Chapter 15
Sun Kang was humiliated in Luohe Village, and the earthy taste still lingered in his mouth. He spat for a long time, but the taste still wouldn't go away.
The Sun family lived in Nanzhuang Village, which was not too far from Luohe Village. Nanzhuang Village was not as wealthy as Luohe Village, and the Sun family was a large family, so they lived a very frugal life.
That day in town, they heard that all those who had been conscripted had returned. Although they hadn't been in contact with Sun Cui, who had married out of the village, Sun Kang had kept tabs on what was happening in Luohe Village, fearing she might come to borrow money again.
So they learned that the conscripts had returned, and that Meng Tao had died in battle and received a pension of ten taels of silver.
The person who has the final say in the Sun family now is the matriarch. Her family used to be wealthy, so everyone in the family respects her.
"The eldest son is back?" Grandma Sun is now fifty-seven years old. Although she lives in poverty, she is in good spirits and shows no signs of old age.
Grandma Sun had four children. Grandma Sun, Sun Cui, was the third child. The other three were all men. Except for Sun Cui, who had married out, the other three brothers did not separate from the family. The family had many members and still lived together.
Sun Kang looked resentful: "Mother, that Sun Cui is simply too hateful!" He looked at the room full of people, big and small, surrounding him, and his son, who was full of expectation, and lowered his head.
He recounted everything that had happened in Luohe Village that day, except for mentioning how Zhou Yuan had brought him up and even fed him dirt: "She said some harsh things, so she's probably still angry about what happened back then."
Grandma Sun was in good spirits, but her face was deeply lined with wrinkles and she had a fierce look: "Did she really do that?"
Sun Kang nodded: "Mother, she was full of resentment in her words, so she probably won't take out the money easily."
"That wretched child! If she had listened to us back then, she wouldn't have ended up like this! And she still dares to hold a grudge against me! Eldest brother, second brother, you two are coming with me tomorrow, I refuse to believe it!"
The second son, Sun Qi, said, "The busy farming season starts tomorrow. If she wants us to help with the farm work, we'll have to do it for her because of the money. Why don't we wait a few more days? Anyway, Dawei's wedding isn't scheduled for September, so there's still some time."
Sun Kang looked at the youngest boy in the family and an idea came to him: "Mother, do you remember when Sun Cui bought a boy to be Meng Tao's husband?"
Grandma Sun nodded.
“I think that young man is not bad looking.” After saying this, Sun Kang was glared at by his husband.
"What I mean is, since Sun Cui bought him, and Meng Tao left the same day he was bought, that means he hasn't been touched by anyone yet. If he were to be sold again, he would definitely fetch a good price..."
Grandma Sun nodded: "Your idea is good, but is that boy really that good-looking?"
Sun Kang quickly nodded: "He's quite short, but he's got plenty of meat in the right places."
This time, Sun Kang's husband couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed his ear, shouting, "Sun Kang!"
"Alright, what a scene you're making in front of the child!" Old Mrs. Sun frowned. "I remember there's a family in the prefectural city called the Luo family. The master of that family, Mr. Luo, loves short boys the most. If that boy is really like what you said, he could fetch a good price. But are you sure he's still a virgin?"
"That should be true."
A virgin and a seasoned man are not quite the same, and Sun Kang certainly didn't see that in that young man.
“Then it’s settled. Next time we go to his house, we’ll take the money and tie that guy up. Remember to find his indenture.” Grandma Sun frowned and thought, “Fourth brother and Awei will go together too.”
Chen Qing, who was in Luohe Village, was still unaware of what was going to happen. He and Aunt Sun went for a walk in their cornfield and decided to start harvesting corn tomorrow. Their family had a lot of mountain land, and transporting it down the mountain was the most difficult part.
"Let's start first thing tomorrow morning," said Aunt Sun. "We need to go early, otherwise it will be too uncomfortable to work when the sun is scorching."
Chen Qing nodded. They had been doing this for the past few years, and this year should be no different.
At the beginning of the next day, Chen Qing and Aunt Sun got up without making breakfast. They carried water bags and steamed cakes from the night before in their baskets and hampers. They left before the village roosters even crowed.
The edges of the corn leaves are sharp, and it hurts and itches when your skin is rubbed against them. Chen Qing can do other jobs quickly, but harvesting corn is very difficult for him.
It was still dark, and the road up the mountain was difficult to walk. Chen Qing stumbled several times before finally reaching their land on the mountain.
The two sat down and ate some flatbread, but because they had gotten up so early, they didn't have much of an appetite, so they only ate a couple of bites before getting to work. Chen Qing had a knife tucked into his waistband. After breaking off the corn, he would cut the corn stalks, which would then be dried and used as firewood.
He and Aunt Sun each took turns collecting one row of paper. He worked a little slower than Aunt Sun and soon fell behind her.
As the sun gradually rose and the birds in the forest began to sing, Chen Qing's neck and face were scratched by corn leaves, which made him a little itchy, so he scratched them.
The land on the mountain wasn't very big, and Chen Qing planned that he should be able to bring it all home after three or four trips.
"Mom, you just need to carry one basket on your back for a while, and I'll come and pick out the rest in a few trips." Chen Qing sat on the ground drinking water. He didn't have much of an appetite and only wanted to drink water.
“Okay.” Aunt Sun didn’t try to be strong. Her back pain had flared up recently, and she didn’t dare to exert herself. If she got injured again and was bedridden, that would be really harmful. “You can make a few more trips, but pack a little less each time.”
"Um."
“I’ll ask Zhou Yuan to lend me an oxcart for the good roads in the village. It’ll only take one or two trips to get everything done,” Grandma Sun said to herself.
The harvest was finished at sunrise. Grandma Sun picked a basket of corn and helped Chen Qing put the corn into baskets, but she didn't fill each basket completely, because she was afraid it would be too hard for Chen Qing to carry them.
As they prepared to descend the mountain, Aunt Sun folded her handkerchief again and placed it on Chen Qing's shoulder.
Every year at this time, Chen Qing's shoulders suffer.
Grandma Sun carried her basket down the mountain, while Chen Qing took a deep breath and used a carrying pole to lift two baskets of corn.
It was heavier than he had imagined, but not too heavy to lift.
"Aqing, walk slowly, take a rest when you're tired."
"Yeah, I know."
Chen Qing's face turned red from holding his breath. The path down the mountain was difficult to walk, and he had to make sure every step was firm.
The two baskets of corn were still too heavy for Chen Qing, and he had to rest several times on his way home.
When Chen Qing got home, he was almost exhausted, but this was only the first trip.
Grandma Sun still wanted to share some of the burden with him, so she carried her basket on her back and went up the mountain with him, hoping to help in any way she could.
When they returned for the second round, Li Xin was already sitting in their yard helping them peel the corn husks. The corn husks weren't thrown away; they were dried and used as kindling, which was very convenient.
There was water drying on the table, and Li Xin had already torn out a lot of corn.
"Li Xin? Why are you here so early?" Chen Qing rushed to the table to drink water, and only spoke to Li Xin after he finished drinking.
“I’m at home with nothing to do, so I came to help you.” Li Xin also brought her six-year-old brother, Li Jingtong, who was rolling around in the corn husks.
Li Jingtong's name was given to him by Li Xin's maternal grandfather. He stood out from the crowd of children named Gou Dan and Gou Sheng in the village, so Li Xin's father gave him the nickname Niu Niu (meaning "cow cow").
"Niu Niu is here too." Grandma Sun loves children. She took a piece of candy from the house and gave it to Niu Niu. This candy was the one Zhou Yuan gave to Chen Qing last time. Chen Qing gave it to Grandma Sun, but Grandma Sun hadn't been willing to eat it.
"Thank you, Auntie." Niu Niu was very well-behaved, sitting in the pile of corn husks eating candy.
After resting for a while, Chen Qing went to pick out the remaining corn. He calculated in his mind that he would be able to finish picking it out in two more trips.
Grandma Sun wanted to go with him, but Li Xin stood up and said, "Auntie, I'll go with him. Your back isn't good, so stay home and watch over Niu Niu for me. I'll go with him."
After thinking about it, Aunt Sun agreed.
Li Xin insisted on helping Chen Qing carry baskets, and when they passed by Zhou Yuan's house, they happened to run into Zhou Yuan coming out of his house.
After being persuaded by Aunt Sun, Chen Qing was finally able to get along with Zhou Yuan more normally, and he could accept the help Zhou Yuan gave to his family on a daily basis.
Zhou Yuan looked at the carrying pole on Li Xin's back. He knew Chen Qing's personality; he would never ask someone else to do something he could do himself. It was strange that Chen Qing was empty-handed at this moment.
He went for a walk around his field in the morning but didn't run into Chen Qing, who was picking corn.
"Going out?"
Chen Qing nodded.
At this moment, Li Xin moved closer to Chen Qing and put her hand on his shoulder. Chen Qing's shoulder was already red and swollen, and he hissed the moment Li Xin put her hand on it.
“Chen Qing’s family is harvesting corn. Their land is on the mountain, and they have to carry the corn back,” Li Xin said. “He’s already made three trips. I just saw that his shoulders are swollen.”
Chen Qing tugged at Li Xin's sleeve.
Zhou Yuan hummed in agreement, came out of his yard, and took the carrying pole from Li Xin's shoulder: "I'll carry the rest for you."
"Hey, you don't need to, I can manage myself..."
Before Chen Qing could finish speaking, Li Xin clutched her stomach: "Qing, my stomach hurts. You go ahead, I'll be back in a bit..."
Chen Qing couldn't call out to Li Xin, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk ahead.
Fortunately, there was no other family's land on their mountain, otherwise, who knows what the village would say if they saw Zhou Yuan helping them carry corn.
Li Xin, why is your stomach hurting now?
"Is it tiring to carry water up the mountain?"
"Huh?" Chen Qing was a little stunned, then said, "I'm not tired, I don't even fill it up."
Chen Qing had never felt that the road was so long. After reaching the top of the mountain, he silently put corn into the basket and stopped when it was almost full.
Seeing that there wasn't much left, Zhou Yuan said, "Aren't we packing it all? Do we have to make another trip?"
"Too many..."
“I should be stronger than you.” Zhou Yuan stuffed the rest of the corn into the basket, and put the rest into the basket that Chen Qing was carrying.
He then picked it up without any effort. Chen Qing had no choice but to carry the basket on his back. The moment he lifted it, a pain shot through his shoulder. He grimaced, sighed, and then caught up with Zhou Yuan.
We can collect the remaining corn stalks this afternoon.
He followed Zhou Yuan at a distance, watching him walk briskly, praying that no one would see them at this moment.
But for some reason, there was also a secret joy.
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