Xiao Ze didn’t expect anyone to be willing to give her things so soon after she got married. However, trading fish for potatoes seemed foolish. He originally wanted to say something harsh, but as the words reached his lips, he saw her eyes sparkling through the misty steam and swallowed them back.
“If you want to give it, give it. If it’s not enough to eat, you can go hungry yourself.”
Before he finished speaking, Su Yunyi had already happily walked away with the bowl.
Xiao Ze was momentarily choked with anger.
The older sister from before, upon seeing the fish in Su Yunyi’s bowl, refused to accept it. However, her child, being ignorant, smelled the aroma and clung to her leg, incessantly crying for meat. Su Yunyi seized the opportunity to stuff the bowl into her hands, saying she would come back for the bowl tomorrow.
“Sister, wait.”
The older sister chased after her, holding her bowl and a large basket of vegetables.
The woman said sheepishly, “Sister, you’re too kind. We’re all neighbors. I’m giving you vegetables, not asking for your fish. Take these vegetables back to eat first. Your vegetable patch is empty. Come and pick whatever vegetables you need from my patch during this time.”
Su Yunyi couldn’t refuse and had to carry the basket of vegetables home.
Back home, there was still a lot of fish left in the pot, all the meat with the fewest bones.
Su Yunyi glanced at the man who was intently gnawing on fish bones.
This man, hard on the outside, soft on the inside!
She ladled a bowl of fish soup for herself. The spicy and fragrant aroma made Su Yunyi’s appetite surge.
After finishing her bowl, Su Yunyi, deliberately controlling her diet, asked, “Xiao Ze, I’m full. There’s still a lot of fish left in the pot. Can you still eat it? It’s so hot today, it’ll probably go bad tomorrow if you don’t eat it.”
Xiao Ze saw that she had only eaten one bowl of fish and had been eating shredded potatoes in vinegar the whole time.
He frowned and stared at her.
In her previous life, she would have licked the pot clean at every meal. When would she ever leave meat uneaten to eat potatoes, and even spend her own money to buy so many things?
A strange emotion welled up inside him.
Could it be that she…?
He shook his head, dispelling the strange thoughts, and stood up, pouring all the remaining meat and soup from the pot into his own bowl.
He was truly hungry. The large catch he found in the mountains today had taken him a lot of effort.
In his previous life, he had guided those foreigners who were afraid of getting lost.
Those people had dug up many things in the deep mountains.
At that time, he was terrifyingly ignorant, not knowing how to dig, nor knowing how valuable those things were.
Now that he had learned, this was the seed money heaven had prepared for him.
“Do you want to send some of the remaining fish to Mom and Dad? It’s too hot to keep, and we can salt some to dry for later.”
Xiao Ze’s thoughts were interrupted by Su Yunyi. Looking at the girl who was asking him with a serious expression, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity again.
Could a person really change so completely?
Su Yunyi hadn’t mentioned leaving here even once.
The many bamboos drying in the yard showed that she was trying hard to adapt to life here.
“I’ll take it over after dinner. Leave one rabbit on the ground to eat tomorrow, and take the rest to the commune tomorrow to sell for some grain.”
When Xiao Ze’s mother opened the door and saw her youngest son standing outside, her heart sank.
Coming home at this hour usually meant asking for alcohol or borrowing money.
She still greeted him, “Third son, it’s so late, would you like some soup?”
She regretted asking immediately. He didn’t participate in the team’s labor, so where would there be any soup? The last time she checked, the kitchen was empty.
Villagers didn’t eat dinner. They would boil a pot of plain congee, and the family would gather around the stove, holding large bowls with both hands, slurping it down. So, dinner was called drinking soup.
“Mm.”
Xiao Ze responded indifferently.
He showed no intention of coming in.
Xiao Ze’s mother was about to ask him to come in and say what he had to say, rather than discussing it outside. Tomorrow, the village would know everything. Although Xiao Laosan had a bad reputation, the rest of the family still had to live in the village and didn’t want to be the subject of gossip.
She saw that Xiao Ze was actually carrying something in his hand.
It was dark at night, so she couldn’t see clearly.
When he brought it closer, she finally recognized them: two fish!
Xiao Ze’s mother’s first reaction was that he had stolen them.
Seeing his mother’s expression, Xiao Ze knew she must have misunderstood. In his previous life, he had done some petty thievery, so it was no wonder his mother was suspicious.
“I caught them at the reservoir this morning. Don’t spread the word. It’s to supplement your health.”
Hearing him say that, Xiao Ze’s mother became anxious, “You even dare to go to that reservoir? Don’t you know how many people have drowned in there? Did your wife force you to go because she wanted to eat fish?”
Xiao Ze frowned upon hearing this, and the image of that fair, tender face with a soot-smudged nose flashed in his mind: “She just got married and doesn’t even know how to get around the village. How could she know about the reservoir? I wanted to eat fish myself. I won’t go there again.”
Xiao Ze’s mother was surprised that he would suddenly defend his wife so much. Her heart filled with joy. It seemed marriage was useful. Now that he was married, he knew how to cherish his wife, and naturally, he had become more sensible.
Her satisfaction with Su Yunyi grew.
She thought about going over to help them with some things another day, and also tidy up the vegetable patch. Su Yunyi was from the city and wouldn’t know how to do these things.
After delivering the fish, Xiao Ze turned and left.
Xiao Ze’s mother covered her mouth and laughed incessantly. It seemed her chubby grandson would soon be on the way.
The family, who had been afraid to speak upon hearing Xiao Laosan’s voice, all pushed open their doors and came out amidst Xiao Ze’s mother’s laughter.
They saw the fish in Xiao Ze’s mother’s hands.
The second daughter-in-law, Jiang Yunxia, was the first to exclaim, “Why are there two fish? My Er Tou has never even had fish soup since he grew so big. Grandma must let him have some meat.”
Upon hearing this, the eldest son, Xiao Laoda, said honestly, “In that case, give one to the second brother. One for Dad and Mom and us is enough.”
His wife, Zhuang Chunmei, her eyes narrowed, silently pulled her child back into the room.
The second son, Xiao Lao Er, looked at him with a complex expression.
Jiang Yunxia was so happy her mouth couldn’t close, and she kept saying, “Thank you, Uncle, on behalf of our Er Tou.”
Before she could be happy for a few seconds, Xiao Ze’s mother spoke.
“You two and one child, and you want a whole fish? Aren’t you afraid of choking? Dad and Mom haven’t even said they want a whole fish. This is simply unfilial. Tomorrow, we’ll kill one and eat it together as a family. The remaining one will be salted for later.”
These two daughters-in-law, one weak and the other greedy, would turn the house upside down if she didn’t keep them in check.
Xiao Ze was unaware that his two fish had caused so much trouble at home.
He returned home, and the yard was quiet, as if no one was there.
A sense of inexplicable loss washed over him.
He strode into the inner room and lifted the cloth curtain. Moonlight shone through the window, illuminating that fair, tender little face, as if bathed in a soft halo. Her bright eyes from the day were tightly closed, her cheeks puffed out, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned, and she let out soft, long breaths.
Was she that happy? She was smiling even in her sleep.
At this moment, if someone were nearby, they would have noticed the incomparably gentle expression on Xiao Ze’s face.
The water had been drawn and placed in the yard. Xiao Ze hooked the corner of his lips and comfortably washed himself.