Qin Xia walked into the courtyard and saw Li Xin. He shouted, “Are you having a baby?”
Li Xin, usually gentle, was so taken aback by his bluntness that he couldn’t respond. “Ah, yes, it’s almost time to give birth,” he said.
Qin Xia sat in the chair where Chen Qing had been sitting earlier and stared at Li Xin with bright eyes. “Can I touch it?”
Meanwhile, Chen Qing went into the house to get some snacks and placed them on the table. He moved another stool and sat beside them. He wasn’t someone who talked much, so he quietly listened to them.
Li Xin nodded, and Qin Xia stretched out his hand and placed it on Li Xin’s belly. The two children inside seemed very mischievous. They seemed to know that someone was touching them because they moved their arms and legs lively.
“Amazing.” Qin Xia said, “Your place is really wonderful. The wind here smells like green grass.”
Li Xin scratched his head. “That’s great, you know…”
“I know what you want to ask. That old woman can’t turn things around for a while. I understand.” Qin Xia didn’t care; he wasn’t bothered by how others looked at him. He knew what Meng Shuanzi’s mother was worried about. What Chen Qing said earlier was right—he could leave the house without hesitation, and he would leave this place in the future.
“Actually, she worries too much.” Qin Xia’s eyes were sincere. “I left Xia Xi because the people there were no longer worthy of my sincerity. This place is so good. As long as someone treats me sincerely, I definitely won’t leave.”
Chen Qing exchanged a look with Li Xin. “Then where are you living now?”
Qin Xia smiled. “Of course I’m living at his house. We’re going to get married.”
“Oh, that’s pretty good.” Li Xin probably hadn’t experienced a moment like this since he grew up, when he didn’t know what to say.
Qin Xia touched Li Xin’s belly again. “I hope that after I get married, I can quickly have children. Then they won’t worry that I’ll leave, right?”
He was completely unrestrained. He reached out and took a pastry from the table. He took a bite and then grinned.
Chen Qing immediately poured him a glass of water. “What’s wrong? Has it gone bad?”
“It just tastes sour. Really sour.” Qin Xia gulped down water to suppress the sourness. “Has it gone bad?”
Chen Qing picked up a piece and took a bite, saying, “Not bad. We bought it on the road from the small town. It’s called sour horn cake. I think it tastes pretty good, and it keeps well. Maybe you’re just not used to it.”
Li Xin’s curiosity was piqued, so he tried a piece too. He thought it tasted okay and said, “Quite appetizing.”
Chen Qing looked at Li Xin’s belly. “You’d better not force yourself. If you force yourself, your belly will grow even bigger. When I see you walking, I want to help you carry it.”
Li Xin sighed, “Who says it isn’t? I walk hugging my belly.”
Qin Xia was still staring at Li Xin’s belly curiously. “This must be hard work.”
Li Xin smiled. He knew Qin Xia’s personality all this time. He said whatever he wanted. This was the opposite of Chen Qing. Chen Qing kept everything in his heart.
“Will you live in the village after that?” Li Xin asked. “I mean, after you get married.”
“If you can have children after marriage, then have children first. Otherwise, you can go out and find work.” Qin Xia was very optimistic. “If you want to farm, though, I think I’ll have to learn more.”
“What kind of work are you looking for?” Chen Qing asked.
“Anything is fine, right? Don’t you usually go to work?” Qin Xia was very curious.
“We can farm on weekdays. In our spare time, I embroider handkerchiefs and sell them in town. Li Xin is very capable. He can forge iron.” Chen Qing said, “People here rarely go out to look for work.”
Qin Xia straightened his back and gave Li Xin a thumbs-up. “You’re really capable! You can have children and forge iron.”
“Not bad, not bad.” Li Xin smiled too. “I heard from A Qing that you’re also very capable. You can support such a big family on your own.”
“What good is that? You’ve raised a whole family of ingrates.” Qin Xia sneered. “Save your strength to support Shuanzi and his mother in the future.”
They chatted for a while, and eventually, Chen Qing prepared to escort Li Xin home. He hadn’t seen Aunt Yin and Uncle Li in two days since returning. Qin Xia followed along. Meng Shuanzi’s house was in the same direction as Li Xin’s.
When they arrived at Li’s house, Qin Xia waved to them. Chen Qing looked ahead and saw Meng Shuanzi by the roadside. Qin Xia’s pace was clearly quicker.
After dropping Li Xin off, Chen Qing chatted with Zhang Yin briefly before walking home slowly. He happened to meet Zhou Yuan in the fields. “So, are we working tomorrow?”
Zhou Yuan nodded. “I asked the village chief. He said that tomorrow, we’ll take the tools to our field and start the autumn harvest.”
Chen Qing nodded. He had been idle for so long that he wasn’t sure if he would feel uncomfortable doing farm work again.
The next morning, Zhou Yuan woke up before dawn. When they first got married, Chen Qing always woke up before him. Now, Zhou Yuan finally got to see Chen Qing sleeping.
He made a lot of noise when he got up, but Chen Qing didn’t wake up. Zhou Yuan first cooked some food. The dry rations had been prepared by Chen Qing the previous day, so Zhou Yuan only needed to heat them up.
After heating the food and boiling water, Zhou Yuan went to wake Chen Qing. Chen Qing stretched and felt sleepy, but quickly got up and had breakfast with Zhou Yuan. They had to work today and couldn’t do so on an empty stomach.
After breakfast, they walked to Aunt Sun’s house. She had already packed up and was carrying a backpack containing a few sickles.
It was still dark, and the field paths were narrow. Chen Qing walked behind.
The water in the fields had nearly dried up, leaving them full of mud. They took off their shoes and walked through the fields barefoot. It was already autumn, so it was cold to be barefoot in the fields.
Chen Qing shivered but quickly bent down to start cutting rice.
He and Aunt Sun worked quickly. In no time, they had cleared a third of the field. Zhou Yuan was much slower than them. He felt like the sickle was uncooperative and kept wandering about. Fortunately, the sickle didn’t cut his hand again.
Gradually, the sky brightened and the sun rose. Chen Qing had been bent over all morning. When he stood up straight, he felt like his waist was about to break. He patted his waist a few times, then bent down again and continued cutting.
Zhou Yuan wasn’t cutting at this time. He went to the old village chief who was still in the village and took the rice-threshing tool from him. He couldn’t manage it alone, so he called Meng Shuanzi to help him carry the large tool to the field.
Chen Qing widened his eyes. “What is this?”
The old village chief came too. He adjusted the wooden box and covered the top with a curtain. Then, he took the rice that had been piled to the side and hit it hard against the wooden box. The grains of rice fell into the box after he struck it hard.
He demonstrated this and then looked at Zhou Yuan. “That’s it.”
Zhou Yuan imitated the motion and didn’t find it complicated. It was much easier than cutting rice and tilling the soil.
So, while Chen Qing and Aunt Sun cut, Zhou Yuan threshed the rice alone. After a while, Meng Shuanzi came to help, too. Unexpectedly, Qin Xia arrived as well.
“Chen Qing, I’ll help too. Teach me.” He took off his shoes and went into the field, holding the sickle Zhou Yuan had just used.
Chen Qing initially refused, but Meng Shuanzi said, “Auntie, just teach him.”
Aunt Sun and Chen Qing had no choice but to teach him. Fortunately, he was very smart and learned quickly—much faster than Zhou Yuan. After a while, he caught up with Chen Qing and the others.
The sun gradually grew hotter. Chen Qing’s forehead was covered with sweat. Now, the sweat was dripping into his eyes and stinging them. He stood up straight and saw that the rice in the field was almost harvested.
Aunt Sun called to him, “Ah Qing, Ah Qing, take a rest.”
Chen Qing dragged his heavy feet and sat on the edge of the field. He was more tired than ever before this time. He didn’t have the strength to drink water. After resting for a while, he took out his water pouch and watched Zhou Yuan work.
Zhou Yuan couldn’t do complicated work, but he did physical work quite well.
After a while, Li Xin came too. Chen Qing was frightened by his waddling steps. He was about to give birth, yet he still wandered around the village every day. While still a bit far from the field, Chen Qing didn’t allow Li Xin to come any closer.
Li Xin obeyed and stood there, watching them work. “Ah Qing, come to my house for dinner later. Mother has already cooked.”
Li Xin knew that once they started working, the three of them would be busy. Cooking after working would be exhausting, so he asked his mother to cook for them. Zhang Yin’s health was improving day by day, and she was more than capable of cooking.
“Thank your mother for me,” said Aunt Sun.
Aunt Sun didn’t have much land. They worked for two days. On the third day, Chen Qing was so tired that he couldn’t stand up straight. After harvesting the last of the rice, he felt dizzy and his vision darkened. Luckily, Qin Xia, who was standing next to him, quickly supported him. “Are you all right?” Chen Qing took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Maybe I stood up too quickly. I’ll just sit here for a bit.”
Qin Xia was worried about him, so he helped him sit down on the edge of the field. Zhou Yuan turned and looked at him. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Chen Qing shook his head and took a sip of water. “Just a little tired.”
“We’ll finish the harvest today. Rest well tomorrow.” Zhou Yuan smiled at him and continued working.
After finishing his work, Chen Qing slept in bed all day. Aunt Sun was drying the threshed rice in the courtyard when she looked into the house with concern. “Has Aqing not woken up yet?” she wondered. “He was still sleeping when we came back yesterday afternoon. Why is he still sleeping?”
Zhou Yuan replied, “He woke up this morning, then went back to sleep after lunch.”
“You’re sleeping too long,” said Aunt Sun.
Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment. “He must be really exhausted after these two days of harvesting.”
Not to mention, even Chen Qing’s arms didn’t feel like they belonged to him. Chen Qing had massaged them for the past two days, and now they felt better.
“You can’t sleep that long, can you?” Aunt Sun spread out the rice. The weather had been clear the past two days, so they could start pounding the rice once it dried.
Zhou Yuan also realized that something wasn’t right. He looked at Aunt Sun. “On the way back, Aqing could fall asleep on the horse.”
Aunt Sun dropped the broom in her hand. “What about his eating?”
Zhou Yuan thought for a moment. “He eats as usual, and his appetite hasn’t changed much.”
“Does he still like the same foods?” Aunt Sun had a vague idea.
“No.” Zhou Yuan replied. “He used to like sweet snacks, but then he stopped eating them. Lately, he likes eating sour horn cakes that we bought from outside.”
“He likes sour food?” Aunt Sun’s eyes widened. “He likes sour food and sleeping. Could Aqing be pregnant?”
