There was a family near Daqing Mountain named Lin, so poor they could barely scrape together a few coins. All they had was a thatched hut.
The family of three included two people as thin as skeletons and one solidly built person who was also skin and bones. Between them, they could scrape together only a few copper coins.
Everyone in the village said they'd starve to death sooner or later. Then one day, a matchmaker found them a spouse from a neighboring village: a ger named Xu Xiaoye, from a family just as desperately poor as theirs.
When the villagers heard, they figured that family must be unable to make ends meet and planned to sell Xu Xiaoye to the Lin family to have one fewer mouth to feed.
Those who knew what Xu Xiaoye looked like said he was ugly. Other families probably wouldn't want him, leaving only the Lin family as a possibility.
The Lin parents thought it over and over. With their stomachs growling like thunder, they finally decided they had to leave the Lin family a descendant.
They didn't want to miss their only chance, so they steeled themselves and gave the other family their hen.
Not long afterward, Xu Xiaoye was sent to the Lin family. He wore clean clothes so patched over that their original color was impossible to make out, and was covered with a filthy black blanket.
·
Xu Xiaoye and Lin Daxiao had never met before their wedding, but they both knew the other's family was desperately poor. Forget a wedding feast, they probably couldn't even manage a single white-flour bun.
Xu Xiaoye didn't mind. He'd grown up like that, after all. But that night, when the "veil" was lifted, his husband handed him two bowls.
One held a palm-sized multigrain bun, and the other held noodle soup with an egg tucked underneath.
The multigrain bun and egg were both whole, not just half of one. His eyes grew slightly warm, and he felt a little less afraid of his husband's tall, broad frame.
After that day, Xu Xiaoye became the Lin family's husband.
·
The Lin family really was poor, about as poor as his own. His parents-in-law were just too mild-mannered, so easy to fool...
Still, they were genuinely good to him. At least that was much better than his own family, where they'd fight over a single mouthful of food.
His husband was good to him too, letting him have his way in everything.
That night, Xu Xiaoye lay on his back looking at the thatch on the ceiling and thought: This family may be poor, but there's plenty to look forward to. This is nice.
He felt Lin Daxiao's arm around his waist and managed to roll over with difficulty. Then he touched his sleeping husband's face and, smiling, gave him a quick kiss on the lips. This is even nicer.
Well, life goes on, one day at a time.
A quiet, gentle, handsome bottom with a black-sesame-paste heart x a rugged top who listens to his husband, eats a lot, and is incredibly strong
1. A slow-burn farming story about building a life from nothing.
2. The two belong to each other in body and soul.
Theme: Live well, no matter the time.
