Page 26

When Xie Ning received no answer for a long while, he grew impatient. Knowing Zhou Jinian always indulged him, he urged, "If you won't go, I'll go myself."

Only then did Zhou Jinian straighten his gaze. "All right."

He had nearly finished copying the books anyway. Tomorrow, he would rest his wrist for a day and accompany his little husband to catch fish.

Satisfied now, Xie Ning released the wrist he had been massaging, turned, and slipped away to steam some flatbreads to take up the mountain as provisions tomorrow.

Caught off guard, Zhou Jinian let his hand drop straight onto his thigh. "Hiss..."

Shaking out his hand, Zhou Jinian left the room and threw punches and kicks in the little courtyard, loosening his body after sitting so long. Oddly enough, that unexpected knock had made his wrist feel much better.

Xie Ning ran to the kitchen, where he was the only person that afternoon. He examined his hands. His palms were soft and smooth, but much of the backs of his hands were still cracked. He decided to make griddle cakes instead, mixing the batter with chopsticks.

When Grandmother Zhou heard from Zhou Liufeng's wife that her grandson's husband had slipped into the kitchen again, she hurried over in agitation. What a curse, bringing a grandson's husband into the family who was nothing but a mouth to feed.

"Didn't you eat lunch, or are you skipping dinner?" Grandmother Zhou was furious when she entered the kitchen and saw that Xie Ning had already mixed a basin of batter.

"Grandmother, Jinian and I are going up the mountain to gather herbs tomorrow. These are provisions for tomorrow." Xie Ning calmly explained himself.

Grandmother Zhou stamped her foot, went over, and shoved Xie Ning. "You're no help with anything at home, yet all you ever do is run up the mountain! Who else married into this family to live in comfort like you?"

Xie Ning immediately felt wronged. "I only just caught four fish for the family at noon."

How awful! She had only just taken what he gave her, and now she was bullying him! If she had the nerve, she should give him back his dowry.

"How much of this family's food have you eaten? And you have the gall to bring up a few fish?"

Xie Ning steadied himself. He was clever too. "Then I won't go up the mountain to gather herbs tomorrow. I'll take the fish to town and sell them to buy medicine for Dad."

Grandmother Zhou's shriveled lips moved, but in the end, she could think of no retort. "From now on, you must ask me before you use the kitchen!"

Grandmother Zhou refused to divide the household no matter what. Under her domineering rule, the filial third and fourth branches were always the ones bullied. Though Zhou Dafeng liked to throw his weight around as the eldest brother, he still worked in the fields. Zhou Liufeng, relying on his youth and his status as a scholar, would not even right an overturned oil flask. He took "turning a deaf ear to everything beyond the window" to its fullest extent.

The two branches had one thing in common, however: their wives were shrewd. Relying on their husbands being favored, they truly lived off the family without lifting a finger.

There was no helping it. Her eldest grandson and youngest son had become tongsheng together, and Grandmother Zhou eagerly counted on the two of them passing the higher examinations so she could become an official's grandmother or mother.

As for her grandson Jinian, who had only just become a tongsheng, she curled her lips. Surely Zhou Liufeng, who had been taking the examinations for nine years, and Zhou Wenshu, who had been taking them for six, would become xiucai first.

At the thought of her eldest grandson Wenshu, Grandmother Zhou began worrying about her eldest son's family. Why had they still not returned after so many days in town?

With a hoe over his shoulder, Zhou Jinian was preparing to head to the fields to share his father's farmwork when he met Grandmother Zhou coming toward him, looking both furious and deeply worried. He nodded in greeting. "Grandmother."

Grandmother Zhou glanced at him and took in his farmer's attire. "Instead of studying properly, you're running off to the fields again! If you fail next year, you can come back and farm."

Zhou Jinian was not angry in the slightest. His brow even relaxed as he replied easily, "Oh."

Grandmother Zhou choked on her anger and hurried off to her youngest son Zhou Liufeng's room to discuss matters.

Because his grandmother had been in such a hurry, Zhou Jinian stopped to look in as he passed the kitchen. Xie Ning was tending the fire, his face perfectly clean. He seemed well accustomed to it.

"Does your hand not hurt anymore?" Crouching, Xie Ning tilted his head and peered around the side of the stove to ask.

"Not anymore. Did you see Grandmother just now?"

Xie Ning blinked. "No."

Seeing how calm Xie Ning looked, Zhou Jinian merely assumed his grandmother was angry about something else. "Mm. I'm going to the fields."

With that, he left without concern.

Jinian had already said he wanted to divide the household anyway; he was just saving up money. Xie Ning did not want to mention these trifles and make him worry for nothing. Earning money came first.

He poured batter into the pan to cook the griddle cakes. Thinking that using the kitchen would not be easy from now on, he fetched the shrimp to make a paste to spread on the cakes.

He removed the shrimp heads and shells, then minced the flesh with a cleaver, sprinkled it with salt, and poured in sauce to let the flavor soak in.

Then he heated oil in a pan, fried ginger and garlic until fragrant, and stir-fried the shrimp heads. He added a little water and brought it to a boil, scooped out and discarded the heads, then added the minced shrimp and a spoonful of glutinous rice flour and stir-fried them. Once cooked, it became shrimp paste.

After restoring the kitchen to order, Xie Ning gathered up the cakes and paste and took them straight to Dad for a taste.

Lin Jin's back felt much better, and he sat propped against the head of the kang, stitching shoe soles.

Xie Ning tore off a corner of a cake, spread shrimp paste on it, and offered it to him. "Try it, Dad. It's delicious."

He certainly praised his own cooking with confidence. Lin Jin had been bored lying there alone, and he took it, praising it as he ate. "It is delicious."

"Right? When we go to town, I'll sell cakes." Lately, Xie Ning had been thinking about what small business he could run if they moved to town.

"They'd be hard by the time you took them to town to sell." Lin Jin smiled, thinking his son's husband meant transporting them from the village to sell in town.

Xie Ning lowered his head and nibbled his cake. He had nearly let it slip. Jinian had not told Father and Dad about dividing the household yet.

Zhou Jinian went down to the fields with his hoe over his shoulder. Inevitably, his father asked several questions about his studies. Only after learning that he was confident did his father say with relief, "You've matured quite a bit since getting married. As long as you're sure of yourself."

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival was peanut harvest season. Beneath their mud-covered shells, the peanuts were sweet, tender, and juicy.

Zhou Jinian dug up the peanuts while his father sat nearby shaking off the dirt. Once they were clean, he laid them out with the peanuts facing the sun.

Zhou Jinian loosened the soil and pulled up a handful of peanut plants as he spoke to his father. "The doctor said Dad mustn't strain his lower back anymore. I don't want you and Dad farming this land anymore, Father."

Zhou Sanfeng paused, recalling the grievances Jinlang had shared with him a few days earlier.

"I know your dad has been wronged too. I'd planned to wait until your eldest uncle came back from town, then discuss it among us brothers. If we're to split up, we still need to talk things through. Besides, your dad has trouble moving around right now..."