After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

"Dad, we're leaving! Will you be alright at home by yourself?"

Early in the morning, before dawn, the Chen family's courtyard was already bustling with activity. Today was the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival market, and it was a joint market organized by two counties, making it more than ten times more lively than usual. The Chen family had been preparing for this day for almost half a month—Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe rushed to make bamboo and wood carvings, Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing worked overtime to make hair ties, sachets, and tiger-head shoes, and Chen's mother had been collecting various mountain produce and dried vegetables, filling an entire oxcart.

Father Chen stood at the courtyard gate, holding Afu in his arms, waving with a smile: "Go on, go on! I can take care of four children by myself, can't I? Shitou is all grown up now, he can help look after his younger siblings. Don't worry, go and make sure you bring back lots of money!"

Stone puffed out his little chest: "Grandpa's right! I'll help Grandpa look after my younger brother and sister!"

Chen Dashan patted his son's head, then looked at Qingqing, Aji, and Afu before jumping onto the oxcart. Chen's mother sat on the shaft, Chen Xiaohe drove, and Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing sat in the carriage, protecting the carefully prepared goods.

"Let's go!" Chen Xiaohe cracked his whip, and the mule cart creaked and groaned as it drove out of the courtyard gate and disappeared into the morning mist.

---

When we arrived in the county town, there were already quite a few people there.

The Dragon Boat Festival market was indeed more lively than usual, with stalls densely packed on both sides of the road, selling zongzi leaves, mugwort, five-colored silk threads, and pastries, their shouts rising and falling. Chen Dashan drove his mule cart with difficulty through the crowd, his eyes searching for an empty spot.

"Mountain! This way!"

A familiar voice rang out. Chen Dashan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Brother De standing next to a stall, waving at him. Next to Brother De was another stall, belonging to Chen Ermu—Chen Ermu and his wife were setting up tofu pudding and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) on the stall.

Chen Dashan quickly drove the mule cart over. Brother De pointed to an empty space next to his stall: "Let's set up here, there's enough room. The three of us can sit side-by-side, it'll be lively!"

Chen Dashan jumped out of the car and thanked them repeatedly, "Brother De, Uncle Ermu, you're here so early!"

Chen Ermu laughed, "That's right! The Dragon Boat Festival market only comes once a year. If we don't come early, all the good spots will be taken." He glanced at the Chen family's oxcart, "Wow, you've brought quite a lot of stuff!"

Mother Chen had already gotten out of the car and called to her two daughters-in-law to start unloading the goods. Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing worked quickly and soon set up the stall—the bamboo rack was covered with colorful hair ties and sachets, and the burlap was covered with small wooden carvings, bamboo baskets, tiger-head shoes and hats, as well as bundles of fresh mugwort, which emitted a unique fragrance.

As soon as it was set up, people gathered around.

A young woman picked up a sachet, smelled it, and examined the embroidery. She exclaimed with delight, "This sachet is beautifully embroidered! What's the price?"

Su Xiaoyin replied with a smile, "Fifteen coins each, filled with freshly picked mugwort and spices this year, especially good at repelling mosquitoes."

Without saying a word, the woman took out her money and bought one. Seeing this, the people around her also started picking one out.

In no time, more and more people gathered in front of Chen's stall. Some were buying hair ties, some were buying sachets, some were picking out tiger-head shoes for their children, and some were specifically there to buy mugwort—inserting mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival is an old custom, and every household prepares a few bunches. Su Xiaoqing had a sweet tongue and greeted everyone with a smile, and her business was booming.

De Ge and Chen Ermu's stalls also benefited. De Ge sold homegrown vegetables, which were fresh and appealing to the eye; Chen Ermu's stall sold tofu pudding and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). The tofu pudding was tender and smooth, and the zongzi was fragrant. Passersby couldn't resist the aroma.

After a while, the crowd thinned out. Brother De wiped his sweat and smiled at Chen Dashan, "Dashan, we're really benefiting from your family's success today. With so many people in your family, setting up here brought everyone with you. My vegetables are selling much faster than usual!"

Chen Dashan was giving change to a customer when he heard this and laughed, "Brother De, you're joking. It's just that your vegetables are fresh. I just heard someone say that your vegetables are especially delicious this year."

Brother De nodded, a hint of pride on his face: "That's right! The seeds I bought in the neighboring county this year are really good, high yield, and taste great too. I'll buy them again next year!"

Chen Ermu chimed in from the side, "Your family's tofu pudding business is doing quite well. I saw you sold several buckets this morning."

Chen Ermu's wife laughed and said, "It's alright, it's alright, just a bit tiring because we have to get up early."

The group chatted and laughed as the sun rose higher, and the flow of people in the market continued unabated.

---

After noon, the crowds thinned out, and families began packing up their stalls to go home.

On the way back, Chen's mother and Chen Ermu's wife sat together. The two women, naturally, started gossiping. Chen Ermu's wife lowered her voice, her face mysterious: "Sister-in-law, have you heard about those three girls in our village?"

Chen's mother's heart skipped a beat, but she remained outwardly calm: "What is it? I'm busy setting up my stall every day, so I don't really know much about what's going on in the village."

Chen Ermu's wife moved closer to her and lowered her voice: "You know those three girls who fled famine, right? They live in those empty houses on the outskirts of the village."

Chen's mother nodded: "I know, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Chen Ermu's wife scoffed. "Let me tell you, those three girls have been living here ever since, and the land is still completely barren! They haven't even touched it with a hoe!"

Chen's mother was somewhat surprised: "Really? Didn't the government allocate some wasteland?"

"They did divide the land, but they don't plant it!" Chen Ermu's family member said in a low voice. "And you know what? People secretly bring them food every day. Sometimes it's during the day, sometimes it's at night—they go at night and don't come out until midnight."

Chen's mother frowned slightly: "Who are these people?"

Chen Ermu's wife snorted coldly: "Who are they? If they were all bachelors, I wouldn't say anything. But I've gone to check several times, and several times I've seen men with families! Their wives are pregnant, and they're running around trying to curry favor with each other, what kind of behavior is that!"

Chen's mother remained silent for a while, without responding.

Chen Ermu's wife continued, "I discovered it by chance. Once, I went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables and passed by their area. I happened to see the village boy coming out of their house with a basket in his arms. Later, I paid attention a few more times and saw others..."

She sighed, "If word gets out, what will become of our village's reputation? Will other villages dare to approach us for marriage arrangements?"

Chen's mother nodded: "We do need to be careful."

---

Dege was driving the oxcart nearby, but he kept his ears perked up, listening to the conversation between the two women. The more he listened, the more his brows furrowed, and he began to ponder.

Back home, Dege tied up the oxcart, and without even taking a sip of water, went straight to find his father, the village head.

The village head was smoking his pipe in the courtyard when his eldest son rushed in, somewhat surprised: "What's wrong? Business wasn't good today?"

Dege sat down next to him and lowered his voice: "Dad, business is pretty good, we're selling more than usual. I have something else I want to tell you."

The village head tapped his pipe: "What is it?"

De Ge recounted everything he had overheard in the car. Afterward, he became somewhat agitated: "Dad, we can't ignore this! Those three girls never work in the fields, relying solely on people bringing them food and supplies, and those people all have families of their own. If word gets out, our village's reputation will be ruined! Who will dare to arrange marriages with us in the future?"

After listening, the village head remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking: "Someone came to tell me about this a couple of days ago."

Brother De was taken aback: "You knew?"

The village head nodded, relit his pipe, took a drag, and slowly exhaled smoke: "I know, but how can anyone believe you just talking nonsense? To catch a thief, you need to catch him red-handed; to catch an adulterer, you need to catch them in the act. Without concrete evidence, what makes you think you can accuse someone of innocence?"

De Ge was speechless.

The village head glanced at him, his tone calm: "I've already discussed it with a few old folks in the village and arranged for people to keep an eye on things. Once we have solid evidence, we'll handle it accordingly. You, don't be rash, think things through before you act."