Ch 56: Reborn to Raise My Husband

In early August, the village was deep into the autumn harvest.

The late-summer heat was still fierce. Though not as scorching as high summer, the ground was hot enough to burn feet, and the sun shone bright and harsh. Working in the fields left everyone soaked in sweat.

This year, the melons and vegetables didn’t grow well, and the millet and rice harvests were both poor.

There were many empty husks and undeveloped grain heads—thin and shriveled.

A medium mu of paddy field, which usually yielded about three shi of grain in past years, produced only two shi this year.

With the reduced harvest, life was hard for all farming families. But since everyone was in the same situation, there wasn’t much use complaining. No one could change the weather.

The Xiao family rented out twenty mu of land and farmed fifteen mu themselves this year.

Eight mu were dry fields and seven mu paddy fields. They planted three mu of millet and five mu of melons and vegetables on the dry land.

This year’s main effort went into tending the dry fields. Tian Ken hadn’t yet mastered how to fertilize paddy fields, so he didn’t dare use fertilizer intended for dry land on the paddies.

If something went wrong with the paddy fields, the family’s annual rice supply would be in serious trouble.

Because of that, their rice harvest was as poor as the average, but the three mu of millet, grown with fertilizer on dry land, had a satisfying yield.

Grain prices in the county had risen. In past years, one shi of rice sold for one yuan; this year, the price rose to one yuan and five hundred wen.

Millet went up by over two hundred wen per shi, now selling for one yuan.

Ling County’s harvest was poor, but it couldn’t yet be called a drought.

Merchants in town said that in counties hit by drought elsewhere, grain prices rose daily.

Today, one yuan could buy half a shi of rice; tomorrow, it might take two yuan to buy the same.

Grain merchants with connections went to unaffected prefectures to buy up stock and haul it back for resale, which in turn pushed prices up in those regions too.

Last autumn, Qi Beinan had advised Xiao Hu not to sell their grain. As a result, they stockpiled quite a bit—enough to last even if they didn’t buy rice for another year.

This autumn, they harvested fifteen shi of rice and ten shi of millet from their own land, plus five shi of rice from tenants.

That added up to thirty more shi of grain.

However, from the twenty-five shi they harvested themselves, they still needed to pay out thirty percent.

Most families had to pay forty percent, but theirs received a ten percent exemption this year.

In the end, the household kept just over twenty-two shi of grain.

Since prices were high and they had enough to eat, they decided to sell the older stockpiled rice and keep the new harvest for themselves.

They prepared to sell about thirty shi of grain.

When the grain cart reached the county town, they hadn’t even entered the city when a group of idle workers crowded the gate.

Seeing that grain had arrived, they quickly approached, eager to buy. These were grain buyers from other counties.

“What’s the price?”

Tian Ken stopped the ox cart and asked as the workers gathered around.

“Rice, one yuan and four hundred wen. Millet, nine hundred wen. Brother, what do you think?”

At that, Tian Ken moved to flick the reins and drive forward, but the man quickly stopped him. “Now, now, let’s talk it out.”

“You’re not serious about buying. I’ll just go sell it in the city.”

Tian Ken said, “Our village isn’t far from the county seat—I come here every few days and know the market rates well. Just a few days ago, rice was selling inside the city at one yuan and five hundred wen. You’re trying to short me by a hundred wen per shi—that’s too greedy.”

The man quickly smiled to smooth things over. “Brother, don’t be angry. Yes, that’s the city price, but they don’t take in large amounts. Our boss can handle bigger volumes, so the price’s a little lower than others.”

Tian Ken said, “A hundred wen isn’t a small amount. I’d rather put in more effort going into town and selling to a few more shops than rush and lose money.”

“How much are you planning to sell?”

Tian Ken patted the tightly packed sacks on the cart. “This cart holds twenty shi of rice. We’ve got another ten shi of millet at home to sell.”

Hearing that, the man leaned in and said quietly, “Alright, we’ll go with your price. Sell it to me—it’ll save you the trouble of shouting prices all over town, and I won’t have to gather smaller amounts from several other farmers.”

“We’ll take the ten shi of millet too. Our boss has cash on hand and can settle it all at once.”

Tian Ken said, “Now why didn’t you just say that to begin with?”

…

By early October, the harvest was mostly finished.

The weather had finally turned cool.

That day, the tenant farmers who rented land also came to settle the remaining accounts for the year.

After lunch, Xiao Yuanbao held an abacus, ground ink, and unfolded some paper, then sat at the large table in the main hall to tally up the autumn accounts.

The grain had brought in forty-five yuan. The rented dry land earned five yuan in rent. That made fifty yuan total.

Taxes still had to be paid. Though they had already paid taxes in grain, the untended dry fields and household registration taxes still required cash.

Five mu of dry land required seven yuan in taxes. The household registration tax came to one yuan and eight hundred wen.

That meant the autumn harvest brought in a net income of forty-one yuan and two hundred wen.

Of course, they also sold some older grain from previous years. If they hadn’t, the income would’ve been around thirty yuan.

“Wait, I haven’t even added the money from selling melons and vegetables. I’ve got almost twenty yuan from that already.”

Xiao Yuanbao calculated the income with great delight.

He set down his brush and brought the ledger to show Qi Beinan. “All in all, this year so far, just from the land, we’ve made fifty yuan.”

As he spoke, he blinked in surprise. “That’s nearly the income of a rich landlord family.”

Qi Beinan said, “If we’re just looking at the gross income from land this year, it’s not bad. But the actual profit isn’t quite that high.”

“Buying melon and vegetable seeds, farm tools, and all sorts of odds and ends—those all cost money too. Even if none of those expenses are huge on their own.”

Over the course of the year, the Xiao family really only had one major source of income: the land.

And while the household’s earnings looked decent on paper, the spending was also significant.

They had meat on the table every few days, and for all three meals, there were always three or four dishes.

Qi Beinan also needed money for studying, though he often took on odd jobs to roughly balance out those expenses.

But the provincial exam was the biggest expense. After that trip to the prefecture, the silver he had been holding on to was nearly all used up.

As for Xiao Yuanbao, the money he earned was just scattered copper coins—not enough to make a real difference.

Still, when he was out and about doing banquet jobs, he often brought back chicken, duck, pork, and the like—enough for the family to enjoy a good meal now and then.

The household’s frequent meat dishes were actually thanks to him bringing meat home. If they had to buy meat themselves, they wouldn’t be eating it nearly so often.

As for Tian Ken, he only started receiving a bit of spending money this July.

Before that, he just ate with the family and didn’t use much silver at all.

Looking closely, it didn’t seem like anyone in the house was wasting money—no one had bought anything big.

But in reality, every little thing costs money. A needle and thread still cost something. If you don’t watch every corner, the silver goes fast.

For a family like the Xiaos, who ate and drank freely, the annual expenses easily went over ten yuan.

And that wasn’t even counting big things like exam trips or tax payments.

Add those in, and it was easily over thirty yuan.

Qi Beinan laid all this out for Xiao Yuanbao, who clicked his tongue and said, “Sounds like we didn’t earn much at all—we barely saved any money this whole year.”

“Don’t worry. We don’t take the exam every year. Without a major expense like that, fifteen yuan a year is enough to support the whole family.”

Qi Beinan added, “But that’s only if the next few years go like this. If our household grows and business expands, spending will go up too.”

After all, when a family’s holdings increase, so do social ties—and social obligations cost money.

In the coming years, the household wouldn’t be saving much silver.

He and Xiao Hu had discussed it. Since their family was still building its foundation, any silver they had should be used flexibly—circulated to expand the household assets.

Once the foundation was solid, their assets would start producing income on their own.

That night, as the three sat inside washing their feet, Qi Beinan told Xiao Hu:

“We settled the books today. Between me and Xiao Bao, we’ve got about 120 yuan on hand.”

Xiao Hu didn’t have much money left. After buying land earlier, his savings were almost entirely gone. Even though there was income this year, none of it made its way into his own pocket.

He had already turned the family’s silver over to Xiao Bao to manage, and as for Qi Beinan’s money, he wouldn’t even consider touching it.

So he only had a few yuan left in his hand—enough for the occasional wine or soup in town, so he wouldn’t have to ask the family for even a single copper.

He asked Qi Beinan, “What are you planning to do?”

“I’m thinking we shouldn’t rent the land out to other farmers next year. The rent’s low and barely worth it. Besides, Tian Ken knows how to fertilize now, and this year we got a good result. If we take all the land back and let Tian Ken handle it, the harvest will be much better next year.”

Xiao Hu also fully agreed that Tian Ken was good at farming. Taking the land back would definitely earn more than renting it out.

He had thought the same thing when they rented the land out last year.

Xiao Yuanbao said worriedly, “But we already have forty-five mu of land now. If we don’t rent it out, even with all four of us working in the fields, we won’t be able to manage it all.”

“That’s why we’ll need to bring in more help.”

Qi Beinan said, “After the harvest, labor is cheaper. I plan to hire people to expand the house, and by then we can take in tenant farmers and turn them into household dependents—making the shift from regular farmhands to bonded tenants.”

Xiao Hu was silent for a moment. That had indeed been the original plan, so he didn’t object.

He just didn’t expect things to progress so quickly.

“Expanding the house isn’t hard. I’ll visit the You family. Their eldest son, You Dalang, builds houses for a living. I’ll also put word out in the village—there are plenty of strong young men willing to work for a few coins.”

“But where will we find tenant farmers?”

Qi Beinan said, “They’re hard to find in a good year, but this year there’s drought elsewhere. Finding people willing to work won’t be a problem.”

“The real issue is we only have so much money. We need to budget carefully to avoid trouble down the line.”

Xiao Hu said, “Spending for construction can be scaled. If money is tight, then we build smaller—just enough to cover the essentials.”

Living quarters, granary, livestock pens, chicken coop, a courtyard to dry grain… The expansion was to store grain properly and house the tenant farmers.

When you had more people living together, the household naturally shifted from small-scale farming to a proper estate.

“We’ll need at least four tenant families to handle all our land. Building the house alone will take no less than thirty yuan.”

Qi Beinan agreed. Hiring labor and buying timber cost money. If they were just building a small courtyard home for one family, that amount would be enough to build two.

But they were building a small manor, so this cost wasn’t excessive.

Seeing this, Xiao Yuanbao quickly spoke up about his own expenses: “Brother, your xiucai banquet still hasn’t been held yet. Folks in the village keep asking me about it.”

“A banquet like this will bring in a lot of guests. We’ll need to prepare at least twelve tables—it’ll cost no less than ten yuan.”

Qi Beinan nodded. “The word’s already out; we can’t not host the banquet. Let’s count that cost in.”

“As for the rest of the silver, I’ll spend as little as possible hiring tenant farmers.”

After all, the household still had daily expenses. Once winter came, their only income would be from selling vegetables—but vegetables were seasonal, and there were only a few types that could be grown in the cold months.

Once the new year began and the weather stabilized, they’d lose the advantage of timing. Even if the vegetables grew well, it wouldn’t be as easy to make good money like it was this year.

Two days later, Xiao Hu went to look for help with the house construction, while Qi Beinan and Xiao Yuanbao went into the county town.

They visited two broker agencies to check the market.

Able-bodied laborers for farming weren’t cheap—twelve to thirteen yuan. Weaker boys and young women cost a bit less, under ten yuan.

Naturally, those with good appearance or a particular skill could cost even more.

It was Xiao Yuanbao’s first time inside a brokerage. With society more stable now, people were treated a little more like people.

The agency was fairly clean. Those who had lost their freedom could still eat two plain meals a day.

As long as they behaved, the brokers wouldn’t beat or abuse them. Only those who tried to run were locked up separately.

Even so, without a deed of personal freedom, they were still lower in status.

Xiao Yuanbao looked at the people for sale—their clothes were tattered, hair messy and dirty.

The brokers handled their mouths, checked their teeth, examined their eyes—treating people like things to be sold.

And the price of a person wasn’t even equal to that of a plow ox or a donkey—let alone a horse.

People say that if a person has a future, they’re worth ten thousand gold coins. If they don’t, they’re worth less than livestock.

Cows and donkeys can work all day, carry hundreds of pounds, and only need to eat grass.

But people? They don’t carry as much, yet need rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables, plus a house to live in and bedding to sleep on.

If someone had no future, no earning power, and no assets—they were naturally worthless.

After looking around, Qi Beinan didn’t settle on anyone right away.

Most of the workers here were only selling themselves for a set term—ten or twenty years—not committing their entire life.

Most likely, their families were facing temporary hardship, so they sold a portion of their time. It was a better option for them—it meant they wouldn’t end up marrying, having children, and raising a family of inherited slaves.

That was a good outcome for those selling themselves, but not ideal for buyers.

What Qi Beinan needed was people who would stick with the Xiao family loyally and long-term.

A dark-faced broker noticed Qi Beinan seemed unsatisfied but still clearly wanted to make a deal. He pulled him aside and whispered:

“Young master, if there’s anything you’re not pleased with, just say the word. I’m headed soon to Hong County. Heard they’ve had a drought there this year—lots of families selling their sons and daughters. If you don’t like what we’ve got in our county, I can bring back someone suitable from Hong.”

“Prices are negotiable—definitely cheaper than here. Just tell me your requirements. It’s a famine year. Folks hit by disaster are desperate. Selling their children is the last resort. If they can find a good household, at least they won’t starve.”

Qi Beinan said, “Our household has a bit of scholarly standing. We’re a tenant-landowning family. We just acquired more land and need four reliable workers to farm it.”

Hearing what kind of household it was and what kind of help was needed, the broker got a clear idea.

“Don’t worry, young master. Tenant farmers like that aren’t hard to find. If you’re looking for ones with good looks or who know how to serve tea or read and write—that’s harder.”

Once the deal was settled, Qi Beinan asked for the broker’s name and address and made sure he was someone trustworthy who wouldn’t vanish. Only then did he hand over one yuan as a deposit.

They agreed the people must be delivered before spring planting began.

Qi Beinan gave a generous time frame—not because he was easy to talk to, but because the house still needed to be built. If the people arrived too early, there’d be nowhere to house them.

After they left the broker’s place, Qi Beinan wanted to go with Xiao Yuanbao to order meat and vegetables for the banquet.

He noticed Xiao Yuanbao seemed distracted, not knowing what he was thinking about—probably still troubled after seeing those people for sale.

Qi Beinan reached out to take his hand, but Xiao Yuanbao suddenly pulled away and, hands behind his back, said, “Let’s go see if there’s any big goose for sale! I’ve already arranged the chicken, duck, and fish back in the village.”

Xiao Yuanbao came back to his senses and pressed his lips together.

After getting teased by Madam Qiao last time, he had started thinking more.

His brother had always treated him kindly since childhood. They were close, and he was always happy with that—never once thinking anything strange.

But now that he was older, acting the same as before drew teasing comments from others.

Of course, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it!

And he wasn’t afraid of people joking, either.

But his brother was different. In just another two or three years, he could talk marriage.

He had passed the xiucai exam with excellent ranking, and his future was bright.

By then, being chosen as a son-in-law by a high-status family would be perfectly normal. Marrying a well-bred, well-educated young lady would be his rightful path.

If outsiders started spreading rumors and ruined his prospects, wouldn’t that be terrible?

Though he felt sad about not being able to be as close with his brother as before, when he thought about his brother’s future, he didn’t feel there was anything to be unhappy about.

Qi Beinan had lived under the same roof with Xiao Yuanbao for years, so he could tell at a glance when something was different.

Ever since returning from the prefectural city, he had noticed Xiao Yuanbao wasn’t quite the same as before—he was starting to avoid him a little.

Qi Beinan wasn’t upset. In fact, the corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly. He withdrew his hand and said nothing more—just replied, “Alright.”

The two walked a few steps toward the poultry market when Qi Beinan casually said:

“We went to the brokerage today, and I suddenly thought—you’ve been cautious of strangers since you were little, which actually puts me at ease. At least you’re not the type to run around recklessly or talk freely with people you don’t know. Otherwise, if you ever went missing, I truly wouldn’t know where to find you.”

Xiao Yuanbao gave a little snort.

“I’m already this grown-up, and you’re still saying scary things to try and trick or frighten me? I’m not afraid.”

“These days are peaceful. It’s not that easy to get kidnapped. And even if someone did try, a proper brokerage wouldn’t accept someone of unknown background.”

Qi Beinan looked at the boy, who had indeed grown taller, but his thoughts were still pure and naïve.

“If it were a year of famine, there’d actually be fewer kidnappings—people would rather sell themselves openly on the street. Human life is cheap. But in good years, when everyone has food and no one’s desperate to sell their children—that’s when people become valuable, and that’s when traffickers see profit and start getting active.”

“There are plenty of uses for a kidnapped person. Do you think everything happens willingly? How many people in brothels or pleasure houses actually want to be there? If it’s all so voluntary, then why do they have guards stationed at the doors day and night?”

“Those aren’t legitimate trades. Most of the people taken by traffickers end up in dark, hidden places. If someone resists, the men get beaten and tied up. The women and the pretty boys? Even if they don’t get beaten, a few days without food or water and they’ll break eventually.”

Xiao Yuanbao felt a chill run through him. His face even went a little pale.

He had never experienced such things himself, but just hearing about it was frightening enough.

He instinctively edged closer to Qi Beinan. “Then… how do people get kidnapped? They wouldn’t do it in broad daylight, right?”

Qi Beinan said, “Not in plain sight. You think the officials carry sabers just for show? What you need to watch out for are temple fairs and festivals—traffickers blend into those easily.”

Xiao Yuanbao was scared but still couldn’t help asking. He stuck close to Qi Beinan and asked, “How do traffickers kidnap people at fairs?”

“They pretend to be fortune-tellers, or an old lady with a sprained ankle, or a kind man or woman offering a bit of candy or sweet soup. Once they pick a target, they get close.”

“The fortune-teller will say something like, ‘This boy’s brow ridge is smooth—he’s destined for a prosperous life.’ The old lady will fall down in front of you and cry pitifully. They make you let your guard down, then lure you somewhere quiet. Suddenly a few accomplices pop out—and that’s that.”

Xiao Yuanbao’s brow furrowed deeply, and his palms began to sweat. “That’s… that’s terrifying.”

He had already found the brokerage hard to stomach—this was even worse.

He quickly grabbed Qi Beinan’s hand. “Good thing that when you went for the exam last time, I didn’t talk to that fortune-teller at the temple. Someone had a stall there and said my brow ridge was smooth. He said I was born with little fortune and lots of hardship, but my fate had somehow been altered, and I’d enjoy long-lasting blessings.”

“I thought he sounded mystical, like a storyteller. I wanted to give him a few coins and hear more. But then some man showed up, all angry, shouting that the fortune-teller was fake and demanding a refund. They started arguing. It was hot, and I was scared they’d fight and I’d get caught in the middle—so I left.”

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he felt. “Good thing I didn’t stick around.”

Qi Beinan gave a dry cough. That probably was a legitimate fortune-teller.

“Just stay alert and you’ll be fine. No need to be scared.”

Xiao Yuanbao sniffed. “I’m not scared. I’m already grown—no way I’d fall for some trafficker’s tricks.”

Hearing that, Qi Beinan lifted their joined hands slightly. “Then what’s this?”

Xiao Yuanbao’s face turned a little red. “I—I’m just worried someone might think you’re rare and valuable, and try to kidnap you.”

Qi Beinan nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Then from now on, whenever we go out, you should hold my hand—so I don’t get snatched, alright?”

Xiao Yuanbao looked into Qi Beinan’s eyes, dazed for a moment, then suddenly turned away.

He stared down at the tips of his shoes and didn’t answer.

In his heart, he couldn’t help but think: if someone really set their sights on him, and the traffickers had their ways, how could a village boy like him possibly resist?

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