Zhou Yuan looked around furtively, like a thief. Seeing that no one was around, he hurriedly took two steps forward, lifted the wrapping, and picked up the white jade bracelet on top to examine it closely.
The lustrous white jade appears extremely translucent in the bright sunlight, with a faint ripple of water flowing within it.
Zhou Yuan gave a low sigh of admiration, and his arrogant face finally cracked, revealing the greed hidden deep within him.
Outside the courtyard, by the high wall, Jiang Yunhuai stared at the scene before him with a dark expression, his calloused fingers clenched tightly.
What did she mean by that? And who is this shabby-looking fellow? He doesn't remember the second daughter of the Shi family ever being promised to someone else.
Jiang Yunhuai tried hard to suppress his emotions, his mind flashing back to Zhou's medical records and some of the diagnoses. Suddenly, an unbelievable idea came to him.
The small courtyard was occasionally filled with the sporadic sounds of spatulas clattering. Zhou Yuan moved the other jewelry in his bundle, put the bracelet back in its place, and restored the bundle to its original state. Only then did he pretend to knock on the door and step into the kitchen.
Wang's body had been pampered since childhood, and she was exhausted from doing just a little work, her hands and feet trembling like noodles, and she couldn't even hold a regular coarse porcelain bowl.
Zhou Yuan came in just as she saw the bowl teetering on the edge of her fingers, yet she stubbornly tried to hold it up with the spatula.
Seeing that the expensive bowl was about to slip, Zhou Yuan quickly shouted, "Watch out!"
Wang quickly held the bowl with both hands, her fair skin glistening with a light sheen of sweat, and her pretty face showing the embarrassment of failing to please him: "Husband, why did you come here?"
Zhou Yuan inwardly cursed that if he hadn't come, who knows how many bowls he would have broken, but she said considerately, "You are now a lady from a respectable family, so let me do these rough and messy chores."
Wang had never received such special treatment since she married him. As Zhou Yuan gently took the bowl from her hands and considerately helped her to sit down, Wang's eyes welled up with tears, and she was deeply moved.
Zhou Yuan turned around, scooped out the cooked vegetables from the pot, clumsily washed them, put in the rice that Wang had rinsed, added water, covered it, and said, "Okay, it's smoky here, go inside and sit down, I'll be there in a bit."
Wang wiped her eyes to dry them, saying, "No need. This is a woman's job. You're a man, how can you do this?"
Zhou Yuan smiled and took out a cabbage from under the cabinet, washed it in a basin, and said, "You've been away these past few days, and I've been taking care of myself. See, I'm doing just fine."
Wang looked at his face with its short beard and said with concern, "No wonder you've lost so much weight since I last saw you. You probably haven't been eating or sleeping well lately, have you?"
Zhou Yuan turned his head away, avoiding her gaze, and said, "It's alright. I'm currently unemployed at home, so there's no good or bad about it."
Wang frowned, puzzled, and said, "Husband, didn't you just get promoted? Why are you unemployed at home?"
Zhou Yuan pulled the cabbage out of the water and placed it on the cutting board, still dripping wet. He then chopped at the root with the cleaver in his hand. "There are regulations in the court that officials must suspend their duties and stay home to observe mourning when a relative passes away."
"What?"
Wang was initially upset that he had just thrown away the cabbage roots he had cut off, and was thinking of picking them up later, processing them, and adding them back to the dish. However, the information in Zhou Yuan's words startled her, and she no longer cared about the cabbage, which was not worth much money to begin with. She quickly stood up, grabbed Zhou Yuan's sleeve, and asked, "How long will it take?"
Zhou Yuan stopped, turned his head and said, "According to the Great Zhao Code, it takes one year."
Wang loosened her fingers and said, "That long?"
Zhou Yuan smiled wryly. “That’s not all,” he said, glancing quickly at Wang Shi. “I’m just a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. The position isn’t that important, but the things I handle every day are very complicated and can’t be left unattended for even a moment. I’ve been unemployed at home for so long now, and I’m afraid my position has already been taken over by someone else.”
Wang was somewhat bewildered. She didn't know if it was right or wrong for her to come back so single-mindedly. Did she have to follow him back to his ancestral home to farm and raise pigs, living a life of hard work and struggling to make ends meet every day?
Thinking of the luxurious life and servants surrounding the Shi family mansion, Wang couldn't help but have second thoughts.
Zhou Yuan kept staring at her. Seeing the hesitation on her face, he felt very uncomfortable, but he had to suppress his emotions and said softly, "You are now a noble lady of the Shi family. Although I am an official, I do not hold any official position. It is enough that I know you still care about me. You should not come here again."
Upon hearing this, Wang interpreted it as Zhou Yuan not wanting to be a burden to her and hoping for a better future for herself.
Thinking back to those days when they were poor but also happy, Wang felt inexplicably excited and suddenly felt ashamed of her previous thoughts.
"Husband, please stop talking. No matter how down on your luck you are, I will always be your wife. From now on, we'll eat grain when we have it and chaff when we don't. Now that I've come, I've never thought of leaving."
Zhou Yuan's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, but his face revealed an expression of reluctance yet having to painfully give up something he cherished. His voice was filled with sorrow and emotion: "Yunniang, why are you doing this?"
Yunniang was Wang's maiden name. Zhou Yuan only called her that once or twice during their wedding. After that, he always addressed her as "Ai". When Wang suddenly heard him address her so affectionately, her heart skipped a beat and her mind went blank. She immediately said, "What does it matter if I suffer a little for you?"
Moved, Zhou Yuan stepped forward, spreading his arms wide, and then quickly stepped aside when Wang approached.
Wang was taken aback.
Zhou Yuan's cheek twitched rapidly, and he quickly tried to smooth things over, "Although we are husband and wife, we are still strangers in name only. For our future, it's best to be careful right now."
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