Chapter 11 We are husband and wife, not sworn siblings.
The room was completely silent, almost deathly quiet.
For some reason, Sheng An felt a little uneasy and secretly glanced at Xu Jinnian's expression.
Seeing him looking at her calmly, without any sign of anger, Sheng An felt immense pressure, as if she would be compressed into a pancake at any moment.
She unconsciously hugged the blanket tighter, trying to find a sense of security, and forced herself to continue explaining the necessity of sleeping in separate rooms:
“I’ll be setting up my stall to do business in the next couple of days, and continuing to sleep in the same room will only disturb your rest. I don’t want you to suffer because of me.”
At this point, Sheng An suddenly felt less intimidated and stared at Xu Jinnian, saying quite confidently:
"It's settled then. I'll prepare the guest rooms later, and you can choose one of the two rooms first!"
Xu Jinnian finally couldn't listen anymore, returned to the bedside and sat down, looking directly into Sheng An's eyes: "I don't choose."
Perhaps feeling that these three words were unconvincing, he paused and continued, "You and I are husband and wife, not sworn siblings."
Sheng An: "..."
That makes so much sense, she was speechless.
Scratching her face, which was being bothered by strands of hair, Sheng An wanted to try again.
But when she met the man's deep, unwavering eyes, her courage deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving her listless and utterly dejected.
"Fine, if we don't want to break up, then we don't. Just don't kick me if you keep me up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sheng An seemed to catch a glimpse of the man's lips curving slightly out of the corner of her eye.
"Well, let's not bring up the matter of separate rooms again."
Xu Jinnian suppressed the corners of her lips that were turning up, raised her hand and gently rubbed Sheng An's messy head, as if to soothe her inner frustration.
After the man left the room, Sheng An rolled around in the blanket twice, talking to herself while looking at the ceiling:
"Does this guy's performance not seem like acting, or is his acting so good that it masks his scumbag nature?"
With Xu Jinnian's literary talent and good looks, if he wanted to marry into a higher social class, it wouldn't be a problem for him to marry a girl of equal or even higher social standing.
As it turned out, he married a poor peasant girl who was of no help to him.
Based on their interactions over the past few days, Sheng An felt that Xu Jinnian was not a scumbag.
As time goes by, people's hearts change, so we cannot draw conclusions easily.
Sheng An didn't sleep in; after tidying up, she went to the yard to wash up.
Xu Jinnian returned carrying a vegetable basket after washing her face.
The light green bok choy, glistening with dew, looked even more tender and delicious under the morning light.
Breakfast was still dumpling soup.
Unlike yesterday's pale and unappetizing noodles, today's dumplings are made with eggs. The light yellow dumpling soup, paired with tender bok choy, looks incredibly appetizing.
With Sheng'an's culinary skills, a simple pot of dumpling soup attracted several cats to climb the courtyard wall and beg for food.
Sheng An was very stingy, and said to the cats on the wall:
"My family's food doesn't come from thin air. If you want to eat it, just bring something to exchange for it. Small fish and shrimp are fine with me, I don't mind."
She can travel through time, so perhaps one of these kittens can understand human speech and bring her small fish and shrimp?
The cats had no idea that someone was daydreaming. Seeing that this stingy human was reluctant to give them any food, they meowed even louder.
Only when the aroma of the food gradually faded did they reluctantly jump down from the courtyard wall and walk away dejectedly.
After the meal, Xu Jinnian cleared away the dishes, and Sheng An went back to his room to get his money bag, saying to him, "I'm going to the street to buy some things, and I'll be back before lunch."
Xu Jinnian was a little worried: "I'll go with you."
Sheng An shook her head: "Let's go to the market we visited yesterday. I can manage on my own."
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Xu Jinnian did not insist, but simply gave her another piece of silver.
Sheng An followed yesterday's route to the market, and his first stop was a shop that specialized in selling stoves and charcoal.
The Xu family has a stove, but it's too small and made of charcoal, so it's not suitable for setting up a stall.
Looking at the dozen or so stoves of different sizes and uses, Sheng An took a fancy to a large stove that was half a person tall, could accommodate large-diameter iron pots, and could burn firewood.
The price was also reasonable. After some bargaining with the shopkeeper, Sheng An spent 150 coins.
The only drawback was that the large furnace was extremely heavy, and Sheng An, with his thin arms and legs, simply couldn't move it.
The shop can help with delivery, but you'll have to pay an extra ten coins for the delivery.
Being short of money, Sheng An couldn't bear to part with it. He planned to buy the rest of the items and then go home to borrow a cart to take them back.
After buying the stove, Sheng An went to the kitchenware store and bought a large pot, thirty sets of bowls and chopsticks, as well as soup spoons and strainers, etc., spending less than three hundred coins in total, leaving him with almost no money.
Touching the pitiful five copper coins in his pocket, Sheng An sighed helplessly: "I'm still too poor."
In his previous life, Sheng An had been poor for more than ten years, but he had never been as poor as he is now.
They have to be very careful with their money when buying anything, wishing they could split every penny in half.
The pots and pans were quite heavy, and Sheng An carried them all in his hands. It took him a lot of effort to get home, panting heavily.
Hearing the noise, Xu Jinnian, who was in the study, immediately put down his pen and came out.
Seeing Sheng An drenched in sweat and too exhausted to stand up straight, he quickly stepped forward and took the things from her hands, regretting that he hadn't insisted on going with her.
"Alas, one only realizes how small one's strength is when it is needed."
Sheng An, panting heavily, watched with envy as Xu Jin effortlessly lifted the things.
Why are men stronger than women when they both eat the same grains?
Xu Jinnian put the things away and poured Sheng An, who was slumped in the chair, a glass of warm water: "Is there anything else you need to buy? I'll go buy it now."
Sheng An took the water cup and chugged it down, wiping his mouth with a hearty laugh, and replied, "There's still a big stove I can't lift; I'll have to borrow a cart to bring it back."
Upon hearing this, Xu Jinnian realized that a pushcart was an essential item for setting up a stall.
The family's money wasn't enough to buy a new stroller, so after a brief moment of thought, Xu Jinnian suggested:
“My aunt has a spare stroller. I’ll take you there to see it.”
Sheng An immediately stood up: "Hurry up."
To sell wontons at a stall, a pushcart is essential. If her aunt's cart isn't suitable, she has no choice but to borrow money from her aunt to buy a new one.
After telling Xu Chenglin, the two hurriedly headed to the Zhang family home where Xu Cuilian lived.
The Zhang family, consisting of four members, went to the countryside to buy pigs, leaving Xu Cuilian alone at home to work.
After hearing the purpose of her nephew and niece-in-law's visit, Xu Cuilian led them directly to the backyard, pointed to the small cart in the corner and said, "Just take it and use it, no need to return it."
After saying this, without waiting for a reply, Xu Cuilian quickly went back into the house, then came out again and stuffed a few pieces of silver into Sheng An's hand:
“Our Xu family has never had a businessman before. I don’t object if you want to set up a stall to sell wontons. You can use this money as capital. If you make a profit, it’s yours; if you lose, it’s my bad luck.”
Given Jin Nian's personality, he would never have gone to borrow a stroller if he wasn't short of money.
Sheng An never expected Xu Cuilian to do this, and after realizing what was happening, he hurriedly refused:
"No need, no need. Everything that needs to be bought has been bought. We'll start making money tomorrow when we set up our stall."
Xu Cuilian grew impatient and pressed harder into the bowl, saying, "Just take it. Who knows if you have any customers!"
Sheng An: "..."
Auntie, can we have a little more confidence?
The two women pushed and shoved each other for a while, and finally Xu Jinnian spoke up, at which point Xu Cuilian reluctantly took back the silver, glaring at Sheng An with annoyance:
"Where are you planning to set up your stall? I know some people who can patronize your business."
Sheng An said with a smile, "It's in the market in Nanfang. It's close to home, so it's convenient to come and go."
The market in Nanfang is the place I visited both times; Zhang's pork stall is also there.
The market is busiest there in the morning, and Sheng'an sells wontons, catering to customers during that time.
Once she has saved enough capital, she will open a small shop where she can cook three meals a day.
It's tiring, but you earn a lot.
Sheng An is not afraid of being tired, but afraid of being poor.
"Okay, you can do business in the morning. It won't interfere with you taking care of your father-in-law."
Xu Cuilian was even more satisfied with Sheng An, and her gaze towards her was no longer as critical as before.
Regardless of whether the business succeeds or not, at least this niece-in-law is a hardworking person and is willing to put in effort for her husband's family.
Based on this alone, she's far better than those thieving women who are only interested in taking their husband's family's things to their own.
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