Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Twenty coins for renting the headman’s mule cart."

"Two coins per person for entering the city, totaling four coins."

"Twenty coins for the consultation fee, three taels of silver for the medicine."

"One hundred and ten coins for paper and ink sticks."

"One tael and one qian for an iron pot."

"Fifteen coins for lunch: ten coins for mutton noodle soup, five coins for plain noodles."

After dinner at night, Jiang Chun sat cross-legged on the kang bed, took out his money bag, and began to count on his fingers.

He had no choice but to use his fingers; there was no calculator, abacus, or pen and paper, and the various expenses were numerous, making mental arithmetic impossible.

After counting for quite some time, he finally figured it out: "Today we spent a total of four taels of silver and two hundred and sixty-nine copper coins."

He looked up at Song Shian, who was sitting on the floor in front of the kang, praising himself: "It’s really expensive to take care of you. Only someone as kind-hearted as me would spend so much money to help you recover. Anyone else would have kicked you out long ago!"

Song Shian was struggling to trim a worn-out brush with a rusty pair of scissors.

He had noticed this brush earlier, not sure where it came from, casually discarded on the windowsill.

The brush was covered in dust, and the bristles were somewhat scattered.

But it could still be used after some repair, so today at the bookstore, he only bought paper and ink sticks, not a new brush.

Jiang Chun’s incessant chatter all reached his ears.

He admitted that what she said made perfect sense.

Apart from her, who would be willing to spend dozens of taels of silver to help a dependent husband recover?

After all, when Jiang He bought him, it only cost ten taels of silver.

However, he wouldn’t take advantage of this. The money for his sale and the expenses for his recovery, he would repay Jiang He double in the future.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Jiang Chun, fearing he might forget her kindness, nagged again.

"Although it’s natural for me, as the wife, to spend money on my husband, you should remember my goodness. When you become successful, don’t be ungrateful. As you scholars say, ‘a wife who has shared hardships should not be cast aside.’”

A sarcastic smile appeared on Song Shian’s lips.

It seemed that her years as an official’s wife weren’t wasted. This illiterate butcher’s daughter could even recite the phrase “a wife who has shared hardships should not be cast aside” from the Four Histories.

He put the trimmed brush into the wooden box containing the paper and ink, then lay down with his back to Jiang Chun, slowly pulling the quilt over himself.

Jiang Chun: "..."

Ignoring her, huh?

She was like a stubborn donkey, needing to be handled gently.

The more he ignored her, the more she wanted to provoke him.

Jiang Chun coughed, then raised her voice: "Husband, the weather is getting colder day by day. Your body is already weak, and you shouldn’t continue sleeping on the floor. Come up to the kang bed."

Song Shian frowned upon hearing this.

What was she up to now?

Was she planning to crawl into his bed and consummate their marriage once he got up?

This woman, who could even seduce a market butcher, knew nothing of propriety and would definitely do such a shameless thing.

He firmly refused: "No need."

Jiang Chun immediately protested: "What do you mean, no need? If you catch a cold and get sick, won’t that cost money for medical treatment? Do you think our money grows on trees?"

"You’d better come up yourself, or I’ll...”

She jumped off the kang, cracking her knuckles with a menacing smile, threatening: "I’ll carry you up myself!"

Song Shian: "..."

This woman was indeed up to something!

He felt a surge of anger and started coughing, saying through coughs, "I, cough, am too weak, can’t, cough, consummate the marriage with you."

"Huh?" Jiang Chun looked puzzled.

A moment later, she burst out laughing, "Hahaha..."

She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face.

Seeing her reaction, Song Shian realized he had misunderstood.

He was so embarrassed that his ears turned red, and he coughed even harder.

Worried that he might cough up blood like in the original story, Jiang Chun quickly ran over to pat his back.

After a while, Song Shian’s coughing gradually subsided.

Jiang Chun rushed to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the large iron pot, and poured a bowl of still warm water, bringing it back to feed him.

Song Shian had intended to take the bowl and drink from it himself, but his hands were trembling so badly that he couldn't hold the heavy, coarse ceramic bowl. He could only manage to drink a few sips with her help.

After giving him water, Jiang Chun didn’t bother to ask for his consent and simply carried him, bedding and all, to the kang bed.

After some thought, she tidied up her own bedding and gave him the head of the kang bed near the stove.

She moved to the foot of the kang bed.

Curling up in the blankets, Song Shian silently watched as she busily rearranged the bedding and prepared the kang bed, feeling a mix of emotions.

Everything before his eyes seemed so unreal.

But the warm kang bed was no illusion; the chill in his hands and feet gradually began to warm.

Jiang Chun knew how much this man dwelled on his thoughts, after all, he was a character she had personally written, and no one understood him better than she did.

So just before sleep, she murmured, “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on consummating our marriage until you’re fully recovered.”

Consummation meant the possibility of pregnancy, and at seventeen, she had no intention of becoming a mother so soon.

Hearing this, Song Shian felt considerably relieved.

If there was any virtue in this lewd woman, it was that she kept her word, always.

In her past life, when she said she wouldn’t consummate their marriage, she truly didn’t, even when he held a high rank, she never broke her promise.

However, he was too quick to relax, for this Jiang Chun was not the same as the previous one.

Of course, that was a story for another time.

*

Yesterday, Jiang Chun had taken Song Shian around the county for the whole day, leaving the slaughtering and selling of meat to Jiang He alone. Feeling somewhat guilty, she got up at dawn the next day to start slaughtering pigs.

But Jiang He was naturally industrious and rose even earlier than she did.

When Jiang Chun arrived, he had already felled a large, fat pig and had the hot water ready, preparing to remove the hair.

Jiang Chun scolded, “Father, why did you get up so early? Why not stay in bed a bit longer?”

Jiang He smiled warmly, “Father goes to bed early at night and can’t sleep once the hour of the tiger arrives. Lying there tossing and turning is uncomfortable, so it’s better to get up and work, to keep my hands busy.”

Working together, father and daughter finished processing the large pig in just half an hour.

Just as Jiang Chun was about to push the wheelbarrow, Jiang He stopped her.

He took out a large piece of meat he had cut beforehand and said to Jiang Chun, “Today, Father will watch the stall. You take your son-in-law Song to visit your eldest aunt, bring this piece of meat, buy some pastries in town, and get a jar of wine for your uncle.”

Seeing her daughter’s reluctant expression, he gently coaxed, “Your eldest aunt should meet your son-in-law.”

The status of a live-in son-in-law was low, and no family would willingly let their son become one unless they had no other choice.

In Prefecture Qi, families who took in live-in sons-in-law didn’t host banquets or invite guests, to avoid giving the son-in-law too much face and making him overstep his bounds.

Thus, Aunt Jiang Xi, who only returned to her natal home during festivals, had yet to meet her nephew-in-law, Song Shian.

Jiang Chun reluctantly agreed, “Alright, as you wish.”

Although this book was written by Jiang Chun herself, the novel was told from the perspective of the female protagonist, Zhong Wenjin. Song Shian, as the elder brother of the male lead Song Shirui, appeared later in the story, by which time the Song family had already been exonerated.

Song Shian’s experience as a live-in son-in-law in the Jiang family only appeared in a few scenes in his memories. Relatives like Aunt Jiang Xi, who rarely visited, didn’t even have a chance to appear in those memories.

But once a book became its own world, many things had already transcended the control of the original author.

Even minor characters who never appeared had their own flesh, blood, and complete life stories.

Aunt Jiang Xi was a person who was both pitiable and detestable; the original author didn’t like her, and neither did Jiang Chun.

But some relatives couldn’t be avoided just because you disliked them, especially since Jiang Xi had once done a favor for their family.

Jiang Chun could only follow Jiang He’s advice and take Song Shian to visit relatives in town.

This sickly Song Shian, if he walked the two-hour journey to town, might lose his life. She had no choice but to rent a mule cart from the village head again.

Twenty coins flew away like birds.

Life was hard, and Chun sighed.