While Li Xiaoxiao was preparing the meal, Qi Yu returned from outside. He opened the small, shabby door and greeted her with a warm smile, "Wife, I went to Qingshan Academy today, and Headmaster Wang is willing to accept me."
Li Xiaoxiao smiled and nodded, then stood up and rushed into the man's arms to hug him, "My husband is so amazing."
Qi Yu looked at the person in his arms with even more satisfaction, while an unexpected and inexplicable grayness and gloom flashed in his eyes.
He couldn't see the woman in his arms. After holding her for a while, Qi Yu released Li Xiaoxiao, thinking to himself: Li Xiaoxiao, you must not betray me again. If you commit adultery with someone else, I will never let you off easily.
Nothing was said that night.
The next day, Li Xiaoxiao woke up in the man's warm embrace and found that she had been holding him the whole time, but Qi Yu's hands were exceptionally gentlemanly and did not overstep any boundaries. He was not a bad person by nature.
Qi Yu opened his eyes and found Li Xiaoxiao hugging him, a tiny little bundle with big, round eyes staring at him.
"My husband."
Qi calmly pushed Li Xiaoxiao away and got up, picking up his coat from the bedside and putting it on. "I have to go to school today, so please take care of things at home, my wife." After getting dressed, he went to the kitchen to reheat the leftover braised meat from yesterday, and also cooked millet porridge, dividing it into two portions. After eating, he said, "My wife, the food is still warm in the pot. Remember to eat when you get up."
Before long, the man left the small, dilapidated house with the book. Only then did Li Xiaoxiao get up to eat. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Outside, the day laborers started shouting work slogans again.
Li Xiaoxiao tidied up her belongings, putting all the valuables into her spatial storage. She then made pancakes for the helpers before locking the door and preparing to go hunting in the mountains. Since wild boars had appeared in the mountains, there must be more. She could easily hunt one to provide a good meal for the laborers.
An hour later, she came down the mountain carrying a wild boar. The day laborers were all astonished. She carried a wild boar back with her bare hands? There was an axe on the boar's head; it had been killed by the axe.
What? Even an adult male shouldn't be able to kill a wild boar with his bare hands.
"Mrs. Li, you're amazing." Old Wu greeted her warmly when he saw her return. Li Xiaoxiao tossed the wild boar down with one hand. "Oh, everyone's still working. Keep up the good work. I'll go and prepare a meal for everyone."
Old Wu and the others were all very surprised. In those days, everyone knew that wild boars were very valuable. A single large wild boar could sell for five taels of silver. Normally, who would be willing to eat such precious meat? Even if they hunted one, they would have to rush to the market to sell it and earn some money.
"Great! Great!" the crowd cheered.
Li Xiaoxiao quickly started cooking, making a lot of steamed buns and a large plate of wild boar and vegetable soup. It took her an hour to finish and arrange the food on the large wooden table. The day laborers stood by, staring intently at her with their faces flushed with smiles. "Madam Li is so generous."
"We must do a good job today and properly thank Madam Li." Zhang Erdan looked at the meat as if he wanted to stick his head inside it and eat it.
Gou Sheng was also delighted; he hadn't had any meat in a long time, and this was a good meal for him.
As the laborers munched on their meat, they began discussing how many wild boars were left on the mountain and how to hunt them next time. It was a sunny day, and the surrounding snowy scenery was perfect for a hearty meal. Before leaving, each laborer was given a pound of meat to take home.
As the sun set, Qi Yu returned carrying a stack of books. "My wife, the preliminary examination for the imperial examination is in a month. I must study diligently. If I have failed to take good care of you, I hope you will forgive me." A warm smile appeared on Qi Yu's face.
She approached Qi Yu, took his hand and patted it gently. "Of course my husband is amazing. I had a dream before that he passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar. I've always believed in dreams, so when I woke up, I decided to follow him faithfully." She made up these things without even trying; of course, she had never dreamt about them.
"Is what you say true, my lady?" Qi Yu's eyes gleamed with joy. Li Xiaoxiao nodded firmly. Qi Yu then lowered his hand, put one hand behind his back, and paced around the room, looking thoughtful, as if he were truly the top scholar in the imperial examination. Meanwhile, the woman sat on a small wooden stool, continuing to burn firewood and gnaw on a chicken leg. After eating lavishly every day for the past few days, her dry and sallow face had finally become fair and smooth, making her even more beautiful.
Qi Yu paced back and forth, pondering for a while, before realizing something was amiss. "Li Xiaoxiao, are you just giving me the runaround?" He had only been slightly uncertain at first, but Li Xiaoxiao's smile only strengthened his belief that he had been tricked.
"Li Xiaoxiao?" Qi Yu stopped thinking, lifted his robe, sat on the edge of the bed, and forced himself to calm down. The thought of this possibility made him excited.
"My husband, now that you've become the top scholar, what do you think of it? Have you ever thought that if it were just about having enough to eat and wear, you would already be satisfied with your current life?"
“If one is only after empty fame, what is there for my husband to be happy about in this minor title of top scholar?”
Li Xiaoxiao's words completely shocked the man. He had never imagined that this old-fashioned and foolish woman would have such a thought.
"I'm not teasing you anymore, my husband." Li Xiaoxiao brought over a plate of food and then sat down next to Qi Yu. "Husband, let's eat. I was indeed not very good to you before. I was wrong about what happened in the past, but it did happen in my dream."
Li Xiaoxiao pretended to be serious and grabbed Qi Yu's hand again. This went on for more than ten times, sometimes saying she was dreaming and sometimes not. Qi Yu lost all patience and interest. After tidying up, he went back to bed and fell asleep. Li Xiaoxiao snuggled into the man's arms again.
The next day, Li Xiaoxiao went to the market to buy seeds and furniture. After buying them, she only had a little over eighty taels of silver left. She then went to the county pharmacy to sell a ginseng root and got another eight hundred taels. She returned to the village head and bought a mountain and a hundred acres of wasteland behind her house. The six hundred taels were completely spent.
Qi Yu was completely unaware of all this.
Half a month later, the Li family's house was finally repaired. Li Xiaoxiao cooked a meal to entertain the villagers. Qi Yu was still nervously preparing for the exam, while she lived a carefree life at home, cooking a little something to eat, going hunting, selling new clothes, and buying a few books on medicine and literacy. She would then sit in the courtyard, swaying in the chaise longue she had designed herself, basking in the sun.
They dug a fishpond not far away and brought in two wolves from the mountains to guard the house. Basically, no one came to trespass. Apart from going to school, Qi Yu would stay home and do housework, wielding a wooden sword day after day.
Half a month passed quickly, and the snow stopped falling. The snow in the distance was not as thick as before. Li Xiaoxiao had not developed any business for a full month. If nothing unexpected happened, she would have to stay at home like this for the rest of her life.
But this peace was soon shattered. Late at night, a wolf howled outside the door. Li Xiaoxiao went out wearing her undergarments and saw a woman lying on the ground outside the door with two wolves standing beside her. Upon closer inspection, she realized the woman was a stranger. The old woman tremblingly reached out to Li Xiaoxiao, "Save me, save me."
Judging from his clothes, this old man was no ordinary person. But since she was already here, she might as well just accept him. Based on her experience reading novels before the apocalypse, this person was someone important. If he died at her doorstep, she would definitely be in trouble and become the scapegoat.
This old woman has tuberculosis, which is contagious these days and can even be fatal in severe cases.
The voices of a group of people chasing after them came from afar: "Catch her! Whoever loses her will be beheaded!"
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