TTLJDFL chapter 15

Since Li Jin had already made up his mind to integrate into this society, he would naturally talk and communicate with the people around him.

He seemed to carry a special kind of charm, which was that as long as he initiated a conversation, he could quickly blend into a large group.

Of course, in reality, there was no magical element involved.

It was purely a matter of emotional intelligence.

As soon as Li Jin stepped into the courtyard, he saw a dim oil lamp quietly burning by the window.

At this moment, Li Jin finally realized that this was a world without mobile phones, without computers, without the internet, and even without electricity. Only the mud-brick house, oil lamps, paper-covered windows, and a husband waiting for him to return home remained.

People who should have been complete strangers , in just a day or two of interaction, given Li Jin spiritual comfort. A doctor who had always been lonely in modern times suddenly found a home in ancient times.

Li Jin washed the sickle with water and hung it on the kitchen wall to dry. He rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands clean, and then went into the house.

Qin Muwen was actually very worried about Li Jin; after all, mowing the grass required using a sickle. Li Jin had never touched these things before, and he probably didn’t even know how to hold a sickle. ——What if he accidentally cut himself?

If it weren’t for physical inconveniences, Qin Muwen truly wanted to go and replace Li Jin.

He, as long as he knew Li Jin cared for him and had this heart to mow the grass, it was enough. He could do all the hard and exhausting work.

After Li Jin entered the courtyard, Qin Muwen anxiously waited for him to come inside.

But after the sound of footsteps approached the bedroom, it turned toward the kitchen, followed by the sound of water. Although Qin Muwen was anxious, he didn’t make a sound.

When Li Jin entered the room, Qin Muwen almost couldn’t wait and held his hand. Under the dim oil lamp, he watched him carefully.

Yesterday, the blisters caused by scalding from steamed eggs were still present, and today, many new injuries have appeared. These wounds were not unfamiliar to Qin Muwen; two years ago, he too was a young master whose hands had never touched spring water.

After marrying Li Jin, he was required to learn how to harvest wheat. That was his first time cutting wheat, and his hands were covered in injuries—not only cuts from the sharp wheat awns but also blisters caused by gripping the sickle and exerting himself with all his strength.

Now, Qin Muwen gently ran his callused hands over the blisters on Li Jin’s hands and the wounds that still showed red streaks even after being washed with cold water.

Li Jin’s wounds now were so much like the ones Qin Muwen had back then, but back then, no one cared about Qin Muwen.

They only demanded him to keep going, faster, and work harder.

After countless cuts, bleeds, and pains, now when Qin Muwen harvests wheat, his hands no longer get cut by the wheat awns. The old wounds slowly turned into calluses, protecting him.

It also silently told of all that he had gone through in the past two years.

But Qin Muwen had no complaints about it; he had gotten used to it.

Li Jin looked at the pain on the young person’s face and comforted him, saying, “They’re just small cuts, they’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.”

Back when he was a doctor and had just started his hospital internship, his hands would sometimes get cut by sharp surgical knives. After practicing more, he eventually got the hang of it.

Every job has its own difficulties, and Li Jin doesn’t have a princess complex, so he really doesn’t care about these minor injuries.

Qin Muwen has been talking very little these past couple of days because Li Jin used to look down on his ger’s status.

He dislikes him. He even wouldn’t let him talk to him, as if talking to a ger would lower his own class.

Before, when Li Jin talked to the young man, he mostly just responded with nods or shakes of his head.

Only actions that cannot answer would make the boy open his mouth and speak softly.

At this moment, the boy forgot the rules Li Jin had set for him earlier and said, “Even small wounds cannot be treated so casually, and they definitely shouldn’t get wet!”

As he spoke, he couldn’t stop, “These wounds certainly won’t heal by tomorrow. Why don’t you put aside the work in the field for now, and when I can get out of bed, we’ll do it together.”

Li Jin pull back his hand and, on the way, brushed the boy’s nose, smiling: “I am not so delicate; after all, we are the children of the Zhuang family¹(“都是庄稼汉的孩子” (dōu shì zhuāngjia hàn de háizi) is a colloquial Chinese saying or descriptive phrase. It literally translates to “We are all children of peasants (or farmers/country folk).”) ​.It was my fault that I did not do this before, but now I must learn to handle these tasks.”

The boy could only feel a tingling sensation at the tip of his nose where Li Jin had touched, unable to tell whether this was a normal response during postpartum confinement or due to some other reason.

Perhaps it was because Li Jin’s attitude was gentle, and the violent expression that had once marked her handsome features had vanished, leaving only the refined elegance of a scholar.

The young man quickly spoke what was on his mind: “A-Jin, before mother passed, she said that after you observed mourning for twenty-seven months, you could take part in the imperial examination… Now two years have already passed, and it is currently June. By this September, the mourning period will be considered over. Next February, at the beginning of spring, is exactly the time for the preliminary scholar examination.”

The young man had practiced writing and studied books, and his family had previously had an older brother participate in the imperial examinations. Therefore, he was fairly familiar with the process of the exams and spoke about it in an orderly and organized manner.

Li Jin: “………..?”

Isn’t this just a story about rural life and making a living? And now you’re adding the imperial examination element??

Seeing Li Jin’s slightly puzzled expression, the young boy quietly asked, “Ah Jin, did you forget?”

Li Jin didn’t respond; he wasn’t used to lying.He really didn’t know that such a thing even existed.

Now, prompted by the young man, Li Jin also recalled that when he talked with the villagers, they always praised him with things like ‘Truly worthy of being a scholar’ and ‘Someone who has read the sages’ books is just different’…

Li Jin hadn’t really thought much of it before—after all, these were just polite words from others. He used to praise other people’s kids too, saying they were smart, lively, and good at studying.

Li Jin thought with a blank expression that in ancient times, people’s customs were so simple that even when they praised someone, they wouldn’t exaggerate—it was praise that was particularly down-to-earth and realistic.

The villagers said he was a scholar, so he should realize that he was going to take the imperial examination…

Li Jin rubbed the boy’s head: “I blacked out after drinking a few days ago, my mind has been all fuzzy.”

The boy suspected nothing and said voluntarily: “Ah Jin is a scholar, why not use these days to review your lessons? Once I’m able to get out of bed in a few days, I’ll go cut the grass.”

…So all this circling around was just to talk about cutting the grass.

The boy was afraid Li Jin wouldn’t agree, so he stretched out his hand—clearly a size smaller than Li Jin’s, with soft calluses on the palms and fingertips.

“My hands aren’t afraid of wheat awns; they won’t get cut,” he said.

Li Jin shoved his hand back under the covers. “Your hands are too small. You can’t hold the sickle properly. I suggest rejecting this.”

Now it was the boy’s turn to be stunned.

H-He can’t hold it properly? The sickle even has a rope wrapped around the handle, but he can still cut wheat and grass!

Qin Muwen was naturally well-behaved. Although he still wanted to stick to his own opinion, Li Jin had already refused him, so now he obediently listened, tucking his hands into the quilt.

Li Jin was pleased by how well-behaved he looked.

Looking at the candy and honey on the low table that were almost untouched, only that small packet of preserved fruit was missing two pieces.

Li Jin thought maybe it wasn’t that the boy didn’t like sweets, but that he thought they were expensive and felt reluctant to eat them himself.

Li Jin went to the kitchen to make a soft-boiled poached egg, putting a piece of malt sugar in the soup, giving it a slightly sweet taste, just the way young people liked it.

As for himself, Li Jin found that in another basket under the cutting board there were potatoes, which he roasted directly by the fire, occasionally turning them over. He just used potatoes as his main food.

Now he has put fitness on the agenda. He does not plan to eat pork or pig’s trotters, but pig’s trotters can be used to make soup for the young man, and pork can be made into braised pork; these are all for the young man.

As for his own fitness, the meat he can accept includes beef, fish, chicken breast, etc. Pork has a high fat content, so people who want to build muscle should not eat too much of it.

It’s just a pity that buying beef isn’t easy, so for now we can only rely on boiled eggs and chicken breast to get protein.

Li Jin brought rice porridge and sugar water eggs into the room for the boy.

Since the child doesn’t eat much, the extra porridge was left for him.

Li Jin herself went back to the kitchen to gnaw on a potato and had a boiled egg.

At this moment, Li Zhuzi had just driven the ox cart back home. When he heard his wife say that Li Jin went to the field to cut grass today, without thinking, he went straight to Li Jin’s house.

He only now felt that he, this young guy with no family ties, was finally living like a normal person.

Li Zhuzi called out a few times at the door, and Li Jin went to open it for him.

Li Zhuzi also knew the situation at Li Jin’s house—there was only one main room, and Li Jin’s husband was surely resting inside. As an outsider, he couldn’t just walk in.

So he didn’t mind and followed Li Jin to the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped in, Li Zhuzi was stunned. Looking at the half-eaten potato, he even stuttered when he spoke.

“Y-you’re just going to eat this?” Back when taxes were high and the fields didn’t produce much, every household lived off potatoes.

But now, His Majesty is merciful and has reduced the land tax, and the richer villagers haven’t treated potatoes as a staple for a long time.

Li Jin looked calm, without a hint of the poverty or embarrassment that others might notice.

He said, “For now, this is all I can eat.”

Once the next batch of herbs is sold, he can go buy some beef and mutton. Fitness is seventy percent exercise and thirty percent diet, so of course he has to balance both.

But to Li Zhuzi, this sounded like, ‘We’re poor, this is all I can afford.’

Li Zhuzi pointed to the pork and pig trotters nearby and said, “Isn’t there meat here? If you’re out of rice or flour, come get some at my place.”

Li Jin gave half of the pork belly to Li Zhuzi and said, “Brother Zhuzi has always taken good care of me, so consider this as a token of my gratitude to you. As for the rice and flour, I can’t take it for free either. I made money from selling medicinal herbs today, so I can’t accept your help anymore; naturally, I need to settle accounts.”

Li Zhuzi hurriedly waved his hand, saying no, he was considered relatively well-off in the village, he had an ox cart, and could earn more than thirty wen a day by chopping firewood.

Not to mention that his wife often did some needlework to earn money, so the family lived relatively well.

Li Jin said, “I used to be a fool and did many wrong things. I’m very grateful to Brother Zhuzi for always helping me. Please accept this token of thanks. Although it’s small, there will surely be a bigger gift in the future.”

Li Zhuzi could only accept it, and as for the bigger gift Li Jin mentioned, he really didn’t think about it at all.

After all, isn’t it just how neighbors help each other? He accepted Li Jin’s pork, so tomorrow he can help Li Jin cut grass.

In the following days, Li Zhuzi saw that Li Jin never had breakfast without potatoes. If it weren’t for Li Jin also eating a couple of boiled eggs, Li Zhuzi would really have dragged Li Jin to his house for a meal.

It’s not like they’re too poor to afford rice or noodles; who would treat themselves like this?

But even if Li Jin’s recipe included eggs, Li Zhuzi couldn’t help but sigh.

“Li Jin has really learned to care for others now. He gives all the good things at home to her child and husband, and then eats potatoes every day himself!”

Li Jin: “???”

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  (“都是庄稼汉的孩子” (dōu shì zhuāngjia hàn de háizi) is a colloquial Chinese saying or descriptive phrase. It literally translates to “We are all children of peasants (or farmers/country folk).”) ​