Having confirmed that she was neither resented nor disliked by her new husband, Xie Linlang’s tone brightened considerably. “Then I’ll stay here with you. It’s too dark outside, and I’m afraid to be alone.”
Xiao Ji couldn’t understand what there was to fear in one’s own home, but then it occurred to him that Xie Linlang must have always had maids and servants attending to her in the past, likely never having been truly alone. With that thought, he silently allowed her to remain in the kitchen.
Xie Linlang sat on a low stool in the kitchen, watching as Xiao Ji added hot water to a basin, then scooped a handful of wood ash from the stove pit and sprinkled it in. Her eyes narrowed with satisfaction.
She thought Xiao Ji was quite a decent person, entirely different from her brothers and father. This alone pleased Xie Linlang.
Though Xiao Ji was tall and sturdy, he worked with remarkable efficiency. In no time, the stack of bowls and plates on the kitchen floor was washed clean.
He stood up. “I need to return the borrowed dishes. Will you be all right here alone?”
Xie Linlang actually wanted to go with him, but considering how late it was, she nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
Xiao Ji fetched a carrying pole from the yard, gathered all the kitchenware together, and hoisted the load over his shoulder before striding out the door.
Standing in the courtyard, Xie Linlang took a brief look around and felt that the Xiao family’s situation was much better than she had imagined—at least, it wasn’t the two or three thatched huts she had pictured.
Of course, it might also be because Madam Xie and Xie Yujing’s words had lowered her expectations for the Xiao family, making her now find everything about it satisfactory.
Thinking that Xiao Ji wouldn’t be back for a while, Xie Linlang decided to start unpacking the things she had brought from the Xie family.
As she had expected, Madam Xie had prepared a dowry for her: a hundred taels in silver notes, four large chests—one containing clothes for all four seasons, another holding several pieces of porcelain, a third filled with bedding, and the last one packed with items Xie Linlang had used over the years.
The porcelain and bedding were not things ordinary families could afford, but they might fetch a good price if sold.
Xie Linlang chuckled to herself. Ever since moving out of her Legal Mother’s courtyard, she seemed to be constantly thinking about selling things off.
Compared to the dowries of her other sisters in the Xie family, her belongings were rather meager. But Xie Linlang was content. She knew she wasn’t destined for great wealth or status, so she would live an ordinary life. These things were more than enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her days.
Perhaps because of today’s wedding feast, the doors to the Xiao family’s rooms were left open. Xie Linlang spotted her large chests neatly arranged in the empty room next to the bedroom. She went in and first retrieved her jewelry box.
If there was one thing she had worried about most on her wedding day, it was this jewelry box containing her entire fortune. Seeing it safe and sound now filled her with joy once again.
After confirming that everything inside was intact, she carefully placed the box back into the large chest. She wasn’t yet familiar with the Xiao household, so she would wait until later to properly organize her belongings.
As for Xiao Ji, he went from house to house with his carrying pole, returning the borrowed items.
A close elder remarked, “There’s no hurry to return the dishes. Today’s your wedding day—you should be at home keeping your wife company.”
Xiao Ji replied, “I was afraid you might need them, so I brought them back quickly.”
Another elderly woman who had attended the feast asked with concern, “Is your wife feeling all right? She must have been exhausted today.”
After finishing the feast today, several neighboring women who lived close to the Xiao family had originally planned to go in and see the bride, but when Madam Han Zongqi said the bride was asleep, everyone decided not to enter.
Most households in the alley already knew that the bride Xiao Ji was marrying was in poor health—a sickly girl—so when they heard she had fallen asleep in the bridal chamber on her wedding day before the guests had even left, no one really blamed her.
Mentioned this way, Xiao Ji suddenly remembered that his bride was indeed in poor health, but he couldn’t help feeling that what he had just seen didn’t seem as severe as the rumors suggested.
The weather in June was already quite hot. After carrying his load around for a while, Xiao Ji was drenched in sweat. When he returned home and saw the light on in the main room, he first went to the washroom to rinse off.
When he lived alone, Xiao Ji would simply fetch a bucket of water and wash himself in the yard. But now that there was a woman in the house, he had arranged for a bathtub to be installed in a partitioned section of the west wing during the earlier renovation of the house.
Of course, Xiao Ji didn’t use the bathtub himself—it was specially prepared for Xie Linlang.
Sitting in the bridal chamber, Xie Linlang had already seen Xiao Ji return.
But as soon as he entered the yard, he headed to the west side, and Xie Linlang didn’t feel it appropriate to follow and see what he was doing. She could only sit inside, listening to the movements in the yard. Before long, she heard Xiao Ji going in and out several times.
After a while, Xiao Ji stood at the door and said, “I’ve filled the bathtub with water for you. Go and wash up. Leave the tub as it is afterward.”
At home, Xie Linlang bathed every day. After a long and exhausting day, she felt sticky and uncomfortable, but thinking that the Xiao family might not have the habit of daily bathing, she had intended to endure it. To her surprise, Xiao Ji was so considerate. She immediately got up to gather the things she needed for her bath.
…
Poor Xie Linlang—with no birth mother and little regard from her Legal Mother—had received no instruction from close female relatives on the night before her wedding. As a result, she knew nothing about what was supposed to happen between a man and a woman on their wedding night.
Although Xiao Ji was no longer young, he had taken Han Zongqi’s words to heart.
The bride was still young and needed to be nurtured for a couple of years. So, when both of them had cleaned up and lay in bed, one was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, while the other was focused solely on figuring out what to do with the hard-earned few days of leave he had.
With a man of such strong presence beside her, Xie Linlang was initially a bit nervous, but her anticipation for a better new life quickly pushed aside this unease. As she lay there thinking about her future, she unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
Xiao Ji, however, didn’t fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. Mainly because he was used to sleeping alone, and having someone suddenly beside him made him feel restrained and uncomfortable all over.
The next day, as soon as the sky began to lighten, Xiao Ji got out of bed.
He hadn’t slept well all night, while Xie Linlang, facing the inner side of the bed and covered with a thin quilt, slept soundly and peacefully—nothing like someone seriously ill.
Xie Linlang was awakened by the barking of dogs and crowing of roosters in the alley. Still with her eyes closed, she habitually called out, “Xiao Qiu.”
Instead of Xiao Qiu, it was Xiao Ji who responded from outside, “If you’re awake, get up. Breakfast is on the table in the kitchen.”
Xie Linlang… Oh, right. She had slept so soundly she almost forgot she had gotten married yesterday. Xiao Qiu hadn’t come with her.
Outside, Xiao Ji couldn’t help but think to himself, She really is the Xie family’s legitimate daughter, all right. Only these young ladies from wealthy families would wake up expecting to be waited on.
But he absolutely would not go in to serve the young lady with dressing and washing up. He was just an ordinary person and couldn’t possibly serve some delicate young miss. Xie Linlang had better start getting used to it from now on.