Chapter 148: Father’s Change, the Pleasant Time After the Rain

Crouching behind the treetop, Lin Heng looked carefully and spotted something surprising—a grayish-white masked palm civet (a type of wild cat-like mammal) was stealing early-ripening persimmons from a distant tree.

The “fire persimmon” is a kind of small persimmon with tiny seeds about the size of pumpkin seeds, scarce flesh, and it ripens early—a kind of wild persimmon.

The masked palm civet is bigger than a cat but smaller than a dog, typically weighing 20 to 30 pounds, similar to a hog badger, though the largest can reach up to 50 pounds.

These creatures love eating persimmons, and every autumn and winter, many people lie in wait under persimmon trees hoping to spot civets.

Lin Heng was worried because the civet was up in the tree and could spot any movement below. It was only because they were still 300 to 400 meters away that it hadn’t noticed them yet.

But getting closer was impossible. Not even 50 meters—the moment they took a few more steps forward, they’d be exposed.

After thinking it over, Lin Heng realized he had no good plan. Hunters usually catch civets by waiting near the trees where the civet feeds.

“Xiongba, it’s up to you. Give it a try,” Lin Heng said, rubbing Xiongba and assigning the task.

Xiongba glanced up at the civet and then disappeared into the thicket.

Lin Heng waited silently. About half an hour later, the civet sensed something was wrong and suddenly leapt down from the tree.

“Woof!”

Right after, Xiongba burst out from behind, sprinting after it.

The chase went from the bushes into a low secondary forest, then up into the tall broadleaf forest on the mountain.

After about ten minutes, Xiongba returned, looking defeated—no catch. It had failed.

“No worries, there are still rabbits ahead,” Lin Heng patted its head to comfort it, already mentally prepared for this outcome.

Since civets climb trees, it was always going to be tough for Xiongba to catch one.

“Awwooo~”

Xiongba howled softly and followed behind Lin Heng.

“Looks like I really need to get a better bow,” Lin Heng sighed.

His current orangewood bow just wasn’t cutting it. Without access to a modern compound bow, maybe next time he’d try to get a Mongolian composite bow for now.

The effective range of his bow was only about 50 meters, and to accurately hit small prey, he needed to be within 20 to 30 meters—and with little wind.

It wasn’t a matter of skill, but the material limits of a traditional wooden bow. Unlike modern compound bows, which—thanks to advanced materials and technology—can accurately hit targets up to 300 meters away.

With Xiongba, the man and dog soon reached the edge of the soybean field at the foot of Red Maple Mountain.

Xiongba immediately switched to hunting mode, alert in every direction.

At first, there was no sign of anything near the field’s edge, but Lin Heng wasn’t discouraged and kept searching along the field with Xiongba.

The soybean field was large; they were sure to find something.

Suddenly—

Thump!

Two wild pheasants burst out from the field, flapping noisily as they flew quickly toward the mountains across the river.

Before Lin Heng and Xiongba could even react, a rustling came from ahead in the field. A large, brownish-yellow rabbit darted toward the shrubs and grass piles on the hillside.

“Woof! Woof!”

Without any command, Xiongba gave chase.

Because the distance was a bit far, it initially couldn’t catch up, but it pursued from the soybean field into the thickets and eventually cornered the rabbit in a hole.

“Woof! Woof!”

Xiongba looked back at Lin Heng, signaling it was stuck.

Lin Heng leisurely walked up the hill. Xiongba lay by the hole, staring at the rabbit.

Looking down, Lin Heng saw that the rabbit, panicked and confused, had entered a hole that didn’t seem to be its own. About 30 centimeters in, the way was blocked, leaving its rear exposed.

Lin Heng nocked an arrow and shot into the hole. With a pained scream, the rabbit soon stopped moving.

He didn’t rush—it was better to wait until the rabbit was fully dead before touching it.

No need to leave survivors; their home rabbits were about to start breeding soon anyway.

A few minutes later, Lin Heng easily pulled the dead rabbit out.

“A good dog like you makes catching rabbits no trouble at all.”

Weighing the rabbit roughly, Lin Heng estimated it at five or six pounds, then smiled and patted Xiongba’s head. “Let’s head up to the cabin.”

Since they were already halfway up the mountain, he figured they might as well take a look.

The cabin was unchanged, except it seemed to have been visited by birds, judging by the bird droppings inside.

Checking on the growth of the Dendrobium officinale orchids growing there, Lin Heng then went to the pine forest to collect pine cones.

Of course, he wasn’t after the pine nuts—these black pine nuts were too small to harvest. He gathered pine cones to make pine resin. Historically, people made resin from pine cones.

After half a bag, he headed home with Xiongba.

Back home, his wife had cooked rice and was warming dishes on the stove, waiting for him.

“Such a big rabbit—really nice,” Xiulan smiled, praising her husband.

“Let’s stew it, and we can stew some of those grass carp too,” Lin Heng said, hanging the rabbit up with a grin.

“Sounds good,” Xiulan agreed.

After breakfast, Lin Heng skinned the rabbit, fed the innards to Xiongba, and gave the meat to his wife to prepare as stewed rabbit.

While taking care of Xiaoxia, Lin Heng got to work making pine resin.

He built a fire in the front yard, and once the wood had burned down to embers, he placed a pot over it and put the cleaned pine cones in to dry over a low flame.

Xiaoxia watched curiously nearby, asking questions now and then. Lin Heng gave her a pine cone to hold and watch.

While drying the pine cones, Lin Heng fetched a thick nanmu wood branch—about wrist-sized. Large pieces of nanmu are rare, but seedlings like this are still common around here, after all, this was the Qinling Mountains.

He sawed the branch into small sections, brushed them with sesame oil, and set them aside to dry.

He then found a stone mortar and crushed the dried pine cones inside. When crushed enough, he borrowed a medicinal grinder to pulverize them further. After sifting, he ended up with fine pine cone powder.

While borrowing the grinder, Lin Heng also saw his parents’ dried calamus roots ready for sale. He took some home to dry further and grind into powder as well.

After a whole morning’s work, Lin Heng had only managed to get three pounds of pine cone powder and two pounds of calamus powder. Though tiring, he felt a deep sense of fulfillment.

“Honey, the stewed rabbit meat and fish are ready. Try some,” Xiulan brought the freshly cooked dishes over to Lin Heng.

The braised rabbit and fish both had a reddish-brown color, and the rich aroma of the stew filled the air. Lin Heng tore off a piece of rabbit meat and tasted it. His eyes lit up instantly—the flavor was incredible.

The original gamey smell of the rabbit was completely gone, replaced by a pure, savory braised aroma and a delicate texture. Even without dipping it in any sauce, it was utterly delicious.

“Wife, you really have great skills,” Lin Heng said, tearing off another piece to feed her.

“Daddy, I want some too!” Xiaoxia insisted, always eager to try whatever was around.

Lin Heng gave her a small piece and smiled, asking, “Is it good?”

“Yummy~” Xiaoxia nodded in her soft little voice, clearly wanting more.

Xiulan smiled gently. “As long as it tastes good. I also stewed a few eggs for Xiaoxia, and you can try this braised fish—it’s pretty good too.”

Lin Heng tried a piece of the braised grass carp. The fish was so tender the bones had softened. The best part was the fish skin—it had been dried then stewed, soaking up the broth and spices, blending the savory braising flavors with the fish’s freshness, and had a wonderfully chewy texture that was addictive.

The fish meat was a bit less impressive in texture but just as flavorful. Lin Heng couldn’t help but give his wife a thumbs up.

“Then for lunch, let’s make cornmeal fish and eat this,” Xiulan said with a smile.

“Alright.” Lin Heng nodded, tore off some more meat for Xiaoxia, and then went to help his wife prepare the meal.

When the cornmeal fish was ready, Lin Heng shredded the stewed fish meat, glad there were no bones so he could eat heartily.

With the addition of some pickled bamboo shoots, the meal felt even more satisfying.

After the meal, they were still savoring the flavors. Braised meat really was a marvelous invention—so delicious.

In the afternoon, Xiulan helped peel corn husks while Lin Heng helped break the corn cobs. Since they were right by the roadside, the harvested corn was loaded directly onto a cart and taken away—much faster than carrying it by basket.

By the end of the afternoon, they had harvested half of the three-acre cornfield.

That evening, at his parents’ house, Xiulan brought half of the braised rabbit, which was unanimously praised.

“Xiulan’s cooking is really something,” Lin Heng’s mother complimented.

Lin Heng looked at his mother and joked, “I was the one who hunted the rabbit, Mom. Why don’t you praise me?”

His mother glanced at him and half-heartedly replied, “You’re good too, but I think this is mostly my daughter-in-law’s credit.”

Lin Heng: “…”

Xiulan smiled softly and comforted him by offering a piece of rabbit meat. Lin Heng grinned fiercely and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Dad, can you find someone to pick a lucky day? I want to move the grass carp fingerlings from the fish pond to the main pond,” Lin Heng told his father.

Lin Heng’s father nodded, “Alright, I’ll find someone to help you tomorrow when I have time.”

Early the next morning, the sky was overcast with heavy clouds, threatening a downpour.

Lin Heng’s father immediately sent his two sons to rush the corn harvest. Autumn rains were unpredictable—if it lasted too long, the corn would rot in the fields.

It was a race against the rain. Not just them, but many villagers were already climbing the hills early to harvest corn.

Farming is like that—completely dependent on the weather. When the heavens don’t cooperate, it’s tough.

Despite their haste, heavy rain started just after eight o’clock. From the first drops to full rain took less than a minute.

“Dad, we should hurry home, or we’ll catch a cold,” Lin Heng urged.

His father slapped his thighs and looked up at the sky, lamenting, “Why is this old heaven so blind? If it had waited just an hour longer, it would have been better.”

But the heavens responded only with a harsher downpour.

They had no time to waste. Covering themselves with a thin plastic sheet, they loaded the corn onto the cart and hurried home.

By the time they arrived, their pants were soaked through. Hongzao, the horse, was drenched and bedraggled. Lin Heng led him to the stable, gave him some dry straw bedding and fresh corn leaves to eat.

After settling Hongzao, Lin Heng washed himself with hot water, changed clothes, and went to the old house under an umbrella. His father was still grumbling about the unfair weather—this rain just fell out of nowhere.

Lin Heng entered with a smile, “Dad, that’s why next year we shouldn’t plant so much land. Come spring, I’ll buy some fruit tree seedlings. We can plant fruit trees all over the fields and leave just four or five acres for growing crops to eat ourselves.”

If Lin Heng had said this before, his father would have snapped back, ‘What are we going to eat without farming?’ But Lin Heng’s recent successes had changed his father’s thinking.

He nodded, “That sounds right. Next spring we’ll plant some fruit trees.”

Gradually, his father was coming to terms with it—just farming wouldn’t make money.

Look around the village: those who earn thousands are weavers, beekeepers, snack sellers, even herb diggers—but no one has gotten rich just by farming.

Most farmers, like Lin’s family six months ago, lived crowded in a single house with a dozen people, unable even to afford building a house for their sons.

Sometimes, his father sat by the riverbank, staring at the patchwork of fields on both sides, and had to admit that his second son was right—farming can’t make you wealthy.

After all, he had farmed all his life; no one knew better.

Today’s rain had stirred a bitter resentment toward the heavens—like thin ropes always breaking at their weakest points, like misfortune always choosing the poor, like life only crushing the poor. No matter how hard you worked farming, the heavens didn’t help.

“Alright, Dad, big brother, next time the three of us will go together to switch to fruit trees,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“Hard work leads to success” is a lie told to children. Growing up, you realize that choices matter more than effort.

On a road destined for failure, no matter how far you go, you’ll never reach the finish line of success.

“Sigh, let’s first peel these corns and hang them up,” Lin’s father sighed and went to fetch a ladder.

The women peeled the corn, the children handed it over, and Lin Heng and two others tied the corn.

Under the eaves, there were wires strung from bottom to top. They would take the corn, wrap it around the wires, twisting and stacking it upwards until it formed a thick, large string of corn.

When winter came and the corn cobs dried, they’d pick them off to shell into kernels.

This year’s harvest was plentiful. Lin’s father’s yard was already full of corn strings, so they also hung corn under Lin’s eldest brother’s eaves. There was still some left that couldn’t be hung. In total, it took two whole days to finish.

On the morning of October 4th, Lin Heng got out of bed and looked at the rainy sky outside, feeling a bit irritated. “This autumn rain just won’t stop.”

“Autumn is always like this, lots of rain,” Xiulan said softly as she tucked him in and leaned against him.

After three days of continuous autumn rain, the house felt a bit chilly. Neither of them wanted to get out of bed. Even Xiaoxia was brought over and they all lazed around together.

They stayed in bed until nine o’clock before finally getting up. Breakfast was three dishes and a soup, eaten slowly and deliberately.

At noon, Xiulan checked the tanning leopard skin, added some prepared solution, and figured it would be ready in a couple of days.

Lin Heng steamed small pieces of fragrant nanmu wood that he had previously sawed and coated with sesame oil for two or three hours. Then he dried them and ground them into powder using a stone mortar. After half a day’s work, he made three pounds of nanmu glue powder.

If only he had a blender, this would’ve taken just half an hour. But since he didn’t, the slow process was actually quite fun—sometimes wasting time can be enjoyable.

On October 5th, the rain still didn’t stop. Bored, Lin Heng took his umbrella and went into the village to find a leaking, old ceramic pot. He transformed it into a small stove about 25 cm tall and 30 cm in diameter.

Inside, he coated it with a mixture of yellow clay, rice straw bits, and dragon beard grass. With charcoal added, it became a tabletop stove that warmed up gently but didn’t burn to the touch.

“Wife, is the cured meat cooked yet?” Lin Heng smiled as he stoked the charcoal fire.

“Yes,” Xiulan replied, bringing over the cooked cured meat along with a cutting board and knife. She cut the meat into small pieces.

Lin Heng had already made a grill rack from wire, which he placed on top of the ceramic stove. He put the cured meat on it to roast. Soon it started sizzling and releasing delicious aromas.

“Here, you eat the first piece,” Lin Heng said, blowing on the meat before feeding it to Xiulan.

She chewed for a moment and blinked, smiling, “So good.”

“Daddy, I want some too~” Xiaoxia had been waiting eagerly, her mouth wide open. Lin Heng hadn’t given her the first piece. Now she looked upset—if she didn’t get a second piece, she’d cry. No way to soothe her without two pieces.

“Here you go, here you go,” Lin Heng laughed and fed her a small piece.

“Yummy~” Xiaoxia giggled happily.

Lin Heng took a piece for himself. The cured meat didn’t need any seasoning—just roasting it like this made it so tasty it was hard to stop eating.

“Ah, now with the rain it’s not so urgent anymore,” Lin Heng grinned, enjoying the roast meat while listening to the rain and watching the blurred shapes of everything outside in the misty rain—a beautiful thing.

“Meow~” Jinbao jumped onto a stool and watched the stove.

“Woof~” Xiongba crouched nearby, watching Lin Heng.

Those two were begging, but while Xiongba wagged his tail and grinned, Jinbao simply rubbed against the stool’s backrest, maintaining his dignity and pride.

After Lin Heng fed Xiongba a piece of meat, Jinbao couldn’t sit still. He came over, rubbed against Lin Heng’s hand, and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

He wasn’t afraid of people anymore. Even with the rope untied, he wouldn’t leave—just like Lin She. Life in the forest is tough, with exposure to wind and rain. But where else could he be so well-fed and comfortable?

Every now and then, he’d catch a mouse to show Lin Heng and Xiulan his prowess as a skilled hunter. Most of the time, though, he just played games with Xiaoxia.

“Here, you have some too,” Lin Heng said, stroking Jinbao’s glossy, silky fur—it felt incredibly smooth.

“No need for lunch now,” Xiulan said with a satisfied burp, smiling. Lin Heng really knew how to enjoy life—living like this had even made her gain weight.

“We still have some pears left from last time. Let’s stew some brown sugar snow pears to balance out the richness,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

Watching the rain can be annoying if you just sit and watch, but with a small stove roasting meat, something stewing to eat, and the rain outside—it’s quite pleasant.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have a clay pot and used a small iron pot from the mountain instead. Lin Heng made a note to buy some clay pots next time he went to town.

In about ten minutes, a pot of bright red rock sugar snow pears was ready. Lin Heng also threw in some Hongzao and a piece of dendrobium.

Xiulan and Xiaoxia loved it, sipping slowly with their spoons.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door, and Lin’s father’s voice called out, “Son, open up! Something big has happened!”

“What big thing, Dad?” Lin Heng asked, curious as he opened the gate.

“Look across the river,” Lin’s father said, pointing toward the opposite side of the Shiban River upstream.

Lin Heng looked up in that direction. That was where he and his nephew Lin Wei had caught wild rabbits before.

Because of the recent rain, water was rushing down from the mountain on that side.

“Oh my god! A mudslide!!”

It was scary just to look. Countless trees and rocks tumbled down from the mountain top, crashing with a thunderous roar. Water splashed up more than ten meters high.

The stones and mud blocked the river channel like a dam. The furious river water was cut off, piling up higher and higher.

“It’s over. Those several acres of corn and soybeans downstream are probably lost too. Looks like one of our fields is gone,” Lin’s father shook his head bitterly. The heavens really don’t bless us.

“How could this happen? There are trees all over that mountain. How did a mudslide come down?”

Xiulan and Xiaoxia came out as well, looking confused at the opposite bank.

“That’s Ruan Shi Mountain. With all that water pouring in, it’s bound to collapse. I just hope the families by the river downstream are safe.”

Lin Heng shook his head, feeling anxious. This rain would definitely cause landslides on the roads. After it stopped, it might take ten days or more before any vehicles could get through—and he still needed to go into town to restock.

“Look, the village secretary Tian is coming down the road in a raincoat with a team. They’re probably going to warn the people downstream,” Lin’s father said, pointing at the figures appearing on the road.

“Secretary Tian, be careful!” Lin Heng called out loudly. He was a good leader—hopefully nothing would happen on the way.

“Remember to clear the drainage ditches behind the houses, be careful,” Secretary Tian replied, then led the group downstream.

Lin Heng looked at the river from the gate. He guessed that within an hour the riverbank would break. A huge surge of water would wash through the entire downstream riverbed, and even some nearby areas might not be spared.

Luckily, their house was quite far from the Shiban River. For the flood to reach them, Huangtan Town itself would have to be underwater.

In his memory, such a mudslide only happened once before—in the summer three years later—after an extreme storm.

But now it had erupted unexpectedly. Life was truly unpredictable.

The silver lining was that this mudslide wasn’t huge; at worst, it would destroy fields and houses too close to the river.

“Dad, where have you been?” Lin Heng asked, noticing his father wrapped in a thin plastic sheet.

Lin’s father slapped his forehead and suddenly said, “There’s one more thing I forgot to tell you.”

“This morning I went to cut cow grass, and someone in the village said wild boars have been damaging the corn. When I went to check, our half-acre of corn was ruined by those damn wild boars,” Lin’s father cursed.

The corn might have been salvageable while still on the stalks, but since the boars knocked it down, it was definitely ruined.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. No way to guard against the boars in the afternoon. Let them eat it,” Lin Heng shrugged. Wild boars were rampant in the mountains—this happened every year.

“Sigh!” Lin’s father sighed deeply.

“Dad, come inside for some hot brown sugar snow pear before you go back. There’s also some roasted meat.”

Lin Heng pulled his father into the house, served him a steaming bowl of the snow pear stew, and put some cured meat on the stove to roast.

After drinking the warm snow pear and eating the roasted meat, Lin’s father smiled and said, “You really know how to enjoy life.”

Lin Heng smiled and encouraged, “Dad, you should learn from me. You don’t have much pressure now, so don’t just think about work all day.”

“Okay,” his father nodded. There really wasn’t much pressure at home anymore, but old habits made it hard for him to relax.

After eating some roasted meat, Lin’s father liked the little stove and wanted to make one for himself.

“I think that mudslide is about to cause a riverbank breach. Let’s go check it out,” Lin Heng said, glancing at his watch. Nearly an hour had passed without them noticing.

(End of chapter)