Li Family Village was surrounded by mountains on all sides. Only one trade road passed through it toward the ferry dock.
The village had just over twenty households. Aside from Mo Fang’s house, which stood farther away in a more open area, everyone else’s homes were built close together beside mountains and water.
The village chief was a middle-aged man with a hunched back who smiled cheerfully at everyone.
Mo Li led Luo Wangshu half a li before arriving at the village chief’s house. Because Luo Wangshu’s face had been swollen for the past two days, they’d delayed registering his household.
Registering a household here wasn’t nearly as troublesome as in modern times. As long as a household agreed to take someone in, it could be done.
After all, taxes were paid according to the number of people.
The process was very simple. The village chief just wrote down the information and stamped it. Then the next time officials came to collect taxes, it would be reported upward.
“Grandpa Li, we came to register a household.” Mo Li grinned foolishly, softening the fierce aura around him and making him look rather cute.
Luo Wangshu tried pulling his hand free, but failed.
Mo Li looked at him in confusion. “What?”
“Can you let go when people are around?” Luo Wangshu didn’t understand why this man loved holding his hand so much. Wasn’t it hot in this weather?
Mo Li replied very confidently, “You’re my wife. I’m not letting go.”
“Doesn’t holding hands like this make you hot?” That huge palm felt like a furnace. Luo Wangshu really disliked heat.
Mo Li tilted his head. “Wife, are you hot? I’ll fan you.”
As he spoke, he snapped off a large leaf nearby and eagerly fanned Luo Wangshu with it.
The poor canna plant was ravaged miserably and bent crookedly in all directions.
“You brat! You broke my flowers again!” A middle-aged man walked out while laughing and scolding.
Though his words sounded reproachful, his tone remained kind.
No wonder the flowers kept getting broken.
That was Luo Wangshu’s internal complaint.
Mo Li instinctively hid the leaf behind his back and lowered his head without speaking.
Li Dakang chuckled at the sight.
“Forget it, forget it. Just remember to bring some pickled vegetables next time. Out of the whole village, your cooking is the best. I really don’t know how you learned it.”
Mo Li grinned widely and readily agreed.
“Alright!”
Only then did Li Dakang notice Luo Wangshu beside him, and the smile on his face faded slightly.
“What’re you here for?”
“Father told me to bring wife over to register his household,” Mo Li answered honestly.
Unlike before, Li Dakang didn’t immediately agree.
After a moment of silence, he said, “You know that taking in an exile means paying taxes for two people, right?”
Hearing that, Luo Wangshu’s heart tightened slightly as he secretly observed Mo Li’s expression.
“Yeah. I’m strong. I’ll just carry a few extra sacks when I’ve got free time.”
Mo Li still looked foolish and simple-minded, though his grip on Luo Wangshu’s hand tightened slightly, exposing his nervousness.
Li Dakang sighed and walked into the house with his hands behind his back.
“Come in.”
Mo Li happily dragged Luo Wangshu inside.
Under the large tree in the courtyard, a sickly-looking man dressed in a gray robe reclined on a lounge chair holding a book, seemingly asleep.
The group entered the main hall. Li Dakang took out a thick register, opened it from the back, and flipped to Mo Fang’s page.
“What’s your wife’s name?”
Mo Li scratched his head.
He seemed to have forgotten.
In the end, Luo Wangshu had to say it himself.
Li Dakang pondered for a long time without figuring out how to write the characters, so Luo Wangshu had no choice but to write them himself.
Unfortunately, the handwriting was terrible.
Please forgive someone who had used hard pens for years and couldn’t properly control a brush pen.
“You can write? That’s good.” Li Dakang smiled and put away the household register.
Luo Wangshu finally relaxed.
Now he wasn’t an undocumented black household anymore, right?
Before they left, Li Dakang didn’t forget to remind Mo Li, “Tomorrow go to town and buy two sets of clothes for your wife. What kind of appearance is it for him to wear your clothes every day? Also remember to buy a box of cinnabar. Put a dot on your wife’s forehead every day, tie up his hair with a ribbon, and bring him around to visit every household.”
Mo Li seriously memorized everything.
“I got it.”
As they were leaving, he suddenly remembered something. He removed a pouch from his waist and handed it to Li Dakang.
“Grandpa Li, my father said Kang Le only needs to take one dose a day.”
Mo Fang’s smile faded as he hesitantly accepted the pouch. In a heavy tone, he said to Mo Li, “Tell your father to stop sending medicine. He’s been taking it for so long and there’s still no improvement. Medicine is precious, so don’t waste it anymore.”
Mo Li glanced at the person sleeping beneath the tree and firmly replied, “Kangle will definitely get better. I’m heading back first. I’ll bring pickled vegetables for Uncle tomorrow.”
After saying that, he grabbed Luo Wangshu and ran off. The large green leaf stuck behind him swayed back and forth with every movement. Li Dakang’s gloomy mood eased a lot, and he muttered with a smile, “That brat!”
After returning home, Mo Li still had to go to the fields to harvest the last batch of rice. Luo Wangshu stayed in the yard guarding the piled-up grain from the birds.
Mo Fang sorted through medicinal herbs. Luo Wangshu originally wanted to help, but Mo Fang shut him down with one sentence: “You can’t even recognize the herbs.”
At first Luo Wangshu refused to accept it. Later, Mo Fang took out two herbs and asked him to tell the difference between them. Luo Wangshu stared for ages and still couldn’t figure it out. After that, he stopped trying to interfere with the herb sorting.
Fresh herbs were still fairly easy to identify, but once dried, they all looked exactly the same to Luo Wangshu.
Bored out of his mind, Luo Wangshu could only weave all sorts of braids from flexible grass. Surprisingly, they looked pretty good.
If Luo Wangshu had known ahead of time that he would transmigrate, he definitely would’ve crammed some knowledge about farming and cooking. Then he wouldn’t be treated like a cripple and left at home watching the grain.
As for his profession? Ahem. Hair salon owner and employee.
Two days ago, Luo Wangshu thought his hair was too long and too hot, so he wanted to sharpen a sickle and cut some off. Who knew Mo Fang would drag him aside and lecture him for half the day, while Mo Li—the one who sharpened the blade—got dragged into it too.
That was when Luo Wangshu truly learned the meaning of “the body, hair, and skin are gifts from one’s parents,” and also that “heads may roll and blood may flow, but hair absolutely cannot be cut.”
So Luo Wangshu could only tie up his waist-length hair with a ribbon. Carrying around a head full of long hair every day was unbearably hot.
The sun was blazing enough that by the end of the day, the rice had dried. At night they packed it into sacks. Luo Wangshu followed behind Mo Li trying to help. His clumsy yet earnest appearance made it hard to scold him, but it was also impossible not to feel frustrated watching him.
When Mo Fang heard Luo Wangshu ask, “Where should I put this bag?” he silently walked farther away. If he stayed any longer, he might not be able to stop himself from yelling.
Mo Li patiently answered every single question Luo Wangshu asked, no matter how idiotic they sounded.
Luo Wangshu happily helped carry the bags, though in truth, without his “help,” Mo Li could’ve finished everything much faster alone.
Once the grain was all processed, the lingering autumn heat finally faded. There was still some time before dark. Luo Wangshu looked at Mo Li with sparkling eyes and asked, “Is there anything else I can help with?”
Mo Li shook his head. “Everything’s done. Later we’ll steam some cornbread, then we can eat.”
Luo Wangshu instantly wilted. Living every day eating for free and doing nothing made even him start despising himself.
Sensing that his wife was unhappy, Mo Li tugged on his hand. “Wife, wanna go pick some bitter cooling greens by the fields? They make really tasty soup.”
“What do they taste like?” Luo Wangshu immediately perked up at the mention of good food. These past few days, he’d been eating cornbread and pickles every day. On better days there’d be white rice porridge. There were hardly any vegetables. He was getting sick of it.
“The vegetable tastes bitter when you eat it, but sweet afterward. The soup’s tasty too, and it cools internal heat.” Mo Li desperately tried to explain, but his vocabulary was painfully lacking.
“There’s a vegetable like that?” Luo Wangshu had only ever eaten bitter melon before. Sweet afterward? Really? He looked at Mo Li with suspicion.
Mo Li answered with absolute certainty, “There is. I’ll take you to pick some. There’s lots by the roadside, but nobody likes eating it.”
Something nobody liked eating… could it really taste good? Before Luo Wangshu could finish thinking it through, Mo Li had already dragged him away with a small basket in hand.
Mo Fang watched their backs as they left and remembered the taste of that wild vegetable…
Suddenly his teeth started hurting.
Some of the slower villagers were still harvesting rice in the fields, sweating buckets from exhaustion, while Mo Li leisurely wandered around picking wild vegetables with his wife.
“Hey! Idiot! Come help harvest rice!” a woman in a sleeveless shirt shouted at Mo Li, sounding completely used to bossing him around.
For once, Mo Li didn’t go over. Instead he shouted back, “Auntie Li, you can harvest slowly. I’m taking my wife to pick bitter cooling greens.”
The woman smiled and said nothing, continuing her work.
Luo Wangshu couldn’t understand this village culture. The tone clearly sounded rude, but nobody cared. Even those insulting nicknames didn’t seem to bother anyone.
Was country life always like this?
Luo Wangshu felt he still needed a lot of time before he could truly fit in here. Casually chatting and joking with others still felt awkward to him. On top of that, the things he’d experienced right after arriving here had already left psychological scars.
“Wife, look, this is bitter cooling greens.” Mo Li pulled him down into a squat and pointed at a plant.
Luo Wangshu examined it carefully. It looked kind of like chili leaves… hmm? Looking closer, maybe not. Ah, whatever. As long as it was edible.
With that thought, he reached out and yanked the whole plant out by the roots—
“Wife, you can’t pull it out!” Mo Li’s voice immediately rose. He hurriedly rescued the poor plant from Luo Wangshu’s evil hands and carefully replanted it, heart aching with pity.
Luo Wangshu deflated. “If you don’t pull it out, how do you eat it?”
Mo Li patiently explained, “You pick the leaves. The tender top shoots. Leave the roots so it can grow again in a few days.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier? How was I supposed to know?” Luo Wangshu rolled his eyes at him.
Mo Li didn’t get angry at all. He just grinned foolishly and apologized, “My fault, my fault. Wife, don’t be mad.”
Luo Wangshu pressed his lips together. He really had no way to deal with someone who wouldn’t fight back or argue no matter what.
“Hurry and pick some so we can go home and cook it, good wife.” Mo Li spoke while skillfully plucking leaves. Though he looked rough and careless, he paid close attention not to damage the plants.
Mo Li suddenly didn’t seem all that stupid.
Luo Wangshu looked around. The edges of the fields were full of these wild vegetables, green and swaying gently in the evening breeze.
Not knowing how to do it, Luo Wangshu slowly copied Mo Li’s movements. He was very slow, and half the basket was basically Mo Li’s work.
“Aren’t we just making soup? Why pick so much?”
Mo Li smiled at him. “More is better.”
Luo Wangshu gave him a suspicious look. Then on the way back, Mo Li distributed part of the vegetables to other families. Apparently they were households that liked eating this dish.
“Huh? Isn’t this not the way home?” Luo Wangshu tugged the person leading him. Did they go the wrong way?
Holding his hand, Mo Li slowly explained, “Brother Hu’s raising Miaomiao alone. We’re bringing them some vegetables, and it’s a good chance for you to get acquainted too.”
“Oh.” Luo Wangshu obediently followed along.
The orange-red sunset shone over the man before him. Luo Wangshu thought that maybe walking on like this forever wouldn’t be so bad.