When they were having dinner last night, Xie Hanshuo had asked Ye Yao if she needed to bring anything back. After thinking for a moment, she had requested glutinous rice, maltose, red beans, and dried nuts like walnuts. These were items not commonly eaten. Although Xie Hanshuo was puzzled, he did not ask further and bought them all according to her instructions, placing them on the table along with the coarse cloth and sewing supplies she had mentioned.
“Let’s eat first,” Ye Yao said, setting the table. “I made red-braised fish, steamed dumplings, and a plate of stir-fried vegetables with shredded meat today.”
Xie Hanshuo was indeed extremely hungry, so he picked up his bowl and began to eat heartily. The fish was caught by Ye Yao in a nearby river; prepared with her skillful hands, the meat was tender, flavorful, and completely free of any fishy odor. She had also added chili, giving it a spicy, sour, and fresh flavor that was perfect with rice. As for the steamed vegetable dumplings, she had seasoned them to be rich and oily, making them feel even more savory and delicious than meat fillings. Xie Hanshuo ate more than a dozen of them before he felt satisfied.
After the meal, he took out all the money he had earned from selling the snakes. After deducting the costs of their purchases, there remained five taels of pure silver and nineteen copper coins.
“There is this much?” surprise rippled through Ye Yao’s eyes. She had not expected those venomous snakes to be so valuable! In just a few short days, they had gone from being strapped for cash to becoming a household with five taels of silver. For a farming family, five taels of silver was already a significant amount of wealth. Holding the money, Ye Yao curved her eyebrows and counted carefully; the lingering displeasure from their cold war was此刻 washed away by this tangible sense of stability.
Indeed, marrying Xie Hanshuo was certainly not a loss! In her previous life, she and Xie Moyan had been in dire straits at the beginning of their marriage, and later she had even needed to step forward to do business just to barely maintain the household. When had anyone ever handed money over to her? In this life, she had finally gotten a taste of spending her husband’s money.
Seeing her holding the silver and smiling foolishly, looking naive and charming, Xie Hanshuo found it quite interesting and a faint, subtle smile unconsciously pulled at the corners of his lips. He explained softly: “Venomous creatures in the mountains fetch high prices, but they are hard to find and cannot be counted on regularly.”
Ye Yao nodded in understanding, her words showing genuine concern: “It is already our good fortune that we could get it once. Those poisonous snakes are dangerous; it is best if you provoke them less in the future.”
Xie Hanshuo gave a low “hm” in response. With this, the invisible wall of ice between the two had finally melted a little. Ye Yao secretly thought to herself that, for the sake of this silver, she would not fuss with him about the separate rooms—after all, there was still a long road ahead.
The two lived in the mountains for over half a month. This place was far from the bustle of the world; the mountains were green, the waters were clear, and there was no sign of human habitation within ten miles, as if they were in an otherworldly paradise. In her past life, Ye Yao had lived in the capital for a long time, witnessing all the struggles and schemes within noble families, and had long since grown weary. Now, waking up every morning to stroll along the stream and catch fish with a net felt like a special kind of pleasure. She even discovered two wild soapberry trees nearby and gathered plenty of soapberries; using them for bathing left a natural fragrance of herbs and trees on her skin.
While Xie Hanshuo was out hunting, Ye Yao was busy at home. Once the materials were ready, she began to make zeng gao (steamed rice cake). As the steam, laden with the sweet and sticky aroma, permeated the air, Ye Yao gazed at the hazy white mist, and her expression involuntarily faltered. Past events suddenly flooded her mind.
Her mother had fled from Jiangnan during the famine years ago, and she hadn’t been alone. Her uncle, second aunt, and her young aunt—who was still a child at the time—had come with her. During the escape, her eldest uncle had injured his leg and had difficulty moving; her aunt had actually abandoned him and her young cousin. Now, only her uncle remained, struggling to make a difficult living while caring for her cousin and her little aunt, who had suffered brain damage due to the hardships of their travels. These were her closest kin. In her previous life, they had reached out to help her when she was at her most difficult, supporting her business together, but in the end… they did not meet a good end.
Ye Yao’s eyes gradually blurred and reddened. Lost in memory, she did not notice a figure appear in the doorway.
“It smells so good, what did you make?” Xie Hanshuo’s low voice suddenly rang out. He had returned with his quiver on his back and followed the sweet scent into the kitchen, only to catch Ye Yao with moist, red-rimmed eyes. She was crying alone again, looking even more heartbreaking than the last time.
“Why are you crying again?”
Xie Hanshuo frowned tightly. Seeing her like this caused a tug in his heart, yet his tone unconsciously carried a hint of impatience. “Ye Yao, tell me the truth.”
He wanted to know why she was weeping; he wanted to hear a sincere word from her. Ye Yao hurriedly wiped away her tears, avoiding the main issue: “It’s nothing, just the smoke from the stove fire irritated my eyes.”
She hadn’t expected Xie Hanshuo to return so early today. Ye Yao turned to lift the pot lid to hide her expression: “Dinner isn’t ready yet, but this zeng gao is just steamed. If you’re hungry, taste some to tide you over.”
Xie Hanshuo stood where he was, his eagle-like eyes fixed on her, exuding a cold, sharp aura. His silent demeanor was as imposing and intimidating as an official judging a case in a courtroom. However, Ye Yao had once dealt with even the Empress Dowager and the Empress in the palace in her previous life; facing him now, she simply offered a calm smile. She skillfully diverted the topic: “You returned so early today—did you hunt something good?”
Although Xie Hanshuo’s character was cold and difficult, he was, after all, just an eighteen-year-old young man. Added to the fact that they had been married for only a short time, there was still a sense of youthful awkwardness. He had intended to press her, but interrupted by her smiling face, he had to suppress his sternness and replied in a muffled voice: “Yes, I had good luck today; I caught a solitary mountain goat.”
“A goat? Take me to see it!” Ye Yao suddenly grew interested.
They saw the ram tied in the grass hut, struggling restlessly and bleating incessantly. The goat was of a good size and would surely fetch three or four taels of silver. Xie Hanshuo was also happy; besides the goat, he had hunted over a dozen wild rabbits and pheasants over the past few days, a very bountiful harvest. As for things like field mice, he fed them to the hunting dogs. The three dogs worked hard following him in the forest and woods, so they deserved to eat some meat, though they still mostly gnawed on coarse buns.
Calculating carefully, they had been in the mountains for quite some time, and Xie Hanshuo pondered that they should go down the mountain tomorrow.
“We have accumulated quite a lot of game this time. I will go into the city in a few days to sell it. I’ll leave half a tael or a full tael of the earnings for Mother, and you keep the rest.”
Hunting was a grueling job; Xie Hanshuo spent all day traveling through the forest, and his coarse short clothes had already been shredded by tree branches. Yet, despite being covered in dust, he couldn’t hide the gleam in his eyes—after all, being able to earn money was good.
Ye Yao showed not a hint of disdain for this and nodded: “We should go back. In another half month, it will be freezing cold, and the mountains won’t be suitable for staying any longer.”
She glanced at his disheveled appearance and said gently: “I’ll go boil some water first; you should clean yourself up well.”
It was already quite late. Ye Yao scooped out the steamed zeng gao and handed it to Xie Hanshuo. The zeng gao was warm, soft, and fragrant—a dish he had never seen before; the texture was like a zongzi yet not quite, sweet but not cloying. For an ordinary farming family, such fine sweets were incredibly rare. Xie Hanshuo took a bite and felt nothing but fragrance lingering between his lips and teeth.