If they didn’t come back, then they didn’t.
If they did return, the shop would be full of work—moving, maintaining social obligations—and the next few days would be busy.
Li Feng explained this to Lu Liu, and he stopped worrying.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, their family planned a banquet, but the exact day Wang Meng and the other four would come down from the mountain was uncertain.
They said they’d return before the festival, yet by the day itself, no one had appeared.
Li Feng said, “It’s far in the mountains. They travel straight through without stopping. Once they arrive, they don’t track or lie in wait—they just take what’s at hand, wild goods and game. If they rush, they might make it by the festival. There’s plenty of good stuff in the deep mountains. They haven’t been for a long time and might want to stay a little longer.”
Without knowing when they would return, the family couldn’t properly prepare dishes.
Lu Liu wandered around the house, deciding to follow the style of the banquet that his brother and brother-in-law had once brought to the village.
A few plates of mountain delicacies and wild game, plus a couple of dishes of seasonal vegetables. Wild game was meat, so cooked, it became the main course—sufficient for the feast.
They had wine at home, and he shelled plenty of peanuts so that after eating, everyone could drink and chat.
He planned to shell a bit more to fry a couple extra dishes.
When the men drank, the husbands could retreat to the house, snack on peanuts, and have a little chat.
Counting the days this way, by the festival, Wang Meng and the others had indeed not come down.
Lu Liu took some zongzi out along the mountain path, delivering two to Brother Yao and two to Chen Jiu.
Chen Jiu was drying mushrooms in the courtyard.
With the warm weather, birds and beasts were everywhere. Everything they dried needed to be covered with a large net to prevent it from being stolen.
Lu Liu helped him cover the nets and invited him to come over to the house.
Chen Jiu declined. There weren’t many mushrooms these days, and his aunt could manage. With some free hands, he could cook mushroom-and-meat sauce. It was rare to have spare time, so he wanted to cook a bit more.
He helped cook the sauce. At first, he did it out of stubbornness, cooking just a few pots a day for months—easy work. He could save a little silver each month. He earned it himself.
With Wang Meng away, he didn’t make any zongzi.
He accepted Lu Liu’s zongzi and, having nothing to reciprocate, brought out a few raw eggs for Lu Liu to cook however he liked.
Lu Liu smiled, “You’re getting gentler and gentler.”
Chen Jiu didn’t feel like talking; his tone was flat, words sharp: “I just don’t want to owe you.”
Lu Liu teased, “If I said a few eggs weren’t enough, would you get mad?”
Chen Jiu snorted. “What do you want?”
Lu Liu had no real reason; he thought Li Feng wanted to host a meal for the brothers. Wang Meng was one of them, the families lived close, and the relationship was good. He wanted Chen Jiu to help with the banquet preparations.
With five families gathering, Chen Jiu contributing would make conversation at the table easier.
He still hoped Chen Jiu would get along—it was best for everyone.
Chen Jiu didn’t answer. Lu Liu waited a while, thinking he might be refusing. A little awkward, he scratched his face and said goodbye to head home.
Chen Jiu then said, “Fine, let me know when you host the banquet.”
Lu Liu got a clear answer and relaxed his smile.
He said, “If you’d just said yes before, I wouldn’t have wasted so much thought wondering.”
Chen Jiu replied indifferently, “I’m not your man.”
Well said.
Lu Liu chuckled. “Okay, I’ll go back to find Da Feng. When you’re free, come visit my house too!”
During the festival, Li Feng stayed home.
He tended the rabbit and chicken coops. The mule and dog were fine, but the rabbits and chickens were small—any small mountain creature could easily get into the pens.
After the festival, the weather would rise rapidly. Covering everything completely could suffocate them, so he cut bamboo and vines and built a ventilated shelter along the dirt wall.
He also prepared some good wood to build a kennel for the small dog.
The puppy would come home in June; he had chosen a female to sleep separately from Er Huang.
The backyard was almost full.
Next to Er Huang’s kennel, he cleared a space, tidying up the stones.
He had free time today and found some stone material to carve a feeding trough for his father-in-law.
His father-in-law raised three pigs and still used wooden troughs. They would last for a while, but once he finished carving, they could replace them.
Lu Liu came by and saw him busy. Remembering the two fathers, he was happy and smiled, chattering around him.
Even during festivals, farm families stayed busy. Only a few could take a whole day off.
They hadn’t returned for the Dragon Boat Festival. When Li Feng went to the county, he also delivered festival gifts, tidied up the front house and backyard, and filled the water jars.
In a few days, when Lu Liu’s pregnancy stabilized, the couple could visit.
Lu Liu spoke of all the wild vegetables and treasures this season.
Wild ginger was in the mountains, and it could fetch a good price.
Brother Shun had been busy since spring and couldn’t stay home. In the new village, he could help with the crops, but at the foot of the mountain, Lu Liu handled household matters. Li Feng was often home, and Chen Guizhi stayed home too, so Brother Shun could “go make money.”
This season was full of treasures.
A diligent person could earn plenty of silver.
He also found polygonatum, which could sell for a good price.
Lu Liu said, “Brother Shun works so hard. I wasn’t this capable at his age. Mother says after selling the goods, leave him some silver. Next time we go to the county, we’ll bring him along and see what he wants to buy.”
Li Feng was pleased to hear his younger brother had potential. “I see he likes to dress up. He got new clothes recently and looked wonderful. Polygonatum is worth quite a bit. After selling it, we’ll take him to buy a box of rouge. You can see if you want lipstick too.”
Lu Liu decided to wait until after the child was born.
Then the couple could experiment with cooking and enjoy a large chicken meal, and dress however they liked.
Li Feng said, “If you dress up well, I’ll look good too. We’re not exactly idle.”
Lu Liu didn’t laugh at first, but after a while, he couldn’t stop laughing.
He said, “But in the village, when I overhear people talking, they gossip for days if a young bride or husband wears new clothes, saying they dress up just to show off.”
Li Feng advised, “If you dress nicely and they say that, just tell them it’s to show off to them. They’ll love it.”
Lu Liu laughed even more, looking forward to the rouge.
They didn’t have much silver left. Too many mountain mushrooms were stockpiled, and recently Li Feng had spent money hunting to cover costs, so the emergency silver at home was spent.
Brother Shun had also whispered about which wild vegetables were expensive and which were the real treasures this season. He was eager to earn and help fill the family’s gap.
Lu Liu chatted with Li Feng for a while, then returned inside to print picture books.
Li Feng hadn’t yet gone to the county to sell; he planned to sew more books for backup.
Those who needed to buy in the village had already done so; there was no rush. Li Feng suggested printing extra copies and, when new blocks arrived, they could mix them up, bind them randomly, and it would be a brand-new book to sell.
Watching the time and the bright daylight, he printed a smaller batch to sew first. Once it grew dark, he wouldn’t do needlework, then return inside to continue printing.
After printing, he left the books on the kang to dry. After dinner, everything would be organized, and the ink dry.
Recently, Lu Liu had been eating a lot of sour foods. He had rationed himself earlier, and no one at home took large portions; friends visiting were careful too. He had only finished half a jar of pickled plums.
In these days, he ate bowl after bowl, almost finishing. After meals, he ate some pickled radish for a snack.
It wasn’t yet hawthorn season. His family didn’t like sour foods and had no stock. Mother said she would go visiting tomorrow and bring some dried hawthorn back—another treat.
