Chapter 8: Bird Trouble

Yu Nuan was a little surprised.

Weren’t chili peppers only introduced to Huaguo in more recent historical years?

But then she thought it through—this wasn’t the era of her ancestors.

The original host only knew her country was called the Southern Dan Kingdom.

Since there was already corn here, it wasn’t so strange for chili peppers to exist too.

Unlike Father Yu’s thoughts, she couldn’t live without spice!

Chili peppers were amazing—so many dishes could be stir-fried with them.

“Dad, how does the village drive away sparrows?”

“During spring planting and autumn harvest, elderly folks from families would guard the fields. Some would also stick scarecrows in the ground.”

After Yu Father finished speaking, he gave her a strange look. Didn’t the little girl used to know this already?

Yu Nuan didn’t notice his expression—she was lost in thought.

“Waa—waa—” Gou Wang started crying.

“Oh, don’t cry, don’t cry, good boy!”

Yu Mother gently coaxed him, but Yu Nuan caught a whiff of something foul.

“The little one pooped again.”

Yu Mother smelled it too and quickly picked up the baby and headed into the house.

Yu Nuan wanted to help support her, but seeing that Yu Mother knew the house well and walked steadily, she gave up the idea of helping.

She picked up a few bamboo poles from the side and knocked them on the ground.

The sound of “pa pa pa” rang out, and a spark of inspiration lit up in her mind.

Wind chimes!!!

She used to play with those as a kid.

Drill holes in bamboo tubes, tie them to a wooden frame, and when the wind blows, the bamboo pieces would knock together to make crisp, musical sounds!

It was the same idea as the old bamboo bead curtains back home.

She got to work immediately and told Father Yu her idea.

Father Yu, surprised, also grew a bit excited.

She planned to make one first to test it out.

She picked a few thinner green bamboo tubes—the thinner the bamboo, the crisper the sound.

She cut them into shorter segments—the shorter the segments, the easier they vibrate.

The higher the vibration frequency, the louder the sound.

She drilled holes and threaded them with hemp string.

Then she found a thicker bamboo piece, split it open, drilled horizontal holes, and strung the bamboo segments onto it.

A wind chime was ready.

Yu Nuan picked up the wind chime and placed it somewhere that caught the breeze.

As the wind blew, a clear, melodious sound drifted out.

It wasn’t too loud, nor too soft.

Once the vegetables were planted, she would make a few more in different styles.

Green bamboo and dried bamboo even made different sounds.

“It’s done!” Yu Nuan was very pleased.

“Not bad at all! If it really drives away sparrows, then we can grow rice too.”

Father Yu took the bamboo wind chime from her hands, admiring it fondly.

The patch of rice field at the foot of the mountain had very fertile soil. In the past few years, when his legs were not in good shape, the little girl had to handle both the fieldwork and foraging in the mountains.

There were way more birds back then. He simply couldn’t manage it. Though the sparrow problem had lessened in recent years, still…

If this thing really worked, he would reclaim the field and plant rice for the family. Their food supply might become a bit more abundant.

Yu Nuan had originally thought the family only had one mu of land. She didn’t expect there to be rice fields too.

Clearly, she didn’t have full access to the original host’s memories.

“Dad, we can make a scarecrow and string the wind chimes onto its arms…”

Seeing how excited Father Yu was, Yu Nuan had another clever idea to improve the scarecrow design.

That whole afternoon,

Father Yu stayed in the courtyard working on wind chimes. He was quite handy and knew many practical tricks.

After she explained the principles and process of making them, he got to work enthusiastically.

Later in the day,

Yu Nuan secretly fed baby Gou Wang twice.

Then she looked up how to plant cabbage and chili seeds.

She soaked the cabbage and chili seeds in separate bowls of water.

Then she grabbed a hoe and turned over the soil near the courtyard, improving its aeration.

With just one swing, the soil turned over easily.

Yu Nuan smiled in delight and crouched down to grab a handful—it was sandy soil.

The easiest type for farming, with large particles and plenty of air gaps.

Great water permeability and drainage.

It could also retain nutrients and help manage moisture—overall, the benefits were numerous.

These were all things she had learned as a child, constantly running through the fields and hearing the elders talk.

In just a short while, Yu Nuan finished hoeing the soil.

There weren’t many weeds, but they were growing quite well.

She pulled up a few handfuls and tossed them to the edge of the field.

If only the family had livestock, the weeds wouldn’t go to waste.

Thinking of the rabbits, she decided she’d go into the mountains again tomorrow and try her luck.

After loosening the soil, she returned to the courtyard and did some cleaning.

Hammering nails here and there with a wooden mallet.

All in all, she managed to get quite a bit done that afternoon—at the very least, the courtyard was much tidier.

She scooped up a few handfuls of mountain spring water and washed her face.

Then she plopped herself down on the stone slab surrounding the spring, feeling perfectly content.

This spring felt like a gift from the heavens—sweet, crystal-clear, and seemingly endless.

Around the springhead, small stones were laid to cushion it, and large stone slabs framed the opening.

A thick square slab was placed on top to block dust and debris, with space left for a wooden bucket to draw water.

Dinner time.

Lard-fried eggs with wild greens.

There were still a few pieces of snake meat left from lunch, so she tossed them into the meat broth along with some purslane.

She also made a big bowl of yellow cornmeal porridge.

The two elders felt like it was the New Year.

No—honestly, they hadn’t eaten this well for New Year’s in years.

Three dishes in a day, including meat, with flatbread and porridge.

Yu Mother took a bite and savored it for a long time before hesitantly putting down her bowl.

“Mom, why did you stop eating?” Yu Nuan asked, noticing her mother-in-law pause mid-bite.

Father Yu gave Yu Mother a glance and immediately understood her worry.

“Little Nuan, one dish a day is enough for us. You should eat more. Your mom and I are old and don’t move much—we don’t eat much either.”

Yu Mother tactfully ignored the fact that she had eaten one and a half flatbreads in the morning, drank two bowls of meat soup, and ate more than half the snake meat. In the end, Father Yu had even given her the remaining half of his flatbread.

Yu Nuan wanted to laugh but held it in.

This wasn’t about small appetites at all—they just didn’t have enough food, so they were saying that to make her feel better.

Yu Mother was worried about their food stores. Yu Nuan knew that no matter what she said now, it wouldn’t ease her mother’s mind.

So she nodded in agreement.

Looking at the bowl of cornmeal porridge in her hands, she sighed inwardly: I really want to eat white rice…

Seeing her nod, Yu Mother and Father Yu finally relaxed a little.

In the end, the three of them finished everything without leaving a single scrap behind.

Yu Nuan patted her belly and let out a satisfied burp.

The porridge was a bit scratchy on the throat, but she’d been truly hungry.

After a busy day, she hadn’t forgotten about Gou Wang’s meals either.

Fortunately, the little guy was easy to care for—he ate and slept, slept and ate, spending most of the day snoring.

Out in the courtyard,

Father Yu scooped out the soaked seeds.

He spread them out on two winnowing trays and set them out in the courtyard to dry.

They’d probably be ready for planting in three to five days.

As the sky darkened, Yu Nuan went to the kitchen to boil some water.

She poured the prepared astragalus granules into a bowl and added some warm water.

Astragalus tea was naturally a brownish-yellow color, sweet with a touch of bitterness.

It tasted a bit like brown sugar—easy to disguise.

“Little Nuan, I’m not drinking the sugar water. Let Gou Wang have it instead.”

Yu Mother pushed away the bowl Yu Nuan held out.

“Mom, I’ll figure something out for Gou Wang. You need to drink this too.”

Yu Nuan couldn’t come up with a better excuse, so she simply insisted.

After all, women who had just given birth were extremely weak. That’s why the custom of “sitting the month” existed.

“No, no. Let the baby have it.”

“This batch of sugar water was made in excess. You drink it tonight—tomorrow I won’t make any for you. I’ll go feed Gou Wang now.”

She spoke quickly and then lifted Yu Mother’s chin and pressed the bowl to her lips.

Caught off guard by her daughter’s rough action, Yu Mother opened her mouth in surprise—and the medicine was already down her throat.

“Cough cough—what a child you are!”

Yu Mother licked the lingering taste of the medicine on her lips and playfully smacked Yu Nuan.

Yu Nuan chuckled sheepishly, scooped up Gou Wang, and ran back into her room.