Chapter Bonanza (2/10)

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According to custom, the full-moon banquet was held at noon.

The eight borrowed tables did not quite fill the courtyard, but as guests gradually took their seats, the scene became lively and bustling with chatter.

Ye Suping had officially emerged from her postpartum confinement; dressed in fresh clothes, she came out to greet the guests, cradling her baby.

And since the weather was getting warmer, even a nursing infant didn’t need to stay cooped up indoors all the time.

Huo Ling was helping to entertain guests in the front yard. Glancing around and not seeing Yan Qi, he asked Qi Hongmei—who had been invited to help and happened to be passing by—“Sister-in-law, have you seen Brother Qi?”

“You mean Brother Qi? He’s in the backyard. Just now, after a few people had seen the baby, they wanted to go to the backyard to check on the livestock, which made your dog bark nonstop. Brother Qi was in the kitchen at the time; when he heard the commotion, he said he’d go take a look.”

With that, she jogged off.

The Huo household was already short-handed, and with Yan Qi pregnant, she had been running around nonstop all day. But since she was helping Ye Suping, she didn’t feel the least bit tired; on the contrary, she was genuinely happy for her, knowing that Ye Suping had always wanted another child.

Huo Ling was worried about Yan Qi—fearing he might be jostled in the crowd—so he brought Yang Qingsheng over to take his place in attending to the guests, while he himself made his way around the crowd to the backyard.

Yang Qingsheng stood up without complaint. “Huo Erge sure knows how to put me to work these days.”

Xia Qingman urged him to hurry up and stop dawdling, smiling as she said, “I can tell you’re thrilled.”

Yang Qingsheng immediately set off, swinging his arms as he went. Before long, he was arm-in-arm with a man who had just entered the courtyard. He accepted the man’s gift, led the man and his family to their seats at the banquet, and even cracked a walnut for the child to eat.

When Huo Ling arrived in the backyard, sure enough, he saw several of the village’s older women and men—along with sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law—already gathered around Yan Qi.

“Qi, you must be four or five months along by now. No wonder we haven’t seen you around the village much lately.”

“No wonder Brother Qi is so lucky—it’s only been a year since he got married, and there’s already a baby on the way.”

“That’s wonderful. Once there are a few more children in the family, things will really liven up.”

Yan Qi merely smiled without saying a word.

In truth, ever since the fifteenth, when he began making trips to town to sell pastries, he hadn’t gone out of his way to hide his pregnancy. Whenever anyone noticed, he would simply nod in acknowledgment; when they offered their congratulations, he would graciously accept them.

Given how quickly gossip spreads in the village, there was no way these people hadn’t heard about it by now.

It was simply that they weren’t that close; there wasn’t much to chat about when they met, and her growing belly provided the perfect excuse.

“I’m five months along. I didn’t really notice it during the first few months, but now I’m starting to feel my lower back getting heavy.”

“That’s for sure!”

As soon as he said this, the others in the room immediately nodded in agreement. Having been through childbirth themselves, they especially loved sharing such advice with young people expecting their first child—after all, there wasn’t much else they could talk about.

“If you ask me, once you get past the first trimester—around four or five months—that’s when you’re most comfortable. Your body doesn’t feel so heavy, and your appetite improves. After that, it just gets harder and harder; you’ll be desperate to just get the baby out already.”

“You were just lucky. I threw up for a full half-year back then—my complexion was as sallow as an old cucumber, all dry and green. I spent every day fearing I’d lose the baby.”

Yan Qi replied briefly, his mind on what was happening in the front courtyard as she calculated the time—it was almost time for the banquet to begin.

Just as he was about to invite the people from the back courtyard back to the front, he spotted Huo Ling arriving through the crowd of figures in front of her.

“Woof, woof!”

Dager wasn’t on a leash today; he was lying between the cow shed and the pigpen, guarding the livestock. When he saw Huo Ling, he was the first to stand up and wag his tail.

The group, who had been chatting animatedly, were startled by the noise. Aunt Qi, the leader of the group—who was also Qi Hongmei’s mother-in-law—patted her chest and turned around. Upon seeing it was Huo Ling, she let out a sigh of relief and laughed, “I was wondering who it was. Erlang, are you here to see Qi?”

“You’ve only been apart for a short while, and you young folks are already so lovey-dovey.”

Someone glanced back and forth between him and Yan Qi.

Huo Ling knew that if he picked up on the joke, he’d surely be teased—and going back and forth like that was pointless.

He decided not to fall into the trap and replied evasively, “The banquet’s about to start, and I noticed some seats are still empty, so I came to find someone.”

The moment someone mentioned the banquet, everyone sprang into action without a moment’s delay.

There was no shame in this—after all, they’d all brought gifts, so they had to get their money’s worth, and the Huo family was known for sparing no expense on food and drink.

“The banquet’s about to start already? I thought it would be a little while longer.”

“It’s about to start.”

In truth, Huo Ling didn’t know exactly how much time was left; he just wanted to get them out of there first.

He watched the group leave, then bent down to pat Dager on the shoulder. Yan Qi also turned back and called out, signaling the remaining three not to make a sound.

The dogs at home were well-fed every day and didn’t need to scavenge under the tables for leftovers and bones during the banquet. To be honest, he and Huo Ling weren’t even willing to let their own dogs eat what those people dropped from their mouths.

So they decided to leave the dogs here and feed them separately once everyone had finished eating outside.

Huo Ling rubbed the ger’s hand—it felt warm, not cold—and, feeling reassured, asked, “What were you guys talking about just now? They didn’t say anything you wouldn’t want to hear, did they?”

Yan Qi smiled and said, “Everyone’s here to enjoy the banquet—no one’s going out of their way to cause trouble for our family. It was just the usual stuff: asking how old the child is and what I like.”

“I don’t think anyone would dare mess with you either.”

He nodded toward the dogs sitting by their legs. “They’re all here, after all.”

“If someone says something offensive, are you going to set the dogs on them?”

Yan Qi nudged Huo Ling forward. “Didn’t you say the banquet was about to start? Yet here you are, wandering out back—who’s handling things up front?”

“Dayang’s there.”

“Dayang again.”

“He loves this kind of work. If you don’t believe me, go ask him.”

The young couple reappeared hand in hand in the front yard. Huo Ling went to the head table to talk with her uncle, while Yan Qi, holding his waist, headed to the kitchen to check on the dishes.

Not far away, someone who had witnessed the scene looked away and murmured to themselves, “I really never expected Brother Qi to get pregnant so quickly. Back when he first came to the village, he was so skinny—it broke my heart just looking at him. But now… his complexion is fair with a healthy flush—so much better than before he was pregnant. A good life really does a person good.”

He actually wanted to add that, while they’d been talking in the backyard a moment ago, he’d noticed Yan Qi wearing a rather thick silver bracelet that glinted so brightly it was dazzling.

But bringing it up now would make it seem as though he was envious—as if he didn’t have one himself—so he simply kept it to himself.

“When you marry a man, it’s all about clothes and food; if you marry the right person, wearing gold and silver is a given.”

It was just his bad luck back then that he hadn’t found such a good family.

The woman on the other side popped a shelled pine nut into her mouth. “After all, he’s a bit older. Even though he went hungry while fleeing the disaster, his body was already fully developed before that. Just look at Ming-ger—he hasn’t shown any signs of a child yet.”

“Oh my, speaking of the Lin family—I wonder if the boy will take after his father’s ailments. If he really takes after him, we’re done for…”

That’s just how villagers gather—they’d talk about this family and that family, often ending up complaining about their own households. After berating their husbands, they’d move on to their unruly children, and sometimes even throw in their fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, younger brothers-in-law, and younger sisters-in-law.

But no matter what they said, it all stopped once the dishes were served. As soon as the table was set, everyone grabbed their chopsticks and dove into the dishes, afraid of missing even a single bite. Sometimes they moved so fast that their chopsticks would even clash above the bowls.

Those who can hold their liquor never let their drinking bowls out of their hands. They take turns toasting each other, and before long, their faces turn crimson. When even their burps reek of alcohol, that’s when they’re considered thoroughly drunk.

After the feast, the leftovers on the table were divided among the guests to take home, and the pot was left completely empty. If any of the helpers wanted some, they could take a bowl; otherwise, there was enough left for another meal or two at home.

Both Huo Ling and Yan Qi were very satisfied with Xia Zhaoren’s cooking. Even though she was a woman, her skills were just as good as anyone’s. They promised to invite her back for their family’s full-moon banquet in a few months. When settling the bill, Huo Feng gave her an extra ten eggs, and Xia Zhaoren left happily. For some time afterward, she told everyone she met how generous the Huo family was.

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Once the full-moon banquet was over, spring plowing began immediately.

Back when the family owned only five mu of farmland, Huo Feng and Huo Ling could manage to plow the fields on their own with a bit of extra effort. Now that the land had expanded to ten mu, it was quite a struggle—thankfully, they had bought an ox during last year’s fall harvest.

With one person and one ox, they could plow the fields thoroughly just by moving back and forth across them. At times like these, they felt even more strongly that the money spent on the ox had been well worth it; even though they had to cut grass and feed the ox every day, they did so willingly.

Speaking of fodder for the livestock, the two Zhao brothers hadn’t been apprenticed long enough to venture into the mountains on their own. With only one mu of land left at home, they could finish tending it in a single day. So on days when Huo Ling didn’t take them up the mountain, he would set out for town before dawn to find odd jobs, earning twenty or thirty wen for his hard work. In the afternoon, he’d return, seek out the tender grass that had just begun to sprout, cut it, and deliver it to the Huo family. If there were any other chores, such as chopping firewood or carrying water, he’d take those on as well, never once complaining of fatigue.

As soon as mealtime rolled around, he’d slip away quickly, afraid the Huo family might insist they stay for a meal.

Even Huo Ling felt a bit guilty about it—he had taken them on as apprentices, not as hired laborers for his household.

But the Zhao brothers felt that since they had become apprentices, working for their master’s family was only natural. Their parents had taught them the same back home, saying that many apprentices living with their masters had to even fetch and present their foot-washing water.

Huo Ling, however, wasn’t used to this. After much thought, he decided that since he couldn’t stop them from helping out, he might as well make it clear that he wouldn’t let them work for nothing.

It just so happened that spring plowing season was upon them, and he planned to help out down the mountain.

That day, he called Zhao Yinsheng and Zhao Chensheng over, gave each of them a corn cob to tide them over, and took one himself to nibble on. After a few bites, he said, “In a few days, it’ll be time to plant the fields. It’ll just be my older brother and me—we definitely won’t be able to handle it all on our own, and that’ll end up delaying our return to the mountain. I wonder if you two would be willing to come help out for a couple of days? We’ll provide lunch, and I’ll give you five jin of flour.”

“Lunch is enough; we don’t need the flour.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yinsheng replied promptly.

“You can’t say no—if you come, you have to take it.”

Huo Ling put on his masterly air.

He’d considered offering money or meat, but if he offered money, these two simple-minded fellows would likely refuse it all the more. Even if they took it home, their father—who was even more down-to-earth than they were—might well urge his sons to return it as soon as possible.

As for meat, with the weather getting hot, it wouldn’t keep well—it would only last for one meal—and the Zhao family wouldn’t be willing to part with it. By comparison, flour was the most suitable option.

Huo Ling had also discussed with Huo Feng beforehand how to allocate the ten mu of land. The original five mu consisted of two mu of wheat, two mu of sorghum, and one mu of corn.

Now, the wheat would be expanded to five mu—as it was the most essential staple—while the sorghum remained unchanged. The corn would be expanded to two mu, and the remaining one mu—which had been the least fertile of the family’s original five mu—would be used this year for a trial planting of rapeseed.

To be honest, he had long recognized the profit potential of rapeseed—one mu of rapeseed is more valuable than grain. However, for farming families with limited land, putting food on the table is the top priority; no one would be willing to set aside precious farmland to grow something that isn’t edible.

At first, when Huo Ling mentioned this to Huo Feng, Huo Feng was quite hesitant—until Huo Ling said to him, “The grain from the remaining nine mu is enough to feed our family. Even though we’ll have two more children this year, how much can children really eat? It’ll be several years before they’re old enough to eat properly. In the meantime, we need money more than we need grain.”

“I’m just worried we won’t be able to grow it properly. With grain, as long as there are no natural disasters, we know what to expect from the harvest. But with rapeseed, if the harvest is poor, won’t we be wasting this acre of land? We’d be throwing a whole year away for nothing.”

Especially since there wasn’t a single other person in their village growing rapeseed—not even someone they could ask for advice.

Huo Ling disagreed. He asked Huo Feng in return, “Back in the day, when Mom and Dad came down from the mountains to farm, did they know how to do it? They had to learn as they went along. There’s a first time for everything—whether it’s growing wheat or corn, or rapeseed. Practice makes perfect. Rapeseed is, after all, just a vegetable—it’s no different from growing Chinese cabbage.”

Huo Feng couldn’t help but waggle his finger at Huo Ling a couple of times, laughing helplessly: “You little rascal… Never mind. I’ll go along with what you say. You’re smarter than I am. If we follow your lead, our family can get rich; if we do it my way, we’ll only be able to hold on to what we have now.”

Later, as he reflected on Huo Ling’s words, he realized that none of the long speech that preceded it could compare to the impact of that final sentence.

That’s right—it’s just growing vegetables. What’s so hard about that?

With this in mind, they gradually sowed various grain and vegetable seeds across the ten mu of land according to the plan.

By the time the warm breezes and nourishing rains finally arrived beyond the Pass—with the surging rivers having long since broken through the ice—everything from the family’s vegetable garden to the fields at the foot of the mountain, and on to the dense, verdant slopes of Bailong Mountain, was bathed in a layer of fresh, tender green.

Summer had arrived.