Translated By April

Thanks to Elisha for the Kofis. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

Lin Yu was so frightened that he shuddered. Wei Qingshan patted his back in a comforting manner. “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

Lin Yu truly was too exhausted, and in no time, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

From next door came the miserable screaming of Qian Laotai, along with the sound of things falling to the ground. Wei Qingshan tugged the quilt to cover his little husband’s ears and held him as he went back to sleep.

Next door, Qian Gui’er had been sleeping when in his dreams he felt something cold and chilly pressing against his neck. He opened his eyes and saw, in the moonlight, a woman with disheveled hair and a livid face standing at the head of his bed, letting out strange giggles and cackles from her mouth.

Qian Gui’er screamed in terror, “Murder! Murder!”

“Silly Qian Gui’er, the water’s so cold, come keep us company, hehe.” Sang Niang raised a knife and slashed at the bed. Qian Gui’er screamed “Ah!” in fear and wet the bed. The knife slammed down into the headboard of the bed right above his face—just a bit more and it would’ve landed on his face.

Hearing the commotion, Qian Laotai quickly got up. When she arrived at her son’s room, she saw a disheveled-haired woman pulling a knife out of the wooden bedframe. “Sang Niang, what are you trying to do?!”

Sang Niang yanked the knife out with force, then held the knife and tilted her head, grinning bizarrely as she looked at Qian Laotai. “Mother, mother, you’re here too, hehe. The three of us, let’s live together, okay? Hehe. Mother, it doesn’t hurt, just one quick stroke and it’s done.”

Sang Niang, holding the kitchen knife and moving with stiff limbs, crawled toward Qian Laotai, her mouth calling out eerily, “Mother, mother—ah.”

Qian Laotai was so frightened that her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot.

Only then did Sang Niang carry the kitchen knife back to her own room and place the knife under her bed.

Qian Laotai lay on the ground all night, and Qian Gui’er, scared out of his wits and reeking of urine, curled up under his quilt, shivering. Only when the rooster crowed at dawn did he dare poke his head out. Trembling, he called, “Mother, mother.”

Seeing that it was daylight outside, he finally dared to get out of bed. He shook Qian Laotai awake on the ground. “Mother, mother!”

Qian Laotai finally woke up. Looking at the enlarged eyes in front of her, she screamed again, “Yesterday, yesterday—was that a human or a ghost?”

“Mother, go check her room. Did Sang Niang die in the middle of the night yesterday?”

Qian Gui’er’s pants were still wet. Right now, he didn’t even dare step out the door.

“You go, you go. I think that Sang Niang is probably dead. What rotten luck. Hurry and get someone to bury her.” Qian Laotai was shaking from fear. That thing crawling on the ground last night—was that Sang Niang’s ghost coming to find the two of them?

“You go, you go.”

“You go, you go.”

The two pushed each other, neither daring to go forward. In the end, trembling, they both went together to look into the room with the weaving loom. Qian Gui’er summoned his courage and pushed open the door. Inside the straw nest, Sang Niang was sleeping soundly, holding Qing-ger. Hearing the sound, she suddenly opened her eyes and revealed a bizarre smile toward the two of them. “Mother.”

Qian Laotai was so frightened she fell straight to the ground, and Qian Gui’er also trembled. Now that it was daylight and the sun had come out, that meant Sang Niang was fine. She was just pretending to be a ghost and playing tricks. He rushed up and kicked Sang Niang. “Stinking woman, yesterday you tried to chop me up. See if I don’t beat you to death! Beat you to death!”

Sang Niang cried out in pain from the kick, then let out another eerie cackle. “Qian Gui’er, you dare hit me? You dare hit me!”

Her voice grew increasingly shrill, and she grabbed the kitchen knife and swung it at Qian Gui’er. Qian Gui’er fled in panic, and Sang Niang chased after him through the courtyard with the knife. Her voice switched between shrill cries and gentle tones: “Qian Gui’er! Qian Gui’er, hehe, Qian Gui’er~”

Qian Gui’er was so terrified by her crazed appearance that he shouted wildly, “Help! Help! Murder!”

Even though their house was in a remote area, there were still a few households nearby. Sang Niang suddenly rolled her eyes and collapsed to the ground. When Qian Gui’er saw a neighboring old woman coming over, he hid behind her. “She—she tried to kill me!”

The woman sniffed the smell of urine on Qian Gui’er and wrinkled her brow. “Could she really kill you? Did you hit her again?”

The old woman stepped forward and helped Sang Niang up from the ground. Sang Niang slowly opened her eyes and, seeing it was the neighbor auntie, trembled as she leaned into the woman’s arms. “Auntie, auntie, Qian Gui’er wants to kill me, he wants to kill me.”

“It’s alright, don’t be afraid, Auntie will take you back inside.”

The old woman helped Sang Niang into the house. Sang Niang returned to her shabby room and took another nap. When she was hungry, she got up and only scooped out white flour to roll into noodles. Qian Laotai and Qian Gui’er saw this but didn’t dare go near. Sang Niang’s hair was messy, and, holding the knife while cutting noodles, it looked like she was chopping someone—clang clang clang.

After finishing cooking, Sang Niang, holding the kitchen knife, called out sweetly to the two of them. “Mother, Qian Gui’er, come eat.”

Neither dared to come forward. Qing-ger ran over. “Mama, I’m hungry.”

“Hungry, huh? Mama will get you some food.”

Sang Niang served a bowl and ate two bowls of white flour noodles. Qing-ger had never eaten anything good before, either, and he ate quite a bit as well. The mother and son had lived these past years eating chaff and swallowing wild vegetables, never tasting anything good. Even the money Sang Niang made from selling cloth had been snatched away by Qian Laotai.

After finishing the meal, Sang Niang took Qing-ger into the room, sat disheveled before the weaving loom, and began weaving cloth again. Her mouth was singing lullabies for children, the sound matching the clacking of the loom’s pedal, creating a strange, eerie atmosphere.

The sound of that wooden board being knocked seemed to slam into Qian Gui’er’s body. He remembered again the knife that had struck his bedhead last night. He trembled. “Mother, Sang Niang has gone crazy.”

“You go lock her in the room.” Qian Laotai pushed Qian Gui’er to do it. Qian Gui’er mustered up his courage and locked up the weaving room.

When the sun was about to set, the door of that shabby little house started shaking. “Mother, mother, I’ll cook for you.”

Qian Laotai was so frightened by her gentle voice that she could barely take it, she cursed twice and continued cooking.

Lin Yu didn’t know what was happening next door. It sounded like at least they weren’t beating Sang Niang anymore. Yesterday, Dahei had bitten a rabbit to death, and today he cleaned it up to prepare for dinner.

He made braised rabbit, a small green vegetable, and tofu soup, and also steamed a big pot of white steamed buns. The fragrance drifted over to the next door. Qing-ger tugged on his mother’s clothes, “Mother, I want to eat meat.”

“Alright, tonight our Qing-ger will eat meat.”

In the quiet of the night, Sang Niang pried open the broken doorboard. She jumped into the chicken coop to catch chickens. Qian Laotai had raised a few chickens and ate all the eggs herself, not even letting Qing-ger have a single bite.

Wei Qingshan heard the noise next door but just pulled up the quilt to keep it from waking his little husband. Today, the two had gone at it again. There was nothing to be done—once his little husband pulled at his inner garment, he couldn’t hold back.

Sang Niang, under the moonlight, caught a chicken and chopped its head off with a single stroke. Qian Laotai heard the commotion and thought someone was stealing her chickens. She called Qian Gui’er and took a stick out with her.

In the chicken coop, a disheveled-haired woman crouched on the ground, her mouth biting the chicken’s neck, full of chicken blood. She grinned with a “hee hee” laugh. “Mother, I’m hungry.”

The chicken in her hand that wasn’t fully dead fluttered for a moment, and Sang Niang threw it onto Qian Laotai. “Mother, you eat too.”

Qian Laotai screamed and sat down on the ground. Qian Gui’er’s legs turned to jelly, and he rushed back into the house. Qian Laotai also scrambled and crawled back into the house, and the two of them tightly shut the door, not daring to go out.

Qian Gui’er slumped to the floor. “Mother, that Sang Niang’s gone crazy again. Could she be possessed by something dirty from the water?”

“Could be, could be. Why else would she be fine during the day but fall ill every night?”

Thinking this made the two even more afraid, so they stayed hidden in the house, not daring to come out.

Sang Niang wiped her mouth, carried the dead chicken to the kitchen, washed the chicken blood off her face, and then called Qing-ger over. She then boiled water to pluck the feathers and cooked the chicken.

Qing-ger, a small bundle, squeezed next to Sang Niang’s leg. The smell of meat from the pot made the little guy drool. After the stew was done, Sang Niang tore off half for herself. “Eat.”

The two each held half a chicken and ate until their mouths were shiny with grease. Sang Niang had never felt this satisfied before. She had almost forgotten what meat even tasted like. After eating the chicken, Sang Niang finally took Qing-ger back to sleep.

The other two in the Qian household didn’t dare go out until daylight. The Qian family fell into a strange silence. The two now didn’t dare provoke Sang Niang, afraid she would suddenly go crazy and chop at them with a knife.

Qian Gui’er was someone who only bullied people at home. He couldn’t stay in the house any longer—he was scared. He forced Qian Laotai to give him two taels of silver and ran off.

That left only Qian Laotai in the house. She didn’t dare provoke Sang Niang either. During the day, Sang Niang was just like before—if it was time to weave, she wove; if it was time to cook, she cooked. She even called out to her, “Mother, time to eat.”

At night, she would lie on the window and scratch at it, her voice gentle. “Mother, mother~ are you asleep? Let me in, the water’s so cold.”

Qian Laotai curled up in bed, trembling, not even daring to lift her head. She waited until dawn before she dared sleep.

For three nights in a row, it went on like this. Qian Laotai lost all her energy and spirit, no longer having the energy to go out and gossip. Sang Niang’s days, on the other hand, started getting better. She now ate all the food in the kitchen that she hadn’t dared eat before. Every meal was white flour. She even boiled eggs, and when she wanted meat, she’d go to the backyard to kill a chicken.

Over these few days, Wei Qingshan had accumulated quite a bit of game. He planned to go to town the day after tomorrow to sell it. Tomorrow, he wanted to take Lin Yu to the mountains for a stroll. He noticed his little husband had been sitting in front of the embroidery frame every day, and he was worried he’d get too tired. So he figured they wouldn’t go far tomorrow, just a little walk in the mountains.

He told Lin Yu, and Lin Yu readily agreed. “Then tomorrow I’ll go pick wild vegetables with you.”

That night, Lin Yu couldn’t sleep and scooted into Wei Qingshan’s arms. “Do you still want to tonight?”

Wei Qingshan, no matter how slow, finally understood by now. His little husband had been sticking close to him these past few days. “What’s wrong? Did someone say something to you?”

“No, I… I just want a baby.”

Wei Qingshan finally understood what was going on. He recalled his little husband saying that Chun-ger had often been coming by the past few days. The two of them must have talked about something that made his little husband anxious.

Wei Qingshan chuckled. “No rush, there’s no rush these next few years. Look at our home—it’s not even a proper house, we don’t even have land. If a baby came, they’d have to suffer with us. When the baby wants to come, he’ll come. If he doesn’t come, it’ll just be us two.”

Lin Yu thought about it and agreed. They didn’t have much silver now. If a baby came, wouldn’t that mean the child would have to suffer?

But when he heard him say they wouldn’t have a baby, he angrily smacked Wei Qingshan’s arm. “How could we not want a baby!”

Wei Qingshan’s lips curled up. Even after being smacked, he still looked like he was in a good mood. His little husband was getting bolder— he even dared to hit him now.

Lin Yu felt the knot that had always been in his heart finally unravel after hearing what Wei Qingshan said. He then thought of how he had been fooling around with Wei Qingshan these past two days, and his face couldn’t help but start to heat up.

The two of them, for once, slept in the next morning. After eating, they leisurely carried their baskets and went up the mountain.

Wei Qingshan didn’t carry many tools today, he just planned to check on the traps he had set in the forest. His basket was instead filled with a lot of food—leftover flatbread, rolled spring pancakes, and dried fruits, little snacks like that.

The two of them didn’t look like they were going hunting at all, more like they were out on a trip for fun.

Lin Yu had been cooped up at home for a while now. Ever since he accepted the embroidery job from the He family, he had been rushing to finish it every day. Coming out now, he saw that the mountain forest, which had been somewhat withered last time, had grown lush again. Wild grass grew thick along the narrow path, all kinds of unknown small flowers bloomed, and birds chirped everywhere in the forest, as if there were no longer threats from wild beasts.

Lin Yu was very happy to be out. The deeper they went, the denser the woods became. As he walked, he picked wolfberry sprouts along the path. Before long, he had stuffed quite a few into the hem of his clothes.

Wei Qingshan teased him, “Why are you so happy today?”

Lin Yu looked shy and didn’t reply. He couldn’t exactly say that he was happy because the knot in his heart was gone. He had misunderstood Wei Qingshan. Saying that out loud would just be too embarrassing. The way he had clung to Wei Qingshan at night these past two days was really too reckless!

Lin Yu walked along the path with light steps. There were many wild vegetables on the mountain, but they no longer fetched a good price. Only by finding things others couldn’t gather or particularly liked could they be sold.

Lin Yu’s eyes lit up when he saw a patch of green hidden in the forest. “Qingshan, look, it’s an elm tree!”

The two of them walked over. Wei Qingshan set down his basket. “In a bit, stay farther away. I’ll climb up and chop.”

“Alright.”

Lin Yu obediently moved aside. There were also elm trees in the village, but they had all been picked clean. Elm seeds were a rare wild delicacy in the spring. Lin Yu hadn’t gone to pick any because he had been doing embroidery at home. He had only tasted some because He Dongdong had brought him a couple of elm seed cornbreads to try.

This old elm tree, hidden deep in the mountains, had grown very lush. Not many people came this deep into the mountains, so the two of them managed to discover it.

Wei Qingshan climbed up the tree nimbly. He drew a chopping knife from behind and started cutting some low branches. The branches he chopped off fell down with a whoosh. Wei Qingshan shouted from above, “Stay farther away, don’t come over yet, wait until I come down.”

“Got it!”

Wei Qingshan didn’t climb too high. After chopping a few big branches from the lower parts, he came down. Lin Yu hurried over to pick elm seeds. Wei Qingshan also climbed down, and the two of them stripped the seeds and filled their basket. Wei Qingshan had chopped quite a few, and the basket was packed full.

A smile spread across Lin Yu’s face. Tomorrow, when he went to town, he’d have something to sell again!

He picked one and bit it, slowly chewing. It had a sticky, green, grassy taste.

Wei Qingshan gave Lin Yu the empty basket to carry, and the two of them continued looking for wild vegetables they could gather in the mountains.

Lin Yu was in a great mood. He popped dried fruit into his mouth to chew, and didn’t forget to stuff one into Wei Qingshan’s mouth too. The two of them wandered until the sun was high in the sky, then found a grassy spot to sit down.

Lin Yu took food and water from the basket, and the two of them leaned against a tree and began to eat. Wei Qingshan handed water to Lin Yu. “You can’t sit at the embroidery frame and sew every day anymore. It’ll ruin your eyes.”

“Got it. If I get tired, I’ll come into the mountains with you.”

The two of them slowly ate, then sat to rest. Lin Yu picked little wildflowers growing beside him one by one. Dahei and Baixue rolled around nearby.

Baixue, who had been playing, suddenly whined and began rolling on the ground. Wei Qingshan immediately straightened up and checked the surroundings. “Baixue, come here.”

Baixue wagged its tail and ran over, whining and throwing itself into Lin Yu’s arms, pushing its head against him so hard that Lin Yu fell onto the grass. Lin Yu was tickled by the nuzzling and laughed twice as he pushed Baixue off him. “Baixue, Baixue, get up.”

Wei Qingshan pulled Baixue to the side. After checking it over, he found that Baixue’s face was a bit swollen. “He must have gotten stung by a bee. What were you doing messing with it for no reason?”

“Dahei, go check if there’s a beehive nearby.”

Hearing “beehive” made Lin Yu interested. “I think I smelled a sweet scent nearby. Let’s go take a look.”

The two of them packed up their basket and walked ahead. After about the time it took to burn half an incense stick, they saw several locust trees in front of them, with many bees flying around the flowers. “There are actually locust flowers!”

“Yeah, there should be a hive nearby. Dahei, Baixue, go!”

Following the command, Dahei and Baixue ran off. Wei Qingshan and Lin Yu started picking the low-hanging locust flowers. “Be careful not to get stung by bees.”

“Mm, I know.”

Compared to elm seeds, Lin Yu preferred locust flowers. Back when he was at the Zhao family and there wasn’t much food, he would go around the village looking for things to eat. Elm seeds and locust flowers were things he’d just pick and eat. It was better than going hungry. Plus, locust flowers had a sweet taste. He liked to hold them in his mouth and suck on them a little.

The two of them picked locust flowers. Just as they were about done, Dahei and Baixue came running back. Dahei barked once toward Wei Qingshan. Wei Qingshan rubbed Dahei’s head. “Well done.”

Lin Yu’s eyes lit up. “Did they find it?”

“Yeah, let’s go over now.”

The two of them followed Dahei into the dense forest and found the beehive under a sunken rock. This beehive was not small—it was as tall as a three-year-old child. Lin Yu was very surprised. “So big!”

He had never eaten honey before. He had only seen it while foraging in the forest, but he never dared to touch it, afraid of being stung by bees.

Wei Qingshan put down the carrying basket. “Go find some dry leaves and such first, I’ll take care of it.”

Lin Yu nodded and used branches nearby to scrape together dry leaves, then brought them over to Wei Qingshan. In no time, the two of them had gathered a pile of half-wet, half-dry leaves.

“May my little husband do me a favor—lend me your clothes for a bit.”

Lin Yu obediently took off his short outer garment, wearing only his inner clothing. Luckily, the forest was deep, and no one else was around. Lin Yu took the two hunting dogs and ran off to the side.

Wei Qingshan wrapped Lin Yu’s clothing around his face, leaving only a slit, then made a simple torch. He held the dry wood and leaves and lit a fire under the beehive. Thick smoke billowed up, making the bees fly around chaotically. Once he got the fire going, Wei Qingshan quickly backed far away. He didn’t go find Lin Yu, afraid that the bees might follow him and sting Lin Yu.

Halfway through, he went back to add more leaves. The two of them waited nearby for a long time before approaching again. There were only a few scattered bees still circling the hive.

Wei Qingshan gave Lin Yu back his clothing and laid his own short coat on the ground. Then he poured the elm seeds onto his own coat. “Help me go break off some bigger leaves over there to line the basket.”

“Alright!”

While Wei Qingshan went to retrieve the beehive, Lin Yu broke off some big tree leaves and came running back, lining the bottom and sides of the basket with them, afraid the honey would leak out.

Wei Qingshan carried the honey over and placed it into the basket. Both of them had smiles on their faces. Sugar was expensive, let alone honey. Wei Qingshan noticed that every time he brought his little husband into the mountains, there would always be some surprise. His little husband really did have a bit of luck on him.

“Try it, see if it’s sweet.”

Lin Yu reached out and gently scraped a little from the beehive where the honey was about to overflow. He licked his finger, and his eyes went wide. “So sweet!”

He had never eaten honey before, and this first taste made him really like it. It was even better than the malt sugar he liked so much.

Wei Qingshan also laughed and covered the basket with leaves. “I’ll save you a jar when we get home. The rest we’ll take to the mountain town to sell tomorrow.”

“Okay!”

Today has been quite fruitful. The two of them each carried a basket on their backs, and Wei Qingshan also held a large bundle of elm seeds in his hand.

They returned early that day. After they got back, Wei Qingshan broke off a chunk of honey and filtered it through a clean cloth, leaving a full jar for Lin Yu. Lin Yu didn’t waste the cloth either—he soaked it in hot water and drank the honey water.

Each of them drank a bowl of sweet honey water. The day’s harvest had been great, although Baixue’s face was swollen on one side and she kept whining, looking both pitiful and funny.

He Dongdong came over that day. He had come in the morning, but Lin Yu wasn’t home, and guessing that the two had gone into the mountains, he came again. “Yu-ger, when are you and Qingshan-ge going to the town?”

“Tomorrow. We have some game at home we need to sell.”

As soon as He Dongdong heard Lin Yu was going to the town tomorrow, his eyes lit up, and then a blush swept over his face. “I—I want to go to the town tomorrow too. I’ll go with you.”

“Alright, we’ll leave after breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.” After getting a firm answer, He Dongdong ran off like a gust of wind.

Lin Yu was still wondering why Dong-ger was acting so strangely. He had wanted to let him taste some honey, but before he could say anything, He Dongdong had already run far away.

It wasn’t until He Dongdong came to his house the next day that Lin Yu understood—He Dongdong was wearing a new indigo spring garment, and his hair was tied up with a ribbon. He looked freshly groomed and was carrying a small basket in his hand, though it wasn’t clear what was inside.

He looked a little embarrassed. “I want to bring something to Gao Shuwen.”

Then, Lin Yu realized that the real reason he wanted to go to town was to see Gao Shuwen.

They had quite a lot of goods today. Each person carried a basket, plus a large bundle of elm seeds, wild rabbits and pheasants, and even two cages. Wei Qingshan simply flagged down a passing ox cart on the road to load up their stuff, and the three of them walked behind it slowly.

When they got to the town, Lin Yu first went to the market to set up a stall. He Dongdong didn’t go to look for Gao Shuwen—he felt too shy to go alone and said he would wait until Lin Yu finished selling before going together.

Lin Yu sold elm seeds and locust flowers at the stall, and Wei Qingshan sold wild rabbits and pheasants beside him. Lin Yu’s wild vegetable business was quite good today. After all, there weren’t many elm seeds or locust flowers in the town, and people wanted to try something new. He had brought a small bamboo basket with him—three wen per bundle. Quite a few people came to buy, and the locust flowers sold the fastest. While the two were selling goods, He Dongdong sat behind them, nibbling on locust flowers.

Their little vegetable stall with Wei Qingshan was doing really well. Before noon even arrived, they had already sold out everything they brought.

Lin Yu gave the old woman from the neighboring stall some locust flowers and asked her to help watch over his basket and two cages. Then he carried his small bamboo basket and went with He Dongdong to find Gao Shuwen, also taking the chance to sell his embroidered handkerchiefs.

Wei Qingshan, on the other hand, carried the honey to the medicinal herb shop. This honey, beeswax, and honeycomb were all good things—if he sold only the honey, that would be a waste. It would be better to sell the whole thing directly to the medicinal herb shop.