Fang Chuyue’s stall selling pickled fresh dishes had been doing well for a few days, but then business started to decline. A family with the surname Liang opened up nearby and started competing with them.
They even had the nerve to set up right in front of Fang Chuyue’s stall.
Fang’s father was so angry that his nostrils flared, and he rolled up his sleeves, ready to go over and teach them a lesson.
Fang Chuyue managed to talk him down, and after some investigation, he found out that the Liang family lived in the county, which explained their arrogance.
Not only did they arrive earlier, but they also set up a few benches for people to sit and eat. If you said a few nice words, they’d even give you some cold water to drink.
Plus, pickled fresh dishes are seasonal and not hard to make. The taste might vary a bit, but for the dock workers and boatmen, that difference didn’t matter. For the same price, they could sit and get free water, so naturally, they went to the Liang family.
Originally, Fang Chuyue had prepared three large barrels, but by the time it was late afternoon, one barrel was still unsold.
He had to load it back onto the donkey cart and bring it home untouched.
So today, Fang Chuyue didn’t feel like going through the hassle. He washed and cut the bamboo shoots his younger siblings had dug up yesterday, soaking them in a jar. After a few days, once they turned sour, they could be eaten.
Fang Chuyue washed his hands and went to the vegetable garden in the yard, where rows of green leaves stretched out before him.
What should he eat for lunch… Should he braise some tofu with radish or stir-fry some bean sprouts? He was craving some cold sour bamboo shoots. Once the sourness came out, he could blanch them, shred them, and mix them with vinegar, soy sauce, salt, chili, and scallions. The taste would be sour, spicy, and refreshing, simply…
“Who’s there! Sneaking around, come out now!”
Fang Chuyue shouted angrily, running back to grab the hatchet used for chopping firewood, “Come out now…”
Qiao Yue was dozing off by the fence, holding a jar of honey. Startled by Fang Chuyue’s shout, he quickly stood up, still half-asleep, and asked, “Are you talking to me?”
Fang Chuyue’s hand holding the hatchet was still trembling: “…” This guy, Qiao Yue!
“You were squatting there, don’t you know sneaking around is scary?”
Qiao Yue looked at him innocently, “I was waiting for you and got sleepy. You should’ve come out earlier. I waited so long I got tired.”
In the past couple of days, he had tried out the automatic temperature-controlled beehive and found that the bee colony was thriving. Previously, bees would freeze to death every day, but now there were none. Not only that, but there were also fewer bees dying from diseases.
Moreover, when the temperature rose in the morning, the hive door would automatically open, and when it cooled down at night, it would close again.
It was simply a treasure for beekeeping! Qiao Yue didn’t care how this treasure was made; he just knew that with this beehive, he could practically sit back and collect honey.
With some free time, he thought of bringing some honey to Fang Chuyue and Uncle Tian’s family, who had helped him before.
After all, he had boasted about it back then.
But he definitely didn’t have half a pound to give. There wasn’t much honey at home, so he divided it into two small jars, leaving half a pound for his little dad and little brother to enjoy until the next honey harvest.
Fang Chuyue put down the hatchet in his hand and said irritably, “Alright, it’s all my fault. So, what do you want?”
“The honey I promised before, here it is.” Qiao Yue handed the honey jar over the fence as Fang Chuyue approached.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t have any?” Fang Chuyue asked in surprise, carefully taking the honey jar and sniffing it, “It really is honey. Can I open it?”
Qiao Yue rolled his eyes, “I didn’t have any before, but now I do. If you want to look, go ahead. It’s yours anyway.”
With the honey in hand, Fang Chuyue suddenly found Qiao Yue much more agreeable. In a good mood, he opened the jar, and the golden liquid inside emitted a captivating sweet fragrance, with a faint floral scent.
Seeing Fang Chuyue so focused on the honey, Qiao Yue suddenly felt bored and waved his hand, “I’m leaving now.”
“Hey, don’t go yet. I haven’t given you any money.”
“No need. You helped me before, so consider this a thank you gift. I also gave some to Uncle Tian’s family. Just take it. I don’t want…”
Qiao Yue left quickly, and Fang Chuyue, holding the jar, couldn’t free a hand to stop him. He could only watch as Qiao Yue’s figure disappeared.
Standing there, he couldn’t help but wonder what Qiao Yue meant by “I don’t want” at the end.
Fang Chuyue’s younger siblings, Fang Chuyue and Fang Chuqing, returned with bundles of firewood on their backs. “Big brother, what are you looking at?”
Yang Ge’er followed Fang Chuyue’s gaze but saw nothing.
Fang Chuyue withdrew his gaze, “Nothing.”
Qing Jie’er, unlike her brother, wasn’t clueless. She first ran to put down the firewood, then came back to her big brother’s side, tugging at his clothes and whispering, “Big brother, I heard from Sister Xiaomei that her big brother should be back in the next couple of days. Should we…”
Fang Chuyue: “Oh… is that so, I…”
“Big brother,” Qing Jie’er tugged at his clothes, “Have you changed your mind?” In the village, apart from the scholar, marrying anyone else would mean a hard life.
Their family was too poor, struggling for over a decade. Even though things were better now, years of hardship and being bullied for not having a boy in the family made Qing Jie’er, like Fang Chuyue, think the only way out was to marry into the county, marry someone wealthy, and live a good life.
Fang Chuyue tightly held the small jar in his arms, the round jar still uncomfortable against him. He shook his head, how could that be?
He was determined to marry into the county, not to a farmer, and spend his life as a village boy, farming forever.
He handed the small jar to Yang Ge’er and asked, “What else did you hear?”
“I heard it’s because the village head’s eldest son is getting married in a couple of days, and they informed him, so he’s probably coming back.” After all, Qiao Xingsheng was from their village, and the village head had always taken care of this scholar from the village. Plus, he had just passed the scholar exam, so he had to show up for the village head’s celebration.
The siblings chatted enthusiastically, while Yang Ge’er, holding the jar, followed slowly, taking a deep breath, “So sweet…”
…
After leaving Fang Chuyue’s place, Qiao Yue took the honey jar to the Tian family.
“Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, are you home?”
The Tian family was busy drying bamboo shoots in the yard. Seeing him come in, Aunt Liu was surprised and asked, “Shanzi, what brings you here today? Looking for your uncle or Zhuzi?”
“I’m looking for Zhuzi.” Qiao Yue didn’t take out the jar from his arms yet.
Uncle Liu and Qiao Lao Er had grown up together, and they were close. Qiao Yue and Tian Zhuzi were also good friends, so he knew that if he gave the honey directly to Uncle and Aunt Liu, they wouldn’t accept it.
But he couldn’t ignore their kindness just because they were close.
Aunt Liu shouted, “Zhuzi, Shanzi is here, hurry up and come out!”
“Coming, coming.”
Tian Zhuzi ran out from the backyard, wood shavings falling off him.
“Mom, your voice is scary. You even scared Dad.” Tian Zhuzi complained.
Aunt Liu waved her hand, “Go, go, go. Your dad is used to my loud voice. What do you know?”
Aunt Liu rolled her eyes at Tian Zhuzi and sat back down to continue working with her eldest daughter-in-law.
Qiao Yue followed Tian Zhuzi to a corner of the yard.
“Shanzi,” Tian Zhuzi stroked his chin, looking at him, clicking his tongue, “Everyone’s been saying you’ve turned over a new leaf for a while now. What brings you here at this time today?”
He patted Qiao Yue’s shoulder, and a few wood shavings floated in the air.
“Get lost. If you can’t speak properly, just shut up.”
Qiao Yue punched Tian Zhuzi, who yelped in pain, “It’s true. Everyone says you’ve changed for the better. My dad even made me help him because of you! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this mess!”
Originally, his dad had given up on him learning carpentry, focusing on passing the skills to his brother. But recently, rumors spread in the village about Qiao Yue turning over a new leaf.
His parents checked it out, and it was true. Qiao Yue went into the mountains early and came back late, supposedly doing some small business with mountain goods.
This was a big deal, so his dad immediately picked up a stick and forced him to improve, saying things like, “You’re brothers, you can’t both be useless.”
Tian Zhuzi showed his fingers, full of cuts, “See, it’s all your fault!”
Qiao Yue refused to admit it, “You’re talking nonsense.”
“Well, rest assured, starting tomorrow, I’ll turn over a new leaf again.”
With the temperature-controlled beehive set up, he could sleep in again tomorrow.
Tian Zhuzi couldn’t stand seeing him so happy, so he changed the subject, “Wang Ming is getting married in a few days…”
His tone was a bit sour.
The three of them had grown up together, about the same age, and Wang Ming was even a year younger. Yet, he was getting married, while they were still single.
Tian Zhuzi was very doubtful, shouting to the sky, “Will we still be bachelors in a few years?”
Qiao Yue snorted, “You might be, but I definitely won’t.”
Hearing this, Tian Zhuzi looked at him angrily, his gaze sweeping over Qiao Yue’s face, and he couldn’t help but feel sad!
He realized that Qiao Yue’s words might be true!
Even though his reputation was worse, his prospects were much better.
The reason he wasn’t married yet was that he simply wasn’t interested.
At fifteen or sixteen, most young men were starting to feel romantic, even if they didn’t act on it, they would at least think or talk about it. But every time this topic came up, Qiao Yue would lose interest and close his eyes to sleep.
It seemed like this year was different… No, wait!
In previous years, Qiao Yue wouldn’t have said this. He would just find it boring and say “oh” or change the subject, or lazily say they’d deal with it later.
Today’s words were a bit strange.
Tian Zhuzi suddenly got excited, his eyes shining like two big oil lamps, staring at Qiao Yue, “Why won’t you be? Do you have someone you like?”
Qiao Yue: “…No!”
He fell silent, he was silent! Tian Zhuzi was so excited he wanted to run around the village, there must be someone!
Qiao Yue: “Really, no. With my looks, it’s more likely someone would like me. Besides, now I have a scholar cousin, even if I do nothing, as long as I put the word out, living off someone else would be easy. How could I still be single in five years, unless I don’t want to get married then.”
The excitement in his heart was like a broken water jar at home, shattered to pieces. Tian Zhuzi clutched his heart, which had just experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, and glared at the “pretty boy,” “Let’s get back to Wang Ming’s wedding. Besides his brothers going to pick up the bride, should we go?”
Qiao Yue thought for a moment, “If he invites us, we’ll go. If not, we’ll just wait for the feast.”
“Alright, what should we give as a gift?” As brothers, they had to give a gift for the wedding, separate from their parents’ gift.
“Well…” Qiao Yue was a bit troubled, “Let’s give some wine, so we can drink it there.”
“That’s a good idea, the more wine, the better. I’ll buy it tomorrow and get some for you too. Two pounds each, is that enough?”
Even a pound would cost thirty to forty coins, and spending that much at once was a burden for them.
Qiao Yue nodded, “That’s enough. Remember to tell Wang Ming.”
Tian Zhuzi agreed, not finding it strange to run errands for Qiao Yue. This guy was notoriously lazy, and he was used to running around.
After discussing everything, Qiao Yue finally remembered why he came. He handed the honey jar to Tian Zhuzi and then gave him a silver coin. This silver coin was from a bet he had won before, originally meant to buy some brown sugar for his little dad and little brother.
He didn’t expect to use it now.
“Honey?” Tian Zhuzi asked, “Why are you giving me honey?”
“I’m not giving it to you, it’s for Uncle and Aunt Liu. Just give it to them later. I’ve given you the money, keep it safe.”
With that, he started heading towards the door.
Tian Zhuzi, hearing this, said, “Oh, alright. I’ll give you the change later.”
Qiao Yue waved his hand and went home for lunch.
“Shanzi left? Why didn’t you keep him for lunch?” Aunt Liu came out and saw only her son outside, so she asked.
“Yeah, he said this honey is for you.”
Tian Zhuzi placed the honey on the table, and his sister-in-law came over to look, “This honey doesn’t look cheap.”
Moments later, the yard was filled with wailing, “Ahhh—stop hitting me! He insisted on giving it to me, I didn’t ask for it, and he said it was for you… Ahhh!”
Aunt Liu chased her younger son with a shoe, hitting him.
“He gave it, and you just took it, you fool! Such a precious thing, why take it? Go return it!”
“I’m not going!… Ah!… Ah…”