Bonus chapter thanks to Green Kitea on Kofi. Enjoy!

“Mm, they were Wei Er’s things to begin with. Selling them was just compensation for the Feng family.”

“I just heard it from people gossiping at the village entrance when I came over. You and Qingshan are really generous—that’s over a hundred taels of silver!”

“No amount of silver can buy back a life. I just hope the Feng family’s days get a little easier.”

“That’s true. The Feng family had it tough. After all the hardship, that silver is enough for Hua-ger to grow up and marry a son-in-law, and their days will be much better.”

The two of them stayed with the children and played at the field’s edge for a while before heading back. When they reached the village, quite a few older women greeted Lin Yu with smiles. “Yu-ger, are you just coming back from the fields?”

“Yeah.”

“Is Qingshan’s injury any better? Let my man come over to help—he’s got nothing to do anyway.”

“That’s right, we’re all neighbors. If something comes up, just say the word and we’ll all come.”

Among the crowd, Wang Fulang also wore a slightly embarrassed smile. “That’s right, just say the word.”

Lin Yu smiled at them. “Shi Tou and Brother Dazhu are here, so we have enough people.
“Alright then, but if you need anything, don’t be polite.”

Lin Yu thanked them, then left with Dong-ger, holding the children.

After they left, He Dongdong quietly said to Lin Yu, “I’ve never seen these old women be so polite before. Isn’t it all because you and Qingshan helped the village?”

Lin Yu smiled and didn’t say anything. He and Wei Qingshan were not petty people — they only sought to act with a clear conscience.

After the two had gone far, the others started talking again. “That was one hundred and twenty taels of silver, and they just gave it all to the Feng family.”

“Yeah, and did you see? Just now, there wasn’t a trace of heartache on Yu-ger’s face. He’s really a good person.”

“Who says he isn’t? If I had to fork out over a hundred taels of silver, I’d be so heartbroken I wouldn’t be able to eat.”

“Does your family even have that much silver? Hahaha.”

“Can’t I just say something?”

Someone looked at Wang Fulang. “Thinking back to when Lin Yu had just married off, who didn’t say a few words of gossip behind his back? Sigh, we really were too nosy.”

Wang Fulang’s face flushed red with embarrassment, not daring to reply.

“Wang Fulang, back then, you even said Yu-ger had something going on with his cousin. If that had made the husbands turn against each other, your sin would have been huge.”

Wang Fulang waved his hands repeatedly. “That was my fault, my fault. I wronged Yu-ger.”

Ashamed to the point he couldn’t face anyone, Wang Fulang hurried back home. From then on, he would never speak ill of others again.

After parting with He Dongdong, Lin Yu went home. He and Zhao Yueniang boiled some water, made a few white wheat flatbreads, fried some eggs, and carried a basket out to the fields. They had been working for half the day and were tired, so they drank some water and ate something to rest.

He and Zhao Yueniang carried the basket and water jug to the fields again. By now, half the field had already been turned over. They set the things down at the edge of the field, and Lin Yu first poured a bowl of sugar water for Wei Qingshan. “Let Shi Tou and Brother Dazhu come up to have some water and rest.”

When Lin Yu lifted the cloth covering the basket, Wei Qingshan saw the white wheat rolls inside. “You even made flatbreads.”

“Mm. Right now, every household is not eating its fill. We can’t let others work for us on an empty stomach.”

Wei Qingshan called the two over to drink water. Lin Yu quickly poured it for them, and when Shi Tou took a sip, he found it was sugar water!

Lin Yu held out the basket. “I made some flatbreads, have some.”

Shi Tou quickly waved his hands. “We all came after having eaten.”

Lin Yu looked at Wei Qingshan. Of course, he knew they had eaten before coming, but they certainly hadn’t eaten enough. His family was relatively well-off, and Lin Yu wasn’t stingy over a few flatbreads.

Wei Qingshan also spoke up. “My husband has already prepared it. If you don’t eat, he’ll be unhappy.”

Lin Yu secretly glared at Wei Qingshan. What nonsense was he talking about!

But Wei Qingshan hooked the corner of his lips, clearly in a good mood. His little husband was becoming bolder by the day — not only daring to step forward to speak for him that day, but now even daring to glare at him. He was more and more of the air of the one in charge.

Only then did Shi Tou and He Dazhu wash their hands in the canal water and pick up the flatbreads. Lin Yu had rolled eggs and whole wild scallions inside. They were fragrant to eat. He had rolled them this way precisely because he was afraid they’d be too embarrassed to take eggs if they were separate, so he just rolled them in.

Wei Qingshan also ate some. His little husband’s cooking was really good — sitting at the edge of the field eating these white rolls, even had a bit of the joy of a spring outing.

Shi Tou and He Dazhu ate two each and then stopped. Lin Yu urged them, and they each took one more. The work wasn’t done yet, but they were already full.

He Dazhu said from the side, “Yu-ger, don’t bother making lunch at noon. The two of us won’t be coming to eat.”

He Dazhu was afraid Lin Yu would make food for them again at noon. Right now, every household was mixing wild vegetables into their grain — how could they eat someone else’s grain? Lin Yu had no choice but to agree.

Shi Tou wiped his mouth, feeling more strength in his body after eating, and waded back into the water to work.

Lin Yu left the water jug and carried the basket back home with Zhao Yueniang.

After plowing the fields and letting them sit for a day, Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan scattered rice seeds. This year, there was no seedling nursery, so they could only scatter the seeds directly. Although this might mean a slightly smaller harvest, at least it was planted. By the time the second crop came, they could start a seedling bed and then transplant.

With the crops in the fields finally planted, Lin Yu let out a sigh of relief. This year, they wouldn’t have to fear going without food.

After the housework was done, Lin Yu didn’t allow Wei Qingshan to idle away by running up the mountain or going to catch pigs. He made him stay home to rest and recover from his injuries, changing up the dishes every day to make him good food. Their grain stores were enough to last until the new harvest.

He heard that rice in town was still expensive, costing seven or eight taels per dan. Only when the first rice crop came in would the price go down.

Today, Lin Yu made chicken soup again, with bamboo shoots, red dates, and goji berries, stewing it all afternoon. Now that it was spring, there were more things to eat. He went to the bamboo grove to dig up bamboo shoots. These days, the back mountain was full of villagers digging for wild vegetables. With their grain not enough to eat, there was no other way — but even this was better than the days in winter without wild vegetables.

On the table was old hen soup with red dates and goji berries, scrambled eggs with goji shoots, stir-fried bracken with wood ear fungus, and in front of each of the three people was a bowl of white rice. Lin Yu picked up some meat for Wei Qingshan. “Eat more, and drink two more bowls of chicken soup later.”

In these past days, Wei Qingshan had been nourished by Lin Yu every few days. Even with the blood he had lost before, he had now recovered. His little husband treasured his egg-laying hens the most, yet they had already killed three.

Wei Qingshan wanted him to kill a pheasant, but Lin Yu wasn’t willing, saying it wasn’t as good as an old hen. Wei Qingshan teased him, saying a pheasant was also an old hen, but Lin Yu stubbornly insisted that old people all said an old hen was the most nourishing, and he had never heard of a pheasant being nourishing, so he insisted on killing the old hen he had raised.

However, the old hen soup was indeed nourishing. His little husband’s complexion was now rosy with a hint of red, so Wei Qingshan didn’t say anything more.

Wei Qingshan drank a bowl, and Lin Yu served him another. “Drink some more.”

Wei Qingshan took the bowl. “We’ve eaten three hens already. No need to kill more. They’re laying eggs now—don’t you feel bad?”

“No matter how precious, no one’s more precious than you.”

These days, with Lin Yu’s red date and goji berry old hen soup, Wei Qingshan’s internal fire was rising. He could only eat more wild vegetables to suppress it. Although his home often smelled of meat, no one said anything—after all, they could earn it. What was there to be jealous about? And besides, how did Wei Qingshan get his injury? Wasn’t it to save the village?

“The injury’s almost healed. Tomorrow, let’s go to town and sell the pheasants and wild rabbits. Looking after them every day is tiring.”

“Alright, I’ll go with Yueniang. The town should be fine now.”

“Alright.”

That night, Lin Yu felt like he might have over-nourished Wei Qingshan, but he couldn’t just let him suffer like that. In the end, he gritted his teeth and sat on top of Wei Qingshan.

It was the first time the little husband had been so proactive, and Wei Qingshan couldn’t hold himself back. But because the little husband was mindful of his injury, he didn’t allow him to move, so Wei Qingshan could only hang there awkwardly, treating it as quenching his thirst.

Not only was he uncomfortable, but Lin Yu was also uncomfortable. He was so shy he didn’t dare lift his head, and in the end, he even exhausted himself. He was too tired. Next time, he’d better let Wei Qingshan take the lead.

After tending to Wei Qingshan once, Lin Yu didn’t do it again. Wei Qingshan, left hanging and extremely uncomfortable, had no choice but to look forward to his wound healing quickly.

When Wei Qingshan woke up in the morning, his little husband was still asleep, but Zhao Yueniang had gotten up earlier than both of them and was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

They had too much game—it was attracting too much attention—so they decided not to go all in. The next day, before dawn, the three of them hitched up the mule cart and went to town. They had accumulated half a year’s worth of game—truly a lot—and it would take a while to sell. They brought dried rabbits, dried chickens, as well as some fresh live wild rabbits and pheasants. The three of them headed to town together.

Wei Qingshan first drove the mule cart to a restaurant in town to ask if they wanted any. Upon hearing that he had wild game, the restaurant’s shopkeeper immediately had them bring it to the backyard. Nowadays, few in the countryside could even eat their fill, let alone have the strength to hunt in the mountains, but in town, there were plenty of wealthy households who were looking for just such things.

Pheasants and wild rabbits were a hundred copper coins each, and the dried ones were the same price. Lin Yu hadn’t expected them to be so expensive now. When he asked, he learned even eggs were ten coins each.

Wei Qingshan asked if they wanted venison. The shopkeeper, upon hearing there were also deer, immediately said to bring it over. There were plenty of people in town with silver to spend on such things.

The restaurant bought everything Wei Qingshan had brought that day. This cartload of game fetched over twenty taels of silver. Lin Yu was a bit surprised—it was actually that much!

The three of them decided to have a meal at the restaurant. Lin Yu had never eaten in a restaurant before, thinking it was too expensive, but since they had just earned silver, they might as well enjoy one meal.

Each of them ordered a dish. Wei Qingshan ordered beef, which they rarely ate. Lin Yu ordered a quail stew, and Zhao Yueniang ordered braised perch. The restaurant also gave them a plate of assorted seasonal vegetables. These three dishes were things people in the countryside couldn’t get, and they were made with great refinement.

Lin Yu took a bite of the braised beef, his eyes lighting up. “Delicious.”

Wei Qingshan ordered a pot of osmanthus rice wine, and the three of them ate every bit of the food with the wine. The meal cost four taels of silver—definitely expensive—but it was truly delicious. Eating it once in a while was fine; no family could afford to eat like this every day.

Lin Yu was a little tipsy, with a silly smile on his face that was rarely seen, his eyes sparkling. Wei Qingshan felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at him.

Driving the mule cart away, they encountered a passing military unit and moved to the side. An adjutant on horseback came up to him.

“Wei Qingshan? You’ve come to town?”

Wei Qingshan recognized him as one of the adjutants from that day and cupped his hands. “I came to town to sell some game.”

“Right, you’re a hunter. Do you have more? You are just in time—the wealthy merchants in town are hosting a welcome banquet for our General Yue.”

Wei Qingshan told him what else he had at home. The adjutant swallowed hard. “You’ve got deer, too? Bring a cartload of game to the yamen tomorrow, and get a big deer as well. Say it’s for General Yue.”

Wei Qingshan thanked him. After the adjutant left, he drove on.

Lin Yu’s face broke into a big smile. “Then we can sell another cart, and the rest we can sell slowly!”

Wei Qingshan nodded. “Selling some and keeping the rest means it’s not much work to look after them.”

That day, they had brought a cartload to town, but it was only about a fifth of what they had. They also had some furs that hadn’t been sold yet, and those were worth quite a bit of silver as well.

Lin Yu, slightly dizzy from the osmanthus wine, leaned against Wei Qingshan’s chest on the way back. The warm wind made him sleepy, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. Wei Qingshan drove the mule slowly, afraid of jostling his little husband.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan packed a cartload of game, brought along three deer, and first went to the yamen to deliver them, giving General Yue’s name. The yamen staff led Wei Qingshan inside.

In the morning, Yue Zhonglang, who had just finished drilling his troops, happened to return. When he saw Wei Qingshan, he immediately recognized him. “It really is you. Yesterday, the vice general said he saw you and told you to send some game over.”

Yue Zhonglang was quite happy to see Wei Qingshan and patted him twice on the shoulder. “Still don’t want to follow me?”

“Thank you for your kindness, but I do not wish to leave my husband.”

Yue Zhonglang burst into loud laughter. “Now that’s the truth. Sounds much better than what you said the other day. Alright, I won’t force you.”

Yue Zhonglang removed the jade pendant from his waist and gave it to Wei Qingshan. “This time I owe you. I’ll give you this jade pendant—if you ever need something, you can come find me in the capital.”

“Thank you.”

After giving Wei Qingshan the jade pendant, Yue Zhonglang left. Wei Qingshan then went with the yamen men to unload the game. Seeing that Wei Qingshan actually knew Yue Zhonglang, the man leading the way became much more respectful—after all, that was a fourth-rank official! The county magistrate was only ninth rank, and he had been staying in town these past days solely to entertain this general.

When it came time to give the silver, they didn’t dare to short him in the slightest. For the cartload of game plus two deer, they gave a full eighty taels of silver. Lin Yu, holding the silver, was still a bit dazed. “So much.”

The two of them then drove the cart to deliver a deer to the restaurant and got another thirty taels of silver. They also brought out the jackal meat from the house today, and Wei Qingshan took it to sell to a medicine shop—the same shop as before. A year had passed, and the shopkeeper still remembered Lin Yu. “It’s truly fortunate to see you two again.”

The past year had been hard for everyone; many townsfolk had died, and the countryside was in chaos. The shopkeeper felt some emotion seeing Wei Qingshan and Lin Yu again.

Wei Qingshan handed over a back basket full of jackal meat. “Have a look.” The shopkeeper examined it carefully. “Oh, quite a lot.”

For five jackals’ worth of meat, the shopkeeper gave them thirty taels of silver. This trip alone had brought in one hundred and forty taels of silver.

Sitting on the mule cart, clutching the silver, Lin Yu’s eyes sparkled. “Qingshan, this year we have enough silver to open a shop in town!”

Last year, after they bought land, they only had one hundred and fifty taels left. Now, selling just two cartloads of game had brought in one hundred and forty taels!

There were still furs in the house and game in the courtyard—easily another hundred taels’ worth. Lin Yu was very happy. By this calculation, their family now had a full five hundred taels of silver!

To him, this was a huge fortune. Now they had five mu of land and five hundred taels in assets. In such an unsettled year, they had actually earned so much silver!

“Mhm, in the coming days, I’ll have the brokers help us ask around.” Seeing his little husband so happy, the corners of Wei Qingshan’s mouth also carried a smile.