BYBOTE Chapter 21: Buckwheat Husk

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Luo Fei only dug about ten holes, then he didn’t touch the shovel anymore. He didn’t even touch the corn seeds, only messing with jujubes, peanuts, and candy. These were all snacks Xi Yanqing had prepared for him.

On the way over, Xi Yanqing didn’t plan for Luo Fei to actually work. He just wanted Luo Fei to see where the family’s land was and to keep him company. He liked to turn around and see Luo Fei anytime, feeling more energized by having him around. So, having Luo Fei come out was just for a leisurely stroll.

Jiang Baining didn’t have such good fortune. Since his marriage, there had been no news of him getting his wife pregnant, which made Qin Guizhi extremely dissatisfied. If Luo Fei hadn’t married, maybe Qin Guizhi wouldn’t be in such a hurry, but Luo Fei married Xi Yanqing. If Luo Fei became pregnant before Jiang Baining, it would be a slap in her face! So now she was not only dissatisfied with Jiang Baining, but also pushing him to try harder.

Before they left, Qin Guizhi told Jiang Baining that once they had some good news, he wouldn’t have to work anymore.

Jiang Baining was feeling helpless. He wanted to try harder, but it wasn’t something that depended on him alone. Zhang Yangfan seemed to have gotten some kind of obsession lately, only eating, going to the bathroom, or reading. If he were truly focused on his studies, he could at least hope to one day be the wife of a top scholar. But Zhang Yangfan would always get distracted, and several times, Jiang Baining caught him zoning out while reading. When he tried to get his attention back, Zhang Yangfan would get angry. After a few times, he just stopped trying to call him back. After all, things weren’t going well for them now. He felt like Zhang Yangfan wasn’t paying attention to him at all, and ever since Xi Yanqing had given the betrothal gifts to Luo’s family, he blamed everything on Luo Fei, that little troublemaker!

Jiang Baining was angry and jealous of Luo Fei, so whenever he saw him, he couldn’t help but make sarcastic remarks. If Luo Fei got upset, maybe that would make him feel better, but Luo Fei was sharp-tongued and wouldn’t take his bait!

Luo Fei didn’t care to engage with Jiang Baining. He ate some jujubes and peanuts and felt thirsty. He took out his water bottle but hesitated and didn’t drink it. Instead, he walked over to Xi Yanqing and offered, “Qing ge, want some water?”

Xi Yanqing took the water, enjoyed a sip, and then handed it back to Luo Fei. After Luo Fei drank, seeing that Xi Yanqing had almost finished digging, he secretly grabbed the corn seeds and mischievously began planting them.

Who’s really doing the planting? Hmph!

Xi Yanqing could easily see through Luo Fei’s little scheme but didn’t point it out. He just followed behind Luo Fei, filling the soil. Watching Luo Fei, who was happily planting, was like seeing a little bunny picking mushrooms. It was so cute!

“Jiang Baining, I didn’t tell you to come out and look at the scenery, why do you keep staring off in the distance!” Qin Guizhi turned around after working for a while and found Jiang Baining had barely done half of what she had, immediately unhappy. She needed to save up enough money to send someone off to take the imperial exams, and she couldn’t stand someone lazing around under her nose!

“Mother, I’m tired too, I want to rest for a bit.” Jiang Baining rubbed his waist.

“There’s so much land, if you rest now, how will you finish in time?” Qin Guizhi glared at Luo Fei, “Don’t learn from that lazybones. There’s only a tiny bit of land at home, and he’s just sitting there eating and doing nothing. He’ll starve to death eventually!”

“I know, mother.” Jiang Baining lowered his head and worked while secretly cursing Qin Guizhi for being a horrible person. Before he married Zhang Yangfan, she was so nice to him, but now that he wasn’t pregnant, she acted like a witch. At the same time, he envied Luo Fei. Who would have thought that someone unwanted by their own family would be so cherished? Thinking about it made him seethe with anger.

Luo Fei overheard some of Jiang Baining and Qin Guizhi’s conversation but didn’t care. How much land they had was none of his business. As long as they didn’t starve, it was fine. Old witch, she sure liked to meddle.

“Alright, I’m done planting!” Luo Fei finished planting the last corn seed and stood up, feeling accomplished, “How about you, Qing ge?”

“I’m almost done too.” Xi Yanqing smiled at Luo Fei, “If you’re tired, take a rest. I’ll go tidy up the tools for you…”

“What mess?” Luo Fei suddenly realized something wasn’t right, “What… what are you looking at?!” Why was he staring at his butt so suggestively?

“Tsk, getting quicker with the reactions, huh?” Xi Yanqing said, rubbing Luo Fei’s head before going to gather the farming tools.

Luo Fei, acting like a little wife, followed behind and yelled softly at him, “Don’t touch my head anymore! My grandma says that if someone touches your head too much, you’ll get stupid!”

Xi Yanqing grunted, “Fine, if not the head, then I’ll touch your butt.”

Luo Fei was stunned, “Uh… then I guess you can touch my head. No! Don’t touch anything!”

Without a second thought, Xi Yanqing ruffled Luo Fei’s head again, “Touch it. If you have the guts, bite me!”

Luo Fei immediately chased after him to hit him. Xi Yanqing, seeing Luo Fei chasing him, immediately ran off. The two of them playfully ran from the fields to the village, only stopping at the village entrance. Luo Fei stopped to catch his breath and slapped Xi Yanqing’s arm, his face showing a hint of triumph: “Gotcha!”

Xi Yanqing looked at Luo Fei’s flushed face, and with all his might, he suppressed the urge to hug him.

“Tsk, newlyweds, so lovey-dovey!” Some villagers who saw Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing playing around laughed, “Luo Fei, I heard your mother talking about you the other day. It’s almost time for your return visit, right?”

“I already went back. It’s close by, so I can go back anytime.” Luo Fei elbowed Xi Yanqing, “Qing ge doesn’t care for so many formalities, he spoils me.”

“Of course, I remember when you were this tall…” Aunt Pang made a gesture at waist height, “Xi boy took you everywhere, you were his treasure.”

“I’ve made up my mind, I’ll protect him, it’s only natural.” Xi Yanqing smiled, feeling in a good mood after the playful exchange. “Aunt Pang, my brother Da Zhu isn’t home, so if you need help moving anything, just come to me.”

“Good, good, you’ve always been kind-hearted.” Aunt Pang laughed, “Alright, you two head back, it looks like it might rain soon.”

“Yeah, the sky’s turning dark.” Luo Fei looked up. It had been clear in the morning, but now, raindrops were beginning to fall.

“Well, we’ll head back now. You take care, Aunt Pang.” Xi Yanqing naturally draped his arm over Luo Fei’s shoulder, holding his head with his other hand to shield him from the rain, guiding him quickly along.

Luo Fei had initially wanted to shrug him off but then thought it was outside, so he just pretended not to notice Xi Yanqing’s little gesture.

Tsk, though it might not be kind to think this way, I can’t help but laugh at the thought of Jiang Baining getting soaked!

Hahaha, serves him right!

Jiang Baining wouldn’t have gotten drenched if he had listened. When he saw Luo Fei and the others leave, the sky started changing not long after, so he told Qin Guizhi that they should stop planting for the day since it looked like rain was coming. But Qin Guizhi refused to listen. She already thought Jiang Baining was lazy when it came to work, and now she was even more displeased. She insisted that planting before the rain would be better for the corn seeds to sprout. So, she stubbornly continued planting before heading home.

And sure enough, when the first raindrops started falling, they rushed home, but they still ended up soaked to the bone.

When Zhang Yangfan heard that his mother had been caught in the rain, he immediately went to check on her, afraid she might get sick—completely ignoring Jiang Baining. Jiang Baining was already annoyed after seeing Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing being so “loving” earlier that day. Now, on top of that, he was seething with frustration from being left out. And as if fate was mocking him, while Qin Guizhi was fine, he ended up falling ill instead.

Luo Fei only found out about Jiang Baining’s illness two days later when Han Xu mentioned it.

“They say he’s running a high fever, and his family even came over and got into a fight with Qin Guizhi. When I got there, I heard that Jiang’s family wanted to take him back,” Han Xu said with a mischievous grin. “But do you know what’s the funniest part? Qin Guizhi didn’t even stop them. She actually said, ‘Saves me the medical expenses,’ which pissed Jiang’s family off so much that they smashed things at their house on the spot.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, such a mess. Guess that old saying is true: ‘Distant relations smell sweet, close ones stink.’ Before they lived together, everything seemed great, but once they did, everything changed,” Luo Fei stretched lazily. “That rain was pretty interesting, though. Just as Big Tiger and I finished planting and got back to the village, it started raining. At first, I was worried the seeds would get washed away, but luckily, it only poured heavily for a bit and then stopped. Big Tiger said it was actually good for sprouting. As long as the weather doesn’t suddenly turn cold, we should see green shoots in a few days.” He had never actually seen newly sprouted corn before and was quite curious.

“The heavens must have been watching over you two. Jiang Baining and Qin Guizhi brought this on themselves,” Han Xu chuckled. “By the way, where’s your Big Tiger today? Haven’t seen him around.”

“He went out to find something,” Luo Fei replied. “He’s always busy—never has an idle moment except when sleeping or eating.”

“You’re just as hardworking. What are you embroidering this time?” Han Xu asked, noticing Luo Fei was working on something new.

“A butterfly sachet.” This was actually a unique design created by his grandmother, requiring intricate craftsmanship and precision. But the final product was indeed beautiful. He planned to make one first to see if it could sell.

“It’s really pretty. Can you give me one as a wedding gift?” Han Xu shamelessly asked.

“Alright,” Luo Fei agreed, albeit a little reluctantly. Even though it was just a small piece, it required a lot of effort. But Han Xu often shared good food and drinks with him, so if he refused now, it wouldn’t be right. He’d have to give him something anyway, so might as well be this.

“I knew you wouldn’t be stingy with me. Alright, I’ll head back now. My fiancé is coming over this afternoon, and I need to make him something to eat,” Han Xu waved and left with a grin.

Luo Fei embroidered a little longer before rubbing his neck and eyes. Working on embroidery required constant looking down, and after a while, it made his neck ache.

In his past life, he had talent for this kind of work, but he never pursued it seriously because it was too exhausting. Though it seemed simple—just sitting and stitching—it was far from easy.

But in this life, he had little choice—at least for now.

He wanted to eat white rice and meat every day, or at least have two side dishes with his meals, even if it was just noodles. He also wanted to eat fresh fruit regularly. To achieve this, he had to work hard. Xi Yanqing worked tirelessly in his own way, and Luo Fei couldn’t afford to slack off either.

Life in Huaping Village wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t great either. If one worked hard in the fields, they could at least avoid starvation. But the key issue was how much land one had.

Zhang Yangfan’s family had five members, which meant they owned about thirty to forty acres of land. Aside from their allocated land, they also had land they cleared themselves and land they bought later on. Allocated land would be reclaimed, but the self-cleared and purchased lands could be passed down for generations. The Zhang family had lived in Huaping Village for so many generations, so it was no surprise that they owned so much land. They were undoubtedly one of the top three landowners in the village.

But the Luo and Xi families were different. Due to past hardships, they had sold off much of their land, leaving them with barely enough to survive. They couldn’t afford to fall ill, and new clothes were a luxury they seldom had.

Not having new clothes was fine, but who could guarantee they’d never get sick?

The biggest problem was that the crop yields here were too low.

Luo Fei didn’t have a solid grasp of modern agricultural yields, but according to Xi Yanqing, modern rice fields could yield 400 to 500 kilograms per mu on average. With high-quality hybrid seeds and scientific farming techniques, even 800 to 1,000 kilograms per mu was possible. But here? The rice yield was only around 1.5 to 2 shi per mu—roughly 80 to 120 kilograms. The difference was staggering.

In short, relying on farming alone to get rich here was unrealistic. Unless one amassed so much land that they could become a landlord and live off rent, or—by some miracle—scientist Yuan Longping also traveled back in time with all his research equipment, farming for wealth was a lost cause. Even the Zhang family, with all their land, still had to work in the fields.

Luo Fei consoled himself with these thoughts while working on his butterfly sachet. Once he finished for the day, he headed to the Luo family’s house. It was time for his cooking lessons with Luo Ru—he couldn’t afford to miss them.

When Xi Yanqing returned and didn’t see Luo Fei, he knew Luo Fei must have gone to his family’s house again. He didn’t rush to find him. Instead, he took out a sieve and began sorting the buckwheat husks he had gotten from Aunt Pang.

When Luo Fei came back, he saw Xi Yanqing pouring something into a natural cloth bag and asked, “What are you doing?”

Xi Yanqing smiled. “Buckwheat husks. Didn’t you say the wooden pillow was too hard? I got these for you. You just finished making that pillowcase, right? Try filling it with these and see how it feels.”

Hearing this, Luo Fei stood at the door for a long time, unmoving.

Just then, a breeze blew through, carrying peach blossom petals that drifted down onto Xi Yanqing’s shoulders.

Luo Fei walked over on impulse and gently brushed the petals off Xi Yanqing’s head. Looking down at Xi Yanqing sitting on the small stool, carefully removing any impurities that might poke him, Luo Fei suddenly felt a wave of sadness.

A thought surfaced in his mind.

Qing-ge, when did you start liking me?

“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?” Xi Yanqing tilted his head. “Don’t tell me you’re so touched that you’ve finally decided to let me plant your fields?”

“Get lost! Your mind is full of nonsense!” The beautiful moment was instantly ruined.

“Tsk, I thought my little vixen had finally seen the light and wanted to have an earth-shattering dual cultivation with this farmer full of yang energy.”

“Bullshit! You brain-dead idiot! Who’d cultivate with a big wooden stick like you?!”

“A big stick?” Xi Yanqing smirked. “So you still remember…”

“I said nothing!” Luo Fei snatched the buckwheat bag and ran away like his tail was on fire!

—

Tl Notes:

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