PS: A slice-of-life farming story about a local husband, following the four seasons, three meals a day, and the little everyday moments of family life.
Today they plant rice in the fields, tomorrow they pick fruit on the mountain. Cool well water on a summer day, bulging muscles beneath short sleeves, and in winter, a crackling fire and a couple tangled together beneath the covers.
Fang Zhinan had always known he was adopted. His name meant "knowing he came from the south," but his older brother, Fang Baiqing, didn't know that he knew he was adopted.
When he was six, his brother fought someone on his behalf because that person had called him an unwanted child.
When he was ten, he fell on a steep slope on his way home from the fields. His brother took a hoe and spent the whole night leveling that stretch of road.
When he was fifteen, he carried a bamboo basket of food to the fields for his brother and parents. A neighbor teased, "Brother Qing, is your little husband here?" His brother pretended to punch the man. "Don't talk nonsense and ruin my little brother's reputation!"
But Fang Zhinan lowered his face, cheeks flushed red.
That same year, a matchmaker came knocking at the Fang family's gate. Thankfully, neither of his parents liked the match.
Fang Zhinan gritted his teeth. The next day, he marched right up to his brother, looked up at him, and asked, "Brother, would you marry me?"
Fang Baiqing froze. This was his younger brother. How could he become his husband?
After a long silence, Fang Zhinan seemed to understand what his brother meant, but he still wanted to take one last chance. He raised his sleeve to cover his eyes, his voice breaking into a sob. "Brother, I..."
Fang Baiqing panicked. His little brother seemed to be crying. How could he cry? Almost without thinking, the words slipped out: "I'll marry you. I really will."
Fang Zhinan lowered his hand, revealing a pair of smiling eyes. "Brother, you can't take it back!"
Fang Baiqing: ...I've been tricked.
Afterward, Fang Baiqing tried several times to call off the arrangement. Every time he brought it up, Fang Zhinan looked at him with tears in his eyes.
Fang Baiqing had no choice. Oh well, there was nothing wrong with his little brother becoming his husband. At least he wouldn't have nightmares about his brother being mistreated by his husband's family anymore. This way, he could solve the problem once and for all.
Another late autumn arrived, and the Fang family held the liveliest wedding banquet they had ever seen. Fang Zhinan married the man he had once called his older brother.
At the foot of the green mountains, behind low walls and in a modest home, the one who had been by his side since childhood would remain at his side for the rest of their lives.
[Reader's Guide]
1. No golden finger. Just family life, food, and cozy farming.
2. Pregnancy and childbirth occur toward the end.
Theme: Three meals and a place to sleep, short years and long days.
