Han Shuo, Pidan, Doufu, and the other classmates ran like their lives depended on it all the way to the bus station. Luckily, the three of them had long legs and ran fast, so they snagged seats in the back row. Before long, waves of students swarmed into the bus like locusts.
Once the bus was packed with students, it struggled up the winding mountain road with eighteen bends. By the time they got back to the village, it was around six o’clock. Before they even reached the village entrance, they could see smoke curling up from the chimneys, and the faint smell of burning wood lingered in the air.
In the countryside, kids become independent early. When Han Shuo got home, his nephew Han Ting had already returned from the village’s preschool by himself. It was probably because Han Hong had instructed him, so the little guy was obediently sitting on a low stool, peeling fava beans with his tiny hands.
Hearing Han Shuo call him, Han Ting lifted his head, and his eyes lit up instantly. He dropped the fava beans and ran over, shouting.
“Wow, Little Uncle!”
“Why are you only getting home now?”
Han Shuo put down his backpack and picked up his nephew.
“Where’s your dad?”
Han Ting looked up and told Han Shuo, “Dad went to work and told me to wait for you at home.”
“And then you started peeling fava beans?” Han Shuo glanced at the half-bowl of peeled fava beans and then at the skinny Han Ting, unable to resist pinching his cheek.
In this era, there weren’t many chubby kids in the village, but Han Shuo still felt a bit conflicted. He had been here for less than half a year, and while it would be an exaggeration to say he had deep feelings for Han Hong and Han Ting, he did feel a sense of care for them. It was probably because he had taken over this body.
He put Han Ting down and told him to go play while he peeled the fava beans himself. Although kids at this age are sensible and obedient, they are naturally playful. Since Han Shuo had spoken, Han Ting ran off to chase the neighbor’s yellow dog.
If Han Hong wasn’t busy, he wouldn’t let his younger brother cook or do housework. However, sometimes he couldn’t spare the time, and after Han Shuo went hungry a few times when he first arrived, he had to learn to use the rural stove.
After half a year, while the food wasn’t exactly delicious, it was at least edible. Dinner in the countryside was simple, with two dishes being leftovers from lunch. Han Shuo steamed a bowl of fava bean soup, and after adding a bit of lard, the clear soup became delicious. The whole family liked to mix the soup with rice.
Just as the uncle and nephew were about to finish dinner, Han Hong came home.
“Brother, where have you been?”
Han Hong took a bowl from the cupboard and went to the stove to get some rice. As he served himself, he explained to Han Shuo, “It’s time to harvest the rice, and I can’t handle our family’s field alone. I just went to ask Wang Mazi from the village entrance for help, but he was already hired by someone else.”
Han Hong sat down at the table with his rice. “I’ll finish eating and then go ask around the village to see if anyone’s available.”
Han Shuo frowned and said, “Everyone’s busy harvesting rice now. Who’s going to be free?”
Han Hong’s face showed worry, but he put on a cheerful front for his brother and son. “If I can’t find anyone, I’ll just take two days to do it myself.”
Recently, everyone in the countryside wanted to quickly harvest, thresh, and dry the rice while the weather was good. You never knew when it might rain, and if it rained continuously, the harvested rice would mold if not dried in time.
Han Shuo had originally planned to do a task with Meng Yuxiu tomorrow, but after living with Han Hong for half a year and seeing his difficulties, he couldn’t bear it.
There were no telephones in the countryside, or he could have called Meng Yuxiu to tell him not to come tomorrow. But even if there were phones, Meng Yuxiu’s family probably didn’t have one.
Han Shuo sat on the stool, conflicted for a while, and finally decided to just go harvest the rice first. He told Han Hong, “Don’t look for anyone else. I’ll go with you to harvest the rice tomorrow.”
“There’s no need for you to go,” Han Hong was pleased with his brother’s understanding, but he still said, “You’re in your senior year now, just focus on studying at home.”
“You know me,” Han Shuo said. “I’m not cut out for studying. Do you really expect me to get into college?”
Han Hong laughed, “There’s still half a semester to work hard. What if you do get in?”
Han Shuo smirked, “Brother, don’t have too much faith in me.”
“It’s okay, I won’t pressure you. Just do your best. As for the rice harvesting, don’t worry about it.”
Han Shuo insisted, “No, with an extra pair of hands, we might finish in a day. Why drag it out for two days? If it rains later, won’t it delay things?”
After thinking it over, Han Hong said, “Alright, I’ll look for help again in the morning. If I can’t find anyone, you can come with me.”
“Okay.”
The next day, after breakfast, Han Hong went around the village looking for help, but he couldn’t find anyone. So he called Han Shuo to get ready to go to the fields.
The brothers had a busy morning ahead. The village didn’t have machines for threshing rice yet, so every household used a square wooden rice mortar. With no one to watch Han Ting at home, he insisted on going to the fields with his dad and uncle. So Han Shuo put him in the rice mortar to sit, along with a few sickles.
Han Shuo warned him, “Don’t play with the sickles. Be careful not to cut yourself, okay?”
Han Ting nodded, “Okay.”
Han Hong found a sturdy hemp rope and securely tied the heavy rice mortar. Then he threaded a carrying pole through both ends. The brothers would each take one end and carry it two kilometers to the field.
Considering they’d be busy all day, Han Hong brought a thermos of hot water and a small bag of tea leaves, and the family set off.
They left early, and along the way, other villagers were also carrying and holding things, heading towards the fields under the grayish-blue sky of dawn, feeling the moist morning dew.
When they reached the field ridge, the brothers slowly squatted down to put the heavy rice mortar down. The people in the neighboring field had just arrived and hadn’t started harvesting yet. Seeing the tall, thin teenager next to Han Hong, they chatted with him for a bit.
“Han Hong, your brother’s helping you harvest rice today?”
“I told him not to come and to stay home and study, but he insisted on coming.” Like most parents, Han Hong said this, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“Isn’t that because he cares about you as his brother?”
Han Hong stood on the field ridge and handed a cigarette to the person in the neighboring field. “Our little Shuo is a bit mischievous, but he’s very sensible.”
While Han Hong was chatting, Han Shuo poured hot water from the thermos into two enamel cups, added some tea leaves, and then covered them, placing them on the field ridge.
Han Ting wasn’t even as tall as the rice yet, and he was holding a sickle, clamoring to go down to the field to harvest rice. Han Shuo picked him up and put him on the field ridge, taking away his sickle. “Be careful with your hands. If you cut yourself, you’ll cry. Help us harvest rice when you grow up.”
After settling Han Ting, Han Shuo called out to Han Hong, “Brother, should we start now?”
Han Hong stubbed out his cigarette and called back, “Coming.”
This was Han Shuo’s first time harvesting rice, and it was quite simple. If you have hands, you can do it. The brothers started from the edge, using their left hands to gather a bunch of rice stalks and their right hands to quickly and sharply cut them with the sickle. The cut rice was piled to the side.
To be honest, compared to staring at books, Han Shuo found physical labor quite nice. But this thought only lasted until the sun came out. Once it did, he was so hot that he had to take breaks, running to the field ridge to gulp down water from the cup.
Seeing this, Han Hong paused his work and called out to Han Shuo, “Little Shuo, take Ting Ting back home! It’ll get even hotter later!”
Han Shuo put the cup lid back on and returned to the field. “It’s fine, I’ll just drink more water.”
“Alright, but if you can’t take it, let me know.”
“Okay.” Han Shuo grabbed the sickle and squatted down.
After a morning of harvesting, Han Shuo’s back was almost done for. But after lunch, he continued to follow Han Hong to the field.
In the morning, while harvesting, Han Shuo kept wondering when Meng Yuxiu would arrive. He had only told Meng Yuxiu the name of his village, and since rural houses didn’t have house numbers, he wasn’t sure if someone as shy as Meng Yuxiu would ask around.
If he did ask, his house would be easy to find. But now he was out in the field harvesting rice.
Han Shuo could only harvest for a while and then lift his head to see if he could spot Meng Yuxiu on the path by the field ridge.
Around two in the afternoon, while Han Shuo was working hard, he heard a woman in the neighboring field talking.
“Where did this boy come from? He looks unfamiliar.”
Hearing this, Han Shuo immediately reacted and stood up to look around.
He saw Meng Yuxiu standing on the muddy path in the middle of the field, pushing a bicycle. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and black pants, looking like he was there to paint a landscape, just missing a drawing board.
He hadn’t found Han Shuo in the sea of golden rice yet and was looking around aimlessly.
Han Shuo waved at him and shouted, “Meng Yuxiu!”
Meng Yuxiu looked over, parked his bicycle by the field ridge, and walked towards Han Shuo.
Han Shuo’s shout caught Han Hong’s attention, and he stopped his work to look over.
Han Shuo quickly put down his sickle and ran to the field ridge.
Meng Yuxiu had ridden his bike for over ten kilometers under the blazing sun, and his fair face was slightly flushed from the heat.
Han Shuo felt a bit embarrassed. He had confidently told Meng Yuxiu at school that he didn’t work on weekends, but now Meng Yuxiu had come all this way, and he was busy.
“Wow, thanks for the effort!” Han Shuo said, fanning him with his hand. “Oh man, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect something to come up today.”
Meng Yuxiu’s throat was parched, and he asked Han Shuo, “Do you have any water? I’m thirsty.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Han Shuo quickly handed his cup to Meng Yuxiu.
Meng Yuxiu took the cup, but as he opened the lid, he accidentally glanced at the other cup on the field ridge.
He frowned slightly at the water stains on the rim.
Han Shuo immediately realized that his cleanliness habit was acting up again.
“Don’t worry, this one’s mine,” Han Shuo said with a slight raise of his eyebrow. “You can use mine, right? After all, we’ve kissed so many times, you definitely won’t mind.”
Han Shuo’s voice wasn’t loud, but saying it so directly made Meng Yuxiu widen his eyes.
“Can’t you keep your voice down?”
Han Shuo leaned in and lowered his voice, “I said we’ve kissed so many times…”
Meng Yuxiu interrupted, “You don’t need to repeat it.”
Han Shuo chuckled as he saw his flushed face. “Go ahead and drink.”
Meng Yuxiu took several gulps before he felt better.
Han Shuo apologized, “I still have rice to harvest. Why don’t you sit with my nephew for a while? Wait for me to finish?”
Meng Yuxiu now noticed the child sitting on the field ridge, who was curiously staring at the stranger.
“How much longer will you be harvesting?”
“I don’t know, just until we finish the rest.”
Meng Yuxiu looked at the remaining half of the rice in the field and estimated that if they finished it all, it might take until tomorrow.
He had come to do a task, and sitting around waiting was torturous. So he asked Han Shuo, “Do you have an extra sickle?”
Han Shuo was taken aback but quickly caught on.
“Yes, yes, yes!” He hurriedly fetched a spare sickle from the rice mortar, excitedly saying, “Wow, you’re such a good friend! I really see you in a new light! I didn’t expect you to be so nice!”
Meng Yuxiu took the sickle and said, “Since I’m here, let’s finish it quickly.”
“Alright! With you joining, it’s like adding wings to a tiger! To thank you, I’ll let you use your tongue tonight.” Han Shuo shamelessly grinned.
Meng Yuxiu rolled his eyes in exasperation.
As the two finished their conversation and prepared to head to the field, Han Hong had been watching them with a frown for a while.
“Little Shuo, who came?”
“Oh, my classmate came.” Han Shuo made up an excuse. “He was supposed to tutor me today.”
Hearing this, Han Hong approached them.
Meng Yuxiu was usually quite aloof when dealing with peers, even though Han Shuo was older in the 21st century. But here, Han Shuo was only seventeen, and given his personality, Meng Yuxiu remained himself around him.
However, when facing elders, Meng Yuxiu, who had been seventeen for two centuries, was somewhat reserved. Especially since Han Hong, who had been working in the fields for years, looked like he was in his thirties.
“This is my brother, and this is Meng Yuxiu,” Han Shuo casually introduced them.
Not knowing how to address Han Hong, Meng Yuxiu followed Han Shuo’s lead, “Hello… Brother.”
“Ah…” Han Hong responded warmly, though his expression was a bit awkward. Unfortunately, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu didn’t fully understand this world yet.
If they did, they would know that Han Hong’s awkwardness was the feeling of a parent seeing their child’s early love interest suddenly show up at their doorstep, like a cabbage they had grown for seventeen years being uprooted by a pig.
Author’s Note:
From the perspective of the big brother-in-law…
Han Hong was busy harvesting rice when he heard his cabbage suddenly call out excitedly. He looked up to see a white, tender pig appearing out of nowhere on the path by the field ridge.
Then he saw his cabbage fanning the pig and handing it water…