SLH | Chapter 31

Busy Farming Season

Time flies like water, and before Liu Hu could finish learning Mandarin, the busy farming season had arrived. These past few days, he hadn’t gone to town for work but stayed home to help with the wheat harvest. Song Tingzhu also gave his students a break, telling them to come back after the farming season.

“Sister-in-law’s husband, are we going to the mountain to dig herbs today?” Liu Xiaomei asked, sitting in the shade by the courtyard wall, sipping tea in the hot weather, as she watched her sister-in-law’s husband tidying up.

Song Tingzhu put away his writing tools and said, “Yes, go wake up Xia Ge’er.”

The little guy had played with Lin Ge’er all afternoon yesterday and went to bed late, so he was still asleep.

Hearing this, Liu Xiaomei immediately got up, “I’ll go right away.”

Everyone was busy in the fields, so hardly anyone was going to the back mountain, meaning the whole mountain was hers!

A moment later, the little girl happily led Xia Ge’er out. The little guy was still sleepy, rubbing his eyes and softly calling, “Little Uncle.”

Song Tingzhu felt his heart melt at the sound, bending down to pat Xia Ge’er’s head with a smile, “There’s sweet porridge warming in the pot, I’ll have your little aunt bring it to you.”

Hearing about the sweet porridge, Xia Ge’er immediately perked up and ran off to wash up with bright eyes.

A quarter of an hour later, the three of them were dressed neatly, carrying bamboo baskets and heading towards the back mountain.

During the busy farming season, there weren’t many people wandering around the village, so the three of them didn’t encounter anyone on their way. After resting for a bit at the back mountain, they started searching for herbs by tapping the bushes with bamboo sticks.

There weren’t many snakes or insects on the back mountain, but it was still better to be cautious just in case.

At the foot of the mountain, there were plenty of plantain herbs. Song Tingzhu led the two to dig some up, and the next moment, Xiaomei excitedly exclaimed, “Over there, there’s a lot of Overroad Yellow!”

Overroad Yellow, also known as Gold Coin Grass, is a wild vegetable used by farmers, but due to its medicinal properties, it’s not suitable for everyone. Because of this, it had survived until now without being picked in the early spring.

Song Tingzhu also saw the small patch of Gold Coin Grass ahead, a smile spreading across his face.

Compared to plantain herbs, Gold Coin Grass fetched a higher price. Plantain herbs sold for about six or seven wen per jin, while Gold Coin Grass was twice as expensive, selling for around ten wen.

The three of them were all delighted, squatting under the tree and working for half an incense stick’s time before they finished picking it all.

Seeing that there was still time, Song Tingzhu led the two further in, only heading down the mountain to go home around noon.

Back in the village, they happened to run into Sixth Aunt Yang and chatted for a bit.

“Tingzhu, did you go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables?”

Song Tingzhu nodded, “Auntie, are you going to buy tofu?”

“Yes, just came back from the fields, not sure if there’s any left. Don’t want to delay talking with you, I’ll head off first.” With that, she turned and hurried towards the Cai family.

Xia Ge’er was being led by his little uncle, kicking stones by the roadside, and asked, “Little Aunt, what delicious food are we having for lunch?”

“Pancakes with scrambled eggs. Dad, mom, and second brother are busy in the fields, so they need to eat well to have energy.”

The little guy cheered, “Yay, Xia Ge’er loves pancakes with scrambled eggs!”

The family had recently started raising chickens and ducks, but they were too young to lay eggs. The eggs they were eating were bought from other families for a wen each. In spring and summer, eggs were cheap, even families that weren’t well-off could afford to buy some to improve their meals.

Once home, Liu Xiaomei went into the kitchen and quickly started cooking, while Song Tingzhu processed the herbs in the courtyard. Xia Ge’er also squatted nearby to help, pressing the herbs into a wooden basin with a serious expression.

Lunch was ready and set on the table, but the four people hadn’t returned, making Liu Xiaomei a bit worried. She told Song Tingzhu and then headed to the fields to look for them.

Song Tingzhu said, “Let’s go together.”

Having been married into the Liu family for so long, he still didn’t know where their fields were.

Naturally, Xia Ge’er wanted to follow, so the three of them closed the courtyard door and headed to the fields.

“Hey, why is Liu’s family son-in-law here?”

“Probably to bring food, see, they have a basket.”

“What are you looking at, you dead man, if you keep staring, I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“You shrew, I shouldn’t have listened to the matchmaker and married you.”

“Oh, so I’m a shrew, then go find someone gentle and virtuous, why did you marry me? Tomorrow we’ll go to the village head and get a divorce!”

Hearing the quarrel, Song Tingzhu quickened his pace.

“We’re here, sister-in-law’s husband, this is our field.” Liu Xiaomei stood at the edge of the field and shouted to the busy people, “Dad, mom, sister-in-law, second brother.”

Ruan Xiulian straightened up, holding her waist, “Oh, Xiaomei is here.”

“Wife, why are you here too?” Liu Hu, seeing his wife, quickly dropped his sickle and walked over.

“I came to bring you, dad, mom, and sister-in-law some food.” Song Tingzhu handed over the basket with food and asked, “Why are you so late today?”

“The weather’s changing, if we don’t hurry up and harvest, the rain might bend the wheat and affect the yield.”

Song Tingzhu nodded. He didn’t understand much about farming, so even if he wanted to help, he didn’t know where to start. Seeing Xiaomei carrying the bundled wheat to the cart, he was about to help when his husband stopped him.

“I’ve got it, no need for you to help,” Liu Hu said in his awkward Mandarin, though it was much improved from before.

He called Xiaomei back and urged the three to go home quickly.

Ruan Xiulian also advised, “The fields are full of grass scraps, and if you get a rash from it, it’ll be uncomfortable.”

In the village, children with weaker constitutions often got rashes from this, with thumb-sized bumps forming patches. Even if scratched, they were still unbearably itchy.

Tang Chunxing also didn’t want her little brother to be out in the sun, so she picked the wheat from his head and tidied his hair, “Xia Ge’er, go home with your little uncle.”

Song Tingzhu didn’t insist. Staying there would only cause trouble for his mother-in-law and the others.

“Then we’ll head back. Xiaomei and I will take care of things at home, and we’ll have dinner ready when you all return.”

“Alright, hurry back.”

The Liu family’s fields were next to the Qian family’s. Qian Shuang’er and her mother, Meng Yinhua, were working hard in the fields, worried about the rain, so they hadn’t gone home for lunch, and no one had brought them food. Her father and brother had left early in the morning, and she didn’t know what they were up to.

She glanced at Liu Xiaomei, seeing that she wasn’t left in the fields but instead went home with her sister-in-law’s husband, and she couldn’t help but feel envious.

Meng Yinhua noticed her daughter daydreaming and scolded her with a frown, “What are you looking at? Hurry up and cut your wheat, and stop thinking about going out and fooling around with Liu’s daughter.”

Qian Shuang’er didn’t respond, stiffly swinging her sickle like a puppet.

In the early evening, just as the sun was setting, it started to drizzle outside. But within half a quarter of an hour, a heavy downpour suddenly arrived.

Ruan Xiulian stood under her family’s straw shed, feeling relieved, “Good thing we made it in time. With this heavy rain, the wheat would have been soaked and ruined.”

Tang Chunxing, doing needlework nearby, agreed, “Indeed, if Second Brother hadn’t come back to help, we might not have made it.”

“This year’s harvest is good. Once the rain stops, let Huzi go to Butcher Zhang’s to order half a jin of meat. Tomorrow we’ll make wild vegetable and meat buns.”

Tang Chunxing smiled, “That sounds great. We have some newly pickled vegetables at home, they’ll go perfectly with it.”

“Buns! Xia Ge’er loves buns, Xia Ge’er wants two big buns tomorrow!” Xia Ge’er ran out of the main room, holding a grasshopper made of straw, jumping up and down with joy.

“You have sharp ears, you even heard that.” Ruan Xiulian pulled her grandson over, smiling, “You’ve been learning words with your little uncle for a while, can you write your name now?”

“Yes, I can write grandpa, grandma, little uncle, and little aunt’s names too. I’ll write them for grandma to see.” With that, he slid down from Ruan Xiulian’s lap and started writing in the sand with a stick.

Ruan Xiulian couldn’t read, so she didn’t know if her grandson was writing correctly, but she praised him for writing so earnestly.

Xia Ge’er proudly lifted his face, “Xia Ge’er can write many words, Xia Ge’er will write them for grandma to see.”

“Alright, grandma is watching.”

In the west room, Song Tingzhu watched through the window, a smile appearing in his eyes.

“Wife, the herbs are all sorted, you can take them to the clinic in town to sell tomorrow.” Liu Hu came in after finishing his work, and seeing this scene, he stopped in his tracks, staring at his wife with his dark eyes.

“Since we have some free time, let’s continue teaching you to read.” Song Tingzhu picked up a book from the table and said gently.

After waiting for a while without a response, he looked up in confusion and saw his husband staring at him in a daze. His ears turned slightly red, and he covered his mouth to clear his throat, “Haven’t you seen enough from staring all day?”

Liu Hu scratched his head, but his gaze remained fixed on the person in front of him, “Wife, what did you just say? I didn’t hear.”

Song Tingzhu repeated, “Since we have some free time, let’s continue teaching you to read.”

“Okay.”

The rain came and went for about an hour, showing no signs of stopping. That night, the family of eight sat in the main room for dinner and chatted for a while before going to their respective rooms to rest.

Outside, the rain poured down. Lying in his husband’s arms, Song Tingzhu felt a dampness all over, as if he had been drenched by the rain, with his clothes soaked through.

Feeling something was wrong, he reached out to touch and found the bed was wet. Grabbing his husband’s arm in panic, he said, “Husband, the roof is leaking.”

Liu Hu, not yet asleep, sat up, “I’ll go check outside.”

Song Tingzhu stopped him, “It’s cold outside, put on a coat first.”

“Alright.”

A moment later, Liu Hu returned, carrying the scent of rain, “The straw has blown off quite a bit, we need to put some back on, or if the wind picks up again at night, it might blow the roof off.”

Seeing his wife’s furrowed brows, he quickly reassured, “Don’t worry, wife, Big Brother is up too. The rain isn’t heavy now, we can fix it quickly.”

Song Tingzhu nodded, but he couldn’t help feeling worried. After his husband left the room, he also put on a coat and got out of bed, standing by the window to watch. But he could only see Big Brother passing straw below.

Forget it, waiting won’t help, better to replace the bedding first.

After closing the window and changing the bedding, his husband returned just in time.

“Sleep, it’s fine now.” Liu Hu took off his rain-soaked clothes, wiped himself with a dry cloth, and was about to get into bed.

Seeing this, Song Tingzhu’s face flushed, but he took the cloth and scolded, “Not drying your hair, you might get a headache when you get old.”

Liu Hu wasn’t angry at being scolded, instead, he grinned foolishly.

The candle in the west room burned for half an hour before going out. Outside, the rain fell again in the middle of the night, but this time, Song Tingzhu wasn’t startled awake. Nestled in his husband’s warm embrace, he slept soundly.

The next day, the sky cleared. The fields were too muddy to work, so everyone took a break, moving benches and grabbing melon seeds, sitting under the courtyard wall to chat.

Liu Xiaomei went to the Cai family to exchange tofu in the morning, overhearing two aunties talking about the Qian family’s troubles, and couldn’t help but slow down to listen.

“What? That Qian girl is only thirteen, and she’s getting married?”

“They say it’s a marriage, but it’s really about selling the daughter for money! Qian Youliang, don’t know who put the idea in his head, wants to send his son to the academy. The academy in town costs two taels of silver per quarter, with all the extras, it’s at least ten taels a year. The Qian family isn’t rich, where would they get that kind of money?”

“Meng Yinhua isn’t easy to deal with, didn’t she make a fuss about selling her daughter?”

“Of course she did, it was a big commotion. You live on the west side of the village, so you don’t know. Last night, even with the heavy rain, you could hear the noise from the Qian family!”

“Oh, Xiaomei, here to buy tofu?” The woman noticed Liu Xiaomei standing still and brought up Song Tingzhu teaching, “You’re lucky, Xiaomei, learning to read without spending money. Once you learn, you can be like your sister-in-law’s husband, setting up a stall in the village to help people write letters, and earn money easily.”

“That won’t do, Xiaomei is a girl, how can a girl be out in public, mingling with men all day?” said the woman who had previously brought vegetables and wanted Song Tingzhu to teach her son to read.

Liu Xiaomei didn’t like her tone and retorted, “What’s wrong with being a girl? Aren’t there many women doing business in town? If I had my sister-in-law’s husband’s skills, I’d open a big tavern, not just a stall!”

“Ha, you talk big, we’ll see if your family opens a tavern, I’ll bring a big gift to congratulate you.”

“Sure, even if you bring a bunch of vegetables, our tavern will treat you with respect and welcome you in.”

With that, she turned and left, leaving the woman fuming, her face red with anger, almost fainting on the spot.

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Author’s Note: Writer’s block [crying][crying][crying]