Chapter 3: Harvesting Wheat

This year, there was a severe drought, leaving the land parched for a thousand li.

Their village barely harvested any grain, and after paying the grain tax, there was little left.

Summer planting was hopeless, so they had no choice but to leave their homes and seek other avenues.

On the journey as refugees, the two families got separated, and after that, they were parted forever, never to meet again.

How many times, in his midnight dreams, did he feel regret?

For a mere twenty taels, why did he have to separate from his second brother? His parents, before they passed away, had repeatedly told him to look after this naive younger brother.

Knowing he was naive, yet still getting angry with him – he was truly unfilial!

It was precisely because he separated from his second brother’s family and they lived apart that that damned scoundrel found an opening and bullied his daughter.

Everything started from the moment he drove his second brother’s family away.

These past few days, his second brother had attended to him with great care, and he had been constantly reflecting on what he had missed.

Back then, when he lay sick in bed, with a persistent high fever and clouded mind, did his second brother also attend to him with such earnestness and thoroughness?

He had been bedridden for a few more days, and with no one to manage the household, his naive second brother had been forced to become sensible, compelled to toil for the family’s livelihood.

He knew his sister-in-law had always been strong-willed.

Their lives were frugal. His sister-in-law managed the household, wishing she could split a single copper coin into two halves to spend.

In previous years, he would hire people to manage the fields. But with him bedridden, and labor costs rising, his sister-in-law couldn’t bear the expense, so the two of them actually had to harvest the wheat themselves.

It was hard on them.

He sighed inwardly, maintaining a normal expression as he completed life’s great matter.

He let his second brother lay him back down and go clean up.

An elder brother is like a father. What was there for him to feel awkward about? He was perfectly at ease!

…

As soon as Father Yan came out, he saw his daughter squatting by the kitchen door, watching her Eldest Sister tend the stove.

Ordinary folk ate only two meals a day. Having grown accustomed to three meals a day, their bodies could endure, but their hearts constantly yearned for food, as if being clawed at.

Even he couldn’t help but swallow.

Our family’s eggs are really delicious. Even though the hens don’t lay often, they’re natural, pollution-free, and healthy.

Slurp! Old hens are even tastier. I wonder when I’ll be lucky enough to taste one.

Big Brother is weak. Should we kill a chicken to nourish him?

Er Ya learned how to start a fire with her eyes instead of her hands.

Her eyes said: “I’ve learned it.”

Her hands said: “No, you haven’t.”

She picked a nice-looking piece of firewood from nearby and tentatively put it into the stove.

She was stopped in time by Eldest Sister, who told her in a very gentle tone, “Er Ya, go play somewhere else. Be careful, the fire might burn you.”

She confiscated the firewood from Er Ya’s hand and casually explained, “The firewood in this stove needs to be placed loosely, not too full, and it’s not catching yet.”

Understood. She learned new knowledge again.

Er Ya nodded seriously. She turned around and saw her dad staring at the old hens, swallowing hard.

Her little legs quickly scurried over.

“Dad, are you craving something?” she whispered.

“Huh? No!” Father Yan flatly denied.

“Don’t forget you still owe twenty taels in gambling debt!” Er Ya said sternly. “A gambling addict has no right to eat meat.”

“How can you say I owe it? Didn’t Yan Lao’er owe it?” Father Yan felt greatly wronged.

“You are Yan Lao’er, and Yan Lao’er is you.”

“Daughter, let’s not joke around. Dad’s going to worry himself to death. If there were a place to sell blood in ancient times, I’d want to go sell blood!”

“Selling blood wouldn’t be enough for twenty taels, Dad, that’s twenty taels!”

“Can you stop emphasizing it? My brain hurts. And didn’t we agree you’d call me ‘Dad’ (爹), not ‘Papa’ (爸爸)?”

{T/N: 爹 (Diē) = Old-fashioned, rural, intimate → Dad / Pa / Old Dad , 爸爸 (Bàba) = Modern, standard, childlike → Papa / Daddy / Dad}

“Okay, Dad!” Er Ya readily agreed, then made her own request: “Then can you stop calling me Er Ya? It’s not like I don’t have a name.”

“Can we even use that name? What if it gives us away? Wouldn’t people burn us as monsters? Your eldest uncle calls me Tian You. I used to think Yan Lao’er’s name was Yan Tian You. Only these past two days did I figure out it was a nickname. I still don’t know what Yan Lao’er’s real name is.” Father Yan was helpless; everyone in the village called him Yan Lao’er, and he didn’t know his actual name.

“Dad, you’re really uncultured. Tian You is probably his courtesy name, right? Ancient scholars all had courtesy names. Those who were closer would address them by their surname plus their courtesy name, or just by their courtesy name.” Er Ya was an academic ace, though her major was completely useless for their current situation. Minor languages, anyone?

She was stronger than her parents precisely because she loved binge-watching dramas and reading novels…

“Huh, wait a minute, didn’t you say you saw the IOU? There should be a name on it.”

Father Yan was at a loss for words; all the sighs of his life seemed to be concentrated in this moment. “Yan Lao’er’s signature was so flamboyant and it was in traditional characters. I really couldn’t make out what it was.”

Er Ya: …

“Never mind, Dad. We’ll find out eventually,” she comforted her dear father.

“Your sister has finished cooking. I need to hurry back to the fields. Your mother must be exhausted.” He took the lunch prepared by his eldest niece, a neatly covered basket, and rushed out the door.

Only during busy farming seasons did they have lunch. He wasn’t happy at all. Harvesting wheat was truly back-breaking work. Holding the wheat with one hand and cutting with the other, his waist was almost broken. His “leader” was suffering greatly!

…

In the Yan Family’s fields,

Li Xuemei stumbled and fell to her knees.

The pain in her knees was temporary, but the aching, numb pain in her lower back tormented her nerves, along with the increasingly strong sun, which made her dizzy.

She was truly too tired!

“Wife! Wife! Where are you?” Yan Lao’er hadn’t seen her from afar and was a bit panicked, so he called out loudly.

“Here!” Li Xuemei tried to shout as loudly as she could, but she was utterly exhausted, her whole body aching, and truly weak.

“Oh, wife, what’s wrong? Where are you hurt? Let me see, let me see.” Yan Lao’er scurried over. Seeing his “leader” kneeling on the ground, one hand supporting herself, the other still holding a sickle wrapped in cloth, his heart ached.

Damn it, what kind of situation is this!

“I’m fine…” Li Xuemei took a few deep breaths and said, “Help me up slowly.”

Yan Lao’er immediately understood what was happening. Whether it was the former Li Xuemei or the current Li Shi, neither had ever done such heavy farm work. How could her body possibly endure it?

He wiped his face and quickly approached, adjusting her posture as he spoke. “Don’t get up yet. Lie down for a bit. I’ll help you massage it to loosen up.”

His fingers, with moderate force, focused on her lower back.

Li Xuemei couldn’t help but groan, it was both aching and painful.

“Bear with it, okay? Don’t make a sound. We’re still out in the fields. Don’t let people misunderstand what we’re doing.” Father Yan had always been a joker.

Li Xuemei was so angry she wanted to hit him. “Shut up! I don’t want the massage anymore, let me get up.” She struggled, trying to stand up herself.

“Hey, hey, why are you getting upset again? Wife, you need to change that temper of yours. Here, it’s not proper for women to talk back to men.” Father Yan pressed her down, not caring if the ground was clean or not. “Wife, why are you trying to be so strong? Didn’t I tell you to do a moderate amount, just a moderate amount? Just lend a hand, I have to be the main force. How come the moment I turn around, you don’t listen?”

“It’s ten mu of land! How can you finish it all by yourself?” This work is tiring for anyone who does it, it’s all the same.

“Let’s hire someone, heh! If it can be solved with money, it’s not a problem.”

“Heh heh, with what are we going to hire them? Are you going to ask Big Brother for money?”
(End of chapter)