Summer dawns early. The clamor of roosters crowing and frogs croaking outside the house blended into a cacophony, punctuated by the shrill chirping of cicadas that pierced through the quiet, disturbing his peaceful slumber.

Lin Yue, preoccupied with the matter discussed last night, rose early.

As he stirred, Shen Huaizhi beside him woke too. “It’s still early. Why are you up?”

Lin Yue paused midway through dressing, lowering his voice. “It must be close to dawn. Mother said last night we need to pull the seedlings this morning and start transplanting them this afternoon. I’ll make breakfast first. We need to eat well before heading to the fields.”

Shen Huaizhi rose too, brushing against Lin Yue’s shoulder before nonchalantly grabbing his clothes nearby. “Then I’ll help you out.”

Lin Yue had been about to ask why he’d moved closer, but the question vanished as Shen Huaizhi took his clothes. “Alright, that way I can work faster.”

The weather was growing hotter. Washing in the morning no longer requires boiling water, saving both time and effort. Within the span of a cup of tea, Shen Huaizhi was already stoking the fire at the stove. Following Lin Yue’s instructions, he first put the multigrain porridge to boil, then switched to another stove to steam buns.

The dough, kneaded the night before with sourdough starter, had risen to fill the entire bowl. Lin Yue planned to prepare several fillings—leftovers from breakfast could be eaten at lunch, saving the trouble of cooking midday.

Spicy-sour shredded potato filling, pickled cabbage and minced pork filling, brown sugar filling, cabbage filling, and flower-shaped steamed buns—plus a few plain mantou. The variety would satisfy every palate in the household.

Lin Yue was still chopping the fillings when Song Xunchun and the others emerged from their rooms.

Song Xunchun, still unwashed, peered in from the kitchen doorway. “Brother Yue, why up so early?”

Spotting the bowls and dishes on the stove, she exclaimed in surprise, “You’ve prepared several fillings? Wait for Mother to wash up, and we’ll wrap them together.”

Lin Yue turned and smiled, “Mother, no need to rush. I’ll finish soon.”

Song Xunchun waved her hand. “How could I let you do all the work alone?” As she spoke, she squatted by the wall to brush her teeth, using water Shen Zhengchu had poured earlier.

After finishing her own ablutions, she saw the kitchen bustling with activity. Her own son was being put to work nonstop. She chuckled quietly at the doorway before following Shen Zhengchu to tidy up the farming tools.

The straw for bundling rice seedlings needed to be soaked in water to soften it. The hoe for draining the paddy, bamboo baskets, and seedling carriers also had to be prepared, to avoid having to return for them once they were in the fields.

In less than half an hour, steaming hot, soft, and delicious buns came out of the pot.

Lin Yue had added a spoonful of sugar to the multigrain porridge beforehand, giving it a subtle sweetness that made it far more delicious than unsweetened.

After breakfast, the family locked the courtyard gate and headed to the fields.

This year’s seedling field was right by the roadside, situated in the center of the Shen family’s other plots. This made it incredibly convenient to carry the seedlings to any of the fields.

They weren’t the earliest arrivals; people were already busy in the neighboring field. Spotting them, they straightened up and greeted the family.

“Well, well, the whole family’s here! No offense, Xunchun, but your kids are such hard workers—even your new husband came along.”

The speaker was Shen Fanglin, Shen Zhengchu’s second cousin by seniority. She had married into the family years ago, and her home lay diagonally across from the Shens—neighbors who got along well. When Shen Huaizhi went to fetch the bride a couple of days prior, her son Shen Maozhi had accompanied him.

Song Xunchun pulled Lin Yue over and replied with a smile, “Cousin, what are you saying? Aren’t your sons Maozhi and Yuan equally diligent?”

“Yue, call her Auntie. The man beside her is your First Uncle.” Shen Fanglin’s husband was a son-in-law who had married into the family. However, the Shen family addressed him according to their own generational hierarchy. Instead of calling him “uncle-in-law” or “brother-in-law,” they referred to him directly as ‘uncle’ or “elder brother,” which felt more intimate.

Lin Yue’s lips curved into a gentle smile as he said politely, “Auntie, Uncle, I’m Lin Yue. I’ll come visit your home another day when I have time.”

Shen Fanglin and Shang Chengye both smiled in response.

The two families exchanged brief pleasantries before resuming their tasks. The Shen family’s rice paddy wasn’t large, but the soil was rich. They’d fertilized it several times during transplanting, so the seedlings grew lush and green, their roots thick and sturdy.

Pulling seedlings wasn’t technically demanding. The soft paddy soil made it easy—just grasp the base of the root, pull, then swish it in the water to wash off the soil. Typically, the right hand pulled the seedlings, the left hand caught them after washing, and once a handful was gathered, they were bundled together.

Bundling proved slightly trickier. The bundles must hold without coming apart, yet not be tied too tightly, which would hinder transplanting efficiency. Finished bundles were placed in ditches to soak, preventing them from wilting in the sun.

The seedlings pulled in the morning must last at least through the afternoon, so the Shen family worked swiftly, their hands barely resting. In less than two hours, they had nearly finished half the task.

Since the seedling field lacked sufficient water, Shen Huaizhi carried several baskets of seedlings to another field midway through. Upon arrival, he found the water level insufficient and dug out the ditches.

Once they estimated they had enough seedlings, Song Xunchun stood up and called to Lin Yue, “Yue’er, come with Mother for a moment. Let them continue working for now.”

Lin Yue looked up at her words: “Mother, wait just a moment. I’ll finish tying this bundle.”

Moments later, Lin Yue and Song Xunchun each carried half a basket of seedlings out.

“Mother, where are we going?”

Song Xunchun: “Earlier, Huaizhi went to release water into the fields. We’ll go check if there’s enough water. I’ll also show you our family’s fields, and we can rest a bit. “

The Shen family owned only eight mu of land. The plot by their doorstep was two mu; the seedling field was half a mu. Two more mu lay near the village entrance, while the remaining two and a half mu were farther away—along the road to town, about a li from Linshui Village. They were heading to the two plots near the village entrance.

Seeing the water level, Song Xunchun frowned and muttered, “This shouldn’t be. Your father just came to release water yesterday, and Huaizhi came again earlier. How can it still be insufficient?”

Lin Yue glanced around and suggested, “Mother, could it be that a field embankment collapsed somewhere? The water might have flowed into other fields.”

“It’s possible. Let’s walk around and see where the problem is. If it’s collapsed, we need to fix it quickly, or we won’t be able to transplant the seedlings later.”

Lin Yue tossed all the seedlings from her basket into the field, shouldered her hoe, and headed right. She walked and scanned the area, casually filling any low spots in the embankment with a shovelful of soil. But she walked all the way to the other end without spotting any leaks.

He glanced up and saw Song Xunchun talking to someone on the embankment diagonally across from him. Lin Yue paid it no mind, continuing his inspection along the embankment. Only when their voices grew louder did he realize something was off.

Were they arguing?

No way. Who gets married and starts bickering every other day? That frequency was way too high. Lin Yue wasn’t just suspicious anymore—he genuinely believed whoever calculated the auspicious date was a fraud. Maybe he should find a temple to pray at. His mother had mentioned a temple somewhere in town that was supposedly quite effective.

Seeing Song Xunchun’s opponent with his hands on his hips, Lin Yue couldn’t wait any longer. He strode over.

“Which eye of yours saw me digging that field ridge? Besides, it’s not even your field! Even if I did dig it, so what? Come bite me if you dare!”

Her voice was loud and shrill—clearly a seasoned brawler. Yet Song Xunchun remained calm and measured. “I never said you dug it. I only said your field is nearly flooded while mine isn’t even palm-deep. And this breach was clearly dug with a hoe.”

Lin Yue rushed closer and saw the lower field blanketed in white water, threatening to overflow the side embankment. His own field was so shallow that the bottom was visible—only the elevation difference between the two fields prevented the water from spilling over.

Yet the woman stubbornly insisted, “Just because you say so? Who do you think you are?”

Unable to wait for Song Xunchun’s slow pace, Lin Yue called out, “Auntie, after all these years of farming, you don’t even know how much water is needed for transplanting rice seedlings? Or are you switching to fish farming this year? You should’ve said so earlier! I’d definitely patronize your business then. I’ve never seen fish raised in rice paddies—that’d be fascinating!”

After asking, he couldn’t be bothered with her anymore. He stepped over, raised his hoe, and dug down hard.

The moment Lin Yue raised his hoe, Zhou Xiulian scrambled back two steps in panic.

Lin Yue scooped up a large clump of earth and flung it to plug the gap. Seeing her reaction, he asked gently, “What’s wrong, Auntie? Did the water splash on you? Oh dear, I’m so sorry.”

Zhou Xiulian: “You…”

Lin Yue’s smile turned sharp. “If it didn’t splash you, why are you watching me?”

“Why are you raising that hoe? Don’t tell me you want to hit me.” She paused mid-sentence, slapping her thigh while scanning the area. “This is outrageous! Someone here wants to hit someone! Come see for yourselves!”

It was still the busy farming season, and many people were working in the fields. Hearing the commotion, they all looked up at them. Two were already heading this way.

Lin Yue propped his hoe on the ground, pulling a handkerchief meant for wiping sweat from his bosom with his right hand. He half-covered his eyes, looking as if he’d been terribly wronged, his tone pleading, “Auntie, I’ve only just met you today. I truly don’t know how I’ve offended you. I merely saw your field was flooded and wanted to plug the hole draining water from my field. Yet you’ve humiliated me like this…“

Zhou Xiulian was furious, shouting angrily, ”Bullshit! Who humiliated you?”

By now, people drawn by Zhou Xiulian’s shouts had gathered. Seeing the scene, they instinctively grasped the truth. Though initially unwilling to intervene, the young husband’s pitiful appearance stirred their compassion. He’d only been married for days—if the villagers drove him away with their insults, it would tarnish their village’s reputation.

Xiulian really should have known better. She’d already quarreled with the Shen family several times over that trivial matter of the leaking eaves. If they hadn’t kept quiet, everyone would know it was her family who’d deliberately tried to encroach on the Shen backyard during their house construction. When Zhengchu’s brothers called them out, they got their comeuppance. Unhappy about losing that advantage, they kept picking on Xunchun. As fellow villagers, it was awkward to take sides. But now, picking on a newly wed husband in the village? 

That was different.

“Xiulian, what’s going on? Why are you arguing with the young ger so early in the morning? Come on, let’s go take a look over there. Your fields still need watering, and you won’t be able to transplant the seedlings this afternoon.”

Lin Yue looked over gratefully, his eyes shining brightly as if he had seen a savior. “Auntie, you’re such a good person.”