Mountain Meals [Farming]

(I'll revise the story twice. I take no responsibility for pirated copies, and I take no responsibility for pirated copies.)

Everyday family life, saving money and getting by, with no golden finger.

Bai Yu, a young man, is nearly driven to the end of his rope by his older brother and sister-in-law. He runs away and seeks refuge with a distant relative in a village in a neighboring prefecture.

On the boat there, he meets a broad-backed, burly laborer. In an unfamiliar place, Bai Yu is fortunate to have the kind man's help, and in return, he brings him meals for several days.

After they reach shore, Bai Yu thinks they'll never cross paths again.

But in the village where his distant relatives live, a tall, sturdy man takes a liking to him and sends a matchmaker to ask if Bai Yu would be willing to become his husband.

Bai Yu says nothing. He hadn't been thinking of getting married.

A few days later, the man comes in person with the matchmaker to propose. This time, Bai Yu doesn't refuse. He nods and agrees.

If it's him, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Though they marry in a hurry, the two of them make a warm, happy life in the mountains.

Fine rain in the mountains, mist veiling the world, a single oil lamp, two people in their home.

Completed historical farming novels: "Three Meals a Day in the Countryside" and "I Picked Up a Gentle Little Husband"

Completed modern farming novel: "He and His Stomach"; Jiang Kaichu's installment, "He and His Stomach"; upcoming short story: "He and the Mountain"

>3< Upcoming historical farming novel: "A Prosperous Household"

A few tiled rooms, a neat little courtyard, family sitting together at leisure, lamplight warm and welcoming.

The Zhu family is the wealthiest household for miles around, with a comfortable fortune. Yet they have put off finding a spouse for their son, because generations of the Zhu family have worked as corpse stitchers. (Corpse stitchers sew up bodies. When a corpse is missing parts, a corpse stitcher must be called in to stitch it together.)

The people nearby consider the trade taboo and avoid the family, refusing to associate with them.

The Zhu couple have a son and a daughter. Their eldest daughter married at seventeen, leaving their younger son, Zhu Jishan. He is tall and fierce-looking, and works as a blacksmith. People say he likes to hit others and has a cold, unpredictable temper. He has passed twenty without finding a match. Seeing their son grow older by the day, Zhu's parents can't stand it any longer. They ask a matchmaker to find him a spouse, and say the betrothal gifts are negotiable.

Some time later, the matchmaker really does find a match. The household of a high-ranking official has been seized after he committed a crime, and all the servants, including maids and footmen, are being sold. Among them is a well-mannered young man, born into the household as a servant, with a pleasant appearance. He can be bought for ten taels.

The Zhu couple clap their hands. They buy him!

When Sui An, the young man they buy, hears what his future in-laws do for a living, he's so frightened that he doesn't dare leave his room for three days. He's even more afraid his future husband will snap his neck!

But as the days pass, he realizes that life together isn't so bad. He has nice clothes and meat at every meal, and even his fearsome husband knows how to be caring and considerate.

Others often see the Zhu family's husband rubbing his waist and shoulders, and assume he must be beaten at home. But they don't know that Zhu Jishan wouldn't lay a finger on him, let alone beat him. His only complaint is that nearly every night, the fierce Zhu Jishan pins him down on the heated brick bed…

Theme: Make a good life together.