Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Chapter 102 A Master of Mourning

Zhang Kaiju sat up, baring his large, yellow teeth, and tried to speak sweet words to Zhao Xiulan.

"That clumsy guy with the left mouth keeps spouting off words, but he doesn't even take a piss and look at himself in the mirror."

It's a waste of your breath to say these things.

Although Zhao Xiulan said this, her eyes were fixed on Zhang Kaiju.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhang Kaiju quickly got up and drew the window curtains.

After years of hard work and dedication, he finally fulfilled his mission and reconciled with Zhao Xiulan.

"Kaiju, I'm afraid your son will scold me. You should discipline him properly tomorrow."

Zhao Xiulan looked at Zhang Kaiju beside her and examined his face.

"Xiulan, stop focusing on the child all day. He's married and living alone now. How am I supposed to educate him?"

If you want me to teach you, I'm capable of it.

"Ugh! Don't talk! It's disgusting, it smells like scallions."

Zhao Xiulan disgustedly covered Zhang Kaiju's mouth and pushed him around to face the wall.

"Zhang Changyao, I just came back from taking a dump and I heard your dad and Zhao Xiulan talking about you."

Yang Wuni crawled into bed and nudged Zhang Changyao, who was pretending to be asleep.

"Yang Wuni, you're really something, sneaking up to the old man's wall to listen for sounds."

If other people knew you did this, they'd laugh their heads off.

Zhang Changyao rolled his eyes at Yang Wuni and said something unhappily.

"Zhang Changyao, we live in the same courtyard, how can you blame me for eavesdropping?"

Just now, the two of them were inside the house, howling like wolves; even Zhai Qingming's family could hear them.

Even for someone as hard of hearing as me, the noise from under the window is deafening.

Yang Wuni stretched out her arms, mimicking the way she saw Zhao Xiulan outside the window.

"Wu Ni, go to sleep! Use that energy to hoe a couple more furrows tomorrow."

Zhang Changyao pulled Yang Wuni onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and told her to quickly cover herself with the quilt and go to sleep.

Yang Wuni, still not satisfied, pulled out her two hands and shook them as if crying for help.

Zhang Changyao imitated her, mimicking her actions, and the two of them laughed so hard they almost fell over.

Before dawn, the two of them drove the donkey cart to the fields.

When it comes to shoveling, Yang Wuni is a true expert; she could easily throw Zhang Changyao behind her with just half an arm free.

Back in her parents' home, Yang Wuni was the most popular when it came to shoveling the soil.

Whether it was a production team or working independently, she was always at the forefront.

The prerequisite is that someone has to give her food; she won't do that kind of work if she's not given food.

"Wu Ni, I'll buy a medicine basket tomorrow. If you have time, go and dig up some medicinal herbs from the mountain."

This one with small purple flowers is Polygala tenuifolia, this one looks like dandelion, and the one larger than dandelion is called Saposhnikovia divaricata.

And this one with leaves that look like chicken feathers is called Astragalus membranaceus; that's the most expensive.

During the break, Zhang Changyao told Yang Wuni about several medicinal herbs he recognized.

"Why are you digging up medicinal herbs? Do you know how to prepare medicine?" Yang Wuni used the hoe blade to scrape the dirt off the hoe.

"I'm not a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, would you dare take the medicine I prescribe?"

"What can you do with digging up medicinal herbs? Sell them and get some money!"

Zhang Changyao plucked a blade of grass and threw it to Yang Wuni, covering her in dirt.

"I didn't know this stuff could be exchanged for money? I'm going to dig it up right now, with a hoe."

Upon hearing that money was the primary goal, Yang Wuni immediately grabbed a hoe and went to find medicinal herbs.

"Wu Ni, you can't use a hoe to dig up medicinal herbs. I'll borrow a medicine digging tool for you tomorrow."

Zhang Changyao saw Yang Wuni squatting on the ground digging, so he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to her.

Yang Wuni also found that the hoe was not working well; she couldn't dig out the medicinal herbs and even cut a hole in the hoe.

He had no choice but to leave dejectedly and sit down opposite Zhang Changyao.

The next day, Zhang Changyao borrowed Guan Lin's medicine cup for Yang Wuni to use.

Yang Wuni kicked up her shovel and shoveled until Zhang Changyao couldn't catch up with her, then went to dig for medicinal herbs.

By the end of the day, they had harvested a small basket of medicinal herbs.

There was very little astragalus, just a few roots, practically negligible.

To get a good price for Polygala tenuifolia and Saposhnikovia divaricata, you need to peel off the skin and remove the core, and then dry them.

To prevent theft, Yang Wuni covered the medicinal herbs with a basket on the roof of her house.

Use several large stones to weigh down the four corners to prevent them from being blown away by the wind.

By the time the land was cleared, Yang Wuni had sold her medicinal herbs for forty-nine yuan and fifty-eight cents.

The two men looked at the half-full pile of loose change on the kang (a heated brick bed), their mouths agape with joy.

"Zhang Changyao, I've brought you an old hen."

This guy just laid an egg, so I brought it to you too.

Hou Da Yanjing, true to his word, carried the large hen to fulfill his promise to Zhang Changyao.

"Big eyes, after getting married, he's gotten so thin his eyes are bulging."

We need to be careful with money after getting married, otherwise our bodies won't be able to handle it.

Zhang Changyao took the hen, not forgetting to tease Hou Big Eyes.

"Haha! I want to save money too, but my body won't listen to me."

A man who can sleep peacefully even after having a wife is a fool.

Hou Da-yan stood tall and straight, looking defiantly in the direction of Ma Pengsheng's house.

"Zhang Changyao, I just can't understand Ma Pengsheng."

How could he not want such a good woman as Zheng Meizhi?

"If it weren't for the fact that we share the same bridge, I would have asked him about it."

Hou Da-yan curled his lip, revealing a cunning smile.

"Big Eyes, has your cousin come back?"

Is their house empty, or is someone living there?

Zhang Changyao inquired about the situation of the house south of his property.

"Old Jiu has been back for several days, and the house has been cleaned up."

This child had been a vagrant for over a year, his parents died and he was never by their side. When he returned, he regretfully banged his head against the wall.

Now his older sisters have come to keep him company, hoping that he can come to terms with it.

"Big Eyes, let's go over there in a bit. After all, Hou Jiu is my neighbor. It wouldn't be right if we didn't go and check on him."

I wonder what became of that kid; I guess he didn't do too well.

It's tough to make a living anywhere these days; anyone who can at least give you food is considered a good employer.

"If I could find a way to make a living and fill my stomach, I probably wouldn't be going back to this godforsaken place," Hou Da-yan sighed and chimed in.

Zhang Changyao didn't speak. He looked up and gazed into the distance, but didn't see Yang Wuni returning from digging for medicinal herbs.

They had no choice but to tie the old hen to a pillar at the entrance of the garden with a rope.

He pulled Hou Da-yan along to Hou Jiu's house for a visit.

Hou Jiu's eight older sisters were all at home, and the house was clean and tidy inside and out.

He was the only one wearing tattered clothes, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) sulking.

Hearing that it was Hou Da Yanjing, he didn't even look up.

"Ninth Brother, do you still recognize me? You've made a fortune out there, and nobody respects you anymore?"

Zhang Changyao tugged at Hou Jiu's trouser leg, only to find that the fabric was already tattered.

It fell down because it couldn't withstand the pull, and Zhang Changyao strained his back.

"Brother Changyao, you're just making fun of me. If I made a lot of money, would I let my parents die like this?"

My older sisters, even ten bean pestles couldn't catch up to a weasel.

He just watched his parents die, and he was quite adept at wailing at their funerals.