Chapter 50

The shredded pork with potatoes was ready. Shen Yiyi carried the dish to the main hall and returned to see Li Chen tidying up the scattered firewood on the kitchen floor.  

Since the wild boar incident, she had not gone up the mountain to collect firewood again. Li Chen had originally planned for the firewood to last more than ten days, but with her cooking frequently these past few days, there was now barely any left.  

It was probably only enough for tonight.  

Shen Yiyi said: “I’ll go collect firewood this afternoon.”  

Knowing that Li Chen was still unsettled about their previous encounter with the wild boar, she added: “I can’t be so unlucky to run into a wild boar every time. If you’re really worried, Mom isn’t going to work today. If she’s free, I can ask her to watch Xiao Bao for a while, and I’ll give her a few eggs in return.”  

“No need.” Li Chen disagreed. “I’ll go this afternoon. You stay home.”  

“Hmm?” Shen Yiyi looked at him. “Aren’t you working this afternoon?”  

“The autumn harvest is over.” Li Chen explained. “Only the final wrap-up remains, and they don’t need as many people. The village decided to make this afternoon’s work voluntary—whoever goes earns work points. Since I’ll be collecting firewood, I won’t be going.”  

Shen Yiyi was instantly delighted. The autumn harvest was finally over. Seeing him work from dawn to dusk for so many days had made her heart ache.  

If it weren’t for the limitations of this era and the difficulty of explaining her secret space, she would have wanted him to stop working altogether.  

“The harvest was so exhausting. Since it’s finally done, why don’t you rest at home for two days before going to collect firewood?”  

“No need.” Li Chen refused. “I can handle this.”  

He had endured much harsher workloads over the past few years. He was long used to it. Now that he was back and no longer had to cook and take care of the Three Baos by himself, he could easily manage.  

“…” Seeing his determination and considering that they were indeed out of firewood, Shen Yiyi did not persuade him further. “Then take a nap in the afternoon, and wait until the sun isn’t so harsh before going. I’ll come with you!”  

Li Chen hesitated for a moment before agreeing. “Alright.”  

Having just finished eating, they couldn’t go to sleep right away.  

Shen Yiyi picked up her knitting, while Li Chen, unable to sit idle, cleaned up the area in front of the kiln. Then he gathered a few bricks and wooden sticks to raise the space under the kitchen eaves so they could stack the collected firewood there later.

After finishing his work, Li Chen washed his hands and called out: “Wife.”  

Shen Yiyi’s heart skipped a beat as she looked up at him.  

The man appeared completely at ease, as if he had long been accustomed to calling her that.  

Shen Yiyi: “……”  

This man… now that he had confirmed his feelings, he didn’t seem to need any time to adjust at all.  

In contrast, she was the one who was struggling to keep up!  

Ahem—  

“What is it?” she asked.  

Little did she know, Li Chen secretly let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her calm expression.  

He had addressed her this way yesterday, but in that situation, it had been more about declaring his claim in front of Lin Jiadong rather than truly considering the implications.  

Ever since he returned just now, he had been hesitating, unsure whether to say it. Every time the words reached his lips, he hesitated, recalling the look of disgust on her face that night.  

Now that he had finally said it, he realized it wasn’t that difficult after all.  

Li Chen said: “I’m going to Chen Qiang’s house to borrow a wooden cart.”  

Having a cart would be much better—it would save them from carrying everything by hand and allow them to gather more firewood.  

However—  

Shen Yiyi looked at his empty hands. “You’re just going like this?”  

???  

Li Chen was confused.  

As expected, men really didn’t understand these social courtesies.  

Shen Yiyi found it amusing. She set down her knitting. “You can’t go borrow something from someone empty-handed. Wait a moment.”  

She went to fetch five eggs, placed them in a small bag, and handed them to Li Chen. “Even though you and Comrade Qiang are close and he wouldn’t mind, Chen Qiang is married now. Whether or not Daniu cares about these things, we should still observe proper etiquette.”  

“Alright.” Li Chen took the eggs, suddenly feeling a deeper sense of their relationship as husband and wife.

Not long after, Li Chen returned, pushing the wooden cart.  

Shen Yiyi had already prepared some water for him to wash up before taking a nap.  

He claimed he could handle it, but his body wasn’t made of iron. He had stayed up so late the previous night and gotten up so early in the morning. Before long, he had fallen into a deep sleep.  

He was supposed to nap for just an hour, but seeing how soundly he was sleeping, Shen Yiyi couldn’t bring herself to wake him.  

When the Three Baos woke up, she took them outside to let him rest.  

Li Chen ended up sleeping for nearly two hours and only woke up around four in the afternoon.  

Shen Yiyi made each of them a cup of malted milk, and after drinking it, they packed up—bringing a machete and water—before setting off as a family of five to collect firewood on the mountain.  

Li Chen pushed the wooden cart, while Er Bao and Xiao Bao fought to sit on top of it.  

Da Bao was also lifted onto the cart by Li Chen, who then pushed them forward at a quick pace.  

The Three Baos burst into giggles, delighted.  

Shen Yiyi, following behind the four of them, worried herself sick. “Brother Chen, slow down! Don’t let them fall! Three Baos, hold onto the cart!”  

Li Chen obediently came to a stop, but the Three Baos were not happy about it. They wriggled around as if that alone could make the cart speed up again.  

“Dad, hurry up! Charge, charge, charge!”  

Li Chen glanced at Shen Yiyi.  

Er Bao, noticing his Dad’s expression, blinked his round eyes before suddenly hopping off the cart and grabbing Shen Yiyi’s hand. “Mom, you should get on too! It’s so much fun!”  

This suggestion was exactly what Li Chen had in mind. He added: “I can pull all of you.”  

Shen Yiyi: “……”  

She looked around. Many people who hadn’t gone to work were also heading up the mountain to gather firewood.  

If she, a full-grown woman, sat on the cart, wouldn’t she be treated like a spectacle?  

“I’m not getting on.” she refused immediately, then grabbed her second child. “Er Bao, you shouldn’t either!”  

This tactic worked well—Er Bao instantly let go of his Mom and ran after his Dad’s cart. “Mom, what did you say? I didn’t hear you!”  

Shen Yiyi: “……” This little rascal…

There were quite a few people collecting firewood today. From Old Li’s Family, aside from Father Li, Li Dabin, and Li Sanhong, who had gone to work, the remaining members—Mother Li, He Zhaodi, Jiang Ailing, and the other girls—had all come.  

Shen Yiyi deliberately glanced over and saw that all the girls from the eldest branch were present, except for Li Tiezhu.  

This confirmed her suspicion about how favored Li Tiezhu was within Old Li’s Family.  

Mother Li and the others also noticed Shen Yiyi’s group and were visibly surprised.  

It wasn’t just Old Li’s Family—many other people were frequently glancing in their direction as well. Of course, most of those gazes were directed at Shen Yiyi.  

Chen Jiayi and Lin Jiadong were also there. When Chen Jiayi saw Shen Yiyi, she glanced at Lin Jiadong beside her, her eyes flickering. Suddenly, she asked: “Why is Yiyi going up the mountain to collect firewood with Li Chen?”  

This had never happened before.  

A fleeting complexity flashed through Lin Jiadong’s eyes before he quickly returned to his usual indifferent demeanor. He placed a piece of firewood into his basket and said coolly: “They’re husband and wife. What’s wrong with collecting firewood together?”  

“But the person she likes…” is you!  

Chen Jiayi had only spoken half a sentence when Lin Jiadong’s sharp gaze shot toward her, silencing her immediately. However, she couldn’t help but feel smug—Lin Jiadong clearly didn’t like Shen Yiyi at all. He couldn’t even stand hearing about her feelings for him.  

But soon, irritation crept up in her heart again. She had been bringing an egg to Shen Yiyi nearly every morning for the past few days. Shen Yiyi accepted them each time, yet never returned anything in exchange.  

Her skin was way too thick!  

No, she had to take the initiative. Otherwise, all those eggs she had given would have been for nothing!  

Shen Yiyi, completely unaware that someone was scheming against her, found a secluded spot where their family of five began working.  

Li Chen used the machete to chop firewood, while the Three Baos picked up dried branches from the ground.  

At first, Shen Yiyi also wielded a machete to cut wood, but as Li Chen chopped more and more, she switched to bundling the firewood instead.  

There was no denying that Li Chen was an incredibly hard worker. In no time, he had cut down an enormous pile—so much that one cartload wasn’t enough to carry it all.  

They had to take one load back first. Da Bao helped his Dad push the cart, while Er Bao and Xiao Bao stayed on the mountain with Shen Yiyi to continue collecting firewood.