After hearing Ding Zhifu’s suggestion, Lin Suhe’s eyes lit up. She turned to Jiang Wangchuan and asked,
“Brother Jiang, can we grow vegetables on the mountain?”
Jiang Wangchuan nodded.
“Yes. If we clear the land and loosen the soil, growing vegetables won’t be a problem.”
“Then why didn’t you plant any before?”
Jiang Wangchuan scratched his head awkwardly.
“I lived alone. I could just dig some wild vegetables and pick wild fruit in the mountains to get by, so I was too lazy to grow anything.”
Lin Suhe poked his arm with her finger and complained,
“You’re such a lazy man.”
Ding Zhifu laughed.
“It’s not too late to start now. It’s early spring, the perfect time. Come to my house tomorrow and get some vegetable seeds. If you plant them now, you’ll have vegetables to eat in a little over a month.”
Lin Suhe happily thanked Ding Zhifu. Then she turned to Jiang Wangchuan with a serious face.
“Did you hear what Uncle said? As soon as we get home, start clearing the land. Even if we don’t have farmland, we should at least have a vegetable garden.”
Jiang Wangchuan nodded quickly.
“I heard him! I’ll do it as soon as we get back!”
Ding Zhifu burst into laughter.
“I didn’t expect Chuanzi to be such a henpecked husband. You’re really afraid of your wife.”
Jiang Wangchuan grinned.
“That’s right! My wife is fierce. I wouldn’t dare ignore what she says.”
Lin Suhe let out a soft snort, turned her head away, and ignored him.
When they returned to Wenhe Village, Ding Zhifu drove them all the way to the foot of the mountain before heading home himself.
After returning home, Jiang Wangchuan pulled a wooden box out from under the bed and poured all the copper coins left from selling the soap into it.
The crisp clinking of the coins sounded especially pleasant to Lin Suhe.
This is the sound of money! With money, life will only get better.
It was already getting late when they returned from town, so it wasn’t a good time to clear land for the garden. They decided to leave it until the next day.
Lin Suhe had eaten a meat bun in town earlier, so she wasn’t very hungry.
Jiang Wangchuan cooked the remaining spring bamboo shoots from yesterday into a pot of bamboo shoot soup, and they shared it together.
Lin Suhe ate the jujube cake they had bought while drinking the soup.
Jiang Wangchuan broke off a piece of flatbread and soaked it in the soup before eating it.
Lin Suhe broke off a piece of the soft, sweet jujube cake and offered it to him.
Jiang Wangchuan shook his head.
“I don’t like sweet food. You eat it.”
Lin Suhe looked surprised.
“You don’t like sweets? Sweet things are so delicious!”
Jiang Wangchuan took a big bite of his bread.
“They taste good, but after a few bites, I get tired of them.”
Lin Suhe took a bite of the cake and chewed thoughtfully.
“This jujube cake isn’t too sweet at all. It only has the natural sweetness of the dates. Try it.”
Jiang Wangchuan smiled and reached out.
Instead of taking the cake from her hand, he gently wiped the corner of her lips with his thumb.
He brushed away a tiny crumb of cake stuck there, then put his thumb into his mouth and licked it clean.
“I’ve already tasted it.”
“It’s really sweet.”
Lin Suhe’s face immediately grew hot.
She puffed out her rosy lips and said shyly,
“Brother Jiang, you’re teasing me again!”
After saying that, she lowered her head and nibbled at the cake in small bites, looking just like an angry little hamster.
Jiang Wangchuan simply watched her with a smile.
My little wife blushes so easily.
Her fair little face always turned pink like it had been brushed with rouge.
She looked especially beautiful.
And those cherry-red lips…
Watching her soft pink lips open and close as she nibbled the cake, Jiang Wangchuan suddenly remembered kissing her that morning.
Her lips had felt as soft and tender as the smoothest tofu.
He smacked his lips, savoring the memory.
Lin Suhe secretly glanced at him.
She noticed he was staring straight at her.
His gaze reminded her of a hungry wolf staring at a helpless little rabbit.
It was a little frightening.
“Brother Jiang, why are you looking at me like that?”
Hearing her soft voice, Jiang Wangchuan came back to his senses.
“I was just watching you eat. You make everything look delicious.”
But deep inside, he was thinking,
I really want to kiss my little wife again.
That evening, Jiang Wangchuan watered the wheat once more.
The wheat had already sprouted fresh green shoots.
He asked,
“Can this really be turned into malt sugar?”
Lin Suhe walked over to look at the sprouts.
“Why do you think it’s called malt sugar? Because it’s made from malt.”
Jiang Wangchuan slapped his forehead.
“Look how foolish I am. I couldn’t even figure that out.”
Lin Suhe laughed softly.
Her sweet, clear laughter drifted through the little courtyard and straight into Jiang Wangchuan’s heart.
That night, after they went to bed, Jiang Wangchuan held Lin Suhe in his arms and brought up the soap they had sold in town.
“We thought that basket of soap could sell for over a hundred coins. Why did you agree when the shopkeeper only offered eighty?”
Wrapped in Jiang Wangchuan’s warm embrace, Lin Suhe felt sleepy.
Half-asleep, she mumbled,
“You’re silly. If we sold them one by one, maybe we could make over a hundred coins. But only if people actually bought them. Who knows how long that would take?
The shopkeeper was willing to buy everything at once. That saved us a lot of trouble. Eighty coins is fine.”
Jiang Wangchuan rubbed his chin gently against her smooth forehead and praised her.
“My wife is smart. You really have a talent for business.”
The short stubble on his chin tickled her forehead, making Lin Suhe giggle.
“Brother Jiang, you should shave.”
He rubbed his chin.
“It’s only just starting to grow. Why bother shaving it?”
As he spoke, he deliberately rubbed his stubbly chin against her again.
Laughing, Lin Suhe tried to dodge him.
“Stop it! Brother Jiang, I’m sleepy.”
Jiang Wangchuan reached out with one arm and pulled her back into his embrace after she had rolled all the way to the wall.
After their little play fight, Lin Suhe was breathing a little faster.
The warm, sweet breath from her soft lips drifted toward him.
For a young man in the prime of his life, it was almost too much to bear.
Silently, he repeated to himself,
Amitabha…
Amitabha…
She’s still young…
She’s still young…
It’s not the right time…
Not yet…
When Lin Suhe noticed that he had suddenly gone quiet, she looked up and asked,
“Brother Jiang, what are you doing?”
Jiang Wangchuan coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment and quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. I almost forgot something.”
“In the future, don’t let other men smell your hand so easily.”
Lin Suhe blinked her innocent eyes.
“They were only smelling the scent.”
Jiang Wangchuan spoke firmly.
“Not even that. My wife’s scent is for me to smell alone.”
His tone was extremely possessive.
Remembering that men and women in ancient times were expected to keep a proper distance, Lin Suhe decided not to argue with him.
She pouted slightly and replied,
“I understand.”