Chapter 142: Gained Attention, the Scenery of Willow Lake

“You’re Chen Xin, right? Come here, let your uncle give you some candy!”

Lin Heng went to the cart and brought over a bag of big white rabbit milk candies, smiling at the children.

“Uncle!” Chen Xin shyly called out.

“Good, each of you gets two pieces. Come over and get them,” Lin Heng laughed as he spoke.

“Thank you, Uncle!”

The group of children from the Chen family happily ran over to collect the candies.

After the candy was handed out, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and asked, “Where’s to tie the horse?”

“Just bring it into the yard, and the cart too,” Chen Changxia, Xiulan’s father, walked over to help.

“Alright.”

Lin Heng led the horse, and with some help from Xiulan’s father and older brother, the cart was brought into the yard.

After unloading the cart’s harness from Hongzao, Lin Heng tied it under a cherry tree in the yard.

“Dad, you caught so many fish,” Lin Heng smiled as he followed Xiulan into the house and saw a pile of fish under the eaves.

“They were all from Willow Lake. It’s not too many, but when the fishing is good, we can catch big white bass and red-tailed fish,” Xiulan’s older brother, Chen Zhidong, said with a smile.

“That’s still a lot compared to what we catch on our side,” Lin Heng responded with a smile.

“If you want to go, we can take you tomorrow,” Xiulan’s third brother, Chen Zhiliang, spoke up.

“Sounds good.” Lin Heng nodded. He was genuinely interested in seeing Willow Lake.

Once inside, Xiulan’s parents hurriedly arranged for Lin Heng and Xiulan to sit down. Xiulan’s mother brought over some sweetened water and some dried sweet potatoes and dates.

“Xiulan, Lin Heng, sit with your dad. I’ll go make you some food,” Xiulan’s mother, Wang Zhi, said with a smile, growing more and more fond of her son-in-law.

“Alright, Mom, can you cook this rabbit too? It might spoil if we don’t, I caught it on the way today,” Lin Heng said as he handed her the large gray rabbit.

“Got it!” Wang Zhi smiled and took the rabbit.

Chen Changxia, Xiulan’s father, looked at Lin Heng curiously and asked, “I remember you didn’t know how to hunt before, right? Now you can not only hunt, but you even use a bow and arrow?”

“Yes, I only learned in the past two years,” Lin Heng nodded and smiled.

“That’s great. Hunting is a good way to ensure you always have food,” Chen Changxia nodded, thinking to himself that he had really misjudged Lin Heng back then. It turned out that his son-in-law was a diligent and inquisitive person, and hunting skills were not easy to master.

His opinion of Lin Heng changed quite a bit.

On the side, Xiulan’s eldest sister-in-law, Zhang Shuiqin, couldn’t help but ask, “Lin Heng, if it’s not too much trouble, may I ask what you two are doing now? You don’t really seem like farmers anymore.”

Everyone else also looked over. This was something they had all wanted to ask since they met, but none of them had the nerve to bring it up.

Xiulan picked up the conversation: “We’re still farmers. Lin Heng made some money from hunting and opened a Procurement Station in town. We’ve managed to save a little money.”

“A Procurement Station? That must cost a lot of money to start!” Chen Changxia and the others were surprised and looked at the couple.

No wonder their life had improved so much, it turned out they were doing business.

Xiulan’s older brother, Chen Zhidong, asked with a smile, “A Procurement Station can make money, right? If you can run it for a year, you could make several thousand yuan, right?”

Zhang Shuiqin and Liu Hua were both taken aback. They had initially thought that Lin Heng and Xiulan were just trying to impress everyone by acting rich, but now it seemed they were actually doing well.

The women instantly felt envious. Zhang Shuiqin regretted how she had made things awkward with Xiulan before she married.

The third sister-in-law, Liu Xue, and fourth sister-in-law, Liu Hua, were already thinking about how they could get closer to Xiulan.

Xiulan shook her head and smiled bitterly: “We just opened it this year, and we haven’t made much money yet. Lin Heng also built a fish pond to raise fish, so the money hasn’t even reached us yet.”

She obviously couldn’t tell them that they now had over 6,000 yuan in savings. Her parents might not ask, but her eldest sister-in-law definitely would.

Her family had been living together for years, and they had wanted to build a new house for a long time, but they never had enough money to do so.

Now, by saying they didn’t have money, she could make it easier to borrow a little if needed, which was something she had told Lin Heng the night before—he wasn’t to say too much about their financial situation.

Xiulan didn’t even want to borrow money from her own brothers, let alone anyone else, as she knew that money would be hard to get back in the short term.

“Just opened this year, huh.” The excitement in Xiulan’s eldest sister-in-law Zhang Shuiqin’s eyes quickly vanished.

Xiulan’s fourth brother, Chen Zhicai, asked curiously: “Doesn’t that mean you’ll be competing with other Procurement Stations?”

The names of Xiulan’s brothers and sisters were easy to remember. The names of her eldest, third, and fourth brothers, when combined, formed the phrase “栋梁之材” (pillar of strength). Her second sister was named Chen Xiuhua, and she was Chen Xiulan.

“It used to be like that, but just a few days ago, the owner of another Procurement Station was caught gambling, so we might make a bit more money from now on,” Xiulan said, shaking her head.

“That’s a good thing. If you manage things well, you won’t have to worry about being poor in the future,” Chen Changxia said with a smile. Having a wealthy son-in-law was a good thing for him too—if there were any problems, he’d have somewhere to turn for help.

After a few more exchanges, everyone else left to get to work. The fish needed to be processed quickly or they’d spoil, leaving only Chen Changxia with Lin Heng and Xiulan.

“Dad, let me help you with the fish. Don’t treat me and Xiulan like guests,” Lin Heng said, standing up. Sitting idly wasn’t very interesting.

Chen Changxia quickly pushed him back down: “No, no! You can’t get your clothes dirty. Fish are really smelly.”

Xiulan understood that Lin Heng couldn’t sit still and spoke up: “Dad, you go ahead with your work. Don’t worry about us. I’ll take Lin Heng around to look at things.”

Chen Changxia nodded: “Alright, go ahead. If you need anything, just let us know. Your stuff can stay in our room. You’ll sleep in our room tonight.”

“Okay.” Xiulan stood up, took her daughter, and led Lin Heng to her parents’ bedroom, where she placed the bow and arrows on the desk.

Once everything was in place, Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and smiled: “Let’s go, I’ll show you around.”

“Actually, my back hurts,” Lin Heng chuckled.

Xiulan shot him a playful glare and said, “As if it’s my fault!”

Last night, she had willingly reciprocated her husband’s advances, but only once. After that, he still wasn’t satisfied and wanted her to try some strange positions, which she couldn’t entirely blame on herself.

Lin Heng shrugged. It wasn’t his fault either.

The two of them, with their daughter, then went out to watch Xiulan’s father and three brothers handling the fish.

The fish caught here, the bigger ones can be sold directly to the fish vendors, while the smaller ones, like the white strip, need to be dried before they can be sold. Some are eaten right away.

It’s similar to how most people in Nanping County gather herbs and mushrooms in the mountains. They rely on the mountains for resources, and here, they rely on the water; there’s a lot of water, and many people fish.

There are also people who gather herbs or hunt, but there are far fewer of them than in Nanping County.

However, because they can both rely on the mountains and the water, Lushui County is slightly wealthier than Nanping, ranking in the middle to upper tier among the top ten counties in Taibai City, while Nanping is more towards the middle to lower tier.

Of course, since Taibai Mountain is in Nanping County, the further you go, the more valuable the land becomes.

“Dad, does anyone here lease out the willow lake?” Lin Heng asked with a smile.

“Of course not. Willow Lake is nearly a hundred acres and is public land. Anyone living nearby can fish there,” Chen’s father shook his head.

“Oh,” Lin Heng nodded. Since they rely on fishing for a living, it seems they wouldn’t be allowed to lease it out.

After chatting for a bit, he went to the kitchen to check on Hongzao, bringing over a bowl of water. Hongzao drank the whole bowl, so Lin Heng brought over another. Meanwhile, Xiulan went outside to get some corn leaves to feed it.

The two of them then took Xiaoxia for a walk around the yard since it was too hot to go too far.

“Every time I come here, I can’t help but think how flat it is,” Lin Heng said, laughing, as he looked around.

The area near Liulin Village is very flat. The Qinling mountains are about one to two kilometers away, and it’s only four or five kilometers further in before you reach the high mountains similar to those near Hongfeng Village.

The environment here is better suited for raising fish and shrimp than Hongfeng Village, but it’s still better to manage things locally. Trying to do it in a foreign place could easily result in a loss.

“I just think the mountains are nice,” Xiulan said with a smile. She liked the mountains and found this flat land uninteresting.

“Let’s take a good stroll this afternoon,” Lin Heng said as he looked around. The last time he was here felt like it was ages ago.

“Alright,” Xiulan nodded and returned to the house with Lin Heng.

Xiulan’s father and brothers had already cleaned the fish and shrimp. The ones to be eaten today were set aside, and the rest were made into dried fish.

After killing them, they were salted and marinated with wine for a while, then spread out on bamboo mats and covered with a net to dry in the sun. It usually took about four to five days to fully dry out.

The dried fish was quite flavorful, with a firmer texture compared to directly fried fish.

The family chatted for a while, catching up on each other’s recent activities.

Though the two places weren’t far apart, their altitudes and conditions were quite different. The rice in the lower regions had already been harvested, while the rice in their area was just turning yellow.

Lin Heng envied their abundance of water and fish, while they envied the mountain delicacies he had, like Matsutake mushrooms, morel mushrooms, and lion’s mane mushrooms. They didn’t have much of that here, and it was rare to even find a few each year.

“Lin Heng, is hunting with a bow and arrow difficult?” Xiulan’s older brother, Chen Zhizhong, asked with interest.

“It’s much harder than using a gun. If you haven’t learned, it’s better to stick with a gun,” Lin Heng shook his head.

With a shotgun, you can rely on luck with the pellets, but with a bow and arrow, luck doesn’t really come into play.

After a pause, he smiled and added, “Big brother, if you want to give it a try, come to my place when winter sets in, and I’ll take you up the mountain.”

“That sounds good. I’ll come over when I have time,” Chen Zhizhong said, somewhat intrigued.

Xiulan’s third brother, Chen Zhi Liang, spoke up, “There are a lot of wild chickens and ducks around Willow Lake. Lin Heng, you can try hunting with your bow and arrow here.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ll bring my bow this afternoon and have a look,” Lin Heng smiled.

Meanwhile, the three sisters-in-law were chatting with Xiulan, treating her like a sister with their friendly conversation, and it was hard to tell they weren’t really sisters.

They surrounded Xiulan, talking mostly about her clothes, shoes, and watch, revealing their clear envy.

Xiulan also gave them some gifts, homemade osmanthus soap, which wasn’t worth much but was a nice little gift.

After chatting for a bit, the women went to the kitchen to help Xiulan’s mother.

Before long, the food was ready. Since the family was large, they set up a big round table.

“Wow, the dishes are so plentiful, there’s so much,” Lin Heng exclaimed, looking at the dishes being served.

There were twelve dishes in total, including vegetables, braised carp, pickled crucian carp, fried dried fish, stir-fried rabbit meat, and a dish of stir-fried cured meat.

The spread was truly generous, and Lin Heng was already starving, his appetite soaring.

“Haha, none of these are fancy dishes, come, let’s have a drink first,” Chen’s father said with a smile, raising his cup.

After taking a sip, Lin Heng called out, “This drink is really strong!”

But the pickled crucian carp and fried dried fish were exactly to his taste.

“Daddy, fish!” Xiaoxia climbed into Lin Heng’s lap, pointing at the braised carp.

“Here, eat slowly,” Lin Heng picked up a piece of carp, carefully removing the bones before feeding it to her.

The children in the family all took their plates and went outside, never sitting at the table. This was typical of rural families in this era.

After feeding Xiaoxia, Lin Heng raised his cup again, smiling at his father-in-law. “Dad, let me toast you.”

After having a drink with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and older brother-in-law, Xiulan spoke up, telling him not to drink any more because he couldn’t handle it.

Lin Heng was indeed feeling a bit lightheaded, so they all let him rest.

After eating, Xiulan’s mother, Wang Zhi, laid out a bed for Lin Heng and Xiulan to rest for a while.

Lin Heng lay down on the bed and immediately fell asleep, with Xiulan helping him take off his shoes.

When he woke up again, it was already after four in the afternoon, and he felt a bit groggy.

He put on his shoes and stepped outside, but everyone was gone. He decided to take a walk.

After wandering around for a while, he spotted Xiulan in the vegetable garden. She was there with her mother, and Xiaoxia was running around in the garden.

“Xiulan!” Lin Heng called as he walked over.

“Daddy, vegetables,” Xiaoxia ran towards him, holding a radish leaf.

Lin Heng looked at his precious little girl and pulled her towards him.

Xiulan walked over, smiling. “You’re awake. Let me take you for a walk around the area.”

“You help your mom. I’m fine here playing around,” Lin Heng shook his head.

Mother Chen, Wang Zhi, quickly waved her hand and said, “No need to help here, you two go out and have a look.”

Xiulan nodded and said, “I’m just talking to Mom, let’s go.”

With that, she took her daughter and Lin Heng outside.

“Feeling better? Does your head hurt?” Xiulan asked as she looked at him.

“It’s alright, your family’s liquor is too strong, every time I come here I end up drunk,” Lin Heng replied with a helpless smile.

Xiulan squeezed his hand and smiled, asking, “Do you still remember the last time you got drunk?”

“Haha, I remember, but I really didn’t do it on purpose,” Lin Heng laughed heartily.

That was the first time Xiulan took him home, and they had just confirmed their relationship. They held hands, but hadn’t done anything else.

He got drunk, and when Xiulan went to check on him, he pinned her against the wall and kissed her, which her father had witnessed.

Xiulan gave him a reproachful look, “And you’re still laughing. Your actions back then made my dad think you were unreliable, and he refused to let me marry you.”

Back then, what kind of man would pin a woman against the wall and kiss her before marriage? Her father was furious.

Lin Heng leaned in and whispered, “There was nothing I could do, I liked you so much, the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one I wanted to marry.”

Xiulan puffed out her cheeks and looked at him with her beautiful phoenix eyes, her gaze full of affection, like autumn waters that tug at one’s heartstrings.

As they were talking, a dark-skinned man in his late twenties, leading a water buffalo, walked toward them.

He glanced at Xiulan and Lin Heng with a somewhat complicated expression, then smiled and greeted, “Chen Xiulan, long time no see, you haven’t changed much.”

Xiulan gave a slight smile and asked, “Are you out herding the cattle?”

“Yes,” the man nodded and continued walking past them, leading the buffalo.

As they walked on, they weren’t surprised by this encounter. Several other men in their twenties deliberately ignored Lin Heng and only spoke to Xiulan.

Lin Heng didn’t say anything, just pulled Xiulan and Xiaoxia along, smiling and gesturing to them.

Each time this happened, these men’s expressions became more complex—frustration, regret, and loneliness mixed together.

Many people used to like Xiulan, and they’d pass by her house every day, looking for excuses to talk to her, hoping to marry her.

In the end, it was Lin Heng, an outsider, who won her heart. How could they not feel angry?

What made them even more frustrated was that Lin Heng brought Xiulan back in glory, something they couldn’t offer her.

Lin Heng, on the other hand, walked proudly, and Xiaoxia, not understanding what her father was doing, followed behind with her chest puffed out.

Xiulan rolled her eyes at him, “They’re just saying hello, is there really a need to act like that?”

“I didn’t hug you, I was just showing respect,” Lin Heng smiled, making it clear who he was.

“Alright, let’s go, I’ll take you to see Willow Lake.” Xiulan, actually quite pleased, reached up to pull a dry leaf off Lin Heng’s head.

“Did Dad and the older brother go to the lake?” Lin Heng asked, as if confirming.

“Yes, they went to set the fishing nets and traps. A few of the sisters-in-law went to the fields,” Xiulan nodded.

“Then let’s go back, grab the bow and arrow, and head over there. If we come across any wild chickens, we can try to hunt them,” Lin Heng suggested.

“Forget it, let’s just walk around now. It’s still early. If we need to, we can come back for the bow later,” Xiulan shook her head and pulled him forward.

“Okay then,” Lin Heng agreed.

The two of them continued walking with Xiaoxia. It was just after five o’clock, and although the sun hadn’t set, the temperature had already dropped significantly.

Willow Lake was right next to their village, and when they reached the shore, the lake, which spanned over a hundred acres, was indeed impressive.

However, this lake was artificially enclosed with an earthen dam. There were many rivers in Lushui County, and there was an even larger lake, Lushui Lake, covering over three thousand acres, which was a true big lake.

As they walked along the shore, they saw several people using bamboo rafts to set nets and traps in the water.

The banks were lined with willow trees, some drooping and some standing upright.

Liulin Village was named for its many willows, with large trees growing eight or nine meters tall.

The big willow trees provided shade, and with the lake breeze gently blowing, it was very cool walking beneath them.

Lin Heng approached the water to see if he could spot any fish, but as expected, he saw nothing. Still, the vast water made his fishing urge flare up.

“My dad’s back,” Xiulan pointed at a bamboo raft coming toward them.

It was clear that Chen’s father and the others had spotted them, and they quickly paddled over.

“Did you finish setting the fishing nets?” Lin Heng asked with a smile.

“No, Lin Heng, do you have your bow and arrow?” Chen’s father asked, looking a bit flustered.

Lin Heng shook his head, curious. “No, why? Did you spot a wild chicken or something?”

“Lin Heng, hurry back and get your bow, we’ve found something big!” Chen Zhizhong, his older brother-in-law, said urgently.

“Yes, it’s not just a wild chicken! Whether or not you can catch it depends on your skill,” Chen Zhiliang, his third brother-in-law, added with a smile.

Ah, it had been three months since I last fished—my fishing urge has returned!

(The end of this chapter.)