Ji Taoyu leaned against the carriage, chewing on the large flatbread provisions prepared for the northern trip, still feeling a bit muddle-headed.
He forced the dry bread down his throat and quickly took a sip of water, missing his mother’s soft, fragrant congee with century egg and pork.
But at least it wouldn’t be long before he could eat it again.
By the time they returned, the shrimp in their family’s pond should be plump and ready to fill his belly. No need to buy from the neighboring village anymore.
The thought pleased him, and the more he imagined it, the more homesick he grew.
Too bad there were no post stations or couriers on the road, no way to send a letter home.
Even if there were any, sending a letter back to the north would be costly, and given the terrifying conditions they faced on their journey here, even a courier would struggle to make it safely to the south.
Ji Taoyu sighed and lifted the carriage curtain, only for a sharply defined profile to suddenly catch his eye.
Years of exposure to wind and sun had roughened the young man’s face, leaving it somewhat coarse and flushed with what looked like chapped redness. Though his skin wasn’t smooth, it matched perfectly with his tall nose and thick, dark brows—giving him an air of rugged wildness.
"If—if you keep staring at me, I’ll call for my brother!"
Ji Taoyu had been momentarily dazed by the unfamiliar face—so clean now that he almost didn’t recognize it. But the silly tone of the voice snapped him back to reality.
"Why call your brother? Is there anything your sister-in-law can’t handle for you?"
Huo Shou turned his head and saw the ger leaning against the carriage, blinking at him with a hand propping his chin. He pressed his lips together.
Though he wanted to retort, the memory of being teased by him just yesterday made him hold back. He turned his head away, refusing to argue.
Seeing Huo Shou like this, Ji Taoyu couldn’t help but laugh.
Watching him stare unblinkingly at Huo Shu leading the way ahead, like some kind of "brother-gazing stone," Ji Taoyu raised an eyebrow.
[Brother-gazing stone adapted from gazing-husband stone (望夫石, wàngfū shí), a legendary wife who waited so long for her husband that she turned into stone]
"A-Shou."
"Don’t call me."
"Even when sister-in-law calls, you won’t listen? How disobedient."
Huo Shou nearly blurted out, "You’re not my sister-in-law!" But remembering how he’d addressed him as such last night, he knew denying it now was pointless.
He kept his mouth firmly shut. Today, he absolutely would not say another word to him—no way was he letting him embarrass him in front of his brother again.
"Do you know how to ride a horse?"
Huo Shou took a deep breath. "Am I riding a cow right now?"
Ji Taoyu pressed on, "Then are you good at riding?"
Huo Shou gave him a suspicious look. "What do you want? I’m not taking you riding."
"Oh? So you were thinking of taking your sister-in-law riding, huh~"
"Who—who said anything about taking you riding?! Stop twisting my words! I only said those things yesterday because I didn’t know you and my brother were already married. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have!"
Ji Taoyu clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he nearly fell out of the carriage window. Seeing Huo Shou flustered and about to urge his horse ahead, he quickly stifled his laughter. "Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you."
"If you’re decent at riding, why not teach Wenliang?"
He pointed at Ji Wenliang, who was driving the donkey cart up ahead but whose heart was clearly already on horseback.
Huo Shou didn’t respond, but he tugged the reins and rode over to Ji Wenliang’s side.
With Uncle Fan and Huo Shou joining the group, they took charge of the horses during the day and trained their fellow villagers from Tongzhou in riding at night after setting up camp.
Gradually, the men under them picked up some basic riding skills—nothing advanced, but at least they could stay on a horse.
This made managing the horses much easier.
Moreover, with the experience from their journey here and the route through Yuchang Prefecture now cleared, their return trip progressed swiftly.
The further south they traveled, the more people they encountered along the way eager to buy horses.
Huo Shu sold over a dozen to the highest bidders, lightening the caravan’s load and pocketing over a thousand taels of silver in the process.
In just over a month, the caravan had already entered Tongzhou territory.
By mid-June, a fierce summer storm arrived with sudden, violent force, dumping torrents of water onto the drought-stricken rice paddies.
Though it alleviated some of the dryness, the rain came down too heavily, overflowing the fields and washing out many of the ridges.
"Ah, damn this wretched weather! All my shrimp!"
Ji Yangzong carried a basket, scrambling along the slope below the shrimp pond to scoop up the green shrimp that had been swept out.
The two-inch-long shrimp leapt and flailed, scattering all over the grassy slope.
The rain showed no sign of stopping, and within just fifteen minutes, the straw hats and raincoats they’d put on were soaked through as if they’d been submerged for two days.
"After all the effort to raise these shrimp, now they’re washed away. What’s Xiao Taozi supposed to eat when he gets back?!"
Ji Yangzong kept gathering shrimp while directing Daniu, "Open a few more drainage gaps, who knows how long this rain will last?"
Huang Manjing had also rolled up her pant legs and was busy collecting shrimp that had escaped the flooded pond.
Out in the fields, they weren’t the only ones toiling—other villagers were also out with hoes, moving from one field to another.
The heavy raindrops pelted down in dense sheets, battering the rice shoots that had just begun to sprout, weighing them down before they could bear grain.
The rain might as well have been pounding directly on the farmers’ hearts.
After a sleepless night, the villagers had no appetite for breakfast at dawn and instead hurried straight to their fields.
The village was filled with the sound of rushing water. The creek had swollen to more than twice its usual width, and whether the fish swimming visibly in the current were from the creek itself or someone’s flooded pond was anyone’s guess.
The fields echoed with sighs and complaints.
"My early rice had just flowered, with this endless downpour, there’s no hope for this year’s harvest."
"Most of the rice-field fish I raised have escaped. None of us are faring any better."
Ji Yangzong’s face was grim as he surveyed his own fields and then the village’s, his expression not easing in the slightest.
Summer crops either suffered from drought or floods, it was rare for a year to pass smoothly. As seasoned farmers, they were used to grumbling, even if they’d grown accustomed to it.
Thank you for the update!!!
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