After the ruckus at the Wang family’s place and the cleanup upon returning home, it was nearly the end of si shi[mfn]巳时 – 9–11 AM in the ancient Chinese timekeeping system[/mfn]. The sunlight remained bright, illuminating the main hall, while a few strands of spring breeze blew through, making the atmosphere quite pleasant.
Chen Xuesheng didn’t even have time to eat his porridge before being called back home, so Qiao Suiman simply filled a large bowl for him to take along. Might as well let Shuifen and the others have a taste too.
“Ge, I picked some white-flowered stinkweed[mfn]白花臭草 – it has the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, relieving sore throat and swelling, and stopping bleeding.[/mfn]. Apply it first.”
White-flowered stinkweed is common all over the village. Though it has a strong, pungent odor, it could stop bleeding, reduce bruising, and even be used as medicine. There are plenty of it growing in the empty plot behind the Qiao family’s house.
Qiao Suiman plucked a few stalks, mashed them into juice, and handed them to Qin Yu along with some scrap cloth strips. Then, he went into the kitchen to bring the porridge to the main hall.
Qin Yu worked quickly. He applied the medicine and wrapped the cloth strips around Qiao Ruifeng’s injury in no time. Given the Wang family’s temperament, there is no hope of getting compensation for medicine. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t serious. Otherwise, Qin Yu would’ve stormed back to give that woman another beating. But now, someone else would deal with her, and that thought eased his mind a little.
Once all three were seated in the main hall, Qiao Ruifeng spoke up: “Xiao Man, a lot of people joined in the commotion today. Most were reasonable and spoke up for us. The day after tomorrow, make some drinks—three buckets should be enough. Let them have some, and maybe those old rumors will start to shift. It’s worth it.”
In the past, the villagers had pitied the two brothers. They were motherless at a young age, with a father who only cared about money and liquor and a grandmother, Li Hua, who indulged her son by selling off fields and land.
With his sweet looks and even sweeter tongue, Qiao Suiman charmed many of the village women and fulang by always greeting them with “Auntie” or “A-mo.”
But two years ago, when he and Qin Yu started selling herbal drinks at the market on the first and fifteenth of each month, Lin Xiuhua and Li Da’s mother, Lin Cui, grew envious. After being repeatedly turned down in their attempts to pry out the recipe, the two began spreading rumors that Qiao Suiman was a jinx and that he had killed his mother at birth.
They claimed that Li Hua, Qiao Suiman’s grandmother, had been in good health when Qin Yu married into the family but suddenly fell ill and died just as she was arranging Qiao Suiman’s marriage.
As the saying goes, three men make a tiger[mfn]三人成虎 – an idiom meaning that repeated rumors can make falsehoods seem true[/mfn]. The more the rumors spread, the wilder they became. Eventually, many truly believed Qiao Suiman’s bad luck had ruined the Qiao family. With a drunkard for a father, matchmaking was already difficult for him. Add the rumors of a cursed fate, and no one dared propose a marriage.
Over time, even some of the village men, as well as girls and other ge’r, grew wary of speaking to him. Fortunately, Qiao Suiman didn’t take it too much to heart. Life is for living. Just because others said his fate was bad, did that make it true?
He refused to believe it.
But the world is harsh on women and ge’r. Qiao Suiman knew his brother wanted to use this opportunity to dispel those old rumors. After all, if you accept food from someone, you’ll find it hard to speak ill of them[mfn]from “吃人嘴短，拿人手软” which means if you accept favors (food, gifts, money, etc.), you become indebted and lose the moral high ground to criticize or oppose the giver[/mfn] and most villagers weren’t like Lin Xiuhua. The majority were decent people, and if they received a kindness, they’d at least stop mindlessly spreading baseless gossip.
“Got it, Ge. I’ll dry some perilla leaves this afternoon and dig up some cogongrass roots from the mountain tomorrow.”
“Alright. I’ll go cut some bamboo in the grove later. The fifteenth is coming up, so we’ll need to make more bamboo tubes.”
Qin Yu’s eyes narrowed the moment he heard Qiao Ruifeng still planned to go up the mountain today. Could not this man, who had just been hit in the head, take a break? Frowning, he said, “The fifteenth is still days away. You can go tomorrow. You’re injured, so stay off the mountain for now.”
The injury wasn’t serious, but Qiao Ruifeng didn’t argue. After all, his fulang was just concerned for him. Besides, he’d never been able to resist Qin Yu. If he made him angry, it’d be hard to coax him back, and Qiao Ruifeng couldn’t just sweet-talk his way out of it like his brother could. So he quickly changed his tune: “Fine, fine. Tomorrow it is.”
“Pfft—” Qiao Suiman couldn’t hold back a laugh. If there is anyone who could shut his brother up with just a look, it was Qin Yu.
The moment he laughed, the end of a chopstick tapped his head. His brother cleared his throat and said sternly, “What’s so funny? I just hope that you’ll be as capable as your Qin Yu-ge when you marry someday. Then I’ll be at ease.”
That’d be difficult. After all, how many people were like him, acting all authoritative outside but actually henpecked at home? Qiao Suiman chuckled quietly at the thought.
Seeing the brothers fooling around, Qin Yu cleared his throat. “Alright, alright. Hurry up and eat before the porridge gets cold.”
“Why is there fish in here?”
“Haejin caught it. It’s a huge one, and we still have half left for tomorrow.”
“Haejin can catch fish now? What a clever dog! All that pampering wasn’t wasted.”
“Exactly. Xuesheng even said he wants to find a dog for himself now.”
Qin Yu smiled in amusement. “That Xuesheng…”
With the conversation flowing and laughter lightening the mood, the earlier anger and frustration gradually faded.
—
After the meal, they rested until the sun passed its peak before getting back to work. Their lives were always like this—no time for wallowing in sorrow. As children, they’d been busy dodging beatings; now, they worried about food and clothing. There was never a moment of idleness.
Qiao Suiman went to the backyard to pick perilla leaves. One basket would be enough, as too many would ruin the flavor.
The herbal drink recipe came from Li Hua. The tea-colored brew made from boiling dried perilla leaves in water turned translucent pink when mixed with the juice of the sour yellow fruit tree in their backyard. A little sugar made it fragrant and sweet. Some added vinegar, but the strong taste meant fewer people bought that version. This drink was popular even among wealthy families in the capital and the prefectural city.
The recipe wasn’t complicated, but country folks rarely saw it and had no way to learn it. That is also why Lin Xiuhua and Lin Cui had been so envious.
The liquor-brewing recipe, however, was far more valuable. Li Hua had taught him that too, but brewing required grain. And with a drunkard in the house, any liquor would be guzzled before it could be sold. He eventually stopped making it, but not without taking a few beatings for it. His brother had to tend the fields and couldn’t always protect him.
These recipes, along with the sour yellow fruit tree, were things Li Hua had secretly learned from the wealthy family she once served. She once worked as a lowly maid in a wealthy family in nearby Kangping Town, where she enjoyed slacking off and eavesdropping. After being caught stealing from the kitchen steward, she was reported and thrown out. No other family would hire someone who was dismissed for theft. Eventually, she ended up with Qiao Shan, Qiao Suiman’s grandfather. In the early years, she made the drinks herself to sell, but once the two Qiao brothers were older, she sent them to the market instead.
The ingredients for the herbal drink were all readily available at home except for sugar. Sugar was expensive, and country folk only bought it during festivals. By the time Qiao Suiman and Qiao Ruifeng have grown, the Qiao family’s wealth had long been squandered so how could they afford sugar for drinks?
But herbal drink without sugar is sour and bitter, even Qiao Suiman doesn’t like it. Later, he came up with an idea: boiling it with cogongrass roots and shoots added a bit of sweetness. Since it didn’t use white sugar, they couldn’t sell it for much, just two wen for a bamboo tube’s worth. If someone doesn’t bring their own bamboo tube, they’d charge an extra wen. Their bamboo tubes were crude but reusable, so the extra wen was just a labor fee.
Other herbal drink sellers who used sugar sometimes charged as much as ten wen for less than what Qiao Suiman served. Because of this, his and Qin Yu’s drinks always sold out faster than others’. Though they didn’t earn as much, making seventy or eighty wen per trip was already very good for a country ge’r. And this money was all theirs. If others knew, they’d surely be green with envy.
But business is only good every first and fifteenth, when more farmers come to the market. Those who couldn’t afford to spend eight or ten wen would come to them. After all, two wen was nothing. Even a sugar cake at the market cost three or four wen. Compared to that, their herbal drink is a bargain.
Qin Yu’s knees were bothering him, so he stayed in the main hall drying perilla leaves. It’s a light task that only required one person, and he knew the right heat. Qiao Ruifeng couldn’t sit still and, after repeatedly assuring Qin Yu he was fine, finally got permission to go weed the fields.
The vegetable plots outside and the fruit trees and gourds in the backyard all needed weeding and pest removal. Qiao Suiman took a straw hat from the main hall, put it on, and headed out with a small hoe.
The vegetable plot was to the right of the Qiao house, left of the Chen family’s home, with a half-zhang[mfn]丈 – a traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 3.3 meters[/mfn] wide path in between for people to walk. He left the door open as Haejin was sprawled at the entrance, napping after a full meal. Quite the life.
The outer vegetable plot grew common village crops. It was still early spring, so mustard greens and leeks dominated, along with green and red peppers. These wouldn’t grow well in winter, so they had to plant more now and dry them for storage. Adding some dried chili to stir-fries in the cold months made the food warmer.
By autumn, they would switch to cabbage, celery, and radishes. Scallions, ginger, and garlic could be grown year-round, though they didn’t need much. From spring to autumn, they had to prepare for winter. They can only have a peace of mind during the New Year when they have enough stock.
It had rained constantly recently, and despite Qiao Suiman and Qin Yu’s efforts to dig drainage ditches, some vegetables were still rotted. The soil deep down were still damp, so they didn’t need to water yet.
Qiao Suiman gripped the small hoe and carefully loosened the soil. The top layer had dried and hardened into clumps so it had to be loosed. Otherwise, the water underneath wouldn’t rise, and any future watering wouldn’t spread properly, stunting the crops.
The Qiao family’s vegetable plot was divided by the side door into two sections, each with three rows—six rows in total, each about two zhang long. Turning all of it over was quite time-consuming.
As he worked, Qiao Suiman checked for insect-eaten leaves and pulled the weeds. It was a pity they don’t raise livestock, but the Chen family has plenty. They could give the scraps to feed their pigs and chickens. Nothing would go to waste.
By the time he finished weeding, removing rotten leaves, and loosening the soil, it was already wei shi[mfn]未时 – 1–3 PM in the ancient Chinese timekeeping system[/mfn]. The insect-eaten leaves and weeds filled an entire winnowing basket. Coincidentally, Chen Xuesheng also came out to tend his family’s plot, so Qiao Suiman handed the basket to him. After retrieving the empty basket, they exchanged a few words before Qiao Suiman went back to tend the home garden.
The Qiao house has open space in both the front and back yards. The Qiao family’s great-grandfather fenced off a large piece of land at the beginning. After building the house, there was still some space left, and they were all enclosed with a wall. The backyard had three fruit trees in one corner, which are peach tree, a plum tree, and the sour yellow fruit tree. The rest of the land was divided into three sections: two of which are now planted with hairy gourds and sponge gourds that need to climb vines, while the smaller third plot grew perilla. The front yard has a plot dedicated to long beans.
Three rows of long beans are planted in the front yard. This kind of beans are longer and thicker. Though they took nearly two months to harvest, longer than common green beans, they were less prone to pests and easier to maintain. This batch had only been planted a month ago and had just started flowering, so they didn’t need much attention.
He went straight to the backyard. The hairy gourds and sponge gourds had been planted earlier and were already fruiting. These gourds needed soft, moist soil to thrive, so they required more frequent loosening. They had already harvested a few to eat, and in a few days, they could pick more to sell at the market. Though they wouldn’t fetch high prices, every bit of income helped.
The vegetable plots had been Qin Yu’s doing after he married into the family, and he was usually the one maintaining them, so the money from selling the produce went to him. Qiao Suiman had no objections. His brother and brother-in-law already took such good care of him. In fact, Qin Yu often wanted to share some of the earnings with him.
Of course, Qiao Suiman refused. He already had a share of the money from selling herbal drinks and mountain goods which are more than enough. Most unmarried ge’r and girls in the village didn’t have their own savings as their parents controlled the household finances. Even Chen Ping and Zhou Shuifen, who doted on Chen Xuesheng, rarely gave him pocket money, fearing that too much wealth would invite trouble.
Qiao Suiman never spoke of it to outsiders. With their family’s reputation for poverty and Qiao Ruifeng’s authoritative front, no one would guess he had savings. Otherwise, not only Lin Xiuhua, but others too will be green with envy.
By the time Qiao Suiman finished loosening the backyard soil and fertilizing the two fruit trees, Qiao Ruifeng had returned.
