Chapter 41: The Plan

The colors of the sunset clouds in the west gradually faded as the sun was about to set. They returned to Cao Family Village. The old man driving the cart dropped them off at the entrance to their small courtyard at the end of the village. Cao Xiangnan gave the old man an extra copper coin, but the old man refused to accept it.

“Uncle Wu, just take it,” Cao Xiangnan said, knowing that making a living wasn’t easy for anyone. He put the copper coin in the old man’s hand and smiled. “We’ll take your cart again next time we go to town.”

Sometimes it wasn’t about the single copper coin, but rather that the coin made the other person feel good, which would lead to many conveniences in the future. Cao Xiangnan had grown up like a weed from a young age, and he had figured out many aspects of how to conduct himself through his own pondering. The human heart was a mysterious thing.

“Alright, alright,” Uncle Wu said, taking it when he couldn’t refuse any longer. He solemnly put the extra copper coin into his inner pocket, saying with a smile, “Tell me when you want to go to town next time, I’ll wait for you to go together.”

Watching the old man drive the ox cart away, Cao Xiangnan sighed. He knew from his words that Uncle Wu didn’t have it easy, but who did?

“An’an, don’t run! Be careful you don’t fall!” Qi Wanfeng opened the courtyard door and went inside. Seeing An’an running happily into the courtyard with his little legs, he smiled and turned to help his husband.

After walking all day, Cao Xiangnan put his cane aside and sat down heavily on the stool, not wanting to move.

“Husband, rest for a while. I’ll go make dinner. We’ll have food soon,” Qi Wanfeng said, bringing a bowl of water to his husband. He then fed the child half a bowl of water, and he drank the remaining half.

The water that went down his throat also soothed his heart. Cao Xiangnan looked at Qi Wanfeng drinking the water, reached out, and took his hand, holding it in his palm.

They looked at each other, their eyes filled with warm smiles.

Qi Wanfeng put the newly bought chicks into the dilapidated chicken coop, chopped some vegetables, and fed them to the chicks. An’an, who followed behind, squatted there watching the chirping chicks, not taking his eyes off them. Qi Wanfeng reached into the small nest beside him and took out two eggs. He only took one and put one back. He turned to his husband, who was sitting there, and said, “The hen laid two eggs.”

“Oh, really? Wanfeng, chop some meat and make an egg drop soup. Add some greens. Didn’t we bring back some steamed buns that we didn’t eat? Heat up the buns, and we’ll have that for dinner, okay?” Cao Xiangnan said when he saw the two eggs, remembering that they had a lot of eggs and meat at home.

When they were in the Cao family compound, they didn’t eat meat more than a few times a year, and they couldn’t even bear to eat the eggs. His A-mu would take them to sell for money. Cao Xiangnan was afraid that Qi Wanfeng would be reluctant to eat them, which was, in fact, the case.

Qi Wanfeng heard him say this and made an “Mm” sound, saying, “Okay.”

He took out the things they had bought today and put them away one by one before going into the kitchen to prepare their dinner. As dusk approached, the family of three sat on small stools to eat their dinner.

Medicine was steaming in the kitchen, emitting a medicinal smell.

After walking all day, everyone had sweated a lot. Qi Wanfeng boiled a pot of water, added warm water, and gave the child a bath. The child had woken up early today and had also walked all day. As soon as he finished his bath and was put on the bed, he fell asleep.

Cao Xiangnan really wanted to take a proper bath, but it wasn’t convenient right now. He could only have Wanfeng use warm water to wipe him down several times and change into clean clothes. Qi Wanfeng, who had gone out for a short while, came back with a bowl of medicine for him. Cao Xiangnan looked at the dark bowl of stuff, swallowed hard, and drank it down in one gulp.

After drinking it, Cao Xiangnan suppressed the disgusting taste and smacked his lips twice, handing the bowl back to Qi Wanfeng. He also remembered that Doctor Luo had prescribed medicine for him, so he asked, “Where’s your medicine?”

“I drank it,” Qi Wanfeng said. He had drunk it in the small kitchen earlier before bringing his husband’s in.

The sun had set behind the mountains, and the last ray of light in the sky was gone. The room darkened. A flickering light moved about. Qi Wanfeng came in with an oil lamp and placed it on the table before bending over and blowing it out.

The person who got into bed was damp. Cao Xiangnan lay in bed waiting for Qi Wanfeng to get into bed, knowing that he had taken a bath outside. He felt a chill coming from him and asked, “Did you take a cold bath?”

“I added some hot water,” Qi Wanfeng answered. There wasn’t much hot water in the pot, so he just casually mixed in cold water to wash and didn’t bother boiling more.

But Cao Xiangnan knew that the water Qi Wanfeng used to wash must have been cold. This person was just unwilling to be good to himself. He gave all the good things to him and the child. He couldn’t bear to see this person suffer, so he reached out and put his arm around Qi Wanfeng’s waist, pulling him into his arms and hugging him.

“Husband,” Qi Wanfeng said a little shyly. Even though they already had a child, he wasn’t used to being too intimate with his husband. His face was slightly red in the dark.

“Let me hold you,” Cao Xiangnan said, feeling the stiffness and unnaturalness of the person in his arms. He chuckled softly and said, “Let me hold you.”

He had never been in a relationship himself, and now he had a wife and child just like that, but he thought it was pretty good. It was so natural, as if it was supposed to be this way. Perhaps he had come to this world just to meet Qi Wanfeng, he thought.

“Wanfeng, I have something to tell you,” Cao Xiangnan said.

“Okay, tell me,” Qi Wanfeng said, remembering what his husband had said in town today about telling him something when they got back. It was probably that.

Cao Xiangnan told Qi Wanfeng about the idea he had in his head today and also sought his thoughts and opinions. The two of them discussed the matter. Low voices and occasional responses came from the room.

The sky turned dark, and the small village became quiet. The doors of every household were closed, and the stars twinkled in the sky. Time passed bit by bit, and the voices in the room disappeared at some point. The people inside fell asleep in each other’s arms.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!” A clear crow of a rooster broke the silence of the early morning, symbolizing the start of a new day.

The creaking sound of a door opening could be heard. It wasn’t clear which house’s door was the first to open. The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the people of the small village were already starting to get up.

A small market formed every morning in the village. People who were selling things came early to set up a good stall. Those who had extra vegetables from their gardens would carry them out to sell for a few copper coins to supplement their household income. The tofu stall had freshly made tofu that was still warm, and some villagers were willing to spend a copper coin to buy a piece of tofu.

Several people were standing in front of the pork stall buying pork. The man standing in front of the stall, as solid as a mountain, was Cao A-da, the village’s pig butcher. With a swing of his large cleaver, he accurately cut three liang [A unit of weight, approximately 50 grams] of pork or half a jin [A unit of weight, approximately 500 grams] of pork, without any difference.

The village didn’t have pork for sale every day at this time. Pigs were slaughtered only every few days. Therefore, those who had a little extra money would buy some pork to take home every few days. In this way, one pig could be sold out in a day.

“Okay, A-po, here’s your half jin of pork,” Cao A-da said, wrapping the cut piece of pork in a leaf and handing it to the pork-buying A-po, receiving a few copper coins. The A-po carried her bamboo basket and left.

Qi Wanfeng was relatively lucky today. He happened to come across a day when pork was being sold in the village. After a few people buying pork had left, he stood in front of the stall.

“What do you want to buy, ge’er?” Cao A-da, who had a face full of muscle, was a cheerful person, always smiling at the customers who came to buy meat. Qi Wanfeng saw the pig offal on the stall and asked, “Boss, how much is this pig offal?”

Compared to pork, pig offal was practically being given away. Qi Wanfeng bought some according to his husband’s instructions, and he also bought a bone without any meat. After paying, he carried the basket to buy other things.

On the way back, he made a detour to Sun Bailian’s house. Sun Bailian was at home taking care of the children; her husband wasn’t home. Sun Bailian’s two boys were familiar with Qi Wanfeng and obediently called him “Wanfeng momo” [Auntie].

Qi Wanfeng reached out and touched the children’s heads, telling Sun Bailian not to cook dinner tonight and to come to their house for dinner.

“Wanfeng, there’s really no need to be so polite,” Sun Bailian said, declining out of courtesy, because she felt that Qi Wanfeng’s family didn’t have anything, and her own family was also struggling these days. Finally, seeing Qi Wanfeng’s insistence, she nodded, saying that at the very least she would bring some vegetables with her. “Okay, I’ll go with my husband and children then,” she said.

“Bailian, just come, don’t bring anything over. I’ve already bought the vegetables,” Qi Wanfeng said, as if knowing what Sun Bailian was thinking.

“Haha…” Sun Bailian couldn’t help but laugh. She said, “Okay, I’ll definitely come empty-handed then.”

“You must come, come early,” Qi Wanfeng said, instructing her.

“Okay.”

“I’m leaving first.”

The person who had gone out had returned. Cao Xiangnan heard Qi Wanfeng say the price of the pig offal and bones, touching his chin and calculating the lowest cost price in his mind. He thought this business was worth doing. Right now, even if he had ideas, he couldn’t do anything without money, so he still had to start with things that had low costs.

“Did you tell them?” Cao Xiangnan asked, referring to Qi Wanfeng inviting Sun Bailian’s family to come over for dinner. The things he and Qi Wanfeng could do were limited. Without manpower, they couldn’t make cooked food, so the first people he thought of were Sun Bailian and Cao Gang, the couple.

The last time they moved, there were two other people who came to help. Qi Wanfeng was most familiar with Sun Bailian. He wasn’t too sure about the other two and didn’t know much about their circumstances, so he wasn’t considering too many people working together for the time being. This kind of business relied on small profits and high sales. The more people there were, the less money each person would get, and the more conflicts there would be.

After getting this started, with funds and experience, the rest would be easier. He had many ideas in his head. If this one went well, he could gradually realize the rest later. Thinking this way, he felt that they were getting closer and closer to a good life.

“Mm, I told Bailian, and she said they’ll come over for dinner,” Qi Wanfeng nodded and said.