Chapter 32: The Tight-Lipped One

Chapter 32 The Tight-Lipped Gourd

After the family had eaten their fill, He Guixiang cleared the dishes. Lin Dashan lounged lazily on the bench for a while before finally shouldering his hoe and ambling off to the fields.

Zhou Ye was about to head to the vegetable patch behind the house to continue working when Lin Shu called out, "A Ye, Cousin Yu Shu will be here later. I'm teaching him the *Three Character Classic*. Would you like to stay and listen?"

Seeing his surprised expression, Lin Shu realized she had indeed forgotten to tell him. She then explained in detail about teaching Lin Yushu for an hour each day.

After hearing this, Zhou Ye's expression became somewhat more serious than usual, but his tone remained as steady and even as ever, "That's good. If Cousin can achieve something with his learning, it would be beneficial for everyone. As for me, I have no interest in such scholarly pursuits. I won't join in."

Having said that, he picked up the iron shovel from the courtyard and left.

Lin Shu was a bit bewildered. She turned to Lin Xiaopu and asked, "Is he unhappy?"

Lin Xiaopu let out a "Huh?", looking completely confused, "A Ye always looks like that! How can you tell he's unhappy, Sis?"

Lin Shu: "..."

*Xiao Pu, aren't you usually sharp and perceptive? Has your keenness gone on a walkabout?*

Even *she* had sensed that Zhou Ye's mood was worse than before. This tight-lipped gourd, who seemed to have had his tongue cut out—expecting him to speak up voluntarily was impossible, but she couldn't be bothered to guess either.

Of course, her own mood was the most important! If someone else was unhappy because of something she said, it definitely wasn't her fault. After all, she was such a considerate little innocent—it was impossible for her to say anything inappropriate.

Today, Lin Yushu came with his mother, Third Aunt Zhang Qiaohua.

Zhang Qiaohua had brought the hemp she had dried at home. She wore a smile for everyone she met, and her good mood these past two days was visibly obvious. When she saw Lin Shu, her smile was especially bright.

"A Shu, your mother and I agreed I'd come today to spin hemp together. You and Yu Shu attend to your own business; don't mind us."

Lin Shu replied, "Third Aunt, I understand. Mother gets bored by herself; it's wonderful that you can come keep her company."

Zhang Qiaohua thought: *This eldest daughter is indeed an educated one. Even a casual remark makes one feel so comforted.*

After Lin Yushu followed Lin Shu into the main hall, Zhang Qiaohua couldn't help but prick up her ears and listen. She found that what the Lin Laoer family's eldest daughter was teaching sounded like complete Greek to her, so she stopped listening, though the laugh lines at the corners of her eyes became more pronounced.

The two sisters-in-law sat like this, spinning hemp while chatting in hushed tones. An hour passed quickly.

Although she only taught for an hour, Lin Shu covered a lot of material and explained many allusions, as much as a regular tutor covers in two or three days.

Lin Yushu listened with great relish, feeling that he had enough to digest for a whole day.

Zhang Qiaohua, unaware of this, wished Lin Shu could teach for another hour, but she understood one shouldn't push their luck.

"Son, if there's anything you don't understand, come to your Second Uncle's house more often and ask your Sister A Shu. Don't be shy."

Lin Yushu said sheepishly, "Mother, I've made a note of all the things I don't understand. I'll ask Sister A Shu about them the next day."

Zhang Qiaohua glared at him: *Silly boy! No need to wait till the next day! Ask at other times, so you don't have to use up the time the next day!*

This wasn't something to say in front of others. She would definitely have a good talk with her son when they got back.

Unaware of Third Aunt's little scheme, Lin Shu, having sat in the main hall for an hour until her bottom was numb, called Lin Xiaopu to go to the fields with her to catch loaches, planning to add a dish for the evening meal.

Knowing that the loaches could be made much less fishy after her sister prepares them, Lin Xiaopu was especially enthusiastic about catching them. The two of them worked for half an hour and caught about seven or eight of them!

It was a pity that loaches and yellow eels liked burrowing into the mud too much; her fish pond couldn't hold them. Otherwise, if she could keep loaches and yellow eels in the fish pond with the spring water for a while, she was sure she could make their flesh fresh and tender, and remove most of the earthy smell.

"Sis, A Ye's here!" Lin Xiaopu suddenly called out, pointing into the distance.

Lin Shu looked towards the distance and sure enough, saw Zhou Ye coming their way.

Both Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu had taken off their straw sandals and rolled up their trousers and sleeves high. They had splattered mud on their legs and arms from catching loaches. It was less noticeable on Lin Xiaopu, but Lin Shu's skin was fair, making the mud stains particularly obvious and accentuating her snow-white complexion.

Zhou Ye approached and saw the state they were in. His gaze rested only on their faces.

"A Ye, why are you here? Weren't you helping Sis dig the fish pond?" Lin Xiaopu asked quickly.

Zhou Ye looked at Lin Shu, "It's all dug. How should I lay the gravel and pebbles?"

Lin Shu was delighted to hear this, "It's finished already? A Ye, you work so fast! Wait for me, I'll clean up and go back with you!"

"No need, continue with what you're doing. Just tell me what to do."

Lin Shu said cheerfully, "Well, I *am* busy, but with catching loaches to add a dish for everyone."

Zhou Ye, having been in the mountains previously, hadn't eaten the loaches Lin Shu prepared. Upon hearing this, he reminded her, "Loaches have a very strong earthy smell, hard to get down. You need soy sauce and rice wine to remove the fishiness, and plenty of it. We don't have those at home."

People talk about the seven necessities: fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. But Sweetwater Village was poor. Being able to eat your fill was already good enough. They mostly only used coarse salt in their food, rarely even oil, let alone seasonings like soy sauce and vinegar. They didn't buy ginger; they gathered wild chives and garlic from the mountains, relying on these for flavor.

In these times, no farming family would waste soy sauce and buy rice wine just for one dish of loaches. That would be putting the cart before the horse; poor families couldn't afford it. If you only used a little salt, the overpowering earthy smell meant that poor folks would rather eat bran than eat these loaches. Otherwise, why, with so many loaches in the fields, did only a few village boys catch them? Nobody else was stupid.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Lin Xiaopu grinned widely, "Hehe, A Ye, you were in the mountains the last couple of days, so you missed the loaches Sis made. Sis has a special method to get rid of the smell! They're not smelly at all, they're so tasty!"

Lin Shu laughed, "It's not that exaggerated. They're still a bit fishy, but not so bad you can't eat them. After all, it's meat." But she was surprised that Zhou Ye seemed quite knowledgeable about food, knowing about using soy sauce and rice wine to remove fishiness.

Hearing this, Zhou Ye only hesitated for just a moment before also rolling up his trousers and stepping into the field. "Then let's catch a few more."

What followed amazed both Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu.

Since Zhou Ye had come to Lin Dashan's home, he had worked in the fields every day, occasionally going deep into the mountains. This was the first time he had shown off this skill.

Lin Shu thought she was quite experienced at catching loaches, but compared to Zhou Ye, her experience suddenly seemed inadequate. The slippery loaches weren't slippery at all in Zhou Ye's hands; he caught them every time.

In just a quarter of an hour, the wooden bucket had eight or nine more loaches!

Lin Shu teased, "If you keep catching them like this for an hour, you'll catch every loach in the fields!"

Zhou Ye easily carried the bucket up to the ridge. As he washed the mud from his legs, he explained, "These things breed a lot and grow fast. They're hardy; they can survive even in drought. You can't catch them all. When we catch all the ones in our field, new ones will come in from the ditches, and loaches from other fields will tunnel over too."

Hearing this, Lin Shu had a clever idea. She said with a smile, "I'll cook them for you for the evening meal. If you like them, we can come catch them every day, perfect for satisfying your bottomless pit of a stomach."

Since no one else ate loaches, they were there for the taking. Although they were earthy, they were packed with nutrients, with higher mineral and vitamin content than average fish or shrimp. Because loaches eat small insects and also ingest soil daily, their iron content is especially high. Such iron-rich food is an excellent blood-building food, perfect for someone like Xiao Pu to eat more of.

Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu went to the ditch by the field to fetch clean water and washed up, scrubbing their arms, legs, and faces clean.

Glancing at Zhou Ye, who had already cleaned up and was standing with his back to them, Lin Shu smiled slightly. As incredible as it seemed, she indeed sensed a kind of gentlemanly manners in this rough fellow Zhou Ye. He proactively did the dirty and heavy work, and never let his eyes wander where they shouldn't.

This rough fellow was very neat. She didn't know what time he had gotten up this morning, but by the time she had tidied up and left her room, he had already washed his hair with the leftover cypress and mugwort shampoo from yesterday. For a man who worked the land, his hands were rough, but there wasn't a speck of black dirt under his fingernails.

Perhaps these past few days of rustic life had been too peaceful, giving Lin Shu the leisure to think about such trivial things. Unlike her previous life, where she spent every day just thinking about how to fill her stomach and had no time to even look at men.

Seeing that the two girls were ready, Zhou Ye motioned for them to walk ahead, himself carrying the bucket and following a few steps behind.

Lin Shu found it amusing. *Does he need to avoid suspicion even when there are outsiders around?* If it weren't for Xiao Pu's firm belief that Zhou Ye would blush, and her own sneaky looks confirming it, she would really think Zhou Ye didn't like her.

Lin Shu slowed down a bit until she was walking next to him, paying no mind to a few villagers passing by in the distance. "A Ye, know where to buy bricks and tiles?"

Zhou Ye originally intended to remind her that if she had plans to marry someone else, she should keep her distance from him. But seeing her innocent and naive expression, he found himself unable to say such words. Instead, he shifted his focus to her question, "Those are only sold in town. Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking, once our family earns enough money in the future, we could build a grand house with blue bricks and green tiles."

Zhou Ye hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back. In the end, he simply gave a noncommittal hum.

Lin Shu knew what he was thinking—bricks and tiles must be expensive. Even the village chief’s family lived in an adobe house, yet she was indulging in such grand dreams. So, building a brick-and-tile house was just something she had jotted down in her little notebook for now, not something she planned to do immediately.

After carrying a large bucket of loaches back to the courtyard and changing the water, Lin Shu followed Zhou Ye to the river.

Their home was quite far from the big river where clothes were washed. To cover the entire fish pond with gravel, it would take who knows how many trips back and forth.

"First, lay a layer of coarse gravel at the bottom, then cover it with these smooth pebbles." Lin Shu grabbed a handful of gravel from the riverbank and picked out a few pebbles to show Zhou Ye.

After hearing her requirements, Zhou Ye didn’t complain once about the trouble. Instead, he gave her a definite answer, "I’ll go borrow two basket carriers from Grandpa Gao to shovel and carry the gravel. Your fish pond should be mostly finished by tomorrow." After a pause, he added, "Go enjoy yourself. I don’t need your help."

"Who’s just playing around? Everything I do has a purpose," Lin Shu retorted softly, her tone almost like a playful pout.

Zhou Ye turned his back to her and secretly thumped his chest twice in silent frustration.