Lian Shouxin strode out of the Upper Room, taking a deep breath. What the people inside were thinking or saying no longer concerned him. The moonlight illuminated the path clearly beneath his feet. Adjusting his collar, he marched forward briskly.
Upon leaving the village and crossing the official road, Lian Shouxin saw the warm glow of the lights from the breakfast stall. Smoke still billowed from the chimney on the roof; his timing was perfect. He’d arrived just in ti to catch a hot, satisfying al.
Thinking this, Lian Shouxin quickened his pace.
Inside the breakfast stall, Lady Zhang was using a spatula to scoop chive pockets out of a large iron pot. The pockets were fried to a golden crisp on both sides, and their fragrance was already wafting through the air. Lian Manman stood beside another large pot, holding a basin as she ladled soup out of it.
Just monts before, Lady Zhao had brought over white-flour pancakes and pork stew with vermicelli. Lady Zhao was not eloquent, but they had learned that there had been an unpleasant dispute at the old house. After Lady Zhao left, Lady Zhang suggested that anyone who was hungry should eat, but no one touched their chopsticks.
"I’m back at just the right ti," Lian Shouxin said, pushing the door open from outside and walking in.
Lady Zhang and the children were all taken aback.
"Husband, why have you co back?" Lady Zhang asked.
"I ca back for a al. I could sll the delicious food from afar. Have you set the table? I’m starving," Lian Shouxin said, rubbing his hands together.
"Father, didn’t you eat at Grandpa’s house?" Lian Manman asked.
"Did they kick you out?" Xiao Qi asked, blinking his large eyes.
"Don’t talk nonsense... I didn’t eat, just accompanied Old Master with a couple of cups of wine before coming back. What, are you not happy to see ?" Lian Shouxin pretended to frown sternly.
"There wasn’t any trouble, was there?" asked Lady Zhang sensitively, "Just now your Third Aunt ntioned that Grandpa and Grandma were close to fighting, just over bringing us so food. I said we didn’t need it and told her to take it back, but she refused."
"There was no trouble; Grandpa and Grandma have been like this for more than a day or two. After a squabble, all is well," Lian Shouxin replied. Not skilled with words, nor one to argue with others, he had chosen to silently leave, using this action to express his position.
Back ho, in front of his wife and children, he had no intention of discussing the recent events. He understood what he needed to do in the future and saw no need to upset his family further.
"That must be the pancakes and vegetables that Grandpa and Grandma sent over. I tried so; they’re quite tasty. Let’s eat while it’s hot," Lian Shouxin said, smiling as he noticed two bowls nearby. "We’ve run out of at at ho. After a hard day’s work, we should have so at. The vermicelli will clump up if left overnight and won’t be nice."
Hearing Lian Shouxin’s words, neither Lady Zhang nor the children, who were not one to hold grudges over such things, felt any lingering resentnt.
"We’ll warm it up with this pot; it’ll be hot in no ti," Lady Zhang said with a smile.
When the family finally sat down at the dinner table, the al turned out to be quite a feast. In addition to the white-flour pancakes and pork with vermicelli from Old Master Lian, they had their homade chive pockets, bok choy soup, cold kelp strips, and of course, the ever-present spring onions with sauce.
Lady Zhang and the children no longer pressed Lian Shouxin about what had happened. The most important thing was that the family was warmly gathered together for a al.
...
After resting for two days—though this rest still entailed carrying out household chores and tending to the business of the stall—the sweet potato seedlings had grown strong enough for the Lian Manman family to take the ox cart out to the fields.
Sweet potatoes are planted similarly to potatoes, requiring enough space between each seedling so they have ample room to grow underground.
Once the sweet potatoes were planted, the family went to Nanshan’s fields the next day. Across a ditch, in the area where they grew peanuts, lay a large expanse of wasteland.
"A couple of days ago when I went to town, Brother Youheng told that their stall would buy bitter lons again this year. He said not only their stall, but others are likely to do the sa," Lian Manman shared with her family. "I figured that when the ti cos, everyone will rush to pick wild bitter lons, and we’ll only be able to harvest so much. I was thinking, why not grow so ourselves?"
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