In the end, Feng Tiezhu was kicked out by Tang Lingling, who was afraid that if he stayed a few more minutes, she would lose her innocence.

They're not even married yet; the engagement is still several days away.

Her mother once said that men who are easily obtained will not be cherished.

She couldn't let him succeed.

...

The next morning.

Feng Dabing had to go out early in the morning.

Only Chen Guiru and Feng Tiezhu were at the dinner table.

Chen Guiru looked at Feng Tiezhu, who was stuffing a biscuit into his mouth, and spoke somewhat awkwardly:

"I heard you bought clam oil and gloves yesterday?"

Feng Tiezhu: "How did you know?"

Chen Guiru's anger, which had been building up all day, finally subsided, and she tried her best to suppress the upward curve of her lips.

"Alright, alright, you bought it and then took it out. Why all the 'surprise' stuff with your mother? Really..."

Feng Tiezhu was completely bewildered: "Mother, what are you talking about? I've already sent the gloves and clam oil to your daughter-in-law!"

Chen Guiru had a whole bunch of praises for her son's filial piety ready to be uttered, but her joy was dashed.

Deep down, she was gritting her teeth: If I don't want to buy it for her, I won't buy it for her, but she still had to say "I know".

So this is just a joke, using her as a stepping stone to buy things for his own wife.

Although she knew it was a good thing that her son had grown up and would cherish his wife, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in her heart...

…

Feng Tiezhu ate cornbread this morning.

Oh, it smells so good!

His mother has been really good to him these past few days. Usually, she only makes him cornbread and cornmeal pancakes, maybe once a month.

This was the second meal in a row. Just as he was about to take the sixth piece of bread, Chen Guiru tapped his hand with her chopsticks.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do is eat! Get back to work and fill the water tank before noon. Otherwise, you won't get lunch!"

Feng Tiezhu: ...

Did they set off firecrackers this early in the morning? Making people work before they're even properly fed, is this some kind of menopause?

After stuffing the last bite of the pancake into his mouth, he quickly grabbed two more pancakes while Chen Guiru wasn't looking, and ran away.

Chen Guiru: !!!

"Hey! You little brat! Don't run! Stop right there!"

…

The village was unusually lively today.

Feng Tiezhu ran as fast as he could, stuffing a biscuit into his mouth as he ran, while Chen Guiru chased after him with a broom.

She chased him from one end of the village to the other, but she couldn't keep up anymore. Chen Guiru stopped, looking at the little rascal making faces at her from a distance, and she was furious.

If at first it was because the joy in my heart was dashed and I had no way to vent my anger, later it was simply because this kid deserved a beating.

Hmph, she refused to believe he wouldn't come home!

She'll catch someone eventually!

…

When Chen Guiru returned home limping with a broom, she found that the water vat was already more than half full, and her anger immediately subsided.

Fortunately, this little rascal still knows to fetch water for her, so when she catches someone, she'll go easy on them.

...

Feng Tiezhu reflected on why he had been chased for most of the village, and it all seemed to have started with that clam oil and gloves.

It's just a matter of a few cents. His mother could have just said it directly instead of going through all this trouble.

To avoid getting beaten, he went to town and bought a jar of clam oil, a pair of gloves, and also picked out a scarf for Lingling.

He managed to appease his mother when he got back, thus avoiding a beating.

…

That evening, Feng Tiezhu used the excuse of delivering a scarf to Tang Lingling to knock on her door again.

The door was open.

Tang Lingling stood at the door, yawning incessantly. "What are we delivering today?"

Feng Tiezhu handed over the scarf and tried to squeeze in, but Tang Lingling quickly closed the door after taking the things.

"Thank you for the scarf. You can go back now; I'm going to sleep."

The iron bar outside the door: ...

Why is it so hard to get close to my wife?

I really don't know how Brother Yan managed to hold back back then...

..............

Before we knew it, the dead of winter arrived, temperatures plummeted, and it was freezing cold everywhere.

Wen Qinghe was already covered with a thick down comforter, and with Yan Xiao as her giant warm blanket, she didn't feel cold at all.

She had a lot of hand warmers and radiators stored in her online space, but she hadn't used them.

…

The first snow of the year arrived quietly on a still night.