Chapter 21: A Bumper Harvest

Fortunately, all of Jiang Yuan’s hard work did not go to waste. When he descended the mountain at noon, he was carrying five heavy bundles of pheasants and rabbits.

While a casual observer might only form a vague impression of "a lot," Jiang Yuan had quickly counted them before coming down. So, when Xie Wanniang exclaimed in shock, "So many?!", he replied with feigned calm, "Nine pheasants and twelve rabbits."

Detecting a hint of quiet pride in his tone, Xie Wanniang couldn't help but smile, her eyes curving into crescents.

She ladled a bucket of hot water for him. "Go wash up and change your clothes and shoes first."

Jiang Yuan nodded. "What’s for lunch?" He could already smell the mouth-watering aroma of meat.

Xie Wanniang did not hide it from him. "Bone broth with mixed-grain noodles. I’m planning to add two poached eggs and a large basin of baby spinach."

Jiang Yuan took a deep breath. "I’ll be right back!"

With that, he grabbed the bucket and hurried back to his room. He needed to wash up quickly and get back to eat!

Watching his impatient demeanor, Xie Wanniang smiled and walked into the kitchen. She cracked two eggs into the boiling bone broth, waited a moment, and then slowly added the prepared mixed-grain noodles. Once the eggs and noodles were nearly cooked, she added the fresh, vibrant green baby spinach to the pot.

Just as she finished preparing the meal, Jiang Yuan emerged with the bucket. He had changed into clean clothes and swapped his shoes for his everyday cloth slippers with thick, multi-layered soles. He had soaked his dirty clothes in the bucket and left his mud-stained straw sandals near the well.

After washing his hands, Jiang Yuan ran to the kitchen to help Xie Wanniang carry the lunch, fetch the chopsticks and the jar of meat sauce, and retrieve the pickled radishes and cucumbers.

Xie Wanniang had a small appetite; even after being busy all morning, she could only manage two moderate bowls of the bone broth spinach noodles. Jiang Yuan, however, was different. He was at that age where a growing boy could eat his family out of house and home, and he had burned a lot of energy hunting that morning.

Once Xie Wanniang set down her chopsticks, Jiang Yuan polished off all the remaining spinach, noodles, meat sauce, and pickles. He even finished every last drop of the leftover bone broth.

***

After eating his fill and feeling exceptionally content, Jiang Yuan was just about to clear the table when Chen Moqin, the second son of Village Chief Chen next door, trotted up to the gate of their courtyard.

Since peace had returned to the land, the villagers had resumed the habit of leaving their door bolts unlatched during the day, provided there weren't only young children or vulnerable women at home. Thus, Chen Moqin didn't even need to knock; he simply poked his head and half his body through the gate.

He waved vigorously at Jiang Yuan, who was walking out of the main room with a bowl. "A-Yuan, come quickly! Shuanzi’s father is trying to beat his sister to death. I’m going to get my father—you go and help stop him!"

Jiang Yuan paused for a moment. "Alright."

He hurried to the kitchen in two strides, set down the bowls and chopsticks, and was about to head out when he saw Xie Wanniang standing by the door with a padlock in hand.

"I’ll go take a look, too."

She intended to live in the village for a long time and knew she would inevitably have to interact with the villagers. Ever since she suggested that Jiang Yuan distribute dried fish to nearby neighbors, she had been consciously increasing her presence in the community.

Jiang Yuan took the padlock, and they stepped out together.

Because the situation was urgent, they ran the entire way, past their own gate and over to the house of Shuanzi, who lived two doors down.

Shuanzi was the eldest in his family. Besides him, there was another son and three daughters. His family was very poor; for one, there were many children, and for another, Shuanzi’s mother was frail and unable to do heavy labor.

Furthermore, Shuanzi, who was a year older than Chen Moqin, had married the winter before last. His wife had become pregnant late last autumn, and the family was about to grow even larger. His marriage had cost a significant amount of money, his pregnant wife needed nutritious food, and once the baby arrived, there would be another mouth to feed, requiring even more expense.

More importantly, his second brother was already fourteen and would need to marry in three or four years. That would mean another wedding, another bride, and another addition to the family—all costing a fortune.

Their life was hard. Eating chaff and vegetables and suffering from hunger were common occurrences. Even so, the money for Shuanzi’s wedding had been covered by the dowry received for his eldest sister. Indeed, his eldest sister was also set to be married shortly after the autumn harvest this year. As for the money for the second brother’s future wedding, his parents planned to use the dowry from the second sister, but beyond that, the family faced other expenditures.

The largest expense, of course, was building a new house. Their current home was both dilapidated and small; it was not only becoming too cramped for the family but the walls were also cracking, and it was drafty on all sides. During rainy days, it was even worse—if it rained heavily outside, it would drizzle inside, a truly miserable experience. Therefore, by next spring at the latest, they had to rebuild the house.

To save as much money as possible and minimize borrowing, the family—except for Shuanzi’s pregnant wife—rarely ate grain unless it was a holiday or during the peak of spring plowing and autumn harvest, let alone fine grains, meat, eggs, or tofu.

They mostly relied on home-grown vegetables, wild herbs, wild fruits, elm seeds, and mushrooms gathered from the mountains. Whether fresh or dried, these were added to rice soup or vegetable broth to keep everyone barely satiated.

The older ones, including the second sister and second brother, could endure the hardship, struggling through each day. However, the five-year-old youngest sister couldn't help herself. Both yesterday and this morning, she had managed to sneak and eat two fresh, raw eggs.

Her mother, usually sickly and soft-spoken, would discover it and, at most, scold her out of heartache for the eggs. But her father believed firmly in the principle that "sparing the rod spoils the child." To him, his youngest daughter ignoring her mother’s warnings and quickly cracking open raw eggs to swallow them was a sign of excessive willfulness.

When scolded, the little girl wouldn't admit fault; instead, she would say, tearfully and aggrieved, that she didn't mean to, but she simply couldn't control her urge to eat them when she saw eggs.

The little girl looked so pitiful and teary-eyed that it was clear she was telling the truth, but her father couldn't accept this reasoning. In his eyes, his daughter was simply gluttonous and unappreciative of how difficult their situation was. In other words, she was asking for a beating.

Consumed by rage, the middle-aged man forgot that this was not one of his two sturdy, resilient sons, but his thin, sallow-faced little daughter who had never tasted good food in her life. He grabbed a broom and prepared to strike.

Seeing his expression, his wife and children feared he might lose control and seriously injure the little girl, so they rushed forward to intervene, pleading and blocking his path.

Yet, the little girl had no sense of the situation. Faced with her father's fury, she became even more frightened and aggrieved. She wailed loudly, her little mouth pouring out complaints about how wronged she felt.