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“It was just good luck this time, that we earned a few taels of silver. Usually, what we earn isn’t even enough to buy medicine for my mother, let alone the money needed for the imperial examinations.
My father, when he took the exam for a scholar, almost drained our family, including my grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Just when we were finally starting to recover, he disappeared, and the tax-exempt land we had because of him started being taxed again.
Chu Yue felt a pang of sadness.
He gave up his dream of taking the imperial examinations for his mother and two younger brothers.
As the eldest son and brother, this was his unavoidable responsibility.
If only there was a way to earn more money.
As Chu Yue was lost in thought, Lu Xinghe suddenly looked up at her. “How did you come up with the idea that there would be a famine if the drought continues?”
“Many people, when they can’t even fill their bellies, only think about the present. You, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, can have such foresight. I’m quite curious.”
Chu Yue looked calm.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s been dry for two months now. In Niutou Village, not only are the fields dry, but the ponds are too. The rice husks are all flat. I’m afraid we’ll have to use our own money to pay taxes this year, and it will be even harder next year.”
Lu Xinghe nodded.
“That’s true.”
Chu Yue noticed that the cart was slowing down, knowing they had reached an uphill section. She quickly jumped off the cart and helped Lu Xinghe push it home.
They chatted intermittently as they walked, and before they knew it, they reached the village entrance.
Chu Yue quickly pulled the straw and gentian root that had been pressed down to cover the grain. Lu Xinghe knew what she was thinking, so he helped her cover it.
After covering the grain, they took a slightly longer route home, avoiding the villagers’ curious gazes.
Yun Cuihe saw them through the window and quickly called out, “Xingping, come help! Your brother and sister-in-law are back.”
Lu Xingping heard her voice and quickly opened the courtyard door, helping Lu Xinghe and Chu Yue push the cart inside.
“Brother, sister-in-law, what did you buy that’s so heavy?”
“Grain.”
Lu Xinghe said, lifting down the two large bags of old rice and a small bag of brown rice covered with straw.
“Xingping, go return the cart to Aunt Lin’s house first.”
“Okay.”
Seeing so much grain, Lu Xingping was also happy. It meant that their family wouldn’t have to go hungry for a long time.
As soon as Lu Xingping left, Yun Cuihe frowned and asked in a low voice, “Xinghe, why did you buy so much grain? Didn’t you spend all the money you earned today?”
Lu Xinghe carried the grain into the house.
“Mother, don’t worry so much. I have a plan. Anyway, this grain won’t go bad for a while. We can eat it slowly.”
Since Lu Xinghe said he had a plan, Yun Cuihe didn’t ask further. She just said that they should never mention that they had grain, lest people become envious.
Chu Yue put away the seasonings, medicine, and two pieces of cloth before putting the remaining three taels of silver into Yun Cuihe’s hand.
“Mother, keep the rest of the money.”
Yun Cuihe looked at the silver in her hand, her eyes filled with surprise.
“There’s so much.”
Chu Yue smiled. “We earned more than five taels today, otherwise we wouldn’t have dared to buy so much grain.”
Yun Cuihe nodded, counted out two hundred copper coins from a large string of silver, and strung them together into a string for Chu Yue.
“Keep this for your spending money. I’ll keep the rest. If you need more, ask me. We’ll have a lot of expenses in the future.”
“Okay.”
Chu Yue didn’t refuse. She took the two hundred wen and went back into the house to find a hidden place to put them before coming out again.
She took the pig intestines that she had asked Lu Xinghe to wash with wood ash yesterday and cut a third of them. She put them in a large pot, added water to cover them, and added a few slices of ginger. She let them simmer first, planning to make a stir-fried large intestine for dinner.
She rubbed the remaining intestines with some salt and hung them on the roof beams to make smoked intestines for later.
“Sister-in-law, let me start the fire.”
Lu Xing’an saw Chu Yue busy in the kitchen and hurried to help.
Lu Xinghe put away the old rice and then went to the field with a bucket of water. The weather was too dry, and the water he had used to irrigate the field yesterday was probably almost dry. He had to carry more water and pour it in.
But when he came back that evening, his expression was gloomy.
Chu Yue felt something was wrong, but she didn’t dare to ask. She just kept busy with her own work.
Yun Cuihe, however, was puzzled and asked, “Xinghe, what’s wrong?”
A flicker of anger flashed in Lu Xinghe’s eyes. “I carried more than twenty buckets of water yesterday to irrigate the field. The water in the field should have been enough for today. I don’t know who did it, but someone broke the dike, and all the water flowed into the other people’s fields.”
Yun Cuihe was furious upon hearing this.
“Who is so shameless? They took the water you worked so hard to fetch, and they have the audacity to break the dike? This is clearly an attempt to cut off our source of livelihood. They will get their retribution for this!”
Lu Xinghe glanced at Yun Cuihe and tried to comfort her. “Mother, don’t be too anxious. Fortunately, we’ve been watering the fields consistently, so the soil is still damp. I just carried a few buckets of water to irrigate the field, and tomorrow morning, I’ll go fetch more water.”
Yun Cuihe covered her chest and sighed deeply.
“It’s not just about that. I’m worried about you. Ever since the water from upstream stopped coming down, you’ve been fetching water for over a month straight. You’re working so hard to irrigate the fields, while those heartless, lazy people just sit back and enjoy the benefits. It makes me so angry!”
Chu Yue, who was cutting ginger and garlic, put down her knife.
“Mother, don’t be angry. If you get sick from anger, you’ll only be hurting yourself. We’ll also worry about you, and it won’t do anything to the bad guys who stole the water. It’s not worth it.” She said, looking at Lu Xinghe. “Husband, why don’t I go to the field with you tomorrow?”
She wanted to see if the rice husks were full. If they had put in so much effort and the harvest didn’t match the days of watering and tending, then it would be better to do something else during this time.
If at least half of the husks were full, then since it was only about twenty days until harvest, they could just put in some effort and deal with it then.
Lu Xinghe looked at Chu Yue. He wanted to refuse, but he nodded unconsciously.
“Okay.”
After chopping the ginger and garlic, Chu Yue went inside to stir-fry the large intestine. The large intestine already had its own unique flavor, and now with the addition of ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns, the aroma wafted out, making people drool.
Especially the mother of Sun Dazhu next door.
Aunt Li had wanted to ask for a piece of meat yesterday, but Lu Xinghe and Lu Xingping hadn’t given any to their family, leaving Aunt Li fuming all day.
Now, smelling the aroma of stir-fried large intestine wafting from Lu Xinghe’s house, she swallowed her saliva and grumbled at Sun Dazhu and Luo Shi.
“If you ask me, Yun Shi and her family are a bunch of ungrateful wolves! They divided the meat from that big pig among all the neighbors, but they couldn’t give you a piece? You’ve helped them so much!”