Chapter 29: The Ugly Ger’s Farming Story

This chapter sadly does not contain mature content. Read at your own discretion.

That night, Xu Qing didn’t want Li Changfeng to bother him anymore. He had finally slept peacefully for one night, and now…

Xu Qing sat in the main hall, watching the rainwater continuously flowing down from the eaves. It was raining heavily today! Li Changfeng had gone to the fields after breakfast. This rain was good for the fields that hadn’t been cultivated much before, but it posed some risks for the already cultivated ones. To prevent the fields from being damaged by waterlogging, Li Changfeng wore a raincoat and braved the rain in the fields.

The seedlings behind the house were already covered to protect them from the rain. Heavy rain could easily damage the seedlings. The little chicks had also been moved into their coop, and Li Changfeng had prepared food for the piglet yesterday. At the moment, Xu Qing had nothing to do and had been sitting here watching the rain for almost half an hour!

Xu Qing was bored and could only watch the rain. But Zeng Ama was not bored at all. He loved rainy days the most. It was the perfect time for gossip! “As the head of the household, I’m going to visit Sun Ama’s house. I’ll be back to cook at noon!” Zeng Ama said to the old man Zeng who was working on woodcraft, then took an umbrella and headed towards Sun Ama’s house with a twisting gait.

Sun Ama and his husband had two sons, the elder one was twenty-one and the younger one was eighteen, both unmarried. One reason was that the family was a bit tight on money, and the other was that neither of the sons had good character. One liked to boast but didn’t do anything, while the other had many ideas but never succeeded in anything. This made the villagers and even outsiders look down on them. That’s why the marriage proposal from Sun Ama’s family to Xu Qing had been unsuccessful the last time, which naturally made Sun Ama feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“Sun family, open the door. I’ve come to have a chat with you!” Zeng Ama’s loud voice echoed into Sun’s house, but only Sun Ama was inside, sewing shoe soles. The men in the family had all gone out to visit neighbors.

Upon hearing the knock on the door, Sun Ama put aside the half-finished shoe sole and patted off the remaining fabric scraps on his body. He quickly walked out of the main hall and opened the door for the waiting Zeng Ama. “I knew you would come. I haven’t even left the house.”

After entering the main hall, Zeng Ama put away his umbrella and sat down with Sun Ama. He took one of the shoe soles that Sun Ama had already sewn and said, “Why are you still sewing these things? I buy them now. It saves time and effort! Plus, they’re cheap, just a few coins!”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Sun Ama forcefully suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “My husband loves the shoe soles I sew. They are sturdy and durable!”

Zeng Ama didn’t want to dwell on this matter either since he didn’t come to discuss shoe soles. He nudged Sun Ama, who was still sewing, with his hand. “You know what I came to talk about, right?” Sun Ama didn’t lift his head and threaded the needle through the thick shoe sole. “If you don’t say it, how would I know what you’ll be talking about?”

Zeng Ama didn’t like being ignored, but he felt uncomfortable with something on his mind. If he didn’t let it out, he would be restless. “Very few people in the village know about this, but who am I? Let me tell you, that family from the end of the village, the one who married into town, he came back yesterday!”

“So what if he came back? Isn’t it allowed for him to come back and visit his family?” Sun Ama thought it was such a trivial matter. Such a small thing didn’t seem worth so many people knowing about it!

Zeng Ama enjoyed hearing others feign ignorance. It made him feel like his information-gathering skills were getting better and better. “This time it’s different from when he came back before,” he leaned closer to Sun Ama. “I heard he got separated!”

“Ah!” Sun Ama was startled by the voice in his ear, and the needle pierced his finger, causing him to shake his hand in pain. “Look at your reaction!” Zeng Ama felt a sense of accomplishment.

“Separated?! Where did you hear that?” Now Sun Ama stopped sewing the shoe sole and anxiously questioned Zeng Ama.

“Don’t rush, don’t rush. I also just heard it, haven’t had a chance to investigate the details yet!” Every time he wanted to visit the Xie family, no one would accompany him. Xie Ama didn’t usually interact with him either. Going alone made him nervous. That person wasn’t as gentle as he appeared on the surface!

“If Xie Yu really came back after the separation, then he is considered single now!” Although he was older than Sun Ama’s two sons, Xie Yu was still a ger, right?

Zeng Ama smirked, “He is now single indeed, but I guess no one dared to take him.”

“Why do you say that?” Was there more to this story?

“Brother Xie still doesn’t have any children until now! The separation is probably related to this!” Zeng Ama analyzed the situation for Sun Ama with an expression and tone that could rival an investigator.

***

The rain outside was getting heavier, and the water from the eaves almost formed a straight line. Uncle Xie didn’t go out; he sat in the main hall smoking dry tobacco. Xie Ama came out of Brother Xie’s room, holding an empty medicine bowl. Uncle Xie stood up and looked at the bowl, grinning happily. “Finished drinking?”

Xie Ama smiled and pursed his lips. “Finished drinking. I feel much better now. And let me tell you, the pickled vegetables that Brother Qing gave us are perfect for Xiao Yu’s appetite. Not only can he have a bowl of porridge now, but he’s also been more diligent in taking his medicine than before.”

Uncle Xie took the bowl from Xie Ama’s hand. “Then go to Brother Qing’s house today and thank him properly. If they have extra pickled vegetables, buy a few jars and bring them back. Our son’s happiness is more important than anything else!”

Xie Ama glared at him. “You don’t have to tell me. I know. You stay at home, Xiao Yu has taken his medicine and gone to sleep. Don’t make a ruckus in the house and disturb him. I won’t spare you if that happens!”

Xu Qing was cooking lunch. They had been eating boiled fish slices for the past few days, but today Xu Qing was planning to steam the fish. Ever since Xu Qing started cooking fish, Li Changfeng would catch a few and keep them in a bucket filled with water. Even if they weren’t eaten immediately, they wouldn’t die right away. Xu Qing picked two relatively large grass carp. Li Changfeng had a big appetite.

After stunning the fish with a knife, Xu Qing scraped off the scales and cut open the belly, removing all the innards. “It’s a pity we don’t have a dog or a cat at home.” After disposing of the innards, Xu Qing carefully removed the gallbladder. When cooking fish, it was important not to break the gallbladder; otherwise, the whole fish would be ruined. After preparing the fish, Xu Qing stuffed ginger, scallions, and a few peppercorns into the belly. Then he rubbed some salt on the surface of the fish and poured a little leftover rice wine from their wedding day over it. He let it marinate for fifteen minutes.

After finishing these preparations, Xu Qing was about to start a fire when he heard Xie Ama’s voice at the courtyard gate. “Brother Qing, are you home? I’m coming in!” Since it was raining, Li Changfeng only closed the courtyard gate but didn’t lock it. “I’m here! Come in, Xie Ama!” Xu Qing took the umbrella from Xie Ama and stored it neatly on the wall under the eaves. Then he welcomed Xie Ama into the kitchen.

“Preparing lunch?” As soon as he entered the kitchen, Xie Ama saw the two marinated fish on the stove.

“Yes, on rainy days, there’s nothing else to do, so I started preparing lunch early.” After Xu Qing fetched a clean stool for Xie Ama to sit on, he sat in front of the stove, lit the fire, and added water to a pot, covering it with a lid. He was waiting for the water to boil so that Li Changfeng could have hot water when he returned.

“Changfeng went to the field, right? I came over to thank you for the pickled vegetables you gave us yesterday. You don’t know, yesterday at noon, your brother Yu had a whole bowl of porridge with the pickled vegetables. It’s a lot more than he used to eat!” Xie Ama was delighted that their son had eaten something, and his face looked much brighter than yesterday.

“It’s nothing to thank me for. I still have another jar here. Take it back with you and follow my instructions to make more. It’ll be convenient for him to eat that way.” Because Li Changfeng loved to eat them, Xu Qing had prepared several jars of pickled vegetables. The one Xie Ama took was from the first batch he made.

“No need to tell me the instructions. This stuff looks good. You can sell it in the market. It might bring in some extra income. Here, take this money as a token of appreciation and buy another jar. With the one you gave us and the additional jar, it’ll be enough for Xiao Yu to eat for a while.” Xie Ama felt that Xu Qing had come up with this on his own, and he couldn’t just take the recipe so easily. They were a newlywed couple, and there were many expenses to consider. He included some persuasion in his words.

“It’s not some precious recipe. Just take it and make it. Don’t give me any money. If Brother Yu likes what I cook, then let him eat to his heart’s content. Once he recovers, everything will be fine. Xie Ama, don’t embarrass me by offering money. Otherwise, I won’t feel comfortable coming to your house anymore!” Xu Qing couldn’t accept money. Not to mention Xie Ama, even Uncle Xie had been so kind to him. Xu Qing felt bad for not being able to help with Brother Yu’s matter. It was already embarrassing enough; he couldn’t ask for money.

“Nonsense! How can a newlywed couple get by without money? Listen to me and do as I say!” Xie Ama thought that Xu Qing was still too young. When a couple gets married, there are expenses everywhere—food, firewood, oil, salt—every aspect requires money. If they have a child in the future, the expenses will only increase.

Xu Qing scooped some boiling water from the pot to drink and poured the rest into a bucket, covering it with a clean wooden lid to keep it warm and slow down the cooling process. “Then you can forget about the recipe, but don’t give me the money for the pickled vegetables. Otherwise, I won’t make them for you.”

“Okay, okay, you cunning guy!” Xie Ama knew exactly what Xu Qing meant, so he reluctantly accepted his goodwill. He thought that in the future, if there was anything Xu Qing’s family needed, he would help them as much as he could.

“Why are you boiling water again?” Xie Ama looked at Xu Qing in confusion as he added more water to the pot.

“I’m going to steam the fish today! Here, watch me do it, and then you can go back and try making it for Brother Yu. It’s steamed fish, so it won’t be a problem for him to eat.” Xu Qing explained the method of marinating the fish and went through the steps with Xie Ama. If there was anything Xie Ama didn’t understand, he made sure to explain it clearly.

Once the water in the pot started to bubble slightly, Xu Qing placed four clean, long wooden sticks in a cross shape on the surface of the water. Then he tightly wrapped the steamer with a clean piece of gauze to seal it. After the water came to a full boil, Xu Qing carefully placed the marinated fish onto the steamer using a plate and covered the pot with a lid. “Steam it for about fifteen minutes after the water is fully boiling. It will be ready then. Steaming it for too long will affect the texture.”

Xu Qing explained the timing to Xie Ama, who listened attentively, afraid of missing any details and ending up with something that didn’t taste good.

When the fish was ready, Xu Qing sprinkled a small amount of finely chopped green onion on top. A plate of fragrant steamed fish was ready to be served.

“Smells good, doesn’t it?”

Xie Ama nodded repeatedly. “Not only does it look good, but it also smells amazing. It’s completely different from boiled fish slices! Xu Qing, you’re really talented! Li Changfeng is lucky to have found you!”

“That’s right. Being able to marry such a wife is the fortune I’ve accumulated over several lifetimes!” Li Changfeng had just returned home and heard Xie Ama praising his wife. As soon as he caught a whiff of the fragrance coming from the kitchen, he knew his wife had cooked something delicious.

He gestured for Li Changfeng to take the hot water in the bucket and clean himself up, paying no attention to his proud expression. “Xie Ama, stay for dinner. I’ll quickly heat up a couple more dishes, and then we can eat.”

Xie Ama hurriedly shook his head. “In the past, I wouldn’t hesitate to accept your offer, but today, I have to go back and take care of Xiao Yu. You know how bad your uncle’s cooking skills are. He even struggles to cook for himself!”

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸