Chapter 15 Dig Wild Vegetables_1

"It's not foot binding, it's not foot binding," Lady Zhang and Lian Zhizhi both laughed.

Wu Lang chuckled as he pulled Xiao Qi out, and Lian Zhizhi took off her shoes to show Manman her feet.

Lian Zhizhi's feet were non-bound, wrapped in thin cloth socks and further bound in layers of gauze.

"Mother is worried that we're always doing rough work and that our feet will become unsightly. Wrapping them with gauze like this isn't the same as having feet as small as Sister Huahua's, but they won't look too bad either," Lian Zhizhi explained, "and it doesn't hinder our work."

"Oh, I see."

Manman breathed a sigh of relief. She remembered hearing in her past life that during the Song Dynasty, women wound their feet this way to make them look nice. She didn't know why it later evolved into the crippling practice of foot binding.

"Come here, let Mother wrap them for you," Lady Zhang said, asking Manman to sit on the kang, then she picked up the gauze and began to wrap Manman's feet, all the while asking if it was too tight. "Mother won't wrap them too tightly, but they can't be too loose either, or they won't be effective."

As Lady Zhang bowed her head, meticulously wrapping her daughter's feet, her heart was filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, my children," she whispered softly.

"Mother, you don't need to say that, having big feet is fine," Lian Zhizhi said. She had started helping Lady Zhang with the work from a young age and knew her mother felt guilty for not being able to bind her feet to make them small.

In those times, daughters from wealthy families mostly had bound feet, and even those from better-off tenant farmers' families did the same. However, daughters from poorer tenant farming families had to do manual labor to help the family, and thus they needed to keep their natural feet. In many people's views, a pair of "Three-inch Golden Lotus" feet was a mark of status. A girl with small feet had an easier time marrying into a wealthier family.

While there were richer families that didn't care about this, they were after all a minority. Indeed, as Manman said, her mother's virtues of modesty and forbearance had affected the children's standing in the family and their future lives. Lady Zhang sighed deeply; she could justify herself to anyone in the Lian Family, except her own children.

"Since you all have big feet, you'll only be able to marry into an ordinary tenant farming family. You won't be able to be young mistresses like Huahua and live a life of luxury… Mother doesn't stop you from working. If you're diligent with your hands and feet, skilled in both indoor and outdoor chores, you'll manage the household well when you get married, and you'll stand firm," Lady Zhang couldn't help but speak her mind.

Lian Zhizhi's face turned red at once.

Seeing her eldest daughter embarrassed, Lady Zhang said no more.

Manman, however, tilted her head in thought. Small feet meant marrying into a wealthy family, living a good life. That is to say, if a woman wasn't born into wealth, she had to rely on small feet to win over a man, to marry into a better life. So if she had big feet, did that mean she couldn't have a good life? Couldn't she earn her own money without relying on marriage or a man?

"… Earning my own money, buying land, becoming a landlord; even with big feet, one can live well," Manman declared earnestly. Right, she had to strive to be her own landlord.

Lady Zhang and Lian Zhizhi both looked at Manman.

"You don't believe me?" Manman lifted her head, "Just you wait and see, I will become a landlord."

"Good, good, our Manman will definitely become a landlord one day," Lady Zhang responded with an indulgent smile, then personally put a straw hat on Manman, and instructed Lian Zhizhi and Wu Lang to take good care of Manman and Xiao Qi before letting the children go outside.

Not far from the village, there stretched vast fields. It was August and the crops in the fields were nearing harvest, awaiting reaping. The expansive rural scenery was refreshing to the soul. As Manman walked, she chatted with Xiao Qi, learning about the Lian Family and the village. Lian Zhizhi and Lian Wulang also filled her in.

Soon, Manman learned that their village was called Thirty Mile Camp. It was close to the northern border of the Ming, which had been a place for soldiers to farm since the establishment of the dynasty to strengthen border defenses. The Imperial Court also settled some exiled offenders here and gradually moved in more refugees from all over the south, breathing life into what was once a deserted area.

A hundred years after the founding, the Ming expanded its northern borders, and the surrounding wars subsided. The soldiers returned to civilian life, and many simply stayed on. The original military farmlands slowly became ordinary villages. It's only from the names of places you can still see traces of the old garrison's readiness for war.

Thirty Mile Camp got its name because it was thirty miles away from Jinyang County Town, which used to be an important border defense town.

"Let's go further out, I'm afraid all the vegetables nearby have been picked already," Lian Zhizhi led the way at the front.

Walking down the small paths between the fields, groups of children, large and small, were spotted with baskets in their hands. They too were out to dig up wild vegetables.

"Let's dig here, there were quite a few patches of shepherd's purse here yesterday," Lian Zhizhi said as they reached a piece of sorghum field.

"Manman, you wait here at the edge, we'll go and dig," Wu Lang said.

Lian Manman shook her head; she was not that delicate.

"Alright, then follow me, Manman. If you feel tired or uncomfortable, just let me know," Lian Zhizhi said.

Lian Manman nodded, carrying a willow woven basket in one hand and a small hoe in the other, following Lian Zhizhi into the sorghum field. The country kids, nimble-bodied, knew not to damage the crops. With a few twists and turns, they indeed found large patches of shepherd's purse and many other wild vegetables growing in several continuous furrows.

"Let's dig here," Lian Zhizhi squatted down and said.

Lian Manman also squatted down, mimicking Lian Zhizhi's movements to dig up each plant of shepherd's purse and put them in her basket. With a variety of wild vegetables growing all around, Lian Zhizhi selectively dug up shepherd's purse, pigweed, and amaranth.

"Our pigs and chickens love these the most," Lian Zhizhi said while digging and chatting with Lian Manman. "If we don't find enough, goosefoot is also good."

Shepherd's purse, also known as bitter herb, pigweed also called plantain, and amaranth, all of these are edible wild vegetables with pretty good medicinal value as well.

Lian Zhizhi worked swiftly, fearing Lian Manman would get tired, and from time to time she put the vegetables she had dug into Lian Manman's basket. In a short while, the two of them had dug up two full baskets of wild vegetables. Wu Lang and Xiao Qi had also dug up two baskets, and the children came out from the sorghum field to sit under the shade of a large tree by the field.

Wu Lang handed his basket to Lian Zhizhi and took Xiao Qi back into the field.

"What are they doing?" Lian Manman called out.

"Don't worry about them; they are just running wild," Lian Zhizhi told Lian Manman.

Lian Manman then fell silent. The village kids, born and raised from the soil of this land, were as comfortable in these fields as if they were in their own homes. They came out to dig wild vegetables and also took the opportunity to play and enjoy the outdoors.

"Manman, let me weave you a flower crown," Lian Zhizhi said, running to a nearby meadow to pick wildflowers.

Lian Zhizhi came back with a large bunch of yellow, red, blue, and white wildflowers, twirling them in her hands, and in just a short time, she had actually woven a beautiful flower crown to put on Lian Manman's head.

The two sisters played and laughed together, and because Lian Manman had a wound on her head, in the end, Lian Zhizhi wore the flower crown herself.

"Aunt Xiuxiu's velvet flowers are so pretty, don't you think so, Manman?" Lian Zhizhi said.

Lian Manman glanced at Lian Zhizhi and nodded her head.

"Sister, you'll have more beautiful velvet flowers to wear in the future."

Lian Zhizhi smiled, "I don't wish for any velvet flowers to wear, just as long as..."

"Sister, for you, look what this is?" Lian Wulang and Xiao Qi, drenched in sweat, emerged from the sorghum field.

****

This was a story teeming with the recollections of several generations and Ruoyan's yearning for a pastoral life. It seemed like a throwback, a sigh. Seeking recommendations, asking for collections, and very likely there will be a second update tonight.