Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 7 The Full-Fed Man

Beijiwu pulled the last load of wheat straw toward home.

I hadn't walked more than a few steps when a girl ran up to me.

"Brother Wu, can you help my dad? His back is aching from harvesting wheat."

Beijiwu looked at Zhang Xiulan, the girl in the neighboring field, and said frankly, "I don't have time, I have to go help the Li family harvest wheat."

The young girl, Zhang Xiulan, said shyly, "After harvesting Li Hong's wheat, can you harvest ours first? I can do your laundry, cook for you, fetch water for you, and tidy up your house."

“No need, there are people at home doing the work.” Beijiwu didn’t want to feed her. “Go back and help your father with the work.”

Zhang Xiulan still refused to leave and continued to accompany Beijiwu towards the Beijiwu family home.

"You must be tired from pulling the cart. Let me help you push it."

The young woman meant well, but Beijiwu impatiently scolded her:

"No! This car only has one wheel, and I'm using both hands to keep it balanced. Don't pull on it! Don't make things worse and tip it over! I'll hit you!"

Zhang Xiulan dared not help blindly, unsure of what to do with her hands, and continued to follow Bei Jiwu's lead, saying, "Okay, I won't move."

Beijiwu said irritably, "You should go back and help your father with the work. It seems like it rained on the seventh or eighth day of the wheat harvest last year, and today is already the fourth day."

Last year, everyone suffered heavy losses. Beijiwu had just arrived then, and his family sold their cattle, shoes, and clothes to exchange for food.

Zhang Xiulan still refused to leave, following Beijiwu to a place where she could see her house but didn't go back.

"I don't have any other requests. If you're willing to feed me, I'll live at your house and help you with chores. You can also help my dad a little when you're free. Is that alright?"

Beijiwu gave a disdainful sneer, "I knew you were just after my family's food. I can't afford to support you. Go find someone else."

Zhang Xiulan blushed and continued to follow, "I eat little, but I can still help you have a son. After I give birth to a son, he will work for you and carry on the family line."

This woman just wouldn't give up. Even though she knew that Beiji Wu's family already had two women, she still begged and pleaded to come and take a bite out of the rich family.

Arctic Martial refused sternly, "No, I don't do things half-heartedly. I already have two, I don't lack women. You should go back to work. How many times do I have to tell you before you listen?"

Zhang Xiulan was used to being scolded. What daughter doesn't get scolded? Her daughter was scolded from a young age. Her parents only loved their son; their daughter was considered a financial burden.

The better you treat your daughter, the more money you lose. A ruthless person like the Li family can sell their daughter to make money, while a kind-hearted person who prepares a dowry for their daughter has to give up their son.

In rural families with many sons, hoping that their daughters will find a husband and settle down is already considered kind-hearted. It's more common for families like the Li family to sell their daughters to pay off debts and exchange them for their sons' marriages.

No matter how much Beiji Wu cursed at her, the woman wouldn't leave and followed him into the courtyard.

Beijiwu said impatiently, "Alright, I'll help your family harvest one acre of wheat tomorrow. You go home now and stop bothering me. I'm kicking you out!"

“Okay!” Zhang Xiulan happily agreed, then glanced at Beijiwu with delight, “Then I’ll go back to work. I’ll come over and help you with your work whenever I’m free.”

"No need, get out of here." Beiji Wusheng was afraid that this woman would stick to him again, so he quickly closed the door.

Li Bing sat in front of the main room watching this scene. Just as he was about to get up, he fell to the ground in pain.

"Ouch..."

Beijiwu looked over in confusion, "What's wrong with you now?"

For some reason, I've been having ambiguous relationships with several women these past few days.

In the past, when women would cause trouble for no reason, Beijiwu would always take action directly, and then things would be peaceful again.

Li Bing clutched her foot. "It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle. It'll be fine in a bit."

Beijiwu walked over, squatted down, and reached out to pull up Li Bing's trouser leg a little.

Li Bing did not resist, nervously watching the man approaching her, feeling the distance between them was so close.

Beijiwu looked at Li Bing's corner, which was obviously swollen, but the problem was not serious.

"Rest for three or four days and then we'll talk. Don't do any work for the next few days, so as not to aggravate the injury."

Li Bing laughed and said, "How can I not work? I'm not that delicate. If I don't work now, I won't have anything to eat later." Bei Jiwu knew that many rural people's health problems stemmed from this. Because of the war, there weren't many elderly people in the village, but almost everyone in their middle age had problems with their backs and legs.

"You can just sit at the door and watch the house." Beijiwu stood up, went inside to find a towel, and then handed a wooden chair to Li Bing. "Sit on the chair."

"Okay." Li Bing sat happily on the small chair, looking at Arctic Martial Arts with a blissful expression.

In rural areas with such an environment, a man who doesn't let women do heavy work is definitely a good man.

The house consisted of three rooms: left, right, and center. Li Hong looked at the scene in front of the main room, which also served as the kitchen, with a smile on her face.

"I haven't finished cooking yet. I've been boiling millet in the pot. I saw you weighed down the rice jar with a stone, and there's still half a jar of millet in it. My rice jar has been empty for a long time. You really know how to manage your money!"

Millet is a yellow millet. Arctic Wu doesn't like to eat this yellow millet, which he thinks is chicken feed, but that's not how things are made in this era.

"Hmm, I dried some apricots last month and put them in the bedside table. You can take a few and add them in to enhance the flavor."

Beijiwu walked towards the water tank, picked up the ladle, poured some cold water onto the towel in his hand, turned around and handed it to Li Bing, "Take this and put it on the painful part of your foot, then let go after a while."

"Okay." Li Bing took the cool towel and applied it to her feet.

Li Hong walked towards Bei Jiwu's house, which consisted of three rooms: a main room for cooking, a shed filled with wood and fuel, and a kang room for sleeping.

Li Hong has never entered without Arctic Martial's permission.

This time, after being allowed to come in and take a closer look, I discovered that near the window was a large kang (heated brick bed) that was two and a half meters long and nearly two meters wide, with a neatly folded cotton quilt placed on it.

The kang (heated brick bed) is located near the main room where the kitchen is located. The passageway is probably blocked because of the hot weather, but it will be reopened when it gets cold.

Besides a large kang (heated brick bed), the room contained several chests, cabinets, and farm tools. The kang was clean and tidy, making it comfortable to look at. Near the head of the bed was a silver box used for transporting military supplies.

Living off the land, the baskets and wooden boxes in the military settlements were mostly stolen goods after grain was transported and wages were paid, and they would also be traded to nearby villages and tribes.

It's perfectly normal for military families like Beijiwu's to have a baggage box at home.

Li Hong climbed onto the bed, knelt at the head of the bed, and opened the unlocked box.

After nervously and expectantly opening the box, I found it filled with all sorts of food.

There are sun-dried hawthorn berries, dried dates, dried meat strips, and dried apricots, as Beijiwu mentioned.

Li Hong took four dried apricots, happily closed the box, and climbed down.

They often ate these wild fruits from the mountains, but with so many people in the family, their parents and younger brother would finish them in just a few days, so they couldn't be hidden away.

Now that the three of them live together, as long as they calculate the time well, this small box of dried fruit and jerky can last until next year!

Beijiwu and Li Bing sat chatting at the door, while Li Hong happily cooked and tended the fire in the back.

"I'll go help your family with the work this afternoon. After I finish harvesting the wheat, I won't be responsible for anything else. When I come back, I'll make sure to properly store the grain that's been drying at home."

Beijiwu was chatting with Li Bing in front, touching Li Bing's hand to compare the size of his own palm.

Hearing this while Li Hong was cooking in the back, she said, "Your big rat is too fat. This house needs to be cleaned up properly, otherwise there will be a disaster if there are too many rats."

Beijiwu quickly said, "We definitely need to catch the rats. I always hear rat noises at night. Let's wait until we've threshed and harvested the wheat first. We'll send some to your family this year, and the rest will be hidden in the grain bins. Two bins will be enough for the three of us."

Li Hong laughed and said, "Okay! Leave it to me! I'll catch that rat, skin it, and drink its blood!"

With two capable young women in the Beijiwu household, things have become a bit easier.

Although Li Bing couldn't do heavy work, he was good at guarding the house and scaring away the birds that came to eat the wheat.

Li Hong was given priority in helping with cooking, boiling water, and drying wheat straw.

After finishing his meal, Beijiwu went to the fields and arrived at Old Li's field.

"You old codger, what are you sleeping for in broad daylight? Get up and get to work!"

(End of this chapter)