Xiao Jun was the first to reach out. He tore off a large piece of the wild vegetable coarse grain flatbread and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Mmh! So fragrant~”
His mouth was completely full as he chewed, a look of pure satisfaction on his face. “Today’s flatbreads are really delicious.”
Xiao Yue lifted her chin proudly. “Of course they are. My sister-in-law and I dug those up.”
“…”
Sister-in-law?
Hearing his younger sister use such an affectionate title so naturally, Xiao Zheng slightly raised an eyebrow. This girl had been won over by her that quickly?
Xiao Zheng glanced at the woman beside him again. She, on the other hand, seemed to be adapting remarkably well.
Su He picked up a flatbread. The coarse grains felt a bit rough against her hands, but with the wild vegetables mixed in, it was at least somewhat softer. Just as she was about to take a bite, she noticed the man next to her watching her.
“??”
What was he looking at her for? Could he want to eat the vegetable flatbread in her hand?
No way! This was hers!
Su He immediately took a bite. The flatbread was still coarse, but it carried a faint, refreshing fragrance that was vastly superior to yesterday’s black flour flatbread. At the very least, it didn’t scrape her throat too harshly.
“…”
Seeing Su He’s protective, food-guarding stance, the corner of Xiao Zheng’s mouth twitched slightly. What kind of look was that? As a grown man, would he really resort to stealing her food?
Xiao Zheng paid her no more attention and looked down to pick up a flatbread.
Two bites. One whole flatbread was gone.
Another two bites. Another one disappeared.
Su He watched, completely dumbfounded.
Good heavens. Did this man even chew his food? He really could eat!
Before long, the pile of flatbreads in the bamboo basket had shrunk by more than half. It wasn’t until Xiao Zheng finished his eighth flatbread that his pace finally slowed down, and he began to sip the wild vegetable soup alongside the pickled vegetables.
About thirty-five or thirty-six flatbreads had been made this morning, which roughly averaged out to seven flatbreads per person.
In the end, Wang Guixiang and Xiao Yue only ate about five flatbreads before they were full. Xiao Jun ate seven, which wasn’t surprising since he was at an age where he was growing rapidly.
But Su He actually managed to eat seven flatbreads as well, causing everyone else at the table to stare at her in astonishment.
“Sister-in-law, you didn’t overeat, did you?” Xiao Yue couldn’t help but ask, genuinely a bit concerned.
This morning’s meal was already the fullest she herself had been all month; usually, she couldn’t even finish five flatbreads. Yet, her seemingly thin and frail sister-in-law had an appetite almost matching her second brother’s, devouring seven flatbreads!
Her eldest brother was an exception—his stomach was like a bottomless pit that felt like it could keep going forever. But her sister-in-law’s appetite was truly unexpected.
“Uh, I’m fine.” Su He smiled sheepishly, well aware that she had eaten quite a lot.
Xiao Zheng glanced at her and pushed the bamboo basket slightly closer to her. “Eat.”
“No need, I’m full.” Su He quickly waved her hands. She had already finished her share of the rations, and her stomach was about seventy to eighty percent full.
“You eat.” Su He pushed the basket back toward him. If she was only seventy to eighty percent full, this man was probably only at fifty or sixty percent.
At this moment, her desire to grow grain and make money burned even more fiercely! As a superpower user, how could she let the man who belonged to her go hungry?
“Are you sure?” Xiao Zheng asked suspiciously. Why did he get the feeling this woman could easily keep eating?
“Yes, go ahead and eat.” Su He nodded. This was only her first day in the household, so she could hardly justify completely letting loose and eating her fill.
Seeing that she wasn’t just forcing herself to be polite, Xiao Zheng stopped holding back and buried his head in his food. In the end, the remaining few flatbreads and the rest of the wild vegetable soup were completely cleared into his stomach.
The bowls and basins on the table were left so clean that one could practically see their own reflection in them!
After the meal, Wang Guixiang did not immediately get up to clear the dishes. Instead, she remained seated firmly on her stool, her expression grave.
“There is something I need to discuss with you all.”
At her words, everyone looked up at her.
Wang Guixiang’s gaze landed on Su He first. “Since you have entered the gates of our Xiao family, the proper etiquette must still be observed. I plan to put together a table of food at home the day after tomorrow. I’ll invite the village chief and the commanding officers from Ah Zheng’s camp to come over and sit with us. It will serve as a formal witness to your marriage.”
Speaking up to this point, Wang Guixiang couldn’t help but sigh, feeling a bit lacking in confidence herself. “It’s just that the harvest has been poor lately, and our family’s means are limited. We certainly can’t afford a grand banquet. But marrying a wife and starting a family is a major milestone after all; we can’t just let it pass silently without a word.”
As she spoke, she began to count and calculate on her fingers.
“We still have a piece of smoked meat about the size of a palm that I’ve been reluctant to touch.”
“There are probably about two bowls of sorghum flour left.”
“A few dried mushrooms sun-dried at the beginning of the year remain.”
“There are still some pickled vegetables in the jar.”
“We can buy a few eggs from the village and trade for some other vegetables.”
“Scraping things together like this, we should be able to manage four or five decent dishes.”
After running through the inventory, Wang Guixiang looked at the couple once more. “What do you two think?”
“You make the arrangements, Mother,” Xiao Zheng replied without any objection. He handed the authority entirely over to his mother, as household matters were traditionally managed by the women of the family anyway.
With a clear division of labor inside and outside the home, his responsibility was simply to earn money and support them. Now that he had brought the girl back, he had to take responsibility for her.
He then reached into his robes, pulled out a small cloth pouch, and took out two taels of silver, placing them on the table. “This is the monthly pay from the last two months. Mother, use it as you see fit for the preparations.”
Wang Guixiang picked up the two pieces of silver and weighed them in her hand, her brow furrowing deeply. “How is it only this much for two months? Why is it getting lower and—”
“Mother, watch your words!” Xiao Zheng immediately cut her off, lowering his voice. The courtyards in the village were built right next to each other; if such talk leaked out, it would invite trouble. “Being able to get two taels of silver is already not bad.”
Wang Guixiang came to her senses. She glanced toward the tightly shut courtyard gate and let out a low sigh. “Sigh, what a way to live…”
Back when Ah Zheng was just a junior officer, he would bring home five or six hundred copper coins a month, and they would occasionally get extra grain rations. Now that he had been promoted to a centurion, he risked his life for two months only to bring back a grand total of two taels of silver. The garrison command’s embezzlement was getting more and more outrageous. Achieving the rank of centurion hadn’t brought him any benefits at all.
Wang Guixiang looked bitterly at the silver in her hand. Then she caught sight of Su He, and the resentment in her heart dissipated slightly.
Forget it! At least she had gained a daughter-in-law, which fulfilled one of her long-held wishes.
The room fell quiet for a moment. Xiao Jun and Xiao Yue sat to the side, not daring to interject. Such matters were not for them to speak on.
“….”
Su He sat quietly through the entire exchange, listening to the conversation between mother and son while making her own calculations.
In another day, it would be her wedding banquet with Xiao Zheng—an event that happened only once in a lifetime. She couldn’t just let the Xiao family bear all the expenses while she contributed nothing at all. She wasn’t someone who chased after luxury, and she didn’t demand a magnificent wedding feast, but she didn’t want it to be completely pitiful either.
No! She had to go into the mountains again today; she couldn’t afford to wait.
She had already faintly perceived several locations with medicinal herbs earlier. If she could dig up something valuable, she could at least add two decent dishes to the wedding banquet.