Tang Huai did not stay long. After idly trading a few jokes, he left with the two golden pheasants.
He Yi went to soak the seeds. When he returned, he saw Xue Ci sitting against the wall, his head bobbing as he started dozing off again.
He Yi hesitated over whether to lead him inside to sleep, but before his hand even touched Xue Ci, the other man opened his gray-blue eyes and stared directly at He Yi without speaking for a long while.
He Yi asked, “Are you still not fully recovered? You slept very deeply this morning, just like you did on the mountain.”
Xue Ci suddenly stretched, bending at the waist as he extended both arms upward. He Yi happened to be standing right in front of him, and it looked as though Xue Ci were asking for a hug. He Yi nearly picked him up on reflex.
But Xue Ci quickly lowered his arms again, leaving He Yi to silently pull back his own eager hands.
Xue Ci did not understand why He Yi’s gaze suddenly seemed evasive. Looking at him curiously, he replied, “I don’t know either. I keep feeling sleepy and can’t get any energy… It feels so hot…”
“You don’t have a fever, do you?” He Yi pressed the back of his hand to Xue Ci’s forehead, then placed his palm against his own. He could not feel any difference in temperature.
“No fever either…”
Just then, the corner of He Yi’s eye swept over the vegetable garden, and inspiration suddenly struck. “Didn’t you say before that the dew from the yao grass can cure all illnesses? I’ll collect some first thing tomorrow morning. Try drinking it and see whether you feel better.”
“Right!” He Yi could only marvel at how unconcerned Xue Ci always seemed about the yao grass. Even now, he appeared to have only just remembered that extraordinary companion plant of his.
“All right. You should still rest today. If you’re sleepy, sleep more. I’ll keep working on those northern walls.”
Xue Ci did not agree. He went to fetch a tamping rammer too and followed He Yi to compact the earth.
Under the blazing sun, both their shadows shrank beneath their feet. With every heavy thud of earth and sand being rammed down, the tall yellow-earth walls gradually rose until their resting figures could fit within the deep shade cast beneath them.
*
After an afternoon of work, they finished the northern outer wall as well as the eastern and western interior walls of the main hall. Apart from the many complicated interior partitions, only the southwestern section of the outer wall remained unfinished. Once that was built too, their home would finally begin to take shape.
He Yi looked at the sun and estimated that it was probably not yet five in the afternoon. Still, arriving early was better than arriving late, so he urged Xue Ci to wash first and followed after him. Only once they had both changed into clean clothes did they head to the Zheng home.
When they arrived, only Uncle Zheng was there. He said Yuanshi and Yuanfeng had gone to the river and would be back shortly.
“Where’s Auntie?”
“She went next door to borrow some vinegar. You came so early. We haven’t even started making dinner yet.”
“Sorry. I was afraid we’d be late and make everyone wait, so I thought we should come earlier. I didn’t realize we’d come this early.” Not having a clock is really inconvenient…
“What are you apologizing for? We were planning to finish cooking and then have Yuanfeng call you over. Don’t rush so much next time.” Uncle Zheng smiled, though there was a trace of weariness in it.
He Yi was hesitating over whether to mention what had happened yesterday when the Zheng brothers returned carrying a woven rattan basket that dripped water all along the way.
“Shrimp!” Sharp-eyed Xue Ci spotted the many lively river shrimp inside and immediately followed them over.
Zheng Yuanshi set the basket down in the courtyard and had Zheng Yuanfeng bring out a bamboo tray. They poured all the shrimp onto it and took them away to wash.
Seeing that Xue Ci was interested, the brothers explained as they worked how to set a shrimp trap, where to place it, and what bait to use.
“Sometimes you catch a few crabs too, but it isn’t really the season for crab roe now, so they probably wouldn’t be very fat. Wait until around September. That’s when setting one of these traps is really satisfying!” Zheng Yuanfeng said with a hearty laugh.
“If you want to catch shrimp, just borrow this trap from us. It’s very convenient. If you want one of your own, you can ask our mother to make you one.”
But Xue Ci said, “No need. I can catch them.”
“How? Go into the river and catch them with your bare hands? That river is very deep, so you can’t just go in. When the water rises, the current gets fierce too. Quite a few people have drowned there over the years.” Zheng Yuanfeng shook his head. “Especially children. They never listen and all think playing in the water is fun.”
“I’m not afraid.” Xue Ci was nothing if not straightforward.
“Ha! Those children are exactly like you! They all think nothing will happen to them, but no matter how good a swimmer you are, you still can’t just go into the river!” Seeing that Xue Ci was not taking the warning to heart, Zheng Yuanfeng became worried that he might really jump into the river on a whim one day and kept lecturing him.
Zheng Yuanshi could hardly bear to watch. Once he had finished rinsing the shrimp, he went inside to find He Yi and told him, “The two kids are arguing.”
“…” What two kids? He Yi was confused, but seeing how serious Zheng Yuanshi looked, he followed him outside to take a look. There he found Xue Ci standing with a stern expression while Zheng Yuanfeng, hands planted on his hips, lectured him to absolutely no effect.
Noticing He Yi approaching, Xue Ci abandoned Zheng Yuanfeng and walked straight over to him. With complete seriousness, he said, “Zheng Yuanfeng said I’m a good swimmer.”
Zheng Yuanfeng was too far away to hear, but Zheng Yuanshi beside them did. He thought to himself that his younger brother had certainly not meant it as praise. Xue Ci’s ability to extract the “important point” was truly first-rate.
He Yi did not understand what was going on. He also thought Xue Ci was a very good swimmer, so he placed a large hand on Xue Ci’s head and gently pressed down in praise, then looked up and smiled at Zheng Yuanfeng.
Zheng Yuanfeng was completely baffled and had no idea what He Yi was smiling about. Fortunately, Aunt Liu returned just then. After everyone exchanged greetings, the “argument” quietly came to an end.
Aunt Liu was an experienced cook, and with Zheng Yuanshi helping beside her, dinner was ready in no time and came to the table steaming hot.
The meal was very generous. When He Yi saw the plate of smoked black pork, he knew Aunt Liu had used the slab of lean pork from yesterday to entertain them.
“You really shouldn’t have. You only get to eat meat a few times a year. If I’d known you were going to use that slab of pork for tonight’s meal, we wouldn’t have come,” He Yi said with some seriousness.
“Why be so polite? If it weren’t for those golden… whatever birds of yours, we wouldn’t even have been able to put the proposal gifts together. Wouldn’t the pork have gone to waste anyway?” Uncle Zheng said cheerfully.
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to eat it yourselves? It’s still meat… Besides, we didn’t do anything, and the gift was returned. You’ve done so much for Xue Ci and me, yet we keep taking advantage of you. I really feel bad about it.” He Yi sighed.
Xue Ci had originally been staring at the plate of pork and the shrimp paste, so tempted that he could not look away. But when he heard He Yi sigh, he glanced sideways at him. Seeing the helpless expression on He Yi’s face, he stood up and asked, “Should we go home?”
The moment he said that, the Zheng family panicked and hurried to coax them. “Hey, how about you treat our family to a meal with meat next time? All right? We didn’t mean for things to turn out like this…”
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward. He Yi had never intended to leave, since that would only make the situation unnecessarily embarrassing. He quietly explained it to Xue Ci. When Xue Ci realized they could stay and eat, he sat back down again quite openly.
Everyone smiled in relief.
Forget it. It’s hardly a big deal. We can just invite them over next time. He Yi also felt he had been too polite. Perhaps because he could never seem to repay all these favors, he had grown a little impatient about it. Deep down, he truly did not want to keep taking advantage of them.
“Actually, to tell you the truth, if our family ate this meat by ourselves, it would leave a bad taste in our mouths. That’s why we asked you over to help us finish some of it.” With some irritation, Zheng Yuanfeng told them what he had found out. “I told you about yesterday’s proposal visit, right? Later, when my mother went to another matchmaker to ask her to look for a new match, that woman let something slip. Only then did my mother learn that after the Qu family, the woman’s family, agreed to let us come make the proposal, that matchmaker went to them and said a family from town wanted to marry into their family.”
Aunt Liu could not hold back either. “It happened one right after the other. The Qu family immediately regretted agreeing to our proposal first. That’s why they had Matchmaker Zhang nitpick everything yesterday and try to make us back out.”
“They’ve gone too far! If they changed their minds, then they changed their minds. They could’ve sent someone to tell us directly. Instead, they deliberately found someone to humiliate our family. Is that something decent people do? It’s far too dishonest!” The more Uncle Zheng spoke, the more upset he became, and even the hand he used to tap the table trembled slightly.
“They just look down on our family. It really makes me sick…” Zheng Yuanfeng shook his head repeatedly.
For a while, the atmosphere at the dinner table sank very low.
He Yi said, “I actually don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
Everyone in the Zheng family looked at him in surprise.
“A family like that isn’t worth becoming tied to in the future. It’s better to see what they’re really like now. Besides, this just means the person who’s truly right for you is still ahead.”
“Yi-lang, you really know what to say!” He Yi’s words made Aunt Liu beam. Once she was happy, the rest of the family brightened too.
At just the right moment, Xue Ci cut in. “Can we eat now?”
“Yes, yes, of course. Everyone, pick up your chopsticks. Here, Ci’er, try the shrimp paste Auntie made. I mixed pork into it too. Dip it in a little fragrant vinegar and soy sauce. It’s delicious!” Aunt Liu hurriedly placed a piece of white-and-pink shrimp paste into Xue Ci’s bowl.
“Thank you, Auntie.” Xue Ci smiled sincerely at her and tried to pick up the shrimp paste, but it was too springy and slippery. He could not get hold of it, and it kept skittering around his bowl without ever making it onto his chopsticks.
Afraid Xue Ci would drop it and waste the food, He Yi showed him how to pierce the shrimp paste with his chopsticks and eat it that way. To his surprise, Xue Ci did not take the chopsticks from He Yi. Instead, he leaned in and bit the shrimp paste straight off the chopsticks He Yi was holding.
Seeing this, Zheng Yuanfeng immediately teased Xue Ci for being so grown-up and still needing someone to feed him. Zheng Yuanshi gave his younger brother a somewhat speechless look and simply lowered his head to eat.
The tips of He Yi’s ears reddened slightly. He was not used to being watched by other people at moments like this, so he shoved the chopsticks back into Xue Ci’s hand, tossed out a “Eat it yourself,” and lowered his head to eat too.
Xue Ci gave an “Mm” and continued diligently stabbing at the shrimp paste.
The shrimp paste really was excellent. The meat had been pounded until firm and cohesive. Black pork was already delicate yet pleasantly chewy, while the shrimp had a springy bite. Combined, the texture was especially good. The dipping sauce was simple, just fragrant vinegar and soy sauce, with saltiness as its base and a fresh sweetness blooming through the aroma. Once dipped in the sauce, the shrimp paste was rich and flavorful, tender and juicy. He Yi felt it could easily be promoted to the most delicious dish he had eaten since arriving in this world.
As for the smoked black pork, it looked ordinary but tasted surprisingly impressive. The smoking gave it a strong smoky aroma, and the outer edges were hard, but once bitten through, the inside turned out to be tender and a beautiful rosy red. The more one chewed, the more fragrant and flavorful it became. Unfortunately, each person only got two or three slices before it was all gone. There simply was not enough.
With those two dishes setting such a high standard, the remaining vegetable soup seemed rather lackluster, so there was no need to dwell on it.
Whether or not everyone was actually full, all of them wore satisfied expressions.
After the meal, they remained gathered around the table chatting for quite a while. Compared with before dinner, everyone was much more relaxed and cheerful.
He Yi also asked how to deal with chili seedlings being afraid of direct sun. Uncle Zheng said they could simply pick some leaves and lay them over the seedlings as cover.
You really do learn something new every day. He Yi had never imagined there could be such a simple, practical solution. So this is the wisdom of farming folk.
By the time they returned home, the sky had turned blue-violet and night was approaching. He Yi kept feeling as though he had forgotten something, but after thinking about it for a long time without coming up with anything, he gave up.
He Yi really had forgotten something.
Xing Junshu had not come.