The cultivation of rice is a tedious and annoying endeavor alone. It is a productive and near enjoyable experience with friends. And it is often a party when done on a village scale. It's also a back breaking pain in the ass when you are doing it for someone else for a measly few coins. Trust me, I would know.

- Kuya Tio on Why a Normal Job Sucks, Kuya Tio’s Guide to a Healthy and Happy Homestead.

Seven men, three Carabao, and a lot of mud.

"You got one of your quarters cleared out yet?" Chao asked.

"Pretty much. I am astounded at how large of a brush pile I've got. No idea how to get rid of the stumps."

"A couple years of water and they'll rot away. The first year is always the worst." Kichiro chimed in.

I nodded. "Saito is going to show me how to flood them tomorrow. Says we need to get the ground wet or I'll never get the soil turned in time.

"Ah there's the Patriarch." Chao said, motioning to the older man. "Today will be easy, just a basic rip of the paddies. We'll get to the real plowing next week, so just focus on learning how to manage the animals and use the plow."

"Good morning men." Patriarch Meng Su said.

"Morning Po." Chorused the group.

"Well start from the east today. Who wants to take on the new kid?"

"We got him." Said Chao pounding me on the shoulder.

"Good, well then. Good plowing." With that Patriarch Meng Su turned around and walked away.

When he was far enough that I didn't think he would hear, I leaned over and asked. "Did we really need to wait for him?"

Chao shrugged. "Well, sometimes you just got to humor your elders." And so we began plowing. A long boring job made frustrating when the Carabao got tired. Mostly it was doldrum. Very muddy doldrum.

I wearily waddled past my property and into the woods stopping at the stream. Examining the rapidly moving water for a moment, I decided to just throw myself in. It was freezing cold. The air escaped my lungs in a shudder and my muscles stiffened. I burst out of the frigid water, gasping for air, and clawing my way up the bank. "H,h,h,oollly shi,shi,shit,t,t,t." The water near the village wasn't this damn cold and the mud was still caked onto my clothes. Well that was stupid. Now I'm muddy, wet, and cold.

***

It had rained a few times since I arrived, but they were always at night and very light. Today marked the first full spring rain I had seen this year and it was really coming down now. Saito’s farmhouse included a Horigotatsu in the main room. Essentially just a low table over a pit, it was a primary fixture of his home with a beautiful dark colored and well polished table that I quite thoroughly enjoyed and I vowed to myself to have one in my own home. Four sets of dishes sat around the surface as we ate. In the last week or so I had eaten at this particular table nearly once per day and there were always four sets of dishes for only three people. I had resolved to ask Saito about it today and was slowly working up the courage to do so. I was probably not going to like the answer. Nobody set an extra seat at the table everyday for a good reason like just in case the King stopped by. Actually that was a really bad example. The damnable King had become well known for dropping in on peasant farmers, killing the men, raping the women, and setting the house on fire with the children still inside. Seriously horrific stuff. I remember the mandatory week of morning to include a lot of drinking and constant parties. Not sure anyone, least of all the common folk shedding a single tear for that freak.

"A ques/Well I…" Saito and I started at the same time.

"You first." I said. "Mine is just a question of idle curiosity."

Saito nodded. "Was going to say, I think we'll work on flooding the fields tomorrow. Seems mother nature is trying to help out today. Do you have anything you can work on today?"

"Yeah, I've got some fletching I can do."

"Fletching?" Wei Lin asked. Wei Lin almost never talked during these meals.

"Arrow making. I only have a few shafts I can work on though."

"Is that what the wood you have in my loft is for?" Saito asked.

"Ah, yeah. Trying to dry them out.

I had picked up Fletching as a sure way to make a few coins in my down time. It didn't cost a lot in tools, but it was a tedious and boring job. Saito looked meaningfully at his daughter and nodded. Wei Lin had the courtesy to wait until her father looked away before she rolled her eyes.

Saito took the last bite of his Giniling and rice and sat back with a contented and satisfied smile. "My dear daughter, your Giniling is the best. The potatoes and carrots are the perfect texture and the meat is spiced just right. Wouldn't you agree Yuji?"

I saw Wei Lin wince. "If you promise never to tell, I'll admit that it is better than my mother's." I think Wei Lin actually blushed at that though the statement was factual and mostly aimed at her father.

Saito nodded his satisfaction at my agreement. He had been playing this game since the day we first met. Practically throwing poor Wei Lin under the proverbial cart and saddling her with extra work serving me. Saito’s goal was clear. He wanted to show off his daughter's stability as a devoted wife while simultaneously determining if I'd be a suitable suitor. I got why. I was essentially a perfect opportunity for him. He could evaluate me as a potential son-in-law as I worked on my property. If I married Wei Lin she would always be close by and he could more actively intervene if we had some domestic issues. He clearly felt guilty about blessing the marriage of Shinichi and Yoko and didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

There were two massive impediments with his plan. First and foremost, he never consulted Wei Lin on the matter. She was a dutiful daughter and did the tasks without complaint, but I saw her roll her eyes or sigh dramatically. She was feeding me, washing my clothes, and mending my shirts. Honestly I felt bad about it, but I was so damn busy trying to get everything done before planting season was over. I vowed to make it up to her after the spring festival. The second hit to Saito’s plan was the whole first impression thing. Unlike the misunderstanding with Saito being cleared up within minutes of first having his spear pointed at me, I had a full week to solidify Wei Lin as a young girl in her early teens. She wasn't. Wei Lin was short and petite, supposedly just like her mother. She had shiny dark hair, a rounded face with a wide nose, and a well proportioned body. In short she was a relatively attractive young woman of marriageable age and I still viewed her as a kid. In a way Saito’s plan to endear her to me had worked, just not in the way he had expected. I'd feel rather comfortable treating her like a little sister.

"Oh right. You had a question?"

"Yeah, um. Forgive my ignorance, but… Why is there always an extra set of dishes?" Well it was out now. No taking it back.

Saito looked at the plates and sighed. He nodded his head with a solemn, dour, yet understanding expression which reminded me far too much of my own father. "My wife is dead. She's buried in the back under the lilacs I planted for her when we were young. She isn't coming back and I can accept this. My son however, he left to fight the Mad King. I know he is probably dead. Or maybe captured, contracted, and sold off to some foreign nation. I don't know. I can't know, but if by some miracle he walks through that door, I want him to know I never gave up hope."

Fuck, I knew I wasn't going to like the answer. "Thank you Po."

"Ah none of that Po shit. I've decided it makes me feel old." He looked between me and Wei Lin, nodded, and extracted himself from the Horigotatsu. "Well, I'll be in the shop. Why don't you two play some games or something? Take a day off, yeah? Get to know each other."

I finished my breakfast as he walked out the back, Wei Lin’s eyes watching her father until she was sure he was gone. As she turned her dark eyes onto me and opened her mouth to speak, I realized this was the first time we had ever been alone together.

"I'm not interested."

It was a definitive statement, but I better make sure she was talking about what I thought she was talking about. "Interested in what?"

"You."

I nodded. "I figured as much."

"I apologize for my father's pushiness."

"I understand it."

"No." She said, sounding a lot like Saito. "You don't. My sister…"

I cut her off. "I was in the tenement next to your sister's when Shinichi came home drunk. I understand."

She stared at me, clearly surprised, but nodded in acceptance. "I… Okay."

"Thank you for everything you're doing for me. I'll make it up to you once the spring planting is done."

"That's not necessary."

"Well I'll make sure to reduce your workload." I stacked my dishes and got up. "Thank you for breakfast Ate."

Her head tilted and lips twisted as she considered the Honorific. She nodded, accepting it. And I went to join Saito in his shop for the day.

Turns out Saito was a Cooper. I don't know why it surprised me that he made barrels, but having a neighbor that did had to be a good omen. He allowed me a corner of his shop for my fletching. That was another reason I learned the skill, it didn't really take up much room. The tools and materials fit in a small bag and only the shafts had any real size to them. Due to the necessity of traveling light on my way here, I only had a few finished shafts on me. So while arrow creation was a ridiculously long process for such a simple item, I had finished before lunch. I searched, put my stuff away and asked Saito a simple question. Therefore spending the rest of the day learning how to make barrels.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

***

Flooding fields was an interesting process. We started by pulling a very large number of thick bamboo poles that had a channel cut out of them and all except one of the little interior dividers knocked out. After inserting them for cracks, we started laying them out from Saito's fields all the way to the stream that ran from the hills to the river. That was the easy part. The more difficult part was proping them all up and staking them down so the water would flow through the bamboo channels all the way to the fields without spilling all over the place. It was both frustrating and fun. Once Saito’s fields started filling he showed me where to find the bamboo and we started making channels for my own land.

***

Knocked on the door of the Yin twins not terribly long after a visit from Kenta. He was heading into town and asked that I stop by with my shovel and help his sister with a new garden bed. By help, he meant do it for her, or them I guess. His exact words were something to the effect of, "I hate to interrupt you as I know you are very busy, but if you and your shovel could find your way to my home, my dearest sister would like help expanding the garden this year and our fine fingers are not really up to manual labor." Kenta a was cheeky fucker sometimes, wiggling his fingers at me. "She of course will return the favor by stating some seedlings for your own garden." And that's how I ended up here.

Kiyoko opened the door with a bright smile and a cheerful hello, I followed her out to the garden feeling… Well awkward wasn't the correct word. She was wearing a very nice shirt. It was red with a cherry blossom print and though it was of average fabric, I could see a silk version being used by servants at fancy tea houses. It hugged her body tightly, showing off the shape of her breasts and was cut low enough to expose a distracting amount of cleavage. The shirt reached down to mid thigh and had a slit along the sides from the hem to the hip. It was a very nice shirt. Kiyoko looked very good in it. The problem wasn't the shirt specifically. The issue was that the kind shirt she was wearing required pants or a skirt underneath. Kiyoko wasn't wearing either of those. On a related note, she had really nice legs. The fact that the fabric extended past her butt was contracted by her fluffy white tail which swayed as she walked revealing small under clothes made of some tightly woven red fabric. It showed a lot of butt. A very nicely shaped butt.

She started talking the moment we got close to the garden. As it was right next to the house, I didn't really have enough time to stare, but I prayed my eyes away and listened to her dilemma. Apparently Saito's son, Hon Ri Xiao had dug what currently existed. Kiyoko had wanted to expand last year, but no Hon Ri and Cho, the neighbors to her other side, the wife wouldn't let her husband help due to Kiyoko's occupation. That's the point where I figured I better just ask and get it over with.

"What is your occupation? If you don't mind me asking."

"Courtesan."

"Ah." So she was a whore.

"And masseuse." She gave me a mischievous vulpine grin "Maybe when you're done here I can provide an example of my services." She said playfully, pushing her delicate fingers against my chest. "Anyway, the garden."

Each garden bed was about my height in length and width. Kiyoko's concern was that she had calculated that she needed two more beds, but having two instead of three would throw off the symmetry of the garden. It was literally the kind of thing the average person, or myself specifically, wouldn't have even thought twice about. For Kiyoko, this was a serious problem. In the end, I convinced her to just let me put in three beds and she could fill a bed with ornamental flowers or grown vegetables to give away. She proclaimed me a hero and rewarded me with a kiss on the cheek for my very mundane solution to her extraordinary mundane problem. The Yin twins were clearly a bit anal about symmetry and tidiness.

"After the spring festival when the work slows down, I'd like your help on occasion, we can discuss payment for the service. Hon Ri used to haul water for us every other day or so. It's not much, but my brother and I just aren't built for it you know?"

"Sure. That shouldn't be an issue."

She touched my arm. "Okay, when you're done, wash your hands in the trough and come inside okay?"

"Sure."

She nodded and I got to watch her sexy long legs as she returned to the house. Shit after this I was going to need a dunk in the stream. The digging itself went stupid fast. I had been fighting my soil for the last week. A whole damn quarter Rai of interwoven roots and tree stumps that straight up weren't ever coming out. I wish my dirt was like this. I suppose it will be after a decade of working the land. I washed my hands off in the water trough as asked and kicked off my boots before entering the Yin house.

"Hello? Kiyoko?"

The woman in question poked her head in from the next room. "In here, come in."

The main room lacked the Horigotatsu that the Xiao house held so prominent. Instead it had a simple irori fireplace in the center which looked as though it hadn't been used since the cold months. The room itself was tidy and neat. Very clean with decorative pictures and knick-knack filled shelves tastefully placed. The room Kiyoko was in caused me to pause. It was a kitchen. On the left by an open door was a full sized table with two chairs. The right had a countertop that stretched around the entire wall except for two spots, an actual working sink, and a custom built kalan. I had only seen one other household sink. That was at my uncle Lo Bao's manor back home. This one wasn't as fancy and it was leaking slightly, but holy shit, a sink. Garlic and herbs hung from the rafters and canned food filled the shelves, all meticulously organized. Kiyoko was hovering over the Kalan, the smoke from the clay stove and the steam from whatever she was cooking drifted up into a wide vent hood like you might see in a smithy. The woman was wearing an apron, which did nothing to cover her backside. Her butt and tail swayed as she hummed. She turned around with most of a steaming hot bun in one hand, a smaller piece in the other. She blew on the small piece.

"Done already?"

"Yeah, your dirt is not as difficult as mine"

"Mmm." She hummed. "Try this for me?"

"Sure." I reached out a hand, but she withdrew the bun and pouted. "What?"

"Just open your mouth."

I stared at her for a moment, but complied. She took a step closer and popped the bun in my mouth. Having a whore for a neighbor was freaking weird.

"How is it? Not too salty?"

"It's good." It was good. Wasn't ever going to complain about Siopao.

"Mmm, Kenta is such a baby about salt. Likes everything bland." She handed me the larger price of meat filled deliciousness and turned around, putting three more buns in a basket. "How's the land clearing going?"

"Not terrible. Saito showed me how to pipe water from the stream which helped loosen the soil. He says I'm going to have to fight the rice paddies for at least a year before they hold water well. Got a garden area cleared and worked on a spot for chickens."

She nodded and pressed past me to the table. "Good good. I can't imagine trying to do that by hand. When will you start on a house?"

"Right after the chicken coop I hope. Going to have to pay for that though. I don't really know anything about building."

Kiyoko set the basket on the table and took off the apron. She gave me her mischievous vulpine smile again. "Question for my strong and handsome new neighbor.

"Oh?"

Kiyoko turned to the table and pushed herself down so she was basically laying on it with her ass sticking out at me. She looked back at my slightly panicking face with her shit eating grin. Her tail pushed the flap of her shirt away and she wiggled her very nice butt at me. "Want a go? First time is free."

"Ah, I ah." Was my very elegant reply. I wasn't one hundred percent clear if she was serious or just fucking with me. The base instinctual part of me screamed "Hit That!" It's a good thing people have the ability to reason. Shinichi was right, Kiyoko had a nice ass. Actually he said she was a nice piece of ass which meant something else entirely, but she did have a nice butt and the small red underclothes she wore drew attention to it.

"No." I said, sounding way more hesitant than I wanted to.

"Oh? Any reason in particular?" She practically purred.

I still wasn't sure whether or not she was just fucking with me, but I had two reasons not to screw my hot Courtesan neighbor. Possible a third as I was not sure how that would change the neighborly interactions. "Well, Reputation for one. I'm new here and I don't want to be known as loose."

Kiyoko returned to a standing position, before letting herself up and sitting on the table, leaning to one side, her rich white hair cascading down. She crossed her legs and dealt a killing bow to my excuse. "Ah yes, but I'm not going to tell anyone. Occupation confidentiality." She grinned and moved the hand that she wasn't leaning on slowly up her waist to cup one of her breasts.

She still might be fucking with me. "Well, there's sort of another thing." In a way it was still about reputation, just not mine. Not sure what my expression looked like, but her grin faltered. "I had someone tell me about you…"

"Someone said bad things about me?" She sounded hurt.

"No, they said good things about you. It's just, a couple hours later I unfortunately happened to hear how he treated his wife and that just sort of, left a bad taste so to speak."

Kiyoko's teasing grin vanished, replaced with disgust. "Shinichi." I didn't say anything, but she clearly read my expression. She seemed good at that. "It's a small town, everyone knows he beats the little Xiao girl." She looked out toward my property, or more likely Saito’s property.

The whole sexual aura that had existed a moment ago was completely gone. Replaced by the sour look on Kiyoko's face as she hopped down from the table and to the cupboard. Shinichi was certainly a buzzkill. "I could tell you things that fucker's said, but occupational confidentiality. You want a drink?" She pulled out a jug and a cup, looking back at me for my answer.

I shrugged. "Sure." Then I ate the last of the siopao I forgot I was holding.

She poured two cups, handed me one, drank hers in one go, and proceeded to glower at her cup for a solid minute. "So…" The kitsune woman said, her fox-like ears returning to an unagitated angle. I needed to watch those more. "I could probably get you a discount for the first time with another girl."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Welcome to the neighborhood gift."

"You gave me honey cakes."

"Yeah well, you're single and most people like sex."

"Most people like honey cakes, even single people." This conversation keeps getting weirder.

Kiyoko pointed one of the fingers holding her cup at me and tilted her head. "So, no sex at the brothel?"

"I've never been to a brothel and I wasn't planning to start now."

"Is that an ever thing?"

"Yeah, I think so."

She leaned back against the counter. One arm under her breasts, pushing them up, the elbow of her other arm resting on the first. She tapped a long, elegant finger against her chin while she examined me far too much like Saito did. She pointed the taping finger at me. "I have a cousin about your age."

I sighed. "I'm not going to fuck your cousin."

"What? No! I mean I could introduce you. You're going to look for a wife eventually, I presume. Unless you have issues with kitsune?"

"No issues other than the obvious I guess, but I don't even have a house yet."

"Said I can introduce you. Not force a sudden and immediate marriage."

"Oh, right."

She tapped her chin again. "Hmmm, yes. I can get her here for planting, I think. She can teach you how to plant rice and you can get to know each other at the same time."

"I'm, okay with that."

"Right. Okay then get back to work. You need to build a house so you can marry my pretty little cousin." The teasing grin was back. "Oh and that basket is for you. If no one is around when you return it, just leave it by the door."

"Ah thank you."

"Thank you for the garden work."

She waved as I retreated with my reward. Fuck that was… Well I don't know what that was, but now I really need a dunk in the cold stream. I shoved one of the meat-filled steamed buns in my face and grinned. If only Kiyoko was a decade younger and not a prostitute. There was definitely something to the saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Maybe her cousin is a good cook. Even with the awkwardness, Kiyoko is still my favorite person in Sharinzhen. That might not be fair to Ate Wei Lin, but she was basically forced to feed me. Kiyoko gave me food of her own free will.

***

The day after the Yin garden I was to be working the wheel. I had no idea what that meant, but it was supposed to be easy. It was easy. It was literally a waterwheel, though a bit backwards. Instead of water moving the wheel which moved something else, a person, me in this case, walked inside the wheel to lift water out of one paddy and into a shoot to another paddy. Behold the issue with moving water over relatively flat ground. I can see why most paddies are on terraces. I spent the next day plowing. Same as the last time and just as muddy. Lots of nervous tension in the air as the planting neared.