Chapter 5: Egg Rice Noodles

From the moment he was born, before his eyes could even focus, Sun Shan knew what kind of place this was.

He heard a familiar Cantonese dialect. Later, he realized that while it was indeed Cantonese, it was not the Guangdong of his past life. This dynasty was called the Da Qian, a name he had never heard of before. He suspected that history had taken a turn somewhere, though he was still too young and the villagers too isolated for him to figure out the details.

The climate was identical to that of Guangdong: the winters were cold and damp, with frost forming on the boxes, yet it never snowed. They harvested rice twice a year, and—most importantly—the people here did not eat spicy food. He knew this because he had seen tiny, wild bird's-eye chilies growing, but none of the villagers would touch them.

Sun Shan surmised that Sun Family Village was situated in a remote mountainous area of a remote county, mirroring a similar location in Guangdong. Having been a native of that province in his previous life, he was all too familiar with this environment and climate.

Sun Family Village was indeed isolated, nestled among mountains; one had to traverse two peaks just to reach the town. However, it was relatively close to the provincial capital, Guangzhou Prefecture. If one crossed the mountains to reach the town, walked for another hour to the county seat, and then trekked over a few more mountains for a day and a night, one would arrive at the provincial capital. Sun Family Village had perfectly bypassed the modern provincial and national highways. Access was difficult, and the location had no strategic value, meaning the rise and fall of dynasties outside had little to do with them. Since the ancestors of the Sun family had fled here to avoid war, they had lived in peace for generations, oblivious even to the changing of the heavens.

Things had improved slightly in the last two years. The Magistrate of Huangyang was a good official who recognized the poor transportation in his county and utilized the annual corvée labor to arrange for road repairs. Both Sun Family Village and the nearby Zheng Family Village now had what they called "official roads" capable of accommodating a horse-drawn carriage—even if many villagers had never actually seen a horse. It had become much more convenient for the villagers to travel to the county seat, and occasionally, someone from the village would take local produce there to sell.

Sun Shan had been in Sun Family Village for five years. He had grown up surrounded by the affection of the Sun family, but he was acutely aware of the hardships of being a peasant. They toiled day and night, yet they earned only enough to scrape by. The Sun family was slightly better off; they were prosperous farmers with thirty mu of paddy fields, ten mu of dry land, and a citrus grove. Their life was much better than others in the village, as they at least had enough to eat.

Later, when the family divided, Sun Bomin, the eldest son, received fifteen mu of paddy fields and four mu of dry land. The second uncle, Sun Zhongli, received seven mu of paddy fields and three mu of dry land, as did the third uncle, Sun Shuwen. The remaining one mu of paddy field was assigned to Grandma Huang, though it effectively went to the eldest son’s household.

The citrus orchard remained communal property, managed together, with the proceeds divided into four equal shares: one for each of the three brothers and one for Grandma Huang. The Sun family had divided the assets but not the household registration; they remained under one name. This way, when corvée labor was required, they only had to send one person, with the three brothers rotating the duty. As for Grandma Huang’s retirement funds, they were entirely covered by the eldest aunt, so the three brothers did not need to provide maintenance. Still, during festivals, all three branches would send food and clothing as a gesture of respect.

It was winter now, and everything looked gray and desolate. Sun Shan sat by the Little Gold River, watching the mischievous village children wading into the water to catch river snails. Farm children would eat anything they could find. As for whether they would actually catch any, Sun Shan didn't know, and he certainly wouldn't join them; it was too cold, and his body was too frail to endure such a thing.

He walked to the water's edge and saw his reflection. Sun Shan sighed; he was nothing but a little sprout. Short and thin, with a sharp face, high cheekbones, and a pair of dull, lifeless eyes. One could see what he would look like at three, and Sun Shan knew he was no handsome lad; he might even be uglier than the average person. All the adults said he looked like his mother, Su. And Su was short and gaunt, with no meat on her face and prominent cheekbones—not a beauty by any stretch. His father, Sun Bomin, was equally plain, a typical dirt-kicking farmer. Sun Shan looked up at the sky in despair; he was destined to be plain.

Fortunately, this was the ancient era. With family assets, one could buy a wife with money. Sun Shan wasn't worried about finding a spouse; with over a dozen mu of land, seven or eight large green-brick rooms, and a legendary wealthy eldest aunt, any girl in the village would be lining up for him.

"Shan-zi, what are you doing?" a voice called from behind.

Sun Shan turned to see his second sister herding the cow nearby. Sun Lixia hurried over, nervously pulling Sun Shan away from the water's edge; her little brother couldn't afford to have an accident. If something happened to him, her mother and the four sisters would have no one to rely on.

"Second sister, you're herding the cow," Sun Shan, never one for conversation, asked a redundant question. What else would she be doing with the cow?

"It's almost time to go back; it's nearly noon," Sun Lixia said, pulling her brother to where the cow was grazing. She took a small sack from the ground and pulled out a sweet potato, smiling. "It’s freshly roasted. Eat."

The red sugar and rice porridge Sun Shan had eaten in the morning had already digested, and his stomach was growling. He took the sweet potato and smiled. "Thank you, second sister." Only after seeing there were more in the bag did he feel at ease eating it. He would have hated to eat if his sister had nothing.

Sun Lixia picked up a sweet potato for herself, peeled it, and took a bite, revealing her small, milky teeth. She grinned sheepishly. "I dug these up in Old Lady Zhang's field. There were four of them, hehe."

Old Lady Zhang was known for her sloppy farming; whether it was grain, peanuts, or sweet potatoes, she often left them scattered all over the ground. The children of Sun Family Village loved to scavenge in her fields. After the harvest, forgotten sweet potatoes would sprout, and by looking for the green shoots, they could dig them up with a stick.

Sun Shan also liked digging for what others had left behind in the fields; eating free food felt especially delicious. When Lixia asked if he wanted another, Sun Shan shook his head, and they drove the cow home together. They had been out since early morning, grazing the cow all morning, and would bring it home to rest before taking it out again in the afternoon to save on stored fodder. It wasn't about the labor—in the countryside, human labor was the least valuable thing of all. The Sun sisters took turns herding the cow.

When they returned, his parents and sisters were already home. Early that morning, Grandma Huang had taken the three sisters to the mountains to gather firewood, while his parents had gone to the fields to plant vegetables. Grandma Huang was over fifty, but she was still very spry. The family told her not to work, but the old lady insisted. His third aunt had strong opinions about this, complaining that Grandma Huang not only worked for the eldest branch but also gave all the money she received from the eldest aunt to them. Of course, she only dared to mutter this under her breath; if the third uncle heard, he would surely slap her, as he felt guilty before his eldest sister and naturally wouldn't get any of her favors.

Seeing Sun Shan return, Grandma Huang smiled lovingly. "Are you hungry? Grandma will cook you some egg noodles."

Eating no lunch was a hard habit to break, but the family's conditions didn't allow for it, and it had taken Sun Shan a long time to get used to it. He shook his head. "I'm not hungry." He truly wasn't; the sweet potato had half-filled his stomach.

Grandma Huang only asked out of habit; she ignored his answer completely. How could a child not be hungry? Little ones needed to eat more to grow up fast. She ordered his mother, Su, "Go cook some egg noodles for Shan-zi." She walked through the main room into the pantry, took out an egg and some rice noodles, and handed them to Su.

Su took them and asked, "Mother, aren't you going to eat?"

Grandma Huang shook her head. "I'll have a sweet potato later. These are only for Shan-zi." Adults could endure, but with the family's limited resources, the food had to be saved for the little grandson.

Sun Shan sighed helplessly. Eating alone was an uncomfortable feeling, especially since he wasn't a real child. Having the whole family watch him eat was terribly awkward. Soon, Su finished the egg noodles and brought them to him. She stroked his yellowish hair and said softly, "Shan-zi, eat up while it's hot." Her son's hair was still so yellow, and he hadn't grown taller—it was all her fault for falling down the wild boar slope, causing him to be born prematurely. He was so much frailer than the other village children. She would have to raise him more carefully from now on.

The bowl of simple egg noodles, topped with a few greens, looked incredibly tempting. Sun Shan was a filial child, and he said to Grandma Huang, "Grandma, you have some too."

Grandma Huang, gnawing on a sweet potato, smiled. "You eat, my good grandson. Grandma doesn't like them; I'll just have this sweet potato." Her little grandson was so filial—more so than the other children in the family.

Sun Shan knew she wouldn't eat it. Helpless, he picked up the noodles and slurped them into his mouth.