soup tonight.”

Li Ran was delighted, and Ye Xi brought out some roasted chestnuts and pumpkin seeds, and a small basket of dried sweet potatoes. “We had a lot of sweet potatoes, so I cut them into strips and dried them. They become soft and sweet after being roasted, a good chewy snack, try some, Sister-in-law.”

Li Ran took a piece and tasted it, finding it delicious.

After a while, Li Xi and Li-ge’er arrived.

Li-ge’er naturally went inside to chat with Ye Xi and Li Ran, while Li Xi went to the pigsty with Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan. The three men led the remaining pig out into the courtyard with a rope around its neck.

The fawn and goat, startled, ran back to the main room, and Ye Xi threw a few dried sweet potato strips to them. “Don’t be afraid.”

They slaughtered the pig in the courtyard, its squeals piercing the air, then quickly silenced. Li Xi bled the pig, the blood flowing into a basin.

Li Ran wasn’t afraid of slaughtering pigs, her family were butchers, and she had seen it since childhood. If she weren’t pregnant, she could have done it herself today. She watched from the window and smiled. “Li Xi’s butchering skills are quite good, clean and efficient. He’s also skilled at cutting the meat, each piece evenly sized.”

Li-ge’er said, “That’s his only skill, how he earns a living. He’s been helping people slaughter pigs and castrate piglets recently, he’s becoming more and more experienced.”

Ye Xi cracked open a pumpkin seed and smiled. “He’s working so hard, isn’t it to earn enough money to build a house and hold a wedding feast for you?”

Li Ran teased Li-ge’er, “He must be impatient. If you don’t marry him soon, I might even have my baby first, and he’ll be jealous!”

The three of them chatted in the room, and Li-ge’er said, “The spring imperial exam is half a month after the New Year. I heard the private school teacher in Qingfu Village say that someone from our area might become a Xiucai!”

A Xiucai was rare in these villages. If a family had a Xiucai, it was a great honor, even the village chief would bring gifts to congratulate them. They would have influence in the government office, and also receive a monthly stipend, although only one or two qian of silver, it was still a considerable amount for farming families.

Ye Xi and Li Ran shook their heads, they had been busy earning money at the market, they hadn’t had time to pay attention to other things.

Li-ge’er continued, “The teacher said he has a student who is intelligent, humble, and a talented writer, with the potential to become an official!”

Li Ran asked, “Who is this student? Could it be that Cao boy from the next village?”

Li-ge’er shook his head. “I don’t know, the teacher mentioned it while drinking with someone at the restaurant, he didn’t reveal the name.”

Ye Xi, his eyes downcast, thought it definitely wasn’t that Cao boy, someone who frequented brothels wouldn’t be focused on his studies.

Ye Xi’s guess was right. At that moment, Cao Bin was drinking in a brothel with a few of his classmates, all from wealthy families in town. Since befriending them, he had been frequenting brothels.

After marrying Yao-ge’er from the Lin family, he hadn’t dared to come for a while, afraid of Yao-ge’er’s temper and causing trouble, but he couldn’t resist the temptation and had relapsed, sneaking out after class.

Young Master Zhao, his eyes red from drinking, smiled. “Brother Cao, you’re so lucky, marrying such a handsome young man, you must be enjoying your blissful married life, you don’t even come out with us for fun anymore.”

“Yes, Brother Cao is unwilling to come out, he’s being controlled by his husband. I heard his husband even chased him out of the house with a broom.”

“Brother Cao, you’re a man, how can you be bullied like this? The husband is the head of the household, he should respect and obey you, you can’t tolerate such behavior!”

Their words made Cao Bin clench his fists, but he maintained a calm facade, pretending nothing was wrong. Ever since he married Yao-ge’er, there hadn’t been a single day of peace in his house.

Yao-ge’er had pretended to be gentle, considerate, and obedient when they had their secret affair, making his heart itch with desire. But after they got married, he would pinch his ears, throw things at him, and even make him kneel in bed! A true shrew.

Even his own mother, with her fiery temper, couldn’t control him. They would argue every other day, Yao-ge’er’s cursing no less vicious than his mother’s, and if they fought physically, his mother wouldn’t be a match for him. Yao-ge’er had even scratched his mother’s face several times, making her too embarrassed to go out.

Cao Bin took a sip of wine. “Let’s not talk about this, classmates, let’s discuss the spring imperial exam after the New Year, that’s the most important thing for us scholars!”

The topic shifted away from Cao Bin.

Young Master Sun, sitting on his left, said, “Brother Bin has the potential to become a Xiucai, you’ve been studying for five or six years, longer than any of us, and you’re also talented in poetry and painting, we can’t compare to you.”

“Yes, yesterday, our teacher even said that there’s a student who is talented, with excellent writing skills and the bearing of an official, isn’t that you, Brother Bin?”

“Besides you, I don’t think anyone else fits that description.”

Their praises made Cao Bin feel proud, and he drank too much without realizing it.

When he returned home from the brothel, it was already dark. Yao-ge’er sat on the kang, glaring at him coldly. “Did you go drinking again?! Do you just ignore everything I say?! I told you to study for the exam, and you snuck out to drink! Are you crazy?!”

Yao-ge’er went forward and pinched Cao Bin’s ear, making him wince. “Are you crazy! Let go!”

Yao-ge’er’s face turned red with anger. He had married Cao Bin because he was a scholar from a wealthy family, scheming and seducing him, hoping that once Cao Bin became a Xiucai, he could be a Xiucai’s wife and enjoy the prestige, bringing honor to his Lin family. But Cao Bin was neglecting his studies more and more.

“If you go drinking again, I’ll break your legs!”

Cao Bin, still feeling smug from his teacher’s praise, pushed Yao-ge’er away, almost making him, pregnant, hit the corner of the table. He rubbed his ear impatiently. “Do you know what our teacher said about me?”

“What?”

Cao Bin said proudly, “He said I have the bearing of an official and my writing is excellent, I’ll definitely become a Xiucai!”

Yao-ge’er’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Cao Bin sat down complacently. “I wouldn’t lie to you, just wait and enjoy a good life.”