Lu Yang nodded.
Wang Fengnian continued, “We seem to have run into Li Feng from Li Village today.”
Lu Yang: ??
The official road should be renamed “The Path of Enemies.”
After Wang Fengnian finished explaining, he shared his conclusion with Lu Yang: “We all married on the same day, and your husband is from Chenjiawan. He’s also from Li Village, and one of those men was called ‘Dafeng.’ It must be him.”
Lu Erbao added, “He’s a good person.”
Lu Yang: …
Aside from being a bit overbearing, he wasn’t bad in other ways.
After leaving the guest room, Lu Yang went straight to the kitchen, intending to relieve his mother-in-law from the task of heating water, but when he entered, he didn’t find Zhao Peilan. Instead, he saw Xie Yan stoking the fire, holding a bunch of manuscript papers and feeding them into the stove.
Lu Yang stopped him, saying, “Don’t burn the manuscript papers. It’s too wasteful. You can keep them to patch the wall. The wall’s plaster is peeling off, and I’ve been bothered by it for a while. Use dry straw or leaves to start the fire instead.”
Xie Yan replied, “There’s still a lot of manuscript paper. I’ll use these for the fire and save the rest for the wall.”
Lu Yang’s interest was piqued: “Did you write something scandalous?”
The couple had lived together for a while and were open with each other. Xie Yan was blunt in his reply.
“They’re things my mother can’t see. I can’t use them for the wall, so I might as well burn them.”
Lu Yang wasn’t the type to control every little thing.
He chuckled, “I’ve learned your secret now. If you want to make it up to me, I won’t tell your mother.”
Xie Yan moved over on the low bench, making space for Lu Yang to sit beside him.
Lu Yang sat next to him, both of them squeezing onto the small stool in front of the stove.
Lu Yang was bold. He tilted his ear to listen for approaching footsteps. When he didn’t hear any, he took a couple of bites on Xie Yan’s handsome face, which was as tender as a well-made pastry.
Xie Yan rubbed his face, feeling the faint impressions of Lu Yang’s teeth.
“Why did you really bite me?”
Lu Yang giggled, “You smell good.”
Xie Yan fell silent, turning his head and offering the other side of his face.
Lu Yang, feeling playful, bit him again.
The two of them worked diligently, heating the water. Afterward, they brought it to the three elders. As they waited for the water to warm up, they kept avoiding others and continued their playful, fragrant interactions. When they finished and returned to the room, Xie Yan suddenly interrupted the mood.
“Wait, I have to do my homework!”
Lu Yang knew what he meant, but he pretended not to.
“Homework? Is that a new term you’re using? Not bad, I’ll remember it.”
While speaking, Lu Yang began to undress.
“Alright, go ahead.”
Xie Yan, still inexperienced, couldn’t tell Lu Yang was being intentional. For a brief moment, he hesitated at the misunderstanding, but then he was pushed down by Lu Yang.
He lay back, saying, “Alright then, go ahead.”
Being with Lu Yang made him more cheerful, and he started making playful remarks.
He added, “Let’s say this is worth ten wen.”
Ten wen was barely enough for two meat buns—what could that get you?
Lu Yang teased him for being stingy, enjoying the free meal.
Li Village.
Lu Liu received news from San Miao, who said that Li Feng was taking two people to Shangxi Village and would return home later than expected.
Since he didn’t often go out, Lu Liu couldn’t gauge the speed of the donkey cart and had no idea when Li Feng would be back. After waiting a bit, he could no longer sit still, so he began cooking fish soup.
He served a bowl to Erhuang to satisfy his hunger and another bowl for Yao Fulong.
Today, he had returned some gifts and brought two fish for Yao Fulong, feeling a little guilty.
At the same time, Li Qiang was going to visit the new village, which was near San Miao’s home. Lu Liu asked him to wait and filled a clay pot with fish soup, checking the amount. If it wasn’t enough for their family, he hesitated for a moment, then decided to pack it all up and have Li Qiang take it to Chen Guizhi and San Shun.
“Your family raises fish well. I only just killed them before cooking, so they’re fresh. Let your mother and brother taste it while it’s still hot.”
This was the first time Li Qiang had spoken to Li Feng’s burly husband, and no matter how he looked at Lu Liu, he couldn’t see anything particularly fierce about him. Lu Liu spoke softly and gently.
After receiving the pot, Li Qiang went back to drive the cart. He told his husband, “Dafeng’s husband is really kind. Where did you hear that he’s fierce?”
Yao An gave him a hat and said, “Who else? Wang Dongmei, of course. It’s spread all over both villages.”
This was also the reason why Yao An was so generous toward Lu Liu. In the village, no matter how extravagant someone was, it was rare for them to give away three fish within just a few days.
He saw that Lu Liu had a good temperament, not at all like the rumors, and he wanted to build a relationship with him. In the future, he would visit the mountains so that Li Feng could help Li Qiang learn more.
The old hunters gradually stopped going into the mountains, and the younger men had to take on the responsibility. Among them, Li Feng was the most familiar with the mountains. Every time he went up, he came back with a bountiful catch, which made the others envious.
Li Qiang curled his lips. “It’s from the Ertian family.”
Yao An gave him a slap, telling him not to talk nonsense.
“After you deliver the fish soup, go check with San Miao on how they plan to handle the wedding and how many tables they’ll need. Don’t stir up any trouble.”
Li Qiang agreed and hurried off.
As he neared the new village, he ran into Li Feng again. Li Qiang, ever the troublemaker, called out loudly, “Dafeng, your husband is really good at cooking! That fish soup he made—ah, it was so fresh it almost made my tongue fall off!”
He lifted the clay pot from the cart and showed it to Li Feng. “See this? This is the soup he made. You haven’t had any yet, right? I noticed he packed it all into the pot. Poor Dafeng, even Erhuang got some soup, but you didn’t! Hahaha!”
Li Feng: …
What was wrong with him?
Li Feng replied, “Your tongue might have become fresh, but you still bark like a dog. Next time you visit my house, let Erhuang greet you.”
Li Qiang wasn’t afraid of getting a beating, so he just kept going on, “Hey, you didn’t get to drink your husband’s fish soup!”
Li Feng gave him a look that made him want to punch him, but at the same time, he also thought he should bring back some fish to store. The fish soup was really delicious.
Li Feng said, “Take it over to my place and tell them it’s not for the Ertian family.”
Li Qiang, hearing this, stopped being cheeky, now afraid of a beating.
“Alright.”
Li Feng said goodbye and hurried home.
At home, Lu Liu was checking the ingredients and, on a whim, decided to make dumplings.
The meat was fresh pork that his two fathers had brought, and he went out to the field to pull up some cabbage. He came back and made pork and cabbage dumplings.
He made two types of dumplings: one boiled, with hot broth inside.
For himself, Lu Liu didn’t bother making a special broth; the big, plump dumplings tasted great as they were.
For Li Feng, he fried some fatty pork to extract the oil, then sautéed onions to bring out the aroma, adding a little chili. He mixed this onion oil and chili sauce with some of the broth to create a flavorful dip. He waited for Li Feng to return so he could adjust the sauce to his taste.
The aroma was intoxicating. Lu Liu used the leftover onion oil in the pan, picked up some dumplings with chopsticks, and placed them in the pan. He added a little water, covered the pot, and let them cook with the residual heat of the stove.
The result was crispy dumplings, different from the boiled kind, with a delightful texture.
Li Feng returned just in time to enjoy the dumplings.
He had spent the whole day in the county town, buying noodles, but he hadn’t eaten enough and had spent all his money. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he smelled the delicious fragrance and his stomach rumbled in hunger.
When Lu Liu saw him, his eyes sparkled with joy. He brought the dumplings over, added some broth, and gave Li Feng a bowl of warm water to wash his hands and face before telling him to eat.
“There are still fried dumplings in the pot. Finish this bowl, and I’ll serve you more.”
The fresh pork was all used up, and Li Feng quickly ate a dumpling, then asked Lu Liu, “Did we have guests?”
When guests were mentioned, Lu Liu felt a little uncomfortable. “Hmm, my second uncle and his family came to see me. They brought two pounds of meat and a jar of sugar.”
Li Feng looked up in surprise. “Such a generous gift?”
He thought for a moment and couldn’t recall, “Did they not come to the wedding feast?”
Lu Liu, eating a dumpling himself, responded slowly since the dumplings were hot.
“Hmm, they didn’t come. I heard I married into Li Village, so they came to visit.”
Li Feng noted it down. “After these two days, I’ll go send them a gift.”
Lu Liu wasn’t sure if he should stop him, feeling a little awkward. He vaguely responded, deciding to think it over later since Li Feng hadn’t gone yet.
He also mentioned the fish soup, “The two fish I stewed didn’t produce much soup. I gave a bowl to Erhuang to satisfy his cravings and also sent a bowl to Yao Fulong. When I heard that his big son was going to the new village, I thought I should let his mother and Shun Ge try some too, but there wasn’t much left.”
