1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

It was very hot in August. Chen Gaoshan was wearing a sleeveless shirt and was now shirtless, wearing shorts, setting fishing nets in the river bend, waiting to haul them in later.

He planned to catch fish to nourish Xinghua and Lianhua, whose bellies were growing bigger every day, and they needed extra nutrition.

He was lying under the tree roots, a blade of grass in his mouth, his legs crossed, swinging them idly, and his hand blocking the sunlight.

Suddenly, he felt darkness fall over his face as the light filtering through the leaves disappeared. He frowned, opened his eyes, and was immediately startled by the person in front of him.

"Autumn Swallow, what brings you here?"

In the three months since Qiu Yanzi married into the Wang family, she has been able to feed Da Ni and Er Ni, but Qiangzi's mother's mouth keeps chattering from morning till night.

They say she's a barren hen, but she's already laid two eggs. Who doesn't lay eggs? Why don't they say Qiangzi is all looks and no substance, a fake expert, all that big of a guy, just a useless piece of livestock?

"Shanzi, your sister-in-law has a favor to ask of you, you must promise me."

Chen Gaoshan looked at her pitiful expression and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"Brother Shanzi, let me borrow your seed. Don't worry, this is a secret between the two of us. I won't let a third person know."

He quickly realized, "Qiangzi is useless?"

Qiu Yanzi looked bitter, sighed and nodded. She had married into the Wang family with the intention of living a good life, but she had no choice but to do this.

"Even a caterpillar knows to bite, but he's no good at all. Sister-in-law has no choice. Qiangzi is tall, and in our village, only Brother Shanzi is tall and handsome. No one will suspect anything if he has a child. Brother Shanzi, just consider this a good deed. With a child, I can gain a foothold in the Wang family, and no one will gossip about me anymore. Give it to me, Shanzi."

As she spoke, she leaned directly against Chen Gaoshan, grabbed his large hand, and deliberately breathed hot air onto his neck.

Chen Gaoshan knew he had an illness, a disease called Mengde syndrome, but he didn't want to get treatment.

While others held prejudices against married women, he felt great sympathy for these young women who had gone astray, and he wanted to help them resolve the problems in their marriages.

Qiu Yanzi reached out and grabbed his waistband tightly, pulling him towards her.

"You must be feeling really hungry, Shanzi. I can feed you until you're completely full. Please have pity on me."

Chen Gaoshan stood up abruptly.

"Autumn Swallow, aren't you afraid that one of my waves will capsize your little boat?"

"Don't worry, even if it capsizes, it'll be in your sea. I'll wait for you in the cornfield ahead. Take my clothes with me, I'm afraid they'll prick my back."

She kept turning back to glance at him as she walked.

Chen Gaoshan glanced at the fishing nets set in the river bend, then at the swallows that had gone far away, and after thinking for a moment, he followed them to the cornfield.

When he walked over, he saw that the woman had already laid out the clothes and was waiting for him.

Qiu Yanzi reached out and pulled, causing Gao Shan to fall directly to the ground.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"You've come at just the right time. Hurry up, Shanzi, it's noon now, no one's coming."

The corn leaves were really pungent, and as the two continued their work, the corn stalks rustled in the wind.

Qiu Yanzi hugged him tightly, still holding Gao Shan's discarded jacket in her mouth. The masculine scent mixed with sweat made her dizzy and intoxicated.

They could hear the corn stalks next door swaying even more violently than those on their side.

He brought his mouth close to Qiu Yanzi's ear and whispered.

Shh, there might be someone over there doing the same thing as us.

Qiu Yanzi didn't even dare to breathe. The last time was with Gao Shan. Since entering Lao Wang's house, she hadn't done it even once, and she had been holding back for a long time.

She had finally rediscovered this happiness, and she was so happy she was completely lost. But that wasn't enough; she wanted more.

He spat out the jacket from his mouth, his eyes practically drooling.

"Could it be another pair of lovebirds having a secret rendezvous?"

He stopped, but the commotion on the other side only grew louder; it seemed he had entered a state of complete absorption.

Chen Gaoshan didn't dare to be too presumptuous at this moment.

Qiu Yanzi, caught off guard by the sudden situation, was in a dazed state and pinched his waist hard.

The noise from the corn stalks across the street stopped completely after about ten minutes.

Chen Gaoshan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Half an hour later, it was so hot that beads of sweat dripped from his face onto the cornfield.

Qiu Yanzi got up, supporting her back, and glared at him.

"This is fun, we can't waste it."

He put on his clothes, tossing them to Qiu Yanzi as he did so. "It'll be done in a bit, people will be here soon."

Qiu Yanzi felt it was about time, so she quickly got up, dressed, and patted the dirt off Shanzi's back.

"It's unlikely I'll get pregnant in one go. Tomorrow is another day. I'll still be waiting for you in the cornfield."

Chen Gaoshan glanced at the sun. "I know, I have to hurry back, or the fish in the river will escape."

As he spoke, he reached out and removed the grass from Qiu Yanzi's head, threw it on the ground, emerged from the cornfield, glanced around to make sure no one was there, and hurried toward the river pond.

Chen Gaoshan quickly took off his clothes and pants, and jumped into the river in his shorts to cool off and wash himself clean.

He casually pulled the fishing net ashore. The water in the river was exceptionally clear. He just didn't have time to do this. Otherwise, he could have caught some crayfish (similar to crayfish in Northeast China, but these are very picky about water quality and can only be found in good water) to eat. Crayfish stewed with tofu is also a delicacy.

After weaving the net tightly for a short while, we caught three crucian carp, quite a few willow root fish, loaches, and other miscellaneous fish. We'll stew them in soybean paste when we get back and eat them.

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