Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 67

Chapter 67

During the New Year period, there was no work to be done, so Ye Xi and Lin Jiangshan stayed home. Ye Xi, being skillful with his hands, made all sorts of delicious food: shepherd’s purse buns, chive dumplings, stir-fried cabbage with pork, braised eggplant with vermicelli noodles, braised pig’s trotters with fermented soybean paste, and he even gained some weight, his face becoming rounder and fuller.

Sitting on the kang, Ye Xi measured his waist and realized he had indeed gained weight. He looked at his husband, who ate the same food as him, even using a larger bowl for every meal, yet he didn’t seem to gain any weight.

Lin Jiangshan smiled and coaxed his husband, “I must have gained muscle, while my husband’s body is soft, and his flesh is also soft and cuddly.”

Ye Xi used to be thinner, his wrists slender, and Lin Jiangshan didn’t dare to be too rough in bed, afraid of hurting him. Now that Ye Xi had gained some weight, his face fuller, his eyes looked rounder, his lips redder, an even more lovely sight.

Ye Xi pinched Lin Jiangshan’s arm, which was firm and hard, and said, puffing out his cheeks, “Why don’t you just say I’ll become as fat as a ball?”

Lin Jiangshan pulled Ye Xi closer and said softly, “I love my husband no matter what, there’s no one better than him.”

Ye Xi’s ears tickled from his warm breath, and he couldn’t help but giggle. Lin Jiangshan held him tightly in his arms, not letting him go.

Ye Xi tried to push him away, but he was too strong, so he started tickling him, but Lin Jiangshan wasn’t ticklish. Instead, Ye Xi was the one giggling.

Their laughter woke up the fawn and goat, which looked at them with their large, round eyes, puzzled by their playful antics.

Li Ran and Ye Shan came to visit, and before they even entered the courtyard, they heard the laughter and playful noises from inside the house, exchanging glances, knowing the couple were having fun.

“Did we come at a bad time?” Li Ran asked, standing under the eaves with a smile.

Seeing his brother and sister-in-law, Ye Xi quickly adjusted his collar, put on his shoes, and went out to greet them. Li Ran looked at him with a knowing smile, making Ye Xi blush.

“Brother, Sister-in-law, you’re here, why didn’t you tell us beforehand?”

Li Ran smiled. “We saw you and your husband having fun, we didn’t want to disturb you, so we waited outside for a while with your brother.”

Lin Jiangshan, thick-skinned, said calmly, “Brother, Sister-in-law, please come in.”

Inside the house, Ye Shan smiled and said, “Your sister-in-law can’t sit still, she insisted on coming to play cards with you.”

Playing cards was a popular pastime, and during the New Year or when there was no farm work, families would gather and play.

Ye Xi smiled. “It’s been a while. But I’m not very good at it.”

Li Ran said, “That’s why I came to find you, I want to win some money from you to buy snacks.”

The four of them gathered on the warm kang in the main room and started playing cards. Ye Shan and Lin Jiangshan were both quite skilled, while Ye Xi was cautious but not very good. Li Ran, who had boasted about winning, kept losing, her coins all going to the two men across from her.

As they played, Li-ge’er and Li Xi also came to visit. Li-ge’er brought a bag of walnuts. “My mother dried these in autumn, perfect as a snack.”

Ye Xi gave up his seat and let them join the card game while he went to the kitchen to prepare some food.

Li-ge’er smiled. “Xi-ge’er is so skillful, turning everything into snacks. I see you’ve gained some weight during the New Year.”

Ye Xi pinched his cheek, slightly worried. “Indeed, I usually work, but now I’m just staying home, eating and doing nothing, I’m bound to gain weight.”

Li-ge’er smiled. “It’s good to gain some weight, you look more prosperous and even more handsome than before.”

Ye Xi playfully hit him. “You’re just flattering me.”

Leaving them to play cards, Ye Xi went to the kitchen, soaked some peanuts, and then cracked the walnuts Li-ge’er brought, using the door crack. Lin Jiangshan, hearing the noise, came out to help him shell the walnuts.

His fingers were rough and not easily scratched, and he didn’t want his husband’s fingers to get hurt, so he took over the task, sitting by the stove and cracking walnuts.

Since Li Ran and Li-ge’er were visiting, Ye Xi, as the host, naturally had to prepare some treats.

After soaking the peanuts, he peeled off the red skin and roasted them in a wok until crispy, then ground them into powder with glutinous rice in a stone mortar.

“Husband, go and milk some goat milk, I’ll make milk cheese with it.”

Lin Jiangshan took a bowl and went to milk the goat under the eaves.

Ye Xi boiled the goat milk in a clay pot, added two pieces of rock sugar from the cupboard, then poured in the ground peanut and glutinous rice powder, stirring constantly, and added the rock sugar for sweetness.

The rich aroma of milk and peanuts filled the air, and after sprinkling some dried osmanthus flowers, a bowl of peanut milk cheese was ready.

Lin Jiangshan had shelled all the walnuts, half a basket full. Ye Xi took them, boiled them briefly in water to remove the bitterness, and said, “It’s a good thing we bought extra sugar during the market, we wouldn’t have enough otherwise.” He poured half a bowl of cane sugar from a bamboo container.

He melted the sugar in a hot wok, added some water, and simmered it into syrup, then added the walnuts and stir-fried them until they turned amber and the syrup formed strings.

He added a handful of sesame seeds, and the candied walnuts were ready.

These two snacks were perfect for satisfying cravings without being too filling, so they wouldn’t spoil their dinner.

Li-ge’er ate them non-stop, even offering to bring all the walnuts from his home for Ye Xi.

Ye Xi, sipping his peanut milk cheese, smiled and said, “Our sugar can’t handle that.”

Li Ran had two large bowls and still wanted more, so Ye Xi filled a water pouch with the remaining milk cheese for her to take home, reminding her not to overeat.

Laughter filled the small courtyard, seemingly melting the snow on the opposite mountain peak. The New Year in the mountain village was peaceful and joyous.

The New Year passed quickly, and the days of leisure were over. Every family had to start planning and working for the new year.

The snow hadn’t completely melted yet, but the frozen river had started to thaw. This was a difficult time for the villagers, the winter wheat not yet ripe.

The villagers attached great importance to the Beginning of Spring, and Shanxiu Village would hold a ceremony to worship the Spring God.

Early in the morning, the sound of firecrackers filled the village, a lively atmosphere.

Ye Xi combed his hair and tied a green ribbon around it. Lin Jiangshan, entering the room, praised, “It looks good. After a winter of white snow, this green color is refreshing.”

He made a mental note to buy more colorful ribbons for his husband, who looked good in any color.

“The village is worshiping the Spring God today, did they ask you to carry the ‘spring ox’?”

Lin Jiangshan sat under the eaves, putting on his shoes. “Yes, they asked me and your brother, ten wen each.”

Ye Xi said happily, “This is a blessed task, it doesn’t matter whether they pay us or not. You and Brother go first, I’ll come to the village later to watch!”

Lin Jiangshan agreed and hurried off.

After he left, Ye Xi finished the household chores and waited for Li-ge’er.

Li-ge’er was getting married at the end of this month, and Li Xi had bought him two bolts of fine cloth for clothes. He arrived wearing a new goose-yellow outfit, looking youthful and charming.

Ye Xi smiled and praised him, “You look beautiful! Clothes make the man, and this color suits your fair complexion.”

Li-ge’er’s eyes sparkled with joy, his wedding approaching, his spirits high.

They went to the village together. The Spring God worship ceremony had already begun. This was an important event at the beginning of the year, and every family came to watch.

The village elders were already performing the ceremony in the ancestral hall, offering meat, fruits, pastries, and other offerings. Those with higher seniority would kneel, kowtow, and offer incense, praying for blessings.

Ye Xi and Li-ge’er stood at the entrance with the other women and watched.

After the ceremony, the men would carry a clay ox around the village, beating drums and gongs, the ox symbolizing farming and a prayer for a good harvest.

There were also paper effigies of the Spring God and other deities, and the villagers would follow them to the fields and along the village paths, tying red ribbons on the budding branches, symbolizing the welcoming of spring.

With the sound of firecrackers, the procession began. The men in front beat drums and gongs, playing the suona, followed by four men carrying the clay ox.

“Look, there’s your husband and brother,” Li-ge’er shouted, pointing at the two men carrying the ox.

Ye Xi looked up and saw Lin Jiangshan and Ye Shan, smiling. “The village chief said they were strong and asked them to carry the spring ox yesterday.”

Li-ge’er said enviously, “Your family is honored, not everyone can carry the spring ox. Your family will definitely have a good harvest this year.”

Liu Xiufeng was also very proud among the women, everyone praising her family’s good fortune, a matter of great honor in the village.

With the sound of drums and gongs, the villagers of Shanxiu Village paraded out of the village, their laughter echoing in the fields, a simple and heartfelt prayer for a good year.

Ye Xi and Li-ge’er squeezed through the crowd, following the procession, and finally tied a red ribbon on a budding locust tree at the village entrance.

Next was the “beating of the ox.” The men would use whips to break open the clay ox, its belly filled with five-colored rice: millet, rice, sorghum, brown rice, and black rice. The village chief would then scatter the rice among the crowd.

Catching the rice in cloth bags, taking it home, and cooking it was considered a way to receive blessings.

Ye Xi and Li-ge’er also caught some rice, planning to cook porridge with it. Liu Xiufeng even came to ask if they had caught any, and seeing that they did, she was relieved.

By noon, the Spring Welcoming ceremony ended, and every family went home to prepare the “biting of spring” ritual.