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

Another ten days or so passed, and the crops in the fields were finally all harvested. When the last cartload of rice was hauled into the drying ground, Mr. Chen stood on the edge of the field, looking at the bare land, and let out a long sigh of relief. The autumn harvest was tiring, but seeing the full granary brought him a sense of peace.

All that was left was to dry the grain and store it in the granary. The yard and the threshing ground were covered with golden rice and corn, gleaming in the autumn sun. Every day, Chen's father and Chen Dashan would turn the grain over, gather it, and bag it, carrying each bag into the cellar. Although it was tiring, they were happy.

That morning, while eating breakfast, Chen Xiaohe put down his bowl and said to his father, "Dad, tomorrow I'll have to trouble you and my older brother to prepare the food at home. I have to go up the mountain. Many of the fruit trees there are almost ready to be picked. The peaches and plums ripen quickly, and they'll fall if we don't pick them soon."

Father Chen nodded, swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, and said, "I've already talked to the Zhao brothers; we'll hire them to help with the fruit picking this year. It'll be the same few people; they're very hardworking. Tomorrow, take them up the mountain to pick fruit. Is the cellar ready?"

Chen Xiaohe said, "Everything is ready. We can bring the fruit home tomorrow and put it directly into the cellar. I cleaned the cellar again a few days ago and removed the vents, so it's perfect for storing fruit."

Hearing this from the side, Su Xiaoyin put down her bowl and said, "Dad, if we continue to hire people, we'll have to go to the butcher shop again tomorrow to buy some more meat. We've already eaten all the meat we bought before during the autumn harvest. When you hire people to work, their food can't be bad."

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Chen said, "Then buy some more, a couple more sets of offal. They love your braised offal, it's cheap, and it's still considered meat. Also buy a few big bones to make soup; it'll be oily and flavorful. People who work need to be well-fed to have the strength."

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "Okay, Dad, I'll go to the county town to buy it first thing tomorrow morning. I'll come back quickly after I buy it and cook lunch, so it won't be too late."

Chen's mother said from the side, "Xiaoyin, can you manage all this by yourself? Why don't you let Xiaoqing go with you?"

Su Xiaoyin shook her head: "No need, Mother. Xiaoqing will go to the general store again tomorrow. The general store can't be left unattended. The child needs someone to take care of him during his autumn vacation. It's a good opportunity for them to play in the courtyard in the county town."

The family made arrangements for the next day and went about their own business.

The next morning, before dawn, Su Xiaoyin set off in her mule cart. The morning breeze was cool, so she wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself. The mule ran very fast, its hooves clattering on the empty village road.

Upon arriving in the county town, the market had just opened. Su Xiaoyin went to the meat stall first. The owner was unloading goods and greeted her with a smile, "Madam Chen, here to buy things again? Still busy with the autumn harvest?"

Su Xiaoyin smiled and said, "I'm done with the work. The fruit on the mountain is ripe, so I hired people to pick it. We need to prepare some food. Boss, give me two servings of offal, a pig's head, and a few big bones."

The shopkeeper deftly weighed the items, wrapped them in lotus leaves, and tied them with straw rope. Su Xiaoyin then asked, "Do you have lard? I'd like a piece."

The shopkeeper pulled out a piece of white lard from under the cutting board, weighed it, and said, "Exactly five pounds. Here you go."

Su Xiaoyin paid the money, loaded the goods onto the cart, and drove the mule cart back home. When she arrived home, the sun had just risen, and the yard was already bustling with activity.

Chen Xiaohe was leading several workers up the mountain. The two brothers from the Li family, the eldest son of the Zhao family, and Liu Laoda, each carrying a large basket on their backs and holding bamboo poles and scissors, were chatting and laughing. Chen Xiaohe walked in front, telling them which peach trees were ripe and which plums should be picked first.

Su Xiaoyin unloaded the things and went to the kitchen first. She washed the offal clean, marinated it with salt and Sichuan peppercorns, and cleaned the pig's head, putting it into a large pot to braise. She put the large bones into the pot of cold water, along with ginger slices and scallion segments, brought it to a boil over high heat, skimmed off the foam, and then simmered it over low heat. Soon, the kitchen was filled with a rich aroma of meat.

She cut the lard into small pieces and put them in another pot, simmering them over low heat. The white lard chunks slowly shrank, transparent pork fat seeped out, and the cracklings gradually turned golden yellow, floating and sinking in the oil. Su Xiaoyin used a strainer to scoop out the cracklings, sprinkled them with a little salt, and tasted one. It was crispy, crunchy, and very fragrant.

"Keep this for tonight's salad." She put the cracklings in a bowl, then scooped the lard into a jar to cool before using it.

After finishing all that, the sun was already high in the sky. Su Xiaoyin began preparing lunch. She steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat and water, sliced ​​a large plate of braised pork, and simmered the bone broth until it turned milky white. She also stir-fried some greens and mixed a bowl of pickled vegetables. Looking at the sky, it was almost noon, so she packed the food, picked up her basket, and headed up the mountain.

On the mountain, Chen Xiaohe was leading a group of people to pick peaches. The peach trees weren't tall, but the branches were laden with fruit, bright red, so heavy that the branches bent low. The group divided the work: some climbed the trees to pick the peaches, some caught them below, and some put them into baskets. Brother Li stood on a ladder, reaching for the highest peaches, carefully picking them and placing them in his basket.

"Chen Xiaohe, your peaches are huge! Even bigger than last year's!" Old Liu took a bite of a freshly picked peach, juice dripping down his chin. He didn't bother to wipe it away and took another bite.

Chen Xiaohe said with a smile, "This year we've used plenty of fertilizer and had good rainfall, so the fruit is naturally growing well. Brother Liu, please eat a few more; a few more won't make a difference."

Old Zhao's eldest son chimed in from the side, "Xiao He, if you took these peaches to a shop, they'd definitely be a hit. I've seen peaches for sale in the county town, but none of them are as big or as red as yours."

Chen Xiaohe chuckled and said without any modesty, "That's right. The soil and water on our mountain are good, so the things we grow are better than what others grow."

Just then, Su Xiaoyin came up carrying a basket and called out from the edge of the field, "Dinner's ready!"

Several people climbed down from the tree, washed their hands, and sat down in the shade. Su Xiaoyin laid out the food: steamed buns, braised pork, bone broth, stir-fried vegetables, and pickled vegetables, covering the ground in abundance. Old Li picked up a bowl of bone broth, took a sip, and sighed contentedly, "Sister-in-law Chen, your soup is delicious, so flavorful! Working at your house these past few days has been better than eating at home."

Su Xiaoyin said with a smile, "Brother Li, you've worked hard, you need to eat well. Eat more, there's more if you're still hungry."

Old Liu, gnawing on a piece of braised pig's head with oil dripping from his mouth, mumbled, "Sister Chen, your braised pork smells so good. My husband makes it too, but it never tastes like this."

Su Xiaoyin said, "Just braise it a few more times and it will be fine. I also figured it out many times before I found this flavor."

The group ate and chatted, rested for half an hour, and then continued working.

In the afternoon, Chen Xiaohe asked Brother Li and Brother Liu to carry the picked peaches down the mountain. Basket after basket of peaches were carried down and dumped onto the bamboo mat in the yard; their bright red color gleamed in the sunlight. Chen's father and Chen Dashan helped sort them, putting the good ones in the cellar to sell at the shop the next day; the bruised or small ones were piled aside to be made into dried fruit.

As the sun began to set, more than half of the fruit on the mountain had been picked. Chen Xiaohe glanced at the sky and said to the group, "Let's call it a day. You'll all have to work hard again tomorrow. Come on, let's go down the mountain. Dad's waiting to pay you your wages."