Old Man Feng was also going to go along. When he heard this, he quickly said, “I’ll carry him back, I’ll carry him back.”

“This is a long journey, ai.”

“Use my family’s mule cart,” Wei Qingshan said.

Old Man Feng wiped his tears and repeatedly thanked him. “Thank you, Qingshan, but no need. The sin committed by Wei Er and the Xia family has nothing to do with you.”

There weren’t many families in the village that had a mule cart, and he couldn’t go borrow one, afraid people would find it inauspicious.

“If you use a mule cart, you can bring him back sooner, and he can be buried sooner, put to rest in peace.”

Old Man Feng fell to his knees with a thud. Wei Qingshan stepped aside, and everyone hurried to help him back up.

Inside the house, Madam Feng heard and came out crying, carrying a quilt in her arms. “Old man, let Ye-ger come back with some dignity.”

Old Man Feng, wiping his tears, took the quilt. Shi Tou also headed home to prepare his own mule cart. “Let’s all take the mule cart there, the journey will be faster.”

After seeing Wei Qingshan off, Lin Yu felt too flustered to do anything else, so he simply shut the door and took Zhao Yueniang to find He Dongdong.

Just at Shi Tou’s courtyard gate, they ran into Shi Tou coming back with the mule cart. “Sister-in-law, you’re here.”

“How come you’re back?”

Shi Tou told Lin Yu, and Lin Yu nodded. “That’s as it should be.”

Inside the courtyard, He Dongdong and Shi Niang were coaxing the two children. When they saw Lin Yu and the other coming, they quickly brought out stools and poured hot tea. Seeing Shi Tou back too, they asked, and He Dongdong only said he came back earlier. Shi Tou hitched up the mule cart and left.

A few people sat in the courtyard. Lin Yu sighed. “It’s obviously warmer now, but these past two days have felt cold again.”

“Ai, Yu-ger, set your mind at ease. Under a natural disaster like this, life and death are not in our hands.”

No one brought up what had happened yesterday. Every one of them still felt unsettled and anxious.

Today, Shi Tou had also gone to the Feng family, and the He family sent someone too. They were all going together to Aozi Mountain to recover the Feng family’s ger’s body. No matter what, they couldn’t let him lie exposed in the wilderness.

The two little ones were steadier on their feet now, but they could only take a few steps at a time, still needing adults nearby to support them. A few days ago, Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan had planted the two mu of dry fields at home. The paddy field hadn’t been plowed yet; it would have to wait a few days until after this matter was over.

Lin Yu hadn’t really played with the two little ones for some days. Yun-ger still remembered him. He held out his arms and toddled toward Lin Yu, “Ma~ Ma~”

Only then did Lin Yu’s face show a bit of a smile. He picked up Yun-ger and sat him on his lap. “Just a few days apart, and our Yun-ger already knows how to walk.”

“He even remembers you. You don’t know—those days just after we came down from the mountain, he wouldn’t let his father carry him, and every day he cried and fussed wanting to find you.”

Lin Yu played with Yun-ger. Yun-ger reached out his little hand to grab Lin Yu’s hair, and once he caught it, he shoved it into his mouth. Lin Yu chuckled. “Why do you still like eating Ama’s hair?”

Lin Yu held Yun-ger’s little hand. On the side, Lei-zi saw and slowly inched over with He Dongdong supporting him by the clothes. “Look at you, you’re so afraid of falling even when you’re just walking.”

Lei-zi, showing his newly sprouted baby teeth, moved to Lin Yu’s leg and grinned at him. “Up.”

“We’ll carry our little Lei-zi later; your little brother’s sitting now.”

Lei-zi kept reaching out, ah-ah, wanting Lin Yu to carry him too. Lin Yu just supported him so he wouldn’t fall. Lei-zi then reached out and pushed Yun-ger, who was sitting on Lin Yu’s lap. He Dongdong called out, “Why are you pushing your little brother?”

The little rascal didn’t listen and kept pushing. Yun-ger stretched out his little foot and kicked Lei-zi, who was already unsteady on his feet, knocking him over.

Lei-zi plopped down on his butt and immediately started crying loudly. He Dongdong picked him up and patted the dirt off him. “Who told you to push your little brother?”

Lei-zi, unwilling, teary-eyed, reached out toward Lin Yu. The little guy’s crying was truly pitiful, so Lin Yu handed Yun-ger to He Dongdong and took Lei-zi into his lap, wiping his tears. Only then did Lei-zi stop crying, nestling in Lin Yu’s arms and swinging his little feet.

Yun-ger started babbling, reaching out his little hands to go over too. He Dongdong rocked him. “Alright, stop fighting. Your Ama will be exhausted holding you both.”

Lei-zi, sitting on Lin Yu’s lap, brightened up and blew a bubble at Yun-ger, making everyone laugh.

He Dongdong shook her head helplessly. “I’ve realized this little rascal is a bit sly. He did it on purpose, but just now he was pretending.”

Lin Yu didn’t believe it. “How could a little kid know that?”

“You don’t know—although Yun-ger is more active than him, this little rascal, if Yun-ger touches him, will howl like something terrible happened. Once he howls, I will scold Yun-ger. Later, I found out after several times that Yun-ger hadn’t even touched him yet, and he had already started howling. What a bad little brat.”

Lin Yu poked Lei-zi’s little face. “Your little dad said you’re bad.”

“Pff~” Lei-zi blew a bubble.

“See? This stinky little brat, who knows who he takes after— he can’t even be told off.”

Lin Yu stayed at He Dongdong’s place and played with the two little ones all morning. His heavy mood finally improved a bit. When he came back, Shi Niang gave him quite a few vegetable seeds. In the afternoon, he and Zhao Yueniang dug up the little vegetable garden in their yard.

That night, with Wei Qingshan not at home, Lin Yu had trouble sleeping. He woke up twice in the middle of the night and finally just gave up on sleeping, got up, lit the lamp, and started doing needlework in the room.

Wei Qingshan came back the next afternoon. The moment Lin Yu saw him return, he hurried forward to greet him. “You’re back—did you find him?”

“We found him. The Feng family said the burial will be tomorrow. Don’t come over for now, I’m dirty. I’ll wash up first.”

“Alright.” Lin Yu quickly went to boil water.

Their group had searched for a long time on the top of Aozi Mountain before finally finding the ger on the cliff at the back of the mountain. It was Old Man Feng who recognized his son by his clothes. These bandits had committed countless crimes, and there were still other victims thrown off the cliff. They simply buried them in the earth.

When the Feng family held the funeral, quite a few people from the village went to help. The Feng family was truly pitiful, but at least their son was now laid to rest.

After helping out, Wei Qingshan came back, washed his hands, and discussed with Lin Yu. “Wei Er’s family now only has five mu of paddy field left, and it’s still lying fallow. Let’s sell it for silver and give it to the Feng family. We don’t want that land.”

Lin Yu nodded. Wei Er’s family’s land and the house in the yard had originally been bought with the silver Wei Qingshan had saved up. Now that there was no one left in that family, they didn’t care to keep it.

“It’s just—who has that much silver now?”

“No matter. I’ll make a trip to town. There’s bound to be someone willing to buy. As for our paddy field, planting a few days later won’t matter. Selling that land sooner will keep it from going to waste.”

“Alright. Be careful in town. Who knows how things are?”

After the Feng family’s matters were settled, Wei Qingshan went to town. By now, the town had also stabilized. Refugees were returning to their hometowns to farm, and the widows and orphans left behind in town had been taken in by the charitable orphanage, where women and husbands sewed, washed, and cared for the children.

As soon as Wei Qingshan entered town, he heard someone say that Commander Yue’s army was resting there, and people’s hearts had become more settled. He also heard someone say that Commander Yue had donated several hundred taels of silver to the charitable orphanage, saying it came from spoils taken during the bandit suppression. Many people were praising him.

Wei Qingshan found a broker in town to ask who might be willing to buy the yard and five mu of land. Once the word spread, there were indeed quite a few interested buyers. Most families in town didn’t own land, and after the natural disaster, they had come to realize how valuable it was to have land and grain.

That very day, Wei Qingshan brought several families to look at the yard and the land. He didn’t hide anything, telling them the yard’s previous owner had been executed for crimes, so the yard was being sold cheaply, while the farmland was at the normal price.

It was now the busy spring farming season. After the bandit trouble, every household was back in the fields working. Wei Qingshan couldn’t hide it when he took people to see the land, but the villagers said nothing. Wei Er was dead—naturally, the property was Wei Qingshan’s to plant or to sell.

Wei Qingshan had killed the bandit leader, and according to the commander, three or four of his men had died fighting that bandit leader. If not for Wei Qingshan, their village might have been in danger. On top of that, he had generously lent his mule cart to bring back the Feng family’s boy. Who would have a bad word to say?

The families who came to look at the land found it good and began competing for it. In the end, one family took out silver on the spot to buy the paddy field and yard together—twenty taels per mu for the paddy field, and with the yard included, the total came to one hundred and ten taels.

Back at the Wei household, Wei Qingshan found the land deed, property deed, and an extra ten taels of silver. The next day, he went with the buyers to town to complete the paperwork.

Once everything was settled, he and Lin Yu took one hundred and twenty taels of silver to the Feng family.

The Feng family had just suffered the loss of their son, and the house was still shrouded in gloom. Seeing Wei Qingshan and Lin Yu arrive, they forced themselves to be hospitable. Hua-ger poured water, and Old Man Feng let out a long sigh. “Qingshan, thank you for looking after Ye-ger’s matters.”

Wei Qingshan placed the bundle on the table. Inside were taels of silver. Old Man Feng was startled. “Qingshan, what is this? I told you this has nothing to do with you.”

“Uncle Feng, hear me out first. This is the silver from selling Wei Er’s yard and farmland. Now that there’s no one left in Wei Er’s family, the land would just lie fallow if not sold. Please take it.”

Old Man Feng pushed it back. “What belonged to Wei Er should be yours.”

Lin Yu spoke up from the side. “You should think ahead for Hua-ger’s sake.”

Old Man Feng sighed and accepted it. “Qingshan, you and your husband… thank you.”

After giving the silver, Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan returned home. The weight on Lin Yu’s heart finally eased. Anyone who saw the Feng family in their current state would feel heavy-hearted.

After the bandit incident, helping the Feng family and then selling the land, their own paddy field had been delayed for several days. Seeing that other people’s crops were already planted, Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan also began their own planting.

At night, Lin Yu helped Wei Qingshan change his bandages. The wound still looked rather serious, and Lin Yu felt deep heartache. Someone injured should be resting well, but he had been running around for days. Luckily, the wound was fine.

“Tomorrow, when we go to the fields, I’ll hold the plow. You just drive the mule.”

“You’ve got a man at home. How could I let you, a ger, do the plowing?” Wei Qingshan knew his little husband was worried about him, but plowing and turning soil was hard work. How could he let his little husband do it?

“It’s fine, I can do it.” Lin Yu was stubborn. No matter what was said, tomorrow he wouldn’t let Wei Qingshan do the work—he would only have him drive the mule.

Wei Qingshan didn’t argue with him either. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Rest early, tomorrow we still have to go to the fields.”

The next morning, Wei Qingshan borrowed the plow from Sang Niang next door. Her land had already been planted, so she didn’t need the plow anymore. Sang Niang was a bit too busy to manage several mu of land by herself, so she had hired people to plant it. She was also weaving cloth, and she wasn’t short of silver to hire short-term laborers.

The three of them—Wei Qingshan and the others—drove the mule cart carrying the plow to the fields. At this time, there weren’t as many people in the fields as a few days ago. Many families had already finished their spring plowing. Lin Yu and the others had been delayed for a few days, but it didn’t matter.

Lin Yu took off his shoes, rolled up his pants, and went down into the paddy field. He insisted on holding the plow himself. Wei Qingshan couldn’t persuade him otherwise, so he could only say they would hold it together, and only then did Lin Yu nod in agreement.

In front, the mule pulled the plow, and Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan held the plow in the water. The paddy field needed to be turned over once before seeds could be sown, otherwise, the crop wouldn’t grow well.

The two of them had just plowed for a short while when Shi Tou came over. He rolled up his pants and jumped right in. “Brother, let me do it. You and your sister-in-law take a rest.”

Wei Qingshan told Lin Yu to go up. “Shi Tou and I will handle it here. You go wash up and rest.”

Lin Yu thanked Shi Tou and then went up. Shi Tou scratched his head awkwardly. “Sister-in-law, I should be the one thanking you.”

His Dong-ger and child had been under their protection, and no matter what, that kindness could never be repaid in full.

Lin Yu sat at the field’s edge and didn’t leave. There were three mu of land to plow, which would take the whole morning. He thought about switching with Shi Tou later to hold the plow. He couldn’t just let Wei Qingshan do it—Wei Qingshan’s shoulder injury still hadn’t healed.

After Shi Tou plowed for a while, He Dazhu also came. “I figured it was about time for your land to be turned and seeds planted. Qingshan, your injury still hasn’t healed—Shi Tou and I can take care of it.”

No matter what, the two of them wouldn’t let Wei Qingshan or Lin Yu take over. Wei Qingshan’s wound did need some time to recover, so he didn’t stand on ceremony and stayed at the field’s edge.

Lin Yu felt a little embarrassed that all the housework was being done by others. Wei Qingshan told him to wash his feet and put on his shoes first. Even though the weather was getting warmer, having feet full of mud was still cold. So Lin Yu sat at the edge of the field, used the water from the ditch to wash his feet, and put on his shoes.

Not long after, He Dongdong and Shi Niang also came over with the children. It was now February, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was warming up. A layer of bright green wild grass had grown along the edge of the field.

He Dongdong let go of little Yun-ger’s hand. “Look, who’s that?”

As soon as He Dongdong let go, Yun-ger stumbled and ran toward Lin Yu. “Ya! Ma~”

Lei-zi also struggled in Shi Niang’s grasp, wanting to go find Lin Yu. “Hug~ hug~”

The two little ones, one after the other, hugged Lin Yu’s legs. Being bumped by the two soft little ones, Lin Yu’s heart melted. He reached out and touched each of their heads. “Ah, so it’s our Yun-ger and Lei-zi who’ve come over.”

Lin Yu smiled and steadied the two little ones. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s nothing much to do at home, so I brought the two little ones out for a walk.” He Dongdong reached out to pull Lei-zi away, but the little rascal clung tightly to Lin Yu’s clothes and wouldn’t let go. He Dongdong had to use a bit of force to pry him off. “Alright, you two can just go to your Ama yourselves.”

Once pulled away, Lei-zi was unhappy and kept whining. Lin Yu picked up Yun-ger, who immediately wrapped his short arms around Lin Yu’s neck, his little legs swinging happily.

“Yu-ger, don’t feel bad. My family’s land is planted already, and Shi Tou doesn’t have much to do now. You two—one’s injured, the other’s a ger—no way are we letting you do the work.” He Dongdong comforted Lin Yu.

Lin Yu smiled. “Thank you.”

“If you say that again, I’m going to get mad.” He Dongdong snorted. “Oh, right, I heard your family sold Wei Er’s house and fields and gave the silver to the Feng family?”