Gu Jiaojiao started a pot of congee, sticking a few vegetable pancakes to the sides of the iron wok and placing two eggs on top to steam.
It was currently Qiushou, a time of heavy and exhausting labor. Naturally, she wanted to make something delicious to help Leng Yuan replenish his strength.
A satisfied smile appeared on Gu Jiaojiao's face at the thought of nourishing Leng Yuan.
Leng Yuan peeked through the doorway, his eyes falling on the flickering firelight dancing across the young woman's smiling face. In that instant, he felt that only the sunset glow could compare to her smile.
After watching her bustling figure for a moment, Leng Yuan deliberately made some noise. Gu Jiaojiao immediately came to the kitchen doorway, her smile radiant. "Dinner will be ready soon. Go wash up!"
Leng Yuan nodded and walked over to the well, drawing some water to wash his hands.
Leng Yuan's place wasn't large, but it was remarkably well-equipped. The village had two wells—one to the east and one to the west—and everyone usually had to fetch their own water.
Leng Yuan's house was far from the village, and a round trip to fetch water took an hour. It was too inconvenient, so he'd had someone dig a well right in his courtyard, eliminating the need for the long trek.
It saved a great deal of time and effort. Of all the things in the courtyard, Gu Jiaojiao was most pleased with the well and the outhouse in the corner.
With summer here, clothes and bodies needed washing daily. Without a well at home, Gu Jiaojiao would have had to haul a wooden tub all the way to the river.
Getting it there wasn't a problem, but bringing it back would have been. Once the clothes were wet, they became much heavier. With her strength, she wasn't sure she could have managed to carry it all the way back.
She had her cousin to thank for all this, and she was so grateful she could have offered her a few sticks of incense.
'This is my ideal little farmhouse courtyard.'
Leng Yuan washed his hands and glanced at Gu Jiaojiao's contented smile before speaking. "I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be right back."
Gu Jiaojiao nodded obediently, not asking any questions.
Leng Yuan returned about twenty minutes later. He was carrying a bag of eggs—a dozen or so at a rough glance—and half a sack of sweet potatoes.
Leng Yuan took the provisions into the kitchen and stored them in the cabinet.
Gu Jiaojiao then realized he had gone out to trade for more food. Her face lit up with delighted surprise. "I was just worrying about our food supply, and here you are, back with more! This should last us until after Qiushou."
Leng Yuan's expression was neither cold nor warm—just his usual neutral look. He had heard that Gu Jiaojiao was used to eating and dressing well. She owned clothes without a single patch and even had several little Western-style dresses. Now that she was married to him, he certainly wasn't going to let her go hungry.
"Don't worry about saving it. When we run out, I'll just buy more."
He'd been a teacher for two or three years and managed to save a good portion of his monthly salary.
A teacher's job came with a monthly subsidy of thirty jin of grain—five of fine grains and twenty-five of coarse grains. He also received meat and sugar ration tickets. On top of that, there were holiday bonuses like enamel mugs, work gloves, or rubber shoes, all of which were highly coveted items.
Occasionally, he even got cloth ration tickets. These were perks that would make anyone green with envy.
Though Leng Yuan kept himself clean, he lived a spartan life. As long as his clothes were wearable and he had enough to eat, he was content. As a result, he had managed to save up quite a few ration tickets and a fair bit of money.
The money he'd used to buy clothes for Gu Jiaojiao, however, was an inheritance from his parents.
Leng Yuan was his parents' only child, and they left everything to him when they passed away. They had owned a house, but his second uncle and Grandma Leng had taken it over.
That was why the village chief had helped him secure a new plot of land at the foot of the mountain to build his own house.
Leng Yuan's father had been a skilled hunter, so their family had meat on the table every few days. His father had two younger brothers and a younger sister. Leng Yuan's mother, however, was frail. While pregnant, she was pushed by his second aunt, causing a massive hemorrhage.
If she hadn't been rushed to the hospital in time, both mother and child might not have survived.
But Grandma Leng favored the second son's family, so the incident was ultimately swept under the rug. After that, Leng Yuan's father officially split their household from the rest of the family, moving out immediately with his wife and child.