Lu Liu had already poured the wine. When he looked up and saw it was Li Feng clinking glasses with him, his face flushed red in an instant.
Li Feng tapped his cup to his. “Come on, drink up.”
It was Sanmiao’s wedding—they couldn’t steal the spotlight.
As soon as Lu Liu heard that, he tilted his head back and downed the whole cup in one go.
The wedding wine wasn’t anything fancy—there was a lot of it, but it was harsh and cloudy. The liquor burned like fire going down, making him cough the moment it hit his throat. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to stifle it.
Li Feng patted him twice on the back. That touch just made Lu Liu cough even harder. He shot Li Feng a look—eyes full of soft affection, no hint of annoyance, just tender longing.
Sanmiao had to move on to the next table to toast, so Li Feng followed.
Shun nudged Lu Liu. “Eat some more,” he urged.
But Lu Liu wasn’t in the mood for food—he wanted water.
Chen Guizhi stood up and brought him a bowl of tea. Lu Liu gulped down half of it. His face was already flushed, his eyes glistening with tears—clear signs of being tipsy.
“Thank you, Mom,” he said.
Seeing him like this, Chen Guizhi told him gently, “Hang in there a bit longer. We’ll go home soon, you can sleep it off.”
Lu Liu nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and dug around in his bowl until he found some snake meat. He shut his eyes and popped it into his mouth.
The snake meat was delicious—delicate and tender, a bit like chicken but even smoother. So good.
Lu Liu fished out the rest of the snake meat and tried to give it to his mother-in-law.
Chen Guizhi waved it off. “You eat it yourself.”
But drunk as he was, Lu Liu insisted, slurring, “You eat it. You’ll like me after.” And he chuckled to himself.
Chen Guizhi let it slide. “You finish eating first, then we’ll talk.”
Lu Liu blinked innocently. “Talk about what? That you like me?”
What could she even say to that? She wasn’t Li Feng—what was all this about liking or not liking?
Shun couldn’t hold back his laugh. He patted Lu Liu’s shoulder. “Brother-in-law, give it to me! If I eat it, I’ll like you for sure!”
But Lu Liu turned to him and, in all seriousness, said something totally heartless.
“I want Mom to like me, not you.”
Shun froze. What the heck?!
Chen Guizhi, not wanting him to cause a scene at the feast, left the rest of the snake stew in his bowl untouched.
Lu Liu fished out the pork knuckle next. He had three pieces—he gave two to his mother-in-law, one to Shun.
Shun was over the moon. See? He said he didn’t want me to like him, but he still gave me some!
When Chen Guizhi saw Lu Liu get this drunk off one cup of wine, she shot a glare at Li Feng from across the room.
This guy… rare chance to have a good feast, and he lets the best stuff go. Not how a husband should be! She grabbed a rabbit leg and handed it to Lu Liu. “Eat this.”
Lu Liu was obedient—if she gave it to him, he ate it.
The first time he’d had rabbit was on his wedding day, when Shun brought him his meal. This was only the second time.
The rabbit at the feast had been roasted first until the skin was crispy, then braised in a big pot with veggies. They hadn’t used much seasoning for the roasting—just a few slits in the meat so it would cook through. The braise let the sauce soak in deep, so every bite was rich and savory.
Lu Liu couldn’t really tell what rabbit was supposed to taste like—he just thought it was delicious.
As he gnawed on the leg bone, he kept murmuring, “Thanks, Mom,” looking every bit the good son-in-law.
The people at the table kept chatting with Chen Guizhi, singing Lu Liu’s praises.
“He’s really something—can grab food, knows how to be filial, spoils his brother-in-law, treats Li Feng well, listens to you. Some folks were spreading nonsense before, saying he and Li Feng didn’t get along, that Li Feng beat him so bad he couldn’t get out of bed. I tell ya, pure lies! Did you see the way Li Feng looked at him just now? Man’s eyebrows were about ready to fly off his face with pride!”
Chen Guizhi hadn’t heard any of that. “Who said they didn’t get along?”
So they all started chiming in, telling her the gossip.
Lu Liu’s ears were buzzing. He couldn’t tell who was talking anymore. His vision was double, and by the time he got to the end of the rabbit leg, he was scraping it clean like he was doing acupuncture—took him ages to tear off that last little bit of meat.
Good thing he’d eaten most of it earlier, so there wasn’t much wasted.
When the feast finally broke up, whatever scraps were left on the table—especially the bones—were collected up to take home for the dogs.
Lu Liu was still sitting there in a daze. Shun tried to help him up but couldn’t budge him.
So Chen Guizhi and Shun worked together, each taking one side, and helped Lu Liu away from the feast and back home.
In the village, the go-to hangover cure was radish boiled with sugar. It happened to be radish season, so Chen Guizhi went out, pulled one from the ground, chopped it in half, and set it to boil with a good scoop of sugar from the jar.
By the time Li Feng was done joining in on the fun at the bridal chamber and got home, he had a bowl of the radish soup too.
The soup made you sweat. Since they weren’t going back down the mountain that night, they asked Yao’s wife to feed Erhuang for them and toss a radish into the rabbit pen.
Yao’s wife had even saved some food for Lu Liu—she really had. She was helping out in the kitchen, so she couldn’t just openly set food aside while everyone was watching. She waited until the feast ended, then handed Li Feng a bowl of untouched dishes—nothing but meat, set aside before it even went to the tables, clean and ready to heat up for a proper meal.
Li Feng stashed the food in the kitchen, then carried Lu Liu into the bedroom, took off his shoes, tucked him under the blanket, and let him sleep. After that, he went to sit in his mother’s room.
Chen Guizhi had something to ask him—about this “guilty conscience” business.
Li Feng tried to play it off. “There’s nothing going on. I was just trying to show you some respect.”
Chen Guizhi shot him a look. “What am I—some kind of wicked mother-in-law you have to keep buying pig stomach to please?”
Li Feng fell silent.
Finally, he said, “I had a bit of extra money, so I bought a couple more. Don’t overthink it. There’s only one left now—once that’s gone, that’s it.”
Chen Guizhi had lost her appetite for it. She didn’t have the luck to enjoy it, but at least she knew quality when she tasted it.
Good pig stomach meant you’d cleaned it right—and in the dead of winter, with Li Feng gone all day hunting, that must’ve been Lu Liu doing the hard work.
One was fine, but three? That was a lot of work. And the fact they went to all that trouble without just telling her what was going on—it left Chen Guizhi uneasy.
“What is it?” she asked. “Did the Chen family come asking him for money? And he gave it?”
Li Feng shook his head. “He’s got no guile in him. When he went to market, he didn’t waste a cent. Brought me back every last coin he didn’t spend. There’s no way he’s sending money to the Chens.”
Then what was all this about? She really wanted to know.
Li Feng mumbled, “It’s still that business with the bride price swindle.”
As far as Chen Guizhi was concerned, that was done and dusted. They’d taken three padded jackets—fair enough for a dowry.
Sure, the groom’s side always spent more. The two families didn’t have to match exactly—as long as it looked decent to outsiders.
She frowned. “And Yang still cares about that?”
Li Feng just made a noise of agreement, not saying much.
Chen Guizhi’s brow smoothed out. “Alright, I get it. Don’t bother sending that last pig stomach over. He said himself he never ate pig stomach before—just let him cook it, you two enjoy it.”
Li Feng took the chance to say all the good things he’d been meaning to about Lu Liu. Since they were talking about it, he asked, “Mom, what do you think of him?”
Chen Guizhi sighed. “I gave you twenty taels of silver to get married. You really don’t know what that means? I just want you to have a good life. I want a husband for you who’s loyal, who’s with you heart and soul. You had it too hard growing up, and that’s my fault.
“You were the eldest—you were closest to your dad. When he died, you had to hold this family up all by yourself. You went off hunting for months at a time. Couldn’t even pick your own hunting dog—you had to take what was left after everyone else chose. When it came time to talk marriage, this one turned you down, that one didn’t want us—you didn’t even get a choice.
“But silver’s good. With silver, we get to do the picking. And why did I pick him? Because I wanted you two to have a good life. If anything big happens, I’ll bear it. But the way you’re acting now… that’s what makes me feel uneasy.”
Li Feng’s chest tightened. He thought about telling her the whole truth… but in the end, he didn’t.
“He and I—we’re of one mind. He’s got no scheming in him. All he thinks about is me. Since we married, he’s barely stepped outside. He keeps the house spotless—I come home and there’s a hot meal, a warm bed. He’s sweet, he never upsets me. I want to live well with him.”
Chen Guizhi understood. Something big really had happened.
She didn’t say anything for a long time. Then all of a sudden she said, “Alright then—let’s split the household. The year’s almost over anyway. When we do the New Year’s Eve meal, I’ll ask the village head to witness it. You and Eryan will divide the family. You know the blacksmith—buy me a pot, and Shun and I will cook for ourselves.”
