Chapter 62
Erxi didn’t try to provoke Lu Yang—he just left quietly.
That evening, things got lively at the Xie household. Silly Zhu was the first to catch on. Since Sangui had been trying to imitate him, Silly Zhu couldn’t afford to bring too little. So, gritting his teeth, he lugged over two full loads of firewood on a shoulder pole to the Xie house.
With Sangui copying him, it was now a competition. His dad, the village chief, knew how to play the long game—good goods are never too late, after all. Seeing Silly Zhu only bring one load, he got the message, went home, and told his eldest son. The two of them showed up with two huge baskets of firewood strapped to their backs. More than one load, less than two—but just enough to outdo Zhu.
Silly Zhu exchanged a sharp glance with him. Thinking no one noticed, they slipped into a corner and started arguing in low voices.
As for Sun Erxi—dead last in the redemption race—he panicked and made a bold move: he pulled up with an entire cart full of firewood.
Silly Zhu and Sangui were both dumbstruck.
Villagers came out with bowls in hand, ready to watch the show. No one really understood what was going on, but that didn’t stop the gossip:
“So… they’ve worked out a deal? Lu-fu’s not reporting it to the authorities?”
“Maybe they’re using firewood to pay off the debt? Haven’t you heard? Erxi took four taels of silver!”
“Even if Erxi took silver, what’s that got to do with Silly Zhu and Sangui?”
“They must’ve taken some too—otherwise, why kiss up like this?”
Amid the chattering crowd, members of Sun Erxi’s family mixed in and deliberately spread the blame around—smearing Silly Zhu and Sangui along with themselves. Erxi even shot Silly Zhu a glare sharp enough to cut.
Silly Zhu understood instantly. Sangui, on the other hand, just stood there, still dazed.
Wait a minute… How did delivering firewood end up saddling him with a whole debt scandal?
Lu Yang watched the whole circus play out, then casually said, “Thanks for the hard work. Go home and eat.”
Xie Yan stood at the kitchen door, staring at the three piles of firewood, eyes sparkling with admiration. His husband was seriously amazing.
Lu Yang took his hand and led his scholar back inside. “Come on, let’s eat too.”
Zhao Peilan’s face had visibly brightened. The household wasn’t rich yet—no savings, still spending heavily to get the business running—but at least no one was showing up to stir trouble anymore. She didn’t have to live in fear, constantly bracing for insults, gossip, or humiliation from the neighbors.
She still felt a little intimidated by Lu Yang—he was too sharp, too capable—but she knew he was truly good to them. That night’s dinner was noticeably more generous: not the usual “three people eat like two” setup, where just two eggs were cooked.
Everyone got a fried egg.
Fried eggs used a lot of oil. The golden, crispy edges shimmered with grease.
Zhao Peilan held her chopsticks a little tightly, nervous. Lu Yang was the one making money now—would he think she was wasting oil?
But Lu Yang beamed. “Thanks, Mom. I love fried eggs!”
For the first time in the Xie household, he felt like a real person.
He wasn’t an animal anymore. He didn’t have to eat the same dried-out sweet potatoes and bean dregs as the donkey.
This was good.
He loved his new home.
It had snowed for two straight days.
Lu Liu had taken a beating with a stick, eaten a chicken, and by the time the snow stopped… he still hadn’t left the house.
More accurately, he hadn’t even gotten off the kang.
Even with his normally good temper, he was furious with Li Feng.
How could he do that?
No one ever said winter hibernation meant this kind of hibernation!
That morning, Li Feng was once again trying to play the good husband, cooking noodles for Lu Liu.
Lu Liu didn’t get to enjoy his “good days” for long—he had a serious craving for food. But a bowl of egg noodles was all it took to cheer him up.
Li Feng had originally wanted to talk to him about Lu Yang, but seeing how simple-minded Lu Liu was, he worried that telling him the full story would mess with his peace of mind. So, he kept it to himself for now and instead asked Lu Liu if he had a childhood nickname—something to call him more intimately.
Lu Liu didn’t have a nickname. In their village, little boys were usually called “Brother So-and-so” growing up. He’d been called “Brother Liu” since he was a child.
But now that the question had come up, he gave it some thought. Since Li Feng was “Da Feng” (Big Feng), then maybe he could be… “Xiao Liu” (Little Liu).
He told Li Feng, “My nickname is Xiao Liu.”
Big Feng and Little Liu.
Hehehe.
He grinned after he said it. Just that morning he’d still been angry, but now he was all smiles again—completely letting it go.
Li Feng was quite pleased with the nickname. As Lu Liu slurped his noodles, Li Feng sat beside him and called him “Xiao Liu” over a dozen times.
Lu Liu kept giggling—“hehehe”—until his cheeks started cramping.
Li Feng had to head into the county that day to buy glutinous rice to keep making New Year’s cakes. Just before he left, he couldn’t help but tease:
“Xiao Liu, am I a good husband or what?”
Lu Liu, still aching all over and completely worn out, immediately stopped smiling.
He deadpanned:
“You’re a bad husband.”
Li Feng burst out laughing, planted a kiss on his cheek, then shrugged on his fur-lined coat and headed out.
After finishing his meal, Lu Liu lazed around on the heated kang for a while longer. Then he thought, Ah, screw it. He hadn’t been outside in two days—one more day wouldn’t kill him. He shut his eyes and went back to sleep.
There were only the two of them in the house. Once everything was tidied up, there wasn’t a ton of daily chores.
Three meals a day, some dishes and laundry. In winter, they didn’t change clothes often, and with the snow coming down, it was basically a break. As for the heavy lifting, Li Feng never let him lift a finger. That spared him a lot of work.
By the afternoon, Lu Liu woke up again—still feeling pretty sore.
He couldn’t just lie there, though. When he got off the kang and tried walking, his legs felt like jelly. But when he got to the kitchen, he saw that Li Feng had left him some congee and flatbread.
That really surprised—and touched—him.
It wasn’t much, but a warm bowl of porridge and a few bites of bread gave him back a bit of strength. He went to the backyard to feed Erhuang and the rabbits.
Li Feng had taken care of the rabbits the past couple days while Lu Liu was laid up.
He’d followed Lu Liu’s instructions—if the droppings were too runny, feed dry rice bran; if too dry, give them vegetables. For all his bossy tone, Li Feng was surprisingly willing to listen when it came to rabbit care—and he didn’t find it a bother at all.
Seeing the rabbits doing just fine, Lu Liu got an idea—he wanted to try feeding them primarily rice bran, with vegetables as a supplement. Today would be the first trial run. After feeding them, he noticed Erhuang was nudging the gate with his head, giving him meaningful glances like he wanted to go out and play. So Lu Liu unhooked the dog’s leash and let him run loose in the yard—but not too far.
Meanwhile, Lu Liu took half a sack of grain outside and started grinding it to collect more rice bran—keeping an eye on Erhuang as he worked.
Li Feng had said hunting dogs needed lots of activity. They had to run and burn off energy regularly.
Lu Liu realized he’d never seen Erhuang get to “go play.” The last two days, he and Li Feng had just been holed up together. When he asked about it, Li Feng explained that even hunting dogs had complicated love lives.
According to him, if someone’s male dog got a female dog from another household pregnant, the owner would have to give a hefty gift in compensation.
That was because every household raised hunting dogs—they were a livelihood. A pregnant female couldn’t go up the mountain for several months and needed special care.
And once she gave birth? Oh boy—the owners would argue for ages. Hunting dogs were judged by strength. If one or two pups were born strong and healthy, everyone would fight over who got which. If only one was born? The two families could feud for years.
Looks didn’t matter for hunting dogs—just physique. But of course, a good-looking, imposing dog was bound to be more desirable. That sparked more disputes.
Li Feng hated all that nonsense. He used to raise two hunting dogs—a male and a female—but the older one, Dahuang, had died on the mountain. Now only Erhuang was left.
That was his “dog son”—a male.
If he ran off and got into trouble… Li Feng would have to pay for it.
Now that Lu Liu and Li Feng were a couple, any money Li Feng had to pay in compensation was really coming out of Lu Liu’s pocket—and that made him feel sorry.
But since they were raising a “dog son,” it was kind of like setting him up with a match.
Hunting dogs could get along, but their owners might not.
Li Feng liked the dog from the Sanmiao family. But Erhuang didn’t get along with Sanmiao’s hunting dog. Erhuang preferred the dumb dog from the Daqiang family, which made Li Feng unhappy, so he locked Erhuang up for a few days.
Now Erhuang was circling around Lu Liu, giving him puppy-dog eyes, trying the same old trick to get him to let him out of the yard.
Lu Liu just stared.
How much does this look like breaking up a pair of lovebirds?
Before he got married, Lu Liu wanted to stand up to his two “dads” a bit—but he never succeeded. Later, when he met his older brother, things finally turned around. Now, living the good life, looking at Erhuang, he felt sorry for the dog. Meeting Li Feng as his strong-willed “dad” probably wasn’t easy.
He said to Erhuang, “Just wait. When your big-dad Feng gets back, I’ll talk to him for you.”
Erhuang might not have understood, but his tail wagged happily.
In the afternoon, Lu Liu spent his time around the stone mill. After grinding the grain, he cleaned up and started cooking.
He boiled rice in a big pot, stir-fried some greens for dinner, then diced some cured meat and stir-fried it with pickled vegetables.
Since it was cold, he wanted a warm soup to heat his body. He filled a clay pot with radish and chunks of cured meat, added water and seasoning, and set it on the stove to simmer.
