The image of Liu Si, the Liu family’s youngest son, appeared in Xie Zhao’s mind.
He was short, skinny, and dark-skinned.
To be honest…
He wasn’t much to look at.
Still, his family owned a grain and oil shop, so they certainly didn’t have to worry about food.
But if they were willing to send a son out as a live-in husband, it meant he wasn’t especially favored by his parents.
Once he married into another family, whatever property the Liu family owned would have nothing to do with him.
“So…”
“You didn’t like him?”
“Mm.”
“What didn’t you like about him?”
He was asking because he wanted to learn her standards for choosing a husband.
If Lu Changgeng happened to fail those standards too…
He’d simply call off their agreement.
“He’s too… ordinary-looking.”
Xie Zhao immediately understood.
She cared about appearance.
Calling Liu Si “ordinary” was already being polite.
In Xie Zhao’s opinion, Liu Si was simply ugly.
Lu Changgeng, on the other hand, wasn’t bad-looking.
Having studied for years, he carried the refined air of a scholar.
“What about Lu Changgeng?”
“What do you think of him?”
“He’s alright.”
Jiang He answered without thinking.
Xie Zhao quietly let out a sigh of relief.
“So…”
“You think he’s fairly good-looking?”
“Mm.”
“Then if you were to marry—”
Before he could finish, Jiang He set down her chopsticks with a loud thud.
Xie Zhao stopped mid-sentence.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“You’re not satisfied?”
Jiang He sighed softly.
“Brother Lu is a good man.”
“It’s not that I’m dissatisfied.”
“I just…”
“I’m a little unwilling.”
That was the first time he’d heard her put it that way.
“What are you unwilling about?”
How was she supposed to explain that, as someone from the modern world, she simply couldn’t accept having her marriage arranged like people did in ancient times?
After thinking for a moment, she answered,
“The Jiang family used to be wealthy.”
“I was raised with maids and servants.”
“I’m unwilling to marry a bricklayer…”
“…to wake before dawn and work until dark with him…”
“…to eat coarse food every day…”
“…to constantly worry about whether we’ll have enough to eat…”
“…and spend my entire life without ever getting ahead.”
It was an incredibly realistic concern.
And coincidentally…
It was the very thing Xie Zhao had been worrying about all along.
At that moment, he felt even more grateful for the agreement he’d made with Lu Changgeng.
Only if Lu Changgeng passed the xiucai examination would he be worthy of marrying his sister.
Otherwise…
There would be no marriage.
Smiling, Xie Zhao said,
“Don’t worry.”
“I won’t let you marry into hardship.”
He then told her about the agreement he’d made with Lu Changgeng.
Jiang He was stunned after hearing it.
So…
He’d practically signed away her marriage with a contract?
“My lifelong marriage…”
“You decided it just like that?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Xie Zhao still stubbornly lifted his chin.
“How is that deciding it?”
“I said it only counts if he passes the xiucai examination next year.”
“Go ask around.”
“Out of all the people who study themselves half to death every day, how many actually become xiucai?”
“As for him…”
“Hmph.”
“He spends all day hauling bricks.”
“He barely has time to touch his books.”
“If he manages to pass, that’ll be a miracle.”
Thinking about how absurdly low the success rate for the xiucai examinations was in ancient times…
Jiang He had to admit he had a point.
There was no way Lu Changgeng would actually pass.
“But…”
“Aren’t you just playing him?”
“How is that playing him?”
“If he fails, that’s because he isn’t capable enough.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
Jiang He: “…”
So…
Do you actually want me to marry him…
Or not?
“What if he does pass?”
“If he can haul bricks all day and still pass the examination…”
“Then that proves he truly has talent.”
“In that case…”
“He’d be worthy of you.”
“That’s true.”
Jiang He changed the subject.
“Firewood is pretty expensive.”
“And that’s during summer.”
“When winter comes and every household needs wood for heating…”
“It’ll probably become even more expensive.”
“When the weather cools down…”
“Should we go into the mountains and gather some ourselves?”
“We still have the handcart.”
“We could haul back a whole cartload.”
Xie Zhao frowned but didn’t answer immediately.
Seeing that, Jiang He added,
“I only mean we should save money wherever we can.”
“If it’s too troublesome, forget I said anything.”
“No.”
“I was just thinking about where to gather firewood…”
“…and what time of year would be best.”
“If we go too early, the branches won’t have fallen yet.”
“If we go too late…”
“There won’t be anything left.”
“I don’t know either.”
“Maybe I’ll ask the firewood sellers sometime.”
“They make a living selling firewood.”
“Why would they tell you?”
“I’ll ask Lu Changgeng instead.”
“He’s from the countryside.”
“He should know.”
“That works.”
To earn more money, Xie Zhao accepted work raising roof beams.
Not only was it dangerous…
It also demanded tremendous strength.
Sometimes the heavy beams had to be carried directly on workers’ shoulders.
The rough wood scraped away the skin until their shoulders bled.
But he never let Jiang He find out.
Each time, he’d secretly wrap the wounds himself, afraid she’d notice the bloodstained bandages.
Still…
Paper could never fully contain fire.
Sooner or later, the truth would come out.
One night, Jiang He got up to use the latrine.
By pure chance, she caught Xie Zhao washing his blood-soaked bandages.
The basin of clear water had already turned completely red.
Then she saw the thick scabs covering his shoulders.
Her vision nearly went black.
“Xie Ziming!”
“What have you done?”
She rarely called him by his full name.
Startled, Xie Zhao hurried over to support her.
“I’m fine.”
“I just accidentally scraped my shoulder while working.”
“Scraped your shoulder?”
“Does this look like a simple scrape?”
“These are obviously friction wounds!”
“New wounds on top of old ones!”
“What kind of work keeps rubbing your skin off like this?”
“I…”
“Well…”
“It’s my own fault.”
“My skin’s too delicate.”
“I just can’t handle hard labor.”
“But it’s alright.”
“The master carpenters said that if I keep at it…”
“…I’ll eventually grow calluses.”
“Master carpenters?”
“You’ve been working on roof beams?”
Xie Zhao smiled sheepishly, completely unconcerned.
“Yeah.”
“The pay’s much better.”
“Once we’ve finished raising the beams for those houses…”
“We’ll finally have enough money to travel to Liang City and collect those debts.”
In the original novel…
There had never been any debt collection.
Xie Zhao had never needed to do such dangerous work.
He only had to continue doing ordinary labor until his memories returned.
Because of her arrival…
He was suffering through all of this.
Without another word, Jiang He grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the house.
“H-Hey!”
“What are you doing?”
“I haven’t finished washing these yet!”
“Leave them.”
“I’ll wash them later.”
“First, I’m treating your wounds.”
“You don’t have to.”
“The old craftsmen already said that if I just leave them alone, they’ll eventually grow calluses—”
“Mmph!”
Jiang He stuffed a roll of clean gauze straight into his mouth.
She was genuinely angry.
Ignoring his protests, she carefully cleaned, medicated, and bandaged every wound.
Watching her frown with both anger and worry, Xie Zhao sighed helplessly.
“So now you’re taking care of me too.”
Jiang He shot him a glare.
The weak flame of the oil lamp flickered gently.
Under the shifting light, she tried several times before finally tying the bandage securely.
“There.”
“But remember…”
“Don’t use this shoulder again.”
“If you do, the wound will split open.”
Xie Zhao casually rolled his shoulder.
Jiang He immediately stopped him.
“Hey!”
“I just told you!”
Left with no choice, he gave up and laughed.
“These past three years…”
“I’ve really become soft.”
“If it were before…”
Halfway through, he suddenly stopped.
Before… what?
Dodging blades and arrows?
Why would a thought like that suddenly appear?
“Before what?”
Jiang He asked as she packed away the medicine.
“Did you remember your glorious years as a notorious bandit?”
Xie Zhao laughed awkwardly.
“I wish I had.”
“If I remembered…”
“I’d just go back to my old profession.”
“Then you wouldn’t have to suffer alongside me.”
“Heh.”
She replied with obvious sarcasm,
“Exactly.”
“If you really become a notorious bandit…”
“I’ll just go to prison with you.”
“Then we’ll never have to worry about paying for food or firewood again, since the government will feed us.”