The soup could also be used to soak rice for Erhuang, saving the trouble of making separate dog food.
As the sky darkened, Lu Liu steamed some rice and warmed the vegetables together with it, then went to the doorway to look out.
Erhuang followed him to the yard gate. The dog was really well-behaved—once outside, she didn’t run off to the Daqiang family’s place. Seeing her beloved dog there, she just sat quietly by Lu Liu’s legs, wagging her big tail.
Lu Liu asked, “Are you hoping I’ll talk to your big-dad Feng about finding you a match?”
Erhuang, like a silly dog, just stuck out her tongue and wagged her tail. When Lu Liu said a few more words, she barked once.
Lu Liu didn’t know what she was barking about but figured it was “calling Dad,” since Li Feng had told him that’s what it meant.
As it got even darker, Li Feng came back.
On the winding dirt road, a mule cart was pulling up, with Li Feng riding on top and goods loaded behind.
Lu Liu went outside to meet him. “Dinner’s all ready. I’ll bring you a basin of hot water to soak your hands and wash your face, then we can eat.”
Li Feng answered, and when he saw his husband, he called out “Xiao Liu” (Little Liu), making Lu Liu laugh.
Erhuang barked twice, catching the attention of both men.
Li Feng glanced at her, but she just kept wagging her tail.
Wagging her tail worked on Lu Liu, but Li Feng ignored her.
The cart came into the yard, and Li Feng started unloading.
Lu Liu was about to go to the market with some other wives and husbands from the village. They’d take a cart to the county, then carry baskets on their backs.
There was a lot to buy for the New Year, especially meat. Li Feng didn’t want to tire his husband out, so this time he did the shopping all at once.
He had a brother, Er Tian, who could have helped with the shopping to separate business and personal matters. But Er Tian had hurt Li Feng’s feelings, so until things got cleared up, Li Feng wanted to keep things clear.
They bought the meat and salt.
Plus, the fish Li Feng promised Lu Liu.
The rest of the smaller items would wait for Lu Liu’s trip to the market, letting him spend some money and enjoy himself.
Lu Liu was really happy and tried to help carry the meat—but he couldn’t move it at all, shocking himself.
“How much is this?”
Li Feng bought half a side of pork, weighing thirty-five jin and two liang (about 38 pounds).
He also got three pig stomachs—great for soup, and Lu Liu’s mother loved them. After being upset by Er Tian and with Lu Liu hiding things, Li Feng bought extra pig stomachs, hoping Lu Liu would cook soup to make his mother happy and help smooth things over with her. Even if things fell apart later, they’d still be married.
The fish came in a bucket—not very big, about the length of Li Feng’s palm—with thirteen fish inside.
Li Feng knew a familiar meat vendor who charged one wen less than market price.
They didn’t count the odd coins, but the total came to 422 wen for the pork. The pig stomachs were expensive—a flat rate of 45 wen each—so three cost 132 wen altogether, and he got half a bucket of pig offal free.
They bought twenty jin of salt, which couldn’t be cheaper, costing 240 wen.
The fish were live and more expensive in winter—usually five or six wen each, now eight to ten wen apiece. Li Feng’s bucket cost 80 wen.
Adding up all these expenses made Lu Liu’s heart ache.
Last time he counted money, it was income. This time it was all spending.
Li Feng spent 874 wen today—almost a liang of silver. All the money they earned from making rice cakes last time was gone.
Lu Liu, used to poor days, was stunned standing there. How were they going to get through this? And he still had to go to the market again…
Li Feng normally wouldn’t buy so much. The pig stomachs were to please his mother.
The fish was just Li Feng’s personal craving—he wanted to eat it himself.
The salt was because they’d bought so much meat, so they had to buy extra salt too.
They bought a lot of meat because Li Feng had learned about Lu Liu’s family situation.
He’d asked around about the Xie family in Shangxi Village. Knowing how rough Lu Yang’s life was, and guessing they probably wouldn’t be able to give gifts to their parents for the New Year, Lu Liu must be worried about that deep down. Li Feng already remembered the generous gift that Lu Erbao and his husband had brought when they came, and figured they should return the favor with an equally generous gift for the New Year—after all, his “second uncle” had now become his father-in-law. The gift shouldn’t be less than originally planned.
If the elders sent two jin of meat and a jar of sugar, the proper etiquette was to return five jin of meat.
In previous years, Li Feng usually bought twenty jin of meat. This year, he added five more jin, thinking also about pleasing Lu Liu’s mother and Sanshun, worried that Er Tian might be harsh with them. Seeing that half a side of pork weighed thirty-five jin, he just bought the whole half.
Lu Liu’s heart trembled hearing all this—it made sense, but the spending was frightening.
He helped unload the goods, then called Li Feng inside to wash up and put the food on the table.
The radish soup was done, so he soaked some rice for Erhuang first, then carefully asked Li Feng, “Da Feng, do we still have money left at home?”
Li Feng nodded, “A little.”
Life in the village was all about food and drink expenses.
Since their wedding feast, Li Feng had only once bought eggs and once bought fish; everything else was from their stores.
This was the first big purchase, for New Year’s supplies. The cured meat lasted from the start of the year till the end, so that didn’t count.
Besides the two strings of cash he’d given Lu Liu, Li Feng still had just over three taels of silver on hand.
This time, they bought 800 jin of glutinous rice. After making the rice cakes and deducting costs, Li Feng could take a little over one tael for himself.
That was enough.
Li Feng had helped support his mother from a young age. He was careful and thrifty with money, just wanting Lu Liu to feel at ease.
“I’ve got it all figured out, don’t worry.”
Lu Liu really relaxed hearing that. He didn’t know much, but Li Feng was capable—whatever Li Feng said was final.
He helped Li Feng by serving dishes like he was feeding a rabbit. Li Feng had been eating a lot of meat lately, so Lu Liu gave him a big helping of vegetables, piling them high in his bowl, urging him to eat more greens.
Li Feng ate it.
Lu Liu was happy. Remembering Erhuang, he asked Li Feng, “How much silver do we need to pay to arrange a match for Erhuang?”
Li Feng raised an eyebrow. “Erhuang told you that?”
Lu Liu: “…”
What could Erhuang say? Even if she did, he wouldn’t understand it.
“I’m just curious, so I’m asking.”
Li Feng said, “One big bone, one rib with meat on it, and a bucket of pig offal—that’s about the right amount.”
Maybe because he’d just seen a lot of money today, Lu Liu actually thought that wasn’t much.
He asked Li Feng, “So are we going to arrange a match for Erhuang?”
Li Feng shook his head. “Not this year. Next time I go into the mountains with Sanmiao, just the two of us and the two dogs, I’ll see if they get along.”
Lu Liu: “…”
You really like Sanmiao’s dog.
He quietly spoke up for Erhuang, “What about the Daqiang family’s hunting dog…?”
Li Feng said coldly, “That dumb dog? No way.”
Lu Liu was curious about these two dogs.
He went to Yao’s house but didn’t check out the backyard, so he didn’t know what kind of dumb dog Daqiang’s really was, or just how dumb it was.
The last time he went to Sanmiao’s house for a meal, he just sat in the main room and didn’t wander around, so he’d never seen Sanmiao’s dog—what it looked like or what kind of personality it had—that had Li Feng so enchanted.
Lu Liu tried to sound like a caring dad: “But Erhuang likes that dumb dog…”
Li Feng was confident: “The next time you go hang out with Yao, you’ll see that dog and you’ll be against this match too.”
The two husbands spent their meal chatting about their dogs’ potential marriage.
After they finished eating, the soup-soaked rice cooled down enough to feed Erhuang.
Lu Liu washed the dishes while Li Feng went to feed the dog.
Lu Liu made his way to the kitchen but couldn’t help worrying. Afraid Li Feng might scold their dog, he quietly sneaked over to take a look.
Li Feng was squatting face-to-face with Erhuang, holding a big bowl of dog food. He said to her, “Don’t ever try to trick your dad into matchmaking again. He’s bad at judging dogs—his taste is just as bad as yours. If you understand me, bark once and I’ll give you your food.”
Lu Liu, who was just as bad at judging dogs, quietly went back to the kitchen to wash dishes. Later, while soaking his feet, he playfully stomped his foot on Li Feng’s foot.
After drying his feet on the kang, he obediently and softly negotiated with Li Feng, “Can we skip chicken tonight?”
Li Feng laughed and asked, “Are you scared?”
Lu Liu wasn’t scared, he wanted chicken too—it might help them conceive sooner—but he was tired.
He said, “My little body’s about ready to fall apart.”
Li Feng had a good memory—he remembered the last time Lu Liu said his body was falling apart, it was because a wild boar had charged him and left him battered.
