“Ruyi, where’s your husband?” the two girls asked, curious.
“My husband is Nie Wenyong, a platoon chief,” Shen Ruyi replied.
She frowned. Standing next to Xingyu, normally one would be chosen by a sergeant. It seemed Nie Wenyong’s selection of her had something to do with that leader who picked up the other female companions—but what the exact connection was, she would have to ask him later.
“Oh, Ruyi, that’s great! You got chosen by a platoon chief,” Xingyu and Ping’er said, genuinely congratulating her. Shen Ruyi relaxed a bit seeing their sincerity.
The men were drinking and boasting loudly.
Shen Ruyi chatted briefly with Xingyu and Ping’er, confirmed where they were staying, and arranged to meet at the market the next morning. Then they returned to their respective husbands.
The bonfires burned late into the night.
On the way back, the men continued their drunken chatter. Shen Ruyi looked at her own husband, quiet and composed, and was quite surprised.
He either had excellent tolerance or impeccable drinking manners. Either way, she felt lucky.
As long as he didn’t bring concubines to poke her eyes, living like this with him wasn’t unbearable.
They entered the house, locked the door, went to their rooms, bathed, and slept.
On her first night of marriage, Shen Ruyi thought she might be unable to sleep, sharing a house with a stranger she barely knew.
But unexpectedly, she fell asleep instantly.
She slept until late morning, rolled around in bed, stretched, and finally sat up.
The house and courtyard were completely quiet, only distant sounds reached her.
She got dressed and opened the door—no one was home. She guessed Nie Wenyong had gone to the military camp, as he had mentioned a task today.
Since she was alone with the courtyard walls blocking her in, Shen Ruyi took advantage of it.
She took out the oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, flour, and meat from her space and organized them neatly in the cupboards.
The kitchen had two pots and a full stock of firewood. She cooked rice, chopped chicken, and prepared ginger, garlic, and scallions.
She heated the oil, fried the chicken until golden, added the aromatics and soy sauce, and simmered it with water.
While the chicken was cooking, she peeled a few potatoes.
Fortunately, the space had collected all the ingredients from the kitchens of noble households, extremely complete—more than most stores in Yongzhou likely had.
The only downside: she had brought only a limited amount due to space constraints.
The aroma of chicken and potatoes filled the courtyard, making Shen Ruyi almost dizzy from hunger after over a month of fasting. Yet the surrounding area remained quiet.
She ate heartily, alternating bites of rice, chicken, and potatoes.
Two sweet potatoes, blackened from the fire, were too much for her now, so she stored them in the little room in her space for later.
She also stored the cooked chicken and rice in large bowls to prevent any roommate from unexpectedly returning.
She had also aired out the house by opening doors and windows.
Looking at the courtyard, Shen Ruyi felt she had forgotten something but couldn’t recall what.
In the afternoon, while pondering what to plant in the front and back yards, someone knocked and called, “Ruyi? Are you up yet?”
Ah! She remembered she had arranged to meet Xingyu and Ping’er at the market this morning.
She quickly opened the door to welcome them in.
“Ruyi, you didn’t wait for us this morning, did you? Sorry, we completely forgot,” Ping’er said apologetically.
Xingyu also smiled at her, trying to make amends.
No need to explain. It seemed all three had overslept—she was just exhausted and had truly forgotten.
The three laughed mischievously, tickling each other until Shen Ruyi begged them to stop.
“Tomorrow we must get up early for the market. I have almost nothing to eat at home,” Ping’er complained, rubbing her stomach.
“You didn’t eat anything today?” Shen Ruyi asked, surprised.
“Xingyu lives close. She woke me up,” Ping’er said shyly, looking down.
“Wait here,” Shen Ruyi said, going to the kitchen and handing them the two roasted sweet potatoes from her space.
“You’re too kind! I’m so hungry—wow, this is delicious!” Ping’er said happily. Xingyu, though more restrained, also ate heartily.
“You’ve been hungry for so long; of course it tastes good. Their men aren’t reliable at all. Luckily, I bought some things with Nie Wenyong yesterday, or you two would have gone hungry like this.”
“True, the house has all the pots and pans, but no food.”
“Same here,” Xingyu added.
The three exchanged glances. “Could it be that all of this was distributed by the military?”
Seems likely. The camp’s welfare system was surprisingly generous.
After finishing the sweet potatoes, Shen Ruyi stored some for the evening so they wouldn’t go hungry again.
After confirming tomorrow’s market plan, the girls left with their sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Shen Ruyi stored more sweet potatoes and potatoes from her space in the storeroom, watered them with well water from her space, hoping they would sprout soon for planting in the courtyard.
She still didn’t know how the climate of this “Yongzhou” compared to her previous life’s world.
It was the first year here; she decided to plant easy-to-grow crops first, ensuring they would at least have enough food.
She also needed to figure out where to get firewood, nearby wells, and which seasonal vegetables could be planted now.
One thought led to another, and her head began to ache.
Even simple plans like planting vegetables required multiple other steps: buying hoes, seeds, preparing the soil, asking for advice, managing growth…