Su Liyan listened to her husband's words, her face full of curiosity.
'Is our family really rich?'
'It... it seems like...'
Then, Lu Yuan delved into his System Space and grabbed a random handful.
He then pulled out two large silver ingots.
Su Liyan had no idea where her husband had suddenly produced the silver from.
But looking at the two ingots...
HISS! 'That has to be at least one hundred taels, right?!'
To put it in perspective, forget the villagers or even the townspeople.
Even a clerk working in Taiping City would only earn about two or three maces of silver a month.
As for the farming families in the village, a household of four or five might earn three to five taels for the entire year after selling their harvest.
And that was just their earnings.
Factoring in the cost of food, drink, and other necessities, they would be lucky to save a few maces of silver by year's end.
If disaster struck, someone fell ill, or the heavens were unkind and the harvest was poor...
They probably wouldn't be able to save a single penny all year.
To have one hundred taels in cash suddenly appear before her gave Su Liyan a huge shock.
In her entire life, all the silver Su Liyan had ever seen didn't add up to one hundred taels.
"Don't worry about money. We have plenty."
With that, Lu Yuan put the money away. He didn't give it to Su Liyan, nor did he intend to.
In this era, it was the men who managed the household finances.
Women did not handle money.
Why else would the man of the house be called the master?
Lu Yuan certainly had no intention of hiding his wealth from his wife.
After all, he was determined to eat well for every meal from now on.
Wine and meat would be a constant.
And since he was going to eat well, he would naturally do so with his wife.
He couldn't possibly sneak out to eat fine meals just to hide his wealth while leaving his wife at home to gnaw on cornbread, could he?
For one, it was unnecessary.
For two, it just wasn't right.
Besides, the excuse was easy enough to come up with.
Seeing Su Liyan's stunned expression, Lu Yuan offered his prepared explanation before she could even ask.
"My great-grandfather was a County Magistrate, you see, so our family is well-off.
But we don't flash our wealth around. Plus, I was living alone before, so I had no real expenses.
The villagers here naturally have no idea.
Now that I've married you, we should of course eat well and use the best.
Don't worry. We have enough money to drink wine and eat meat every day for the rest of our lives."
With that, Lu Yuan pushed open the door and went inside.
Su Liyan remained standing dazedly at the entrance.
'My husband is this well-off...?'
'Then...'
For a moment, Su Liyan felt a little self-conscious.
'Then... then why did he choose me...?'
'With his status, he could have easily married the daughter of a city shop owner.'
"What are you spacing out for? Come on in. There's food in the kitchen, go make something.
I didn't eat this morning either, so let's eat together."
Lu Yuan entered the house, sat down in the main hall, and crossed one leg over the other.
'What's the point of marrying a wife?'
'Isn't it so she can take care of you?'
Snapping out of her daze, Su Liyan acknowledged him and hurried inside.
She set down the small bundle she carried on her back and, following Lu Yuan's gesture, went into the kitchen to get busy.
Lu Yuan, meanwhile, took advantage of the moment.
He opened his System Space.
He ignored the silver and everything else, immediately locating the *Holy Body*.
He glanced at its description.
"Untouched by all taboos, impervious to all evil."
'Looks like this is an item specifically for this world...'
After a moment's thought, Lu Yuan directly chose to use it.
A miraculous power immediately surged through his entire body.
Setting aside everything else, the first thing Lu Yuan felt was as if his body now possessed limitless strength.
His eyes, which had been a bit blurry from staying up late to read, were now crystal clear.
It was just like getting bitten by a spider and turning into Spider-Man the next day.
Lu Yuan pulled open his clothes for a look.
There was no eight-pack to be seen; his body was as scrawny and weak as before.
But it felt like he had an inexhaustible supply of strength.
A moment ago, just holding one hundred taels of silver in one hand had felt a little tiring.
Now, Lu Yuan felt like he could hold a hundred catties of silver in one hand without breaking a sweat, and even do a few jumps.
Just as Lu Yuan was marveling at the *Holy Body*, Su Liyan, who had only been in the kitchen for a moment, came back out.
Looking at Lu Yuan staring blankly in the main hall, she said, a little lost,
"...Brother... I don't think there's any food in the kitchen..."
Su Liyan had wanted to call him 'Shopkeeper', or 'Husband', or even copy her mother and call her father 'our child's father'.
But she was still too shy to say 'Shopkeeper' or 'Husband'.
And 'our child's father'... well, they didn't have a child yet.
In the end, she had settled on calling him 'Brother'.
Lu Yuan was taken aback for a moment. 'There's nothing in the kitchen?'
He got up and went to the kitchen for a look.
Well, I'll be. He remembered there being some mixed-grain flour in the rice crock.
Now, there wasn't a speck left.
He must have finished it long ago.
'Alright then, we'll go to town to eat.'
'In any case, with my new bride here, we need to buy some things for the house anyway—bedding, pillowcases, a washbasin, and the like.'
Besides, even if there had been some mixed-grain flour, Lu Yuan wouldn't have been able to stomach it.
As a transmigrator, forget mixed-grain flour.
He couldn't even bring himself to eat a plain white flour steamed bun without some decent side dishes.
Right away, Lu Yuan said,
"I forgot. I was living by myself before, so I wasn't keeping track.
Come on, let's go eat in town. And since you've just arrived, we should spruce the place up and add a bit of festive cheer anyway~"
Su Liyan nodded meekly and agreed with a sweet smile.
Soon, the two of them tidied up a bit, closed the door, and headed out.
Just as they stepped outside, Lu Yuan felt a soft touch on his arm.
He turned to see Su Liyan, shyly coming to his side and linking her soft little hand through his arm.
'Heh, back on Earth, I never even had a girlfriend, let alone held a girl's hand.'
'And now I've just arrived in this world and already have such a stunning wife.'
'It's a little hard to get used to.'
...
The two of them stopped by the ancestral hall on their way.
The crowd hadn't dispersed yet. Although one group of potential matches had already been seen, a few others had come from more distant villages.
Furthermore, the women who had traveled from these other villages since early morning needed a rest.
They would eat lunch here before heading to other villages in the afternoon.
When Lu Yuan and Su Liyan arrived, the matchmaker couldn't help but smile at the sight of the young bride.
"Well now, I could see you trying to hold back that smile from a mile away! Pleased with your new husband, are we?"
Su Liyan shyly lowered her head and didn't speak, but her expression made it clear that she was more than satisfied.
Seeing her so happy, the matchmaker's heart swelled with joy.
She could finally say she had done right by Su Liyan's mother.
In fact, having spent so much time with Su Liyan recently, the matchmaker had felt it was a great injustice.
She was such a good girl—beautiful and sensible.
'Why did no one want her?' 'All that stubborn, old-fashioned nonsense about her being a jinx or some kind of monster.'
Now that she saw Su Liyan married to a gentle and refined man, she was content. Even if he was a bit poor, being an upright person was good enough.
"Why are you two over here so early? Not at home helping with chores? I won't be leaving until after noon, you know," the matchmaker asked curiously.
Su Liyan lifted her head slightly, her face radiant with happiness.
"My husband is so considerate. He said he's taking me into town to buy some things."
Hearing this, the others nearby turned to look.
The women who had come with Su Liyan, in particular, stared with eyes full of envy.
'This man really treasures Su Liyan.'
They were all women from small villages who had married into this larger one, and they were rarely treated with much importance.
Forget being taken to buy things right after the wedding; some women were forced to start working in the fields the moment they joined their husband's family.
The work itself wasn't the issue. None of them expected a life of leisure; they knew that once married, they had to learn to serve others.
But just a few days ago, they had all seen one of their own, a girl who had just married the night before, reappear the next morning with a bruised and swollen face.
But even then, what could be done?
In this world, women weren't worth much. Once you were married, that was it. You just had to endure.
Seeing Su Liyan marry a man who cherished her so, they were truly envious.
'He might be a bit poor and unable to buy much, but even if they just go to town to buy a sheet of red paper to put up, it's the thought that counts.'
'How wonderful...'
「Around noon.」
A pot of cabbage was put on to boil at the ancestral hall as everyone prepared for lunch.
Just then, two ox-carts rumbled down the village's main road.
An old man at the head of the procession got down, smiling at the crowd gathered at the hall. He clasped his hands politely and said,
"Pardon me, could you tell me where Lu Yuan's house is?
We're here to deliver some things for Mr. Lu."
Huh?
The crowd stared at the old man, then glanced at the two carts laden with sacks of white flour, half a pig carcass, and several large jars of wine.
There were also bolts of fabric that looked expensive even at a glance.
Everyone was baffled.
'Wasn't that Lu Yuan supposed to be dirt poor?'