Chapter 7: Days After Marriage

After breakfast, Qin Jin and Ye Miao went to the neighboring courtyard, borrowing 200 coins from Wang Xiuqin before heading to the county town with a back basket.

The sky was overcast, thick clouds hiding the sun overhead, but there wasn’t even a hint of wind. By the time the two reached the town, both were covered in sweat.

After visiting several shops, they purchased everything they needed. Back home, Qin Jin began soaking the peas.

They had bought 10 jin (5 kg) of peas today, but he couldn’t take on too much at once. So, he only soaked half—5 jin of peas would produce 10 jin of pea cakes, twice the amount he used to make in the past.

After that, the two grabbed small shovels and went to the backyard to weed.

The original owner of Qin Jin’s body had been lazy—neither planting vegetables nor raising chickens. The spacious backyard had turned into a wild patch of weeds.

As someone who had cultivated plants before, Qin Jin was heartbroken by such waste.

But he had been busy with fieldwork and selling pea cakes, leaving no time to tidy it up. Now, being newly married and with a helping hand by his side, it was time to clean up the land.

Earlier, they had bought seeds for cucumbers, pumpkins, chili peppers, and more. Although it was a bit late in the season, with careful attention, they could still harvest fresh vegetables in a few months.

For now, if they wanted vegetables, they would have to either pick some from the old family yard or dig for wild greens.

By the time they had finished pulling out the weeds, rain began pouring down with a thunderous roar. Both were delighted—there would be no need to water the land themselves, and the crops in the field wouldn’t need additional irrigation.

The rain came quickly, fell hard, and stopped within an hour. They took advantage of the softened ground to sow the vegetable seeds.

After lunch, Qin Jin went to the fields to weed. The rain had loosened the soil, making it easier to pull out some weeds by hand rather than using a shovel.

Ye Miao wanted to join him, but Qin Jin immediately refused. Those hands that worked on embroidery couldn’t be allowed to grow calluses. Instead, he assigned Ye Miao some lighter tasks: collecting firewood and foraging for wild greens.

Ye Miao gladly accepted and, after Qin Jin left, grabbed a rope and went out.

But first, he stopped by the neighboring house to speak with his dad. The two homes were close, and there were no strict rules about waiting three days before visiting family after marriage.

His main purpose was to reassure his dad.

Regarding the 500 coins, he understood they were kept for his benefit.

Now that his dad collected firewood daily, he could earn a few coins each day.

There were still a few jin of millet and cornmeal in the kitchen, so meals wouldn’t be an issue for a few days.

On the first day of marriage, he couldn’t openly help his natal family, but in a few days, he would discuss sending meals with Qin Jin.

Of course, this plan couldn’t be shared with his dad just yet.

After talking about how considerate Qin Jin was, he went with his dad to collect firewood in the mountains.

By evening, Qin Jin returned home covered in sweat.

Ye Miao was sitting in the courtyard sorting wild greens. When he saw Qin Jin walk in, he immediately got up to fetch water for him. “Wash up quickly.”

“Dinner is ready and can be served right away.”

Qin Jin didn’t hesitate and sat down on the bench.

Ye Miao quickly brought over a wooden basin, and Qin Jin washed his hands and face.

By the time he was done, Ye Miao had moved a small wooden dining table from the kitchen into the courtyard and was setting the dishes.

Thick, fragrant pumpkin porridge sat on the table, with a few red dates floating in it—symbolic of “zao sheng gui zi” (early birth of a noble son) from their wedding day.

In the bread basket were a dozen plump, brightly colored vegetable buns. There was also a plate of stir-fried purslane with chili, enhanced with some leftover pork fat dregs.

The pumpkin was a gift from Huang Chunlan, who had too many pumpkins from her garden. Along with 20 coins, she had also sent three large pumpkins as part of her wedding gift.

“Come and eat; the pumpkin porridge has cooled a bit and won’t burn your mouth,” Ye Miao said with a soft smile, standing by the table.

His expression made Qin Jin smile as well. “Alright.”

Sitting at the table, he first took a few sips of the porridge to quench his thirst before using his chopsticks to pick up some stir-fried purslane.

Purslane, though slightly sour after flowering, became appetizingly tangy and spicy when stir-fried with chili.

“It’s delicious,” he said, looking at Ye Miao.

Ye Miao’s eyes sparkled. “I’m glad you like it. Tomorrow, I’ll make more… Hmm, how about drying some purslane? Then we can have it during winter too.”

Qin Jin nodded. “Good idea.”

Fresh vegetables in winter were limited to radishes and cabbage, so having an extra option would be nice.

After dinner, as night fell, the two washed up and went to bed early.

They had to get up in the middle of the night to make pea cakes, so it was important to rest.

After blowing out the candle, the room fell into silence. Qin Jin lay as stiffly as he had the night before, staring at the ceiling.

He wasn’t inclined to rush into physical intimacy to develop feelings with his new spouse.

Besides, if they truly indulged every night and Ye Miao ended up pregnant, what then?

Ye Miao was only 17, not yet an adult.

Qin Jin himself wasn’t even in love yet. A child at this point would only hinder the growth of their relationship.

He wasn’t ready to like kids yet either…

Still, if he didn’t explain himself, Ye Miao might silently shed tears or worry himself into sleeplessness again tonight.

Thinking about this, he spoke: “Miao-ge?”

Ye Miao was actually quite sleepy, but he forced his eyes open. He didn’t want to sleep.

Although this man was insufferable last night, Ye Miao was secretly happy. His body felt comfortable, and he wanted to get closer to Qin Jin.

And if they grew closer more often, perhaps Qin Jin would develop feelings for him.

As he was pondering how to take the initiative, he heard Qin Jin calling him. Startled, he hurriedly responded with a soft “mm.”

“You didn’t cry, did you?” Qin Jin asked as he turned over, stretching out his big hand to pull Ye Miao into his arms.

He reached out and touched Ye Miao’s face.

Ye Miao’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t cried at all.

He wasn’t the crying type. After turning ten, he hadn’t cried even once—not even when Zhao Dafu came to kidnap him!

After all, crying was useless; it neither lessened chores nor brought in money.

But for some inexplicable reason, tears always seemed to flow uncontrollably in front of this man.

Did this man… find it annoying?

He pressed his lips together, his heart sinking slightly.

How could he reverse this impression?

Qin Jin carefully felt the delicate face under his hand. There were no traces of tears, but he still wasn’t entirely convinced.

Pulling him tighter into his arms, Qin Jin said, “Miao-ge, do you like children?”

Hmm?

Why was he suddenly asking about that?

Before Ye Miao could figure out the reason, Qin Jin continued, “We’re in debt now. Let’s wait until we’ve paid it off before having children, alright?”

“I’m afraid that if we do it too often, you might get pregnant.”

Ye Miao’s face flushed instantly. Unable to stop himself, he burrowed deeper into Qin Jin’s embrace, his hand unconsciously clutching the fabric of Qin Jin’s shirt.

So that was the reason?

Though, truthfully, they hadn’t done it that many times.

Suppressing his shyness, he whispered, “Whatever you say.”

“Then let’s sleep. We need to get up early tomorrow to make pea cakes,” Qin Jin replied.

“Okay,” Ye Miao quickly agreed.

He felt a little disappointed.

He wouldn’t be able to use this method to cultivate their relationship…

But if he were really to get pregnant, he wouldn’t be able to do much work, and with the household in debt—and his dad on his mind—now wasn’t the right time to have children.

Thinking of this, he pushed down the little disappointment. Overcome with sleepiness, he soon drifted off into slumber.

Listening to his even breathing, Qin Jin finally relaxed and fell asleep himself.

At the hour of Chou (1-3 a.m.), the two of them groggily woke up to make pea cakes.

Ye Miao was in a cheerful mood because, upon waking, he found himself still nestled in Qin Jin’s arms. Even though the room was pitch-dark and he couldn’t see Qin Jin’s face, it didn’t stop him from smiling to himself.

This meant that Qin Jin wasn’t annoyed with him and didn’t push him away while he was asleep.

With light steps, he followed Qin Jin to the kitchen. After lighting an oil lamp, he sat seriously in front of the stove and started boiling the peas.

Qin Jin was going to teach him how to make pea cakes!

This was their livelihood as a married couple!

The soaked peas were easy to boil, saving time and firewood. Once cooked, they were poured into a basin and mashed into a paste with a rolling pin—there was no blender, so they had to use this simple method.

After demonstrating, Qin Jin handed the rolling pin to Ye Miao. Ye Miao held it and began mimicking Qin Jin’s movements, gently mashing the peas in the basin.

His strength was neither too light nor too heavy, and soon there were no more pea chunks visible in the paste.

At this point, Qin Jin brought over a piece of cloth to strain out the pea skins from the paste.

Pea skins affected the texture, but the grain shop didn’t sell peeled peas, so this step had to be done manually.

Once the skins were strained out, the two most technical steps were complete.

Ye Miao looked at the basin of smooth pea paste in amazement. He hadn’t imagined peas could turn into a paste like this.

“Can all beans turn into paste?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm… probably not. When we have time, we can try them one by one,” Qin Jin replied after a moment of pretending to think.

He hadn’t expected such a question from his little spouse.

But it was a good thing; it might come in handy for making other snacks.

Green beans could be made into mung bean cakes, red beans into red bean paste—both delicious.

After speaking, he took out some candied dates they had bought the previous day from the cupboard, placed one on a cutting board, and handed it to Ye Miao. “Try this.”

“No, I’m not a child,” Ye Miao shook his head.

Candied dates were expensive and had been bought for business.

“It’s just one,” Qin Jin pressed the date against Ye Miao’s lips. “Once you’ve eaten it, we can’t use it in the cakes anyway.”

“…”

Ye Miao had no choice but to open his mouth and eat the candied date.

The flesh of the date was thick and sweet—so sweet that it made him want to smile secretly.

He tried hard to keep a straight face to avoid bursting into laughter.

The pea cakes needed time to set and solidify. Once the preliminary work was done, Qin Jin returned to bed for a nap, while Ye Miao began preparing breakfast.

As dawn approached, the pea cakes were finished. With Qin Jin needing to set up their stall early at the county gates, Ye Miao hurried to make breakfast. After Qin Jin left, he could catch up on sleep himself.

Qin Jin’s early start paid off; he arrived just as the morning crowds at the city gates peaked. He didn’t offer free samples this time, as their grand opening promotions had already ended.

Even so, he now had returning customers.

One such customer was the owner of a nearby steamed bun stall, who was willing to spend a few coins to buy a treat for his grandson.

At just one wen (coin) per piece, the cakes were affordable and sold faster than expected, running out before noon.

Ten catties of pea cakes were made; after setting aside half a catty for themselves, they sold the remaining nine and a half catties without giving away samples or free pieces.

In total, they earned 143 wen.

When Qin Jin returned home, Ye Miao had already prepared lunch and was waiting for him.

He placed the heavy money pouch on the table in front of Ye Miao, who couldn’t resist holding it with both hands and weighing it.

So many coins! It would take him days of embroidery work to earn this much.

Even the half catty of pea cakes left at home had been sold.

That morning, the husband of Zhang from the east side of the village, who sold tofu, came by and bought all the leftovers.

The Zhang family ran a small tofu business, just like the bun stall owner, and didn’t mind spending this kind of money.

Today’s ten catties of pea cakes were all sold, earning a total of seventy wen.

Seventy wen a day meant two taels of silver in a month.

It really seemed possible to pay off the debt this year.

Qin Jin noticed Ye Miao’s face light up with greed and couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned and went inside to retrieve the small chest where they kept copper coins, pouring the coins from the money pouch into the chest.

The clinking sound was very pleasing to the ear. “From now on, all the money we earn will go in here. Take it whenever you want.”

“Take it whenever I want?” Ye Miao was a little surprised.

“Of course, we’re a married couple, and it’s not like you’re not working.”

Ye Miao: “…”

A bright smile spread across his face. “Alright!”

He had thought Qin Jin would keep all the money for himself, since he had to go to the county every day to buy peas and sugarcane, and he couldn’t manage without money on hand.

Ye Miao himself hadn’t even considered managing the money. Qin Jin didn’t like him anyway, so why would he want to make himself a nuisance?

Besides, Qin Jin was now industrious and capable and wouldn’t waste money frivolously.

But to his surprise, Qin Jin said this to him.

His heart felt even sweeter than when he had eaten the candied date in the early morning.

For the next few days, the two of them continued making and selling pea cakes step by step. Sometimes the cakes sold quickly, and other times more slowly, but they always sold out by the end of the day.

The small chest of coins gradually became heavier.

Ye Miao took to counting the coins multiple times a day. He even liked to hold the chest and shake it back and forth, enjoying the delightful clinking of the copper coins.

Life after marriage was far better than he had anticipated. He felt as happy as a little mouse that had stolen oil every single day.

One afternoon, instead of taking a nap, Ye Miao carried a basket on his back and went to gather wild vegetables.

For the past few days, he had been drying wild vegetables. Although the amount dried daily wasn’t much, it accumulated over time.

The river in the village used to be a simple trench. Later, the court expanded the channel, transforming the trench into a proper river.

Around the river, wild grass grew abundantly, and wild vegetables thrived as well. Ye Miao brought a small spade, and before long, he had a full basket of vegetables. Just as he straightened up to head home, he heard a sarcastic voice behind him.

“Well, look at that, so poor you’re out here gathering wild vegetables!”

“Tsk, some people are just born for a life of poverty—serves you right, marrying a good-for-nothing.”

Ye Miao’s face scrunched up, and he turned to the source of the voice.

He saw a slightly plump woman standing by the riverbank, holding a basket full of clothes and sneering at him.

Recognizing the person, his expression turned cold.

This was Zhao Dafu’s wife, his aunt-in-law Zhang Xiaohua.

It was said that on the day he married Qin Jin, Zhang Xiaohua had been so ashamed she left for her family home.

Was she just now returning? Did she not know about the pea cake business yet?

But to call Qin Jin a “good-for-nothing”?

How infuriating.