Chapter 10: Abundance

Chapter 10: Abundance

◎ Food ◎

Tao Hua wished to pick fruits, but she was afraid of the lurking beasts.

Moreover, something felt off to her. If entering the mountains was so perilous, why did Wei Dahu seem so nonchalant about it? For him, going into the mountains was as ordinary as a village man tending to his fields with a hoe.

Silent, Tao Hua's acquiescence was taken for granted by Wei Dahu. Having a wife was indeed advantageous; in the past, he had to venture alone, but now he could bring his wife along, someone to converse with and accompany him. Just the thought filled him with joy.

The depths of the forest were abundant in food. Each year, the fruits were left untouched except for a few pecks from birds, eventually falling to the ground and decomposing, enriching the soil. There were countless edible wild vegetables, entire groves of hazelnut trees, and mushrooms sprouting after rain that could never be picked fast enough. The fish in the mountain streams were particularly delicious, their firm flesh turning into a delectable meal with just a simple roasting.

Though the mountains were treacherous, they held many hidden benefits unknown to common folk.

He would never let her get hurt.

With continuous conversation, the journey was anything but dull. A maiden, freshly married and transplanted into a new family, would naturally feel anxious and uncertain – stepping out of her familiar surroundings into an entirely foreign household. Tao Hua herself had been plagued by such fears before her marriage, wondering about the temperament of her future husband, the strictness of her father-in-law, the ease of getting along with relatives and elders, and if there were any competitive personalities among her peers. Yet, in just one short day, all those worries seemed to have vanished.

Tao Hua realized that she had married into a good family.

Aside from its remote location, the lurking dangers, and the peculiar habit of the man to explore snake dens... there was nothing else to criticize.

Upon returning home, Wei Laogou was still sitting in the courtyard weaving bamboo strips. Tao Hua called out, "Father."

She pushed Big Hu aside and went straight to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of cool water. From the cupboard, she brought out a jar and scooped some honey with a wooden spoon before mixing it and taking it to the yard. "Father, take a break and have some water."

Hearing this, Wei Laogou put down the bamboo strips and nodded. "Don't worry about me, you two go on with your tasks."

Big Hu carried a large sack of grain from his father's room, and Tao Hua followed him into the kitchen. After he dropped the bag on the ground, Tao Hua looked up at him and asked, "Is this the new harvest?"

Big Hu nodded. "Our house has few rooms, so all the grains are stored in Father's room as it's spacious. In the future, keeping them in the kitchen will make it easier for you to access them."

Tao Hua nodded.

When she was living in the Qian family, her mother had been in charge of the rice, flour, and other grains. The amount used for each meal was strictly measured. The thought of having a sack of grain in the kitchen to use freely was an extravagant act that she would never have dared to imagine.

She silently calculated how much food would be needed for their family of three and, considering her husband's enormous appetite, steeled herself to prepare more coarse grains for the meal. Their survival this year depended on these grains; if they didn't ration them properly, they might not last until the next harvest.

Tomorrow, tomorrow she too would "enter the mountains"!

Picking fruit was secondary; she intended to explore for edible wild vegetables that they could take home. Starvation was more terrifying than any beast during famine years. When people had nothing to eat, even being mauled by a predator wouldn't deter them from taking a bite of its fur before they died.

And poverty-stricken families seemed to experience famine almost every year.

"We've had a decent harvest this year. After paying the taxes, we should have enough left to last us two months," Wei Dahu said, scooping half a gourd of water and gulping it down like a thirsty ox.

"Only two months?!" Tao Hua, who was stuffing kindling into the stove, trembled at the revelation and nearly dropped the pine needles in her hand. She widened her eyes at Wei Dahu.

Wei Dahu almost choked. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"Our new crop of grain only lasts our family two months?!"

Tao Hua inserted the kindling into the stove and placed two dry logs across the flames. After brushing off the debris on her hands, she walked up to Wei Dahu, insisting on inspecting the remaining grain stored in their father's room.

She needed to see it for herself to believe it.

Thus, Wei Dahu led her to their father's quarters.

Piles of unthreshed grain were neatly stacked in the corner, appearing to be quite a substantial amount. Based on Tao Hua's experience managing the kitchen over the years, if she exchanged the freshly harvested rice for coarse grains in town and the family of three ate sparingly, they could also make it through until next year's harvest by working hard and gathering edible wild vegetables from the mountains.

However, after witnessing her husband's enormous appetite firsthand, Tao Hua found it difficult to say, "We can stretch it until next year if we eat frugally." During breakfast today, her father had an excellent appetite too. With two big eaters in the family, even if she tried her best to save, it wouldn't be enough to cover their meals.

How would they survive for the next two months?

Tao Hua looked as if the sky was about to collapse, her fingers trembling. Those two mouths at home consumed so much...

Tao Hua was on the verge of tears. The thought of running out of food in two months left her completely at a loss.

Wei Dahu, rarely demonstrating his intelligence, noticed her pale complexion and unstable stance. He promptly reached out to grasp her shoulders, supporting her weak legs: "Tao Hua, don't panic. Why are you in such a hurry? I'm here, aren't I? Our family has always managed with less food due to our small fields. I'll just buy grain in town. Tao Hua, Tao Hua, don't be scared, I won't let you go hungry."

"Where will you get the money to buy grain..." Anyone would be overwhelmed upon suddenly realizing that their food supply only lasted for two months.

How difficult was it to earn money these days? Carrying bags at the dock for a day earned only a dozen copper coins. Even the healthiest body could deteriorate in a year doing such labor. How many grains could those dozen copper coins buy? Instead of being comforted by Wei Dahu's words, Tao Hua felt dizzy and wobbly when she thought about relying on buying grain for most of the upcoming year.

"By hunting, I can earn money. If I catch something rare, I can sell it to wealthy families in town for a good sum," Wei Dahu reassured her with a smile. His calm voice and determined tone offered Tao Hua some solace. "Tao Hua, don't worry. Since you married me, I won't let you go hungry. You really won't. I'm great at hunting – my grandfather always said I was born to be a hunter, destined to trouble the creatures in the mountains."

To convince Tao Hua further, he took her back inside the house, reached under the bed, and handed her a wooden box.

Tao Hua opened the box to find only a few copper coins inside.

"This is where I keep my savings. In the future, you'll take care of it," Wei Dahu said without a hint of embarrassment about handing his wife an empty money box. He earnestly promised, "Don't worry, Tao Hua. I'll hunt more game and sell them, so you can save plenty of silver to buy food."

"Can we buy farmland?" Tao Hua didn't disdain the empty box. Instead, she inquired if they could purchase land with money, as owning farmland would mean a steady supply of grain. Moreover, as long as there wasn't a famine, farming would provide annual yields. Relying on buying grain with silver was not a sustainable plan.

"We'll buy farmland when I earn enough silver," Wei Dahu muttered inwardly, though he didn't voice his true thoughts. Daily farming with a hoe held no appeal to him; it was far less interesting than life in the mountains. However, he refrained from voicing these sentiments, knowing Tao Hua was worried about future hunger. He couldn't bear to add to her anxiety.

If not for the rampant wild beasts in the mountains that made cultivation impossible, he would have taken Tao Hua to see the land he had eyed. It was flat and fertile, with a small stream nearby for irrigation. If cultivated, it would yield better crops than the village's fertile fields.

Unfortunately, the deep, beast-infested mountains were not suitable for growing grains. Seeds sown today could be dug up and eaten by the animals tomorrow, rendering all labor futile.

Despite Wei Dahu's promise to buy grain from the town when their stock ran out, the few copper coins in the money jar compelled Tao Hua to reduce the amount of rice she cooked for lunch.

It was freshly harvested grain, and with the family's current consumption rate, it would last no more than two months. There were no reserves or coarse grains, as she learned after asking. The family didn't have a habit of exchanging new grain for cheaper alternatives.

Tao Hua felt a pang of guilt while cooking, and instructed Wei Dahu, who was sitting by the stove helping with firewood, "Go to the town soon to buy some coarse grains. How can we eat white rice at every meal? We're not a wealthy family." Only the affluent ate rice meals daily. Farming households mixed their meals with various grains; rice was too precious to consume regularly. It was reserved for special guests.

Yesterday at the wedding feast, San Hua had served her a large bowl of plain white rice. Tao Hua didn't know how the other tables were set up, but she guessed they wouldn't use new rice for such an occasion; otherwise, she would have felt truly pained!

"I understand," Wei Dahu replied. His family didn't have white rice for every meal either; they had used up all their coarse grains during the feast.

Many households in the village only ate two meals a day, so breakfast was late and dinner was early.

The Wei family, however, always stuck to three meals a day. Wei Dahu's appetite was big, and he got hungry quickly. When he was alone in the mountains, he would catch a wild chicken or fish from the stream to roast for himself. Tao Hua had saved a bowl of rice for lunch, which Wei Dahu had scraped clean from the bottom of the pot. After putting down his chopsticks, he said with a lingering desire for more, "Tao Hua, cook two extra bowls of rice for dinner tonight. It won't be enough."

"..." Tao Hua looked up at Old Man Wei, who also seemed unsatisfied. Seeing that his son had spoken, he chose to remain silent.

The message was clear: Listen to your husband.

Tao Hua held her bowl, struggling before finally nodding slowly. "Okay."

"Dao Hua, your cooking is really delicious. Dad's cooking is terrible – the vegetables are wilted, just like the swill that the pigs eat at Uncle's pigsty." Rubbing his stomach, Wei Dahu couldn't help feeling unsatisfied despite not being full.

Old Man Wei raised his eyebrows. "You've been eating that swill for over a decade."

Wei Dahu glanced at his father, not daring to provoke him further. He stood up to go to the yard and tidy up the bamboo he had cut that morning. He planned to fence off the courtyard this afternoon.

Tao Hua efficiently carried the dishes to the kitchen, planning to ask Wei Dahu later to show her their two mu of land at home. She also wanted to clear a plot next to the yard to cultivate vegetables commonly consumed by the family.

Peering through the kitchen window, she observed the courtyard. It was still hot this month, and Wei Dahu, bare-chested, was working up a sweat. Old Wei stood nearby digesting his food, directing him in various tasks. Occasionally, the father-son duo would engage in playful bickering, creating a lively atmosphere.

Tao Hua smiled and resumed washing the dishes with her head bowed.