Chapter 8 – If He Could Live

Xia Tian watched as Sister Yao left, then went inside to grab a bucket and a carrying pole, preparing to fetch two buckets of water.

Following the path Sister Yao had pointed out, she quickly found the place without much effort. It was the middle of the afternoon, and there weren’t many people around.

The well was located beneath a large, thatched hut, where the sun couldn’t reach, making it quite cool.

There was a wooden wheel above the well, something Xia Tian had seen on TV before, which was used for drawing water.

The wellhead was made of blue stone, and there was a wooden cover on top, likely to prevent debris from falling in and polluting the water. The cover also kept the playful children from falling in.

Xia Tian lifted the cover, peered into the well, and saw the water was clear enough to reflect her shadow.

She hung the wooden bucket on the rope hook, gripped the wheel’s handle with both hands, and slowly lowered it into the well to fill with water. Then she reversed the motion, cranking the wheel to lift the bucket back up. The bucket was a bit heavy, but fortunately, the original owner had done heavy work for years, so Xia Tian had some strength.

After filling both buckets, she carried them back home. The road wasn’t long, but she stopped twice to rest before finally arriving home.

Once inside, she poured the water into the large barrel and sat down on a stool to rest and regain her strength.

She was exhausted.

Xia Tian thought to herself that once she had money, she would definitely install a well in the yard. Otherwise, carrying water every day would eventually wear her out.

After drinking a bowl of water, she rested a bit more.

Then she remembered there was still laundry to do, so she headed to the riverbank.

Living in a farming family, there was never a moment of peace.

The river on the eastern side of Liujia Village wasn’t very wide, probably only about ten meters across. It was likely the same river that ran through Xiajia Village.

However, Liujia Village was downstream from Xiajia Village, so the villagers usually irrigated their fields and washed clothes in this river.

The river water was quite clear, and the willow trees along the bank had started to bud, giving the scene a lush green look.

Xia Tian found a shady spot with a clean, relatively flat large stone, likely a place where the villagers often washed their clothes.

She walked over, set down her basin, took the clothes out, soaked them in the river, and placed them on the stone to begin washing with a wooden pestle.

The locals washed their clothes by soaking them in soapberry water, then pounding them with the pestle.

Soapberries were the fruits of the soapberry tree. When washed with stones or other hard objects, they produced foamy soap-like bubbles when soaked in water, which made washing clothes more effective.

Xia Tian hadn’t found any soapberries at home earlier, so she had to make do with the pestle. Fortunately, Shen Nian hadn’t done much work, so the clothes weren’t too dirty.

After finishing the laundry and hanging it to dry, she checked the time and realized it was already time to prepare dinner.

Today, she had bought some cabbage, so she decided to make cabbage and egg dumplings. If only she had meat, the sauerkraut and meat dumplings would be much tastier!

She got to work, first mixing and kneading the dough, then preparing the filling.

She chopped up a large cabbage, salted it to draw out the water, and set it aside. Then she scrambled some eggs in a pan.

By the time the cabbage was ready, she squeezed out the excess water, mixed it with the scrambled eggs, added seasoning, and prepared the filling.

She rolled out the dough, made the dumplings, and started cooking them. By the time they were ready, it was getting dark.

The table she had moved outside earlier was still in the yard. Xia Tian moved it closer to the kitchen, served the dumplings, and called Shen Nian to come and eat. When he sat down, she made a dipping sauce with soy sauce and vinegar, asking if he liked spicy food, then added some chopped chili that Sister Yao had given them.

Seeing Shen Nian eat contentedly, Xia Tian picked up a dumpling, took a bite, and carefully savored it. She said, “Cabbage and egg dumplings are still a bit lacking in flavor. If there were meat in them, they’d be even better.”

She didn’t wait for Shen Nian to respond and continued, “Brother Shen, how’s it taste? It’s not bad, right? My cooking skills aren’t great, and the ingredients are limited, so it affects the flavor. Otherwise, if I made you dumplings every day, you’d have another kind of problem!”

She laughed to herself, imagining what Shen Nian would look like if he got fat, and couldn’t stop laughing.

Shen Nian glanced at her but didn’t say anything.

After Xia Tian laughed enough, she grinned and said, “Then the problem would be that you’d need to lose weight!”

After hearing that, Shen Nian paused with his chopsticks but kept eating.

Xia Tian grinned and couldn’t stop laughing.

Shen Nian calmly finished all the dumplings and drank a bowl of dumpling soup, calling it “the original soup for the original food.”

After dinner, Shen Nian didn’t go inside but sat in the yard to digest.

Xia Tian washed the dishes, then boiled a large pot of water to use later for washing up.

She thought about going up the mountain tomorrow but wasn’t sure how long it would take to gather firewood.

Tomorrow, she would need to bring some dry food with her. If she didn’t make it back in time for lunch, she’d have to prepare something for Shen Nian to eat.

Xia Tian took a large wooden basin, scooped two bowls of wheat flour, then added a bowl of cornmeal. Farmers rarely had pure wheat flour, and cornmeal was also uncommon.

Once the grain was harvested and taxes were paid, most people would exchange the fine grains for rough grains, because the fine grains didn’t last long, and the yield of crops was low, so rough grains helped them eat more and for longer.

If people saw her eating pure wheat flour bread every day, it would cause trouble and attract attention, so she had to be low-key in front of others.

Farmers believed in eating simple meals during the slack season and hearty meals during busy times. With the spring planting finished, it was the farming off-season, and especially in this transition period, if anyone ate dry food every day, it would definitely draw attention.

Too much attention was definitely not a good thing.

She prepared the dough, left it to rise overnight, and planned to steam buns the next morning.

She boiled hot water, and after both of them washed up, they went to their respective rooms to rest.

It had been a busy day, and Xia Tian was so tired she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Even the sound of coughing from the next room didn’t disturb her.

The next day, Xia Tian woke up early, having slept through the night without even dreaming. She felt refreshed.

Hearing that there was still no movement from Shen Nian’s room, she hummed a tune and went to the kitchen to steam buns.

After breakfast was ready, Shen Nian finally got up, fetched water to wash up, and Xia Tian called him to eat quickly.

“Brother Shen, today I’m going with Sister Yao to pick some firewood from the mountain. If I’m not back in time for lunch, you can light the stove to heat it up. I’ve already prepared everything, so just keep it warm in the pot,” Xia Tian said while eating.

“Okay,” Shen Nian nodded.

“Brother Shen, make sure to heat the food up. The weather isn’t too hot yet, and eating cold food will upset your stomach. Also, try to get some fresh air. Don’t stay cooped up in the house all the time; it’s not good for your health.

By the way, I’ll wash the clothes you’ve changed once I get back,” Xia Tian continued, as Shen Nian silently ate, not feeling bothered by her chatter.

Perhaps this simple and peaceful life was actually quite nice… if only he could live through it.