Chapter Six: What Joy!

After everyone had savored the delicious stir-fried sand boar, they were completely immersed in the delight and contentment of a hearty meal. The night passed uneventfully, and preparations for the New Year resumed the next day.

Aside from the unfinished tasks from the day before, there was a rather unique activity taking place: making sweets. To be precise, these were not simply desserts, but traditional confections made mainly from maltose syrup, puffed rice (ordinary glutinous rice puffed in a pan, similar in principle to popcorn), and peanuts. The finished treats were called sweet puffed rice and candied peanuts.

The process itself was quite straightforward: bring the maltose syrup to a boil, then add the puffed rice or peanuts. For the rice, it was simply lifted out at this stage; for the peanuts, some rice flour was added to coat the outside. The syrup-coated puffed rice was then spread into a round tray to cool, pressed flat, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and, once solidified, cut into rectangular pieces about the width of three fingers. Thus, the fragrant, sweet, and crisp sweet puffed rice was done. As for the candied peanuts, they were simply spread out to cool.

Though the steps were simple, the quality varied from household to household, depending mostly on the ingredients and the finesse with which the process was handled. This was a local specialty snack, able to be stored for several months, but with six new family members joining this year, the rate of consumption would surely surpass previous years. Mother, with foresight, had wisely made extra.

So, for the whole morning, Beiting and the others gathered enthusiastically in the back room, relishing the joy of handmade, all-natural treats. The two young women could hardly resist the temptation—after all, sweets are a perennial favorite among girls, a matter of instinct.

Soon, three or four round trays lined the twenty-square-meter back room, filling the air with gentle aromas of sugar, rice, peanuts, and sesame, making mouths water. The mischievous Shen Mingyue was “scandalously” the first to sample each tray as soon as it was cut.

Wan Yongkun couldn’t help teasing, “My goodness, little beauty, don’t eat yourself chubby.”

Shen Mingyue just giggled and kept eating, muttering, “It's all natural and additive-free.” The others grinned from ear to ear, and Mother felt gratified and proud.

After all, to have one’s hard work recognized is one of life’s purest comforts.

Thus, amid laughter and busy hands, the morning slipped by in cheerful harmony. Li Yiting finally set aside his earlier worries that the others might not fit in—those concerns had completely vanished.

By all appearances, this was a true family.

With such capable and free-spirited friends, Li Yiting felt utterly content. Many times, he was deeply grateful to Chen Tianyu—it was their fourth brother who had led everyone back to the essence of life, to perceive its higher meaning.

---------------------------------------------------

In the city, everyone was used to taking a midday nap for an hour or so. But since coming to the mountains, everyone was so full of energy that no one felt even a trace of drowsiness. Indeed, at high noon, Li Yiting felt brimming with vigor. Just then, his father, Li Qiuhuai, had somehow procured two large logs, each over twenty centimeters in diameter, intending to saw them into planks to repair the roof. So Li Yiting, inviting a few of the men, volunteered to take on this laborious task.

Li Qiuhuai hesitated slightly but couldn’t resist his son’s enthusiasm, so he questioned, “This is skilled work—are you lot up to it?”

“No problem!” Li Yiting guaranteed, and Wan Yongkun chimed in encouragingly.

Li Qiuhuai chuckled, “If you ruin the planks, you’ll have to go into the mountains and cut me new ones.”

Li Yiting clapped his father on the shoulder and laughed, “They’d love nothing more than to mess it up and have an excuse to go back into the mountains…” This had Li Qiuhuai roaring with laughter.

Without further ado, they sprang into action. The group was nothing if not efficient: they set up the sawhorse, nailed down the clamps, snapped the chalk line, and Li Yiting instantly transformed into a master carpenter. Wan Yongkun, not to be outdone, took up an axe and quickly split a log into two smooth faces. Together, they hoisted the log onto the sawhorse. As for Chen Tianyu and Kuang Suo, they could only stand aside and watch.

When it came time to wield the two-man saw, Kuang Suo volunteered to give it a try, with Wan Yongkun assisting. But after only a few strokes, he realized just how difficult it was to guide the saw along the black line—it wasn’t easy at all, and soon the saw jammed.

Li Yiting gave a few mockingly dramatic laughs and demonstrated for a while before Kuang Suo managed to get the hang of it.

“Don’t worry if you ruin a few planks,” Li Yiting reassured him. “Just give it a good pull…”

Kuang Suo exclaimed, “Good heavens, this isn’t much easier than solving a case!”

When it was time to repeat the process, Li Yiting teamed up with Chen Tianyu to pull the saw. Surprisingly, Chen Tianyu showed much more aptitude than Kuang Suo—his movements were smooth and coordinated.

“Fourth Brother, you look like you’ve done this before?” Li Yiting asked, impressed.

Chen Tianyu shook his head. “Never, but I catch on quickly.”

Li Yiting gave a thumbs-up. “Genius!”

Their banter flowed as they worked, and Liu Zichen and Shen Mingyue came out now and then to serve tea and water. Soon, wood shavings of gold and cream were flying at the threshold of the sitting room, and in the sunlight, a fresh, invigorating scent of timber filled the air. Perhaps this was nature’s special gift to those who labor—who says good days are hard to come by?

The hours of hard work flew by.

When the village head, Li Fuqi, approached and saw this lively scene, he was momentarily taken aback. But once he saw the “carpenters” in straw hats and ragged clothes, he laughed.

“Yiting, I didn’t expect you all to look the part,” he called out from afar.

Li Yiting didn’t stop working, pulling the saw as he asked, “Fuqi, underestimated your brother, did you?… What brings you by today? Something up?”

“Uh…” Li Fuqi hesitated. “Yiting, why don’t you all take a break and have a cigarette.”

Li Yiting was a bit surprised. Judging by Fuqi’s demeanor, he probably wouldn’t come without a reason. So he called for the others to stop for a moment and took the cigarette Fuqi offered.

They smoked in silence for a while. At last, Li Fuqi asked, “Where’s your father?”

“He went up the mountain,” Li Yiting replied calmly.

“Oh.” Li Fuqi fell silent again.

Li Yiting took a deep drag and finally said, “Fuqi, if there’s something you want to say, just say it—none of us are outsiders here.”

Instinctively, Li Fuqi glanced around at those present but still hesitated. In village custom, bad news is never delivered in front of guests.

Sensing it wasn’t good news, Li Yiting repeated, “We’re all family. Go ahead.”

Finally, Li Fuqi nodded, “Your third uncle’s run into some trouble—might be hard to resolve.” He was referring, of course, to Li the temple keeper at Guanyin Temple.

Li Yiting had been somewhat prepared, but he hadn’t expected it to come so soon.

If it is fortune, it cannot be avoided; if it is misfortune, it cannot be escaped.

“I know about it,” said Li Yiting. “You want my father to mediate?”

Li Fuqi was taken aback. “You know already?”

“Yes.” Li Yiting stood up. “Tell me the details, let’s talk privately.”

The two of them went aside to discuss, while Wan Yongkun and Kuang Suo looked to Chen Tianyu. Chen Tianyu waved them off, “Gentlemen, let’s get back to work and not get in the way.”

The rest carried on as if nothing had happened.

Little did they know, a sudden disaster was already quietly approaching.