The Overachieving Little Husband of the Top Scholar’s Household - Chapter 55: Knitting a Sweater

Wei Liuhua’s natal village was nestled in a mountain hollow, lacking large expanses of easily irrigated farmland. The villagers were accustomed to planting some sugar beets in odd corners and small plots.

Qiu Huannian needed a large quantity of sugar beets to make sorghum candy, many of which were procured through Wei Liuhua from her natal village. At that time, Qiu Huannian noticed that a small portion of the sugar beets produced in this village had a higher sweetness than normal.

The sugar beets commonly found in the Yu Dynasty were quite different from the modern economic crops used for sugar extraction. Their sugar content was not high enough to be refined like sugarcane.

Qiu Huannian recalled that modern economic crop sugar beets were initially selected and cultivated by foreign nations.

So, after discovering that some of the sugar beets in Wei Liuhua’s natal village had undergone a beneficial mutation leading to increased sweetness, Qiu Huannian instructed Wei Liuhua to inform her family to select seeds from these mutated sugar beets that year. He advised them to use good fertilizer and plant a dedicated patch of sugar beets in the original soil as an experiment.

Now that autumn had arrived and the sugar beets had been fully harvested, good news came from the village—the specially cultivated batch had over half of its yield sweeter than normal.

“Have all the seeds been saved?” Qiu Huannian asked.

“All the seeds are kept,” Wei Liuhua replied. “My younger brother back home is in charge of this. He’s meticulous and has carefully stored seeds from all the beets that were sweeter than normal. He even separately set aside seeds from the very sweetest ones.”

Qiu Huannian became intrigued. Though he was not an expert in agricultural science and could not claim to know everything about farming, his greatest advantage lay in his modern perspective and ability to strategize. He could set the direction and collaborate with skilled farmers to experiment with and develop more efficient, high-yield farming techniques.

“If it’s convenient, could you ask your brother to bring the sugar beets and seeds to my house? I’d like to ask him some questions.”

“There’s no inconvenience at all! Since the farm work is mostly done now, I’ll be heading home in a couple of days and will bring him along.”

Wei Liuhua happily agreed. Now that Zhao-shi and the others had left, she was managing the household. She also wanted to provide some support to her impoverished yet loving family.

However, since she was already married, it was inappropriate to continuously send goods from the Du family to her natal home. After thinking it over, she decided that helping her family find a steady source of income would be the best solution.

Among all the people Wei Liuhua knew, the one most adept at making money was undoubtedly Qiu Huannian.

Sorghum candy, red fermented tofu, cotton—each of these novel ventures was highly profitable. In less than a year, Hua ge’er’s house had been built into a grand residence!

If her family could establish a connection with Hua ge’er, she wouldn’t have to worry about her parents and siblings anymore. So, over the past six months, she had repeatedly reminded her family to carefully cultivate the sweeter sugar beets, and now, their hard work had finally paid off.

The more Wei Liuhua thought about it, the more excited she became. The very next day, she brought her younger brother over.

Her younger brother’s name was Wei Mai. In their family, girls were named after flowers, while boys were named after grains.

Wei Mai was in his late twenties. He had married just last year, and this year, his wife had given birth to twins—a boy and a girl. While he was overjoyed, he also felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

Since his sister had repeatedly emphasized the importance of the sugar beet cultivation, Wei Mai was well-prepared. As soon as he arrived, he gave Qiu Huannian a thorough report on the sugar beet situation.

Wei Liuhua had said that Wei Mai was meticulous, and she wasn’t exaggerating.

Though he was illiterate and couldn’t record information in writing, he remembered every detail about the sugar beets’ growth, the amount of watering, the effects of fertilization—all with remarkable clarity. It was evident that he had put serious thought into farming. He answered every one of Qiu Huannian’s questions without hesitation.

After nearly a year of working with sugar beets, Qiu Huannian only needed to cut one open to confirm that its sweetness was indeed significantly higher than ordinary ones.

So, he took out paper and brush, jotting down notes while summarizing and organizing Wei Mai’s account.

Wei Mai had never imagined that such dirty farming work could be recorded on pristine white paper. Though he felt a bit uneasy, he was also somewhat pleased.

In the end, Qiu Huannian kept a portion of the seeds Wei Mai brought, wrote a contract, invited witnesses, and gave Wei Mai two taels of silver—one to purchase an acre of land in their village, which Wei Mai would use exclusively to cultivate sugar beet seeds.

“The current seeds still have unstable traits, and the sweetness isn’t high enough. Use the methods you’ve refined this year, along with my suggestions, to plant another acre. Let’s see if next year we can grow even better ones.”

Wei Mai could somewhat grasp the concept of unstable traits. Sometimes, even seeds from exceptionally good crops wouldn’t necessarily yield great results, and it usually took three to five generations to stabilize them.

But when it came to the sweetness issue, he was confused. These sugar beets were already 50% sweeter than normal—how could they still not be sweet enough? Just how sweet did they need to be?

“You know that white sugar is extracted from sugarcane in the south, right? Actually, if sugar beets are sweet enough, they can also be used to produce white sugar.”

“Imagine how much money could be made if we could cultivate sugar beets that sweet,” Qiu Huannian said with a grin, painting a grand vision.

Wei Mai’s breathing instantly grew heavier, his eyes widening. Sugar beets could be used to make white sugar? If anyone else had said this, he would have thought they were trying to deceive him. But since it was Qiu Huannian—whom his sister highly respected—he took it seriously.

“I’ll make sure to cultivate the best sugar beets next year!” Wei Mai promised earnestly.

Qiu Huannian had given him two taels of silver, of which only one was needed to buy the land. The remaining one was essentially his wage. In a mountain hollow where earning money was difficult, making one tael of silver for managing just one extra acre of land was already an excellent deal—he couldn’t possibly lose out.

But now, Wei Mai had an even greater motivation. To support his family and to grow sugar beets capable of producing white sugar, he would give it his all!

…

Northeastern people mostly ferment cabbage before the New Year, filling a large vat to last the entire winter and early spring. Last year, because Widow Li was in poor health, Qiu Huanian’s family did not ferment any cabbage. Later, all the pickled cabbage they ate was given to them by Cunlan’s mother and Ye Taohong.

Ye Taohong had some unique skills in fermenting cabbage, and everyone in Qiu Huanian’s family loved the pickled cabbage she made. So this year, when Qiu Huanian planned to make pickled cabbage, he simply invited her to help.

Pickled cabbage is consumed in greater quantities than pickled vegetables, so Qiu Huanian planned to use the largest deep vat for fermentation. The cabbage harvested from the family’s vegetable garden weighed over thirty jin, and Qiu Huanian bought another hundred jin. The price of cabbage was low—piling up a full cartload of a hundred jin cost only eighty wen.

Cunlan came to Qiu Huanian’s house every day to learn, and as Ye Taohong and Qiu Huanian grew closer, she gladly came to help when she heard he was making pickled cabbage.

The newly purchased cabbage needed to be left for three to five days so that some of its moisture could evaporate. Otherwise, the texture of the finished pickled cabbage would be poor. Once the cabbage was semi-dry, the fermentation process could begin.

The two of them heated water in the two large pots in the kitchen. After peeling off the outer rotten leaves, they submerged the whole cabbages in hot water, filling up a pot, covering it with a lid, and blanching them for a few minutes before taking them all out. Without waiting for them to cool, they placed them directly into the vat.

Jiǔjiǔ and Cunlan helped on the side, transferring the blanched cabbages into the vat and using a long rolling pin to press them down tightly, leaving no gaps. After every few layers, they sprinkled a generous handful of salt.

The cabbages were still hot from the pot and slightly burned their hands, so they had to hold their breath and work quickly. Jiǔjiǔ and Cunlan kept exclaiming about the heat while laughing at each other.

With her rich experience in making pickled cabbage, Ye Taohong ensured the vat was tightly packed. Then, she spread the previously removed outer cabbage leaves over the top of the vat and placed two or three large, clean stones collected from the back river on top.

The key to making pickled cabbage was to pack it tightly—otherwise, the fermentation would not go well, and the pickled cabbage could spoil and bloat.

Both the large pickled cabbage vat and the smaller pickle vat were placed in the kitchen corner for easy access when cooking.

After working all morning to finish making the pickled cabbage, Qiu Huanian invited Ye Taohong and Cunlan to stay for lunch. Ye Taohong declined a few times before finally agreeing.

She wasn’t too worried about leaving her youngest son at home since her sister-in-law, Meng Fuyue, was there to take care of him. This was one of the benefits of having a large household—if everyone was united, they could look out for each other.

During lunch, Ye Taohong brought up Bǎoyì. Previously, the border situation had been tense, and the court had drafted wave after wave of laborers for service. Even County Magistrate Wáng Chǔcí thought Zhang County would be subject to a second round of conscription.

Fortunately, over the past month or two, the war had eased slightly. Though the Yù Dynasty had paid a heavy price, they successfully stopped the Tatars at the border, preventing them from advancing deep into the territory and disrupting the autumn harvest.

The conscripted laborers from the previous round had not returned, but at least a second round of drafting was not needed for now.

“A few days ago, people from Du Family Village brought back news. The youngest son of Bǎozhēn’s family lost an arm, but at least he is still alive. We don’t know if he’ll be able to return home for the New Year this year.”

Ye Taohong spoke with deep concern. “When Bǎoyì left, he never expected to be gone for so long, so he didn’t bring much warm clothing. My father-in-law plans to find someone to send him supplies in half a month. I’ve already sewn his winter clothes, but I don’t know what else I should send.”

Bǎoyì was alone in such a dangerous place, out of sight and reach. Ye Taohong constantly worried—was he cold or hungry? Was he injured but keeping it from his family? She could never put her mind at ease.

She wanted to send him useful items, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of anything other than clothing.

“How about making some dried meat? The weather is cool now, so dried meat won’t spoil even after a month or two. He could chew on it directly or cook it into porridge, and it could also be used as a favor to others.” Qiu Huanian suggested.

Ye Taohong’s eyes lit up. “I’ve never made dried meat before. In a few days, I’ll ask my father-in-law for money to buy some meat and learn how to make it from you, Hua ge’er.”

Ye Taohong then spoke about the work at home. Now that she was more familiar with Qiu Huanian, she no longer held back from discussing household matters.

“The wheat and rice from our ten mu of farmland have been harvested, as well as a few mu of corn and sorghum and a few mu of soybeans. Our yard is big, but there still isn’t enough space to spread out all the grain at once. We have to dry it in batches, and even after all this time, there’s still a lot left.”

The newly harvested grain must be spread out under the sun to dry completely before being stored; otherwise, it will easily become moldy. Bringing the grain in from the fields is far from the end of farm work—there are still many follow-up tasks to handle.

the village chief’s family had a lot of land and a large harvest, so their farming work was still not entirely finished.

“Originally, the household chores were divided among us, and the share for the third household was about the same as ours. After Bǎoyì left, his portion of the work didn’t fall on me and Cunlan but was instead reassigned by my father-in-law to the third household, as it should be.”

“But the people in the third household were resentful about it, making snide remarks both openly and behind our backs. I couldn’t be bothered to argue with them—as long as Cunlan and I finished our share of the work, that was enough.”

“This morning, when I came here, my third sister-in-law, heavily pregnant, looked at me as if she wanted to eat me alive. She never stopped to consider that at least I was still working, while she hadn’t lifted a finger during the entire autumn harvest.”

“They really have the nerve. I won’t say anything about a mother avoiding work because she’s pregnant, but even those half-grown boys in their household pretend to be sick every day just to shirk their duties. In the end, it was Yuncheng who ended up doing all the work.”

Yuncheng had taken leave from the county school to help with the harvest. Every day, he wore short-sleeved clothes, tied his belt tightly, and worked tirelessly for the family. There was no sign of him being a scholar at all.

He had come to Qiu Huanian’s house several times to visit Du Yunse, seizing brief moments of free time to ask him about his studies. Once, he seemed to have something he wanted to say but held back in the end.

Now that Qiu Huanian had some time to spare, he started observing the people around him. He had been thinking about whether he could match Yuncheng and Meng Yuanling together, but unfortunately, it seemed Meng Yuanling was either too shy or hesitant—she had yet to come to Du Family Village.

Just as he was thinking about this, Yuncheng arrived at the house, with none other than Meng Yuanling by his side.

“What kind of wind has blown Líng gē’er here? And with Yuncheng, no less?” Qiu Huanian deliberately asked with a smile.

Meng Yuanling kept a serious expression and said formally, “I came to visit my aunt and also to see you, Hua ge’er. It just so happened that Yuncheng was coming to seek guidance in his studies, so we came together.”

Qiu Huanian nodded and turned to Yuncheng. “Did you know your cousin Líng has also started studying? Now that he’s just beginning, you’d better take this opportunity to enjoy the show.”

Yuncheng glanced at Meng Yuanling in surprise but quickly looked away, as if he didn’t dare to look too long.

Both of them averted their eyes awkwardly.

“I just met cousin Ling, so I haven’t had a chance to bring it up yet.”

“Well, now you know. And since you’re home for a while, if he has any questions, he can ask you.”

Meng Yuanling, standing behind Yuncheng, hurriedly waved his hand at Qiu Huanian in a panic, but Qiu Huanian pretended not to see it.

Yuncheng, however, nodded seriously. “It’s a good thing for cousin Líng to study. I will share all that I know.”

Qiu Huanian chuckled. “Then you two cousins should study well together. If Ling gē’er doesn’t learn anything from you, I’ll have to laugh at both of you.”

Meng Yuanling appeared reluctant and nervous, but in reality, he had already decided to stay in Du Family Village for a few days. Though Qiu Huanian teased him, he didn’t argue back. During the day, he helped Yuncheng with farm work, and at noon and in the evenings, he studied with him.

Perhaps it was the power of love at work—within just a few days, he had actually learned a few characters and memorized some simple poems.

Qiu Huanian watched the two interact naturally and closely. Since no one around them seemed to notice or object, he decided to let them continue as they were and see how things developed before taking any further action.

Once all the cotton in the fields was harvested, Qiu Huanian gathered two other families to process it all at once.

The place for cotton ginning had been prepared long ago, and Qiu Huanian had made three full sets of cotton bows to ensure efficiency.

A traditional cotton bow set, as invented by the ancients, consisted of the main cotton bow, a back bow, and a cotton beater.

When fluffing cotton, the back bow is first tied vertically around the waist with a cloth belt. The back bow stands tall above the head, with the dangling rope fastening a nearly two-meter-long cotton bow, allowing the heavy bow to stay at a consistent height with minimal effort.

The person fluffing the cotton holds the outer side of the cotton bow with one hand, moving it slowly over the spread-out cotton, while the other hand rhythmically strikes the bowstring with a fluffing mallet. The tightly packed cotton chunks dance up and down along the bowstring, gradually becoming soft and fluffy.

Since the cotton fluffing was done indoors, Qiu Huanian did not make a back bow but instead hung the cotton bow directly from the ceiling beams, making it even easier on the body.

Fluffing cotton is labor-intensive but not particularly complicated. After a brief demonstration by Qiu Huanian, everyone quickly learned the technique.

Several families gathered in the back room, first spreading the cotton in batches over large wooden boards and loosening it with mallets. Then, they coated the bowstrings with beeswax and took turns using the three cotton bows to fluff the cotton.

With many hands at work, it took just a day or two to process over a hundred catties of cotton.

Once fluffed, the cotton expanded significantly in volume. The hundred catties of cotton reserved for Qiu Huanian’ household filled up most of the back room. Fortunately, there were plenty of rooms in the house now; otherwise, they wouldn’t have had space to store it all.

When Qiu Huanian was initially working on cotton-related matters, the villagers were at most curious but did not intervene.

However, ever since the cotton harvest brought in great profits, the villagers’ interest in it skyrocketed. While fluffing cotton, many families volunteered to help, and every few days, someone would come probing, hoping to learn how to grow cotton the following year.

Next year, Qiu Huanian wouldn’t be in Du Village anymore, so he pushed everything onto the village chief, letting him take charge. He had already done his best this year to teach the village chief’s family and Hu Qiuyan’s family how to grow cotton, so next year, they could pass on the knowledge to others.

Still, some things needed to be pointed out in advance.

“In the past, cotton was expensive in Zhang County because it wasn’t locally produced. The merchants who transported cotton all the way from the south naturally made huge profits. If more people start growing cotton in Zhang County, its price will inevitably drop.”

“Besides, not many people in the surrounding villages can afford to use cotton. Even if you grow it, there’s no guarantee you can sell it all at a good price.”

“And everyone in this village has seen how I grew cotton this year.”

“Growing cotton requires high-quality irrigated land, expensive seeds, frequent fertilization, and pesticide spraying. Growth control must be done every few days. The money and labor involved are not small matters. Whether you want to plant it and how much land you should devote to it are things you should carefully consider.”

After hearing Qiu Huanian’ thorough explanation, many people who had initially been tempted calmed down. Even those still unsure would be discouraged by the village chief.

Qiu Huanian had now made everything clear, so if problems arose later, no one could blame him.

With these matters settled, Qiu Huanian finally had time to research wool yarn and knitting.

Yun Ting’s new husband, Xia Xing, had been waiting for a while. As soon as Qiu Huanian had some free time, Xia Xing, with Yun Ting’s help, moved his dowry spinning wheel to Qiu Huanian’ house.

Xia Xing was a timid young ger. Before he and Yun Ting were married, he had been frightened to tears when Yun Ting first visited his home, and even now, people still teased him about it.

Qiu Huanian and Xia Xing both came from Shangliang Village, but they had never interacted before, so they had no old friendship to rekindle.

Before truly getting to know Qiu Huanian, Xia Xing had been somewhat afraid of him due to the rumors in Shangliang Village, which described Qiu Huanian as an incredibly capable ge’er. But after spending time with him, Xia Xing found that Qiu Huanian was not only efficient in his work but also very understanding and considerate. Over time, his fear faded, replaced by admiration and respect.

For some reason, whether it was Meng Yuanling or Xia Xing, Qiu Huanian always seemed to attract the fondness of younger ge’ers.

Qiu Huanian had no idea how to make wool yarn, so he simply had Xia Xing demonstrate with hemp fiber first.

Hemp was cheap, with plenty growing in the mountains, but processing it was extremely labor-intensive. The fibers had to be carefully extracted one by one from the stalks before being spun into thread using a spinning wheel.

Qiu Huanian watched as Xia Xing used a small wooden knife to split open a hemp stalk, then leaned in close to pluck out fine hemp fibers, even thinner than human hair, and secure them onto the spinning wheel.

Once a small bundle was in place, Xia Xing began turning the wheel with one hand while rolling the fibers with the other, slowly spinning them into hemp thread.

After observing the process, Qiu Huanian realized that this task, like embroidery, was not suited for him.

Fortunately, Xia Xing had been skilled at this since childhood, so Qiu Huanian could simply enjoy being the “happy client.”

Qiu Huanian brought over a basket of fluffed cotton and another basket of degreased wool.

The degreasing agent was purchased from a tanner who knew how to process hides. Since Qiu Huanian had previously bought several hides from him, he was a valued customer, making it easy to procure some of the tanning powder.

“Both wool and cotton are much shorter than hemp fibers. Try mixing them together and spinning them into fine threads first. Then, combine several fine threads to make a softer, thicker yarn.”

Qiu Huanian’ method was different from traditional cotton spinning. Xia Xing had never even heard of it before. He hesitantly touched the clean, soft cotton and, under Qiu Huanian’ encouraging and expectant gaze, blushed and nodded, “I-I’ll do my best to try.”

“Don’t rush, take your time. Your hands are so skilled—just experiment a few times, and you’ll get it.” Qiu Huanian reassured him. “And don’t worry about wasting materials. Trying new things always requires some trial and error.”

“If you do well, I’ll pay you just like I did with Yun Ting.”

Encouraged, Xia Xing worked hard to spin wool yarn.

After several days of effort, he learned to mix the shorter wool and cotton fibers into fine threads. However, the results varied—some were too stiff due to excess wool content, while others were too loose and unraveled easily. They were still far from Qiu Huanian’ ideal knitting yarn.

After using up a large portion of the test materials and producing over a dozen different thread samples, Xia Xing finally found the best formula.

The first successful batch only yielded two small balls of yarn. Xia Xing happily took his wages and bonuses home, while Qiu Huanian prepared to knit a short scarf to test the yarn.

The children had all gone to bed, but Du Yunse was still studying in the study. Qiu Huanian went over to take advantage of the lamp’s light.

He pulled up a stool and sat across from Du Yunse in a spot that wouldn’t block the light, skillfully knitting.

Scarves were the simplest knitting project—once the initial stitches were set up, it was just back-and-forth plain stitches, unlike garments that required constant counting and adjusting. Qiu Huanian found himself knitting while stealing glances.

With no television here to entertain him, Qiu Huanian simply enjoyed watching Du Yunse—a handsome man like a painting, a truly beautiful sight.

Du Yunse was deep in his books when he suddenly looked up, meeting Qiu Huanian’ bright, smiling eyes through the flickering lamplight.

Outside, the night was dark and silent. Within this small space illuminated by warm light, it felt like a world belonging only to the two of them.

“Hua-ge’er, why are you looking at me?” Du Yunse noticed that Qiu Huanian seemed eager to speak.

Qiu Huanian held up the half-knitted white scarf and playfully measured it against Du Yunse’s neck.

“I just remembered a saying from a faraway place.”

“What is it?”

Qiu Huanian smiled before answering, “It is said that in a distant land overseas, people who want to express their love for someone often choose to knit them a scarf.”

“However, such feelings aren’t always reciprocated, so the scarf is often ‘knitted in vain.’”

Qiu Huanian stopped speaking.

Du Yunse didn’t ask where this ‘overseas land’ was or how Qiu Huanian knew about it.

He had long known that his little husband was full of mysteries—but so what? He only knew that this was the person he had chosen.

“Hua-ge’er, is this scarf for me?”

“I intended it for you, but I don’t have enough yarn. It seems like I’ll have to sew it into a neck warmer instead.” Qiu Huanian teased, “Anyway, now that I’ve started it, even if it turns out ugly, you’ll have to wear it.”

Du Yunse nodded seriously, “As long as it’s from you, I’ll definitely wear it.”

Qiu Huanian, seeing he had failed to tease him, shook his head with a smile. “Forget it, forget it. If you wear something ugly, won’t I be the one suffering from the eyesore?”

“I’ll unravel this later, measure your hand size, and knit you some fingerless gloves instead. The weather is getting colder, and you spend all day studying and writing. You shouldn’t freeze your hands.”

Du Yunse nodded again, then suddenly asked, “Hua-ge’er, how do you plan to celebrate your birthday this year?”