Chapter 23

Silly Zhu said, “Er Xi stole all of this.”

Lu Yang asked again, “Who is Er Xi?”

Silly Zhu replied, “The one who tried to beat you up yesterday.”

He even pointed the way, hoping Lu Yang would go to Er Xi’s house for another “raid.”

Lu Yang showed great potential as the village bully. He pointed at Silly Zhu and said, “From now on, don’t make me come personally. When the vegetables in the fields are ripe, bring them over yourself.”

Silly Zhu nodded and bowed, agreeing to everything.

Lu Yang returned home with a full load and saw Xie Yan sitting on the doorstep, waiting for him.

Xie Yan’s eyes were blank, his expression dazed, as if questioning his entire life. Only when he saw Lu Yang did his eyes light up with admiration, bringing him back to life. He quickly stepped forward and asked, “Where did you go?”

“I woke up and didn’t see you.”

Lu Yang carried the basket to the kitchen and teased, “Did you think I ran away?”

Xie Yan shook his head. “I thought I was dreaming.”

When asked what he dreamed about, he said, “I thought it was a nightmare before the wedding. But in reality, I haven’t even gotten married yet. This is just my dream. I’m about to go pick up my bride.”

Lu Yang was intrigued. “Your dream is to marry a fierce husband?”

Xie Yan nodded—only to receive a deadly glare in return.

“So, you’re saying I’m a fierce husband?” Lu Yang asked.

Xie Yan: “…”

He broke into a cold sweat.

Seeing his reaction, Lu Yang burst into laughter.

He waved Xie Yan over to help sort the vegetables. “These are my spoils of war.”

He explained, “Silly Zhu gave them to me voluntarily.”

This season, radishes and cabbage were plentiful, and Silly Zhu had packed an entire basket for him.

The preserved pork came in small portions, just enough for two meals. The dried tofu looked good, and with pickled vegetables and flour at home, Lu Yang planned to make pickled tofu buns.

He also wanted to stew the cabbage with the preserved pork, making a hot dish to warm up.

Xie Yan looked at him with even more admiration.

“You’re amazing.”

Lu Yang chuckled and said, “Go read your books. They say morning is the best time to study. I’ll handle this.”

Xie Yan didn’t want to study. The moment learning was mentioned, he looked completely drained, like a widower forced into something he couldn’t refuse.

So Lu Yang said, “Then help me keep the fire going.”

Xie Yan knew some household chores—not many, but fire-keeping was one of them.

After all, he had lived alone with his mother for a long time and had to help out.

Lu Yang first boiled half a pot of hot water for them to wash up.

While waiting, he started kneading the dough. There was an old dough starter in the cupboard, so he took a bit and mixed it in to ferment.

Then he chopped the preserved pork and washed and cut the cabbage. Once the water was hot, he poured in some oil and stir-fried the pork.

The preserved pork was mostly fat with little lean meat, releasing an appetizing aroma as soon as it hit the pan.

Just five or six slices were enough to render a pool of oil.

He scooped some oil aside, then added the cabbage and stir-fried it before mixing in some fermented soybean paste to simmer.

It was a simple dish, but it smelled delicious.

After adding firewood to the stove, Lu Yang told Xie Yan to wash his face while he prepared the bun filling.

The dried tofu and pickled vegetables needed to be stir-fried. He washed the pickled vegetables and diced the tofu to soak.

When the dish was done, he placed it in a clay pot and covered it to keep warm.

Once the filling was cooked, Lu Yang kneaded the dough again, divided it, and began wrapping buns. His hands were quick—before Xie Yan could even see clearly, he had already wrapped one.

The small buns were neatly folded, their pleats even and pretty.

One bowl of filling made exactly eighteen buns.

By then, the water in the stove had boiled.

He placed the buns in the steamer over the large pot.

Before lighting the fire, he let them proof a bit longer. In the meantime, Lu Yang went to wash his face.

He had brought a pig-bristle toothbrush from home, and Xie Yan had tooth powder for him to use.

After freshening up, Lu Yang checked the time. He took some hot water from the stove and went to wake his mother-in-law, Zhao Peilan.

Since becoming a widow, Zhao Peilan had managed the household alone, taking care of everything. She didn’t have to farm her own land, so she rarely woke up early.

Lu Yang arrived just at the right time—dawn, when she would usually get up. But she wasn’t used to being served.

She looked at Lu Yang with a trace of fear.

Lu Yang said nothing.

He had shown his respect and done his duty. As long as no one could fault his actions, that was enough.

Leaving her room, he added more firewood to steam the buns.

Xie Yan trailed behind him, eager to help, but he could only handle setting the table with some bowls and chopsticks.

Lu Yang carried the stew to the main room and lit another stove.

Normally, steamed buns weren’t a suitable breakfast—they required waking up in the middle of the night to prepare.

But today, Lu Yang wanted buns. The first day of his new life deserved steamed buns.

If conditions allowed, he would have wanted meat-filled buns.

Speaking of conditions, he needed to ask about the Xie family’s situation.

Farmland, debts—those villagers had been shouting about it, so he needed to check if it was true. If there were debts, he had to see how much wealth the family had and if they could pay it off.

Xie Yan sighed and shook his head. “No debts.”

“When my father was alive, we didn’t owe anyone a single coin. But as soon as he passed, my Fourth Uncle’s family came causing trouble, claiming my father had taken his land and demanding we return it. But we owed nothing—why should we pay?

“So my Fourth Uncle went around crying, and even sent his kids to cause a scene at the county school. My mother had no way to stop them, couldn’t reason with them, so she gave them five acres of land just to end the trouble.”

Lu Yang: “…”

So just by making a fuss, they got five acres of land? If that’s how it works, he should start making trouble too. Busy with work when needed, causing chaos when idle—either way, he wouldn’t lose out.

Just as Lu Yang expected, soon more relatives came forward, claiming that Xie Yan’s father owed them land too.

“My father was a scholar, so his land was tax-exempt. Back then, many relatives wanted to register their land under his name to avoid taxes, but he refused, fearing it would lead to disputes later.

“They all agreed at the time—if the land was registered under my father’s name, it would belong to him. They didn’t question it then. But now that he’s gone, they’re twisting the story to their advantage. There’s no proof, just their words against ours.”

When relatives take the lead in making accusations, how could the other villagers not be tempted?

In a village this small, every dispute turns into a battle of numbers—who can gather more people, who can shout the loudest.

As time went on, the villagers figured out their own tricks. Now, instead of land, they started claiming that Xie Yan’s father owed them money.

After all, there was no way to prove otherwise.

Lu Yang listened for a while, then saw Zhao Peilan coming out for breakfast and went to fetch the buns from the kitchen.

Small buns steamed quickly, so he carried the whole steamer out.

Once breakfast was ready, he brought the clay pot of stew to the table.

Lu Yang used a woven straw mat to protect the table from the heat, then distributed the buns.

He was skilled at making buns—even Old Man Chen, a notorious penny-pincher, willingly let him make buns often.

The dough was just the right thickness—thin enough to be slightly translucent, showing the golden sheen of the oil and the filling inside, yet not breaking open. The skin had absorbed the flavorful juices, making every bite rich with taste.

The buns were small, just right for taking a bite and getting a good portion of the filling. The finely diced pickled vegetables and dried tofu complemented each other perfectly, giving each bite a tender yet chewy texture packed with savory goodness.

As for the stew, only a little fermented soybean paste was used, and some of the rendered pork fat had been set aside for frying the filling. This way, the dish turned out rich but not greasy. A bowl of stew paired with buns could even double as a soup.

Xie Yan ate with great satisfaction. “This is better than anything I’ve bought outside.”

Zhao Peilan also nodded in agreement before suddenly realizing, “Wait, we didn’t have these ingredients at home, did we?”

Xie Yan immediately choked on his food.

Lu Yang remained calm as he casually explained how Silly Zhu had “voluntarily” delivered the food.

Zhao Peilan hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

After a night of cooling down, she was thinking more clearly now—and fear was creeping back in. She worried that Silly Zhu’s family might come knocking on their door.

The wedding chaos was their fault, but taking so many vegetables made their family the ones at fault now.

If more people came—especially other young wives or husbands—how would Lu Yang handle it?

But Lu Yang wasn’t concerned.

“They should be grateful I’m not causing them trouble. If they want to come here again, it depends on whether I feel like giving them face.”