Chapter 16: The Bottomless Pit

Chapter 16: The Bottomless Stomach

"A Ye is a grateful soul. He originally intended to sell himself into servitude and even asked the village head to draft a contract. But your father and I spared him that. Your father simply wanted a reliable young man to care for us in our old age and bury us, not a servant to wait on him hand and foot. Our family isn’t some wealthy household; we don’t go in for that sort of thing. In the end, we invited the village head and a few respected senior uncles to witness, and A Ye settled in Sweetwater Village," He Guixiang said, sneaking a glance at Lin Shu.

What else could an outsider who would care for them in their old age be, if not a live-in son-in-law?

The implication was clear enough, but to her surprise, Lin Shu didn’t bat an eye—whether she didn’t understand or simply had no interest in the idea.

He Guixiang sighed regretfully.

After A Yao left, A Ye, to put their minds at ease, sought out her and Lin Dashan. He promised that if he couldn't be their son-in-law because it wasn't meant to be, he would instead be a son to them.

At the time, both she and Lin Dashan were too upset to respond, but in their hearts, they had long regarded Zhou Ye as half a son.

If A Shu wasn't interested in A Ye, then so be it. She would keep looking carefully later, finding A Shu a decent man whom she herself also liked.

Lin Dashan had taken a quick rinse with cold water in the courtyard. By the time He Guixiang finished washing the dishes and Lin Shu and her sister had gone to bed, He Guixiang brought the oil lamp into the inner room.

Seeing Lin Dashan already lying down, she went to snuff the lamp, but he stopped her, grinning foolishly as he pulled out ninety coppers and handed them to her.

He Guixiang gasped happily, "Husband, what work did you do today to earn so much?"

"I spent ten coins on two pieces of sweet cake, so it was a hundred coins in total. Today, I helped unload goods for the manager of the town’s grain shop. Based on the amount I unloaded, I should have only gotten seventy coins. But the manager slipped and fell while supervising. I moved quickly and cushioned his fall so he didn’t get hurt. He was kind enough to give me an extra thirty coins and said that whenever I come in the future, he’ll hire me."

Normally, he would never have spent ten coins on sweet cakes, but since the thirty coins felt like a windfall, he felt justified—especially with his daughter back home, which filled him with joy.

He Guixiang’s smile slipped slightly. "Husband, you’re not as young as you used to be. Don’t be so impulsive in the future. If that manager had fallen on you and injured you, you’d be laid up in bed for days. It wouldn’t be worth thirty coins."

"Don’t worry, I had it under control. See, I’m perfectly fine? A Xiang, come lie down." Lin Dashan pulled her over.

He Guixiang laughed and pushed him away. "Shameless! What nonsense are you up to after a tiring day? You should be resting."

"Tomorrow I’m resting and not going anywhere. With A Ye next door gone, we can be as loud as we want…"

Zhou Ye, still searching for wild delicacies in the mountains, was unaffected. The one affected was Lin Shu, two doors down.

The thatched cottage was not soundproof. Even with a room in between, the two could faintly hear the commotion.

Lin Xiaopu was too young to understand, but Lin Shu clicked her tongue.

"Father’s energy is really something—busy all day outside, and still busy when he comes back."

Lin Xiaopu was distracted, eyeing the sweet cake. Lin Shu had polished hers off in one bite, but Lin Xiaopu couldn’t bear to finish hers, taking only one bite and saving the rest for the next day. Hearing this, she chimed in, "Brother A Ye is even more impressive. A stone mortar that several strong men struggle to lift—weighing two or three hundred jin (approximately 330-440 pounds)—he can lift all by himself."

"He’s that strong?" Lin Shu was astonished, then paused.

She thought of herself in the post-apocalyptic world.

In that era of roaming zombies and disasters, some people awakened powers—like lightning, or elemental powers such as metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. She was lucky enough to awaken a strength-based ability: boundless monstrous strength.

But compared to other abilities, hers seemed pretty lame. It couldn’t summon lightning to kill zombies or raise earthen walls, so she was often assigned menial, grunt work in the base.

Early on, she did the hardest, most exhausting work for the least pay and food.

After awakening her boundless monstrous strength, her appetite grew enormously. An ordinary person’s portion couldn’t satisfy her, and she was almost always hungry.

While everyone in the post-apocalyptic world suffered from hunger, she suffered especially. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore and resolutely joined the vanguard team, using her fists as weapons—one punch could crush a zombie. That was how she earned the nickname "Violent Delicate Flower."

When she finally had enough money to eat five large bowls of rice in one sitting, she shocked the entire base. Many gossiped about her eating, but she paid them no mind. In the post-apocalyptic world, filling one’s stomach was paramount; everything else was trivial.

Remembering those hungry days, Lin Shu asked curiously, "How many servings of rice can Zhou Ye eat in one meal?"

Lin Xiaopu hesitated, unsure whether to tell the truth or not.

Brother A Ye’s enormous appetite was a secret between them. Would he be angry if she told a third person? But her sister was different from their parents—surely it was okay to tell her? Besides, her sister was clever and would likely figure it out sooner or later.

After an internal debate, the side advocating honesty won.

So Lin Xiaopu truthfully said, "Brother A Ye usually eats two large bowls of dry rice, three bowls of thick porridge, or five bowls of thin porridge. It sounds like a lot, but he’s never full. To fill his stomach, he often goes to the mountains to find food. And because he’s afraid Father and Mother will find out, he eats tree bark, roots, and wild berries raw."

Lin Shu looked shocked. "Father and Mother don’t know about this? Did he tell you he eats tree bark and roots?"

Lin Xiaopu lowered her voice. "I’m the only one who knows, and I found out on my own. Once, Brother A Ye came back very late, and I ran into him when I got up at night. When we talked, I smelled grass on his breath. Later, I secretly observed him and noticed he stops eating after a certain amount at each meal. When he’s too hungry, he goes to the mountains for food. In autumn, when there are more fruits and edible roots, he’s better off. But spring and summer are hard—he can only chew on plants and often wakes up hungry at night."

She sighed like a little adult. "Sigh, I wanted to tell Father and Mother, but Brother A Ye absolutely refused."

Perhaps because she had experienced similar hardships, Lin Shu listened with deep sympathy.

She knew all too well the agony of hunger, especially since Zhou Ye, like her past self, was a bottomless stomach.

Thinking about how she still needed Zhou Ye to dig that fishpond, Lin Shu began to ponder.

She could guess why Zhou Ye kept this secret. He had likely gotten grief for his appetite in his own family, and now, living under someone else’s roof and eating their food, if they knew how much he needed to eat, who would dare keep him?

But a bottomless stomach had its advantages. For instance, the difference in strength between eating to 50% fullness and 70% fullness was significant. If Zhou Ye could eat his fill, he might dig the fishpond she wanted in just a day or two, without delaying other tasks!

The family’s grain store wasn’t to be touched—it was barely enough to last until harvest. She also had no spare money to spend. For now, she could only see what the mountains had to offer to fill Zhou Ye’s stomach.

Guanyin Tofu could stave off hunger, but with Zhou Ye’s appetite, who knew how much would be needed to make him feel full? As for filling foods like fern roots or kudzu roots, it wasn’t yet the season to harvest them.

After considering this, Lin Shu thought: if the mountains had nothing, why not turn to the water? And so, the problem circled back to digging the fishpond.

She was already looking forward to Zhou Ye’s quick return.

After their little chat, the two sisters soon fell asleep. Their energy was spent from running around the mountains and fields all day, and they slept soundly.

Early the next morning, Lin Xiaopu energetically changed into her straw sandals and swiftly fetched the family’s bucket.

"Sister, where are we going to catch fish?"

"Let’s find a spot with lots of fish and few people. My fish-catching method is a secret—can’t let others learn it."

Lin Dashan listened cheerfully to her boasting and offered a suggestion. "Follow the river where our Sweetwater Village does laundry and hemp washing downstream. Past the village head’s place, about two *li* farther, the river is widest and deepest, with the most fish. But the water is deep there, so you’re not allowed to go. Upstream is a good spot too—less than three *li* upstream, near our other two acres of paddy fields. There’s a bend in the river where the water is neither too deep nor too shallow, and it’s clear. You can see the fish clearly there. You can go there."

Usually, Lin Dashan would be in the fields or town at this time, but he had overexerted himself yesterday and needed half a day to rest.

But he was not one to sit idle. Likely, after breakfast, he would go check on the fields. While weeding wasn’t necessary yet, he would still need to adjust water levels by digging or patching the ridges, diverting or draining water from the furrows.

Lin Dashan’s eyes were always on the work.

Lin Shu agreed readily. "Thanks for the valuable advice, Father! We’ll go where you said. Just wait—Xiao Pu and I will bring back a whole bucket of fish for you!"

"Sounds good! I’ll be waiting!"

Lin Shu took the empty wooden bucket from Lin Xiaopu, tossed a thick wooden stick from the firewood pile into it, and carried a roll of worn rattan matting she had asked He Guixiang for under her other arm.

He Guixiang had prepared dry provisions for them to take along, saving them the trouble of returning, but Lin Shu declined, smiling. "We’ll be back soon, in time for breakfast. If we’re a little late, just keep it warm in the pot for us, Mother."

"Better take two cakes to tide you over, and have a proper breakfast when you return." He Guixiang wrapped two coarse cakes in clean tung leaves, tied them securely with hemp rope, and handed them to Lin Xiaopu to carry.

The sisters walked for a quarter of an hour before reaching the river where villagers usually did their laundry. The riverbank was overgrown with various weeds, and Lin Shu spotted several lush, tall taro leaves growing among them.

Early morning was the ideal time for laundry, and already, small groups of villagers had gathered at favorable spots along the riverbank, squatting and beating their clothes and bedding with laundry paddles.

Among them were older women as well as young wives. Those who knew each other clustered together, chatting and laughing as they worked.

Author's Note: