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After settling the bill with Mr. Chen, Chu Yue and Lu Xinghe first went to the spice shop to buy two pounds of red dates, two pounds of peanuts, ginger, garlic, sauce, and salt, which cost two hundred and fifteen wen. Then, they went to the grocery store next door and bought one hundred pounds of brown rice for five hundred wen.
After purchasing these items, Chu Yue looked at Lu Xinghe.
“Husband, should we go to the vegetable market?”
Lu Xinghe didn’t object and pushed the cart, leading Chu Yue towards the vegetable market.
It was almost noon, and there weren’t many people buying vegetables. Recently, due to the drought, there hadn’t been many vegetable sellers either. By this time, there were even fewer stalls left.
Chu Yue went straight to a meat stall and pointed to two pork bones on the counter. “Auntie, how much are these bones?”
The butcher, a hearty woman, said, “These bones don’t have much meat, miss. Do you want to buy some meat as well? Our pork is eighteen wen per pound. If you buy two pounds, I’ll give you the bones for five wen for free.”
Chu Yue nodded. “Then please cut two pounds of meat for me, the leaner kind.”
“Alright.”
Then, Chu Yue pointed to a small pile of pigskin next to it. “Auntie, are you selling this pigskin?”
The butcher spoke directly. “This pigskin was left over by a customer. They didn’t like the strong smell and found it hard to chew, so they asked me to cut it off. If you want it, I’ll give it to you for free.”
Chu Yue quickly responded. “Thank you, Auntie.”
The butcher weighed the meat and looked at Chu Yue. Seeing that the young girl was clean and pretty, she asked, “You seem quite young. Are you from a family in town? My second son is still unmarried. If you’re interested, I can’t promise much, but I can guarantee that you’ll have meat to eat every day.”
Chu Yue was stunned. She was just thinking about how to respond to the butcher when Lu Xinghe came up to her.
“Did you buy the meat?”
He said this while subtly holding her hand in his large palm.
Seeing the slightly stiff expression on Lu Xinghe’s face, Chu Yue covered her lips and smiled, then looked at the butcher.
“Auntie, sorry, but I’m already married.” She looked towards Lu Xinghe with a smile in her eyes. “See, he’s my husband.”
The butcher smiled awkwardly. “Hahaha, my eyes must be bad. Sorry, miss. I didn’t know you were already married. But your husband is really handsome. You’re lucky, miss.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
After Chu Yue finished speaking, she counted out forty-one copper coins to the butcher.
Lu Xinghe, on the other hand, reached out to take the pork, pork bones, and pigskin from the butcher and put them in his backpack. Then, he pulled Chu Yue away quickly.
Chu Yue walked behind Lu Xinghe, looking at his hand holding hers tightly, and the smile on her lips wouldn’t fade for a long time.
The butcher stretched her neck to watch the young couple walk away, her face full of envy. “They’re so young. Even when they go shopping, they hold hands.”
This time, due to the meat in the backpack, the two didn’t linger in town. They only bought four buns and spent one wen at a tea stall outside the town to order a pot of tea. After eating and drinking to their fill, they hurried back home.
On the way, Lu Xinghe took out a packet of pastries from the backpack and handed it to Chu Yue.
“Have a couple of pastries to tide you over.”
Chu Yue held the oil paper-wrapped pastries in her hand but didn’t open them. “I just had a bun and drank so much water. I’m already full.”
At that moment, a surprised voice came from behind her right.
“Chu Yue, is that really you?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Chu Yue’s heart skipped a beat. She turned her head to see Chu Dashan striding toward her. As he approached, he nodded towards Lu Xinghe as a form of greeting, then reached out to pull at Chu Yue’s arm.
Chu Yue knew that Chu Dashan wouldn’t have good intentions if he pulled her. Taking advantage of her small stature, she dodged his outstretched hand and quickly hid behind Lu Xinghe.
“Big Brother, I’m already married. Don’t keep pulling me like that.”
Chu Dashan clenched his jaw and pointed at Chu Yue. “Fine, you’re married now and have grown wings. You don’t want your family anymore, right?”
Chu Yue muttered under her breath. “I didn’t say anything.”
Lu Xinghe glanced at Chu Yue behind him, then turned to Chu Dashan and said coldly, “She was originally exchanged for you by my father. If I didn’t allow her to interact with her family, no one would say anything, right?”
Chu Dashan immediately pointed his finger at Lu Xinghe’s nose. “Lu Xinghe, don’t try to sow discord between my sister and our family.”
A hint of mockery played on Lu Xinghe’s lips.
“I heard that she was cold and hungry at your family’s place, getting beaten and scolded. Did you ever treat her like a sister?”
“You!” Chu Dashan coldly snorted and glared at Chu Yue. “Are you coming over or not?”
Chu Yue used to be a meek and submissive person. As long as he glared at her, she would obediently listen. But this time, she obviously didn’t concede.
“I’m not coming over. If you have something to say, just say it.”
Chu Dashan laughed angrily. Even if he didn’t care about his pride, it would be embarrassing to ask for money in front of Lu Xinghe. “Good, you have guts.”
He said this and looked towards the things on the cart.
Seeing this, Chu Yue quickly reached out and grabbed the backpack. “This is medicine for my mother-in-law. You wouldn’t want to take it away, would you?”
Upon hearing that the backpack contained medicine, Chu Dashan lost interest.
Then, he glanced at the bag of brown rice on the cart, but Lu Xinghe stood there unmoving, making it impossible for him to carry it away. So, he simply pointed at the two of them and left.
Chu Yue watched Chu Dashan’s retreating figure, her brows furrowed. She reached out and shook Lu Xinghe’s arm.
“Husband, my brother definitely won’t let this go. If my parents knew we had money, they might come to our door to cause trouble.”
Lu Xinghe turned around and patted the little girl’s head.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. At least your father won’t dare come to our door.”
Chu Youqian had almost been sent to the yamen last time. He must have been scared out of his wits. For the time being, he wouldn’t dare to come looking for trouble.
Chu Yue put the backpack back on the cart and pushed it home with Lu Xinghe. “My mother is not easy to fool. We need to be prepared when we get back.”
Lu Xinghe had a different opinion. “It’s not a short distance from Niutou Village to Banpo Village. Your mother needs to have time to come. Besides, it’s almost the Moon Festival.”
The fifteenth of August, the Moon Festival, was a relatively important festival in the Nan Yuan Kingdom. Usually, married daughters would send some things to their families for this festival.
Chu Yue looked at Lu Xinghe. “Do you mean my parents might be waiting for me at home?”
Lu Xinghe nodded. “Don’t you have a younger sister at home?”
Chu Yue tightened her grip on the cart.
Yes, she had a younger sister, her closest companion. When she was beaten and scolded by the family, the silly girl always rushed to her side, hugging her and getting beaten together. How could she leave her behind?
“It would be nice if Xiaotao could leave that family,” Chu Yue said softly.