Chapter 13: My Wife

The couple walked out of the narrow alleyway together, heading towards the market street, which was already bustling with activity early in the morning.

 Vendors selling breakfast and setting up their stalls, workers rushing to the factory without having time to prepare breakfast, grabbing a couple of buns from the bun shop and hurrying along – everywhere, the air was filled with the energy of life.

Xu An walked from one end of the street to the other, then asked Zhou Yu to take her to the supply and marketing cooperative.

 The cooperative was already crowded early in the morning, with many people weighing fresh meat at the pork stall.

 In no time, only some offal and lean cuts remained, leaving little else. This was an era of supply shortages, where business opportunities were everywhere.

After observing for a while, Xu An felt tired. The man beside her had been silent the whole time.

Xu An, however, had been muttering calculations. As they left the cooperative, her eyes fell on the breakfast stalls in the market.

“Zhou Yu, do these breakfast stalls do good business when you come here?”

Zhou Yu’s voice was soft. “People don’t even pick and choose what they eat.”

“Just these few breakfast shops,” Zhou Yu nodded towards Xu An. “And the restaurants on the roadside, the food isn’t guaranteed to be hygienic, but they still have plenty of customers.”

He looked at Xu An. “Except for someone as picky as you, no one cares. As long as there’s food, that’s all that matters.”

It had been so long, yet he still brought it up to tease her. Xu An frowned slightly, but at least she had some information. She had a preliminary idea.

“What do you think of the food I cook?” Xu An tilted her head, looking at the man beside her, wanting his honest opinion.

Zhou Yu recalled the woman’s extravagant use of water and oil, the strong aroma seemingly filling his nostrils. He swallowed, giving his blunt assessment.

“Troublesome, picky.”

The food and the person were both like that.

“But… it tastes good.” Even with his stubborn mouth, Zhou Yu had to admit it.

Hearing the first part, Xu An couldn’t help but frown, thinking about how she had been feeding him for the past two days.

 But when she heard the second part of his assessment, her brows relaxed slightly. He had taste.

Even Zhou Yu, who was so sharp-tongued, gave her a good review. Xu An’s confidence grew, giving her the motivation to do what she wanted.

With a clear goal in mind, Xu An relaxed a bit. She stopped observing and walked ahead to the department store to buy things.

For the past two days, she had been sleeping in her own clothes, which was very uncomfortable. She should buy a set of pajamas and some changes of clothes.

She focused on choosing what she liked, then checked her purse and waited patiently for Zhou Yu to haggle. She paid quickly when Zhou Yu signaled.

This time, they walked around the entire street, and under Zhou Yu’s guidance, she had a general understanding of the market prices in the area.

It was almost noon when Xu An finished her shopping. She turned to look at Zhou Yu beside her, a smile on her face. “Let’s not cook at home for lunch. Let’s buy a couple of buns to take back.”

Buns were at least cleaner than the roadside restaurants.

Zhou Yu lazily agreed, and Xu An carried her bags and walked ahead. The man behind her followed slowly, with no intention of helping her.

Xu An didn’t ask him to help. The man was still limping, so she considered it as a form of care.

She walked to the bun shop, bought two meat buns for herself, and then glanced at the man beside her. Remembering his bottomless stomach, she bought six for Zhou Yu.

After buying the buns, she carried them and walked back. This time, she didn’t follow behind Zhou Yu dejectedly.

She had already memorized the way and walked ahead with big strides. Zhou Yu, limping, followed slowly behind her. Their positions had switched, and Xu An was quite satisfied.

As they entered the alleyway, a dark figure suddenly darted out, grabbed the bag of buns Xu An had bought, and ran away.

The incident happened so quickly that Xu An could only react when Zhou Yu behind her had already chased after the thief.

Xu An immediately ran after them. The figure was small, darting around the narrow alleyway, very agile. Zhou Yu was limping, and soon fell behind.

The two of them chased after him, and just as the thief was about to disappear, a man suddenly appeared at the fork in the road. Xu An quickly shouted loudly, “Please help stop him, he’s a thief!”

The man reacted quickly and grabbed the thief who was trying to escape.

Seeing the thief caught, Xu An breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Zhou Yu beside her.

The man’s face was terrifyingly dark, his hand tightly gripping his injured leg, his jaw clenched.

Xu An pursed her lips, not knowing what to say at first.

“Brother Yu! It’s really you!”

Hearing the voice, Xu An turned her head and saw the man who had helped them catch the thief dragging the thief towards them, his face beaming with joy as he stared at Zhou Yu beside her.

Did Zhou Yu know this person?

Zhou Yu’s self-loathing emotions flashed across his face. He glanced at the man approaching, and said softly, “Yaowu.”

“Ai.” Wen Yaowu touched his buzz cut, grinning.

He pulled the struggling thief over to the couple, and seeing Xu An, he was a little confused. “Brother Yu, who is this?”

Zhou Yu glanced at the woman beside him, his tone indifferent. “My wife.”

Wen Yaowu was shocked. “Brother Yu, you’re married!”

He said this while looking at Brother Yu’s wife. She was really beautiful, white and fair, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She was actually Brother Yu’s wife. No wonder, Brother Yu was truly a match for her.

“Hello, sister-in-law. My name is Wen Yaowu, I’m Brother Yu’s brother.”

Xu An smiled and nodded at him, then turned her attention to the thief beside him.

Wen Yaowu was no longer in a hurry to catch up. He immediately pulled the thief in front of the couple.

“Brother, sister-in-law, what did he steal?”

It was only then that Xu An saw the thief’s appearance. It was a cold winter, yet he was only wearing a single layer of clothing.

 The hand that had grabbed her buns was already red with cold.

 He was thin and bony, his head buried in the ground so that his face was not visible.

 Xu An had not expected the thief to be a half-grown child.

Wen Yaowu pulled the bag of buns from the thief’s hand and handed it to Xu An. “Sister-in-law, he stole this, right?”

Before Xu An could take it, the caught thief suddenly knelt down with a thud, the crisp sound making Xu An’s heart tighten.

Then he kowtowed to them a few times, prostrating himself on the ground and begging.

“Please, I only stole once. I will earn money and repay you later. Can you please give me the food?”

The half-grown child’s voice was trembling with cold, and he kept kowtowing, as if unaware of the cold and pain.

Xu An frowned slightly, unable to bear to watch. “Don’t kowtow.”

Su Xiaoyang knelt on the ground, looking up at Xu An, his eyes red, as if grasping at a lifeline. “Please.”

Xu An looked at the pair of innocent eyes, feeling a pang of sympathy. “Get up first and tell us what happened.”

Su Xiaoyang, his legs trembling with cold, crawled up from the ground. He didn’t care about the bruises on his forehead, and the half-grown child’s voice was choked with sobs.

“My sister hasn’t eaten for two days. If she doesn’t eat, she will starve to death. As long as you give me some food, I’ll do anything.”

“Where are your parents?” Xu An pursed her lips.

“They’re gone.” The boy’s voice was still trembling, and the cold wind kept blowing into his thin undershirt.

Xu An subconsciously turned her head to look at Zhou Yu beside her. Zhou Yu’s brows were furrowed, and he said in a deep voice, “Lead the way.”

Wen Yaowu, who had also experienced the despair of poverty and hunger, looked at the child, his voice softer than before. “Take us to see. If what you say is true.”

He glanced at the buns in his hand and said loudly, “Here, take these.”

Su Xiaoyang’s eyes lit up. “Then… follow me.”

He said this and quickly walked forward, almost running, looking back from time to time to see if Xu An and the others were following.

Xu An and Zhou Yu followed behind the child, seeing the boy’s anxious expression, they quickened their pace, believing his story even more.

They turned and twisted through the alleyway, even more secluded than Zhou Yu’s courtyard, until they reached the end of the alleyway.

Su Xiaoyang stopped in front of a dilapidated, leaky wooden house.

Seeing the broken wooden house with no walls to block the wind and no roof to shelter from the rain, Xu An’s brow furrowed slightly.

“We’re here. I’ll take you in.”

Su Xiaoyang pushed the door open and went in first. Xu An was about to follow when Zhou Yu stopped her behind him.

 He walked in front of Xu An and entered the house. Xu An stared at the man’s back, pursed her lips slightly, and followed him into the house.

As soon as they entered, they saw Su Xiaoyang half-lying on the broken wooden bed, with a young girl lying on it, unconscious, covered with a dark, thin blanket and a boy’s clothes.

“Brother, you’re back.”

“I think I saw Dad and Mom.”

The little girl’s voice was barely a whisper. Su Xiaoyang’s black hand covered his sister’s forehead, constantly checking for any uncovered areas, gently coaxing his sister.

“Brother brought you food. Your favorite meat buns. Let’s eat our fill, okay?”

Seeing this scene, Xu An’s eyes welled up. She immediately lowered her gaze.

“Yaowu, give him the food.” Zhou Yu’s voice was low.

” Wen Yaowu’s voice was also low. He walked over and handed the buns to Su Xiaoyang.

Su Xiaoyang forgot to thank him, and hurriedly opened the bag, carefully taking out a meat bun and feeding it to his sister.

The little girl smelled the meat buns and gained some strength, eating the bun in her mouth in big bites.

Seeing that the boy had already fed his sister one, Xu An spoke softly, “She hasn’t eaten for several days. Don’t let her eat too much at once, it’s not good for her body. Take her back to our house with us, and I’ll cook her some warm porridge.”

Hearing that it was bad for his sister’s body, Su Xiaoyang quickly retracted his hand.

Xu An turned to look at Zhou Yu, afraid that he would think she was acting on her own accord. She wanted to discuss it with him properly.

Zhou Yu met the woman’s watery eyes, avoided her gaze, and said in a deep voice, “Yaowu, take her with you.”

” Wen Yaowu, also feeling sorry for the two half-grown children, immediately walked to the bed, took off his own clothes and wrapped the little girl in them, then picked her up.

He threw Su Xiaoyang’s clothes to him. “Put these on quickly. Your sister still needs you to take care of her. Don’t get sick.”

Su Xiaoyang immediately listened and put on his clothes, following closely behind Wen Yaowu.

As he walked past Xu An, she gently patted his thin shoulder. “You should also eat one to fill your stomach. Take small bites.”

The boy’s sister had been starving for days, and he must have been even worse than her. He was probably just holding on by willpower.

Su Xiaoyang squeezed the bun in his hand, reluctant to eat it.

“If you starve to death, your sister will have no one to take care of her.” Xu An’s tone was flat.

Sure enough, the boy immediately took out a bun, tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped his face and ate silently, following behind Wen Yaowu, sticking close to his sister.

Xu An walked behind, her gaze fixed on the man in front, who was leading the way with a stern face. She chuckled slightly. She had said that some people were sharp-tongued but kind-hearted.

The man in front, as if sensing something, turned his head and stared directly at Xu An, whose gaze she hadn’t had time to retract. Xu An immediately lowered her gaze and stared at the ground.

This man was not only sharp-tongued, but also sharp-eyed.