Chapter 222

He was genuinely happy—his very own top-scholar husband wasn’t disappointed at all about the baby.

“I’ll take you with me!”

Xie Yan immediately brightened and shot a look at Li Feng. “Make sure the wine and dishes are good. I want to see what kind of life you’re living now.”

That one line was enough to fire up any man’s competitive streak. The moment they left the shop, Li Feng headed straight for the market to buy good ingredients. He was determined to host them properly.

…………………………..

With important guests coming, the family gathered that night to plan the menu. Together, they settled on a full spread of mountain delicacies and wild game.

Two wild-vegetable dishes: fragrant spring-shoot omelet and stir-fried mountain bracken with pork.

Two mountain specialties: salt-pork and bamboo-shoot stew, and mixed-mushroom soup.

Two wild-game dishes: snake soup and white-cut rabbit.

And the main hearty dish: soybean-braised pork trotters.

That made eight dishes in total. Since Lu Liu couldn’t stand fishy smells or the gaminess of lamb during pregnancy, they added a cold dish—scallions tossed with tofu.

Li Feng bought pork trotters, eggs, and several pounds of fresh meat. They had no soybeans at home, so he picked some up as well. Since they lived at the foot of the mountain, he planned to dig up some wild scallions too, to make wild-scallion pork-dumpling filling.

The spread would be impressive—balanced with both local flavors and homestyle dishes. Tasty but not heavy, suitable for both pregnant and recovering guests.

On the day Lu Yang and Xie Yan were to arrive, Li Feng even went to the new village to pick them up.

Lu Liu woke early, helping his mother and younger brother in the kitchen.

Chen Guizhi wouldn’t let him touch cold water, so he only helped with chopping. The washing fell to Shun-ge’er.

With so many different dishes, the kitchen was smoky and busy. Once the prep was done, Lu Liu couldn’t stay in that smell-filled room, so he went to their small shop to watch the counter.

When there were no customers, he couldn’t sit still—he wandered outside to the road, constantly checking for visitors.

Their business had been booming lately; people were always coming and going. Chen Guizhi had already told the neighborhood days in advance that the family would be hosting guests and couldn’t chat, so the courtyard stayed quieter than usual.

After the morning rush, only a few mountain-goods sellers wandered by.

Word spread quickly in the village—important guests were coming. Once people heard it was Lu Liu’s wealthy older brother and brother-in-law from the county, everyone was itching to see what kind of prosperous family they belonged to.

Some were even jealous, especially curious about what gifts the brother might bring—whether they’d match the lavish meal the Li family was preparing.

When Li Feng reached the new village, Sanmiao brought him a bowl of peanuts and kept him company.

“Your sister-in-law’s been talking trash all morning,” Sanmiao warned. “She even came to my house to jab at Xiao He. Still not behaving.”

Li Feng didn’t care.

“She’s not my wife,” he said. “And it’s the same old stuff. Her mother’s family came before—my mom cooked her best dishes too. We just brought in a whole bunch of ungrateful freeloaders. Let them be.”

Then Sanmiao talked about his pregnant dog.

“Several families want to put down deposits for the pups. I told them you’ve already reserved one, and my house is keeping one. But last time you said your brother also wanted one—was that real?”

Hearing “your brother,” Li Feng’s mouth twitched.

He still hadn’t gotten used to calling Lu Yang “brother.”

“I’ll ask him later,” he said.

A litter might have four or five pups. One for each family, one for Lu Yang, and any extra could be sold.

As they chatted, Xie Yan drove the carriage into the village.

He had been here before and moved confidently. Competing with Li Feng was still on his mind—he’d washed the horse the day before, so it was spotless and spirited. Even the cart—originally Li Feng’s old one—had been scrubbed until it looked new.

Knowing the mountain road would be dusty, he stopped before the turnoff to wipe down the horse’s head and neck with a damp cloth he had prepared.

Li Feng had always envied the horse. Now that it was immaculate, Xie Yan sat tall and proud.

Lu Yang teased him the whole way. “What are you two competing for, exactly?”

“He started it,” Xie Yan muttered.

“How?”

“He bragged that his husband is obedient.”

“…And?” Lu Yang prompted.

“He was showing off. I can’t lose.”

Lu Yang had no words.
Wasn’t Liu-ge’er actually obedient? This wasn’t even bragging…

Once they left the main road and turned toward the new village, Li Feng hurried the mule cart forward to greet them.

Sanmiao, who recognized them, laughed. “You’re here! Da Feng’s been waiting all morning—he’s got everything ready!”

Xie Yan puffed up instantly. “Very thoughtful.”

Li Feng’s competitiveness flared at that tone. He led them toward the mountain village, sneaking glances at the horse again.

Instead of asking Xie Yan, he turned to Lu Yang. “Think you can get your hands on a horse for me?”

Lu Yang nodded. “Sure.”

He could just ask Wu Pingzhi; and the livestock market in town sold horses too.

“When Liu-ge’er gives birth,” he said, “I’ll send your kid a pony. None of the children in the village have one—your boy will make them all jealous!”

Li Feng lit up and added, “I won a deer-sinew slingshot the other day, planning to give it to the baby. Deer are hard to hunt—most kids don’t have one. When he goes out to play, the whole village will be jealous!”

“Good idea,” Lu Yang praised.

The two suddenly had a shared topic.

Xie Yan’s ears perked—and then he cut in, “And will the kid study?”

Li Feng: “…”

He was a hunter; book learning wasn’t in his blood. Who knew if their child would be scholarly?

Lu Yang nodded seriously. “Riding horses and learning archery is fine. Teach him survival skills too. But he must study. You make money—use it to raise a scholar.”

Li Feng didn’t argue; he nodded earnestly.

Then he looked at Xie Yan’s head a little too long.

Xie Yan squinted. “What?”

Li Feng was just… looking. But his hungry gaze made it obvious—he was admiring that scholarly brain.

Xie Yan shivered. “Fine, fine. I won’t talk about studying anymore!”

Lu Yang covered his face.
Their top scholar had just won the argument, yet somehow managed to concede it.

They talked and laughed all the way up the mountain.

As they passed houses, villagers stared openly. Some asked Li Feng, “Your husband came out to greet his brother?”

They had mistaken Lu Yang for Lu Liu, and thought Xie Yan was the county brother.

Both Li Feng and Xie Yan were immediately offended. They answered over each other:

“That’s not my husband—that’s my husband’s brother!”
“This is my husband—his brother isn’t even here!”

But the cart kept moving, and no one really understood the jumble.

Xie Yan finally wrapped an arm around Lu Yang’s waist, and the questions stopped—though every villager stared even harder.

People who had delivered goods to the county had said the county brother looked just like Lu Liu. Seeing him in person now, everyone understood.

Yao-fu-lang, a certified gossip, even ran outside just to watch. Since he loved excitement, he boldly stuck himself beside Lu Liu and followed the group all the way back.