The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 271: Chapter 271: Harvesting

The next day, the first day of work, Ji Huan hadn’t even gotten up when Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang showed up at her door with sickles and hoes.

Moments later, Widow Xie arrived, too, with Hu Dacheng in tow.

When she asked, she found they had all eaten breakfast already. It seemed she was the laziest of the bunch.

Ji Huan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "You really didn’t need to come this early. The sky isn’t even fully bright yet..."

"If it were up to you, you’d laze around until sunset!"

After scolding Ji Huan, Widow Xie rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen with Ji Xuelan to help her whip up some breakfast.

How could Ji Huan dare to delay any longer? She went into the west room, hauled Dabao out of bed, and after they had both washed up and eaten, they all headed for Nanshan together.

There was no need to explain anything to Widow Xie, of course. And while Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang knew that Ji Huan was planning to open a spice workshop, they only had a vague idea of what it entailed. Now, seeing it with their own eyes, it all finally clicked.

The fact that Ji Huan was growing strange, exotic things on her three acres of wasteland instead of grain was a topic of gossip for many in the village. Everyone had assumed she’d given up completely.

Ji Liansong had been so worried about it that he’d planned to send her a few sacks of sweet potatoes once they were harvested.

’So *these* strange things are the spices.’

’You can make big money with just these?’

Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

Ji Huan gave them a general overview of what was planted in each plot and how to harvest it.

Different spices had different harvesting methods.

For some spices, only the fruit was usable. For others, both the leaves and seeds could be used. And for yet others, the usable parts were entirely in the roots and stems.

It was an incredibly troublesome process to harvest them all.

Just as they had when planting, they divided the work by area, and the group split up to get busy.

The original plan was to have Hu Dacheng stay at the edge of the field and play with Dabao, but Hu Dacheng couldn’t sit still and insisted on working with everyone else. Ji Huan had no choice but to bring Dabao along with her.

"What’s wrong with Dabao? You look so unhappy. Who upset you?" Widow Xie teased the little boy.

Dabao, his little face taut, followed close by Ji Huan’s side. When Ji Huan moved forward, he moved forward. When she reached out her hand, he reached out his. He even knew to put what he picked into the basket. He just wouldn’t speak.

Ji Huan stifled a laugh. "Aunt Xie, you’re just noticing now? He’s been unhappy for a few days."

"What’s wrong?"

"Didn’t I make him move into his own room? I moved him into the west room to sleep after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and he hasn’t cracked a smile since."

As Ji Huan spoke, she deliberately stared at Dabao.

Both of them were squatting. When Dabao felt Ji Huan’s gaze on him, he spun around, turning his back to her, looking just like a pouting little toad.

Ji Huan slapped the ground, laughing even harder.

Widow Xie didn’t know what to say to her.

"How can you not act like a big sister? Dabao is still little. How could he not be scared sleeping alone? If you ask me, it’s unnecessary."

In ordinary families with many children, it was normal for everyone to squeeze onto one large bed with their parents. So Widow Xie didn’t understand why Ji Huan was so insistent on making Dabao sleep separately so early.

"He’s six and a half. That’s not so little. While we don’t follow the old saying about ’males and females not sitting together after seven’ in the countryside, there’s still some truth to it. If he keeps sleeping crowded together with his elders, his awareness of gender... ahem, and his sense of independence... it’s not good for developing those."

"Independence, schmindependence. He’ll naturally become independent when he’s older." Widow Xie didn’t really understand anyway. She just asked, "So he didn’t cry or throw a fit?"

"Dabao is so well-behaved. Why would he cry and fuss like those naughty little kids, right?"

Ji Huan poked Dabao’s shoulder.

Dabao ignored her, so she poked him again.

Dabao shrugged her hand off.

"See, Aunt Xie? He’s not crying or fussing. He’s giving me the silent treatment."

The first night they slept in separate rooms, Dabao stood outside Ji Huan’s door, hugging his little pillow, not saying a word and not knocking.

When Ji Huan tried to sneak a peek to see if he had gone to sleep, she opened the door and nearly had her soul scared out of her body.

She sent him back, but he did it again. She sent him back once more, and he did it yet again.

This went on until the middle of the night, when he finally fell asleep squatting by her door.

Having no other choice, Ji Huan carried him back to the west room and stayed with him, seeing him through the first night in his new room.

For the next two days, Dabao would stare at Ji Huan nonstop as soon as dinner was over. He would only go into the west room if she did, and he required her to tell him a story and personally lull him to sleep.

But every time he woke up, he was alone on the bed. Dabao wasn’t stupid; he guessed that Ji Huan had snuck back to the east room after he fell asleep. It would be a wonder if he *wasn’t* angry.

Widow Xie found Dabao’s puffed-up, angry look quite amusing.

"Dabao, your sister torments you every day and even kicked you out of her room. Why don’t you just come live at my house? You can sleep on whichever bed you want. It’s your choice, how about it?"

Dabao glanced at her, then turned his little body back toward Ji Huan.

At this, Widow Xie also burst out laughing, bending over with glee.

"Mom! What are you guys laughing at!"

Hu Dacheng, who was some distance away, stood up and shouted over to them.

"What are we laughing at? We’re laughing at how slow you are!"

"I’m not slow! I’m way faster than Dabao!"

He stomped his feet in frustration, and the nearby siblings—just like Ji Huan and Widow Xie—all wore amused expressions.

In truth, as an unofficial worker, Hu Dacheng’s enthusiasm was commendable, regardless of his actual productivity.

After all, everyone else present had signed an employment contract. Only Hu Dacheng hadn’t, as Widow Xie refused to let him sign a contract and receive wages.

Ji Huan also felt that using child labor wasn’t quite right, so she didn’t insist.

She hadn’t expected Widow Xie to bring him along to work anyway, saying he was just a kid fooling around and wouldn’t amount to much, explicitly forbidding Ji Huan from mentioning money.

’In that case, I’ll just have to buy him some food and clothes later as a reward.’

"Aunt Xie, have you ever thought about sending Dacheng to school?"

Widow Xie’s hands stilled, and she sighed.

"How could I not have? Back when I could rely on the hot and spicy soup stall, my income was steady, and I was planning to send him to the school in the next village this autumn. But now... Besides, at his age, it’s late to start learning. It’s probably useless even if he goes. He was born with a dull brain anyway. Forget it!"

"It’s not like he has to become a Champion Scholar. The most important thing is to become literate and learn to reason. It’ll help him avoid being taken advantage of in the future."

"The main thing is, he’s just not cut out for it. Dabao and Ximei are learning well from you, but he’s got ants in his pants and can’t sit still for a second. Sending him to the village school would just be a waste of money, I think."

Ji Huan knew that Widow Xie was actually afraid that with their family’s current financial situation, she wouldn’t be able to support his schooling long-term.

But in her opinion, even one year of education was better than being completely illiterate.

"I’m fine with teaching them through play, but for someone like Dacheng, you need a strict teacher. Maybe he really isn’t suited for studying and doesn’t like it, but I still think learning to read is essential. Once he’s learned the basics and is a little older, he can choose his own path. That’s always better than being mindlessly pushed along or just following others."

Widow Xie already had this thought in the back of her mind, so with Ji Huan’s gentle prodding, the idea began to rekindle.

She looked up at her earnest son in the distance, drenched in sweat but full of energy, and her lips moved.

"I’ll... think about it."

They had lunch at Ji Huan’s house. Everyone was quite tired, so she just stir-fried a few simple dishes without much fuss.

After the meal, when she saw them getting ready to go back to the fields, Ji Huan stopped them and suggested they all go home to rest for a two-hour period first.

If it were work in their own fields, they certainly wouldn’t be in such a rush. They’d take a short nap after lunch and head back out in the late afternoon.

But the key was, when they remembered the twenty cents a day Ji Huan was paying them, who could rest with a clear conscience?

Ji Huan felt helpless.

This was just the beginning; they had a long struggle ahead of them. Running on pure adrenaline would only lead to burnout.

In the end, she had to practically chase them home.

She still had to deliver a meal to the homeless man and watch him do his rehabilitation exercises for a while. Only then did Ji Huan finally have a moment to herself for a short afternoon nap.

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