Chapter 23 Mountain Home Harth 23

Chapter 23: Mountain Home Fires 23

During the busy farming season of September, the deepening autumn was hidden within the golden, heavy rice ears.

The villagers were all very busy, each coming home by moonlight, hoes slung over their shoulders. A few days ago, when Liu Guyu returned from setting up his stall, he could still see them working their way through the fields, busy harvesting rice.

Someone in the field spotted Liu Guyu and Cui Lanfang, straightened up and rubbed their back, and called out, "Mrs. Qin, where are you heading?"

Cui Lanfang stopped and turned to look at the woman who spoke, replying, "Headed to the Chens'!"

After saying that, she quickly caught up with Liu Guyu, who was walking ahead.

"The Chen family?"

The woman who asked was stunned for a moment, then poked her husband next to her. "Cui Lanfang is going to the Chen family! I remember the Qins' land was rented to the Chen family, right?"

The man was lean, with a dark complexion, wearing coarse linen clothes and a straw hat for shade. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he gripped a sickle, cutting the rice one stalk at a time.

He rolled his eyes at the woman and said impatiently, "Why you gotta meddle? Hurry up and cut! We have to finish harvesting this field today!"

The woman glared at him and muttered to herself, "Talking to you men is impossible!" Then she added under her breath, "That direction leads to Chen Guicai's house! I heard his family's rent is over two months overdue. They must be going to collect the money!"

Growing more excited, she eventually threw down her sickle and called out to the man, "We've been cutting for over an hour. My back is killing me. Let's take a break!"

Though she called it a break, she climbed onto the ridge and hurried off in the direction Liu Guyu and Cui Lanfang had gone, loudly calling out to a few other villagers along the way to join her to see what happens.

"Did you see that? The Qin family woman and her son went over together. They must be going to the Chen family to collect the rent!"

"Oh dear... hasn't the Chen family's rent been overdue for two months? You know, the other day they were smugly saying in the fields that Sister Lanfang is too soft-hearted and easy to bully, and that she hasn't mentioned the money even after all this time."

"Ugh, the nerve of them! Come on, let's go! Let's go take a look!"

...

Chen Guicai was the head of the Chen family. He was not from around here—his hometown had flooded, and he brought his wife, children, and elderly mother to escape the flood in Shanghe Village. With no land of his own, he could only make a living by renting fields.

His family was even poorer than the Qin family. With two daughters, a son, and an elderly mother, there were many mouths to feed. Chen Guicai also had a limp and couldn't do heavy labor, so he could only tend to crops.

When Liu Guyu and Cui Lanfang arrived at the Chen family's home, they saw a thatched-roof house with only three rooms. The eaves were so low even a dog could climb onto them.

Liu Guyu stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Soon, someone came to answer—a sallow-complexioned woman with many sunspots on her face and dry, yellowish hair, clearly suffering from long-term malnutrition.

She looked pitiful, but her eyes were shrewd.

This was Chen Guicai's wife, Yu Chunhong.

When she saw Liu Guyu and Cui Lanfang, she immediately understood their purpose and frowned. Then she quickly scrunched up her face and spoke weakly, "...Oh, it's Sister Lanfang and Liu Geer. What... what brings you here?"

Liu Guyu ignored this rhetorical question (knowing full well why) and got straight to the point: "Auntie, your family still owes us six months' rent! Since we have some free time today, my mother and I made the special trip so you wouldn’t have to go out of your way to find us. It saves you a trip, doesn’t it?"

The rent was due every six months. The payment for the latter half of the year should have been made after June, but it had been delayed until September.

Yu Chunhong rubbed her hands nervously, looking embarrassed. "So it's about this... Ah, Liu Geer, it's not that Auntie doesn’t want to pay, but the family is really poor. Look, your little brother Bao Er hasn’t had meat in so long. We eat nothing but vegetables every meal. We really don’t have any extra money."

As she spoke, she swatted at the little boy clinging to her leg, so he pouted.

The little child was about four or five years old. Though Yu Chunhong claimed he hadn’t eaten meat in a long time, the child looked sturdy and well-fed.

Meanwhile, a girl around twelve or thirteen years old sat in the yard washing clothes. The pile of laundry in the wooden basin was taller than her head.

She appeared to be about the same age as Banban but was even thinner and smaller, with a sallow complexion and so little flesh on her face that her large, dark eyes stood out starkly, like black bells embedded in her features—downright eerie. Her wrists, scrubbing the clothes, were painfully thin and bony, as if they could snap with the slightest pressure.

Noticing Liu Guyu’s gaze fixed on her daughter, Yu Chunhong quickly raised her voice and shouted, "Er Ya! Er Ya! You good-for-nothing girl, we have guests—can’t you even greet them? Hurry up and pour some water for Auntie and Brother!"

The girl called "Er Ya" slowly stood up, woodenly paused for a moment, then mumbled a flat "Oh" dully before heading to the kitchen to fetch two bowls of water.

It wasn’t until she stood that Liu Guyu noticed her pants and sleeves were too short, exposing her thin, yellowish ankles.

Soon, she returned with the water but was immediately pulled sharply by Yu Chunhong before she could speak.

Yu Chunhong exclaimed, "What a disgrace! Look, even Er Ya’s clothes are too short. With autumn and winter coming, I’ve been worrying about warm clothes for the children—how will we survive the cold without a padded jacket? And the windows still need sealing, the thatch on the roof is thinning... Ah, everything costs money!"

As she spoke, she surreptitiously pinched Er Ya’s arm hard.

The little girl flinched and immediately stammered, "A-Auntie, s-sorry... We’re too poor to pay the rent. P-please, give us a few more days... We desperately beg you."

Her voice sounded pitiful, but her face remained expressionless, her large dark eyes unblinking—like a lifeless puppet.

Faced with such a young girl, Liu Guyu found it hard to say anything harsh.

He glared directly at Yu Chunhong, who stood behind Er Ya, and asked, "So, you’re refusing to pay the rent?"

Yu Chunhong hurriedly replied, "How could we refuse? It’s just that we really don’t have the money! Please, give us more time! Be kind, young master."

Just then, a voice spoke up from outside.

"Exactly! The Chen family is suffering so much! Coming to demand money now is just pushing them toward starvation! I mean, Liu Geer, haven’t you been setting up a stall in town lately? Made quite a bit of money, haven’t you? It’s not like you need the money right now. Do a good deed—give them a way out."

Hearing the voice, Liu Guyu turned and saw it was Zhou Qiaozhi speaking.

She lived right nearby and had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, now clearly gloating.

A crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the Chen family’s yard—some were neighbors, others had come specifically for the spectacle.

One person said, "It’s so pitiful... Er Ya is so thin she doesn't even look human anymore."

Another retorted, "Tch, who isn’t struggling? The Qin family just lost their son—aren’t they pitiful too? Paying debts is only right—since when does being poor get you out of paying? If that were the case, nobody in the world would ever pay!"

Liu Guyu naturally overheard and couldn’t help but twitch into a smirk.

He placed his hands on his hips and turned to Zhou Qiaozhi, saying, "Hey, Auntie, from the sound of it, you’re a truly kind-hearted soul! A real saint! I’ve got an idea!"

The villagers, excited for the spectacle, asked, "What idea?"

Liu Guyu laughed. "From now on, the Chen family can eat at your place! You show your kindness, they save on food expenses, and with the money saved, they can pay our rent! It kills three birds with one stone! What do you all think—isn’t that a great idea?"

The crowd, never one to miss a chance to stir trouble, shouted:

"Hey! That’s a brilliant idea! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Qiaozhi, did you hear that? Liu Geer’s idea is perfect!"

"And don’t forget, the Chen kids are growing—you’ll have to cook them some decent food!"

Teased like this, Zhou Qiaozhi lost all interest in watching the commotion. Fuming, she glared and stomped her feet, pointing at Liu Guyu and scolding, "You disrespectful brat! No matter what, I am your elder. Is this how you talk to me?"

Liu Guyu rolled his eyes and retorted sharply, "An elder? Then why don’t you wish me well instead of expecting me to hand out freebies? You’re the kind of elder who helps others mooch off, aren’t you?"

Zhou Qiaozhi sputtered, "You! You…"

Too angry to continue and seeing that no one around was taking her side, Zhou Qiaozhi finally turned and stormed off home.

Just then, an elderly woman emerged from the Chen family’s house.

The old lady was very elderly, hard of hearing and nearly blind, so she hadn’t caught a word of the heated argument outside all this time.

Holding a pig’s foot, she squinted in Yu Chunhong’s direction and called out, "Chunhong, how about stewing some pinto beans with pig’s feet today? It’s been so long since we had meat, and Bao Er has been craving it!"

At the sight of the pig’s foot, Liu Guyu almost laughed out of exasperation.

He hadn’t eaten pig’s feet even once since arriving here!

Before Liu Guyu could say anything, Cui Lanfang, standing nearby, snapped, "Didn’t you say your family has no money?!"

Yu Chunhong’s face turned red and white with anger. She shot a furious glare at the old woman and hissed, "Ma! Go lie down in your room!"

The old woman asked, "What silkie chicken soup? Did Daya bring back a silkie chicken?"

Yu Chunhong: "…"

This time, Liu Guyu really did laugh.

He ignored Yu Chunhong and instead turned to the villagers watching the spectacle, shouting:

"Folks, you’ve all seen it today! The Chen family can afford to buy meat and chicken but claim they have no money to pay the rent. If this leads to a dispute, it won’t be because we disregarded the ties we share as neighbors! Since you’re all here as witnesses, you must back me up when the time comes!"

With that, he finally looked back at Yu Chunhong and delivered his last remark: "Aunt, if you refuse to pay, then I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. Paying what you owe is only fair—don’t you think?"

Yu Chunhong thought for a moment, then put on a defiant look, sneered, and said, "That’s the truth! That’s the truth! But we really don’t have the money! If you have another way, whatever it is, we’ll accept it!"

What else could he do?

Her family was truly poor! Even if he seized their belongings to repay the debt, the few broken chairs, stools, cracked ladles, and chipped bowls weren’t worth anything.

Yu Chunhong thought, shamelessly.

Liu Guyu didn’t look at her again. He called Cui Lanfang to leave and, surprisingly, didn’t press for the money any further—they left without getting a cent.

Too late, she realized something was off. Yu Chunhong chased after them a few steps, still shouting, "Hey! Why won’t you believe me! We really have no money! This pig’s foot was a present from my son-in-law! We didn’t buy it ourselves! Our family truly has no money! Even if you came in and searched, you wouldn’t find anything!"

Of everything she said, only this part was true.

The Chen family’s eldest daughter had already married, wedding a widower from another village.

That widower had a terrible temper and had a violent streak. Chen Daya often returned home beaten black and blue and crying after being beaten. But the next day, the widower would show up with nice gifts—rice, oil, meat, eggs—hand them over to his mother-in-law, and take his wife back home.

Beat her, she returns to her parents, he comes to fetch her.

The Chen family’s occasional meat meals relied entirely on this cycle.

Failing to catch up with them, Yu Chunhong returned angrily and scolded her second daughter again. In the end, her young son threw a fit for wanting to eat meat, so she finally took the pig’s foot into the kitchen.

As for Liu Guyu and Cui Lanfang on the other side—

Cui Lanfang frowned and asked, "Gu Yu, are we letting the rent go?"

Liu Guyu replied immediately, "Of course not!"

"Let’s head home first! When we get back, I’ll pack two bundles of brown sugar and take them to the village head’s house. I’ll ask the village head to help cancel the lease—we’ll reclaim the field and stop renting it out!"