Three Meals in the Country Fields [Farming]

Ye Xi, a young man from Shanxiu Village, had his face scalded by boiling water. The wealthy family from the neighboring village, who had been betrothed to him since childhood through an arranged marriage, called off the engagement that very night.The whole village was waiting to see Ye Xi make a fool of himself. Even the young men who used to be uglier than him now mocked him openly and whispered behind his back that he would never find a husband.Some time later, a stranger came to Shanxiu Village. He was tall and burly, with dark skin, carrying nothing but a tattered bundle. He bought a run-down thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain and settled there. The villagers kept their distance, afraid he might be involved in some shady business.But Ye Xi had seen him by the mountain stream, and by the riverbank. He knew the man was not only good at farming, but also skilled at hunting and fishing—and he never gambled, drank, or fooled around. Ye Xi thought to himself that this man was truly a solid fellow, someone worth relying on.One day, with half his scarred face still showing, Ye Xi pushed open the man's door. Standing at the threshold, cheeks flushed, he asked: "Will you marry me?"The man scraped the last of his rice from the bowl, lifted his eyes, and gazed at him long and hard. After a long silence, he answered: "Yes."After they wed, hot dishes and warm congee appeared on the kitchen stove. Torn clothes were mended until they looked brand new. The yard was filled with chickens and ducks, a cage of snowy white rabbits, and the vegetable garden flourished with abundant produce.Lin Jiangshan looked at his newlywed husband and sighed to himself: "This is what it means to live like a human being."The two of them farmed together, ate their three meals a day, and lived a quiet mountain life—loving each other tenderly, day by day, like a gentle stream that flows on and on.