A few days later, Li Xianglan’s wedding was held. Naturally, everyone in the village attended the banquet.
The Li family had spent a considerable amount of silver on the feast, buying plenty of chickens and ducks. After the women who had helped prepare the food returned home, they couldn’t stop talking about how lavish it had been. For days afterward, Li Xianglan’s marriage became the hottest topic in the village.
The Zhang family had gone to the Han household to break off the engagement the very next day after learning that Han Xiuxiu had jumped into the river. Only a few days after Han Xiuxiu married the hunter, word spread that the Li family had accepted the marriage proposal.
Although people spoke with disdain, they couldn’t hide their envy when they saw the betrothal gifts from the Zhang family. That daughter had truly been “worth marrying off”—one hundred taels of silver as the bride price, along with bolts of fine silk and satin, all displayed openly in the Li family’s main hall. Anyone who saw them couldn’t help but feel jealous.
At the riverside, where several women were washing clothes, one started the conversation, and soon everyone was laughing and chatting. Naturally, the discussion centered around the Li family.
“The Zhang family didn’t just give silver—they also brought piles of silk and brocade. My goodness! You should’ve seen the fabric. I didn’t even dare touch it. If I could wear something like that just once in my lifetime, I’d die with no regrets.”
“If it weren’t for their daughter, the Li family would never have worn silk in their lives. They were so poor they were practically about to pawn their trousers.”
“Exactly. The Li family talks louder than ever now. I heard they bought loads of chickens and ducks for the wedding banquet. They spent a fortune. They’ve really gained face this time.”
“Gained face? That silver came from selling their daughter. I don’t think much of that.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Jealous, my foot!”
The women talked over one another, laughing, teasing, and arguing, creating a lively scene.
Li Shi, however, grew increasingly irritated as she listened. She hurriedly finished washing the clothes, didn’t bother saying goodbye to anyone, picked up her wooden washbasin, and left.
After walking some distance, she could still hear the women’s laughter drifting from the riverbank. They were probably gossiping about her family now, which only made her angrier. She quickened her pace without looking back.
Sure enough, the women had turned to discussing the Han family.
If the villagers felt both envy and contempt toward the Li family, then they simply took pleasure in the Han family’s misfortune. Had Han Xiuxiu not jumped into the river, this marriage would have belonged to the Han family. Seeing how glorious the Li family looked now, everyone assumed Han Xiuxiu’s parents must be crying themselves to sleep every night.
The women laughed heartily, not caring whether Li Shi could hear them or not.
Meanwhile, the more Li Shi thought about everything, the more suspicious she became.
She had long believed that Li Xianglan was a scheming girl.
Everyone knew Li Xianglan and Han Xiuxiu had been best friends. Han Xiuxiu must have told her about the Zhang family’s proposal. If Li Xianglan had tried to persuade her, Han Xiuxiu might have agreed to the marriage instead of throwing herself into the river. Then, after Han Xiuxiu’s engagement was broken off, Li Xianglan conveniently appeared around the matchmaker…
Grinding her teeth, Li Shi was convinced the girl had deliberately stolen the marriage she had worked so hard to arrange.
She didn’t think much of either Han Xiuxiu or the hunter. Whatever money they earned wouldn’t benefit her in the slightest. She would rather the hunter be eaten by a tiger in the mountains or fall off a cliff, leaving Han Xiuxiu to suffer. That would make her feel much better.
Carrying their purchases, Han Xiuxiu and Lu Yunfei walked for nearly another half hour before finally arriving home.
From far away, Black Panther was already wagging his tail furiously and barking excitedly. He stood with his front paws against the fence, whining impatiently as if he wanted to leap over it and greet his masters.
Lu Yunfei called out to calm him down. After opening the gate, he first spent a moment talking to Black Panther before opening the courtyard door.
It was already well past lunchtime.
Fortunately, they still had some leftover chestnut cakes from the journey, so neither of them was hungry.
They had bought many things today. The rice and grain had to be stored carefully to keep them from getting damp or being eaten by mice, so Lu Yunfei carried everything inside.
Han Xiuxiu first released the chicks from their enclosure.
After several days of care, the little chicks had become much livelier. The moment they were let out, they scattered around pecking for food. Before long, they discovered the basket of vegetable seedlings and immediately started pecking at the tender leaves.
Han Xiuxiu hurried over to rescue them.
“There are only this few leaves. If you eat them all, what are we supposed to eat?”
She gathered the seedlings together and stood in the courtyard, wondering where to plant them.
Lu Yunfei’s courtyard was tidy and clean, largely because there wasn’t much in it.
After Han Xiuxiu married into the household, they had only added a chicken coop. In one corner of the yard was a small vegetable patch growing onions and garlic. Other than that, the yard was practically empty.
After putting everything away, Lu Yunfei came outside and saw Han Xiuxiu frowning as she surveyed the yard.
“When my father was still alive, we tried growing vegetables too,” he said with a smile. “But we never had much luck. Other people’s gardens were overflowing with produce, while ours only grew leaves and never any fruit.”
Han Xiuxiu laughed.
“Then let’s see how well we do this year.”
After thinking it over, Lu Yunfei decided the eggplants and chili peppers could be planted beside the ginger and garlic, expanding the existing vegetable patch so it would be convenient to harvest later.
As for the loofahs and cucumbers, they would need something to climb, so they decided to plant them along the bamboo fence, where they could easily build trellises.
Han Xiuxiu had never really had the chance to farm in her previous life.
In this life, although the original Han Xiuxiu had grown up in the countryside, she had still only been a young girl. Most of the farm work had been done by Han Daliang and Li Shi. She knew only the basics and had never even held a hoe herself.
Once they had decided where everything should go, Lu Yunfei immediately fetched a hoe and began turning over the soil.
Rain had fallen a few days earlier, so the earth was still soft and easy to dig.
Han Xiuxiu stood watching for a while before concluding that her farming skills were probably worse than Lu Yunfei’s. At the very least, her slender frame looked like it would struggle just to swing the hoe.
The only thing bothering Lu Yunfei was the flock of carefree chicks, who immediately rushed into the freshly turned soil to scratch for worms, making it difficult for him to work.
The rich earth was full of insects and earthworms, and the chicks feasted happily.
Lu Yunfei, however, was worried that he might accidentally chop off one of their heads with the hoe.
Seeing this, Han Xiuxiu carried over a stool, sat down with a bamboo stick in hand, and helped shoo the chicks away.
After walking such a long distance today, she was honestly quite tired.
Lu Yunfei was perfectly content.
As long as his little wife stayed by his side, he was happy no matter what they were doing.
Han Xiuxiu said,
“We skipped lunch. Tonight I’ll cook rice and make a pot of braised pork. How does that sound?”
“You decide,” Lu Yunfei replied. “Anything is fine.”
…
The two of them worked quietly together, exchanging only the occasional sentence.
With nothing else to do, Han Xiuxiu gradually drifted into a daydream.
Life in the mountains felt almost completely cut off from the outside world.
Her thoughts wandered farther and farther.
Her former life felt like something that had happened to someone else…
Then again, it really had been another life.
“Xiuxiu, hand me the seedlings.”
Lu Yunfei called to her twice.
Only when he raised his voice did Han Xiuxiu snap out of her daze.
“Oh! Right away.”
She quickly handed him the seedlings.
Only then did she notice that, at some point, Lu Yunfei had taken off his shirt.
His broad, wheat-colored back was crisscrossed with several long scars.
Though fully healed, they were unmistakably claw marks left by a wild beast.
Even now, they stood out clearly.
She could only imagine how severe the wounds had been when they were fresh.
Han Xiuxiu was all too familiar with injuries like these.
In her previous life, when she had first awakened her beast-taming ability, her own body had often been covered with similar wounds.
“The scars on your back…”
Without looking up, Lu Yunfei casually replied while planting the seedlings,
“A tiger got me last year.”
“There are tigers in these mountains?”
Lu Yunfei paused, glanced sideways at her, and said,
“What else did you think? Why do you think nobody in the village dares go deep into the mountains? Because they’re afraid of getting lost?”
There was unmistakable amusement in his tone.
Han Xiuxiu lowered her head and rolled her eyes at him before asking,
“What happened to that tiger afterward?”
“It got away.”
Even now, Lu Yunfei sounded unwilling to let it go.
He shoved a handful of dirt firmly around a seedling.
“But sooner or later, I’ll skin it and tear it apart.”
Last year, he had gone to great lengths to hunt that beast.
He had laid numerous traps, yet the tiger had avoided every one of them.
It had even nearly taken his life.
Fortunately, he sensed danger behind him and dodged sideways just in time.
Otherwise, the tiger would have shattered his ribs with a single swipe.
Instead, he escaped with only several deep claw wounds.
Being a hunter brought high rewards—but equally great risks.
One careless mistake could cost a man his life.
By comparison, he had been incredibly lucky.
Han Xiuxiu took a deep breath.
So there really were such precious treasures hidden in these mountains.
How many taels of silver could a single tiger be worth?