Life passed by at a steady, unhurried pace.
On the second day after their wedding, Yang Tao returned to work. The main farming tasks now involved weeding the rice fields before applying fertilizer, as well as hoeing weeds in the cornfields and peanut fields. For the past several days, Yang Tao had been alternating between the peanut fields and cornfields.
The peanut fields weren’t too bad, but some of the corn stalks had already grown taller than a person. While weeding, it was inevitable that the corn leaves would scrape against her face and arms, leaving them itchy and painful. As a result, Yang Tao always went to work fully equipped. She wrapped a damp cloth around her head and face, which kept her cool, allowed her to wipe away sweat, and protected her face from the sharp corn leaves. She also wore a straw hat for shade, along with long sleeves and long pants.
Although it was hotter, Yang Tao felt it was worth it. She even thought her skin had become a little fairer from being so thoroughly covered.
Most of the men, including Chen Yichen, worked in the rice paddies.
Earlier, while weeding in the fields, Chen Yichen had suffered cuts on his calves from the sharp rice leaves. Unlike Yang Tao, however, he couldn’t exactly wrap up his legs while working. Later came the fertilizer application, which was another form of torture altogether.
Yang Tao wasn’t sure whether chemical fertilizers had been introduced yet, but the village still relied on farmyard manure and compost made from plant matter. There were two composting areas in the village, and the smell was overwhelming. Even standing dozens of meters away made Yang Tao want to vomit.
She truly felt sorry for Chen Yichen.
Every day after applying fertilizer, Yang Tao felt as though he carried the smell with him. At noon and again in the evening, he always had to rinse off. Fortunately, it was summer. Water left outside under the sun would warm up enough for bathing, so there was no need to waste precious firewood heating it.
One night, Yang Tao and Chen Yichen were suddenly awakened by urgent knocking on the door accompanied by someone calling their names.
Chen Yichen told her to keep sleeping while he got dressed and went to answer the door.
The visitor was Widow Tian from the village.
Her husband had died while serving in the military. After receiving the compensation payment, her mother-in-law had taken half of it and gone to live with her younger son. The remaining half was left to Widow Tian, after which her mother-in-law washed her hands of her and her two children.
As the only adult supporting the household, her life was unimaginably difficult.
It turned out that her younger daughter had developed a fever.
Widow Tian had noticed it when they returned home in the evening, but she had assumed the child would recover after some sleep and hadn’t thought much of it. Unexpectedly, the fever became much worse during the night, frightening her.
The nearest clinic was in town, an hour’s walk away. Being alone with her children in the middle of the night made her nervous, so she had come to borrow a bicycle.
She had first gone to the team leader’s house to borrow the production team’s bicycle, only to discover that the village accountant had ridden it to the city for a meeting and hadn’t returned that day. Therefore, the team leader accompanied her to Yang Tao’s house to borrow theirs.
After hearing the situation, Chen Yichen didn’t hesitate for a second and immediately wheeled out their bicycle.
Widow Tian wanted to pay for the use of it, but Chen Yichen refused. The team leader also urged her not to waste time arguing about money and told her to hurry back and bring her daughter.
Afterward, the team leader pushed the bicycle and went to fetch the village Women’s Director, Xie Chunhua, asking her to accompany Widow Tian.
After all, traveling at night with just a woman and a small child was unsafe, but it would also be inappropriate for a man to accompany them alone. The arrangement solved both concerns.
Only after seeing that everything had been properly arranged did Chen Yichen return home to sleep.
Yang Tao had only heard bits and pieces of the conversation through her drowsiness, but she still asked about it afterward. Once she understood the whole story, she felt the team leader’s arrangement had been thoughtful. Whether the team leader himself or Chen Yichen had accompanied Widow Tian would have been awkward.
Early the next morning, Women’s Director Xie Chunhua returned their bicycle.
Unable to resist asking, Yang Tao said, “Aunt Chunhua, how is Sister Tian’s little Huahua? Has her fever gone down?”
“She’s already had a fever-reducing injection. The doctor said they’ll need to observe her for a while longer. If the fever doesn’t return this morning, they’ll be able to come home. She seemed fine, so I came back first.”
The two chatted for a few more moments.
Seeing the exhaustion on Aunt Chunhua’s face, Yang Tao stopped talking and urged her to go home and rest.
At noon, when everyone returned from work, word spread that Widow Tian and her daughter had come home.
While Yang Tao’s family was eating lunch, Widow Tian arrived carrying a gift.
She brought five eggs as a token of thanks for lending the bicycle.
Yang Tao refused to accept them and told her to save the eggs for her children. But Widow Tian left the eggs behind and hurried away.
When Yang Tao chased after her, she was already gone.
Grandma Yang said, “Give them back to her this afternoon when you go to work. The three of them have a hard enough life as it is.”
Yang Tao agreed.
That afternoon, she deliberately took a detour to Widow Tian’s house and returned the eggs.
Looking at the little girl, who still seemed listless from her illness, Yang Tao gently patted her head and gave her a piece of candy.
When she noticed the little boy standing nearby staring at her, she gave him one too.
The candy was left over from their wedding. Chen Yichen never ate sweets, so Yang Tao sometimes carried a piece or two with her. Whenever farm work left her exhausted, she could pop one into her mouth for a little burst of sweetness.