Chapter 6: If this person marries into the family, everything is doomed!
The sun had completely sunk behind the western hills, and the heat in the courtyard subsided slightly. Fortunately, there was no need to light oil lamps in the summer. Yu Xiuxiu rubbed her hands clean and went into the house, plopping down to Yu Man's left. The two adults and the child then sat around the kang table.
The dish of stir-fried chicken in the very center must have been a rooster that Aunt Liu had just caught. The chicken meat was chopped into bite-sized pieces and stir-fried over a wood-fired stove. The chicken skin curled up into an enticing golden color, and the firm pieces of meat absorbed the sauce, glistening with oil. Wild mushrooms, which Yu Man loved, were also added, absorbing the rich flavor of the chicken oil and becoming incredibly tender and smooth, sinking into the brown broth.
Next to it was a plate of braised fern shoots with pork cracklings. The aroma of oil permeated every crisp fern tip, making it crunchy and not greasy.
Add to that the wild vegetable buns that Aunt Deng had placed in the bamboo basket, mixed with a little white flour, and infused with blanched and finely chopped shepherd's purse and purslane, and formed into fist-sized balls. They weren't rough to eat, but rather had a fresh, wild vegetable aroma.
Yu Xiuxiu ate without looking up, her cheeks bulging, her eyes glancing at the plate of cured meat every now and then. Yu Man drank the fish soup that had been specially heated for her, picking up food one bite after another with her chopsticks.
Pei Ji ate quietly, his manners refined. He would occasionally chime in with a few words, mostly from Yu Xiuxiu, who chattered incessantly about things at the academy. After what had just happened, she had finally become bolder.
"Are the teachers at the academy strict? Do they hit your hands?"
"It's acceptable. A more rigorous academic approach makes it easier to improve."
"So... are there many young masters from storybooks in the academy? Do they wear silk?"
"Yes, there is. But scholars don't care about fancy clothes, they only care about conduct."
His answer was brief but patient, his gaze remaining fixed on Yu Man, who was drinking soup.
The food was almost completely devoured, and they continued chatting afterward. Yu Xiuxiu seemed very curious about the academy, asking "100,000 Whys" and "Human-Machine Interaction." Yu Man returned to her recliner to look around, occasionally making a joke.
It wasn't until it was completely dark, almost dusk, that heavy footsteps and the clanging of farm tools came from the courtyard gate. It was Yu Chengfu and Deng Sanniang returning from the fields.
Both were covered in dust, their faces etched with exhaustion. Deng Sanniang rubbed her lower back, while Yu Chengfu leaned his hoe against the wall. He entered the room and, seeing Pei Ji still there, forced a smile: "Erlang is still here?"
Pei Ji was the only son in his family, but according to his father, they followed the clan's order of seniority, and Pei Ji should be the second son, so the villagers called him Erlang (Second Son).
"Uncle, Aunt," Pei Ji stood up and replied politely, "Xiaoman is much better; she just took her medicine."
Deng Sanniang walked to the recliner and carefully examined Yu Man's face. She breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you so much for keeping watch all day."
"Of course." Pei Ji glanced at the deepening night outside the window and took his leave. "It's getting late, and Uncle and Aunt must be tired after a long day. I'll head back now and visit Xiaoman another day."
The Yu couple politely escorted him to the courtyard gate. Deng San Niang seemed to remember something, and asked Pei Ji to wait. She then turned and took a small package from the kitchen cabinet and handed it to Pei Ji, explaining, "This is a folk remedy that I asked my family to find. They say it's effective for leg ailments. Give it to your mother to try. If it doesn't work, just throw it away."
Pei Ji accepted it with both hands and said with a smile, "Thank you, Auntie."
Once his footsteps faded into the distance, Deng San Niang immediately turned around and went back into the house. Her eyes lit up as she saw that Yu Xiuxiu had specially prepared some dishes for her from the kitchen.
Yu Chengfu was also surprised and urged, "Quickly, sit down and eat! You've been busy all day and are starving!"
He picked up a piece of glistening chicken with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, a satisfied look on his face. He smacked his lips and said, "This Pei boy is really thoughtful. We probably only see this kind of oily chicken around the end of the year."
Yu Xiuxiu nodded vigorously and said, "Delicious! Everything Brother Pei makes is delicious!"
Deng San Niang rolled her eyes at her husband's unambitious words, as if they didn't eat well at home. She ate a few mouthfuls of rice, paused, then ate most of a bowl of vegetables before putting down her chopsticks and sighing, "This tastes really good. Did the Pei family boy really make it?"
This time she asked Yu Man.
Yu Man nodded and pointed to the rough earthenware pot on the wooden table. Inside were dark brown shiitake mushroom pieces soaked in glistening soy sauce, mixed with bits of browned ginger and bright red chili peppers. Yu Chengfu and Deng Sanniang loved to eat their steamed buns with this sauce.
"He did this too."
Deng Sanniang couldn't help but sigh, "Really..."
Yu Chengfu chuckled and replied, "This young man from the Pei family is quite promising. He's valued by his teachers at the academy, and he's reliable and thoughtful in his work. Putting everything else aside, he won't suffer after marrying into the family." He glanced at his lazy and picky eldest daughter, lit the oil lamp, and saw that she looked good in the dim light. He subconsciously straightened his back. His eldest daughter wasn't bad either.
The system, finally able to chime in: 【...You were too naive! The host is doomed if she marries into that family.】
Yu Man ignored it and instead looked at the undisguised exhaustion on Yu Chengfu and Deng Sanniang's faces, asking, "Why are you so busy until so late today? Didn't I ask someone to harvest our ten mu of wheat a few days ago? Logically speaking, today should mainly be spent spreading it out to dry and preparing for threshing."
Mentioning this, Yu Chengfu's tired face also showed some relief and a smile: "Yes, thanks to the people you found, the wheat was harvested quickly, saving a lot of effort. Today's work is just turning and drying the wheat and gathering it together. The work is not heavy, but it takes a lot of time."
He paused, looking at his daughter with a questioning gaze, "Aman, you were acting all mysterious the other day, which deity did you ask for help? In our family's situation, it's not easy to ask for help, where did you get your connections?"
Deng San Niang had been pondering this matter for a while, but couldn't figure it out and didn't dare to ask. Now that Yu Chengfu had asked, she also perked up her ears.
The recliner swayed gently, and Yu Man's voice sounded relaxed, as if she were talking about the nice weather today: "It's not some kind of deity, it's just Zhu Laowu and his group who live on the west side of the riverbank."
Xingcheng Village has a relatively large population compared to other surrounding villages, mainly because a river runs through it from upstream to downstream. Thanks to this river, they can survive in years of drought and avoid having to migrate.
“Zhu Laowu?” Yu Chengfu was taken aback, his brows furrowing. “Those… idle loafers?” The villagers didn’t think highly of Zhu Laowu and his fellow bachelors, considering them to be a burden on the village, a waste of grain, and a good-for-nothing.
“Hmm.” Yu Man nodded. “A few days ago, I went to the back mountain to collect firewood and found Zhu Laowu writhing in pain by the roadside, clutching his stomach. It looked like he had a stomachache. I saw some herbs nearby, so I rubbed some on him and had him chew and swallow it. He recovered in no time.”
Fortunately, Yu Man had been bored and saw Pei Ji taking a medical book to the mountain to identify herbs. He was also led by Pei Ji to identify a few herbs, and unexpectedly, they came in handy.
She spoke casually, but Deng Sanniang's eyelids twitched: "You have such nerve! Who is that Zhu Laowu? Why are you getting involved with him? What if he tries to take advantage of you?"
Yu Man smiled and said, "He was all alone at the time, and he was in so much pain that he could hardly bear it. We couldn't just stand by and watch him die. Besides, it was just a few handfuls of weeds, it wasn't worth much."
Yu Chengfu hesitated, not wanting to speak, but saying that it wasn't a matter of whether wild grass was valuable or not. If the wrong medicine was used, it would be a matter of life and death, and it would probably go to the village chief.
He was on tenterhooks when his eldest daughter continued, "After he recovered, he came to our door to thank us, bringing a small piece of dried fish that I don't know where he got it from. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he asked if there was any work he could help with. I was just thinking about the wheat harvest. Although we could manage ten acres, I saw that Dad hadn't finished moving the goods, and Aunt Deng had been embroidering handkerchiefs for several nights in a row. If we could help, it would make things easier for you all. So I mentioned it to him, saying that if they had time, they could help harvest the wheat in the fields, and we would pay them at market price."
"They're willing to do it?" Yu Chengfu was stunned, still somewhat skeptical, as those idlers were notoriously lazy.
“Yes, they were willing,” Yu Man said. “Zhu Laowu said that they had nothing else but strength. Since they were idle anyway, they could earn a few copper coins to buy some food, which was better than going hungry. So I made an agreement with them to take advantage of the good weather and harvest the wheat quickly. They were quite efficient and finished harvesting in two days, and the wheat bundles were all tied up neatly.”
After listening, Yu Chengfu remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Alas, it's really tough on them. They usually seem unreliable, but given a chance, they're willing to put in the effort." He knew in his heart that his daughter had stumbled upon a perfect solution, helping others while also solving a major problem for their own family. Otherwise, with their two jobs in the county and in the fields, they would have been completely lost trying to cultivate those ten acres of wheat.
Deng Sanniang chimed in, "Now that you mention it, it's a good thing. But we should still avoid dealing with them in the future; it doesn't sound good."
Although Yu Man's reputation is already not good, it can't get any worse. If the Pei family hears some gossip and feels uncomfortable, then Yu Man will be the one who suffers.
Yu Man hummed in agreement and said nothing more. She initially helped Zhu Laowu out of a little pity, and later, by asking them to do work, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. As for reputation and such, she never cared much about those superficial things; getting through the immediate crisis was the most important thing.
Seeing that she had almost finished eating, she stood up, intending to clear the dishes, but Deng Sanniang quickly stopped her, saying, "You're only just getting better, rest! You have such a big cut on your head, and you just took medicine, why are you trying to be brave!" As she spoke, she turned and called towards the kitchen, "Xiu! Stop dawdling, come and wash the dishes!"
Yu Xiuxiu responded crisply and ran in, quickly starting to clear the dishes. There was no reluctance on her little face; on the contrary, she was full of energy because she had eaten something delicious tonight.
Seeing this, Yu Man let her sister be and sat back down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed). Yu Chengfu didn't think anything was wrong. He picked up a hoe from the side; the wooden handle was cracked in several places. After threshing the rice, they would have to start hoeing and preparing the soil, so he needed to fix these tools beforehand. Just as he was about to get up to choose a piece of wood, he heard someone calling out in a low voice outside the courtyard gate:
"Brother Chengfu? Is Brother Chengfu home?"
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