The door of the earthen house opened, and a little girl came out. She was Lu Yunfeng's third sister, eight years old this year. She wore coarse linen clothes, had a pointed chin and big eyes, and looked like a bean sprout. She timidly walked past the back of the kitchen, and then looked back to peek to see if Qin Xiaozhou had followed.
"Okay." Qin Xiaozhou followed her. The sky was overcast and there was no sunlight. The barren wasteland behind the house was still damp with water from the melting snow of winter. It was desolate and barren. There was a stream about fifty meters away. During the dry season, the water flow was small. A small pool had been built with some stones to make it easier to draw water.
Lu Yan glanced at Qin Xiaozhou every now and then, but dared not speak.
Qin Xiaozhou didn't mind. She filled the buckets with a gourd ladle, carried them back, and felt light and easy. The two buckets, filled with water, weighed over 80 jin (approximately 40 kg). She picked up the carrying pole and strode back.
Wow! Lu Yan's eyes lit up. This sister-in-law is really amazing. This water is so heavy that she can't even lift half a bucket. Since her sister-in-law is working, she can't just sit idle. So she sweeps the yard, uses thin bamboo branches tied together to make a broom, and neatly sweeps the wood shavings on the ground into one place, stuffs them into a bamboo basket, and uses them to start a fire at noon.
Lu Yunfeng went out to cut bamboo, carrying seven or eight green bamboos tied together on his shoulder. He came out from the mountain pass on the west side, threw the bamboo in the yard, and began to skillfully split the bamboo into strips and weave baskets. The slender bamboo strips flew in his hands.
In the countryside, peasants either toil in the fields or earn money through their skills. The Lu family originally relied on hunting, but after losing two pillars of the family, Wang Lan forbade them from going into the mountains again. Now, they support the family by weaving.
In villages where bamboo is plentiful, most people have some weaving skills. They only care about practicality and not aesthetics when using bamboo at home, so they can't sell it for a good price.
When Wang Sanshu's father came to visit, he spoke in the tone of an elder, "Nephew of the Lu family, you got married yesterday and had a big, healthy son. Now your Lu family will have an heir, and your father and grandfather can rest in peace in the afterlife."
Lu Yunfeng kept working with his head down. The distant relative took a puff of his pipe and continued, "You'd better hurry up. My Sanshu already has a three-year-old child at your age. In a couple of days, when spring comes, my second son will also be getting married. Maybe he'll have a child before you."
“When a person gets married, he becomes an adult. Now you are the pillar of the family. Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring. As the eldest son of the Lu family, the most important thing for you is to have children. My Sanshu is doing well, and my eldest daughter-in-law is doing well too. She gave birth to a son and is pregnant again now.”
Wang Sanshu's father was loudly showing off in the yard. Lu Yan added firewood to the medicine stove, and the herbs bubbled and swelled, filling the entire yard with their aroma. Inside the house, Wang Lan listened as she pounded on the bed, lamenting her own weak health, which had dragged her grandson down so far that he couldn't even get a wife.
What terrible things has the Lu family done?!
“Mother.” Lu Yu held Wang Lan’s hand, bowing her head and weeping. She was Lu Yunfeng’s younger sister, seventeen years old this year. She was supposed to get married at the end of last year, but the engagement was called off at the last minute, and she was still living at home, becoming the laughing stock of the village.
Qin Xiaozhou returned from the kitchen. She wanted to use bamboo to divert the stream water to save time from having to fetch water every day, and make things easier for herself. She found this suggestion very unpleasant. The rumors that Qin Xiaozhou was infertile had spread throughout the town, which was why the engagement was called off. This person couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
Whether she could have children or not, Qin Xiaozhou herself didn't know, but people who came to poke at her sore spots were just being rude.
"Uncle, you're really meddling. You have to ask how other people have children. You have so many kids, like mice. Can your house even accommodate them all? Why don't you hurry up and go back to building a house? Do you really want to dig holes like mice and live there?"
These days, babies are born in broods, and there aren't many families with enough space to live comfortably.
"Hey! You new daughter-in-law—" Wang Sanshu's father blushed, but dared not argue with Qin Xiaozhou, so he slunk away.
Wang Lan walked out with a limp, and surprisingly, she found Qin Xiaozhou somewhat agreeable.
The Lu family was originally a well-off family. Decades ago, Lu Ji fled famine and settled in Wangjia Village. He had hunting skills and quickly earned some wealth. He married Wang Lan and had an eldest son, Lu An, and two daughters. Lu An then married Zhao Fen from the neighboring Zhaojia Village.
Zhao Fen gave birth to her husband, Lu Yunfeng, and then to her son, Lu Yunxing, and her daughter, Lu Yan. She became pregnant again a couple of years ago. Lu Yunfeng's marriage was also arranged in Wangjia Village, and he was just waiting for the autumn harvest to marry Lin Juanniang.
Although they were outsiders, Lu Ji was capable, and his family lived a prosperous life in Wangjia Village. However, unexpected events occurred. When Lu Ji and his son Lu An went hunting in the mountains, they encountered a pack of wolves. Lu Ji's body was torn to pieces, while Lu An survived by a hair's breadth, but he also died three months later.
The Lu family suddenly lost two pillars of support. Zhao Fen, who was five months pregnant, almost miscarried when she heard the bad news. A few months later, she gave birth to Lu Xiaosi, who suffered from both qi and blood deficiency. Both mother and son developed chronic illnesses and had to take medicine for many years.
With a death in the family, Lu Yunfeng had to observe mourning, and his marriage to Lin Juanniang had to be postponed. Unfortunately, the Lu family suffered one misfortune after another. Last summer, Wang Lan broke her leg. The Lu family was left with the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, with only Lu Yunfeng struggling to support them. The Lin family couldn't bear to let their daughter enter such a poor family, so they called off the marriage.
Lu Yan carried a bowl of medicine from the kitchen to Zhao Fen's room. When she came out, she timidly asked Qin Xiaozhou, "Are we going to dig for wild vegetables?"
Qin Xiaozhou nodded repeatedly. It was better to have something to do than to be idle and feel awkward. He searched around but couldn't find any tools!
Lu Yan's eyes brightened slightly as she tugged at her brother's sleeve. Lu Yunfeng watched Qin Xiaozhou struggle coldly. Qin Xiaozhou used to be quite resilient when she lived with her grandmother in the countryside, able to go up mountains and down rivers without difficulty. However, she overestimated her ability to adapt to this body. Before she could even leave the yard, her limbs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.
Oh, she hasn't eaten anything for almost a day.
Lu Yan rushed over to help her up, but Qin Xiaozhou didn't budge even after two attempts. Lu Yunfeng frowned and went into the kitchen to bring out a bowl of hot water.
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