Chapter 10: Wife Wants to Sleep on the Floor
Breakfast was sauerkraut dumpling soup, also called ban soup. It tasted pretty good and was a common staple food in this era.
After breakfast, Father looked at everyone, especially Lin Heng, and said, “This morning, we are planting rice seedlings. We need to finish planting all nine acres of land today, so everyone must come to help.
Caiyun will collect pigweed and help look after the kids. The rest of us will go to the fields. Once this is done, we can start preparing to build the house.”
Lin Heng knew these words were aimed at him and didn’t refuse, which surprised the whole family.
When he went outside to get his tools, his mother, Lu Hongmei, followed him closely, which made Lin Heng helpless. “Mom, do you really think I’ll run off?”
“It’s not like you haven’t done it before,” Mother Lin shot him a glance.
“Second Uncle, your slingshot.” His eldest nephew, Lin Wei, handed him the slingshot and grinned, “Second Uncle, teach me how to use it!”
“Sure, but I need to work too,” Lin Heng said, spreading his hands.
“Alright, let’s go, I’ll first explain how to aim properly…”
Lin Heng carried a basket on his back and started explaining all sorts of grand theories to his nephew, leaving the boy staring in awe, his admiration for Lin Heng reaching new heights.
“Lin Wei, come over here and stop bothering your Second Uncle!”
Lin Wei’s mother, Liu Juan, suddenly shouted.
“Mom, but Second Uncle isn’t even working…” Lin Wei muttered sadly.
“Come here and look after your brother, or do you want me to grab a stick?” Liu Juan yelled, starting to look for a branch.
Terrified of being punished, Lin Wei quickly ran back to his mother’s side without saying another word.
Lin Heng shrugged, saying nothing. He understood that his sister-in-law was afraid her son would pick up his bad habits and avoid proper work.
That was how his sister-in-law was—strict with her three sons, disciplining them harshly when they didn’t obey. She truly believed everything she did was for their good.
Lin Heng then went over to his wife and picked up their daughter, making her laugh as he tried to teach her some words.
When they arrived at the field, his elder brother had already pulled up the seedlings. The fields had been prepared a few days earlier, so all that was left was to plant the rice.
The whole family worked together—six people planting at the same time, and their efficiency was surprisingly high.
After finishing one field, Father Lin Xuan’an couldn’t help but speak up: “Lin Heng, your planting isn’t even as neat as your nephew’s.”
While everyone else’s seedlings were planted in straight rows, Lin Heng’s were crooked and uneven.
“As long as they grow, that’s all that matters,” Lin Heng said nonchalantly, continuing his work without care.
“How did I, Lin Xuan’an, have a son like you!” Father Lin, clearly frustrated, dragged his eldest son to another field. His perfectionist tendencies made it unbearable to watch, so he had to leave.
By noon, they had finished planting four acres. As they washed their feet by the river, Lin Heng rubbed his sore back and complained, “Farming has to be the least rewarding job in the world.”
With his back already aching, crouching over to plant seedlings all morning had nearly killed him.
The nine acres of rice would barely provide enough food for the family to eat, and even then, it would be tight. Selling grain wasn’t even an option, and on top of that, there was a grain tax to pay every year. Farmers simply couldn’t become wealthy.
“Keep your voice down, or Dad will hear and scold you again,” Chen Xiulan, his wife, reminded him, helping massage his waist after they finished washing.
“Didn’t you say last night that planting wouldn’t be a problem? Now your back hurts?” Xiulan teased him.
“It’s all to serve you…”
Before Lin Heng could finish, he caught his wife glaring at him and quickly smiled to smooth things over. She was shy, so he stopped teasing her.
“Fine then, I’ll just sleep on the floor from now on so some people won’t blame me,” Chen Xiulan said, pressing a little harder as she continued massaging.
“I’m just joking, just joking,” Lin Heng quickly begged for mercy.
Changing the subject, he asked, “Wife, how much money do we have saved up right now?”
Hearing this, Chen Xiulan’s expression immediately became cautious. “What are you planning to do?”
“I’m thinking about buying some Sanghuang mushrooms to store. I have a feeling their price will skyrocket by the end of the year—maybe even double or triple.”
He had remembered something else that morning: starting around August or September, the price of Sanghuang mushrooms would shoot up from 0.8 yuan per jin to 3 yuan per jin, and other lesser mushrooms would also sell for about 2 yuan per jin.
Back then, once farmers caught on, they rushed to collect them, and within six months, there wasn’t a single mushroom left on the mountains.
He wanted to buy a large amount now, store it, and sell it later to earn enough money to start his own business. Depending solely on foraging in the mountains to save money was just too slow.
Chen Xiulan said nothing, clearly unwilling to use the money for such a risky endeavor.
She had saved that money painstakingly by collecting and selling mushrooms and herbs from the mountains bit by bit.
If her husband was sick, she wouldn’t hesitate to spend it, but using it like this? She couldn’t bear the thought. What if they lost it all?
Seeing his wife’s expression, Lin Heng quickly changed his tone. “It’s nothing, just an idea. Don’t worry about it.”
Thinking it through, he realized he shouldn’t have brought it up. That money was his wife’s emergency savings, earned through her hard work. What if his memory was unreliable?
There was still time, though. It was only early May, and there were three months to prepare.
He also understood his wife’s mindset—it was the same for all farmers. They couldn’t afford to take risks because there was no room for mistakes. A failed business attempt could leave them in debt for decades, struggling even to afford food.
This wasn’t because farmers lacked business sense—they simply couldn’t afford to gamble their family’s future.
“Wife, look what I found!”
Lin Heng lifted a stone from the water, revealing a six-centimeter-long mountain stream fish in his hand.
“How did you catch that?” Chen Xiulan was stunned. She had no idea her husband had this skill.
“Wow, Second Uncle! Teach me, please teach me!”
Lin Wei, his eldest nephew, stared in awe, his admiration written all over his face. Not only could Second Uncle use a slingshot with deadly accuracy, but he was also amazing at catching fish—he was the perfect teacher!
“I spent my childhood terrorizing the fish in this river,” Lin Heng laughed.
When he was a kid, he had used his hands, hammered rocks, and even mashed poisonous leaves to catch fish, becoming a master at it.
“Second Uncle, let’s catch enough to fry a whole plate of fish!” Lin Wei suggested excitedly.
“We’ll see,” Lin Heng replied, though he wasn’t too hopeful. Catching fish with your bare hands took real skill.
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(End of Chapter)