Lu Liu used five slices of cured meat to stew with the cabbage. Once it was done, he took the meat out, chopped it into little cubes, and stir-fried it with pickled greens.
He started missing Old Man Chen.
If he went to the Chen family’s place, he could probably get some tofu.
It had been so long since he’d had tofu.
Sigh.
He’d steamed extra rice today—figured it was time for some fried rice. They hadn’t had that in a while.
Lu Liu planned to make fried rice tomorrow. It could be done dry or stewed with broth.
He usually ate the stewed kind, which was more like porridge. They called it “hot rice.”
He’d wash a small handful of leafy greens, chop up the stalks and leaves. First, he’d stir-fry the stalks to release some juice, then toss in the leaves, cooking them until just wilted. Then he’d add a couple ladles of rice with the veggie juice, cover the pot, and let it all simmer down.
A one-pot meal—simple, cozy, and delicious.
As the time got close, Lu Liu stepped out to meet Li Feng.
Li Feng came back a little earlier today. With no one home but Lu Liu, not even Erhuang the dog, he’d been a bit worried.
Lu Liu greeted him and asked how his day had gone, then immediately started chattering away about his visit with Yao Fulang.
Li Feng led the mule around to the back courtyard, and Lu Liu followed.
Li Feng went inside to wash his hands and face with warm water—Lu Liu still followed, mouth going nonstop, spilling story after story.
He was clearly excited from the visit, fresh-faced and cheerful. But by the end, he pouted a little and added, “But… no one came to buy anything.”
Li Feng had been smiling the whole time, caught up in his joy. But when he heard that last bit, he suddenly burst out laughing.
“Xiao Liu, didn’t the village just have market day?”
Lu Liu blinked. Oh. Right.
They had just gone to market. Of course no one needed to buy more food or drink yet.
Li Feng, having grown up here, knew exactly how thrifty the villagers were.
“Two jin of wine? Gotta drink it slow—two taels a day, and it’s gone in ten days. And they’ve gotta save one jin for New Year’s dinner. Plus enough to serve guests. So if you buy two jin… you can’t touch a single drop.”
The village women and husbands, when they went out to buy wine, usually only got two jin. Any more, and it’d be too heavy to carry back.
The men might buy three to five jin when they went themselves. That was just enough to cover New Year’s, guests, and a little extra to drink alone.
Lu Liu started feeling guilty.
He’d only bought Li Feng two jin of wine too. That’s what Yao Fulang said was normal.
And here he’d been, thinking Li Feng just didn’t like to drink.
Turns out… there just wasn’t enough to drink freely. It had to be rationed.
When dinner was ready, Lu Liu filled a big bowl of rice for him, then flashed a sheepish smile. “Da Feng… do you want a drink? I’ll go pour you some.”
Li Feng actually did feel like having a little.
Lu Liu went into the kitchen and came back with a bowl, scooping out exactly one ladle of wine.
His hand was steady—one ladle was exactly two taels. Just like Li Feng said: drink sparingly.
Li Feng glanced at the bowl and complimented him. “That’s some skill you’ve got there.”
Lu Liu just giggled.
They drank and ate. Once the wine was finished, they moved on to the food.
Li Feng cleaned out the entire pot of stewed cabbage… but didn’t find a single piece of meat.
Weird. It tasted like there was cured pork in there…
Li Feng didn’t suspect Lu Liu of sneaking any—he was too honest for that.
Then he reached for the pickled greens. A couple of leaves were stuck to small cubes of meat—cured pork.
Li Feng looked at the cabbage. Then the pickled greens. Then asked, “Are we out of food again?”
Lu Liu didn’t know what to say. He just smiled.
That made Li Feng laugh. “Xiao Liu, the way you cook reminds me of my mother.”
Lu Liu took that as a compliment and started explaining his thrifty little system.
“You didn’t even notice before!”
He’d gotten caught today because that was the last piece of cured meat—just a few slices left.
Putting just cabbage on the table didn’t look like much, so he’d added the pickled greens.
Lately, he always added some pork bits to those. If he didn’t, the dish came out looking dark and unappetizing—Li Feng wouldn’t even touch it.
Li Feng said, “The meat hanging outside is ready to eat.”
Lu Liu nodded heavily. “Guess we didn’t make it through the year after all.”
Li Feng cracked up.
That night, instead of cuddling on the bed, they had other plans.
Li Feng pulled a wooden box and an abacus out of the cabinet next to the bed. The box was full of stones, all different sizes.
He’d picked them up by the river—smooth, round, colorful. He used them as stand-ins for silver coins when doing math.
First, they calculated how much they’d earn from selling the rice cakes—roughly estimating the total. Then they set aside two taels of silver for emergencies. The rest would go toward oil, rice, flour, and seasonings.
His mother always said—when people in the village went to market, it was mostly for daily necessities. They wouldn’t make a fortune, and that was fine. As long as they had a stall and got some foot traffic, it made collecting mountain goods easier.
He had to figure out how much silver they could spare to restock supplies.
Meanwhile, Lu Liu was finishing up weaving a small basket for collecting money. He noticed Li Feng deep in thought doing the math, so he didn’t interrupt.
The night was peaceful. The warm bed and cozy little room wrapped them in quiet. The couple sat across from each other under a blanket—one glance up and they could see each other smiling, the kind of soft, content smiles that come from being truly happy.
Chapter 50 – Going to the County Town
Li Feng was a hardworking man. Even with all the fuss of making rice cakes, he came home that evening and went straight to clearing out the east room—moving firewood elsewhere so they could get the shop space ready as soon as possible.
Lu Liu wanted to help, but Li Feng wouldn’t let him. It was heavy, dirty work. Some of the logs were thick and hadn’t been chopped yet—if one rolled and hit Lu Liu, it could seriously hurt him.
Li Feng double-checked things with his mother. Both mother and son were the type to act fast once they made a decision.
Most types of business didn’t make much during the New Year season—just odds and ends here and there. But wine was different. That was guaranteed to sell. At least 100 jin, minimum. At the current price, that would bring in about 100 copper coins.
Initial costs would be just over two taels of silver—less than Li Feng had expected.
The village couldn’t compare to the county town in terms of turnover—it was slower to earn back the money. But the good thing was, the income was steady.
Whenever he had free time, Li Feng tidied up the space. That way, once the supplies arrived, they could set up shop quickly.
Lu Liu shared an idea with him:
“I’ve been going out and visiting people these last few days. Got me thinking—what if I start inviting folks over here to hang out more often? Make our place livelier. What do you think?”
In the mountain village, most social visits happened near the center—it was more convenient, close to everything. The closer you lived to the mountains, the fewer visitors you’d get.
Still, everyone had plenty of free time. Walking a few extra steps wasn’t a big deal. If a few people gathered, others would naturally follow.
Li Feng agreed, but said, “Just don’t invite anyone yet—you’re not ready to host a crowd.”
Lu Liu knew he was right. They’d see how it went.
Then he asked about Wang Meng.
“Yao Fulang said you and he are real close.”
Li Feng just chuckled.
“Guys don’t really do the ‘best friends’ thing. You’re the one I’m closest with.”
Lu Liu laughed and ran after him, carrying the lantern.
All that physical labor made Li Feng sweat. The smell was strong and dry. Lu Liu asked if he wanted to take a bath.
They had planned to wash up after finishing the rice cakes. But then that unexpected trip to the county town happened, and they had to rush back with a cart full of glutinous rice to keep working.
A few more days had passed, and every night Li Feng came back hauling firewood. The smell on him was getting hard to ignore.
Li Feng couldn’t really smell it himself. Lu Liu teased,
“Aren’t hunters supposed to have sharp noses?”
Li Feng had stacked firewood all along the outside walls. He wiped the sweat from his head and face with a cloth and told Lu Liu,
“Once you get used to the smell, it doesn’t bother you.”
Lu Liu blinked, thinking of the bedding he’d worked so hard to wash clean. Then he said,
“I’ll go heat some water. You’re not getting in bed smelling like that!”
Li Feng agreed right away.
“Wanna wash together?”
Lu Liu didn’t answer. But when the water was ready, he showed up with clean clothes in hand. For the sake of saving water and firewood, he’d decided to join.
They used the same little room that Shun Ge’er had once lived in. Li Feng had hung straw mats and bamboo curtains again to block the wind, partitioning off a tiny area.
Lu Liu noticed it was even narrower than before. With the tub in place, there wasn’t even room to walk—just barely enough space to squeeze in from the front.
Their clothes were hung on the mat-covered side of the entry, safe from the rising steam.
Li Feng told him,
“You go first. You still smell good. If you share a tub with me, it’ll just get gross.”
Lu Liu laughed but didn’t argue. The problem was, he couldn’t climb into the tub alone.
The tub was custom-made for Li Feng’s tall frame. For Lu Liu, getting in felt like trying to soak in a giant quilt cover—he even needed a stool to step up.
Li Feng asked him to test the water temperature. Lu Liu reached in.
A bit hot—but tolerable.
