Chapter Bonanza (3/10)

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The weather has been getting cooler day by day, and Xiaoyu is almost four months old. Lately, the little guy has learned a new trick—rolling over on his own.

As soon as you put him on the kang, the little guy would clench his fists, strain with all his might, and roll over in a flash.

Zheng Beiqiu happened to see him roll over for the very first time. He was overjoyed and shouted for Luo Xiu to come take a look! Luo Xiu thought something serious had happened, but when he ran over, he saw that Xiaoyu had simply learned to roll over.

It was the first time for both of them to be parents, and they found it so amusing that they leaned over the edge of the kang to coax the baby into rolling over again.

Xiaoyu obliged, performing another “turtle roll” for them, and from then on, he couldn’t stop. Whenever they took their eyes off him for even a moment, he’d roll right to the edge of the kang; several times, he nearly fell off.

Seeing this, Zheng Beiqiu took some time to make a cradle for him. Usually, when Luo Xiu was weaving, he’d put the child in it—at least that way, he didn’t have to worry about him rolling out. In recent days, the crops in the fields had ripened, and quite a few people came calling on Zheng Beiqiu to help with the harvest.

Help wasn’t free, though—even without a mule, a day’s labor cost thirty wen; for a family like theirs with a mule-drawn cart, a day’s work could earn fifty or sixty wen. However, Zheng Beiqiu decided to first go help his sister’s family harvest their fields; the Liu family had a lot of land, so he’d go earn money after he was done there.

Early in the morning, Luo Xiu dug out some coarse-cloth work clothes and cloth shoes with leather soles for him.

The bean fields were littered with twigs, and thin-soled shoes would easily get punctured.

After changing into his work clothes, Zheng Beiqiu went to the river to draw water, filled the two water jars at home, harnessed the mule, and set off for Xiaguo Village.

“Wait a minute—take these eggs with you.” Luo Xiu ran out after him, carrying Xiaoyu on his back, and stuffed the boiled eggs he’d prepared that morning into his arms. “Keep them for yourself. Do you think I’ll go hungry while I’m helping out?”

“They’ll tide you over on the road.” The fall harvest is hard physical labor; if you don’t eat well, it’s easy to hurt yourself. He remembers back when his parents were alive, every fall harvest season, Mother would always boil eggs for Father to eat.

Zheng Beiqiu felt a wave of comfort wash over him. “Lock the door securely when you’re home alone. I’ll be back by evening.”

“Okay, drive carefully.”

When they reached the front gate, Zheng Beiqiu couldn’t resist pulling Luo Xiu close and planting a kiss on his cheek.

“What are you doing? Don’t let anyone see us…” Luo Xiu covered his face and shyly tried to dodge him. “So what if they see? What’s the big deal if they see me kissing my own husband?”

“You’re so shameless!”

“Hahahahaha…” Accompanied by a burst of hearty laughter, Zheng Beiqiu drove off in his mule cart.

After seeing his husband off, Luo Xiu fed Xiaoyu some food. His milk supply was already low, and with a greedy little one nursing every night, the baby naturally didn’t have enough to eat.

The four-month-old baby was already able to eat some soft, well-cooked food. The freshly steamed egg custard was smooth and silky. Luo Xiu blew on it to cool it down and held it to the child’s lips. Xiaoyu took a couple of small sips to taste it, then began eating in big mouthfuls.

After finishing a bowl, he still wasn’t full; he grabbed the spoon, begging for more.

Fearing he might overeat, Luo Xiu tapped his little nose and said, “You can’t eat too much, you know? If you turn into a little pig, you’ll have to eat pork for the New Year.” After tidying up the room, the sun was already high in the sky. Luo Xiu placed Xiaoyu in his cradle and began weaving.

The rhythmic whirring of the loom filled the air, and Xiaoyu soon grew drowsy.

Meanwhile, Zheng Beiqiu, driving a mule cart, also arrived at Xiaogou Village.

The Liu family was considered well-off in the village; they had a large household and plenty of land—more than thirty mu of farmland.

In previous years, Xiaofeng would go out to the fields to work alongside her husband and several of her brothers, but this year, with Zheng Beiqiu arriving, he wouldn’t let his younger sister go out to the fields.

“You stay home and watch over Niuniu; I’ll go work with them.” 

“Niuniu can stay home with her grandma.”

“Silly girl, look—if your sisters-in-law aren’t going, you shouldn’t go either.”

“Fine, fine, fine. If I can’t go, I can’t go. I’m actually happy to have it easy at home.” Xiaofeng was glad to have some time off; it gave her a chance to stay home and cook, then bring lunch over to her eldest brother and the others.

The Liu family had five brothers; aside from the youngest, who was a ger, the rest were grown men. Four of them were already married, but they hadn’t split up and still lived together under one roof.

With so many people, conflicts were bound to arise, but at least the old man of the Liu family was fair and treated all his sons equally, so they managed to get by.

Today they were harvesting the bean field. The autumn bean harvest was a race against time—it could all be done in just three to five days.

If harvested too early, the beans are underripe, soft, and prone to rotting; if harvested too late, the pods burst open, and the beans have to be picked up one by one from the furrows.

On the way, Liu Yan kept thanking him, “I never expected you to come help with the harvest, Big Brother. Just yesterday, my dad was saying we’d have to pay to hire someone if all else failed.” 

“No need to thank me—we’re family.”

Once they reached the field, everyone began cutting the beans.

Harvesting beans is a skillful task; while an average person can harvest three ridges at a time, Zheng Beiqiu, with his nimble hands and feet, can handle four or five ridges in one go. Given how fast he worked,

suggested the Liu family should be doing more—after all, they were there to help.

But after working for less than half an hour, Liu Chang, the eldest brother of the Liu family, complained of a sore back and took his water bottle to rest in the shade of a nearby tree.

Zheng Beiqiu licked his dry lips and furrowed his brow slightly. Seeing that no one else was saying anything, he felt it would be inappropriate for him—as someone who had come to help—to say anything.

Before long, the second Liu brother complained of a stomachache and ran off to the nearby woods to relieve himself—a trip that took over half a shi. It truly proved the saying: “A lazy donkey produces plenty of manure and urine.”

Although Liu Yan knew his older brothers were slacking off, he didn’t dare say anything. He could only grit his teeth and keep working, afraid his older brother-in-law would look down on him. They kept working until noon, when Zheng Xiaofeng came to bring lunch. Seeing her eldest brother and husband still toiling in the fields, she immediately flew into a rage.

“Why are only the two of you working here? Where is everyone else?”

Liu Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “My eldest brother’s back pain flared up, so he went back after harvesting for a little while. My second and third brothers went back to eat first.” 

“It’s like this every single year—they never stop taking advantage of people!”

Zheng Xiaofeng snatched the sickle from her eldest brother’s hand and said, “Stop working, Big Brother! Go home! Whoever wants to harvest these beans can do it—if not, let them rot in the ground!”

Liu Yan stood beside her, too scared to even breathe.

Seeing his brother-in-law’s meek and timid demeanor, Zheng Beiqiu’s anger dissipated by more than half. “All right, it’s just a little work. Let’s finish it up.”

“It was the same last year. His older brother’s condition flares up every harvest season, but it clears up once the grain is gathered. Don’t you think that’s strange?!”

Zheng Beiqiu snorted derisively. “That’s just like our second son—it’s called a ‘rich man’s disease.’”

“Pfft! A good-for-nothing who isn’t worth three taels of silver has a ‘rich man’s disease’? He’s just lazy and always making excuses.” Zheng Xiaofeng was feisty; while she cursed under her breath, her hands didn’t stop as she bundled the harvested beans and loaded them into the cart.

That afternoon, the three Liu brothers arrived quite early and finished harvesting this patch of beans on the mountain before dark.

Xiaofeng invited Zheng Beiqiu to stay for dinner. “We’ve got a piece of salted pork pickling at home. I’ll stew it up later, and you and Liu Yan can have a drink together.” 

“I won’t be staying for dinner. My wife’s home alone, and I’m afraid she’ll be waiting anxiously for me.”

“Brother, don’t come tomorrow. When you’re not there, those guys actually get some work done; when you’re around to help, they just slack off even more.”

Zheng Beiqiu didn’t know what to say. He patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder and said, “You’re a man—you’ve got to take the lead in everything. There’s no reason for a woman to have to step in for you. I won’t hold today’s incident against you, but you need to keep this in mind: things can’t go on like this.”

Liu Yan was honest but not foolish; he knew his older brother meant well, so he nodded solemnly and said, “I’ll have a good talk with Xiaofeng tonight.” Zheng Beiqiu knew he’d taken the advice to heart, so he said goodbye to his sister and drove home.

Luo Xiu had been waiting anxiously at home for quite some time, peering out the door again and again while carrying Xiaoyu on his back. He’d said he’d be back by evening when he left that morning—why was it already so dark and still no sign of him?

He had reheated the food in the pot, and when he finally heard the front door creak open, Luo Xiu hurried out to greet him.

“Why are you just getting back now?”

“Don’t even ask. I’m so frustrated after a day’s work.” Zheng Beiqiu unhitched the mule, gave it some water first, then scooped up a ladle of cool water himself and gulped it down.

“There’s hot porridge in the pot. Drinking so much cold water will give you an upset stomach.” 

“It’s fine. Let me hold Xiaoyu.”

Luo Xiu unfastened the baby sling and handed the child over. Xiaoyu was already so sleepy he couldn’t keep his eyes open; he clutched Zheng Beiqiu’s finger and kept rubbing his eyes, looking so pitiful and endearing.

“Good boy, go to sleep.” He cradled the child in his arms and followed Luo Xiu into the house.

Luo Xiu brought out the meal and said, “You said earlier that you were really upset. What happened?”

Zheng Beiqiu ate his meal while recounting the day’s events to his husband. “That Liu Yan is way too meek—he doesn’t say a word even when his older brothers bully him. It really got under my skin. But after thinking it over, it’s a matter between his own brothers. If I, as his brother-in-law, were to get involved, Xiaofeng would definitely be caught in the middle and feel torn.”

“So what happened next?”

“Before I left, I had a word with Liu Yan. It seemed like he took it to heart. Let the two of them work it out together.”

After dinner, Zheng Beiqiu moved the table outside. When he went back inside, Xiaoyu was already fast asleep, and Luo Xiu was still weaving.

“Stop weaving—you’ll strain your eyes.”

“Just one more inch. I’ll stop once I finish this.”

Zheng Beiqiu sat behind him, watching him weave. The wooden shuttle shuttled back and forth through layer upon layer of silk threads, and the smooth fabric was woven in no time. After watching for a while, his large hand grew restless again; he slipped it into Luo Xiu’s collar from behind and began to fondle him.

“After a whole day’s work… aren’t you even a little tired…?”

“I’m not tired. How could I ever get tired of doing this?” Zheng Beiqiu kissed him right by his ear.

He draped Luo Xiu’s leg over the loom, causing it to creak incessantly, and they carried on like this until late into the night.

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Because of what happened yesterday, Zheng Beiqiu didn’t go to the Liu family to help the next day.

Just as his sister had said, it wouldn’t be right to let others work while he rested; if the Liu family was too busy, they should just pay to hire someone.

Coincidentally, Zheng An came by asking for his help harvesting the fields, so Zheng Beiqiu hitched up the mule and headed to his cousin’s house.

At first, Zheng Beiqiu didn’t want to be paid, but since Zheng An was farming the land in partnership with the Liu family, he couldn’t shortchange Liu Erfu—so Zheng Beiqiu charged fifty wen a day, in line with the village rate.

He worked quickly, and the mule cart provided plenty of pulling power, so they finished harvesting the twenty-plus mu of land in just a few days.

After the harvest, Zheng Beiqiu discussed leasing land for the coming year with his cousin. He had originally planned to buy a few mu of farmland outright, but after searching for quite some time, he couldn’t find anything suitable.

Unless they had an urgent need, villagers rarely sold their land; even when plots were available, they were scattered and small—inconvenient to farm. Working hard for a whole year would yield little grain, yet he’d still have to pay a hefty land tax.

Zheng An said, “If you take my advice, go lease some land over in Zhao Village next year. There’s not much land in our village, and it’s expensive. With your mule cart, it’s easy to get to Zhao Village. Leasing ten mu of land there will cover all your living expenses for the year. As for buying land, don’t rush it. Take your time looking around and keeping an eye out—buy it when you find something suitable.”

“All right. Whenever you have time, cousin, come with me to Zhao Village to take a look.”

Just as the two were talking, Luo Xiu’s voice suddenly came from outside the door, “Is Daqiu here?”

Liu Hua was drying vegetables in the courtyard. Seeing her approach, she waved and said, “Xiao Xiu, you’re here! I’m right here. What’s going on?”

Luo Xiu looked anxious as she replied, “Xiaofeng just came by and said Liu Yan got beaten up!”