A Good Country Wife-Chapter 26 - Reconciliaiton_1

Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Reconciliaiton_1

Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Reconciliaiton_1

He had not been buying things for a woman for the first time, his first wife from the Zhao Family was wooden and excessively frugal. When he bought these useless things, she would only nag about him wasting silver coins. As for his second wife, she was a woman whose eyes lit up at the sight of money, the more expensive the items, the more she liked them. He had also bought her a couple of trinkets a few times, and apart from a silver hairpin that was somewhat valuable, she had disdainfully thrown everything else aside. After that, he had stopped buying. Today, when Erhu went into town, he did intend to buy some nice things to please his little wife, but the silver coins he had were not much. Lin Yue was also not in the best of health, so the remaining bit more than three taels of silver had to be saved for emergencies, lest there was a fever or headache, and there wouldn’t even be money for a doctor.

“Is this for me? This hairpin is really beautiful, I love it, thank you, Brother Erhu.” Lin Yue received the hairpin, stroked it in her hand, and said with a look of pleasant surprise, it was a good thing that the man remembered to buy her something. Such good habits had to be nurtured. Even if she didn’t like it, in order not to discourage Erhu’s enthusiasm she would have to say she liked it. Besides, she genuinely liked this simple, elegant, yet intricate peach wood hairpin.

Now that things were good between them, Lin Yue stopped fussing over Niuniu, and seeing Erhu had bought quite a few things, she looked at them one by one and started to organize everything.

Erhu had also bought quite a bit of rice and white flour, even purchasing three jin of meat. Apart from that, he bought two pig’s feet and a set of pig offal. Lin Yue was skilled in cooking, and the pig offal turned out to be delicious after she processed it; it was cheap and they had plenty to eat, so it was really economical. The pig’s feet were for nourishing Lin Yue’s body. Holding his thin little wife at night, Erhu truly felt Lin Yue was too skinny and was somewhat eager to fatten her up, then his own wishes might soon be fulfilled. That, too, was some of a man’s unspoken thoughts.

Lin Yue noticed the items bought this time were those the eldest sister-in-law had taken away, with only two additions: pig’s feet and two handfuls of green, leafy vegetables. She knew Erhu had wanted to buy the pig’s feet last time at the butcher’s to nourish her body, but he was too late and didn’t manage to get them. This time he finally bought them.

As for the two handfuls of good-looking vegetables, Erhu probably bought them specially because she had been complaining about not having fresh vegetables to eat these days. Although it was only two handfuls of greens, not a huge amount, when Lin Yue had inquired about the price last time they were at the market, she was told they cost one hundred coins per bundle and came from the greenhouse of a rich family. They were very expensive, several times the price of meat, which could be exchanged for quite a lot of grain. It pained Lin Yue’s heart. Perhaps only a husband doting on his wife like Erhu would be willing to buy them for her. Had it been any other family, surely they would have called her a wasteful daughter-in-law, accusing her of leading the man of the house astray with frivolous spending.

“Brother Erhu, I know you pamper me, but these vegetables are too expensive. With this money, we could have bought something else. Our family is not some big landlord; we need to be more frugal with our money. The kids are growing and still not getting enough to eat; where do we have the money to buy this? It’s better to buy more grain with this money. Don’t buy this again next time, or I won’t feel right eating it.” Lin Yue had always been one for careful calculation, and although Erhu’s doting warmed her, she just couldn’t get used to such extravagant spending and couldn’t help but scold Erhu a few words.

In fact, Lin Yue had wronged Erhu. He was usually very frugal; even that morning going into the city, to save a few coins he didn’t indulge in a bowl of plain noodles and only bought a steamed bun made of mixed grains to fill his stomach. However, Erhu didn’t argue when he heard Lin Yue’s words. His little wife thinking about the family made him even happier.

“I know, I’ll listen to you from now on. I didn’t expect our Niuniu to take the role of a little housekeeper so well. She truly is a good daughter-in-law of the Zhao Family.” Erhu said with a teasing laugh, rubbing his little wife’s hair, and felt a softness in his heart.

“That’s right, marrying me is your greatest fortune, Erhu. You have to cherish it and treat me well from now on,” Lin Yue said without a hint of embarrassment, casually taking over the conversation. Her hands swiftly moved the pig offals from the basket into a wooden bucket. Erhu didn’t wait for Lin Yue’s instructions and spontaneously carried it to the river to wash. Meanwhile, Lin Yue worried about where to store the food Erhu had brought back.

Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at ƒrēenovelkiss.com Only.

After the previous incident with her elder sister-in-law stealing food, Lin Yue did not dare to leave their food out in the open anymore. She only kept a week’s worth of rice in the rice container, the rest needed to be well hidden. Although she believed she had the means to deal with her sister-in-law if it happened again, being cautious never hurt—assets should not be flaunted.

After pondering for a while, Lin Yue finally came up with a good idea. Not one to dilly-dally, she grabbed a hoe from the storage room and went into the bedroom. After closing the door and surveying the room, she exerted herself to move the wooden cabinet in the corner. She then lifted the hoe and started digging. But being physically weak and the ground being hard, it took her a considerable time to make a hole about a meter wide. She was drenched in sweat by the time Erhu returned from washing the pig offals by the river. Seeing Lin Yue in that state, along with the hole in the room, he was a bit slow to understand.

“Niuniu, what are you trying to do, digging a hole in the house?” Erhu asked while taking a towel to wipe Lin Yue’s sweat.

“We have no place to hide our food. I plan to dig a small room under the floor of the bedroom to store the grain. That way, even if someone comes to rob us, they won’t find it,” Lin Yue said, her chin tilted up slightly in pride. She was inspired by what she had seen on television, where villagers would hide their food from the enemy in the same way.

“That’s not a bad idea at all.” Erhu, who usually supported Lin Yue’s ideas as long as they didn’t go against his principles, took the hoe from her hand, saying, “Digging is hard work, and look how tired you are. You should rest; I’ll take care of the rest.”

Lin Yue, indeed exhausted, didn’t insist and let Erhu take the hoe from her hands. It was also time to prepare lunch, so she went to the kitchen after reminding Erhu to keep it a secret from the children. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Dalang and the others; it’s just that children can be careless with their words, and she was afraid they might accidentally reveal the secret.

Having bought food, it was naturally another rich meal at noon. Erhu wanted Lin Yue to save a little, but ultimately he didn’t say anything. His young wife was frail and still growing; she needed to eat well. She was too kind-hearted to eat alone, always insisting on sharing anything good with everyone. So more food had to be cooked. Well then, he thought, he’d just have to work harder to finish domestic chores early and go hunting in the mountains. He couldn’t let his wife’s health suffer.