This time, Zhao Jiaqi had to face days of scrimping and saving.
After the fire was lit, he saw him put a lot of water into the large pot. Zhao Jiaqi hurriedly stopped him, "Isn't this much water needed for cooking porridge!"
Could it be that one handful of rice would be cooked into a large pot of porridge, and then they would be filled with thin broth? Wouldn't that be gone with two urinations?
It would be better to just drink water, and save the rice!
He had promised not to let her starve, and now he was doing such a peculiar operation. Zhao Jiaqi sighed, shook her head, and showed her disappointed expression.
Fan Zehao looked at the water in the pot and didn't understand what was going on with his wife's ever-changing expressions!
But he was sure that this water was fetched by him, and it didn't cost any money. At most, they would just have an extra bowl of porridge!
"Of course, we need to boil water to scald the chicken feathers, otherwise, wouldn't we eat a mouth full of feathers from this chicken!"
Zhao Jiaqi:.....
She had misunderstood, and her thoughts had gone astray. It turned out that he wasn't cooking porridge, but was going to kill the chicken and scald its feathers.
Kill a chicken?
Zhao Jiaqi couldn't think any further. She immediately knocked the knife out of his hand and said sternly, "No, we'll take this chicken to sell tomorrow. We can get more silver and buy more food for a day. We can't eat it!"
Fan Zehao's hand, which was holding the chicken, was snatched away by his wife the next second. He watched her put the chicken away and carefully caress it. This time, it was his turn to be confused.
Had his wife gotten into character? But they were not so poor that they couldn't afford to eat a chicken.
"Uh, wife, your body is not good, you need to eat something good to nourish it. We are not lacking this chicken. I'll go catch some more this afternoon. Don't worry, you won't starve with me!"
After speaking, he wanted to kill the chicken and make soup for her.
"No, we only have two taels of silver. If we don't live carefully, when can we save up a lot of money!" Zhao Jiaqi firmly stopped him from killing it.
So, while he was stunned, she began to count on her fingers and calculate the accounts for him: "Look, our padded jackets are still thin, not to mention the padded trousers. My legs are shivering from the cold."
"We need at least another set of cotton clothes and padded jackets for each of us. And for the close-fitting underwear, we need at least another set for each of us. I won't mention the outer clothes; they can still be mended and worn for three years. But I have special days every month, and I need to prepare for these things too!"
"Also, the New Year is coming. Do we need some money to buy New Year's goods, like pork and vegetables? We need to make dumplings, right? Even if we make vegetarian dumplings, it's okay. The main thing is that there are many expenses, so we should spend sparingly now!"
She rattled off a long string of words, and Fan Zehao swallowed. Why had he never felt these things before?
Zhao Jiaqi saw his confused little eyes and knew what he was thinking. It was strange that she could know his thoughts just from an expression.
She shook off those curious thoughts and said, "If you don't manage a household, of course, you don't know these trivial matters. I used to suspect that you only cared about working, and did you ever think about the rest of the matters?"
Fan Zehao recalled his past experiences fiercely. It seemed that he really only knew how to work, hunt, and help his wife. Then... then he hadn't thought about these matters, mainly because they didn't involve him.
Before marrying her, his mother managed the trivial matters. After marriage, his wife managed them. Thinking about it this way, he suddenly felt that his wife was too good and had wronged her too much.
So, in a burst of excitement, he hugged his wife and said, "You are so good, thank you!"
Zhao Jiaqi's face turned red with shyness. She pushed him away fiercely and gave him a coquettish glance, "I'm hungry, cook!"
Although they were husband and wife, and many people had confirmed it, even their children said he was their father, they still slept in separate beds due to the lack of memories.
But such a sudden closeness still made her a little unaccustomed to it. It wasn't that she was being fussy, but mainly that she was embarrassed.
Fan Zehao let go of her, pecked her on the cheek, and went to cook with a smile.
Looking at the man's busy back, even a bit clumsy, he was indeed a warm man.
It's just unclear whether such a warm man could be warm for a lifetime or just for a few days.
Lunch was white rice, stir-fried radish, served with early pickled vegetables. They could eat their fill with this meal!
As soon as he finished tidying up, he picked up his bow and arrow and went into the mountains again. Zhao Jiaqi stopped him, "It's already afternoon, and it will be dark soon. It will be really dangerous for you in the mountains after dark. Why don't you go up the mountain tomorrow morning? We can't wait for food right now!"
But Fan Zehao, who had made a vow, would never let his wife starve. Now, his vow remained, but he had added another condition for himself: he would never let his wife worry about money.
He used to not understand his wife's various worries, but now he did. As a man and her husband, he must bear all these trivial matters of life.
He smiled and gently stroked his wife's rosy cheeks. After a deep look, his eyes were filled with determination, "I will be back before it gets completely dark. No matter what I catch, I will come back to have dinner with you!"
This was his promise, and he would never break it!
Zhao Jiaqi watched his receding figure with mixed feelings.
He wasn't exceptionally handsome, but he was good-looking enough. He was tall and had a good build. He was a bit stubborn, but still acceptable.
Had she thought the same way before, which was why.....
"It's so cold, why are you standing outside instead of staying in the house? What are you thinking about?"
Liu Qinshi's sudden voice from behind interrupted her reverie. She turned to look and saw two older women following the village chief's wife.
Her face had layers of wrinkles, two, three, four layers, with enough space in between to trap a fly. Seeing that weathered face, Zhao Jiaqi felt that she really needed to put in a lot of effort in terms of beauty.
"Auntie is here? Come in quickly, the fire has just been lit, and the kang is warm!"
The village chief's wife was not polite. After interacting all morning, she found that this young wife was quite to her liking.
The other two women smiled and greeted Zhao Jiaqi, then followed the village chief's wife, Liu Qinshi, into the house.
As Zhao Jiaqi had said, the fire wall was burning hot, and the kang was even warmer. But no matter how much they enjoyed the warmth, they dared not sit on it, as it was truly too hot for their bottoms!
The temperature at the end of the kang was just right. The three elders sat at the end of the kang, crossed their legs, and chatted with her.
"Fan Niangzi, let me introduce you!" Liu Qinshi introduced her two good companions to her one by one.
"This is my cousin, Wang Zhangshi. You can call her Aunt Wang. She is very good at handicrafts. If you want to make a padded jacket or a skirt, just find her. Her eyes are like rulers. She can make anything perfectly without measuring!"
Zhao Jiaqi was quite surprised. She had heard about it before, but she didn't expect to meet one today.
"Hello, Aunt Wang. I will have to trouble you more in this regard in the future. I'm really not good at making clothes!"
This was not her being self-deprecating. This was her weakness. It wasn't that she couldn't do it, but that her work was rough and hard to present.
When they were really poor before, as long as they weren't naked, it was fine. With better conditions later, she hadn't made them herself much, so her skills in making clothes had deteriorated year by year.
Now, when she picked up needle and thread, she had to ponder where to start.