That evening, Ruan Qingli went into the kitchen and found it spotlessly clean. Although it had pots, bowls, and cooking utensils, it looked as though none of them had ever been used.
She checked the rice jar and, as expected, found not a single grain of rice. After searching the entire kitchen, she couldn’t even find half a vegetable.
Even the cleverest cook couldn’t prepare a meal without ingredients. This time, she was truly at a loss.
Winter was approaching, so darkness fell early. During this season, the people of Liu Town generally ate only two meals a day. Ruan Qingli had eaten only the steamed buns that morning and nothing since.
She had no idea what time Han Sheng usually came home. Although the Fang and Han residences shared a wall, it was high enough that neither family could see into the other’s courtyard. She knew nothing about his daily routine.
Just as she was thinking about it, she heard the courtyard gate open.
The next moment, Han Sheng’s tall figure walked in.
His hands were full of groceries. Seeing this, Ruan Qingli hurried over to help him.
“You’re back, Han…”
Han Sheng clearly wasn’t fond of how formal she sounded. Handing her a basket of eggs, he said,
“We’re living under the same roof now. Stop calling me ‘Master Han.’ Just call me Han Sheng.”
“All right.”
She smiled at him.
“Then you can just call me A’Li.”
“Deal.”
Together they carried everything into the kitchen.
Ruan Qingli looked through the groceries one by one. There was rice, flour, lard, and several kinds of autumn vegetables. She was delighted.
But when she noticed that everything he had bought was refined grain, she kindly reminded him,
“You’re being far too extravagant. You should mix in some coarse grains to save money. Otherwise, all your salary will go toward food and clothing. What will you have left when it’s time to marry?”
Han Sheng reached into his robe and handed her two taels of silver.
“My monthly salary is three taels. I’ll keep one tael for personal expenses. The remaining two taels are for the household. Buy whatever you think the house needs. You don’t have to ask me first.”
Holding the silver, Ruan Qingli felt her heart grow heavy.
She had lived with Fang Shubai for three years, yet he had never once given her housekeeping money. Whenever she needed to buy something, he only gave her exactly enough for that purchase—not a single coin more.
Yet she had only been in Han Sheng’s house for a day. They barely knew each other, and he had already entrusted nearly all his money to her.
The weight of that trust settled heavily in her heart.
“Han Sheng… aren’t you afraid I’ll take the money and run?”
Han Sheng smiled.
“If I trust someone, I don’t doubt them. If I doubt them, I don’t use them.”
Ruan Qingli couldn’t help envying the woman who would someday marry him.
Han Sheng was not only handsome, but also open-minded and generous. A man like him was rarer than a unicorn.
She carefully tucked away the silver.
“Since you trust me, I’ll keep it. From now on, I’ll record every household expense and let you check the accounts at the end of each month.”
Han Sheng looked at her in surprise.
“You can write?”
She nodded.
“My foster father was a schoolteacher. I was his proudest student.”
Han Sheng chuckled.
“You’re not exactly modest.”
Ruan Qingli replied matter-of-factly,
“Weren’t you the one who told me not to belittle myself?”
The two exchanged smiles. Somehow, they found each other surprisingly easy to talk to.
Ruan Qingli began preparing dinner.
To her surprise, Han Sheng didn’t leave. Instead, he squatted by the stove and helped feed firewood into the hearth.
Watching him awkwardly do his best despite clearly having no experience made her emotions unexpectedly complicated.
Fang Shubai had never once helped her with any household chores.
Forget adding firewood—even carrying water had always been her job, bucket after bucket.
She steamed a pot of rice, carefully sliced potatoes into thin strips, then chopped a handful of Chinese chives and stir-fried them together.
Those were the only vegetables Han Sheng had bought.
Besides the potatoes and chives, he had also purchased twenty eggs.
After thinking for a moment, she used some lard to fry three eggs for him.
Each egg cost three copper coins—not cheap at all.
Ruan Qingli silently decided that if she stayed here long enough, she’d have to raise a few laying hens herself.
Dinner was nothing more than ordinary home cooking. With such limited ingredients, it was all she could make.
Yet Han Sheng seemed thoroughly satisfied.
When he noticed that she was only eating the potatoes and chives without touching the eggs, he transferred half the eggs from his plate into her bowl.
“From now on, whatever I eat, you eat too. There are only two people in this house. There’s no need to treat ourselves differently.”
He paused before adding,
“And your cooking is delicious. I like it.”
He wasn’t lying.
He had spent years eating every meal outside. Whatever was available, he’d eat it—hot or cold, tasty or bland. As long as it filled his stomach, he never cared.
It had been a long time since he’d eaten a true home-cooked meal.
Looking down at the perfectly golden fried eggs in her bowl, Ruan Qingli slowly lowered her eyes.
She had cooked this same dish countless times at the Fang residence.
Yet she had hardly ever been allowed to taste it herself.
Only now did she fully realize the truth.
Fang Shubai had never loved her.
The love he claimed to have existed only in words. There had never been any real action behind them.
He hadn’t even been willing to let her eat a single egg.
There wasn’t much work to do in Han Sheng’s house.
After dinner, Ruan Qingli washed the dishes, and suddenly she had nothing left to occupy herself.
At the Fang household, after every meal she still had to make shoes and winter clothing for the entire family. Sometimes she even had to massage Madam Zhou’s legs and shoulders. Fang Shubai was always finding new errands for her.
She had never been allowed a moment of rest.
Now that she was suddenly free, she almost didn’t know what to do with herself.
She looked at Han Sheng.
“What do you usually do after dinner every day?”
Before Ruan Qingli arrived, Han Sheng rarely came home this early.
After dinner he usually wandered around town or visited Su Mingyuan for a drink.
Caught off guard by the question, Han Sheng found himself momentarily speechless.
After a pause, he answered,
“If you find staying home boring, you can always go out for a walk.”
Ruan Qingli quickly waved her hands.
“That’s not what I meant. I was just asking.”
“Oh.”
After that, an awkward silence settled between them.
Han Sheng stood up.
“You’ll sleep in the bedroom again tonight. I’ll sleep in the main hall.”
“Why?”
“Because the main hall doesn’t have a door.”
“So?”
Han Sheng wondered if the girl was simply too innocent.
Did she really think he was that trustworthy?
Deciding she needed a stronger sense of self-preservation, he deliberately tried to scare her.
“Ruan Qingli, I’m not some perfect gentleman. I have normal desires. So you’d better lock your bedroom door tonight. Otherwise, I’ll assume you left it unlocked on purpose for me.”
The tactic worked perfectly.
Ruan Qingli immediately hurried into the bedroom.
A moment later, Han Sheng heard the door bar slide firmly into place.
The corners of his lips lifted into a faint smile.
At dawn the next morning, loud banging echoed from the front gate.
Outside, Su Mingyuan shouted,
“Han Sheng! Are you up yet? I need to talk to you about something!”