Faintly hearing the crowing of roosters in the village, Li Xiaohan groggily woke up. There were already sounds of people moving outside the window.

She opened the door and saw Madam Wang busy in the kitchen, while Li Xiandong was moving the unprocessed eucommia bark they had harvested yesterday to the corridor.

“Xiaohan, you’re up. Go wash up. Your mother is almost done with breakfast.”

“Oh. Father, what are you doing?” Li Xiaohan rubbed her eyes.

“I’m moving this bark to the corridor. If it rains, it’ll be bad, and drying it under direct sunlight isn’t good either,” said Li Xiandong.

The corridor was the perfect place—well-ventilated, protected from both rain and direct sun. No wonder people in town built their houses like this.

“Father, you really thought this through.” Li Xiaohan praised her father wholeheartedly. He had been suppressed for so long that he had lost his confidence.

In fact, these past years, Li Shengli was already getting old. All the major and minor affairs in the family were handled by Li Xiandong, but sadly, his carefulness and thoroughness were never acknowledged.

She hoped that after the family division, her grandfather wouldn’t regret it.

The autumn morning already had a slight chill, but Li Xiandong continued to sort the eucommia bark with a smile. In the kitchen, the occasional clatter of pots and pans echoed as Madam Wang cooked. The sweet aroma of food filled the air, and Li Xiaohan suddenly felt a warmth in her heart. She tightened her clothes around herself and quickly went to the corner to wash up.

By the time she finished washing, Madam Wang had finished cooking breakfast. Since they were going up the mountain today, they couldn’t settle for a watery gruel. Madam Wang had prepared hearty meat-filled flatbreads.

This year’s wheat had been ground into flour. The deep-fried pork belly was chopped and stuffed inside the dough, then grilled until golden and fragrant. The rich fat soaked through the bread.

Just holding the flatbread made one’s appetite soar. One bite and the meat and wheat flavors burst inside the mouth.

“Mother, I knew it! Making flatbread like this is convenient and delicious!”

Madam Wang smiled as she watched the father and daughter eat with such enjoyment. Her voice carried the warmth of everyday life. “If you like it, I’ll make more for you. What else do you want to eat? Just tell me.”

“I also want egg drop soup, with finely chopped greens and mushrooms. Crack the egg in last so it’s still soft and smooth when it’s done,” Li Xiaohan mumbled through her bite.

“Alright, I’ll make it for you tomorrow.” An egg drop soup was nothing to Madam Wang now. She no longer resembled the woman who didn’t even know how to render lard a month ago.

After breakfast, they packed some extra flatbreads for lunch, grabbed their baskets, and set out.

Since Li Xinhe and the others no longer needed to help today, and the other villagers still didn’t know the situation with the eucommia bark, it was just the three of them. Like ants, they slowly entered the forest.

A day of hard work passed quickly. By the time the sun was setting in the west, the three of them returned home carrying their full baskets. They had found two eucommia trees that day.

Once home, Madam Wang began preparing dinner, while Li Xiaohan and Li Xiandong didn’t rest. They took the eucommia bark, which had been soaked in salt all day, and drained it to prepare for stir-frying.

Naturally, the one taking the lead was Li Xiaohan again.

“Father, lower the fire a bit. Let’s take it slow. If it burns, it’ll be ruined.”

“Not that low, Father—raise it a little. My hand’s over the pot and I can’t even feel any heat.”

Li Xiandong was sweating all over, whether from the heat or anxiety, no one could tell. After a moment, gritting his teeth, he said, “Wife, you come here. I’ll go cook.”

“Huh?” Madam Wang was anxious too, seeing how unstable the fire was. But in their family, men never cooked. If a man cooked, people would talk behind their backs.

Madam Wang didn’t dare to do it.

Seeing his wife hesitate, Li Xiandong understood what she was worried about. He had been ridiculed for not having children for so many years, so what more could they say? Besides, “It’s just the three of us. Who’s going to know? But if we ruin this eucommia bark, it’ll be wasted—and that’s just throwing money away.”

Madam Wang was pushed over to the stove, still in a daze. Li Xiaohan also chimed in, “Mother, I need the fire to be steady. Father’s fire keeps changing—it’s too hard to control. You take over.”

What was the big deal about a man cooking? In her past life, men who could cook were a plus. Many chefs were men anyway.

As for whether Li Xiandong could cook—well, tonight’s dinner was brown rice porridge. After a full day of work, they were extremely thirsty, so Madam Wang washed the rice and set it to boil. She planned to steam eggplant and pork over the porridge.

At a time like this, they weren’t picky. Xiandong could steam things fine, and Madam Wang was nearby anyway, guiding him while tending the fire.

Sure enough, with Madam Wang taking over the fire, things went much smoother. She was great at managing the fire. Li Xiaohan only had to focus on the stir-fry without worrying about the heat at all…

“Uncle Xiandong! Uncle Xiandong! I’ve been calling you forever and no one answered. The door wasn’t locked, so I just pushed it open. Uncle, my father”

Li Xinhe pushed the door open and saw Li Xiandong… slicing meat.

Everyone froze.

So much for saying no one else would find out, he’d just been caught red-handed.

Eventually, it was Li Xiaohan who recovered first. “Brother Xinhe, what are you looking for my father for?”

“Oh—uh, my father said you’re going into town tomorrow to sell eucommia, right? We’re taking the ox cart. Do you want to come with us?”

The Li family had also collected two trees’ worth of eucommia bark today. Since the village head’s household had an ox cart, they didn’t have to carry it on their backs. Only Li Xiandong had sold eucommia before, so the others weren’t confident.

“Let’s go together tomorrow morning. Thank you, Brother Xinhe. We’re busy right now, so we won’t entertain you.”

Clearly, that was Li Xiaohan speaking.

Her calm demeanor made it feel like this wasn’t a big deal at all. It made everyone else seem like they were overreacting.

“Oh, alright. You all carry on. I’ll head out.” Li Xinhe stepped back and even closed the front gate behind him.

Halfway home, he realized—he’d been so stunned by the sight of Xiandong cooking, he hadn’t noticed the bark in the pot was eucommia, and the one cooking it was Li Xiaohan.

Uncle Xiandong’s household… really was a bit unusual. Xinhe frowned slightly, but after some thought, found it acceptable.

With so few people in the family, they had to do everything themselves. So what if he cooked? Even books said governing a country was like cooking a small fish.

He talked himself into it and decided to pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

Back in the Li household, after Xinhe left, Li Xiandong immediately shut the gate tightly, securing it firmly in place.

“Mother, the fire, the fire, keep an eye on the fire.”

“Father, don’t worry. Brother Xinhe is trustworthy. He won’t tell anyone.”

“Yes, Xinhe is a reliable kid. He won’t talk about it,” both Xiandong and Madam Wang muttered, as if repeating it made it more true.

Then Madam Wang focused on the fire, while Li Xiandong, still dazed, went back to cutting meat.

…

About fifteen minutes later—

“Mother, it’s done. Give me a bamboo tray.”

Madam Wang quickly handed over a tray, and Li Xiaohan scooped the eucommia bark chunks out of the pot. The three of them gathered to inspect it closely. Li Xiaohan even took out the dried bark she had bought earlier for comparison.

“Father, Mother, I think this looks good?”

“Mm, it looks about right,” they both nodded repeatedly.

“Mother, let’s wash the pot and do the next batch.”

“Alright.”

…

By the end, Li Xiaohan’s hands were so sore from stir-frying that she couldn’t lift them. Madam Wang didn’t dare do it, and Xiandong wouldn’t either. So after dinner and a short rest, she went back to the stove to continue frying.

“Father, Mother, make sure to wake me up tomorrow. I have to get up early to go to town, and I’m afraid I won’t wake up on my own,” Li Xiaohan said, forcing herself to finish washing up. Just before entering her room, she turned to speak to Li Xiandong and Madam Wang.

“Alright, go ahead and sleep. Don’t worry, we’ll wake you,” Madam Wang said, feeling sorry as she saw how exhausted Li Xiaohan looked.

With that reassurance, Li Xiaohan went back to her room, collapsed onto the heated bed, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

At the break of dawn.

From the second room on the east side of the Li family’s main house came the sound of knocking, along with a soft voice calling, “Xiaohan, Xiaohan, time to get up, time to get up.”

“I’m up, Mother,” Li Xiaohan replied. After a good night’s rest, her young body had recovered its energy.

But the moment she moved, both her arms were still unbearably sore. She winced as she got dressed, then opened the door.

“Go wash up quickly and come eat breakfast. Later, you and your father will go to the village entrance. The village head’s ox cart will take you into town.”

“You’re not coming, Mother?”

“It’s enough that your father is going with you. I’m heading into the woods to boil water for the Sanqi seedlings. We’ve been busy harvesting the eucommia these past few days, and I haven’t had time to take care of them. After watering, I’ll go check a nearby forest to see if there are any more eucommia trees. I’ll head out first. When you two get back, come find me.”

As she spoke, Madam Wang efficiently set breakfast on the table.

Li Xiandong had already packed the dried eucommia bark they stir-fried last night into a burlap sack, and also loaded the fresh bark that hadn’t been processed yet into a carrying pole. Today, they planned to take both the dried and fresh bark to town.

“Alright.”

After washing up, the three of them ate breakfast. Li Xiaohan carried the sack of dried bark on her back, while Madam Wang and Li Xiandong took the carrying poles. Although it looked a bit excessive, they had indeed collected quite a lot of bark over the past few days. And since the bark couldn’t be tightly compressed, it took several people to carry it all.

Even so, the eucommia trees they’d previously chopped down for making furniture hadn’t been stripped of their bark yet. They simply didn’t have enough people. For now, they had to prioritize heading to the mountains to strip the bark first.

The three of them decided to take the back path to avoid running into anyone and having to explain everything.

It was a good plan, but when they reached the village entrance, they found a large group already gathered by the ox cart. That area was always bustling, but the village head’s cart being parked there—and with a load of tree bark clearly visible on it—had attracted even more attention.

“Ah, Xiandong’s here. We saved a spot for you,” Li Guiqian called out. “Xiaohan, put your basket on the cart.”

“We’re late,” Li Xiandong said, a little embarrassed. Madam Wang’s face flushed bright red, but Li Xiaohan didn’t mind. Clearly, everyone else had simply arrived early.

“No, everyone was eager, so we got up early. Besides, your household’s got fewer people,” Li Guiqian said casually.

That’s right. Uncle Xiandong’s family didn’t have many hands. He was even doing the cooking himself.

That’s what Li Xinhe thought to himself as he sat at the reins, keeping a calm and steady expression.

Bark takes up a lot of space and is pretty eye-catching, so the villagers nearby couldn’t help but whisper among themselves. Some even started loudly asking, “Clan head, what’s going on? Can you tell us now?”

“What’s the rush? I’m right here,” the clan head shouted. Then he turned to Li Xinhe and said, “Alright, go ahead. Leave this to me.”

Li Xinhe gave the ox a flick of the whip, and the cart slowly started moving. The clan head stayed behind, calling out to the crowd, “Alright, follow me to the ancestral hall.”

Li Xiaohan and the others followed the cart, and the crowd’s eyes were filled with suppressed excitement. At that moment, no one spoke. Everyone’s mind was on whether the eucommia bark could be sold for money, and they couldn’t wait to reach Renhetang in the city.

The road felt both short and endlessly long.