Yufang led Xia Huai'an along the rural dirt road toward the village.
Xia Huai'an noticed that most of the houses in the village were clustered on the slopes ahead, while the Xia Family house stood in solitary isolation beside the paddy fields at the foot of the massive mountain, some three to four hundred meters away.
"Why isn't the Xia Family house built in the village?" Xia Huai'an asked curiously. "Don't villagers prefer to live close together so they can look out for one another?"
Yufang replied, "The Xia Family has always made a living by raising chickens. The chicken coop is right in our backyard, and the smell is terribly strong no matter how you try to cover it. The neighbors weren't happy about it, so the Xia Family moved out here."
"A few months ago, Ping'an was wrongfully imprisoned. To grease the palms of the yamen officials, Mother sold almost all the chickens, leaving only a few laying hens. Who would have thought Ping'an would still die in prison? Half a month ago, bandits pillaged the village, and the very last hens were stolen by the bandits. That's why the backyard chicken coop is empty now."
"It's a pity I'm so useless! If only I could earn some money and buy some chicks and ducklings to raise with Xiaomao and Mother, we could manage to scrape by."
"Hmm, the character background seems quite complete so far. It doesn't really look like an arrangement by the production team." Xia Huai'an nodded. He had indeed caught a whiff of something at the Xia Family house. Although the back door was shut and the chicken coop was empty, the odor accumulated over years could not dissipate overnight.
As the two of them just entered the village, they spotted the Earth God Temple.
The Earth God Temple had dark tiles and vermilion paint, kept impeccably clean, clearly tended to on a regular basis. By comparison, more than half of the mud-brick walls of the surrounding village houses were unwhitewashed.
A woman in her thirties spotted them, eyeing Xia Huai'an up and down incessantly, and said, "Sister Yufang, is this the man you took in? Where on earth did you find him? These days, finding a man who's sound in limb and dashing like this isn't easy! Could he be a fool?"
"You're the fool, your whole family is!" Xia Huai'an snapped right back in irritation.
Yufang blushed and said, "Third Sister-in-law, don't talk nonsense. This is my eldest cousin. He left home for many years, but he's finally found his way back."
"Is this Damao?" The woman asked, half-convinced. "I saw Damao when he was little, all skinny and small. I never expected he'd grow up to be so strapping and handsome. Damao, do you still recognize your sister-in-law?"
Xia Huai'an said, "I came down with a high fever in my early teens and was sick for several days. Ever since then, I remember some things and forget others. But I still roughly remember Third Sister-in-law's appearance. Ah, back then Third Sister-in-law had just married into the village, young and terribly pretty. You've put on a bit of weight now, though, so life must have been quite prosperous these past few years."
The woman burst into loud laughter. "That's right, you really are Damao! Your sister-in-law isn't young anymore, though. Damao, have you taken a wife yet? Would you like me to put in a good word for you?"
"Mother has the final say on Eldest Cousin marrying a wife, so there's no need to trouble Third Sister-in-law!" Yufang hastily chimed in. "Mother told Eldest Cousin to go to the Earth God Temple to pay respects to the deity, and we mustn't delay."
"Alright, alright!" the woman said as she walked away. "My sixth and seventh brothers used to play with Damao since they were kids. They'll be thrilled to hear Damao is back, so I'll go let them know."
Yufang asked Xia Huai'an in a low voice, "How did you know Third Sister-in-law was very pretty when she was young?"
Xia Huai'an said, "What woman doesn't think she was pretty when she was young? Besides, Third Sister-in-law carries herself quite well even now, so she must have been even more beautiful in her youth."
Yufang's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Could it be that Eldest Cousin fancies older women?"
"I don't, I didn't, stop talking nonsense!" Xia Huai'an hastily defended himself, his face flushing red.
Yufang let out a giggle and said, "Hurry on to the Earth God Temple. I'm a woman and can't enter the temple, so I'll just pay my respects from the temple wall."
Holding the three sticks of yellow incense handed to him by Yufang, Xia Huai'an walked into the Earth God Temple, lit the incense, and kowtowed in worship to the deity.
When he came out, he saw Yufang kneeling by the wall, kowtowing toward the wall of the Earth God Temple, murmuring words under her breath with a deeply pious expression.
"You believe in deities?" Xia Huai'an asked.
Startled, Yufang hastily said, "Eldest Cousin, don't speak nonsense and offend the deity! Of course I believe! Everyone in the village believes!"
A thought stirred in Xia Huai'an's mind. Since the villagers were all so superstitious, he could certainly make use of this to fabricate his own background.
As Xia Huai'an walked and pondered, Yufang soon led him before a brick-and-tile house, where a hunchbacked old man was doing bamboo weaving work in the front courtyard.
Yufang whispered, "This is Zha Bingding, the Village Head of our village, and also the clan patriarch of the Zha Family, third in seniority."
Xia Huai'an nodded slightly, then called out in a loud voice, "Third Uncle, I'm Damao. I hope you've been well!"
The old man straightened his back as much as he could, gazed suspiciously at Xia Huai'an, and asked, "Which Damao?"
"The Xia Family, Xia Damao!" Xia Huai'an said. "I got lost when I was a child and have finally found my way home. My given name is now Zhou Huai'an."
"It's Xia Damao!" The old man had a flash of realization, his face breaking into pleasant surprise. "That skinny kid back then actually grew this tall and strong! Have you taken a wife and had children?"
"Not yet!" Xia Huai'an sighed. "I've been wandering in foreign lands, busy learning skills to make a living, and couldn't attend to matters at home. Thank you so much for looking after my family all these years, Third Uncle!"
"Not at all, not at all, it's only right!" The old man sighed. "Wandering outside isn't easy. There have been quite a few upheavals in the Xia Family over the years, and as Village Head and an elder, I haven't done enough! But it's good that you're back. From now on, you can slowly build a good life! Yufang, you're here too!"
Yufang replied, "Third Grandpa! Mother asked me to exchange for some rice and flour to welcome Eldest Cousin back."
With that, Yufang fished out a dozen copper coins and placed them on the bamboo stool beside the Village Head.
The old village head sighed and said, "Logically speaking, Damao's return is a joyous occasion, and I shouldn't take money for giving you a little rice and flour. But you know the situation in the village—after the bandit raid, every household is out of surplus grain. Grain in the county town gets more expensive by the day, and these dozen coins won't buy much grain anyway."
"Er'zi, go get three catties of coarse flour—no, bring two catties of coarse flour and one catty of white flour," the old village head called toward the house.
"Thank you, Third Uncle!" Xia Huai'an could tell that the old village head was a good man.
Although you can know a person's face but not their heart, sometimes a gut feeling lets you sense another's goodwill.
Perhaps it was because this village head in his fifties was still doing bamboo weaving labor with diligence and steadfastness, or perhaps it was because his tone was warm without putting on the airs of a village head to throw his weight around, or perhaps it was because he temporarily changed the three catties of coarse flour into two catties of coarse flour and one catty of white flour.
Xia Huai'an didn't dare stay long, fearing that if the villagers learned he was back, they would all come asking questions left and right. In saying too much, he was bound to slip up and give himself away.
So he hurriedly bid farewell to the old village head and returned to the Xia Family house together with Yufang.
In fact, by this point, Xia Huai'an had basically confirmed the fact of his time-travel.
These village buildings clearly weren't constructed in a day or two; they were authentic ancient rural dwellings, dilapidated village houses, aged deity statues, and malnourished, tattered villagers. You couldn't manufacture such meticulous arrangements even in a film studio.
Xia Huai'an needed to seriously consider how to live in ancient times.
Back at the Xia Family house, Yufang set about making food.
Using half a catty of coarse flour mixed with a generous amount of wild greens, she made a batch of wild green vegetable cakes.
Additionally, she used half a catty of white flour to make noodles, serving them in a large bowl specifically prepared for Xia Huai'an alone.
The family of four sat down to eat. Xia Huai'an had a table all to himself, while Yufang, Mother Xia, and Xiaomao made do sitting on the edge of the bed.
This was also the custom in the village: when there was a man in the house, women generally could not sit at the table to eat. Xia Huai'an urged them several times before they finally gathered around the table.
"Today is to welcome Damao back, such a joyous occasion means we don't need to stand on so much ceremony!" Mother Xia said.
"We've run out of salt at home, and salt is too expensive. Even the village head's family doesn't have much, so Eldest Cousin will just have to make do." Yufang handed the noodles to Xia Huai'an with a trace of worry, terrified that Xia Huai'an might be dissatisfied with the meal.
Xia Huai'an felt a pang of secret regret. When participating in "Desert Island Solitude," because the island was right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and sea salt was extremely easy to obtain, practically none of the contestants chose to bring salt.
If he had known, instead of bringing dried chili peppers, how wonderful it would have been to bring a jar of salt!
"I really can't get used to plain noodles without any flavor. You guys share them; these wild vegetable cakes are a rare treat, so I'll eat more of those." With that, Xia Huai'an pushed the large bowl of noodles aside and began eating a few pieces of the wild vegetable cake instead.
He wasn't just being polite; the wild green cakes were simply more novel. The Dragon Kingdom had long since achieved universal food and clothing security. Beggars would turn their noses up at plain noodles devoid of oil, salt, eggs, beef slices, soy sauce, vinegar, or chili oil. Of course, there weren't many beggars left in the Dragon Kingdom anyway.
Yufang instantly reddened her eyes, feeling quite aggrieved. She held back her tears, took out several bowls, and shared the white noodles among Mother Xia and Xiaomao.
Xiaomao was as happy as could be, drinking two large bowls of the noodle soup.
"Silly child, Damao is just letting you have your share!" Mother Xia was blind in sight but not in heart, softly comforting Yufang. "It's not that he dislikes your cooking! Mother heard him eat quite a few of those vegetable cakes!"
"Is that what Eldest Cousin was thinking?" Yufang was startled. "He's tall, big, and yet so kind-hearted."
Having never been treated so gently by a man, Yufang's heart fluttered like a startled fawn. As she ate her noodles, she stole glances at Xia Huai'an.
After eating a few vegetable cakes, Xia Huai'an suddenly felt some activity in his stomach.
"Here it comes!" Xia Huai'an immediately put down the food in his hand and said to Yufang, "Yufang, come into the house with me, I have something to tell you."