Chapter 86: Xiulan’s Day

“Dad, big brother, let’s have a drink.”

Once the food was served, Lin Heng lifted his wine glass and spoke first.

“Come on, cheers!”

Lin’s father and others also raised their glasses. Tonight’s meal was abundant, making it a good occasion to drink.

The family sipped on their drinks, and even Xiulan, Lin Heng’s mother, had a little yellow rice wine mixed with syrup wine.

The grouse meat was tender and delicious, much better than the chickens they raised themselves.

Lin Heng silently picked up some food for Xiulan and gave two boneless pieces to his daughter Xiaoxia.

“Dad, don’t just watch us eat—have some too,” Lin Heng said, serving a few pieces to his father.

“Oh, we’re eating, no need to serve us,” Lin’s father replied helplessly, but seeing the food already being handed over, he had no choice but to accept it.

Lin’s mother was the same—she wouldn’t pick meat for herself unless Xiulan or her sister-in-law gave her some. The happiest eaters at the table were the eldest brother’s three sons.

They ate like bandits raiding a village—one bite after another, unable to stop. Lin’s parents chose not to eat much, wanting to leave more for their grandchildren.

Sometimes, Lin’s mother would even give the chicken Xiulan served her to the youngest grandson, believing that children needed more meat to grow strong. Whether she ate or not didn’t matter to her.

The children didn’t understand any of this; they only knew how to eat. However, the eldest nephew, Lin Wei, at five years old, understood a bit. Occasionally, when his mother nudged him, he would pick food and deliver it to his grandmother’s mouth.

Lin Heng hunted, but he wasn’t always successful. Recently, the family’s living standards had declined again.

This was why Lin Heng considered earning money by starting a business. A stable income was more important, as hunting was reliant on luck and not sustainable in the long term.

The adults were slightly tipsy, while the children devoured every bit of food, leaving nothing. Even the grouse bowl was scraped clean, with just the sour chilies remaining.

Fortunately, dinner was followed by noodles, which didn’t require much side-dish accompaniment. Lin Heng and the others didn’t waste the leftover chili oil, pouring it into their bowls.

The longer one lived in such times, the more they appreciated how precious resources were.

After dinner, Xiaoxia had already fallen asleep in Xiulan’s arms.

“Mom, Dad, we’re heading home,” Lin Heng said before leaving with Xiulan.

“We had planned to catch some cicada larvae tonight, but it seems we won’t be able to go now,” Xiulan remarked.

Lin Heng smiled. “If you want to go, I can go with you.”

“Forget it; tomorrow night will be the same,” Xiulan shook her head.

Lin Heng didn’t respond, but a mischievous smile crept onto his face.

Noticing his expression, Xiulan’s face flushed. “Stop thinking nonsense! I wasn’t suggesting anything like that. I just don’t want you wandering around drunk—it’s unsafe at night, and you have to wake up early tomorrow to go to the mountains.”

Lin Heng continued to grin, which prompted Xiulan to glare at him. “Stop smiling, or I’ll deal with you!”

As she spoke, she reached toward Lin Heng, pretending to smack his waist.

Lin Heng chuckled, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly. “Whether you’re thinking it or not, I certainly am.”

Xiulan rolled her eyes at him and hurried ahead, unwilling to engage further with such a cheeky man.

Once home, Xiulan tucked Xiaoxia into bed, while Lin Heng grabbed a basin and towel to take a bath in the courtyard.

On such a hot day, a cool bath was sheer bliss.

“Ah, one day I must get a swimming pool,” Lin Heng muttered to himself. The thought of playing in a pool with his wife brought a silly smile to his face.

He wondered what Xiulan would look like in a bikini, though he suspected she would never wear one, even at home.

After his bath, he brought a basin of water into the house for Xiulan.

When Lin Heng went to bed, Xiulan quickly wiped herself down, changed into clean clothes, and lay beside him.

As soon as she lay down, Lin Heng eagerly reached over.

“Smack!”

Xiulan slapped his hand away and feigned confusion. “What are you doing?”

“You know exactly what I’m doing,” Lin Heng grinned.

Xiulan held his hand again. “Stop it. First, tell me what you’ve been up to the past two days. Your forehead hasn’t even healed yet.”

“Alright then,” Lin Heng reluctantly agreed and began recounting his adventures.

“Never mind. Tell me later,” Xiulan interrupted, realizing she couldn’t focus.

Lin Heng chuckled and wasted no time pulling her close.

The couple enjoyed their reunion, a sweet release of pent-up longing after being apart for two days.

Afterward, they lay close together, whispering. Xiulan shivered slightly as Lin Heng recounted how he saved Old Man Tian from a swamp late at night. “That was too dangerous. Be careful when hunting, and remember to keep yourself safe, even when saving others.”

“Don’t worry. I cherish my life—I can’t bear to leave you and our daughter,” Lin Heng said, patting her gently.

“Mm,” Xiulan nodded softly, her voice tender. “So, what did you do today?”

“I just gathered some dendrobium. My forehead injury happened when I accidentally hit something,” Lin Heng said casually, not wanting to alarm her with details.

“Are you sure? Tell me the truth—did you almost fall off a cliff?” Xiulan questioned, sensing something off.

“No big deal. I had a rope, and nothing happened,” Lin Heng smiled, trying to reassure her.

Xiulan glared at him. “I knew it! Stop climbing cliffs to gather herbs—it’s too dangerous.”

“Alright, I won’t go again…” Before Lin Heng could finish, Xiulan kissed him suddenly.

Breathless, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Promise me you won’t do dangerous things again, or I’ll ignore you.”

Hearing her words, Lin Heng felt a weight in his heart. Hugging her tightly, he promised, “I won’t. Don’t worry.”

—

The next morning, Xiulan woke up at dawn to prepare food for Lin Heng’s trip to the mountains. By the time he got up, everything was ready and on the table.

Lin Heng washed his face and ate, feeling Xiulan’s love in every bite.

Xiulan didn’t eat. Instead, she began drying the herbs—dendrobium and ganoderma—Lin Heng brought home, along with honeysuckle and shepherd’s purse she had gathered.

She never let herself idle. While Lin Heng hunted, she would take their daughter near the village to graze the sheep and collect herbs or mushrooms.

“I’m off now!” Lin Heng said, packing up his food and slinging a basket on his back.

“Stay safe. Xiaoxia and I will be waiting at home,” Xiulan reminded him.

“Don’t worry,” Lin Heng replied, waving as he left.

“Woof woof!”

Their dog, Xiongba, barked, wanting to join him.

“Take Xiongba with you—it’ll make things safer. It can warn you of danger,” Xiulan suggested.

Lin Heng glanced at Xiongba. In just over a month, it had grown from a small pup to the size of a typical rural yellow dog.

“Alright, let’s go,” Lin Heng said, untying its leash.

“Woof woof!”

Xiongba excitedly pounced toward Lin Heng, but Lin Heng dodged him. Afterward, Xiongba circled around him joyfully, playfully leaping around.

Majestic and imposing, Xiongba ran with a powerful stride, his two ears standing straight up, mouth slightly open, and eyes sharp and focused—he displayed the qualities of a German Shepherd and was finally starting to live up to the name “Xiongba.”

“Let’s go!”

After calling out, Lin Heng set off with Xiongba, while Xiulan accompanied them all the way to the courtyard gate.

After Lin Heng left, she locked the courtyard gate and went to the back hill with some crushed corn to feed the chickens. To supplement the corn, she also pulled some grass from the side to feed the chickens and ducks.

Once the chickens and ducks were fed, she led the lamb to a grassy spot and tethered it temporarily.

Returning to the courtyard, she fed the fish fry that Lin Heng had left behind, then took out some honeysuckle vines she had harvested the day before. Sitting in the pavilion, she started plucking the honeysuckle flowers.

It was only after her daughter Xiaoxia woke up that she prepared pickled vegetable soup and ate breakfast together with her daughter.

“Let’s go herd the lamb!”

After breakfast, Xiulan picked up her daughter and said.

“Herd the lamb!” Xiaoxia was no longer afraid of the little lamb and insisted on holding the leash herself.

The mother and daughter led the lamb to the wheat field. The wheat was ripe and golden. Today, Xiulan planned to help harvest it. Although Lin Heng rarely came down to work in the fields, she was there every day, always keeping herself busy.

“Lin Heng already left?” Lin Heng’s mother asked with a smile as Xiulan approached.

“Mm, he’s already gone up the mountain,” Xiulan replied with a smile.

After chatting briefly, the whole family began harvesting wheat. Lin Tao, the second son of the eldest brother, watched over Xiaoxia and the lamb while the adults used sickles to cut the wheat.

The Lin family had planted eight mu (about 1.3 acres) of wheat. Without modern fertilizers and using seeds saved from the previous harvest, the yield was less than 400 jin (about 200 kilograms) per mu.

The annual harvest barely fed their family of 11.

These two days were particularly demanding—they had to cut and thresh all the wheat, an exhausting task.

By the end of a whole day of wheat harvesting, everyone’s backs ached as if they no longer belonged to them.

Four women harvested the wheat while two men carried it. By noon, they had managed to harvest two mu of land.

On their way home, Xiulan carried a basket full of pig fodder on her back, which she had collected while cutting the wheat.

“I’ll carry that; you just hold Xiaoxia,” Lin Heng’s mother said as she took the basket.

Xiulan smiled slightly. “It’s not heavy, Mom.”

“If it’s not heavy, I can still carry it. I told you to rest, yet you still collected fodder. If you exhaust yourself, how am I supposed to explain to Lin Heng?” Lin Heng’s mother said helplessly. Xiulan worked so efficiently that she couldn’t keep up.

“It’s fine,” Xiulan said with a smile.

Back at home, Xiulan tried to help with cooking but was firmly refused by Lin Heng’s mother, who told her to rest.

Having no choice, Xiulan sat with her daughter in the main hall to rest. Even while resting, she was working—processing wheat stalks.

She peeled off the outer husks and cut the stalks into uniform 20-centimeter lengths to weave straw hats.

By moistening four wheat stalks and weaving them into 3-centimeter-wide strips, then connecting the strips with thread, she could make finely crafted straw hats.

Each year, Xiulan would weave straw hats. Besides using them for her own family, she also sold them for 30 cents apiece, and they were very popular in the village.

“Xiulan, teach me again. I learned last year but seem to have forgotten this year,” her sister-in-law Liu Juan said with a smile.

Weaving straw hats was a skill Xiulan brought from her family, and now the entire Lin family had learned it. They not only sold the hats in the village but also at the market.

However, none were as finely crafted as Xiulan’s. Liu Juan often forgot how to weave and had to ask Xiulan to teach her again every year.

“Sure!” Xiulan said with a smile, quietly teaching her sister-in-law.

Xiaoxia sat beside her, holding wheat stalks and handing them to her mother before she had even finished using one.

“Creak!”

The courtyard gate opened, and Liu Lan, a woman with a face full of freckles, walked in with a smile.

“Xiulan, I knew you’d be weaving straw hats. I’m here to pre-order two of them. They’re still 30 cents each, right?” Liu Lan asked with a smile.

Xiulan shook her head. “The price of straw hats in town has gone up to 50 cents this year. I’m selling them for 40 cents each now. It takes me a long time to weave each one.”

“That’s fair. I’ll pre-order two, then. Here’s 20 cents as a deposit—make sure I get mine first,” Liu Lan said with a smile, handing Xiulan the money.

She was slightly disappointed. She had hoped Xiulan didn’t know the price had increased so she could buy hats early at a cheaper rate. But Xiulan was already aware.

“Alright, have a seat and drink some water,” Xiulan said politely after taking the money.

“No, no, I’ll head back,” Liu Lan declined, shaking her head. She didn’t want to stay and risk being invited to lunch.

Not long after Liu Lan left, other women from the village came one after another, all hoping to buy hats at last year’s price before Xiulan found out about the price hike.

In the end, they couldn’t buy hats at the old price and even left deposits.

Before even starting to weave, Xiulan had already collected 80 cents in deposits.

“These people are so shameless! Hand-woven hats are so much more time-consuming than factory-made ones. Ours are bigger and better, yet we’re still selling them for a penny less. And they still try to take advantage!” Liu Juan said indignantly.

“I think we should sell them for 50 cents too. People would still buy them in town,” Caiyun added, equally displeased.

“We can’t help it. Our wheat stalks aren’t as soft as the ones processed by machines. Selling for 40 cents is already reasonable,” Xiulan said, shaking her head. She also thought it wasn’t very profitable.

Still, it was better than doing nothing. Earning a little was better than waiting at home for Lin Heng to support her by hunting.

She had already decided that once Lin Heng taught her how to make soap, she would stop selling straw hats and focus on soap production.

“Sister Xiulan, how did my second brother trick you into marrying him? You’re so capable, but back then, he didn’t know how to do anything!” Caiyun asked curiously.

Xiulan smiled. “I wasn’t tricked. I came willingly.”

Back then, Xiulan was considered the “village flower.” Many suitors sought her out, with rough village men passing by her house under various pretenses, though too shy to say hello.

Lin Heng, however, had approached her directly when he saw her selling tofu. He struck up a conversation, brought her flowers, recited poetry, and even had a good sense of humor. He was cultured and charming, and she was deeply attracted to him.

Xiulan had already realized Lin Heng was somewhat idle before marrying him. Otherwise, why would he have come all the way from Nanping County to their village in Lushui County?

After carefully getting to know him, she felt that Lin Heng could change because he was just overly ambitious—wanting to make big money and unwilling to earn small amounts through farming. That wasn’t an unforgivable flaw.

Of course, this was also because love makes one overlook imperfections.

After marrying him, she found life wasn’t too bad. Although Lin Heng often wandered around and avoided work, he never hit her or got drunk and crazy. Occasionally, he even brought her small gifts when he came home.

This made her feel that life was still bearable, not completely miserable. At most, it just meant she had to work a little harder herself.

When she looked at other men who were sweet and charming before marriage but turned abusive and drunken afterward, she felt she hadn’t chosen wrong. At least this man truly loved her.

Although Lin Heng still dreamed of making big money but hadn’t yet succeeded, which left the family in poor circumstances, he seemed to have recently come to his senses. Xiulan thought maybe he had realized his limits and was moved by her, finally deciding to work practically.

Now, she could proudly say she hadn’t married the wrong man. She was even looking forward to Mid-Autumn Festival when she could visit her parents’ home with Lin Heng.

In his previous life, Lin Heng had always dreamed of becoming wealthy and improving his family’s life. Even back then, he realized farming had no future—he needed to venture out to earn real money.

However, his overconfidence and inability to recognize his limits, combined with his pride, led to bitter consequences.

After enduring hardship and realizing his true abilities, he had slowly built up his wealth bit by bit, eventually amassing hundreds of thousands in savings.

But the price he paid was steep.

The main problem was his lack of capital. Wealthy families could afford to fail a few times, but he couldn’t afford even a single failure without facing total ruin.

Still, being willing to take risks wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many of those who became rich were exactly the kind of people willing to take bold chances.

“It’s really my second brother’s good fortune to have married you, sister-in-law,” Caiyun said helplessly as she looked at her sister-in-law.

“Time to eat! Wipe the table,” Lin Heng’s mother called from the kitchen.

“Coming!” Caiyun replied and quickly stood up.

After eating lunch, the midday sun was too intense, so everyone rested indoors until about 3 p.m., when it was cooler.

After the meal, Xiulan continued weaving straw hats instead of resting.

She could sense Lin Heng’s determination to make money and change their lives. Before, he wandered aimlessly, lost in daydreams. Now that he had learned to use a bow and arrow, he was grounded and earning money through hunting and business.

She remembered that Lin Heng used to be afraid of heights, but he still went to dangerous cliffs to gather Dendrobium orchids.

Since her husband was working hard, she felt she couldn’t sit idle at home. She wanted to earn as much as she could in case Lin Heng lost money on Sanghuang mushrooms, so the family could still survive.

“Xiulan, why don’t you take a break? Lin Heng has earned so much money now; you don’t need to work so hard,” Liu Juan said, feeling Xiulan was pushing herself too much. As a fellow daughter-in-law, she felt a lot of pressure seeing Xiulan’s work ethic.

“It’s fine. I’m not used to sleeping at noon. Sitting here is resting, too,” Xiulan said with a smile.

“Then let’s aim to finish a straw hat by noon,” Liu Juan said. Though her back ached, she decided not to rest either.

“Alright,” Xiulan nodded. She sat there weaving while letting her mind wander.

“Sister-in-law Xiulan, what are you thinking about?” Caiyun asked as she came over after helping her mother clean up the dishes, playfully patting Xiulan.

“Nothing much,” Xiulan blinked.

In truth, she was thinking about Lin Heng. The night they watched the stars together had felt so special. She was already thinking about finding another opportunity to watch the stars with him again.

(End of Chapter)