Jiang Ningsui and Pei Duo returned first. Seeing Jiang Ningsui heating up food for him, Pei Duo said, "Sister-in-law, no rush. Brother Zhao will be back shortly."
Jiang Ningsui paused in her movements. "Then I'll wait until my husband returns."
It was another two quarters of an hour before Zhao Zhixue came back. Jiang Ningsui set the evening meal on the table. As soon as he entered, he asked Pei Duo, "Brother Pei, when you came back earlier, did you happen to see three unconscious men at the corner of the alley?"
Jiang Ningsui was momentarily startled.
Three unconscious men? Could he mean the three drunkards Brother Pei mentioned?
Pei Duo said, "When I came back, I only saw three drunkards fighting."
Zhao Zhixue said, "Perhaps we're talking about the same group. I didn't notice whether they smelled of alcohol."
With that, he instructed Jiang Ningsui, "Suisui, try to limit your outings these next few days. I'm worried this alley isn't safe. If you run into drunkards again and I'm not by your side, you might come to harm."
Jiang Ningsui felt a warmth in her heart. She picked up a piece of braised tofu and placed it in Zhao Zhixue's bowl, her brows curving into crescent moons. "I understand."
Zhao Zhixue picked up the tofu she had placed in his bowl and ate it, smiling. "Still, the food my wife picks for me tastes the best."
Since Brother Pei was still present, Jiang Ningsui felt a little embarrassed by her husband's words and lowered her head.
The kerosene lamp in the kitchen gave off a faint light, its warm glow falling across Jiang Ningsui's delicate features, leaving the faint blush at the tips of her ears nowhere to hide. Pei Duo lifted his eyelids slightly, taking in that charming shade of crimson before setting down his chopsticks and rising.
Zhao Zhixue asked, "Brother Pei, are you done eating?"
Pei Duo replied, "Mm. I'll go read for a while."
After the meal, Jiang Ningsui washed the pots and dishes clean, then heated a pot of hot water for her husband and Brother Pei to use.
The days passed one after another. Jiang Ningsui kept her husband's earlier instructions in mind and rarely went out. Whenever she did go out, Sister-in-law Mu accompanied her. After wandering around the town for quite a few days, Jiang Ningsui had come to know not the entire Qingping Zhen, but at least the surrounding area well.
Before they knew it, it was the beginning of November. The leaves had withered, and the cold wind blew harsh and bleak.
Jiang Ningsui had been in Qingping Zhen for over a month now. She planned to return to the countryside the day after tomorrow.
She still had ten copper coins left from what her mother-in-law had given her. She needed to ask her mother-in-law for more. She could also pack up a thicker quilt and a few heavier clothes to bring back, and she might as well ask Brother Pei if there was anything he needed her to bring along as well.
The weather had turned cold now, and night fell early.
After preparing the evening meal, Jiang Ningsui carried a kerosene lamp and waited outside the courtyard. A faint glimmer of light added a touch of brightness to the dark, secluded alley.
Pei Duo strolled around the corner of the alley, spotting the figure from afar under the cold moonlight.
She wore her hair in a married woman's bun, her pretty, delicate face free of makeup, her hair ornament extremely simple—just a single wooden hairpin. She always wore the same few coarse cloth garments, and her clear, autumn-water eyes rippled with a hint of anticipation in the moonlight.
He knew she was waiting for Zhao Zhixue.
Waiting for her husband.
The night wind was bone-piercingly cold. The woman waiting outside the courtyard rubbed her fingers together for warmth, white puffs of breath escaping from her nose and lips.
Pei Duo gazed at her, and an inexplicable ripple stirred in his otherwise calm, undisturbed heart.
For someone like her to marry Zhao Zhixue was truly a waste.
The Zhao family could not raise this person well.
Nor would they truly treat her with sincerity.
Pei Duo approached the small courtyard, lowered his gaze to the woman waiting outside, and called out, "Sister-in-law."
Jiang Ningsui looked up at the very tall young man. "Will my husband be another two quarters of an hour late again?"
Pei Duo nodded. "Mm."
Jiang Ningsui stepped aside to let him in. "Young Master Pei, please come in. I'll go fetch you some food."
Pei Duo glanced at the woman's nose, red from the cold. "No rush. I'll wait until Brother Zhao returns."
Jiang Ningsui acknowledged with a soft sound.
The kitchen was somewhat warm, as a meal had just been cooked there.
Jiang Ningsui sat before the stove opening, warming her hands over the flames. She heard footsteps in the courtyard and turned her head to glance through the half-open door. Pei Duo had drawn two buckets of water from the well and was carrying them in. She hurried over to open the door for him. "Young Master Pei, I can handle this. You needn't bother with such work."
He had paid her money and helped her before—how could she let him do such rough labor?
Pei Duo poured the two buckets of water into the water vat, the rippling surface reflecting the young man's long, narrow, downcast lashes. "It's not rough work. No trouble at all."
Jiang Ningsui couldn't find a way to help, so she could only stand awkwardly before the stove.
She pressed her lips together, then said, "Young Master Pei, I'll be returning to Xiping Cun tomorrow morning to fetch the thick quilts and clothes we need for winter. If there's anything you need brought back, just tell me, and I'll pick it up for you along the way."
Pei Duo set down the buckets. His tall, imposing frame made the already small kitchen feel even more cramped.
He asked, "How will Sister-in-law return tomorrow?"
Jiang Ningsui replied, "I'll walk. It takes most of the day to get there, but I won't be able to cook lunch for you. You and Brother Zhao can make do with a meal at the academy. I'll try my best to be back before dark."
Pei Duo said nothing, only lowering his gaze to glance at the two slender, straight legs beneath the woman's skirt.
That day, a flash of snow-white had passed before his eyes. The young man lifted his gaze, his dark, unfathomable pupils settling on Jiang Ningsui's thin, delicate frame. "I'll give you a letter tomorrow morning. I'd trouble Sister-in-law to deliver it to my father. Once he reads it, he'll know what I need."
Jiang Ningsui gave a faint smile. "Alright."
Before long, Zhao Zhixue returned. As soon as he entered, he rubbed his arms and complained about how cold it was today. Turning his head, he noticed Pei Duo wearing only a thin, dark-blue robe and froze for a moment. "Brother Pei, aren't you cold wearing so little?"
At Zhao Zhixue's words, Jiang Ningsui noticed as well.
Young Master Pei was still in his thin robe, yet there was no trace of shivering from the cold on him—he seemed just as usual.
Pei Duo picked up his chopsticks and said in a calm voice, "I'm not cold."
Zhao Zhixue chuckled. "Right, how could I forget—you're just like your father, with plenty of inner heat. You've never feared the cold since you were young. You'd go hunting in the mountains with your father in the dead of winter and never feel cold."
Jiang Ningsui was rather surprised.
She hadn't imagined there were people in this world who didn't fear the cold.
Jiang Ningsui envied him deeply. If she had such a constitution, she wouldn't have to dread the cold winter months.
Her family was poor. Whatever good things her parents had, they saved for her younger brother, and all the hard, bitter work fell on her. Spring, summer, and autumn were bearable, but winter was Jiang Ningsui's nightmare. The household had no charcoal, so they could only burn firewood for warmth. She was the one who gathered the firewood, yet she never got a share of the warmth by the fire. Every winter, her hands and feet would break out in chilblains.
After dinner, Jiang Ningsui washed up and lay down with her husband in the icy-cold bedding.
Zhao Zhixue was a man, after all, and carried natural warmth in his body. He pulled Jiang Ningsui into his arms, using his own body heat to warm her. Jiang Ningsui rested her head in the crook of Zhao Zhixue's arm, a pool of starlight and moonlight nestled in her eyes. She smiled. "Husband treats me so well."
Zhao Zhixue held her tighter and laughed. "You're my wife. If I don't treat you well, who else would I treat well?"
Jiang Ningsui's heart was half glad, half worried.
What gladdened her was having married a husband who cherished her.
What worried her was that this marriage had been secured through her parents' deception of the Zhao family.
If the lie were ever exposed, would her husband still treat her as he did now?
Jiang Ningsui hugged Zhao Zhixue's waist tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her soft, gentle voice carried deep hope and a barely perceptible tremor: "Husband, I wish you success on your path to the imperial examinations—Chan Gong Zhe Gui, Jin Bang Ti Ming, Ping Bu Qing Yun."
What scholar pursuing the examinations wouldn't want to hear such auspicious words?
Zhao Zhixue coaxed Jiang Ningsui to repeat them again and again.
The woman's soft voice rang through the modest room, also reaching the ears of Pei Duo, who sat at the long table in the next room.
The young man's fingertips traced the pages of his book. His thin eyelids lifted as he gazed at the half moon outside the window.
Chan Gong Zhe Gui, Jin Bang Ti Ming, Ping Bu Qing Yun.
Her expectations for her husband were certainly not small.
Early the next morning, Zhao Zhixue instructed Jiang Ningsui: "Wife, on your way back, don't take the small paths—take the main road. It's longer, but there are more people. If anything happens, someone can lend a hand."
Jiang Ningsui: "I understand."
She prepared breakfast, and after the three of them ate, Jiang Ningsui was about to ask Pei Duo what he needed her to bring when the sound of horse hooves and the dull rumble of wheels came from outside the courtyard. Jiang Ningsui stepped out of the kitchen and saw a young man push open the gate, asking, "Does the young Master Pei live here?"
Jiang Ningsui was momentarily taken aback. "Yes, Master Pei lives here."
As she spoke, Pei Duo emerged from his room. The young man wore a robe of precious blue with cloud patterns today. His handsome, indifferent features glanced briefly at the young man standing in the courtyard. Seeing Pei Duo, the man respectfully addressed him: "Young Master Pei."
Pei Duo gave a slight nod, walked over, and handed a letter to Jiang Ningsui: "Sister-in-law, I have too many things to bring—you can't carry them all alone. I've hired a carriage to take you back. My father will know what to do once he reads the letter."
The young man paused, then added: "I'll be in your care, sister-in-law."
Jiang Ningsui took the letter and quickly shook her head: "It's… it's nothing."
She was still dazed, not yet fully recovered from her shock.
She glanced at the carriage outside the courtyard. A brown horse stood waiting, its hooves restlessly stamping in place. Behind it was a dark-colored carriage, well-enclosed, with a thick, deep-black curtain hanging at the front.
This carriage was clearly expensive.
Jiang Ningsui couldn't even bear to imagine how much hiring such a carriage would cost.
She had only heard from her husband that the Pei family was wealthy in Xiping Cun, but she never imagined they could be so extravagant. She had thought that if there were too many things, hiring an ox cart would already be more than sufficient.
Zhao Zhixue heard the commotion outside and came out of the house, also spotting the carriage beyond the courtyard.
He was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Pei Duo: "Brother Pei, you really spare no expense. Just to go down to the village to pick up some things, and you hire such a fine carriage."
There was a hint of envy in Zhao Zhixue's heart.
In every way—whether family background or personal ability—Pei Duo was better than him.
Both were from Xiping Cun, both were Xiucai of the same cohort, yet Pei Duo always outshone him. It was precisely because of Pei Duo that he studied with such desperate intensity, shamelessly seeking the tutor's guidance day after day, afraid that in the future examinations, Pei Duo would once again surpass him.
Pei Duo lifted his eyes and gave Zhao Zhixue an extremely indifferent glance.
He had only thought about the carriage being expensive, but never considered whether his wife could carry all those things alone, nor whether she would suffer from cold on the journey.
Pei Duo: "It's getting late. We should head to the academy."
Zhao Zhixue: "Right, right, right. If we're late, the tutor will punish us."
He instructed Jiang Ningsui, "Suisui, please give my regards to Father and Mother on my behalf. I'm off to the academy now."
Jiang Ningsui smiled slightly. "Alright." Then she added, "Husband, will you and Master Pei come back for the midday meal? The carriage is faster than walking, so I can return before noon."
Zhao Zhixue waved his hand in acknowledgment. "Understood."
Jiang Ningsui went back inside to gather her things before coming out. Her husband had already left, but Master Pei was still in the courtyard conversing with a young man. When Pei Duo caught sight of Jiang Ningsui, he said to the coachman, "Drive the carriage steadily."
The coachman chuckled. "Rest assured, Young Master Pei."
Pei Duo looked at Jiang Ningsui, a barely perceptible ripple stirring beneath his clear, gentle voice.
He addressed her, "Sister-in-law."
Jiang Ningsui raised her head, waiting for him to continue.
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This chapter contains red packets~
Pei Duo: If the Zhao family can't take care of her properly, perhaps it's better for him to take over instead.