Chapter 113: Weaving Thatch

Chapter 113: Weaving Thatch

He Guixiang was momentarily stunned by Lin Shu’s words. “Huh?”

Lin Shu blinked. “When Mom and Xiao Pu told me all this, wasn’t it because you felt sorry for Old Man Liao, living alone and not even eating properly? Our family already cooks large portions for two meals a day—adding one more person wouldn’t be any trouble. I’m just not sure if Old Man Liao would find it inconvenient.”

Old Man Liao’s house was at one end of the village, theirs at the other. Though Sweetwater Village wasn’t large, it was still quite a walk from one end to the other.

He Guixiang hesitated. “I do think Old Man Liao has a hard time living alone, especially with meals. But when he doesn’t feel like cooking, he usually eats at a neighbor’s house. He already has an arrangement with them—wouldn’t it be inappropriate for us to invite him to eat at our place instead?”

What He Guixiang didn’t say was that Old Man Liao must have been compensating that neighbor in some way for the meals. She didn’t know whether he gave them grain or money, but whenever he helped bring things back from town for them, he certainly never charged a single coin or asked for any food in return.

If they invited Old Man Liao to eat at their house, and he stopped going to the neighbor’s, would he still feel obliged to offer them those favors?

“Ah Shu, on clear days, Old Man Liao usually takes his ox-cart to town. He has his morning meal there and only comes back for the evening meal. Most families in our village keep their evening meals simple, so it’s not unusual for Xiao Pu to see him eating plain congee and pickled vegetables. But that neighbor is so careless—how could they serve him cold food? They should at least have warmed it up a little.”

He Guixiang frowned. It wasn’t that she thought Old Man Liao was eating poorly at the neighbor’s; rather, she felt the neighbor wasn’t treating him with care. On hot days, cold food might be tolerable, but right after the rain, when the weather had turned cooler, eating cold food was hardly appropriate.

Lin Shu said, “Mom, you’re overthinking it. If you can’t bear to see Old Man Liao eating cold food, then let’s give him a hot meal. Why worry about the neighbor? If you had to choose between making sure Old Man Liao gets a warm meal and avoiding gossip from that neighbor, which would you pick?”

Lin Xiaopu, ever the devoted younger sister, nodded vigorously. “Mom, I think Ah Shu is right. If we want to be good to Old Man Liao, we shouldn’t care what others say.”

He Guixiang, who was used to keeping harmony with everyone, had never done anything that might cause offense. She still felt uneasy. “Let me think about it a bit more.”

Lin Shu changed the subject. “Mom, do you know what Old Man Liao usually eats when he goes to town in the morning?”

He Guixiang shook her head. “How would I know? I don’t go to town often, and on the few occasions I’ve taken Old Man Liao’s ox-cart, we always went our separate ways as soon as we arrived.”

“I’ve seen him a few times,” Zhou Ye chimed in.

Zhou Ye usually stayed quiet when He Guixiang and her daughters were talking, listening quietly from the side. But now, he felt compelled to speak up. “The times I saw him, Old Man Liao usually ate the cheapest steamed buns—three per meal, costing just six copper coins. Only once or twice did I see him buy slightly more expensive flatbreads or sticky rice cakes.”

He Guixiang was slightly surprised. “But he makes quite a few copper coins just from ferrying people back and forth with his ox-cart. Why does he only eat steamed buns?”

“Mom, food in town is expensive. Steamed buns and similar things are the only affordable options. Old Man Liao is too frugal to spend more. Besides, his ox-cart isn’t always full. If he only helps villagers bring back small items, he hardly earns any money at all.”

Hearing this, He Guixiang made up her mind. “Alright, when your father gets back, I’ll have him ask Old Man Liao what he thinks. If he’s willing, we’ll just cook a little extra from now on!”

Lin Shu immediately said, “Mom, why wait for Dad? Ah Ye is right here—he can go ask Old Man Liao right now.”

He Guixiang: “...”

Seeing her mother reluctantly nod, Lin Shu grinned and asked, “So, Mom, do you actually want Old Man Liao to agree or not? What if he finds it too troublesome and refuses? Wouldn’t you have worried for nothing?”

“Now you’re teasing me! Of course I want him to agree. Old Man Liao is a good man. We’re not doing anything else—just making sure he gets a warm meal.”

He Guixiang wasn’t pitying Old Man Liao. As the only person in the village with an ox-cart, he hardly needed anyone’s pity. But when she heard Xiao Pu describe him eating cold, watery congee, it left a sour taste in her mouth.

Lin Shu said, “Let’s wait until you’ve discussed it with Dad. He’s the head of the household—this needs his approval. We can’t decide on our own, or he might get upset.”

He Guixiang pretended to be angry. “So you were just teasing me earlier! Ah Shu, you’re getting more and more impudent.”

Lin Shu hugged her, laughing. “It’s only because you spoil me.”

By noon, Zhou Ye had gone to the fields to fetch Lin Dashan back, and the whole family took a midday nap together.

Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu’s bedding had been completely changed. That morning, while inspecting the bedding, He Guixiang discovered that the roof had leaked during the night, dripping water onto Lin Shu’s pillow. Unaware, Lin Shu had slept on the damp pillow, which caused her high fever later that night.

When Lin Shu woke from her nap, Zhou Ye had already brought back several large bundles of thatch, which took up nearly half the courtyard. He was sitting on a small bamboo stool, intently weaving the thatch.

“Ah Ye, what are you doing?”

Zhou Ye glanced up briefly from his work. “The roof needs replacing. After this heavy rain, we’ll have several sunny days—it’s the perfect time to fix it.”

Poor families couldn’t afford tiles, so they had to regularly repair or replace the thatch on their roofs. The last time it rained, they had patched the outer layer, but now, that alone wasn’t enough.

The thatched roofs in the village were all constructed the same way: first, a layer of woven thatch was plastered with wet clay and left to dry before being laid on the roof. Then, several layers of broad tree bark were placed on top, followed by additional layers of thatch. Built up layer by layer and sloped properly, a thatched roof made this way would rarely leak.

But that was when it was newly built.

Over time, insects and ants would gnaw at the thatch and bark, and repeated exposure to rain would cause corrosion. Eventually, the roof would start to leak. Typically, the thatch needed to be replaced every three to four years.

Lin Dashan’s thatched roof had been built exactly three years ago. Many villagers waited four or five years before replacing theirs, so Lin Dashan had planned to wait another year or two. After all, replacing a roof was laborious—weaving the thatch, plastering it with clay, and drying it took several days. Collecting the tree bark for the second layer was also difficult, and laying the roof itself was strenuous work. Many families even asked fellow villagers for help when replacing their roofs.

So whenever a leak appeared in Ping Er’s roof, Lin Dashan would simply patch the outermost layer with more thatch.

Though Lin Dashan was an honest man, he had his flaws. Sometimes, asserting his authority as head of the household, he would make decisions without consulting the others, convinced his ideas were best.

In the past, Zhou Ye, feeling like an outsider under their roof, had often stayed out of such matters and simply gone along with Lin Dashan’s decisions. But this time, Ah Shu had fallen ill because of the leaky roof, and he regretted his earlier passivity.

He wanted the roof replaced, and he wanted it done now. He would handle it himself, without troubling anyone else.