Chapter 42: Harvesting

Chu Yue quickly pulled Lu Yufang over to the bamboo sieves where they were drying medicinal herbs in the courtyard and taught her to recognize them.

“We only have these medicinal herbs at home right now, so I can only teach you this much. I’ll tell you about other herbs when we harvest them next time.”

Lu Yufang tilted her head and studied the herbs in the bamboo sieves again, carefully memorizing them.

“This is enough, this is enough. I can’t remember any more for now. Thank you, Yueyue. I’ll go back and memorize these few herbs, then I’ll come and find you again when we harvest the herbs.”

“Go ahead.”

After watching Lu Yufang leave, Chu Yue knocked on Yun Cuihe’s door. “Mother, are you resting?”

Yun Cuihe sighed. “Come in, Yueyue.”

Chu Yue entered the room and stood at the doorway, looking at Yun Cuihe in bed with some trepidation. “I took the liberty of asking Dr. Zhu to come to our house to see your illness, Mother. Are you angry?”

Yun Cuihe shook her head, rubbing her temples. “Why would I be? You’re so filial, Yueyue. I’m happy about it. It’s just that my head was a bit dizzy today, and I was afraid of falling, so I didn’t get up.”

Dizzy?

Chu Yue thought for a moment and went to the kitchen. She retrieved a hanging basket from the ceiling beam and took out the brown sugar she had bought on her first trip to town.

She then added water to a pot and cooked a bowl of brown sugar egg custard, which she brought to Yun Cuihe’s room.

She also added two slices of ginger to the soup. These three ingredients combined could replenish blood, activate blood circulation, warm the stomach, and strengthen the spleen, making it perfect for dizziness caused by anemia.

Fortunately, they still had these three ingredients at home. Otherwise, she would have been helpless.

“Mother, drink this bowl of brown sugar water first. It will help your dizziness.”

Yun Cuihe propped herself up and reached out to take the large bowl of brown sugar water that Chu Yue handed her. “Why did you even add eggs? You haven’t eaten.”

Chu Yue handed the porcelain spoon to Yun Cuihe.

“Mother, your health is the most important thing. We’re young and healthy, and it’s fine if we eat a bit less or a bit more. It’s no big deal.”

“Oh, you child…”

Yun Cuihe couldn’t help but sigh again. How could the Chu family not cherish such a good daughter? They were truly blind.

After drinking the warm, sweet brown sugar egg soup, Yun Cuihe broke into a sweat and felt that her head wasn’t as dizzy anymore.

“This soup of yours really works, Yueyue.”

Seeing that it worked, Chu Yue felt relieved. “Mother, stay in the room for now. I’ll go boil some hot water for you. I’ll bring a basin over for you to wipe yourself down and then change into clean clothes.”

Yun Cuihe nodded. “Alright.”

Soon, Chu Yue brought the hot water into Yun Cuihe’s room. Yun Cuihe got up, wiped the sweat off her body, and changed into clean clothes. She felt refreshed and invigorated, as if her body hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.

She took the dirty clothes she had changed out of and put them in the basin. As she stepped out of the room, Chu Yue quickly went to her. “Mother, let me wash the clothes.”

Yun Cuihe moved to the side, dodging Chu Yue’s hand.

“You’ve been running around for me all morning, Yueyue. You should go rest first. I can move on my own, and doing some chores will make me feel better.”

Seeing this, Chu Yue quickly brought over a small stool and placed it under the tree.

“Then you wash your clothes here, Mother. Don’t squat for too long, and be careful when you get up after washing.”

Yun Cuihe agreed to everything, smiling lovingly. “Alright, I understand. You go do your own thing. Didn’t you say this morning that you wanted Xinghe to teach you to read?”

She had heard everything inside the room – Dr. Zhu was going to introduce his master to Chu Yue. If she really learned medicine, wouldn’t she need to know how to write prescriptions?

This girl was truly clever, and she had impressed Dr. Zhu. If she could really learn some skills, then they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone in the family getting sick in the future.

Chu Yue went to the room and saw Lu Xinghe writing something at the window, dipping his brush in ink.

She had planned to quietly slip out of the room, but Lu Xinghe had already looked at her.

“Are you done? I’ll teach you how to use ink to write today.”

Chu Yue was stunned for a moment, then smiled and walked over. “Okay.”

Having practiced with a brush dipped in water for a few days, Chu Yue adeptly dipped her brush in ink and wrote the two characters “Xinghe” on a clean, yellowed piece of rice paper.

Her eyes curved into crescents as she looked at Lu Xinghe. “Husband, how did I do?”

Though her writing couldn’t compare to that of calligraphy masters, the strokes were straight and neat, the characters graceful.  For her first time writing on paper, it was quite good.

“Very good.”

After hearing Lu Xinghe’s praise, Chu Yue smiled and dipped her brush in ink again, writing “Chu Yue” next to the characters “Xinghe.”

Lu Xinghe looked at the characters on the paper, then at Chu Yue as she wrote diligently, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curled up.

Yun Cuihe, washing clothes under the tree, kept glancing at Lu Xinghe’s room. Seeing the young couple getting along so well, she couldn’t stop smiling.

It’s hard to find a priceless treasure, but even rarer to find a true love.

Seeing them living so happily together, she felt a sense of peace in her heart.

After filling an entire sheet of paper with characters, Chu Yue finally put down her brush. She rubbed her slightly cramped wrist and looked at the sky outside.

“Oh, I need to go cook dinner.”

Before she could even step outside, Lu Xinghe grabbed her wrist.

“No rush. Xingping and Xing’an are back and are already busy in the kitchen. They’ll take care of lunch. Let me rub your wrist first.”

He pulled her wrist and rubbed a few acupoints, which did indeed make it feel much better.

“Husband, after we harvest the crops in the field tomorrow, how about we go to town the day after? I want to get some medicine for Mother first, and also buy some coarse rice. After the bricks and tiles are delivered, we’ll start building the house, right?  We probably won’t have much time to go to town after that.”

Lu Xinghe nodded. “Okay.”

The family ate a simple meal of rice porridge and a small dish of wild vegetables. In the afternoon, Chu Yue boiled another bowl of ginger brown sugar water for Yun Cuihe, but this time she didn’t add eggs.

The next day, everyone was busy.

Lu Xinghe and Chu Yue took their sickles and cut down the ripe rice stalks in the field. Lu Xinghe would cut and then bundle the stalks as he went, while Lu Xingping and Lu Xing’an would run back and forth between the field and the house, carrying large bundles of rice stalks back to be laid out to dry in the courtyard.

Yun Cuihe, feeling much better after drinking two bowls of brown sugar water yesterday, helped turn the rice stalks in the courtyard and also took care of everyone’s meals.

As the sun began to set, the two acres and three-tenths of rice had been harvested.

Chu Yue wiped the sweat from her forehead and went home with Lu Xinghe. When Yun Cuihe saw them return, she hurriedly brought out two large bowls of water. “Drink some water and rest. You’ve worked hard today.”

Lu Xinghe finished a large bowl of water and put his sickle in the kitchen. “Mother, I’ll go to Grandpa and Grandma’s place to borrow the flail. We’ll thresh the rice after dinner.”