Sun Dazhuang was a capable man; he could build houses for others and earn a few copper coins here and there. Although his family was poor, they didn’t go hungry, and life was just average.

The two headed home together. Qiu-ger’s family also lived in a thatched cottage, but it was quite old, so the inside was rather dark. As soon as Qiu-ger walked in, he called out, “Dad, I’m back!”

A ger of seven or eight who had been playing in the courtyard heard the voice and hurried over. “Second Brother’s back!”

Qiu-ger’s maternal family was large. His eldest brother had married and had two children; the family of seven all lived crammed into a single courtyard, so life was inevitably tight. His two young nephews—the older one was four, and the younger one had just started walking.

Knowing that Qiu-ger was coming back to his mother’s home, his eldest brother and sister-in-law had been waiting especially for him to return.

The family welcomed him into the house, and the little ger immediately spotted the meat Qiu-ger was carrying. “Father, Second Brother brought meat—such a big piece!”

Qiu-ger’s father and little father were quite surprised. Why had he brought such a generous gift this time? They knew his family was poor, and after some questioning, they learned he’d actually earned some money at the end of the year!

Qiu-ger’s little father was overjoyed. “This year, I’ve been able to sell more embroidered pieces than before, and it’s all thanks to the flower patterns you sent over, Qiu-ger.”

“Ning-ger taught me how to cut these paper cutouts, too!”

The whole family was overjoyed. Qiu-ger’s father had originally set aside a chunk of meat the size of a fist, but since his young ger had brought such a large bundle of meat, he cooked up a generous serving of meat for lunch.

Before leaving, he also brought two red undershirts for the children, beautifully embroidered with lotus flowers. “These two undershirts—one is for you, and the other is for Ning-ger. Just tell him thank you for the embroidery patterns.”

“Okay, I got it, Little Dad.”

As soon as Qiu-ger got back, he went to find Song Ning. The two children’s vests were identical, so he picked one out for Song Ning—Ning-ger must be home—he’d said he wouldn’t be visiting relatives today.

Sure enough, when he arrived, he saw Wei Hu tilling the vegetable patch in the courtyard, while Song Ning was in the yard playing with Xiao Caili. “Ning-ger, look what nice things I brought you!”

Song Ning saw that it was Qiu-ger who had returned. “Qiu-ger, you’re back so early.”

Qiu-ger pulled the baby bodice he’d been tucking under his arm out as if showing off a treasure. “Look, my dad gave this to you. He said thanks for the flower patterns you gave him, so he made one for me too!”

Song Ning gasped, “It’s lovely. Please thank your dad for me.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Song Ning stuffed the baby’s bodice back into his bosom. Qiu-ger let out a little “ooh” and teased him, “What’s there to be shy about? You’ll be able to use it soon enough.”

Wei Hu also looked over. “Ning-ger, what is that?” 

Song Ning shook his head repeatedly. “Nothing, nothing.”

This made Qiu-ger burst out laughing again. “Brother Huzi, you’re tilling the vegetable patch this early? It’s still cold out—we won’t be able to plant anything until February.”

“I’m just killing time, so I figured I’d tidy it up first.”

Song Ning and Qiu-ger were chatting idly in the courtyard when they heard someone pass by the gate. They looked over, and the person at the gate looked back before quickly lowering their head and hurrying away.

“It’s Li Xiaolian. She’s back at her parents’ house today, too. I wonder how she’s been getting by,” Qiu-ger muttered.

Song Ning didn’t have much affection for the Li family these days. The past was the past; as long as they didn’t cause any trouble, that was fine. He’d heard that after she got married, she hadn’t even returned for the traditional three-day post-wedding visit. People in their village said it was because Li Xiaolian’s mother-in-law wouldn’t let her come back. Only she herself knew how her life was going.

Song Ning tucked the baby’s undershirt into his bosom and forgot all about it. When he undressed for bed that night, it fell onto the bed as he took off his jacket. Song Ning let out a little gasp and reached down to pick it up, but Wei Hu beat her to it. “A baby’s undershirt? Did Qiu-ger give that to you today?”

Song Ning nodded shyly. “Qiu-ger’s father gave it to me.” 

Wei Hu chuckled. “It’s quite beautifully embroidered, actually.”

Song Ning crawled out from under the covers and snatched it back. “Put it—put it away. It’s embroidered with flowers. I’ll need it later, later on.”

Song Ning hurriedly placed the baby’s bodice in the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. Wei Hu finished getting ready and climbed into bed, wrapping his arms around his Fulang. “Do you want a baby?”

“You—what nonsense are you talking about?”

Song Ning’s rebuttal sounded like a whine, making Wei Hu’s heart flutter. He leaned down and kissed her until she was dizzy with desire, prompting her to wrap her arms around his neck and coo, “Hurry up, what are you playing at?”

“Why are you in such a rush?” Wei Hu chuckled. 

Song Ning pushed him away. “Don’t come over here.” 

“I’m in a rush, I’m in a rush.”

Wei Hu teased Song Ning as they played around. Song Ning couldn’t take it anymore and tried to escape, but Wei Hu grabbed him and pulled him back… Song Ning spent the entire New Year in comfort, eating and sleeping. Qiu-ger came to visit him again.

It wasn’t until after the fifteenth that the snow on the ground had completely melted. They no longer needed to light the charcoal stove indoors, and it was even a bit warm when they sat in the sun at noon wearing their padded jackets.

There wasn’t much work to do at home right now, but once it got a bit warmer, they’d have to start spring plowing.

The family owned three mu of dryland. According to Wei Hu, they planned to plant all of it with spring wheat this year. With the weather fine and a rare spell of leisure—and since Wei Hu hadn’t gone into the mountains yet—they decided to wait. It was early spring, and the wild pheasants and rabbits, having just come through the winter, were still skinny. They’d wait a while longer before heading into the mountains to hunt.

Wild greens have already started sprouting in some patches on the back mountain. Chen Cuihua called Song Ning and Qiu-ger to go look for them, while Wei Hu headed out with his basket to gather some dry grass.

The family was planning to buy an ox soon. Since the tender new grass hadn’t even sprouted yet, they needed to gather some hay for the livestock to eat for the time being. By March, the hills behind the village would be covered in grass.

Song Ning followed Chen Cuihua as they searched for wild greens. He didn’t know which ones to pick, so he simply tossed anything green into the basket. It was still hard to find wild greens at this time of year, but after eating dried vegetables all winter, they naturally craved some fresh produce.

This made Qiu-ger burst out laughing from the side. “Ning-ger, you can’t eat that one—it’s bitter. You should look for this instead: shepherd’s purse. It’s tender right now.”

Qiu-ger tossed a small, tender blade of grass into Song Ning’s basket. Song Ning smiled sheepishly. “They all look the same to me.” 

“Wild greens are hard to find right now, but come March or April, there’ll be plenty of edible ones.”

Chen Cuihua laughed too. She often came up the mountain to pick wild greens and gather mountain delicacies, exchanging them for copper coins to save up. She hadn’t expected Song Ning to pick wild greens; she’d just brought him out to stretch his legs now that the weather had warmed up a bit.

A Fulang gathering firewood nearby called out, “Cuihua, out for wild greens this early? Have they started sprouting yet?” 

“They have, but they’re hard to find. It’s just for the freshness.”

After a brief chat, the man went on his way. Chen Cuihua was actually quite surprised. Before, she’d always kept to herself in the village, but now quite a few people were taking the initiative to greet her—she still wasn’t quite used to it.

The group strolled along the edge of the back mountain, picking wild greens as they went. At first, Song Ning had trouble telling them apart, but after searching for a while, he could identify which ones were shepherd’s purse. The greens had just begun to sprout, looking a bit dull and gray as they hid in the grassy hollows, making them quite hard to find.

Song Ning picked a bunch and lined his small basket with them—it wasn’t a small amount. He found it quite enjoyable; after cooing at home all winter, getting out for a walk felt much better.

Once the three of them had gathered enough, they headed back. Chen Cuihua asked, “By the way, Qiu-ger, I heard your family wants to buy that plot of land from the village chief. How’s that going?”

Just hearing this made Qiu-ger light up. “It’s almost settled. We’ve been talking it over—two mu of land for five taels of silver. We’ve already paid four taels, and we’ll settle the remaining tael later this year.”

“That works. The land isn’t great, but with a bit of work, you can still get some grain out of it.”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. It’s a poor plot, but who knows—maybe we can turn it around. If we dig out all the rocks and let it rest for a few years, it might just turn into a decent dryland field.”

“Your brother Huzi is free right now. Just give him a shout when the time comes. As for those rocks, how could a ger like you possibly lift them?”

Qiu-ger’s eyes welled up with tears. “Aunt Cuihua, you’re so kind!” 

“We’re all from the same village—no need to be so formal.”

Song Ning and the others were also planning to buy an ox. Wei Hu had made several trips to town but hadn’t found one he liked yet. Since the weather wasn’t exactly warm yet, he wasn’t in a hurry; he figured it would be easier to care for the ox once the weather improved and they could bring it over.

Qiu-ger’s two plots of land had been purchased, so they asked Wei Hu to come over and help. Song Ning tagged along to join in the fun. The land was indeed in poor condition—a steep slope covered in boulders. No wonder it was so cheap.

Wei Hu and Sun Dazhuang dug into the soil with their shovels, pulling out every rock they could find, while Qiu-ger carried a basket to collect the smaller stones.

Song Ning tried to pitch in, but Qiu-ger shooed him aside. “Brother Huzi coming over to help is trouble enough—we don’t need you getting your hands dirty. You’ll just cut yourself. Save those hands for writing and drawing.”

Song Ning gave up on the idea. Qiu-ger shouted sternly toward the edge of the field, “Mom, what are you doing? Come over here and pick up the stones!” 

“Okay, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Granny Sun wanted to slack off, but she was afraid the villagers would see her and call her lazy, so she had to do the work whether she wanted to or not.

Song Ning couldn’t be of much help. After watching for a while, he went back. There were simply too many stones in the field—the small ones could be picked up and tossed aside, but the large ones required Wei Hu and Sun Dazhuang to lift them out together.

Wei Hu helped out for three days before the field was finally mostly cleared. Once it was plowed and leveled, though the soil wasn’t the best, two mu of land could still yield about 200 jin of grain per season—that’s 400 jin a year. Combined with the Sun family’s previous plot, it would be enough to feed the three of them.

Wei Hu had been eating lunch at the Sun family’s place these past few days. Even the eggs that Granny Sun had been saving for herself were taken out by Qiu-ger to stir-fry with vegetables. At noon, he came over to invite Song Ning and Chen Cuihua to eat at his house, but the two of them weren’t about to go. After some back-and-forth, they said they’d go another time.

Granny Sun was a bit lazy; the household relied solely on Sun Dazhuang to earn a living. She just stayed home to cook and do laundry. It wasn’t until Qiu-ger arrived that life at home improved somewhat. Knowing how poor the Sun family was, Song Ning and Chen Cuihua were unwilling to go over for a meal.