He was drunk.
The group chatted and laughed as they explained their purpose: "We're all from the same troupe as Chunsheng. This guy got married without even telling us. When we heard about it, we chipped in and bought a string of firecrackers."
Xu Tangmian smiled and nodded.
Although she and Yu Chunsheng didn't have much of a romantic relationship, they were still husband and wife in name only. She couldn't expose them in front of outsiders, so she had to put on a good show.
She waved politely, saying, "He didn't say we'd have guests today. If I'd known, I would have bought more groceries."
"No, no, no, sister-in-law!" The person quickly waved his hand, "We just came to see what Chunsheng's new wife looks like, we're not eating at your house! We have to go home soon."
Xu Tangmian said politely, "Look at what you're saying, it's not easy for you to come all this way, please come inside!"
Xu Tangmian froze as soon as she finished speaking. She'd let it slip; where did this third stool come from in the room?!
Yu Chunsheng seemed to have read her mind, and with a smile that seemed to enjoy the show, he greeted his colleagues, "There are no chairs at home, so please find a place to sit. I won't stand on ceremony with you."
My colleague laughed and said, "Hey, this kid's taking food and money with him. What about us? Okay, tomorrow you can come to my place and get a few stools, I'll put it on my tab."
Yu Chunsheng then said with a smile, "Let me make it clear first, we don't have any fancy dishes at home."
The colleague pointed at Xu Tangmian and said, "I just saw your sister-in-law come back from buying groceries. We're not picky, as long as we have some wine." Then he went to wander around the back of the house.
Yu Chunsheng was in a dilemma, and whispered to Xu Tangmian, "How about you go instead..."
“I’ll go buy the wine,” Xu Tangmian readily agreed.
"Okay, thank you." Yu Chunsheng's eyes were full of gratitude, but he complained a little, "I didn't mean for them to come, but they insisted on following me. It's such a long way, they really can keep up."
"Go and stir-fry those dishes," Xu Tangmian waved her hand. "Just having wine isn't enough; I can't cook."
Yu Chunsheng nodded, pointed to the bicycle in the yard and said, "You can ride your bike there, it's a bit far." Then he went back to the kitchen.
Seeing him busy with his work, Xu Tangmian left without looking back and headed straight for the stream behind the kitchen. Just as she rolled up her trousers to wade into the river, she heard Yu Chunsheng's voice coming from the window behind her:
"Don't go into the river!" He clung to the steel bars on the window, wishing he could stick his head out: "The water is very cold."
Xu Tangmian didn't care. Taking this route would have meant a long detour, and she couldn't ride a bicycle. Besides, she had painkillers at home; wading through such a short stretch of water wasn't a big deal.
She insisted on crossing the river, and once on the shore, she turned back and made a face at Yu Chunsheng.
They quickly found the small shop Yu Chunsheng had mentioned; it wasn't too far, only a five or six-minute walk away.
The shop owner was a middle-aged woman around forty years old. Seeing that she was a stranger, she asked, "Are you a newcomer from the east end of the village?"
Xu Tangmian nodded and said with a smile, "You guys are really well-informed."
As the owner poured the drinks, he chuckled and said, "We run a small shop, and with so many people coming and going every day, we've all heard about it just by chatting."
She handed the bottled wine to Xu Tangmian and asked a few more questions: "You ordered so much? Are you having guests?"
Xu Tangmian took the wine and said with a smile, "Yes, his colleagues are coming over to have dinner together."
"Hey, could you talk to your man and ask him to bring some goods from the store to sell? I'll pay for it." The shop owner came out from behind the counter. "You don't know, he came to me yesterday to buy something for you, but we didn't have any in stock, so I gave him something I made myself and didn't charge him."
She sighed, seemingly annoyed. "I only found out today that he works at the supply and marketing cooperative. If I had known, I would have asked him to bring some things back for me to sell."
Xu Tangmian didn't want to get involved in Yu Chunsheng's affairs, so she said tactfully, "Don't you have your own supply channels?"
The boss then said mysteriously, "That's different. We handle all our purchases through transparent accounts. We just earn a little money from hauling goods back from town. We can't save much money at the end of the year."
“They’re insiders, they get insider prices. You can talk to him and we can work together. He gets the goods, I sell them, and you guys get a share of the profits.”
Xu Tangmian hesitated. If she remembered correctly, this behavior seemed to have a specific name... "speculation and profiteering"?
She didn't dare to make a decision on her own, so she could only force a smile and say, "Let's see."
As she walked to the door, she saw a few small stools casually placed next to the stone mill outside, and Xu Tangmian had another idea.
She turned back and politely asked, "Boss, could I borrow these chairs?"
The boss waved his hand magnanimously, "Use it as you please!"
With permission, Xu Tangmian stacked the stools on top of each other, tucked them under her arm, and carried them home.
She took a shortcut back home, and when she got there, there were already several dishes on the table.
Seeing that she had brought a stool, her colleagues quickly took it from her and praised her with smiles. Only Yu Chunsheng frowned as he stared at her still dripping ankle.
"There's water on the stove, go soak your feet quickly," he instructed.
My colleague was annoyed. "Let your sister-in-law come and eat with us. We don't stand on ceremony here. Sister-in-law, come sit down!"
Xu Tangmian knew that Yu Chunsheng meant well, so she waved her hand and smiled as she declined, saying, "You guys eat first, I need to rinse my mouth since I just had some water in it."
When she returned after washing up, the people at the table hadn't even touched their chopsticks.
Xu Tangmian was a little speechless. Actually, she didn't really want to eat, especially in a social setting like this. She felt a little uncomfortable eating at the same table as Yu Chunsheng, let alone with a group of men she didn't know well.
"You guys eat," she said with a smile, and was about to go back to her bedroom when she was interrupted by Yu Chunsheng's colleague.
"Sister-in-law, come and have some. If you don't come, Xiao Yu won't let us touch our chopsticks."
"Exactly! Just drinking is no fun. Sister-in-law, come and chat with us too."
Xu Tangmian looked displeased. Was she being used as a hostess?
There were many people around, so she felt embarrassed to speak up, but she couldn't help feeling dissatisfied with Yu Chunsheng's sudden decision to bring guests back.
Living under the same roof, they had to work things out, big and small. Xu Tangmian didn't want things to get ugly, so although she was reluctant, she still took a stool and went over.
As soon as she arrived, the others automatically squeezed in and moved a little space next to Yu Chunsheng.
As soon as he sat down, a bowl of wine was handed to him. "Sister-in-law, Xiao Yu doesn't drink, you can't refuse her too!"
Xu Tangmian turned her head and glared at him, her face dark as if she was about to curse. Yu Chunsheng quickly took the teacup and said with a smile, "Don't make things difficult for her, I'll drink it."
"Tsk tsk tsk, they really are a couple. Your sister-in-law didn't say anything and you already felt sorry for them."
Yu Chunsheng didn't seem to be used to drinking. He took a big gulp and almost vomited, but he still managed to swallow it with a pained expression, and then coughed for a long time.
“You can’t drink like that…” Xu Tangmian quickly poured him a cup of tea to rinse his mouth and patted his back to help him catch his breath.
Several colleagues exchanged glances, and one of them said sourly, "It's still better to have a wife, she knows how to take care of you."
Yu Chunsheng had just recovered from his cough. Hearing this, he smiled but didn't say anything. His face, which was red from coughing, hadn't returned to normal.
Another colleague said, "They're sleeping in the same bed, don't you feel sorry for your husband?" As he spoke, he picked up a piece of chives with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, jokingly saying, "Look, your wife feels sorry for Xiao Yu 'working' hard at night, so she specially bought chives to reward her."
Xu Tangmian didn't understand the connection between chives and rewards. If you wanted to reward someone, you should buy some meat. However, she knew she lacked common sense, so she didn't dare to ask directly for fear of making a fool of herself.
It would be impolite for her not to respond to such remarks. Since they mentioned "rewarding," Xu Tangmian thought of Yu Chunsheng, who was so sleepy from watering the fields until three or four in the morning that he couldn't wake up. So, she generously put an egg in his bowl as a "reward," nodding and saying:
“Chunsheng was busy until three or four in the morning last night before he went to sleep. If I hadn’t woken him up this morning, he might have been late. He really worked very hard.”
Upon hearing this, the people at the table burst into laughter, and Yu Chunsheng, who was drinking water, also spat it out and coughed for a long time.
Xu Tangmian's face darkened even more.
She didn't understand what they were laughing at!
Having recovered, Yu Chunsheng finally couldn't help but issue an order to leave: "Don't you have an event at school tomorrow? Go and get ready."
Seeing the look of amusement in his colleagues' eyes, Xu Tangmian roughly understood that this was what people called a "show of force." Men, after all, always think of themselves as the head of the household, and when their brothers are around, they automatically switch to emperor mode, wishing that women would serve them tea and water and fawn over them.
However, this was a lucky accident; she didn't want to stay with them at all.
Remembering his behavior of bringing people back without consulting him and his current imperious tone, Xu Tangmian didn't give him a kind look, not even a perfunctory word, and went straight to her bedroom to close the door.
About an hour later, around eight o'clock, the guests finally left.
Xu Tangmian didn't get up, but sat at her desk and glanced out the window. When she saw Yu Chunsheng look back at her after seeing his guests off at the front door, she lowered her head and continued writing her lesson plan as if nothing had happened.
A minute later, there was a knock on the door: "May I come in?"
Xu Tangmian didn't say anything, and the door remained closed until she hummed in agreement, at which point Yu Chunsheng pushed the door open and came in.
"Busy?" He walked straight to Xu Tangmian's side and leaned against the desk.
"Get away, you reek of alcohol." Xu Tangmian deliberately covered her nose and made a disgusted face.
Yu Chunsheng's expression changed as expected. He awkwardly retreated to the doorway, neither speaking nor leaving.
Xu Tangmian took a deep breath, put down her pen, and asked him, "What do you want to say?"
"Are you angry?" he said sheepishly. "I really didn't bring them back on purpose. I made it clear to them today, and they probably won't come again."
"What did you tell them?" Xu Tangmian asked, knowing that her earlier rudeness might not have left a good impression. "You didn't tell them I was a shrew and forbade them from coming, did you?"
Although it's true, you can't say it so bluntly.
Yu Chunsheng was taken aback, then smiled and shook his head. "I was just saying that we've just gotten married and need time to get to know each other. You're not used to having family members over, and I'm afraid we might neglect them."
Xu Tangmian then stopped saying anything.
"Are you hungry since you didn't eat dinner? I'll cook you some porridge."
Xu Tangmian stopped him, "No need, just boil some water and I'll wash up and go to bed quickly. Don't you have to go to work tomorrow?"
Yu Chunsheng was probably a little drunk and confused. He shook his head and retorted, "No need, I'll boil the water and you can wash. I've taken the day off tomorrow."
"I said I'm washing," Xu Tangmian said, frowning. "Who cares if you wash or not? Just let yourself stink."
Yu Chunsheng chuckled twice more and staggered toward the kitchen.
Seeing him so drunk, Xu Tangmian didn't dare ask him to start a fire. She could only endure her hunger and help him to the bedside while she went to boil water herself.
I have class early tomorrow morning, and I've already stayed up too late tonight. After filling the tub with water, Xu Tangmian set up the shower tent and started showering in the bedroom.
I had just started washing when I heard rustling sounds coming from the living room.
The bedroom door wasn't locked. She hadn't kicked Yu Chunsheng out because he was drunk. Was he still awake?
Xu Tangmian hurriedly tried to put on her clothes to close the door, but her wet clothes made it difficult to put them on, and the more she rushed, the harder it became. Before she could even get dressed, Yu Chunsheng had already pushed the door open and walked in!
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