Chapter 25

Hu Wenhua’s darkened face showed a simple smile, “Sis, I’m still young, no rush.”

Butcher Hu waved his hand, unconcerned, “Don’t worry about your little brother. After all, he’s a man. As long as your father and mother treat his wife well, their life won’t be too difficult. But you, my daughter, are different. Once you marry, you’ll be living in someone else’s home, and your father and mother won’t be able to take care of you. Thinking about the hard years you’ve had…”

Butcher Hu took a deep breath and changed his tone, “Forget it, no need to dwell on the past. Your father and mother are genuinely happy about you starting your own family. You must live a good life, make it prosperous and enviable, understand?”

Shuiqing nodded heavily, promising to do so, which made Butcher Hu very pleased. He was even more gratified when he saw Fan Jin, who had just returned from the city, putting down the bamboo basket and helping beside his daughter. This feeling lasted until lunch, but then he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

He had told his daughter to live a prosperous life, but was this lavish meal meant to make others envious or him jealous? Rice with no mixing, egg drop soup with more eggs than mushrooms, and stewed pork—was this to make others jealous?

Even he was jealous!

He couldn’t help but pull his daughter aside, urgently instructing, “Your mother said we’d treat your uncles and brothers well with another good meal after the work is done this afternoon. But why did you bring out all the good rice and eggs? These are precious, you should save them for yourselves to stay healthy.”

And that silly son-in-law, instead of stopping her, he helped her waste the food!

Fan Jin saw his father-in-law pulling Shuiqing aside and feared he would blame his wife, so he quickly followed and apologized, “Dad, don’t blame Shuiqing. We just split from the family and the vegetable garden isn’t ready yet. We could only prepare a few dishes today, but we cooked a big pot of rice and egg drop soup, so everyone can eat their fill.”

He had bought a big iron pot, but his father-in-law worried they had no money and brought another one for them. Shuiqing cooked lunch quite well with it.

Butcher Hu was so angry he couldn’t speak. After several deep breaths, he muttered, “I don’t know how you two will manage in the future!”

Manage however you want, he couldn’t handle it anymore, they’d drive him crazy eventually!

Butcher Hu stormed off to eat lunch.

“Hey, niece, you’re too generous! More eggs than mushrooms!”

“We used to search for eggs in the mushroom soup, now it’s the opposite.”

“Rice is delicious, but niece, you should mix it with vegetables or coarse grains. Son-in-law, why don’t you manage this?”

The men joked as they ate, using the new coarse pottery bowls Fan Jin had bought.

Fan Jin scratched his head, embarrassed, and said shyly, “Uncles, you came from afar, so we wanted to make sure there’s enough rice for everyone.”

“Oh, scholars always speak so nicely!”

“Don’t worry, son-in-law, your house will surely be spacious and sturdy!”

Butcher Hu, eating the fine white rice, the rich pork stir-fry, and the egg-filled soup, felt deeply gratified hearing the praise for his daughter and son-in-law.

He had to admit, fine grain was tastier than coarse rice, way better than bran and chaff! When Hu Wenhua gets married, he’ll work harder to let his wife eat fine rice occasionally too…

Hu Wenhua and his five nephews squatted by the roadside, eating. Though he was doing heavy labor moving wood, he couldn’t believe his eyes, mumbling, “Mom would split one egg into two servings for egg drop soup. But Sis, this is all eggs and barely any mushrooms! It tastes good, but the eggs are too much, it hurts to see them used like this.”

“Uncle, don’t worry. Dad can sell mushrooms for money in the city, so Mom used more eggs and fewer mushrooms,” Yanqiu explained with a bright smile.

Hu Wenhua’s thick eyebrows raised in disbelief. His sister could fool the kids, but mushrooms couldn’t sell for more than eggs!

He silently resolved to find some short-term work in town to earn money for his sister…

Shuiqing, watching Hu Wenhua’s alternating worried and relieved expressions from a distance, smiled knowingly. Such a simple boy, his thoughts were written all over his face. But it made sense—who would believe she really valued mushrooms over eggs when a pound of mushrooms could buy over twenty pounds of eggs!

“Shuiqing, Shuiqing,” a gentle voice called. She turned to see Fan Jin sneaking over, holding a few silver pieces. “The price for the Polygonum multiflorum was higher than expected, over eight taels of silver. After buying what we needed, we still have three taels and some copper coins. The copper coins are in the bamboo basket,” he reported.

Shuiqing nodded, taking the silver pieces, and saw Fan Jin hesitate. She raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”

Fan Jin, his dark eyes sincere, said, “Shuiqing, your parents have helped us a lot over the years. If little brother is getting married next year, they’ll need money. Your father brought at least a tael’s worth of goods today. Since we have silver now, should we give it to your father to take back?”

Without thinking, Shuiqing replied, “Sure.”

Fan Jin’s scholarly face lit up with a smile, which froze at her next words.

“You give the silver to father and let him take it back,” she said.

Knowing his father-in-law’s personality, he knew he wouldn’t take the money. His brother-in-law was even more straightforward and wouldn’t accept it either. Given their size difference, he couldn’t force them to take it.

Shuiqing, seeing his dilemma, laughed, “Giving gifts requires the right timing. Otherwise, it won’t be appreciated and might even offend. Let’s earn more money, and later make clothes for your parents and give some silver for Wenhua’s marriage. They won’t refuse then.”

Fan Jin, relieved, quickly moved closer as Shuiqing beckoned.

Butcher Hu, seeing his daughter gesture and his son-in-law eagerly approach, felt pleased rather than seeing it as undermining his authority. It was good for the son-in-law to be attentive to his daughter.

Hmm, his judgment was right after all. But what were they whispering about?