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At half past the dog hour (8 PM), the Ye family, in order to save on lamp oil, had all gone to bed.
Suddenly, outside, a burst of crying could be heard.
“Oh dear, isn’t that the voice of Heigou’s mother?” Old Lady Ye turned over in bed.
She exchanged a glance with Old Man Ye, threw on her clothes, and stepped out the door.
There she saw a woman in her fifties walking down the road, crying as she went, with Doctor Zhao following behind, holding a lantern.
“Heigou’s mother, Doctor Zhao, what happened?” Old Lady Ye hurried over.
“Liu Heigou was starving and took some poisonous roots. He’s been poisoned! I’m going to check on him right now,” Doctor Zhao shook his head and said.
“What?” Old Man Ye was startled, “We need to give him a dose of dung!”
At that moment, the neighbors heard the commotion and came out.
The old man Zhao Facai, who lived next door, hurriedly said, “I’m going to scoop up some dung right now. Brother Youtian, you have experience with this; let’s all go help.”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” The Ye couple quickly followed. Old Man Ye’s real name was Ye Youtian.
Zhao Facai went back to his toilet and scooped up a full ladle of dung, rushing after them, leaving behind an indescribable smell.
Ye Daquan and Ye Erquan quickly rushed out the door, not forgetting to shout back to Ye Caiping’s room, “Little sister, are you coming?”
“I’m not going,” Ye Caiping stood by the window.
Ye Daquan and his brother turned and ran, losing one of their shoes in the process as they rushed to see what was happening.
Ye Caiping covered her nose, closed the window, and sighed to her two daughters, “Really, what on earth is he eating poisonous roots for!”
The incomplete memories in her mind only surfaced like a dull thud.
She had no recollection of poisonous roots, so she had to use those words to trick her daughters in describing them.
Ye Jin’er said, “So many people are hungry this year; we have rice bran porridge to eat, which is already considered good.”
Seeing that they weren’t picking up the hint, Ye Caiping said seriously:
“No matter how hungry you are, you can’t learn from Liu Heigou and shove everything into your mouth. Like this poisonous root, let me quiz you, what does it look like?”
“I know!” Ye Huan’er raised her little hand, “It’s as tall as a person, with leaves that have five, six, or seven lobes. The roots underground are big and long. I heard that when cooked, it’s starchy and toxic. Eating it can kill you!”
Ye Jin’er nodded, “Grandma said that during the famine, Uncle Sanquan was so hungry that he couldn’t take it anymore, took some poisonous roots, and almost died. It was only because Grandma gave him a dose of dung that he vomited for half a day and survived.”
Ye Sanquan is the son of Second Aunt Ye and Ye Caiping’s cousin.
Listening to her daughters, Ye Caiping was so excited she almost jumped up. It’s cassava!
Because the people here don’t know how to handle it, eating it just leads to poisoning!
But she knows how to process it!
Thinking of this, Ye Caiping’s eyes lit up. With cassava, her family wouldn’t have to go hungry anymore!
At that time, she could even have some capital for business!
Tomorrow, she must go to the mountain!
It wasn’t until midnight that Old Man Ye, Old Lady Ye, and the brothers Ye Daquan returned, all covered in filth.
“Why create such a fuss! Now we have to boil water and wash up; think of how much firewood we’ll waste!” Old Man Ye grumbled as he pushed the door open.
Ye Daquan and his brother followed behind, their heads and faces splattered with dung water, tucking their necks in, too afraid to speak, but thinking to themselves: That was fresh dung, who wouldn’t want to see it!
Ye Caiping walked out of the room in her clothes, her mouth twitching at the sight of these two troublemakers!
Ye Peng also ran out: “Grandfather, is Heigou okay now?”
Ye Peng had originally wanted to be on the front lines of the action, but Ye Erquan wouldn’t let him go, making him very restless.
“We gave the dung in time, he managed to vomit it all out. The doctor said he survived, and gave him some croton seeds. He just needs to have a few days of diarrhea,” Old Man Ye said, “Quick, go boil some water.”
The one who administered the dung was Old Man Ye, so he was the dirtiest.
“Mother and I have already boiled some, Grandfather, you should go wash up quickly!”
After an hour of busying themselves, Old Man Ye and the others finally finished washing, and the whole family went to bed.
…
The next day, when Ye Caiping woke up, her two daughters were already gone.
Ye Caiping untied the cloth strip on her forehead and looked in the mirror.
The wound had already scabbed over, and her head didn’t hurt or feel dizzy. It seemed to be healing well.
Ye Caiping applied some iodine to the wound, changed the cloth strip, and re-wrapped it.
Then she took her household registration book and went to the village head’s house.
The village head’s house was the only one in the village made of blue bricks and tiles, and they even had a cow.
Besides plowing the fields, the cow was also used as a cart.
The village head’s son, Ye Bajin, would drive the cart every day, taking villagers in and out to earn some money for running errands.
The village head was sitting at the door, smoking a water pipe. When he saw her, he raised his head, “You’re here. Come on in.”
Ye Caiping followed him into the main hall.
Some documents were already laid out on the table. Ye Caiping took out her household registration book.
“Village Head, I wanted to ask, if I wanted to open a female household, what are the conditions?” Ye Caiping asked.
“Female household?” The village head stopped writing with his pen, his face full of surprise, “Well… women can’t open a household on their own. Unless the husband’s family is completely dead, or the husband has died, and the daughter is separated from the family, she can open a household on her own.”
“If a woman is divorced or separated, her household registration will be returned to her parents’ family, unless her father and brothers are all dead.”
Ye Caiping frowned, “Is there no other way?”
“At least not here.”
Ye Caiping was disappointed. They were just ordinary farmers with little power, and they could only live according to the rules.
But there must be exceptions, just ones they didn’t have access to.
“Why are you asking about a female household? Don’t tell me you don’t want to marry? Women, how can they not get married?”
Ye Caiping smiled, “I was just curious.”
The village head nodded and handed the household registration book to Ye Caiping, “It’s done.”
“Thank you, Village Head.”
Ye Caiping was about to leave when she saw the village head’s wife walking in, carrying a bowl of porridge and pickles, “Caiping, have something to eat before you go.”
Ye Caiping was taken aback, “No, no, thank you.”
“Sigh, you still have a wound. You should at least eat some rice porridge to nourish yourself.” The village head’s wife placed the porridge and pickles on the table:
“Yesterday, I agreed with your father that you should come here every morning for a bowl of rice porridge to replenish your body. It’s just something we’re making anyway, so it’s no trouble.”
The village head nodded, “Eat quickly!”
Ye Caiping was helpless. If she refused, it would cause a commotion, so she could only nod:
“Thank you, Village Head and Aunt. My injury isn’t serious. Look at me, I’m bouncing around now. I’ll just eat for three days, then when you make it again, I won’t come.”
“Alright, alright.” The village head’s wife smiled and nodded, “Eat, we’ll go out and get busy.”
The village head and his wife left the main hall.
Ye Caiping picked up the spoon and was surprised. The rice porridge was thick and fragrant, and it even had an egg in it!
Although in her mind, eggs weren’t a big deal. But in this era and in this situation, they were a very precious food for farmers.
Ye Caiping’s heart felt a little warmth. The village head and his wife were good to her, she will remember it.
After eating, Ye Caiping left.
Watching her leave, the village head’s wife sighed softly, “Caiping, this girl really seems to have changed a lot.”
Sitting under the eaves, smoking his water pipe, the village head hummed in agreement.
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometime Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty