Farming Happiness: Husband, Come and Plough the Fields

FH Chapter 21: 

 你，是人是鬼？

You, are you a man or a ghost?

   

In late autumn, it gets dark very quickly. Li Haitang had just dug up the Chinese chestnuts (ban li) buried in the soil when the mountain became so dark that she could barely see her own fingers in front of her.

 

The wild chestnuts of this era, without pesticides, are so fragrant and sweet to the palate. She made a small pile of them, wrapped them in greaseproof paper, and prepared to finish it off on the tree. 

 

“It’s not bad to eat wild chestnuts and see the primeval forest in the dim light of night.”

 

Li Haitang reassures herself that this is like acting in a real-life version of a horror movie, which is something a person may not necessarily experience in their entire lives.

 

No matter how hard the days ahead are, she has to keep on living a good life for herself and for the original body and take good care of her little brother Li Jin Hu. 

 

As she thought of this, Li Haitang suddenly felt that she had more energy and relaxed a lot, and just as she turned around, she found a tall figure standing in the middle of a tree in front of her.

 

There was no moon in the mountains, only the scattered light of the fires that had not yet been extinguished, and the leaves were swaying and rustling with the wind, puffing and rustling. That shadow was tall, standing still, and she didn’t know how long it had been there.

 

“You, are you a man or a ghost?”

 

Li Haitang closed her eyes, but the shadow was still there within a breath, it wasn’t that she had dim eyesight; have blurred vision. She had just laughed at herself as if she was acting in a live-action version of a horror movie and the ghost then suddenly came! How can it be so coincidence! 

 

The shadow did not make a sound, standing still in the same place as if not moving at all. 

 

This time, On the contrary, Li Haitang wasn’t afraid. In her previous life, she was a healer who saved lives and helped the sick. She did not do any deed that troubles (or weighs on) one’s conscience so she is not afraid of ghosts calling at the door, as long as it’s not the Qin family who comes to arrest her.

 

“Hey, why are you standing here? Don’t you know that people can scare people to death?”

 

After a long time, the shadow still did not say a word, Li Haitang could not stand it anymore and went forward.

 

In the faint light, his back was straight and his coarse linen clothes could not conceal his masculine muscles. It’s a firm and unyielding man. 

 

His face was deeply contoured and his features were deep, with a long scar across the corner of his eye that spoiled what should have been a very handsome and spirited appearance.

 

For that short moment, Li Haitang felt that she was looking at a general returning from the battlefield, and for some reason, there was a sense of having been through good times and bad left by the years.

 

“Are you … Big Brother Xiao?”

 

Li Haitang suddenly realized, and thought of what the villager had said, in the mountains lived a wild man, it seems to be this person, undoubtedly.

 

The common people of Da Qi are fond of listening to opera. Wind, flower, snow and moon, trite poetry subject which is an idiom for romance is in the air, influenced by the stories of the beautiful lady and the gifted scholar man (genius and beauty; talented scholar and fair lady (often characters in typical Chinese romances) so only those who are handsome, scholarly, fair and clean face can meet their standard of a beautiful man.

 

On the contrary, those who were tall, muscular, dark-faced, big and burly were usually merchants, poor people who often did manual labor. These kinds of people are defined as ugly men.

 

The man in front of her met the criteria of an ugly man, and not only that, he has a scar on his face that damages his look. He was the ugliest of ugly men! No wonder the villagers called him a savage, which shows how much they despise him.

 

“Yes.”

 

The man’s voice was so dark and low that if you didn’t listen closely, you wouldn’t be able to detect what he was saying.

 

Li Haitang opened her mouth and wanted to say something else, but then she saw him turn away, so after quite a while, only she said, “I will take the responsibility.”

 

“Responsible for what?”

 

This guy, surnamed Xiao, was a bit eccentric, but his appearance was such a fashionable and good-looking guy who could be a model if he were living in modern times, which is the type that she liked.

 

Li Haitang really doesn’t understand the aesthetics standard of Da Qi common people. Is a sissy with a fan and a pretentious; strike a pose-pretty face a very handsome man?

 

“I have no father, no mother, no family, so if you don’t mind what I look like, I’ll take responsibility.”

 

The man looked into the distance, pondered for a moment and added, “Xiao Lingchuan, twenty-two years old.”