Gu Fengyan nodded. "I was thinking of building a coop for the chickens and ducks. Does Father know anyone in the village who is good at carpentry?"
"It's sewn up, take it inside." Father Huo folded the clothes neatly and handed them to Huo Duan, frowning as he thought. "As for carpentry, the second son of the Shen family across the river can do it. I saw the table he made for your aunt's house the other day, it was really beautiful. His husband, Rui Ge'er, is about the same age as you."
When Gu Fengyan beat up Liu Laosan on the mountain, he met Rui Ge'er, whom Huo Adie had mentioned... He was clean-cut and handsome, and he didn't talk much when walking among a group of villagers, making him stand out.
He remembered it at a glance.
"I've met Rui-ge'er. I'll go and invite him tomorrow." Gu Fengyan helped Huo A-die into the main room.
Father Huo said, "Tomorrow won't work. Tell Erdan to go and make arrangements before it gets completely dark, so we don't end up missing him tomorrow."
It's the busy season for farming, so you have to let them know the day before you hire someone to do the work, in case they have other plans for the next day.
Gu Fengyan thought for a moment and smiled, "Father is right. It's getting late. Father, you should rest first. I'll go with Brother Duan and come right back."
...
The road was difficult to travel at night, and there was a section of grove where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face in the dark on the way to the Liu family's house... Gu Fengyan was still not comfortable letting Huo Duan go alone.
Huo Duan took out a paper lantern from the house and lit it. "Where are you going? I'll be back in a bit. The roads are difficult to travel at night."
“That’s why I went there,” Gu Fengyan said as he went inside to put on another coat, deliberately trying to scare Huo Duan. “Mr. Huo, don’t you know that there are many people buried in that grove of trees along the way? It’s dark, and there are wild animals making noises… I’m afraid you’ll see something you shouldn’t.”
"Tch, what a coincidence! I'm a staunch materialist and I don't believe in gods or ghosts!" Huo Duan scoffed, then changed the subject, "You're not afraid of the dark and can't sleep alone, are you?!"
Gu Fengyan chuckled twice, "If that's what you mean, then I won't go."
He immediately made a move to go back to his room to sleep.
Huo Duan quickly stopped him and coaxed, "I was just joking. Let's go, the two of you can still talk."
During the day, he was busy making a living and at night he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the bed. It was a rare opportunity to have a private conversation with Gu Fengyan, so Huo Duan naturally wanted to make the most of it.
The Shen family had separated long ago, and Shen Zhuo and his husband Jiang Xuerui lived alone. They were still awake at this time, and through the window, two figures could be seen sitting at the table.
Huo Duan knocked on the door. "Is Second Brother Shen asleep?"
The person who opened the door was Shen Zhuo, a handsome young man in his early twenties, wearing a coat.
"Oh, it's Erdan and Yan Ge'er. We're still awake. Come in and sit down." Upon seeing the two, Shen Zhuo stepped aside and greeted them with a smile.
"I won't go in. Father sent me to ask if Second Brother has time to build a chicken coop for my family tomorrow."
Shen Zhuo's family wasn't wealthy either; their house only had three rooms. Apart from the kitchen, the main room was tiny and adjacent to the bedroom. There was no door, so you could see everything at a glance. Rui Ge'er was still inside, and it wouldn't be good for Huo Duan, a man, to go in alone in the middle of the night.
After listening, Shen Zhuo nodded, "Alright, I've finished weeding those few acres of land. Go back and tell Father Huo that I'll come first thing tomorrow morning."
Huo Duan smiled and said, "I'll trouble you, Second Brother. You and Rui-ge should go to bed early. We'll head back now."
"Be careful on the road." Shen Zhuo escorted the two to the bottom of the courtyard and guided them along the path.
Gu Fengyan remembered something and turned around to call out, "Second Brother Shen, bring Rui Ge'er along tomorrow too. It will save him from having to work in the kitchen. I also want to learn some needlework from him and have a chat with him."
Jiang Xuerui married into the village from the next village. She was timid and didn't like chatting with the wives of the villagers. Shen Zhuo would be out all day, so she was worried that he would get bored.
Gu Fengyan brought it up, and Shen Zhuo realized that the two were about the same age and might actually have something in common.
In the future, when he goes to the fields or to work, his husband won't be bored.
“Okay, I’ll go back and talk to him,” Shen Zhuo said loudly.
Once they were a distance away, Huo Duancai asked Gu Fengyan, "Do you know Jiang Xuerui?"
Gu Fengyan carefully examined the road. "I don't really know him. I saw him once in the mountains last time, but we never spoke..."
"So you really want to learn needlework? You can learn from your father too." Huo Duan raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
"Do I look like someone who would learn embroidery?" Gu Fengyan pointed to himself. "The demand for medicinal herbs in Xinglin Academy is huge, and we don't have enough manpower. I thought Rui-ge'er was probably free, so I wanted to ask him to come with me to collect herbs. I'd even pay him... Rui-ge'er looks like a very nice person, with a clean and handsome appearance." He chuckled a few times as he spoke.
Huo Duan's teeth ached with bitterness. "You think everyone is good."
"Trust my judgment, Mr. Huo." Gu Fengyan said with a grin, putting his arm around Huo Duan's shoulder.
Huo Duan scoffed dismissively, but did not dodge.
The next morning, Shen Zhuo arrived, followed by the timid Jiang Xuerui.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Adie had just finished preparing breakfast. Knowing that Shen Zhuo was bringing Jiang Ruixue, Gu Fengyan put in some effort, adding some good herbs to the white rice porridge and using plenty of oil, salt, and seasonings to stir-fry several dishes.
After breakfast, Huo Duan and Shen Zhuo gathered around the chicken coop behind the house, while Huo's father wove baskets under the peach tree.
Gu Fengyan pretended to hold a piece of cloth and followed Jiang Xuerui to learn embroidery techniques.
"You're so amazing! Can you teach me?" Gu Fengyan couldn't help but admire Jiang Xuerui's skillful needlework and finger movements as she embroidered a lifelike mandarin duck.
They were truly impressive; these guys seemed to be proficient in all sorts of skills, which made him, Young Master Gu, look like a useless piece of trash who couldn't even take care of himself.
Jiang Xuerui blushed with embarrassment at the praise and nodded, her ears turning red. "This was taught to me by my little daddy. Watch it with me first, then try it yourself..."
However, Gu Fengyan was completely confused. He could only see the needles flying around, but he couldn't find any pattern. However, he didn't have any intention of learning embroidery.
"What kind of pattern do you want to embroider? I have some here, you can pick one." Seeing that he seemed to be lost in thought, Jiang Ruixue took out a few pattern papers from the sewing basket and asked him to choose one.
Birds, orchids, peonies, green bamboo... all painted with lifelike detail. Gu Fengyan picked out a painting of green bamboo, saying, "You can even paint flower patterns? That's really impressive."
Jiang Xuerui lowered her eyes, her face flushed, and smiled sweetly, "How could I know how to do this? It was all done by Azhuo. He's skillful and was worried that I'd get bored staying home alone all the time, so he drew some patterns for me to embroider for fun."
"Oh, I see... Then if you feel bored at home, just come find me. Anyway, I don't have much to do at home now that Brother Duan is gone," Gu Fengyan replied with a smile.
Jiang Ruixue had married into the village from afar, and there was no one she could talk to in the village. Gu Fengyan's outgoing personality made him feel especially close to her.
"If you want to embroider anything in the future, just come to me and I'll embroider it for you," he said.
Then he took the bamboo embroidery by Gu Fengyan, which looked like a tangled, wriggling caterpillar, and patiently took it apart and fixed it.
He realized that Yan Ge'er was not cut out for this job.
Gu Fengyan smiled sheepishly, "Then thank you. By the way, there's something else I wanted to tell you..."
"Okay, go ahead." Jiang Ruixue stopped what she was doing.
Gu Fengyan continued, "It's nothing major. A few days ago, I saw a lot of medicinal herbs on the mountain, so I picked some, processed them, and planned to sell them to supplement our family income. I didn't expect to sign a contract with the county's Apricot Grove Hospital, but we're a bit short-handed..."
"I was just thinking of asking if you had any ideas on how to help me harvest medicinal herbs. I'll pay you for it." After saying that, he glanced at Jiang Xuerui's expression and added, "If you're too busy at home or don't have time, that's fine too. I'll find someone else."
Jiang Xuerui had heard before that Gu Fengyan's family owned a pharmacy in the next county. She didn't doubt the truth of the matter, but... since they were from the same village, and he had nothing to do, how could he take their wages?
“A-Zhuo usually goes to work in the county. The Shen family has long since separated, and I’m very bored at home all by myself. If you need help next time, just call me…” Jiang Xuerui said shyly, “But let’s forget about the wages.”
"Alright, I'll call you next time," Gu Fengyan said. He naturally couldn't take advantage of someone else for nothing, and there was no point in refusing at this point. He would just wait until he paid Jiang Xuerui the wages later.
The two talked for a while longer, and when they figured the chicken coop was almost finished, Gu Fengyan went inside to prepare the meal.
They cooked a pot of soup with the angelica and pheasant they had dug up a few days ago, stir-fried a plate of wild scallions and eggs, and made a cold salad of prickly ash sprouts... Shen Zhuo and the others were sweating while standing in a circle, so Gu Fengyan cooked a pot of perilla drink and fetched well water to cool it down.
The meal was cooked together with Rui Ge'er; Gu Fengyan had already considered him a friend.
"Alright, go wash your hands too. I'll go call Erdan and Brother Shen back for dinner." Gu Fengyan wiped his hands and untied his apron, draping it over the woodpile.
Shen Zhuo's carpentry skills truly deserve to be the best in Heqing Village. The chicken coop is neat and beautiful, and the small door is made with mortise and tenon joints, making it easy to open and close. Even the small vegetable garden next to it is surrounded by a fence.
Huo Duan and Shen Zhuo were putting the finishing touches on.
"Second Brother Shen, the food is ready. Come wash your hands after you've finished cleaning up. Rui Ge'er and I also made a perilla drink," Gu Fengyan said jokingly as he walked over. "I heard from Rui Ge'er that Second Brother Shen dotes on him. I've given Rui Ge'er a lot of orders this time, so please don't be angry, Second Brother Shen."
Shen Zhuo blushed, unable to win the argument, so he could only drag Huo Duan into it, "Erdan, listen to this, how powerful your husband is with his mouth."
Little did he know that Huo Duan was also a follower of his husband. Upon seeing Gu Fengyan, his eyes were full of smiles. "I can't control that. What Brother Yan said is right. Who in the whole Heqing Village doesn't know that you, Second Brother Shen, love your husband the most?"
"If we men don't love our husbands, who will we love?" Shen Zhuo mumbled, his face flushed.
"I'll go set the table first, you all come back soon," Gu Fengyan said with a smile, knowing when to stop.
There were five people in the family eating today. The stone table under the peach tree was a bit small, so we used a rotten wooden table from inside the house that we cleaned up and made do with.
Just as the sun was setting after dinner, a few people sat on the courtyard embankment enjoying the cool air, carrying their perilla-flavored drinks.
As the sun sets in the west, the distant mountains and forests rustle gently, and the sky is a clear, cloudless, rosy hue—a sign of fine weather.
"We can start gathering medicinal herbs on the mountain tomorrow..." Gu Fengyan thought to himself.
Chapter Thirteen
Today was market day, and Gu Fengyan, considering that processing medicinal herbs would require tools, took out five hundred coins and asked Huo Duan to purchase them.
After having breakfast and Huo Duan left, Gu Fengyan chopped up a few handfuls of goose vegetables, mixed them with worm-eaten wheat scraps, and fed them to the chicks and ducklings.
Seeing the weather, he watered the newly planted seedlings behind the house thoroughly, broke off tree branches to block the sun, and then carried his basket and sickle to the second house of the Shen family to find Jiang Xuerui.
...
After weeding a batch of grass, during the off-season, the villagers would find other jobs to supplement their income, with the wives of the brothers embroidering handkerchiefs at home.
The men usually went to the county to work as porters, while those with skills like Shen Zhuo would follow the bricklayers to supervise the construction of houses.
"I've packed your food, including pickled vegetables. Remember to eat them. If you can't come back this afternoon, ask Brother Xue at the village entrance to give me a message so I know." At the Shen family home, Jiang Xuerui served Shen Zhuo his breakfast, but worried that he might be too busy to eat much for lunch, so she was quite concerned.
The two had been married for a short time and were deeply in love, so they were reluctant to part ways every time they went out.
"Arui..." Shen Zhuo stared at her husband intently, her voice filled with passion, unsure if the words had reached his ears.
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Jiang Xuerui feigned anger, "Did you hear what I said?"
However, his crimson ear tips had already given him away.
But his back still hurts.
“I’m listening. Lock the door when I’m not home. If you’re bored, go find Yan Ge’er to embroider some flowers… or at least go chat with your sister-in-law.” Shen Zhuo always knew that her husband was reserved and shy, so she pulled him into her arms and got a kiss as she wished.
Upon hearing him mention his sister-in-law, Jiang Xuerui's voice immediately rose several decibels, "I'm not going to go find my sister-in-law..."
Although he is introverted, he can still distinguish right from wrong.
When she married into the family, the Shen family had not yet divided their property. Her eldest brother, Shen Dingshan, was a tight-lipped man who never uttered a word. Her sister-in-law, Yu, was sharp-tongued and loved to stir up trouble. She and Shen Zhuo suffered a lot because of her.
He could tolerate it for a few years anyway, but his husband had grown up with his older brother and sister-in-law since childhood and must have suffered a lot.
Because of this, Jiang Xuerui felt sorry for Shen Zhuo and never had a good impression of the Yu family.
"Then go find Yan Ge'er, okay?" Shen Zhuo coaxed Jiang Xuerui, cupping her face in his hands.
Jiang Xuerui lowered her eyes and softly hummed in agreement, feeling extremely reluctant to part with Shen Zhuo, letting him rub her...
Gu Fengyan carried a basket across the river and arrived at the gate of Shen Zhuo's house. Finding the courtyard empty, he called out, "Second Brother Shen, is Rui-ge at home?"