Farming Happiness: Husband, Come and Plough the Fields

FH Chapter 17:  山里有野人

There are wild men in the mountain

When Li Haitang got married, there were three or four maids who came to wait on her. The Qin family had no shortage of servants, and the Counselor Qin pays attention to pomp and circumstance that he was afraid people wouldn’t know he was getting married again, so he specially hired a team of suona horn (Chinese shawm (oboe), used in festivals and processions or for military purposes) blowers to make a continual banging sound, making a great deal of noise, powerful and dynamic. 

 

Going out of the village is the same as marrying someone else, whether or not they have already arrived in the Qin family or not, they are not innocent anymore. Li Haitang does not want to have her reputation tainted by a dead old man who is going into a coffin.

 

She opened the corner of the carriage window and looked through the gap. The carriage and horses were moving away and she could only see the blurred shadow of her little brother, Li Jin Hu, and beside him, unrelentingly ( treating people severely without listening to excuse) was Old Lady Li.

 

As the carriage continued on its way, seeing that it was about to leave the village, Li Haitang sensed an opportunity therefore she knocked on the window.

 

The suona troops moved on, only the horse carriage came to a slow stop. In the driving position sat a woman of about fifty, fat, somewhat smiling when she saw people, but her smile did not reach her eyes.

 

“What’s up?”

 

In response, the woman knocked three times on the wall of the carriage as well.

 

“I… I want to use the toilet.”

 

Li Haitang tried to keep her voice as faint as possible, she had just rummaged through a small few drawers and there was a packet of tea inside, relatively intact, not tea froth, and she tucked the paper packet into her sleeve pocket.

 

For the resources on the carriage, nothing should be wasted, it was just a pity that it had been rearranged and there was nothing of value inside.

 

“There is a lavatory in the corner.”

 

The granny grimaced, the new bride had to be settled before she went out, there was limited time on this road so it could not be delayed anymore. 

 

“But…”

 

The granny did not say anything, Li Haitang really did not pay attention, she carried the oil lamp, shining to the corner position, and found that indeed it was a chamber pot. 

 

“I’m a bit inconvenienced, I’ve got diarrhea; a runny tummy.”

 

Li Haitang used her hand to pinch a few acupuncture points on her body, and was immediately made pale by the pain, cold sweat was breaking out on her head, and even her words were tinged with a trembling voice.

 

If you have a stomach trouble, you definitely can’t be inside the carriage, Officer Qin didn’t welcome the bride, but he have to enter the carriage to receive the bride, if there is a smell, it will definitely be very awkward and embarrassing, when the time comes, the unlucky ones are the bunch of his underlings.

 

“Do you have a stomach ache? (upset one’s stomach by eating bad food or overeating)”

 

The granny was a little hesitant, the auspicious time could not be delayed, but if Li Haitang was not allowed to settle it, in case there were any bad consequences, she, as only a servant, could not shoulder the responsibility. 

 

It’s just annoying and pitiful that it had to happen sooner rather than later and moreover it had to happen on the way to the wedding.

 

“Mama (嬷嬷: form of address for an elderly woman), people have three emergencies (jocular ; the need to answer the call of nature), please make it easy.”

 

Li Haitang’s voice was getting weaker and weaker, she was afraid that her acting skills would not reach a standard, therefore she had put a lot of effort into massaging her acupuncture points, and the pain had not yet subsided.

 

According to the reference route given by her youngest brother, in the direction to leave the village ahead, there was a road leading to the mountains, which was so hidden that even the village people did not know about it.

 

Several years ago, a herd of wild boars came down from the back of the mountain to scourge the peasant family, and the old hunters in the village were no match for them, watching the farmhouse being scourged, but it didn’t take long for the herd to disappear, and it was said that they were all slaughtered.

 

There was a wild man living in the mountains. Rumor had it that the wild man ate raw pork and drank raw blood. Some people in the village had seen it, but the wild man was so eccentric and silent so they did not dare to go near it.

 

What kind of place is the back mountain? It’s home to blind bears and tigers! If the wild man can live in the back of the mountain, he must have some ability.

 

“Jie, just go that way, Big brother Xiao is not a bad person!”

 

Li Jin Hu spoke vaguely, the general meaning was that the mysterious wild man the villagers were talking about was surnamed Xiao.

 

Last year, when his father and mother started to get seriously ill, Li Jin Hu heard that he could pick medicinal herbs in the mountain, so he sneaked into the mountain behind his family’s back. Who knew that the mountain was too big, and as he walked, he couldn’t tell the north from the south east and west, so he got lost, then he ran into the wild man who brought him down the mountain.