Qin Xi stood at the doorway, gave a slight nod of his head, and then turned to enter. Both Li Jianqing and Ma Sanjue swallowed hard, almost simultaneously.
Just as they had heaved a sigh of relief, the sound of shrieking like a pig being slaughtered came from the courtyard, startling everyone. Li Xianglu was about to tiptoe over for a look when Li Jianqing grabbed her and quickly pushed the cart away.
By the time they reached Erdaoliang, Li Xianglu, looking at her brother and the young lad from the Ma Family with a face full of sighs, asked, "What's going on? Is the elder brother from the Qin Family very fierce?"
Ma Sanjue gave her a look that said 'Are you daft?' while Li Jianqing explained, "Of course, he is. Last year, when our village had a dispute with Hejia Village over the water supply, the two villages came to blows. That big brother from the Qin Family held a brick and not only knocked people down but also went for the kill by aiming at their heads."
Hearing this, Li Xianglu was stunned. This man didn't seem like a desperado; why did he have such a vicious past?
The two went to the threshing ground to deliver the cart and haul grains, while Li Xianglu returned home alone.
Li Xianglu needed to cook, prepare meals for the whole family. Upon returning home, she hurriedly went into the kitchen, took out a few old cucumbers, peeled and washed them to stir-fry, while the two lads mumbled for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.
Li Xianglu shouted after Li Jianqing to come back early for the meal, and then she continued her work in the kitchen.
Before long, several members of the Li Family returned, pushing their cart, which was loaded with four large sacks of grain. Li Xianglu glimpsed this from outside the kitchen and quickly ducked in, needing to hurry with cooking, or Ge Sanmei would start scolding again.
The side dish and porridge were ready, along with a big winnowing basket of warmed mixed grain steamed cakes.
The food was ready and swiftly placed on the table, but it wasn't dished out as it was Ge Sanmei's job to distribute the porridge to everyone.
Thus, Li Xianglu quickly dampened a towel and brought it out; at that moment, Li Erfu and Yuan Cheng were carrying the last sack of grain to the grain room.
When Li Erfu emerged, Li Xianglu promptly called out, "Daddy, wipe your face."
The Loess Plateau was water-scarce, but Li Family Village was relatively well-off for water sources. There were no wells, and they hauled water from the dam near the village, letting it settle in a stone pool before drawing it up with buckets.
The convenience of access to water was there, but its taste was off due to high alkalinity.
Li Erfu quickly wiped his face with the towel his daughter handed him, thinking how thoughtful girls can be.
Having wiped his face, Li Xianglu then washed the towel before bringing it in. Li Erfu, seeing his daughter, chuckled, "Hey, Mother, come and wipe off. Look at how caring our daughter is, she's brought you a towel."
At that moment, Ge Sanmei was in high spirits. Calculating this year's division of labor, the family managed to secure over five hundred pounds of grain. Their private plot yielded another four hundred pounds of fine grain. Of course, they had to thank Li Dafu, the older paternal uncle, for his care.
A task from the family was to deliver one pig, leaving another, which they planned to slaughter at the end of the year. Half of it would be cured into bacon to last the year, and the other half they hoped to trade in the city for pots and pans or, ideally, cloth tickets. Er Fu was descended from the literary star Wenquxing himself, destined for a scholarly life to bring glory to the family; he must not suffer. San'er wasn't getting any younger; they needed to tailor a set of clothes for him. There's also their eldest daughter, due to give birth in the spring – she needs preparations for her baby.
She and her husband could make do, she thought, casting a glance at the caring Xiang, who'd inevitably get married someday. She still had a blue jacket that could be altered to fit her.
As Li Xianglu watched Ge Sanmei eyeing her expectantly, she couldn't help but wonder what the old lady was scheming now.
Li Xianglu quietly washed and wrung out the hemp towel in the basin, hung it to dry, dumped the water in the vegetable garden, and then returned inside.