Chapter 30: Daily Life After Marriage – Wuyoucao

Looking at everything in the yard, Li Guo’er gained a deeper understanding of Jia Qingshan.

She had initially thought that a man living alone would make his house dirty and messy, with no place to stand.

However, to her surprise, the house was not only tidy but also very clean and organized, indicating that he was a man who knew how to live well.

After checking the layout of the yard, Li Guo’er went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

She found some leftover wood ear mushrooms and eggs from the meal yesterday, so she stir-fried them together. She also picked two cucumbers and some coriander to make a cold dish, then took it to the main room.

At this moment, the good man who Li Guo’er had praised was cooling off in the creek. After his body heat subsided, he came ashore and walked towards the thatched house.

Just as he reached the gate of the yard, he saw his little wife carrying a plate of wood ear mushrooms with eggs and a cold cucumber salad, walking out of the kitchen.

“You’re back! Hurry up and have breakfast, or it will be cold and not taste good.”

Seeing his wife greet him as usual, Jia Qingshan felt much more at ease.

“Okay! I’ll wash up and be right there.”

After tasting the meal that his wife had made, Jia Qingshan felt that he really had good taste. His wife was not only beautiful but also an excellent cook. Thinking back to the meals he had made before, they seemed like animal food compared to the dishes his wife made.

Watching the man eating so greedily, Li Guo’er said, “Eat slowly, no one is going to steal it from you.”

“Honey, your cooking is so delicious! I’ve never had such tasty food.”

Hearing his muffled words, Li Guo’er smiled.

“Then eat slowly, here, drink some water,” she said, handing him a cup of water.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Li Guo’er went to the room to sort through the clothes she had brought from her family.

When she took out the last piece of clothing, she found three silver ingots at the bottom of the box.

Looking at the silver in the box, Li Guo’er remembered the scene from the night before the wedding when she and her parents had argued about the dowry.

Her parents insisted on leaving these twenty taels of silver for her, to keep in case of an emergency.

Although the family had earned some money from raising rabbits, her brother needed a considerable amount of silver each year for his education.

Li Guo’er wanted to keep the silver at home for her brother’s schooling.

Li Guo’er had declined her parents’ kind offer, but to her surprise, the silver was still placed in the chest and brought over by them.

Seeing his wife staring blankly ahead, Jia Qingshan guessed it might be related to the silver at the bottom of the box.

He approached her, pulled her into his arms, and asked, “Wife, what are you looking at?”

Li Guo’er snapped out of her daze, smiling as she replied, “I was just thinking about when my parents insisted on giving me the silver to keep in the chest.”

She then told Jia Qingshan the whole story, and after hearing it, Jia Qingshan felt deeply grateful to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Suddenly, Jia Qingshan seemed to remember something. He stood up and walked toward the storage room.

When he returned, he was holding a small box.

He placed the box in front of Li Guo’er and said, “Wife, our family has money.”

“When we go back to visit your parents in three days, we’ll return the silver they gave you to keep in the chest, and let your brother use it for his studies.”

Li Guo’er opened the box and found it neatly filled with eight silver ingots of varying sizes, two silver notes, and some loose silver.

She took them out and counted them: the silver ingots and notes together totaled 215 taels, and the loose silver amounted to another 12 taels.

Li Guo’er put the silver back in the box, pinched her cheek to feel the pain, and only then truly believed that everything she had just seen was real.

“Whoever said that the three-room thatched house was all my husband’s belongings, step forward, and I promise I won’t kill you.”

Seeing the confused expression on his wife’s face, Jia Qingshan explained, “Over the years, I’ve worked short-term jobs in town, but I haven’t saved much silver.”

“These loose silver pieces were originally all I had. The reason we have so much more now is thanks to the elk I hunted last time. I sold its musk in the county for 300 taels.”

“I exchanged 50 taels for silver ingots, and the remaining 150 taels were exchanged for silver notes.”

“The three silver ingots, each weighing five taels, were from a wild boar I sold.”

“From now on, all this silver is yours. You can spend it however you want, buy anything you wish.”

Li Guo’er held the money box in her hands, feeling lucky. She had thought her husband was the poorest in the village, but he was actually the wealthiest.

Li Guo’er wrapped her arms around his neck, teasing him, “Husband, you’re so good,” and then kissed him gently.

Jia Qingshan couldn’t resist the allure of his little wife. The heat that he had just suppressed began to stir again.

He picked her up and placed her gently on the bed, saying, “You started it first.”

Then, Li Guo’er felt a cool breeze and could faintly hear her own voice pleading with him, as the gentle wind blew through, and the scene shifted to a more intimate moment…

A satisfied-looking Jia Qingshan gazed at the sleeping woman on the bed.

Li Guo’er woke up again around noon, and saw the man in the yard, who looked refreshed and was chopping firewood.

She couldn’t help but think, “The physical difference between men and women is so huge!”

Clearly, he was the one doing all the heavy work, yet she felt exhausted and worn out.

Their daily life was simple: just preparing three meals a day and gathering some pig feed to care for the two wild chickens and one small wild boar at home.

With nothing else to do, Li Guo’er, who was used to being busy, found herself a bit out of place with all this free time.

The three thatched rooms were built on a piece of land in the middle of a bamboo forest.

So, the surrounding area was full of bamboo. When the autumn wind blew through the forest, it made a soft “rustling” sound, and a faint scent of bamboo could be smelled in the air.

Li Guo’er, looking at the bamboo forest ahead, suddenly had an idea. Her spirits lifted instantly.

“Husband, is this bamboo forest ours? Or does it belong to the village?”

“Of course, it’s ours,” Jia Qingshan replied. “When my mother loved eating bamboo shoots, my father decided to move out of the village and built the house here on the hillside.”

After hearing her husband’s words, Li Guo’er learned that his affection for her had roots in family tradition.

Thinking about her late parents-in-law, Li Guo’er suddenly felt sorry for her husband.

He had lost his parents at such a young age and had to care for his elderly grandparents.

“Husband, do you think we could take the bamboo shoots to the town to sell?”

“Would anyone buy them?” Jia Qingshan asked. “When my mother was still here, she only harvested a few shoots to make dried bamboo shoots for winter.”

“I don’t know if anyone would buy them, but I still want to try.”

“Otherwise, it feels like such a waste to let these fresh bamboo shoots go to dried bamboo shoots.”

“Then let’s wait until you return from visiting your family in three days, and we’ll go to the town to sell the bamboo shoots.”

Today was the day Li Guo’er would return to her parents’ home. The night before, she had not been disturbed, and her husband had spared her. She went to bed earlier than usual.

As they approached her family’s home, Li Guo’er spotted her younger brother, Li Wen, looking out from the door.

As soon as he saw his sister and brother-in-law returning, he dashed over to her side.

“Sis, why are you so late? I missed you! I thought you and Brother-in-law weren’t coming back today!”

Li Guo’er patted her brother’s back and said, “I missed you too,” before taking out the malt sugar Jia Qingshan had bought for him.

Seeing Li Wen’s eyes practically bulging with desire for the malt sugar, Li Guo’er shook her head and said, “The teacher says I’m grown up now. So, I can’t have malt sugar anymore, like little kids do.”