Wei Qingshan pushed the cart around a few nearby villages. There were indeed a few families wanting to sell pigs. Wei Qingshan picked one pig and brought it back. One pig cost him five taels of silver.

Lin Yu heard Dahei’s returning bark and hurriedly ran out. Seeing Wei Qingshan pushing the cart back, he ran over to help push it. “How did it go? Was it smooth?”

“Mm, pretty good. Scattered across the nearby villages, there are still a few pigs left. Enough to collect for a while,” Wei Qingshan parked the cart at the entrance. Luckily, his house was in a remote area, so he could casually find a spot to butcher the pig.

“Let’s eat first. After we eat, I’ll help you with it.”

Wei Qingshan entered the courtyard to wash his hands, and Lin Yu helped bring out the food.

“I can do it myself, don’t scare yourself.”

“I’m not afraid.” Lin Yu thought it would be better to lend a hand. This was housework, after all. He couldn’t let Wei Qingshan run around over a small matter.

“How much silver does it cost to buy one pig?”

“This pig is a bit bigger, five taels.”

“Five taels? That’s so expensive.”

“Once the pigs we’re raising grow up by next year, we won’t need to buy anymore.”

Lin Yu thought that made sense. They were raising six boars at home. Later, once the two sows gave birth, maybe they would have enough for slaughter themselves. A big fat pig could actually sell for five taels of silver!

While Wei Qingshan ate, Lin Yu went to the kitchen and boiled a full pot of hot water for slaughtering the pig later. Wei Qingshan had been a hunter for many years and was very familiar with killing pigs.

He was still worried about scaring his little husband. He waited until after he had finished bleeding the pig before calling anyone out to help. Lin Yu felt a bit uneasy, but thinking of how hard Wei Qingshan worked, he mustered his courage and took a look and found it not too bad.

He carried the hot water over. The pig’s cries had attracted quite a few onlookers, and even Qing-ger was lying at the doorway, peeking over.

“Qingshan is preparing to sell pork?”

“Mm, if anyone wants to buy meat, just come over.”

Wei Qingshan was busy with his work and didn’t chat too much. Not many villagers came to buy. A few days ago, they had just split wild boar meat, which already counted as having eaten meat. Who could afford to buy pork again so soon? Even if a family was well-off, they couldn’t eat meat this frequently.

After a while, the crowd dispersed. Lin Yu helped on the side. Pig offal wasn’t worth much, but it still counted as meat. It couldn’t sell for much, but Lin Yu thought that if he cleaned it up properly, maybe he could sell it for a bit more.

Wei Qingshan left again before dawn the next day, pushing the cart, and Lin Yu went along too. They arrived just in time for the morning market, which hadn’t dispersed yet. Business was pretty good in the early hours, and people came one after another to buy meat. In one morning, they had sold off half a side of pork.

Wei Qingshan cut the meat for customers, while Lin Yu collected the silver on the side. Someone saw that the pig offal was cleaned well and bought it. Lin Yu accepted the copper coins, feeling a bit regretful. Although pig offal wasn’t worth much, he had cleaned it for a long time.

In the afternoon, the two of them pushed the cart to a nearby village to sell again and sold some more. The weather was getting hotter now, so the pork had to be sold quickly.

On their way home, they calculated the day’s earnings. After deducting costs, one pig could earn about one tael of silver. Wei Qingshan was quite pleased—this earned more than his spring hunting. Plus, this work could be done year-round. Business would be even better during holidays and festivals.

For dinner, Lin Yu made stir-fried pig liver, stewed bone soup, and stir-fried tender gourd. Wei Qingshan thought the stir-fried liver tasted great. His little husband had skillful hands, and everything he made was especially delicious.

“Tomorrow I’ll go to town alone. I can manage.”

“Alright.”

Wei Qingshan again left before dawn, pushing the cart. Lin Yu stayed home to feed the pigs and chickens, then sat in the courtyard embroidering things for Chun-ger’s child.

While he was embroidering, Sang Niang brought Qing-ger over. Sang Niang was a bit afraid of Wei Qingshan. Seeing that he wasn’t home today, she finally came over. “Yu-ger is busy, huh?”

“Sang Niang, it’s been a while since I last saw you.”

“Things have been busy at home.”

Lin Yu brought over a stool for Sang Niang to sit. It had been a few days since they last met, and Sang Niang looked much better. She was wearing a dress made of blue cloth, her hair was neatly combed, and even little Qing-ger beside her was wearing new clothes.

Sang Niang handed the items in her basket to Lin Yu. Inside were a silver tael, eggs, and some wrapped pastries. Lin Yu quickly pushed them back. “Sang Niang, what are you doing?”

“Yu-ger, listen to me first.” Sang Niang pulled Qing-ger in front of her. “I want Qing-ger to learn embroidery from you. Hey, it’s still better than having him follow me weaving cloth all day. In the future, won’t he have a livelihood to support himself?”

“Sang Niang, it’s not that I won’t teach, it’s just that we’ve got pigs and chickens at home, and sometimes I still go to town with Qingshan.”Sang Niang waved her hands repeatedly, “It’s fine, it’s fine, just teach him when you’re free.”

Lin Yu also really liked the little Qing-ger. This child was well-behaved and sensible. He held Qing-ger’s little hand, “Qing-ger, do you like embroidery? Do you want to learn embroidery from Ama?”

“I want to learn embroidery,” Qing-ger said softly.

Lin Yu patted his head, “Alright, then in the future you’ll follow Ama and learn embroidery.”

Hearing that Lin Yu accepted Qing-ger, Sang Niang was very happy and quickly handed over the prepared tuition gift to Lin Yu, “Yu-ger, you must accept this.”

Lin Yu firmly refused to accept it, “Just treat it as letting Qing-ger come keep me company and chat a bit.”

Lin Yu did not accept the silver tael, he only took the eggs and pastries inside. He was indeed rather busy. Who knew what household chores might come up? He could only take Qing-ger along when he had spare time.

Wei Qingshan returned after selling the meat, took off the money pouch at his waist, and gave it to Lin Yu to keep. Lin Yu told Wei Qingshan about Sang Niang wanting him to take a disciple today. Wei Qingshan nodded, “That’s good too. This way, someone can talk with you when I’m not home. Just take this one. If anyone else comes, just say you already accepted a tuition gift.”

“I know.”

There was no telling when someone greedy might try to send their kid over. He didn’t have the heart to take disciples. If one or two all came, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Do you want to take a walk in the mountains with me tomorrow?”

“Sure!” Lin Yu hadn’t gone into the mountains for some time. Now that it had rained a few times, there were a lot of things to pick up in the mountains. Wei Qingshan could also rest for a day at home. Pushing the cart with all that heavy stuff to town was also pretty tiring.

The two of them didn’t rush. After eating breakfast and waiting for the sun to rise, they set out. After the night, the grass in the mountains still carried dewdrops. The two didn’t go too deep into the mountains and brought along their two hunting dogs. Dahei followed Wei Qingshan to catch small game, and Baixue followed Lin Yu to look for wild vegetables.

This was just the time when wild mushrooms were starting to grow. Lin Yu used a stick to poke through the leaves on the ground, looking for mushrooms. As the forest grew deeper, fewer people came. Before long, Lin Yu had picked quite a lot.

Mushrooms were tender and, if cooked well, could taste even better than meat. When he was little, his mother often took him into the woods to find mushrooms. If there was no meat to eat, they ate mushrooms, and the flavor was very delicious.

Lin Yu walked and stopped, picking a lot of mushrooms. His basket was already half full. Then he saw wood ears growing on dead wood and picked those too. These things couldn’t sell for more than a few copper coins, but when dried, they could be eaten in winter.

Lin Yu was happily picking when Wei Qingshan came to find him. His basket was already more than half full. “So many, huh?”

“Mm!”

“I just caught a wild chicken, let’s stew it together when we get back.”

The two wandered in the forest until the afternoon and then headed back early. Wei Qingshan cleaned the wild chicken, and Lin Yu laid out the mushrooms and wood ears he had picked to dry. In the evening, they stewed a wild chicken and mushroom soup and stir-fried a plate of mushrooms with meat. The flavor was very good.

Wei Qingshan rested at home for a day, and the next day he went out again to collect pigs. Based on the current pace, he only needed to slaughter one pig every four days, and in a month could earn seven or eight taels of silver. Though it was a bit less than hunting, life was much more stable now, and he could spend every day with his little husband.

Taking advantage of the good weather, Lin Yu laid out his mushrooms and wood ears to dry, mixed corn paste, and spread glue cloth in the yard. In a few days, he would have to take apart and wash Wei Qingshan’s winter clothes from last year. He had no winter clothes himself and would need to go to town to buy cotton and cloth.

Qing-ger saw Lin Yu was at home and ran over, “Ama.”

“Qing-ger’s here. Play by yourself for now. Ama is a bit busy these days. After Ama finishes pasting the glue cloth, this afternoon I’ll teach you embroidery.”

“Mm!”

Qing-ger sat obediently beside Lin Yu, stretching out his little hands to pass him old fabric.

Wei Qingshan didn’t come back at noon, so Lin Yu made noodles.

In the afternoon, he embroidered in the courtyard with Qing-ger. He was embroidering when He Dongdong came over, frowning, not sure whether he was happy or unhappy.

“What’s wrong? Did you argue with Shi Tou?”

“Who argued with him?” He Dongdong blushed a bit, “I heard you’re making a tiger-head hat for Chun-ger’s child, so I came to take a look.”

Lin Yu was holding it in his hand, embroidering it. The tiger-head hat had colorful threads used to embroider the eyes and whiskers. It looked like a bunch of blooming flowers, very pretty. He Dongdong took it and looked all around, “So small.”

“Kids are just that small.”

“I still remember my two little nephews back then, all tiny and wrinkled, not cute at all.”

Lin Yu was amused by his description, “I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen one yet.”

He Dongdong fidgeted with his clothes, a little embarrassed, “Well, Yu-ger, I’m pregnant.”

“Ah?” Lin Yu was very surprised. How long had it been since the wedding? Dong-ger was already pregnant. “How long has it been?”

“Probably not even two months yet, the doctor already checked.”

Lin Yu was a little envious. “How come it’s so fast?”

He Dongdong blushed. “I don’t know either.”

Judging from the days, it must have happened not long after they got married. He and Shi Tou were still in the honeymoon phase, and of course, they were messing around a lot at night, and just like that, this little brat showed up. “I wasn’t even prepared, I thought it’d take a year or two.”

“Could it really be because of those embroidered baby charms? Are they really that effective?”

Lin Yu’s embroidered baby charms had always sold well. Some even asked for larger ones to hang on the wall. He earned about five hundred wen a month easily—almost as much as the clerks in the town made. Even those big fabric shops, rice stores, and restaurants only paid their clerks one or two taels a month.

“No, people just want peace of mind.”

He Dongdong scrunched his little face. “It’s not that I don’t like kids… It’s just that it came a bit too fast.”

He Dongdong muttered a few complaints about Shi Tou, blaming him for having no self-control, dragging him into messing around all the time. Now look, they couldn’t mess around anymore.

“In the future, I’ll have you make some little belly bands for my baby too.”

“Alright.”

He Dongdong hung around for a bit before Shi Tou came looking for him. He Dongdong glared at him, and Shi Tou scratched his head awkwardly. Only then did He Dongdong stand up. “How long has it even been since I left the house? What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you.”

“What’s there to check? I’m fine.”

Shi Tou laughed foolishly a couple of times. “Sister-in-law, when are you guys slaughtering the pig?”

“When Qingshan gets back, we’ll slaughter it.”

“Then I’ll come over later.”

He Dongdong snorted and left. Shi Tou quickly followed behind, afraid he might trip. Lin Yu looked at the two walking away and chuckled.

Wei Qingshan came back with the pig. Lin Yu let Qing-ger go home first. The child was still young, and Lin Yu was afraid he’d get scared.

This time, Lin Yu kept all the pig offal. He wanted to try cooking it into ready-to-eat dishes and see if he could sell them. He scrubbed the pig offal clean using cornmeal and then simmered them with chili, ginger, and bay leaves.

Wei Qingshan was outside slaughtering the pig and could already smell the aroma wafting out from the yard. His little husband had skillful hands—who knew what he was cooking up this time?

Lin Yu kept a low flame going, simmering in the pot. The scent drifted so far that even the neighbors could smell it. Who was cooking meat? It smelled so good.

Once it was about done, Lin Yu sliced some and tasted it. The flavor was nice, just a little off. The color was also a bit too dark—if it could be as bright as soybean paste, it would be better.

Lin Yu’s eyes lit up. That’s right, if he added some soybean paste, maybe it would improve the taste. But they didn’t have any at home right now—he’d have to buy some and ferment it. Maybe the flavor would be better by then.

Lin Yu thought the taste was decent. At least all the effort he put into cleaning the pig offal wouldn’t end up being sold off cheaply. He picked out some for Wei Qingshan to taste and looked at him with bright eyes. “How is it? Tasty?”

“This is pig offal? There’s this indescribable aroma—my little husband really is amazing.”

Lin Yu was a little embarrassed by the praise. “Still not quite what I had in mind. I’ll keep trying. Tomorrow, when you go to town, take some with you and try selling it. Try pricing it at five or six wen for a bowl. Just say you can stir-fry it with scallions at home.”

“Alright, I’ll try it in town tomorrow.”

Just as Wei Qingshan finished preparing the pig, Shi Tou came by. He bought two strips of meat to take home. Wei Qingshan picked good cuts for him. “Buying so much?”

“I’m sending one over to my mother-in-law’s.” Shi Tou gave a simple, honest smile. “Dong-ger is pregnant.”

Wei Qingshan smiled and patted Shi Tou on the shoulder. “Not bad, you rascal.”

Lin Yu heard Shi Tou’s voice from the yard and brought out a bowl of the cooked pig offal. “Shi Tou, take this home for Dong-ger to try. Just stir-fry it with scallions when you get back.”

“Alright, thanks, sister-in-law.”

Shi Tou carried off the two pieces of meat and the bowl of pig offal.

That evening, Lin Yu stir-fried a bowl of pig offal. Wei Qingshan ate two bowls of rice with it. “Mm, it tastes even better stir-fried than it did earlier.”

That night, Shi Niang also stir-fried a bowl of pig offal. At first, He Dongdong found it hard to take a bite—pig offal was usually so smelly. But seeing Shi Tou eating with such gusto, he asked, “Is it good?”

Shi Tou nodded repeatedly. “It’s good, really good. Don’t you trust Yu-ger’s cooking?”

They’d first laid eyes on each other at Lin Yu’s place, and ever since Shi Tou had tasted that one meal, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Qingshan-ge’s husband really could cook. He Dongdong half-doubtfully picked out some and tried it. His eyes gradually widened—when had pig offal become this delicious! As expected, it had to be Yu-ger!

In the morning, when Lin Yu sent Wei Qingshan off, he asked him to bring back a jar of wine, soybeans, and salt on his way home. After seeing Wei Qingshan off, Lin Yu had breakfast, then mixed tofu dregs with wheat bran and cornmeal to feed the piglets. He fed the chickens next door the same way, saving him a trip to the mountains to cut grass.

Lin Yu looked at the little piglets snorting and rooting for food in the pen with great satisfaction. He had been raising them for some time now, and they had all grown noticeably bigger—each one eating until they were round and plump.

After feeding the pigs, Lin Yu slung his basket over his back and went to the back mountain. In the wild grass piles on the back mountain, there were plenty of wild mustard greens. He set down his basket and began cutting the better-grown ones.

These wild mustard greens could grow as tall as a person’s calf, with big leaves covered in fine, fuzzy thorns. People usually didn’t eat this kind of wild vegetable. Even when cutting grass for pigs and chickens at home, no one wanted it. But it could be pickled, though pickling it required salt, and not many families were willing to waste salt on such worthless greens.

That back mountain was full of these unwanted things. Lin Yu quickly cut a full basket and returned home.

He carried water and sat in the courtyard to wash the wild mustard greens. Once pickled, they could be eaten with porridge in the mornings or during the winter when vegetables were scarce.

After washing them, Lin Yu laid them out in the courtyard to dry. Once they wilted a bit, he could pickle them the next day.

After finishing all that, Lin Yu went back to embroidering the tiger-head cap. He planned to deliver it to Chun-ger today.

It was a bit hot outside, so Lin Yu sat at the main hall doorway, a smile on his face. Although they didn’t have any farmland now, he and Wei Qingshan worked together and could probably buy two mu next year. Besides, life now was peaceful and beautiful, something he hadn’t even dared to dream of before.

At noon, Lin Yu steamed some rice and stir-fried pig liver. After a nap, he went to deliver the tiger-head cap and other items to Chun-ger.

When he arrived, Chun-ger was slicing tofu with a big belly. Upon seeing Lin Yu, he quickly came out to greet him, “Yu-ger, you’re here.”

“I brought you the tiger-head cap.”

As soon as Chun-ger heard it was the tiger-head cap, he washed his hands and came over to look. Several women and husbands were in the yard buying tofu, and upon hearing Lin Yu had embroidered a tiger-head cap, they all came over to see.

Chun-ger held it in his hands and couldn’t put it down. “It’s so beautiful. It’ll look so impressive when my baby wears it.”

One husband teased, “Everyone else is hoping for a boy. Why do you want a baby ger?”

“What’s wrong with baby gers? Baby gers are so well-behaved.”

Everyone took turns looking at it. Chun-ger, worried they’d dirty the tiger-head cap and little bellybands, quickly put them away.

He went into the house and brought out half a string of copper coins, placing them in a basket. He also added a few pieces of tofu. “Yu-ger, take these back to eat.”

Lin Yu didn’t refuse and accepted them with a smile. Wang Fulang, with sharp eyes, spotted the copper coins under the cloth. It was quite a bit. He knew that Lin Yu’s embroidered dolls and handkerchiefs sold for fifteen wen each, and many people in the village had bought them—even he had bought one.

Adding it up, Lin Yu was earning quite a lot. With a flattering smile, Wang Fulang came over. “Yu-ger, I heard Qing-ger is learning embroidery from you.”

Lin Yu responded with a noncommittal sound, clearly not wanting to deal with him. This Wang Fulang had spread rumors in the village that almost ruined his reputation. Lin Yu picked up his basket, ready to leave.

Wang Fulang quickly caught up and blocked his path. “My daughter Huaniang is already five this year. Yu-ger, can you teach our Huaniang embroidery too?”

“Sang Niang gave a fee of one tael of silver. If you want to send her, it’s the same price.”

“One tael? That expensive?!” Wang Fulang’s eyes widened.

Lin Yu ignored him and walked off with his basket. Wang Fulang was still complaining to others, “It’s just teaching embroidery—one tael of silver? Might as well go rob someone.”

Chun-ger rolled his eyes. Wang Fulang was always trying to take advantage of others. Now he even came to buy tofu with copper coins, but he always tried to sneak off with a little extra each time.

“Then go find one of the embroidery women in town. Maybe they’ll be cheaper.”

After all, it was a skill they made a living off of. He didn’t even want to offer tuition and still expected to learn? Dream on.

Wang Fulang had nothing more to say and just started spreading gossip again. “Where would Sang Niang get the silver to pay for Qing-ger’s embroidery lessons? She probably stole it from that money-grubbing old hag.”

Chun-ger didn’t want to deal with him anymore. That Wang Fulang just couldn’t stand seeing anyone living better than him.

Meanwhile, Wei Qingshan had set up his stall in town. Beside him was a basin of fatty intestines his little husband had cooked. They looked good, and someone came by asking why pig offal was being sold already cooked. Wei Qingshan sliced some for them to try.

The person took a bite, nodded, and said, “Not bad, not bad, give me some.”

“My husband said just stir-fry it with scallions at home—it tastes even better hot.”

The offal didn’t look as nice once it cooled, and the aroma during boiling was strong, but once it cooled, the flavor weakened. Not many people were buying—mostly folks who couldn’t afford meat. Just before noon, Wei Qingshan went across to a noodle stall.

At the noodle stall across, he ordered a bowl of soup noodles. He was in the middle of eating when someone stood in front of the meat stall. “Where’s the butcher? Where’s the butcher? How much is your meat?”

Wei Qingshan slowly took a sip of his soup. “It’s me. What is it?”

Zhao Jiazhu turned his head and saw Wei Qingshan sitting imposingly at the stall. He shrank his neck, then flung his sleeves and walked away. What kind of luck was this, running into this god of misfortune when he was just trying to buy some meat? Zhao Jiazhu hurriedly left.

Wei Qingshan counted the days—Zhao Dazhi’s wedding should be in a few days. The new wife was fierce; Zhao Dazhi would have some good days ahead.

Wei Qingshan kept selling until the afternoon, then packed up. He bought the things his little husband wanted, then also bought a small pot. As for the stove, he could build one himself.

This iron pot alone costs one tael of silver. Wei Qingshan thought that tomorrow, while selling pig offal, he would boil it over a fire right at the stall. That way, the aroma would waft out. If it didn’t work out, the small iron pot could just be left at home for his little husband to cook with.

Wei Qingshan pushed the cart back home. His little husband was still waiting at home for him.