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

As the sun approached its zenith, the heat began to intensify. Mother Chen, carrying a half-full basket on her back, her forehead glistening with sweat, descended the path from the back hill and pushed open the gate to her courtyard. The jujube tree in the yard cast a small patch of shade, where the Su sisters sat on small stools, heads bowed, tidying their embroidery threads.

"Mother's back!" Su Xiaoyin, with her sharp eyes, saw her mother-in-law and quickly put down her work, got up to greet her, "It's hot, please take a rest." She turned and went to the kitchen, scooped a bowl of cooled well water from the water vat, and handed it to Chen's mother with both hands.

Mother Chen took the bowl, gulped down most of it, let out a sigh of relief, and then carefully put down the basket. She took out a small basket lined with large leaves and handed it to her two daughters-in-law: "Here, these are raspberries I picked in the mountain valley, called 'tray raspberries,' and some elm seeds. They're sweet and sour, just what you like right now. Try them." The basket contained a small pile of bright red and golden wild fruits, carrying the fresh scent of the mountains, and looked very appealing.

Su Xiaoqing happily took it, picked up a bright red raspberry and put it in her mouth. Her eyes immediately curved into crescent moons: "Mmm! So delicious, sweet and sour, not cloying at all!" She picked the biggest one and handed it to Chen's mother first, "Mom, you have some too!"

Chen's mother waved her hand with a smile, "You two eat, I've already eaten." She then poured the mushrooms from her basket into a large bamboo sieve, preparing to spread them out to dry. "I only found these this morning, they look alright. You two don't need to lift a finger, sit and eat your fruit, I'll take care of it."

Su Xiaoqing refused and quickly helped tidy up the mushrooms, saying, "Mom, let's just make a wild vegetable salad for lunch, and heat up the rabbit meat we specially set aside this morning. We'll make do for now. We'll see what kind of meat Xiaohe bought when he comes back tonight."

Just then, Chen Dashan returned, his trousers rolled up high, his calves still covered in wet mud from the riverbank, carrying a damp fish basket. He nodded to his mother and wife, placing the basket beside the well: "I've caught some, not many, just a few small crucian carp and some shrimp."

Chen's mother peeked in and said, "Alright, save it for tonight. I stewed half of that pheasant from yesterday; you two drank the soup this morning. We'll stew the other half tomorrow to nourish you both. Wild game should be eaten slowly, like water flowing slowly over time."

Su Xiaoyin ate the sweet wild berries, feeling warm inside. Remembering her business, she said to her mother-in-law, "Mother, Xiaoqing and I are almost finished with those two little embroidery designs. Once they're done, we'd like to go to the county town to sell them while we're still feeling healthy. And while we're at it...we'll buy a few yards of soft cotton cloth. Children's skin is delicate, and rough linen might chafe them." She said this with a little embarrassment, as it was another expense.

Chen's mother nodded without hesitation: "Of course! We can't be careless with the children's things. I'll give you the money and buy the softest cotton fabric. But remember, you have to get up and walk around every now and then, and look into the distance. You can't just sit there embroidering all day, or you'll hurt your eyes and tire yourself out. Once your belly gets bigger, you can put the embroidery aside and focus on resting."

"Yes, Mother, we remember," the two sisters replied in unison.

After lunch, the sun was blazing, and the yard was sweltering. Chen Dashan quickly processed the small fish and shrimp he had caught that morning, checked the fish baskets, refilled them with bait, picked up his hoe, and went to the fields under the scorching sun. Chen's mother, meanwhile, carried a large basket on her back, took a sickle, and went to the riverbank to gather pig feed—the family's "golden nuggets" were getting increasingly hungry.

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing both felt a little tired, so they returned to the east wing and lay down on the straw mats. The window was open, letting in a slight breeze. The two sisters huddled together, whispering a few words about the children and the embroidery, before their eyelids grew heavy. Pregnancy seemed to make their bodies particularly prone to fatigue, and in this familiar and peaceful home, they quickly drifted off into a peaceful afternoon nap.

When they woke up, it was already late afternoon (around 3 PM), and the summer heat had subsided slightly. The two sisters felt much better and quickly finished the last few stitches of their embroidery before packing up the embroidery hoop. Su Xiaoyin went to the vegetable garden and picked a few tender cucumbers with blossoms and thorns on top, as well as a few tomatoes that were half-ripe, and blanched them in well water; Su Xiaoqing carefully cleaned the small fish and shrimp that Chen Dashan had brought back, preparing to cook them with homemade soybean paste and then make a pot of flatbread.

The two had just started working in the kitchen when they heard voices and footsteps outside the courtyard gate. It was Chen Dashan and his mother, who was carrying a large basket of pig feed, returning home together. It turned out that after finishing his work in the fields, Chen Dashan had taken a detour up the mountain to check the traps and happened to run into his mother, who was coming down the mountain after gathering pig feed, so they went home together.

Not long after, Chen Xiaohe returned pushing an empty cart, a smile on his face. As soon as he entered the yard, he called out, "Mom! Big Brother! Sister-in-law! I'm back!"

The family quickly gathered again in the main room. Chen Xiaohe reported first: "I delivered the rabbit meat to Dad, and he was overjoyed, saying 'good' several times! He told me to tell everyone to take good care of my sister-in-law and Xiaoqing." He took out his money pouch from his pocket, "Things sold well at the market today; the wood carvings and bamboo weavings together brought in three hundred and fifty coins!"

This amount brought smiles to everyone's faces. Chen Xiaohe continued, "As Mother instructed, I bought a pound of pork belly for fifteen coins; three large bones for five coins. It cost a total of twenty coins, and I have three hundred and thirty coins left." He handed the money bag to his mother.

Mother Chen took the money, carefully counted out 132 coins, kept 40% as public funds, and divided the rest into two portions, handing them to Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe: "Keep these to yourselves. I've put the meat and bones in the well to keep warm; we'll eat them tomorrow."

Chen Dashan then talked about what happened on the mountain: "There was some movement in the trap, so something probably went in, but it broke free and escaped. I repaired it and made it more secure. I'll go check on it again tomorrow."

Dinner consisted of refreshing cucumber salad and tomato salad with sugar, with golden-brown cornbread as the staple food and braised small fish and shrimp as the main course. Though there was no elaborate meat or fish, everything was fresh and delicious. The family sat around the table, talking about Dad's work on the river, the crops in the fields, the harvest from the mountains, their observations at the market, and their hopes for their unborn child. The flickering candlelight cast their shadows on the wall, magnified into warm and peaceful shapes. The jujube tree outside the window rustled gently in the night breeze, as if listening to these ordinary yet precious family whispers.