Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The front gate of the house was ajar. Gu Lan led the way, followed by Bamboo Boy. The two dashed into the main room, where their mother sat, spinning thread from hemp.

Miao Qiulian spun the wheel of the spinning wheel with her right hand while pulling the twisted hemp strands out with her left. As the wheel creaked, she glanced outside, then back at the spinning wheel. Her left arm rose up and pulled back in rhythm with the rotation, repeating this cycle endlessly.

She asked, "Is it raining? Your father and Doggy haven't returned yet."

"Father went to the fields, and Doggy is gathering pigweed. He should be back soon," Gu Lan replied, setting down the bamboo basket as he straightened up, still holding the small cloth bag.

Bamboo Boy carefully placed the basket on the ground, for he had a few mountain raspberries in his embrace that he didn't want to crush.

"Did you find the thistle shoots?" Miao Qiulian inquired, her gaze still fixed on the spinning wheel as both hands were occupied.

"I did, and we got lucky; we gathered quite a lot, enough for two meals," Gu Lan said with a smile. Squatting down, he put the cloth bag on the floor and began removing the wild mugwort from the basket, revealing the thistle shoots at the bottom.

"Alright, Mother has already sliced the meat. You can blanch them later," Miao Qiulian said, then added, "Ask your father to buy some good cotton when he goes to town. We'll spin it and weave cloth. You can learn to weave too. When the cloth is ready, we'll make new clothes for you."

Pausing in her spinning, she continued, "If these two outfits can be preserved, I'll include them in your dowry. Wear them after the wedding. I saw some nice red fabric at the cloth store last time. It's expensive, but the color is vibrant, more beautiful than what we dye ourselves."

She tasted it, then decided on a course of action. Looking at Gu Lan, she said, "I'll buy you a piece of red cloth when the time comes. It's only your wedding once, so you should dress up nicely."

"Mother, it's still early," Gu Lan's cheeks were still flushed as he whispered.

"It's not early anymore. It'll be in the next two years. If we don't start making the clothes soon, you'll be in a rush when the time arrives. I'll see what you'll wear if they're not ready by then," Miao Qiulian shook her head and said. "You're still young and ignorant, you don't understand these things yet."

"Alright, Mother, I got it. We'll start working on them right away." Gu Lan hurriedly agreed before she could nag further.

"Why, don't you like listening to your mother?" Miao Qiulian teasingly glared at him.

"No, Mother, I'm just listening," Gu Lan smiled and changed the subject. He spoke to Zhu Ge, "Wash these."

Zhu Ge had just finished picking the purslane, and his face lit up when he took the small cloth bag. "Sure."

He picked up the handkerchief that was on the stool and went to the kitchen.

Miao Qiulian noticed that the small cloth bag wasn't from their family and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Gu Lan felt a little hesitant since his family didn't allow eating other people's food. He truthfully replied, "He gave it to me. Just some groundcherries, nothing else."

The marriage was not yet settled, so it was awkward to address each other, but Miao Qiulian understood right away. Her expression softened.

It was acceptable for a man to give his betrothed some trifles when their relationship was about to be finalized; sometimes, it even showed his attentiveness. At least, this man was not stingy and had the intention to do so.

Gu Lan relaxed upon realizing he didn't receive any scolding. He carried the large bamboo tray over, smiling as he began to sort through the wild vegetables.

"Mother, there's plenty of mugwort, and it's still tender. Let's steam it for lunch," he said while picking out weeds and tree leaves from the pile.

"Alright, if you want it, we'll have it." Miao Qiulian resumed spinning thread. When Gu Lanzhu brought in a bowl from the kitchen, she stuffed a bramble berry into her mouth first.

As the youngest son and a delicate twin, Gu Lanzhu was the apple of Miao Qiulian's eye, despite her not saying it aloud. With the sweetness of the bramble berry, her eyes narrowed with joy, praising her Bamboo Boy as the most obedient.

Gu Lanshi was well aware that his parents doted on Bamboo Boy. Whenever they went to the market, if he asked for a butter cake, his mother would either say they lacked money or promise to buy one next time. But if Bamboo Boy expressed his desire, they would always get him one without fail.

Back then, he was too young to notice his parents' favoritism, and being naturally carefree, he never took anything to heart. Always wearing a smile, he ate when hungry and slept when tired, knowing that he would never go hungry at home.

As he grew older these past two years, whenever he wanted a butter cake, he'd secretly tell Bamboo Boy, letting him ask for it instead. This way, he wouldn't be scolded and could still enjoy the cake. It was a win-win situation.

"Brother Lan Shi, here you go." Sitting on a stool nearby, Bamboo Boy held out the bowl with a bramble berry still in his mouth.

The bowl contained only four mountain raspberries alongside slightly larger purple berries, which were smaller than apricots and dark purple, indicating their ripeness.

Peeling the outer skin of the purple berries revealed their purple flesh. Unlike the tart-sweet taste of the raspberries, these berries were sweeter, even their seeds were sweet. Normally, sugar water was scarce, so after consuming the flesh, one could savor the sweetness from the seeds in their mouth for an entire day.

Gu Lan didn't eat the raspberries; instead, he peeled a purple berry and relished its sweetness, saying, "Save two raspberries for Doggy Brother. I'll pass on them."

"Okay," nodded Bamboo Boy. He carefully bit into the raspberry in his mouth, savoring its tart-sweet flavor with delight.

The pair busied themselves sorting wild vegetables. They would consume the mugwort and thorn sprouts that day. Purslane grew abundantly both by the river and in the hills; whenever they craved fresh greens, they could easily dig some up.

After cleaning the purslane they had gathered that day, they spread it evenly across a large bamboo tray. Once the sun was favorable in a couple of days, they would blanch and dry the greens to preserve them for the winter.

As they worked, the rain outside intensified.

Listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops, Miao Qiulian peered through the curtain of rain and said, "Your father, really. He still hasn't returned despite such heavy rain. I wonder where Doggy has gone. They'll be drenched when they finally come back."

"Mother, the fields are far. Perhaps Father is seeking shelter at someone's house. Doggy is clever; he might have found a hiding spot somewhere. How could he get soaked?" Gu Lan suggested, "There are still some ginger slices from yesterday in the kitchen, unused from cooking. If they do get wet, we can make ginger soup for Father and Doggy later."

"True," Miao Qiulian agreed, but she still got up, took the conical straw hat from the wall, and put it on before heading to the entrance to look out.

Gu Lan Shi placed the bamboo tray on a wooden rack and called out, "Mother, the rain is so heavy; you should come back before your clothes get soaked."

"I know, I know," Miao Qiulian replied as she gazed towards the village's outskirts. Through the curtain of rain, she could discern a figure dashing towards them, a silhouette all too familiar. She quickly shouted, "Doggy!"

"It's me, Mother. Go back inside," Gu Lan Yu responded. Being a thirteen-year-old boy, he was full of vitality and could run swiftly even with a basket of pig grass on his back, his head covered by a bamboo hat.

Just as Gu Lan Shi was carrying the picked wild herbs and thistle sprouts to the kitchen, he witnessed his mother and younger brother rushing in.

"Are you wet?" he asked.

"Just a bit on the outside," Gu Lan Yu promptly set down the bamboo basket and hat, then removed his outer shirt, smiling. "I bumped into Elder Brother while gathering pig grass. He had his hat on, and it was closer for him. He offered me his hat when he suggested I take shelter from the rain, but I didn't want to bother him. So, he gave it to me."

Miao Qiulian put his damp clothes in a wooden basin, saying, "What's the big deal about seeking shelter from the rain? Would your elder brother eat you up?"

"It's just that I don't know when the rain will stop, and the clouds are so thick. It's better to return earlier to feed the pigs," Gu Lan Yu explained, taking the cloth towel from Bamboo Boy to wipe his hair and face.

Their eldest and second brothers had already married and started families, having separated from the main household a couple of years ago. Otherwise, with so many people, the house would have been too cramped.

"There are mountain raspberries and ground cherries in the bowl. I'll make some ginger soup. You should have a bowl later," Gu Lan Shi said, holding the wild tea in one hand and placing the hat on his head with the other. There was no eave between the kitchen and the main room, so he wanted to avoid getting caught in the rain.

As he entered the kitchen, a tall and slender figure passed by the courtyard gate.

The person wore only a broad-brimmed hat, seemingly unbothered by the rain as they walked slowly, exuding an inexplicable air of silence and solemnity. The heavier the rain fell, the darker the sky grew, casting a dense shadow around the figure, as if shrouded in an impenetrable black cloud.

"Wow, so tall!" Bamboo, upon seeing the now-gone silhouette, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. His family's courtyard gate wasn't one of those grand entrances belonging to wealthy households; it was quite open and spacious in the village. Yet, the person who had just passed through seemed as tall as the gate itself. If they were at someone else's house, they would have had to bend down to enter.

Miao Qiulian didn't catch a full glimpse, only catching a fleeting glimpse from the corner of her eye.

Doggy popped a wild strawberry into his mouth, nonchalantly remarking, "That was Pei Yan, the one who returned from the Pei family. You don't often see him, so why the fuss?"

"What's the point of telling Bamboo about this?" Miao Qiulian said, not pleased.

She paused for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't resist chatting a bit more. Turning to Bamboo, she began, "You wouldn't know, but four years ago when he left, he was only fourteen, a year older than your Doggy brother. You were still small back then, only six years old, so naturally, you wouldn't remember him."

Lowering her voice, she whispered, "That Pei family is truly heartless. Last year, when Pei Yan came back, they refused to let him in. Regardless, back then, Pei Yan, as a half-grown lad, had served in the military in place of his eldest brother, reducing their household taxes. They benefited from it, yet they showed no gratitude."

"At only fourteen, how young he was. Life wasn't easy for him either. The war broke out in the north the first year he went. In battles, they don't care about one's age; even a young soldier like him could end up dead. It's a wonder he survived." Miao Qiulian rambled on, then shook her head and sighed as she saw Gu Lan mindlessly munching away.

"Luckily, the imperial court won the war swiftly. No major incidents have occurred in the past two years, and conscription hasn't reached our village. Otherwise, even if our family paid to avoid military service, it wouldn't have been a simple matter." She quickly spat twice after finishing her sentence, for these words carried some superstitious bad luck.

"How come he's so tall then?" Zhu Ge was still young and didn't understand the intricacies of military service or battles.

"I was wondering the same thing. Four years ago, when he left, he was already half a head taller than your Doggy Brother. When he came back last year, I caught a glimpse from afar, and he didn't seem that tall. Perhaps he's grown even more," Miao Qiulian resumed her spinning while saying, "He's only eighteen, so growing is not uncommon. It's just a shame."

Gu Lan Yu ate another bramble berry before asking, "Mother, what's a shame?"

Miao Qiulian shot him a glance before whispering, "It's a shame his parents were so ruthless that they didn't even give him a proper name. Just think about it, who would use the character 'Yan' for their child? Also, do you know how people in the village say he's a jinx? How did that rumor start?"

Doggy was quite perceptive and whispered back, mimicking her tone, "His parents created that image?"

"Indeed. A few years ago, before he went to the barracks, his mother said that to me and your aunts. She called him a deadly celestial body, that phrase came straight from her mouth. In all my years, I've never met such a mother, cursing her own son to die. There really are all sorts of people in this world."

After finishing her tale, Miao Qiulian warned them, "Remember, don't go around spreading those words. Keep your distance from the younger generation of the Pei family to avoid trouble. Also, don't stare at Pei Yan too much, don't get too close to him."

"I know, I wouldn't go even if you asked me to." Gu Lan Yu flicked Zhu Ge's forehead playfully, scaring him, "Remember what Mother said. If you provoke Pei Yan, forget about your puny arms and legs, even I wouldn't be able to withstand his wrath."

"Go away." Miao Qiulian laughed despite being annoyed by his antics. This rascal loved scaring his younger brother.

Zhu Ge covered his forehead and, hearing that both of them might get beaten, nodded like a chicken pecking rice, repeatedly affirming that he'd remember. At that moment, Gu Lan Shi called out from the kitchen, asking him to help with the fire. Zhu Ge grabbed a potato from a bowl and quickly left.