Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After leaving Qi Cheng’s room, Lu Yuan returned to the storage room and divided the money into two portions.

The bones and brown rice Old Lady He had requested would naturally be paid from her share.

Old Lady He’s 120 coins, minus 17, left 103 coins.

Lu Yuan strung the copper coins in groups of ten with straw rope, making them easy to count at a glance. This way, Old Lady He couldn't count them in her room and then claim the amount was wrong, leaving Lu Yuan with no way to argue.

After stringing all of Old Lady He’s coins, she began counting her own.

Though she knew the total, she couldn't resist counting them again.

She was no longer penniless; she now possessed 46 coins.

Her days of hardship finally showed a glimmer of hope.

Lu Yuan kept only six coins on her person, hiding the rest in a thick bamboo tube by the head of her bed.

The bamboo tube was about a finger’s depth and placed flush against the wall, making its contents invisible.

After hiding the money and resting for a while, she heard Old Lady He’s voice and then went out with the coins.

Old Lady He, holding a bowl of brown rice, glanced at her. “Where’s the money?”

“Right here,” Lu Yuan said, lifting the basket she carried.

Old Lady He peered inside and saw the neatly strung coins.

“Alright, come inside with me. I need to count it,” Old Lady He said, carrying the brown rice into her room. Lu Yuan followed.

This was Lu Yuan’s first time entering Old Lady He’s room.

The furnishings were simple: a three-foot-wide wooden bed, a small table with an oil lamp, and a jar beside the bed, covered with a wooden board, its contents hidden.

She guessed the food supplies were likely in that jar.

The fact that Old Lady He was holding brown rice meant the previous meal of brown rice porridge had used up their last rice. The jar probably only contained rice bran now.

Perhaps Old Lady He had bought the rice because they had some income today.

Seeing Old Lady He place the rice on top of the jar, Lu Yuan asked, “Old Lady, is this rice borrowed or bought?”

Old Lady He shot her a glance. “Do we have land? Any harvest? No land, no harvest—what would we use to pay it back?”

Old Lady He’s tone was sharp. If Lu Yuan weren’t so even-tempered, she would have argued back.

But on second thought, she understood the old woman’s temperament.

An old woman raising her grandson alone—if she weren’t a bit sharp-tongued, she’d likely be taken advantage of.

Once Lu Yuan understood, she didn't take Old Lady He’s attitude to heart as much. She said, “When I went to the market today, Second Sister-in-law Chen told me that if we want brown rice, we can buy it from her—six coins per catty.”

As she spoke, she placed the basket of coins on the small square table.

Old Lady He sat down at the table and touched the strung coins. “No need. This rice is from the village chief’s family. It doesn’t cost anything.”

“No cost?” Lu Yuan was surprised.

Old Lady He explained, “When we were in a hurry to sell the land, the village chief wanted to buy it but didn’t have enough money. His family proposed supplying our household with five catties of grain every month for two years. That’s why I agreed to sell them our paddy field at a low price.”

Recalling the past, Old Lady He sounded proud. “Sheng Geer was an expert hunter. He started going into the mountains with the old hunter when he was just a teenager, saved up, built this house, and bought paddy fields for the family. Back then, everyone in Weishan Village envied the Qi family’s prosperous life…”

Her voice trailed off, and she sighed, lowering her head to count the strings of coins.

But Lu Yuan had latched onto a key detail.

If Qi Cheng had been hunting in the mountains since he was young, he must have been very familiar with the terrain. So how could he have fallen into a valley?

Old Lady He finished counting and confirmed the amount before wrapping the coins. She looked up at Lu Yuan and asked, “How much did you earn?”

Lu Yuan snapped out of her thoughts and replied, “Not much.”

When she didn't get a straight answer, Old Lady He snorted. “So you’re guarding against me now? This old woman may be poor enough to beg, but I’m not interested in your measly coins.”

Lu Yuan believed that Old Lady He wouldn't be after her money.

“It’s just that autumn is here, and soon it’ll be late autumn. It’ll get cold, and I want to save up to make winter clothes.”

“If you want winter clothes, then be smart about it. When the reed flowers by the river bloom, go gather them quickly.”

Lu Yuan knew that reed flowers were used as filling for winter clothing.

Fortunately, they were in Lingnan. If they were in the north, reed flowers alone would never get you through the freezing winters.

As Lu Yuan prepared to leave, she glanced at the brown rice on the jar. “Does the village chief’s family still sell rice?”

Old Lady He frowned, displeased. “Isn’t five catties of rice enough for you?”

Lu Yuan: …

How could it possibly be enough?

With only one meal of porridge every three days and usually surviving on rice bran and wild vegetables, without any oil or nourishment, how could her body endure? If this continued, her lifespan would likely end in her forties or fifties.

“I'm thinking, once I have some money, I’ll buy more rice.”

Old Lady He said, “If you have money, go ahead and buy it. But aside from these five catties, I won’t spend a single coin on another catty of rice.”

Lu Yuan replied, “I’ll earn money to buy it in the future.”

Old Lady He laughed as if she’d heard a joke. “If you could really earn money, why would you have fled to Weishan Village as a refugee?”

Lu Yuan answered without changing her expression, “It was because of the drought back home—there was no way to earn money. But now I’ve thought of a way to make some.”

Old Lady He became interested. “What way?”

Lu Yuan said, “I bought some beans. On the next market day, I’ll grind them into soy milk and set up a stall at the market.”

Old Lady He looked skeptical. “If you knew how to make soy milk, why did you need to flee as a refugee?”

Lu Yuan remained calm. “Old Lady, have you forgotten? I just said there was a drought back home. Even water had to be bought—how could we have spare water to make soy milk?”

Old Lady He realized that made sense.

She wiped the doubt from her face and said, “If you have a way to earn money, then go ahead. But remember—don’t change your mind about being Qi Cheng’s wife once you have money.”

Lu Yuan replied without a hint of guilt, “Of course not.”

She needed to give Qi Cheng a push, hoping to rouse him.

Old Lady He snorted and said, "We'll make bone congee tonight. Everyone needs some nourishment."

Lu Yuan replied, "Alright."

She turned and left the room, letting out a quiet sigh.

The weather was hot, and Lu Yuan was worried the bones might spoil, so she went to start making the broth first.

But the butcher hadn't cut up the bones; they were still in one piece, so she had to chop them herself.

Looking at the bone and then at Qi Cheng's room, an idea suddenly came to her.

Lu Yuan quietly moved a chopping block under Qi Cheng's window.

She sharpened the cleaver until it was even sharper, placed the bone on the chopping block, and began chopping with forceful swings.

The loud "thwack, thwack, thwack" noises startled Old Lady He inside the room, and she hurried out to see what was happening.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw Lu Yuan holding a cleaver under her grandson's window, loudly chopping the bone.

Old Lady He clutched her chest and took a deep breath, shouting, "If you're going to chop, do it further away. Don't disturb Sheng Geer."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment and replied, "It's good if it disturbs him. Even better if it wakes him up."

With that, she continued chopping.

Old Lady He was stunned by Lu Yuan's words.

As the "thwack, thwack, thwack" sounds resumed, she made no further attempt to stop her.

Inside the room, Qi Cheng, who had been in a coma for over two months, rarely heard any sounds other than faint voices or the sound of water.

Thwack, thwack, thwack...

It sounded like someone chopping wood with great force, yet it didn't quite match.

His grandmother certainly didn't have that kind of strength, so it must be the widow Lu Yuan making the noise.

Even in his unconsciousness, Qi Cheng retained a faint awareness and had noticed that Lu Yuan had been acting very differently these past few days.

In the earlier days, she was barely noticeable, but now, every day left a deep mark on him.

For a moment, Qi Cheng grew curious about which version of Lu Yuan was the real one.

Outside, after chopping the bone, Lu Yuan was drenched in sweat from the effort.

After washing her hands and face, she lit the stove to boil water. She blanched the bone to remove the blood, then transferred it to the pot she usually used to make congee for Qi Cheng to simmer the broth.

Simmering broth in a pot reduced water evaporation. After simmering on low heat for an hour, the broth remained plentiful and became rich and fragrant.

Afraid she might neglect the fire, she moved the pot and stove outside the kitchen so she could keep an eye on it while working.

She hadn't processed the bamboo shoots she had gathered earlier, so she decided to do it while there was still daylight.

Old Lady He, who was doing embroidery by the window inside, heard the noise and glanced outside. Seeing Lu Yuan handling the bamboo shoots, she seemed to have grown accustomed to her bustling and turned her attention back to her work.

Lu Yuan peeled off the tough outer layers of the bamboo shoots, leaving only the tender yellow-green shoots inside.

She had dug up three bamboo shoots, each weighing about ten catties.

Since the household only had two drying baskets and she couldn't dry too many at once, she processed only one shoot.

After processing, the edible part of one shoot weighed only three to four catties.

She sliced the peeled shoots into strips and blanched them in boiling water.

Uncertain how long to blanch them, she relied on instinct.

Worried that the bitterness might remain even after blanching, she soaked them in cold water overnight, planning to sun-dry them the next day.

By the time she finished with the bamboo shoots, the bone broth had been simmering for a long time. She lifted the lid and saw bone grease floating on the clear, bubbling broth. She skimmed it off with a ladle and set it aside in a bowl to use for stewing Napa cabbage.

The first round of bone broth rarely turned milky white; it usually took the second or third simmering to achieve that richness.

So, before making congee, she removed the bones, planning to simmer them again the next day.

She set aside an extra bowl of broth to make rice soup later. The remaining broth was used to cook a small half-bowl of brown rice, simmering for another half an hour.

While the congee was cooking, Lu Yuan asked Old Lady He, "Old Lady, I plan to till the vegetable garden tomorrow. Can we harvest the Napa cabbages there?"

Old Lady He didn't respond but gave her a look.

Her expression seemed to say—Are we still going to live like this?

—

After just a few days of living together, she could already understand the old lady's expressions.

Lu Yuan said, "The bone grease from the broth won't keep until tomorrow. It'd be a shame to let it spoil. Besides, we need to till the soil before planting tomorrow. The Napa cabbages should be harvested today or tomorrow—there's not much difference. Don't you think so, Old Lady?"

Old Lady He frowned, thought for a moment, and finally nodded.

With Old Lady He's approval, Lu Yuan immediately went to the hillside behind the house and dug up the three sickly-looking Napa cabbages.

The three Napa cabbages together weighed less than one catty.

When the congee was almost ready, she washed the two smallest Napa cabbages, sliced them into strips, and stewed them in the bone broth. She then crushed two cloves of garlic from the corner of the house, chopped them finely, and added them to the pot. Finally, she sprinkled in a pinch of salt, and the aroma instantly filled the air.

A plate of steaming, fragrant Napa cabbage was placed on the table. Chun Hua and Qiu Hua clung to the edge of the table, staring at it and swallowing hard.

Lu Yuan sprinkled a small pinch of salt into the bone congee, stirred it, and divided it into four bowls of varying portions.

After portioning it out, she set the bowls in cool water to chill. Then she washed the pot and used the bone broth to make rice soup.

The rice had already been ground into flour, so it cooked quickly once boiled.

After a while, Lu Yuan brought the congee to the table and called out, "Food's ready."

Old Lady He came out of her room and looked at the simple meal on the table.

For some reason, even though it was a simple meal, it already looked delicious just by appearance.

Taking the first bite of flavorful food, Lu Yuan, who had been eating bland meals for six days, nearly teared up.

After taking a sip of the savory congee, she finally felt like she was living like a human being again after these six days.

After tasting it, Old Lady He rarely praised, "You cook well."

The two children didn't say a word, just buried their heads in drinking the porridge.

Lu Yuan served them each a few pieces of bok choy.

Chun Hua looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at her mother: "Mommy, this porridge is so delicious."

Qiu Hua couldn't speak in full sentences yet, but she also looked up and murmured indistinctly: "Mommy, good."

Lu Yuan, feeling satisfied herself, smiled at them and warned, "Drink slowly, don't choke."

After the evening meal, they began to wash up.

Lu Yuan had walked a long way today, and her legs were aching dully.

The basins and buckets at home were all used for washing clothes, bathing, or fetching water, not suitable for soaking feet. So she used a towel soaked in hot water, applying it to her calves over and over to relieve the fatigue.

As night fell, Old Lady He lit an oil lamp and went to her grandson's room to talk.

"Sheng Geer, your betrothed turns out to be quite a forceful person too—whatever she says, she does right away."

"The day before yesterday, she made a bamboo bed, talked about clearing the vegetable garden, and today she even told me she plans to make soy milk beverages to sell at the market stall."

"How could someone so clever and capable have ended up in such difficult circumstances?"

"Moreover, Grandma finds herself being swayed by her. I'm such a stingy person, yet I actually agreed to let her pick all those bok choy in the plot."

Listening to his grandmother's words, Qi Cheng grew even more curious about Su Shi.

From his grandmother's account, it wasn't hard to tell that Su Shi was not only quick at her work but also eloquent.

But as Grandma said, how could someone so quick and eloquent be driven from her homeland by her in-laws' mistreatment?

Old Lady He went on talking for a long time, recounting everything that had happened over the past two days before finally falling silent.

She sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at her grandson with quiet affection.

After a long while, she reached out and gently stroked his cheek: "Sheng Geer, when will you wake up? Grandma misses you."

Hearing his grandmother's words, Qi Cheng, who had originally resigned himself to death, felt a deep guilt rising within him.

Grandma was nearly sixty years old, yet she had repeatedly endured the pain of burying her own children. Now, with him as her only remaining relative, she had to watch her grandson's life slowly fade away, powerless to do anything.

This was his failure in his filial duties.

If there were really a great-grandchild to keep Grandma company, perhaps she wouldn't feel so lonely.

But he was unwilling.

Grandma might find solace, but it would also make life hard for another woman.

Life was hard these days. A widow raising two young children was already difficult enough; adding another child and an elderly person to support would be far too much pressure.

It would be better for her to marry an older widower who could offer some support, rather than tying herself to a comatose man like him, who couldn't help at all and needed care himself.