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

"Mom! We're back!"

Chen Xiaohe pushed open the courtyard gate, his voice light with the joy of returning home with a bountiful harvest. In the yard, Chen's mother was sitting on a small stool picking vegetables, while Chen's father sat on a bamboo chair beside her, holding a pipe but not lighting it, simply watching his wife work with a smile. Hearing the sound, both of them looked up.

"Dad? You're back!" Chen Xiaohe exclaimed in surprise. Chen Dashan, Su Xiaoyin, and Su Xiaoqing followed him in. Upon seeing their father, they all showed genuine joy.

Chen's father had gone on this forced labor trip, and in just over a month, he had lost a considerable amount of weight. His skin had turned a deeper bronze, and his cheekbones were slightly prominent, but his eyes were still bright, and he seemed to be in good spirits. He put down his pipe, stood up, and looked at his neatly dressed son and daughter-in-law before him, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

"Hey, you're back." Mr. Chen's voice was a little hoarse, but filled with a reassuring smile. "Was the journey safe?"

"Everything went very smoothly!" Chen Xiaohe answered eagerly, showing his parents the heavy package he was carrying. "Dad, look, we were lucky today! We snagged some bargains before the market closed! We bought pork belly, lard, and a few big bones with meat on them! We'll stew them in a bit, make a rich and nourishing soup for you!"

Chen's mother walked over, looked at the glistening meat and bones, and nodded in approval, "The appearance is really good! How much did this cost?"

"Only seventy coins!" Chen Xiaohe said proudly, "We got a steal! We'll stew one of the big bones first, and I'm thinking of salting the other two and smoking them to keep them fresh. I plan to chop up all the pork belly and make dumplings for dinner tonight!"

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing stepped forward, their faces beaming with barely suppressed joy. Su Xiaoyin spoke first, "Father, Mother, the embroidery sold for seven taels of silver. After deducting the cost of the cloth and thread, we made a net profit of six taels and three hundred copper coins. Today we bought some more thread and fine cotton cloth, spending another one and a half taels of silver, and some things for the children." She paused, then pulled a small cloth bag from her bosom. "The scraps of cloth cost ten copper coins, two large bundles, quite a bargain. The rest of the money is here."

Chen Dashan also pushed over the money he earned from selling wood carvings, bamboo weaving, and hair ties: "Today, I made 420 coins at my stall. After deducting the 70 coins for the meat, this is 350 coins."

Looking at the pile of silver and copper coins on the table, Chen's mother felt a surge of emotion, but her face wore a composed smile. First, following protocol, she carefully collected the forty percent belonging to the public treasury—mainly the 140 coins from the income of wooden and bamboo ware and headbands, and the converted portion of the embroidery income. Then, she returned the remaining money, including the bulk of the embroidery profits, to her two sons' families.

"Keep the money safe, everyone. Xiaoyin and Xiaoqing have done a great job this time." Mother Chen said, then turned to Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe, "You two go to the bamboo forest and dig up two of the tenderest bamboo shoots. We'll put them in the soup later; they'll make it look fresh and bright. I'll go chop the minced meat. Xiaoyin and Xiaoqing, wash the wild vegetables and soak some dried mushrooms. Old man," she looked at Father Chen, "you don't need to do anything. Just sit and rest, look around the yard, and talk to the children."

As instructed, Mr. Chen sat back down in his bamboo chair, watching his eldest and youngest sons leave. His two daughters-in-law rolled up their sleeves and busied themselves by the well, while his wife smacked her lips in the kitchen, the rhythmic chopping of meat filling ...

With the family working together, dinner was quickly prepared. The square table in the main room was laden with food: a bowl of milky white, fragrant bone broth, glistening with oil and tender yellow bamboo shoots; a large plate of steaming hot, thin-skinned, generously filled mushroom, bamboo shoot, and pork dumplings; and two small dishes of refreshing cold mountain vegetables. The aroma was irresistible and whetted the appetite.

Everyone sat around the table. Mother Chen first served Father Chen a full bowl of soup, then ladled some for everyone else. Holding her bowl high, her face was filled with unprecedented solemnity and joy: "This meal is, firstly, to welcome your father back and help him recover from his long journey. Secondly," she said, her loving gaze sweeping over Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing's slightly flushed cheeks, "to announce some incredibly joyous news—our family is welcoming new members! Xiaoyin and Xiaoqing are both pregnant! This is a blessing from heaven, a great joy for our Chen family as it expands! May our lives, like this bamboo shoot soup, grow richer and more prosperous with each passing day! Come, everyone, eat your fill!"

Although the news had already been heard from Chen's mother beforehand, the official announcement still brought smiles to everyone's faces. Chen Dashan looked at Su Xiaoyin beside him, his eyes softening; Chen Xiaohe was beaming from ear to ear, constantly piling dumplings onto Su Xiaoqing's plate. Chen's father nodded repeatedly, tears welling in his eyes, exclaiming, "Good, good! Double happiness! Double happiness indeed!"

The dinner was exceptionally delicious. The rich soup soothed our stomachs, the dumplings were fresh and satisfying, and even the simple mixed wild vegetables tasted refreshing. Laughter filled the table as people talked about their experiences at the market, the prices of embroidery, and their hopes for their unborn child.

After dinner, it wasn't completely dark yet, so the family didn't rush back inside. Instead, they moved stools and sat in the yard to enjoy the cool evening air. A gentle breeze carried the scents of the fields and forests.

Chen Dashan remembered something and said to his father, "Dad, a few days ago I dug traps in several places on the mountain. I saw tracks of prey, like rabbits or badgers, but after going there several times, I either didn't catch anything, or I only found a few tufts of fur before the prey escaped. Could you take a look and tell me what I did wrong?"

Mr. Chen took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled slowly, and said, "When setting a trap, you can't just look at the location. You have to carefully examine the footprints and droppings to determine what kind of creature usually walks there—a rabbit, a badger, or a fox? They have different habits; you have to know which way they run when startled and how strong they are. The depth of the trap, its camouflage, and the trigger mechanism all need to be adjusted accordingly. Tomorrow, I'll go with you up the mountain to take a look and see for ourselves."

Father Chen then looked at Chen Xiaohe: "I went to check on our fields this afternoon. You and your brother did a good job. The seedlings are neat and the land is clean. It's just that some areas look a little lacking in fertilizer. We can apply fertilizer again in a couple of days."

Chen Xiaohe quickly said, "Dad, you just got back, you must be tired. Rest at home for a few more days! There's no rush with the work in the fields, my brother and I can handle it!"

Father Chen waved his hand, "A couple of days of rest is enough. Farmers can't stay idle. Tomorrow I'll go with Dashan to check out the traps, and you can come along to learn how to make them. Once we've figured out how to set up the traps, the three of us can work on applying fertilizer together, quick!"

The topic returned to the forced labor. Father Chen's smile faded slightly, and he sighed, "This time… the work is heavy, the hours are long, and the food is terrible, just watery soup. Sleeping in the shacks at night, the mosquitoes are terrifying. The higher-ups deliberately scattered everyone from our village, making it difficult to look after each other." He paused, his voice lower, "Your Fifth Uncle's family, it was the third son who went. That boy is honest and hardworking, but… when he was carrying stones, he wasn't careful, and a stone rolled down and hit his leg. When I left, he was still lying there, swollen really badly. I don't know how he is now, how serious it is. I heard he was engaged in the fall; what if his leg is permanently damaged…?"

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother's face showed sympathy: "The third son of the Wufu family? I know that child; he's a good laborer. This is truly...sigh. They're not even within the fifth degree of kinship, and they're from the same clan. They've helped each other with planting in spring and harvesting in autumn. Old man, why don't you go and see him tomorrow?"

Mr. Chen nodded: "We should go and take a look. Old woman, tomorrow you collect twenty eggs and pack some brown sugar, I'll take it over and check on things. Every little bit helps. We're all neighbors, it's not easy for us."

As night deepened, the stars began to twinkle. In the courtyard, the family chatted for a while, discussing their tasks for the next day, imagining the autumn harvest and the impending arrival of their new life. Although life is full of hardships and unexpected events, at this moment, the warmth of reunion, the hope of new life, and the resilience of mutual support among family members, like the steadfast and shining stars in the night sky, illuminated their ordinary yet powerful path. The evening breeze carried a chill, but it couldn't dispel the warmth and vitality of the courtyard.