translated by april

Lin Yu carried a bowl of fish soup to the Qian family. The Qian family’s house was separated from his by an alley, they were very close.

He stood at the door holding the bowl. He saw a woman who wore a simple dress, and even her little boy, whom she held in her arms, looked pale and thin from hunger. Lin Yu thought of Dong-ger’s two little nephews. The two little ones were well-fed, plump, and strong.

Lin Yu remembered that even though he was a boy, his mother had always taken good care of him.

In the yard, Sang Niang was comforting Xiao Qing in her arms. When she saw the stranger suddenly appear at the door, she became cautious.

Lin Yu gathered his courage and smiled at her, “I’m Qingshan’s husband, and I’ve brought some food for the child.”

Upon hearing that he was Wei Qingshan’s husband, Sang Niang hurried over. She rarely went out and had never seen Lin Yu, only knowing that the neighbor, Wei Qingshan, had married a husband.

Sang Niang’s face looked troubled, but she still managed to smile at Lin Yu. When she got closer, she saw that Lin Yu was holding a bowl of fish soup. The soup had a golden layer of oil floating on top, and the milk-white broth contained a small fish and several pieces of tofu—enough for a small child.

Sang Niang was very grateful. She must have heard them talking earlier and brought the child some food. “Thank you, Qingshan’s husband. The child doesn’t know any better.”

Hearing the noise, Qian Laotai also came out. When she saw that it was Lin Yu holding the bowl, her nose quickly detected the fragrance, and she hurried over. “Ah, it’s Yu-ger! Sang Niang, why aren’t you quickly getting a bowl to serve him?”

The fish soup smelled so good that she could eat the fish herself and just let the little boy drink the soup.

Sang Niang saw her mother-in-law coming, so she had no choice but to carry Xiao Qing aside to fetch a bowl. Xiao Qing, seeing the delicious food, stretched out his little hand. “Mama, eat fish, eat fish.”

Lin Yu noticed the greed in Qian Laotai’s eyes, the same as Cai Chunhua’s look when she scolded him. Wei Qingshan had told him that the Qian family owned several acres of good rice fields, and Sang Niang could weave cloth, so they were not lacking food. Even if they didn’t eat meat often, a child in their care should not have grown like this.

He was afraid that if he left the fish soup, the little guy wouldn’t eat much.

“Sister-in-law, how about letting Xiao Qing come down?” Lin Yu spoke up.

Sang Niang let Xiao Qing down from her lap and went inside to get the bowl and chopsticks.

As soon as Xiao Qing was on the ground, he ran over to Lin Yu with small steps. Lin Yu smiled at him, squatted down, and waved him over. “Xiao Qing, come here.”

Xiao Qing stopped just a step away from Lin Yu, looking a bit scared but still wanting to eat the food.

Lin Yu extended the bowl toward him. “Xiao Qing, come here, I’ll feed you.”

Unable to resist the temptation of the aroma, Xiao Qing came over. Lin Yu held the bowl and fed him. After not having something so delicious in a while, Xiao Qing eagerly drank from the bowl, holding it with both hands.

Qian Laotai, watching from the side, lost her smile. Soon, the little boy wouldn’t even want to drink the soup! “Sang Niang! Sang Niang! Why are you so slow in getting a bowl?”

Qian Laotai was afraid that Xiao Qing would finish the food, and Sang Niang, through the broken window in the kitchen, saw her mother-in-law urging her to hurry. She purposely delayed for a bit, knowing that Qian Laotai was pressuring her to hurry.

Sang Niang finally came out with a bowl. “Qingshan’s husband, just pour it into the bowl.”

Lin Yu smiled at her. “Sister-in-law, give me the chopsticks. I’ll feed the little boy. He’s so cute, I really like him.”

Sang Niang quickly handed the chopsticks to Lin Yu, giving him a grateful look.

Lin Yu picked up the fish and fed it to Xiao Qing. The little boy ate eagerly, and Qian Laotai snorted and walked away. “How are you teaching this child? No manners at all!”

Sang Niang stood by, quietly thanking Lin Yu. If the soup had gone into their bowl, Xiao Qing probably wouldn’t have gotten a single bite.

“Sister-in-law, what’s the little boy’s name?”

“Qingyan.”

“Qingyan is so well-behaved.”

“You can just call me Sang Niang. I don’t often go out, so I didn’t recognize you.”

As soon as Sang Niang finished speaking, Qian Laotai called out, “Sang Niang, Sang Niang! What time is it? Why aren’t you cooking yet?”

“Sang Niang, you go ahead. I’ll feed Xiao Qing.”

Sang Niang hurried to go cook, knowing that if she was late, she’d be scolded by her mother-in-law.

Lin Yu carefully picked out the fish bones, afraid they might get stuck in the child’s throat.

Wei Qingshan, seeing that his little husband hadn’t returned yet, stepped outside to take a look. He saw Lin Yu squatting on the ground, feeding Xiao Qing.

Wei Qingshan watched until Lin Yu finished and stood up, then he spoke, “Time to eat.”

“Coming.”

Today, Lin Yu had steamed dry rice, a bowl of tofu fish soup, and a dish of water celery stir-fried in lard.

Wei Qingshan ladled the fish soup over the rice, and it was as good as he imagined. Even the water celery, which had a strange taste, was crispy and refreshing, perfect with the rice.

The two of them chatted while eating, “How come you were feeding Xiao Qing? Do you like him that much?”

“When I brought the fish soup, Qian Laotai looked like she wanted some. I was afraid she’d take it from Xiao Qing, so I decided to feed him myself.”

Wei Qingshan smiled, his little husband was always so soft-hearted, “That’s something Qian Laotai would do. Xiao Qing is a ger, and she doesn’t like him.”

They finished the fish, and Wei Qingshan used the leftover soup to soak rice and fed it to Dahei and Baixue.

Lin Yu felt a bit full and walked around the yard for a few laps before heading back.

The next day, the two of them ate breakfast early and headed to town, leaving at dawn since Lin Yu was worried his wild vegetables wouldn’t stay fresh.

They carried four wild chickens, one rabbit, and two baskets of wild vegetables. Wei Qingshan covered the baskets with a rag, and the two of them walked toward the town.

The two wild pheasants they had caught yesterday were injured and couldn’t eat well, so they needed to be sold quickly. The other two had been kept for Wei Qingshan’s wedding, and they were especially lively.

When they arrived at the town, it was still early. Wei Qingshan paid the market fee, received a wooden token, and then came back. The two of them found a shady spot to protect the wild vegetables from the sun.

Wei Qingshan placed the wild chickens on the ground, and Lin Yu spread the rag out, organizing the wild vegetables into categories.

Soon, someone came over to look at the wild chickens. “How much for these wild chickens?”

“The two injured ones are forty-five wen each, and the other two are fifty wen each.”

“These wild chickens are injured, yet they’re so expensive. Can you lower the price?”

“They’ll taste the same once you cook them, just that the injured ones don’t look as good.” Wei Qingshan didn’t want to lower the price. If he did, others would know and try to haggle. “How about this: If you buy one of them, my husband will give you a bunch of wild vegetables.”

The person agreed, chose a large chicken, and took a bunch of toon leaves from Lin Yu before leaving.

Lin Yu felt happy when a chicken was sold. His water celery was neatly arranged, along with the toon leaves, wild fern, and other vegetables. Women who came to buy groceries saw them and came over to ask. The fresh green water celery was very tempting, and with the spring vegetables not yet ready, eating wild vegetables was a nice change of taste.

Lin Yu didn’t charge too much—two wen for a bunch of water celery, three wen for a bunch of toons. Many people came to buy, and for the first time, Lin Yu was surrounded by so many people, feeling so nervous that his face turned red. Wei Qingshan was standing by, helping him with the sales.

Some people tried to pick and choose, wanting to get the best pieces, but Wei Qingshan simply refused to sell to them. These were the freshest wild vegetables, and if they wanted to pick and choose, it wasn’t going to happen. “You pick some, I’ll pick some. Don’t spoil the good vegetables.”

With Wei Qingshan’s help, Lin Yu’s wild vegetables sold smoothly, and many people asked about the wild chickens and the rabbits. By midday, the two of them had sold almost everything they brought.

Wei Qingshan’s wild chickens and the rabbit were all gone, and Lin Yu only had a few wild vegetables left—mostly the ones that had been picked over or handled roughly by the customers.

A few people were lingering around, asking for prices. After selling for half a day, Lin Yu wasn’t nervous anymore. Though his voice had softened, he still answered clearly.

Lin Yu saw a woman in the middle of the street, holding a child’s hand. The child looked clearly exhausted and didn’t want to walk anymore, he was so tired that he was nearly limp, but the woman was carrying some cloth and had to keep pulling the child along.

“Sang Niang.”

Lin Yu called out softly. Sang Niang turned around and saw Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan by the roadside. She came over, holding the cloth. “Qingshan, Qingshan’s husband, you two are here selling things today?”

“Yes, Qingshan came to sell some wild game.”

Sang Niang said a couple of words and was about to leave. She hesitated for a moment but didn’t speak up. However, Xiao Qing, whom she was holding, suddenly began crying, “Mama, I’m tired, I don’t want to walk anymore, woo woo woo~”

Sang Niang squatted down to comfort him, “Xiao Qing, be good. Once Mama sells the cloth, we can go home.”

“No, Xiao Qing doesn’t want to walk anymore. My feet hurt, woo woo woo~”

Sang Niang couldn’t calm the crying Xiao Qing. Lin Yu also squatted down to help comfort him, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. How about you stay here with us and wait for your Mama to come back?” Xiao Qing looked at his mother, “Want, mama.”

Sang Niang looked apologetic, “Sorry to trouble you, Yu-ger. I’ll be back once I’ve sold the cloth.”

Lin Yu nodded. “It’s just a child. It’s no trouble.”

Sang Niang thanked him and left. Every time she wove a piece of cloth, she had to go to the town to sell it, but her mother-in-law didn’t want to help look after the child, so every time she came, she had to bring Xiao Qing with her. She had to carry the cloth and hold the child’s hand, walking slowly until they reached the town.

Xiao Qing was still young, so she could only hold him for a while and let him walk for a bit. Once they reached the town, she had to look for buyers while Xiao Qing followed behind. Naturally, he got tired.

Now that someone was helping look after him, she quickly took the cloth and went off to find buyers.

Lin Yu squatted down and wiped away Xiao Qing’s tears. The three-year-old boy was very small, and he was so tired that he sat on the cloth and didn’t move.

Wei Qingshan stood up and walked away, “I’m going to buy something to drink. I’ll be back soon.”

Lin Yu nodded. After selling things for the whole morning, they hadn’t had a drink of water and were both a bit thirsty.

Wei Qingshan found a tea stall along the street. As he looked around in the crowd, he saw a familiar figure walking toward him. Zhao Jiazhu noticed him too, and his face stiffened for a moment before he quickly slipped away.

Wei Qingshan saw that Zhao Jiazhu was carrying some medicine, it was probably for Zhao Dazhi, and he wondered how he was doing. Wei Qingshan walked toward the pharmacy to inquire.

He took out ten copper coins and bought some red dates. While the shop assistant was weighing them, he asked, “The man I just saw—what medicine was he buying? He’s my uncle. I just missed him. What happened to him?”

“The man you’re asking about? He bought medicine for his son. This morning, we sent one of our doctors to check on him. Turns out, he had gone to his own village to get some cheap medicine, and his son’s cold got worse. Now it’s more serious. Without a few taels of silver, he’s not going to get better.”

Wei Qingshan left with the red dates. Serves him right. That Zhao Dazhi was useless and dared to bully his husband—he got what he deserved.

Wei Qingshan didn’t plan to tell Lin Yu. He bought two bowls of sweet water and some steamed buns and headed back.