"Wife, brother, you are back!"

At four quarters past the hour of You, Yu Xiaotian heard the sound of an ox cart outside the yard and hurried out to greet it.

After Hua Qingcheng unloaded the four bags of rice, flour, cloth, and backpack from the ox cart, Mu Lige said to Yu Qingyou, "Uncle Yu, thank you for your hard work. Come inside and have a glass of water!"

"No, it's getting late. My wife and two children are waiting for me to go back home for dinner. You should rest early after you finish your work!"

Yu Qingyou politely declined Mu Lige's invitation and drove the ox cart back to the village.

"Wife, brother, you bought so many things!"

Looking at the things piled on the ground, Yu Xiaotian was shocked.

"Well, Xiaotian, please help move the cloth to the main room first."

After Hua Qingcheng gave Yu Xiaotian instructions, she carried the backpack back to the main room and put it there first. When she went out again, she saw Mu Lige and Han Yichen carrying a 50-jin bag of flour and walking slowly inside.

Hua Qingcheng's mouth twitched slightly. Could it be that one thing was gaining while the other was losing? Energy conservation? She'd discovered that after coming here, her strength had increased several times over. So, were the men here also relatively weak?

Hua Qingcheng carried a 60-jin bag of brown rice in one hand and a 60-jin bag of black flour in the other. She quickly caught up with the two people carrying the flour and arrived at the main hall first. Then she went out and brought back another 50-jin bag of polished rice.

Yu Xiaotian, who was guarding the gate of the courtyard, saw that all the things had been moved, so he closed the gate and returned to the main room.

"Where's your second brother?"

Hua Qingcheng came back after a while and didn't see Situ Ye, so she asked Yu Xiaotian.

"My second brother is still busy in the kitchen. Look, my wife, these are the tables and chairs that Aunt Qianyi sent over this afternoon. As for the other items, they said they would take two days to finish and send over."

Hua Qingcheng looked at the brand new large square fir table and five new chairs in the main hall, and was very satisfied with the craftsmanship of Aunt Qianyi from the village.

"Well, that's good. When the bed, cabinets, and courtyard gate are finished, Li Ge, you can pay the remaining money to Aunt Qian Yi."

"Good wife."

"By the way, I brought gifts for you all."

Hua Qingcheng took out four satin robes from the backpack. Mu Lige's was white, Situ Ye's was ink-black, Han Yichen's was green, and Yu Xiaotian's was blue.

After distributing the clothes, Hua Qingcheng then distributed two meters of cotton cloth and two meters of coarse cloth to each of the four people according to their colors. She placed the cloth on the seat of Situ Ye, who was not present.

"Thank you, my wife!"

The three husbands were very satisfied with the clothes and fabrics, and Yu Xiaotian couldn't let go of the ready-made clothes even after touching them.

"Li Ge, this is eighty taels of silver. Keep it all for your household expenses."

Hua Qingcheng also handed Mu Lige one ingot of fifty taels of silver and three ingots of ten taels of silver. Although she liked to save money, she was now the head of the family, so giving money to the family was her due.

"Okay, wife."

Mu Lige divided the insoles he had bought among the others according to their sizes, and then used a piece of cloth to wrap the silver purse Hua Qingcheng had given him. He then took the clothes, cloth, insoles, and Hua Qingcheng's pink and purple brocade and light red fine cotton back to his room.

Originally, Hua Qingcheng wanted to buy black cloth for herself, but gave up due to Mu Lige's strong opposition. It was Mu Lige who helped her pick these two colors.

After the few people left, Hua Qingcheng also took ten sets of new bowls and chopsticks to the well to wash them, took half of them to the main room, and put the other half back in the kitchen.

After Mu Lige returned from the room, Han Yichen and Yu Xiaotian also put away their things and returned to the main room, just in time for Situ Ye to come in with the last dish.

"Wife, eldest brother, third brother, fourth brother, it's time to eat!"

Situ Ye cooked a pot of rice in a large casserole and placed it directly on the table, placing a small square of thin wooden board underneath.

Seeing Hua Qingcheng grabbing a bowl to help the four husbands with food, Mu Lige hurriedly stopped her and said, "Wife, you can only have enough food and clothing if you do it yourself. You are also tired after a day, so let us do it ourselves."

Hua Qingcheng thought about it and realized that this was the truth. She announced "Dinner is ready" and started eating.

Hua Qingcheng felt something was not right as she took a bite of the rice. The rice was undercooked. Facing Situ Ye's expectant eyes, she had no choice but to swallow the rice.

"Well, there's actually Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables tonight, it looks pretty good!"

Hua Qingcheng picked up a piece of black stuff with chopsticks and put it into her mouth, but it was so salty that she cried.

"Wife, that's stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots..."

Yu Xiaotian wanted to remind him, but it was too late.

"Wife, come, have a bowl of soup!"

Hua Qingcheng felt her tongue was almost numb from the saltiness. Seeing Situ Ye handing her a bowl of seaweed soup, she took it and gulped it down. However, the sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and astringent taste immediately made Hua Qingcheng burst into tears.

"Wife, is this chicken soup delicious? I've been stewing it for a long time!"

"Good, good... delicious! It's really delicious! Each of you should have a bowl too!"

Hua Qingcheng said as she looked at Situ Ye who was looking forward to her, and the other three husbands who were eating with their heads down.

"Wife, we are full, please enjoy your meal!"

Mu Lige, Han Yichen and Yu Xiaotian ran away after they finished speaking. Before leaving, Han Yichen looked at her with sympathy.

"Wife, we had chicken and chicken soup for lunch. These were specially reserved for you. Come, try this stir-fried wild vegetables. It's just the right amount of greasiness to go with it."

Hua Qingcheng was skeptical as she watched Situ Ye use a serving chopstick to scoop half a plate of slightly burnt wild vegetables into her bowl.

Well, at least this one looked like a wild vegetable, even though it didn't taste salty at all. Anyway, it was better than being salty to death. But as soon as she bit into it, Hua Qingcheng felt like her teeth were about to break. She spat out three hard objects in a row, which turned out to be stones.

Hua Qingcheng's mouth twitched slightly. Unless one had an iron stomach, most people really couldn't bear the "delicacies" made by Situ Ye.

"Erlang, every inch has its strengths and weaknesses. I think with your talent, you shouldn't waste your energy on trivial things like cooking. Perhaps you can shine and make a difference in other things..."

In order not to undermine Situ Ye's self-confidence, and also in order not to hurt her own mouth and stomach, Hua Qingcheng decided to subtly remind Situ Ye that it would be best not to enter the kitchen in the future.

"My dear wife, don't worry! I will definitely study my cooking skills more carefully and make more delicious dishes for you! Come, try the last dish of stir-fried meat with mushrooms."

"Are you sure this is the last one?"

"Yes, if it's not enough, I'll go and fry another one for you?"

“Enough, enough…enough!”

Hua Qingcheng quickly refused.

"Huh?"

Unexpectedly, the last dish tasted quite good, with just the right amount of saltiness. Hua Qingcheng ate it all for the first time ever.

After watching his wife go out to the yard to digest the food, Situ Ye also cleaned up the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.