Chapter 110

It was so warm, he couldn’t even keep his cotton-padded coat on!

Lu Liu stepped on Li Feng’s foot, and Li Feng let him. He asked, “Tired?”

Lu Liu was tired. He didn’t go out much, and most of his stamina had come from doing chores at home. After running around all day, now that his stomach was full and he’d soaked his feet, sleepiness hit him hard.

The room was warm, and the kang was already heated. All he wanted to do now was lie down and sleep.

Li Feng wasn’t having chicken tonight anyway. So sleep it was.

Li Feng agreed.

They went to bed early that night, so naturally, woke up early too.

But waking up with that poking him? Lu Liu still hadn’t gotten used to it—he’d reflexively try to push it away with his hand.

Li Feng would grab his hand, kiss him for a while, then get out of bed, poke at the brazier, and come back to invite Lu Liu for some “chicken.”

The sun rose slowly, bringing with it the dry heat of the early morning.

The heat from the brazier billowed upward, mingling with the sweat of their labors.

Lu Liu, having rested well overnight, was full of energy in the morning—and had chicken three times. He was satisfied.

Lu Yang stood on the road, watching Lu Liu and his husband disappear into the distance.

Coming home early meant finishing work early, which left his hands idle.

He wasn’t used to that. His eyes scanned both ends of the main road.

On either side, the land was mostly barren. After two rounds of snow, withered weeds lay sprawled across the muddy fields—patch after patch, all faded and gray, dragging the mood down.

No one had passed by in a long while, not from either direction. Even the little path by the village entrance hadn’t seen a soul in a good while.

Unlike the county, villages were all about communal living—crowded houses full of noise. If one family had something going on, the whole neighborhood knew. No peace at all.

But the moment you left the village, it became too quiet. Even being just a little ways away, you wouldn’t hear anyone gossiping about neighbors this or that. In the county, wherever you went, there were people.

One place was noisy because everyone was packed together; the other was noisy because everyone was scattered.

Lu Yang still preferred the county. He was more suited to life there—familiar places, easier ways to make money.

He stared east for a while longer. No sign of the donkey cart. So he turned back home.

Since he was back early for once, he helped his mother-in-law cook.

After marrying into the Xie family, he’d been constantly busy and never really had a proper conversation with his mother-in-law. Today was a good chance to sit and talk.

The water tank was nearly empty again, but there was still plenty of firewood.

Xie Yan had been going out early and coming back late with him lately, so the charcoal they’d bought hadn’t been used much. Lu Yang told his mother-in-law to light a brazier while she did paper cutting or needlework, just to stay warm.

Zhao Peilan was frugal. If it was sunny outside, she’d drag a stool into the courtyard and sit in the sun, always facing inward with her back to the road—she didn’t want to run into neighbors.

If the weather was bad, she’d sit by the stove. If she was eating alone, she wouldn’t even use the big pot in the kitchen, just threw something together on the small stove—heating up food and warming up the place at the same time.

They weren’t home much, so they tried to convince her to take care of herself. She always agreed in the moment but still saved wherever she could once they left.

Lu Yang understood—money brought peace of mind. If you had it, you could afford to loosen your grip on spending.

He took over the cooking and had Zhao Peilan help keep the fire going. Told her to rest by the stove for a bit too.

The rice cooked over the wood fire was already done—just needed to be steamed a little longer.

Lu Yang cracked two eggs, beat them with water, salt, and soy sauce, then poured the mixture over the rice to steam.

He and Xie Yan hadn’t had sweet potatoes in ages, but the stash at home had clearly been going down. Obviously, his mother-in-law had been eating them. Too much sweet potato messed up your stomach—Lu Yang hated the stuff.

But grain shouldn’t go to waste. He washed and sliced the rest and steamed them along the edge of the pot. Let the whole family eat it, and just be done with it. He wasn’t buying any more.

There were still plenty of radishes and cabbages at home, but even alternating between the two got boring fast.

No matter how creative you got, cabbage and radish were still cabbage and radish. Lu Yang figured he’d buy some tofu tomorrow.

Tofu was versatile—you could stir-fry it, stew it, pan-fry it, deep-fry it. Eat it fresh and soft, or firm and fermented. It could be a main dish or a side.

He’d grown up in the Chen household, and while he’d learned other recipes through trial, error, and sweet-talking tips out of other households, tofu dishes were his true expertise, honed through years of practice.

If they made tofu themselves, they wouldn’t even need to buy vegetables. Any unsold tofu could be left to ferment and turned into tofu cheese. Either way, it wouldn’t go to waste.

Eating tofu every day was bound to get boring at some point—and that’s when cooking skills were truly tested.

Lu Yang chatted with Zhao Peilan about all the different ways to prepare tofu, then asked, “Mom, we should start getting ready for the New Year. Besides meat, we need to pick up some other things too. Want to come to the county with us and take a look around?”

Zhao Peilan thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No need.”

“It’s just the three of us—we won’t be buying much anyway. Whatever you want to eat or drink, just tell us. We’ll bring it back, and I’ll cook it for you.”

It was too cold—riding a donkey cart in winter was freezing.

Poor families didn’t go out much. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t go far. Especially after the snow.

She added, “Aren’t we moving to the county soon? Just get a few basics. No need to overdo it.”

They already had meat and flour at home—by farming family standards, that was as good as it got.

Lu Yang said, “You’re right, but still—it’s the New Year. It should feel festive, lively. Since we don’t have a lot of people at home, we can make it feel fuller with other things. I want to buy a jar of wine this year, and two strings of firecrackers. We should get plenty of incense and paper money too. When we’ve got time, we can start folding paper ingots. I’ll put together a nice spread to honor Dad’s spirit before we eat.”

“In the first month of the new year, I’ll ask a few cousins from my side to help fix up the back courtyard of the shop—warm up the kang and get it ready. The cabinets, tables, chairs, pots and pans—anything we can bring from home, we will. No need to waste money. As for the house here, we’ll keep it for now. It’s close enough—we might need to come back someday.”

Zhao Peilan agreed, offering no objections.

Lu Yang asked if there was anything she wanted to add to the shopping list. She only shook her head: “No, as long as we can live in the county and life runs smoothly, that’s enough for me.”

Maybe something Lu Yang said stirred old memories. Zhao Peilan, usually quiet, began to speak—softly, but at length.

“We used to live in the county too. Back then we didn’t have much silver. Ah-Yan’s father followed someone’s advice and first set up a shop, then we rented a small courtyard to live in. Once we had some money, he started buying farmland—a little at a time. Having land and a money-making business meant we could eventually save up to buy our own courtyard.”

“This house in the village was sitting empty. His brothers kept pestering him to let them borrow it, saying their kids were grown, getting married, and there just wasn’t enough space at home. But Ah-Yan’s father refused. He had the final say in the family—if he said no, then even the eldest brother wouldn’t dare push it.”

“Then he got sick, needed treatment. I didn’t know anything about the business side of things, so I went to the shop manager for money. He said the business was all just goods being traded for silver and then back to goods—not much actual cash flow. I managed to take a little from the counter, just enough for a month of medicine. The rent for the courtyard was due around then, so we decided to move back to the village and save the rent. It was fifteen taels a year—enough to buy several good rounds of medicine.”

“We stayed here for a while, but he wasn’t getting better. I sold off a few acres of land for more money. We got him the good medicine, made him good food, and he was finally starting to recover. That’s when his brothers came swarming back, trying to take over. They saw how weak he was—barely able to speak—and started shouting at me, accusing me of wanting him dead so I could remarry and live a better life.”

“I just couldn’t understand it. What better life could I possibly want? Any good days I had were all because of him. But I couldn’t explain it. We fought several times, until he coughed up blood. After that, they finally quieted down—but by then, the illness had already dragged him to death.”

Lu Yang listened, stomach tightening with a mix of sorrow and rage. He said, “I’m guessing it all came down to money. Dad didn’t let them use his land to dodge the grain taxes, didn’t lend out the house, never even loaned them money, right? They held a grudge.”

Zhao Peilan stared into the fire in the stove for a long while before softly saying, “Yes. Before he passed, he told me—make sure to take Ah-Yan to the county, keep him away from them. They caused such a ruckus at his school that Ah-Yan had to drop out.”

Just a chat like that left Lu Yang with a stomachache from sheer anger.

Dinner that night was simple—two dishes: some sliced meat stewed with cabbage and a quick stir-fry of pickled vegetables. There was also a bowl of steamed egg in the pot.

Lu Yang had added extra salt to the egg dish on purpose—each person could scoop out two spoonfuls to mix with their rice. It had egg flavor, salt, and went down easy.

After wiping his hands, he said to Zhao Peilan, “Mom, sit and rest for a while. I’m going to the village entrance to check—Ah-Yan’s still not back.”

Winter nights came early. Lu Yang grabbed a lantern before stepping outside.

Just as he left the courtyard, Zhang Tie from the Lu Lin household showed up too, asking, “Is Lu Lin still not back either?”