Ch 41: Reborn to Raise My Husband

Early that morning, Xiao Yuanbao carried a basket and went to the household in the village that was butchering a pig.

He had told them well in advance to save him a bundle of pig intestines and a pair of kidneys.

When he got there, he noticed the pig’s head wasn’t too big, the face meat wasn’t too fatty, and it got him itching—so he bought that too.

His basket was completely filled with intestines and kidneys, and in his other hand, he had to carry the pig’s head.

Though there wasn’t much meat on the pig’s head, the bones made it heavy. A palm leaf threaded through the top of the head dug into his hand, turning his fingers white from the pressure.

It was so heavy that he had to stop and rest every few steps.

Fortunately, on the way back he ran into Tian Ken, who was returning from fertilizing the new fields over at Zao’er Dam.

“You’re carrying all this? Quick, let me take it!”

Tian Ken hurried to take both the basket and the pig’s head from him.

Xiao Yuanbao sighed with relief—finally, his hands were free.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “The Wu family slaughtered a pig. I figured I’d grab more while it’s still fresh.”

Xiao Yuanbao said, “Today I’m going to pick the meat off the pig head bones and slow-braise it into a pot of spiced stew.”

“Teacher gave me a bowl of old master stock—smells amazing. Once I add it to the new pot, I guarantee the pig face meat will turn out tender, springy, and rich with flavor.”

Just hearing him describe it had Tian Ken swallowing hard.

When he first came to the Xiao household, he knew it was a farming family, and heard that Master Xiao had even fought off a black bear. He figured life here wouldn’t be easy.

But he didn’t ask for much—so long as he had two meals of porridge a day, he was content. He was still young, didn’t eat much, and had the strength to work.

He hadn’t expected the Xiao household’s meals to be far better than he imagined.

Not only were there regular meals with polished rice and wheat noodles, but every few days they’d have meat too.

And even though Xiao Yuanbao was just a young kid, his cooking skills were no joke. Whether it was stir-fried or stewed, even a cold cucumber dish was so flavorful it made you eat more rice.

Whenever he cooked meat, you could smell the fragrance even while cleaning out the chicken coop.

Though the Xiao family didn’t seem particularly well-off, there were always neighbors bringing things to their door.

Today it was eggs from the Fang family, tomorrow it’d be a piece of meat from the Jiangs, and the day after that even the village head’s family would bring fruit, cakes, or tea.

Tian Ken thought to himself he was truly lucky to have ended up with such a good family.

They let him eat at the same table, treated him with harmony and warmth—just like his own home used to feel. It gave him a real sense of peace.

And because of that, he worked even harder.

After Xiao Yuanbao had rested, he noticed Tian Ken was still carrying a bucket, and said, “Brother Tian, give me the basket—I can carry it now.”

Tian Ken shook his head. “I can handle this much—it’s not even as heavy as a bucket of manure.”

Xiao Yuanbao lifted his chin proudly, eyes curving into a smile:

“Brother Tian, you’re so quick and hardworking—my brother and father keep praising you. Since you came, the house and yard have been spotless, and all the firewood is neatly stacked under the eaves.”

“You’ve even turned the soil so fine, and carry bucket after bucket of manure without complaint. Our crops are sure to thrive next year.”

Ever since Tian Ken arrived, Xiao Yuanbao felt like his own chores had decreased a lot.

Though his daily work was mostly cooking, washing clothes, feeding the chickens and ducks, and sweeping the yard—Tian Ken had taken most of that over.

Tian Ken gave a modest laugh: “I’m here now, and this is all I can do. It’s still way less than what I used to do in the old village.”

“Our Tian family was from another region. We ended up in Shuishui Township, leasing land from others to farm. We didn’t have many people at home, couldn’t afford livestock, and didn’t have much fertilizer—but my father and I both knew how to farm. We could make dry and paddy fields yield better than most others.”

“But renting others’ land means paying rent and grain, plus the court’s tax. What’s left is just enough to get by. Over the years, we had managed to save a few strings of coins, hoping to one day buy our own land. Who would’ve thought we’d get hit by a natural disaster.”

Saying that, Tian Ken couldn’t help but sigh.

Xiao Yuanbao felt heavy-hearted hearing this too, and tried to comfort him: “We’re all a house full of people who’ve had a hard life. Now that we’re together, we’ll definitely make a good life for ourselves!”

Tian Ken smiled. After spending some time at the Xiao household, he’d come to know that Qi Beinan had lost both his parents and come here to rely on the Xiaos. He’d also heard how Xiao Hu’s first wife had passed, and his remarriage had ended in separation.

Indeed—it truly was a house full of hardships.

Seeing how Xiao Yuanbao lost his mother so early yet remained cheerful and optimistic gave Tian Ken a lot of encouragement. “Yes.”

“No worries at all—this land is rich and fertile. I’ll surely tend it well and make sure we have a great harvest next year.”

“Alright!”

Back at home, Xiao Yuanbao went straight to preparing the stewed pig head.

Qi Beinan helped tend the fire and was assigned to peel garlic and break apart scallions.

That afternoon, Xiao Yuanbao sent Tian Ken to go invite Fang Youliang.

…

“What’s the occasion now? Oh, stewed pork is it?!”

As soon as Fang Youliang stepped into the courtyard, his nose caught the scent.

“You can only eat stewed pork on a special day?”

Qi Beinan saw him arrive and said, “Ever since you bought that calf, you’ve disappeared. If we didn’t come looking for you, we’d never see your shadow.”

Fang Youliang scratched his head awkwardly: “I’ve been taking it to graze the last patch of fresh grass before winter. Once the cold sets in, it’ll be dry feed only.”

“These past days I’ve just been out with the calf and didn’t pass by here, so I didn’t drop in.”

Xiao Yuanbao had plated a big dish—slices of soft, flavorful stewed pig ear, a chunk of pig intestine, and a generous slab of tender, fatty pig cheek.

“Brother Fang, the carp we caught when the water rose is finally pickled enough in the jar. If you didn’t come today, I wasn’t planning to give you any!”

Fang Youliang laughed, “No, no, I’ve been thinking about that fish all this time.”

“I’ll give you two when you head home later.”

Xiao Yuanbao went back into the kitchen and sliced up three ceramic bowls’ worth of braised meat—one to bring to his teacher, one for Fang Youliang to take home, and the last to send to the village head’s family.

Zhao Guangzong was studying in the county and seldom came home, so he wouldn’t get to enjoy it. But Village Head Zhao loved drinking, so sending him a bowl of braised meat to go with his wine wouldn’t go amiss.

Then Xiao Yuanbao opened a wooden barrel kept in the shade.

Inside were pickled fish from when the river had risen—now deliciously sour and fragrant.

He cleaned and gutted the fish again, stuffed them with fresh slices of ginger, sand ginger, peppercorns, dogwood berries, and litsea cubeba, then pressed them tight at the bottom of the barrel. They’d be ready in just over a month.

He pulled out one of the pickled fish, added some fresh vegetables, and it instantly made for a flavorful dish.

The soup was sour and fresh—wonderfully appetite-whetting.

The Fang family had a lot of mouths to feed, and since it was Fang Youliang who’d caught the fish, he sent two fish their way. The rest were sent out one each, along with the braised meat.

While he was dividing up the fish, the little river shrimp he’d caught got tossed in too—floating in the seasoning broth, they could still be seen.

Outside, Fang Youliang and Qi Beinan drank two cups of wine.

Xiao Hu could now walk around again. His body was sturdy, and by the end of the year he was likely to recover fully.

But his wound was still healing, and Xiao Yuanbao had hidden all the wine so he wouldn’t sneak any.

He watched them drink longingly but had to settle for eating meat—otherwise, he’d get an earful from Xiao Yuanbao again.

“There’ve been a strange number of weddings this year, in and around the village.”

Qi Beinan clinked cups with Fang Youliang. “Don’t you have any plans to celebrate?”

“How could I not!”

Fang Youliang’s eyes lit up, and he said with great satisfaction, “There is something to celebrate at home—we bought a cow! If the calf hadn’t gotten hurt, I would’ve invited you over for drinks.”

“You attend other people’s wedding feasts, but have you ever had a cow-buying banquet?”

Fang Youliang blinked: “Oh, you mean the marriages arranged with refugees.”

Qi Beinan said, “The magistrate wants to resettle refugees and has been using official matchmakers to arrange good marriages.”

He gave Fang Youliang a once-over and deliberately called him by a more senior title: “Brother Fang, you’re not that young anymore, right?”

“Aw, come on.”

“Actually, when I went to the county the other day, I heard about the official matchmaker thing. I wanted to go check it out too—but I was too busy buying the cow, couldn’t manage both.”

Qi Beinan’s temples tensed. No wonder Fang Jie’er was at her wits’ end.

“Never mind.”

Qi Beinan changed the topic. “What do you think of the girl from the Bai family?”

Hearing that, Fang Youliang put down his chopsticks and glanced sneakily around the room before whispering, “What’s going on, has Madam Qiao come to propose a match to you?”

“You think I got engaged and didn’t tell you?”

Qi Beinan narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, or no more wine and meat for you.”

Fang Youliang grinned. “Alright, alright, don’t be mad. I get it. I was just surprised you brought up a girl all of a sudden.”

“The Bai family girl—we all saw her by the river that day. She’s pretty and has a good temperament. All the unmarried guys in the village are watching her!”

Qi Beinan didn’t bother to talk circles with this blockhead. With the kind of relationship he had with the Fang family, there was no need for careful phrasing.

“So what about you? Are you watching her?”

“Me?!”

Fang Youliang’s eyes went wide. “What do I have to watch her with?”

“The Bai family is one of the big surnames in our Geshan Village. They’ve produced scholars and landowners. Even though they’re not directly related to Miss Liu’s family, she’s still a Bai.”

“Her parents are both skilled workers—a mason and a midwife. They raised a son and a daughter and live a comfortable life. Her family dotes on her, raised her well, and Master Bai has plenty of apprentices but didn’t like any of them enough to marry her off.”

Fang Youliang tossed a piece of fatty, fragrant intestine into his mouth. “Our Fang family’s situation—what decent family would want to marry into it? I’d have to be out of my mind to think I could match with someone like her.”

Qi Beinan looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Sounds like you’ve thought it through clearly. That’s not foolish—that’s being painfully self-aware.”

“Brother Fang thinks about his cow all day, but clearly knows plenty about the Bai family. What, you been eavesdropping while tending the cattle?”

Fang Youliang laughed and shook his head, raising his cup to down another gulp of wine.

Qi Beinan saw through it.

He said, “But if the Bai girl just so happens to like you—then what?”

Fang Youliang sighed softly. “She shouldn’t like me. There’s nothing about me worth her liking.”

“She’s a good girl. She ought to find a good family, live an easy life without worries.”

“You do like her. But it’s precisely because you like her that you don’t want to hold her back.”

Qi Beinan looked at Fang Youliang. “Isn’t that so?”

“Xiao Qi, you’ve got talent, knowledge, good looks—you’re one in a million. Maybe you’ll never know what it feels like to suddenly realize that the person you thought would never look at you… actually does.”

Fang Youliang suddenly said this with unusual seriousness.

He, Fang Youliang, was just an ordinary man. Straightforward, a little dull.

And growing up in poverty, with one failed marriage talk after another—no matter how cheerful a person started out, such repeated blows would wear anyone down. The shame and humility would take root deep in your bones.

His only real strength was that he was young and strong.

That year, when the Bai family was repairing their courtyard wall and called for help, all of Master Bai’s apprentices were trying to show off and act clever. Only he stayed by the wall, moving stones, covered in dust and sweat, working the better part of the day, his whole face grey and streaked with grime.

Even he felt embarrassed about it.

But while all the men were trying to get a word in with Bai Liu, she just cradled her basket, picked out a big green pear, wiped it clean with her handkerchief, and smiled as she offered it to him.

That pear, chilled from the well water, was sweet straight to his heart.

“I’ve never dared to dream,” he said, “There are more men admiring Liu Jie’er than could fit in a cartload of baskets.”

He never dared approach her, never once revealed even the faintest affection in front of her—always just acted like an ordinary fellow villager.

Even the most seasoned matchmakers wouldn’t be able to see any hidden feelings in him.

If not for what happened by the creek that day, they might have gone their whole lives in this village without another real encounter.

Qi Beinan understood this and couldn’t help feeling surprised.

“You really are good at hiding things. You even fooled me.”

Fang Youliang gave a bitter smile. “I’ve never told anyone these thoughts. Please, keep it to yourself.”

Qi Beinan nodded. “You trust me enough to speak your heart—I’d never spread it.”

“Look, most couples in the world weren’t born of mutual love. More often than not, it’s the will of parents and matchmakers. You two already have feelings. If no one takes a step forward, wouldn’t that be a pity?”

Fang Youliang said, “Her family’s doing just fine. She’s loved by her parents and brother. If she married into our Fang household, she’d have to care for my bedridden father.”

“There’d be no meat on the table for days. How could I let the feelings in my heart drag her into a bitter life like that?”

“My future won’t be bright either. I’m not like you—a scholar with a path ahead. She’s still young, like a flower in bloom. I can’t make her wait for a promise I can’t keep.”

Fang Youliang’s heart felt like it was being sliced with knives. “The best thing I can do is play dumb, stay silent. I figure she only felt something for me because she was scared from almost drowning. If I don’t press the matter, she’ll likely return to the path she was always meant to walk.”

Qi Beinan felt heavy-hearted.

He could help others clear their doubts and find direction—but when it came to feelings, there was only so much anyone could do.

Love was full of uncertainty.

Especially since Fang Youliang saw it so clearly—there was a real gap between the Bai and Fang families.

He knew well enough the pain of mismatched family standings. Love wasn’t just between two people.

“So? Is Grandpa Fang’s house about to have a wedding?”

Xiao Yuanbao asked as he brought over the braised meat and pickled fish to Fang Youliang. Seeing him still grinning away, he waited until he was out of sight and hurriedly asked Qi Beinan.

“You just want to go help at the wedding banquet, huh? That’s not for you to say.”

Qi Beinan replied, “Marriage follows its own fate. Others can only do what little they can. In the end, it’s up to the people involved.”

Xiao Yuanbao, only half-understanding, pursed his lips.

“If even you can’t do anything… then I guess it really isn’t going to work out.”

He felt such a pity. Everything had seemed like it could’ve worked—how could it not?

…

After late autumn came winter.

This year was especially cold. Snow came right at the start of the twelfth month.

Xiao Yuanbao saw the courtyard covered in a thin layer of white. He squinted and tucked his neck down into his rabbit-fur scarf.

He went into the kitchen, lit some charcoal, and steamed the small chestnuts Tian Ken had gathered from the mountains. He mashed them into flour and made a plate of chestnut cakes.

After the New Year, Qi Beinan would be heading into the exam halls. With the weather cold, he went out less and spent most of his days reading indoors.

Xiao Yuanbao brought the brazier into his room to keep him warm, and brought over the chestnut cakes to fill his belly.

His father and Tian Ken had gone into the county to check out the livestock market. If the prices were right, they planned to buy an animal for plowing and field work in the coming year.

When Qi Beinan saw the warm plate of chestnut cakes brought in, he realized he really was hungry.

He got up to wash his hands, and the water in the basin was bone-chilling.

Xiao Yuanbao noticed the red joints on Qi Beinan’s long, slender fingers and pulled him over to the brazier.

“Quick, warm your hands—you won’t be able to write if they go numb.”

Qi Beinan sat down by the brazier, popped a soft, sticky cake into his mouth, and finally felt some warmth return.

“Is it snowing outside?”

Xiao Yuanbao nodded. “Mm. It’s freezing out—and it’s still so early.”

Qi Beinan said, “I thought the room looked brighter than usual—figured it must be snow.”

“After the Great Cold, there’ll be drought. If we can store some ice during this chill, it’ll fetch a good price in the summer.”

Xiao Yuanbao rubbed his little hands. “Storing ice takes a lot of labor—and you need a huge underground pit. How could we possibly store ice here?”

Qi Beinan chuckled. “You really do know quite a bit.”

Xiao Yuanbao offered him another cake: “Brother, just focus on studying. Why are you still thinking about making money?”

“Studying’s also for feeding the family, isn’t it?”

Qi Beinan reached over and tucked the fur scarf tighter around Xiao Yuanbao’s neck. “Building up a family fortune—that’s more important than anything.”

Xiao Yuanbao sat down beside him, stretching his feet out to warm by the fire. “Mm. Once I’m good enough in the kitchen, I’ll earn money and take care of the family too.”

Qi Beinan laughed. He looked at Xiao Yuanbao’s reddened hands and asked, “Got a bit of frostbite, haven’t you?”

“Nope.”

Xiao Yuanbao said, “My hands are just red from kneading dough earlier.”

“It’s just that the cold came early this year… I’m afraid if it gets any colder, I really will get frostbite.”

As he spoke, his voice grew a little softer. He sneaked a glance at Qi Beinan with his big eyes. “If I keep writing, I might wake up tomorrow with four or five blisters already.”

Qi Beinan narrowed his eyes. “Oh? Sounds like these frostbites sure know how to pick their timing—just as you wish.”

The cold weather was making Xiao Yuanbao lazy. He rubbed his forehead against Qi Beinan’s arm. “Then today I’ll just write two characters—only two.”

Qi Beinan shook his head helplessly. “I really can’t do anything with you.”

Seeing him give in, Xiao Yuanbao grinned. “I knew Brother was the kindest!”

A couple of days later, Fang Jie’er came by the house.

She brought some crisp little dates and also handed over two strings of coins.

“Master Ming said Mr. Qi’s calligraphy is excellent. He’s very satisfied with those scripture copies you did. These two strings are from him.”

There was joy in Fang Jie’er’s tone, and in her hair, a new begonia hairpin that hadn’t been there before. She smiled and said to Qi Beinan, “That old master also said he’d like to invite you to his residence for a cup of tea.”

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Thingyan: Password locked chapter ahead. Pw is baobao