Xue Fenglin, due to his appearance and status, had always been admired in the capital. When he suddenly heard Shen Xuan's words, he froze, his hand neither retracting nor extending, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
He was proud, and since he had Shen Xuan's words, he couldn't shamelessly push further. He only forced a stiff smile and said, "You and I are of the same mind. Let's just pretend to be a couple for the villagers for now."
Shen Xuan was relieved to hear Xue Fenglin shared his feelings. He casually patted Xue Fenglin's shoulder and said, "In that case, we are quite in sync, and future interactions won't be awkward."
Seeing him so happy, Xue Fenglin felt even worse, but he couldn't show it. Good thing he was used to feigning emotions from his time in the marquis's residence, so Shen Xuan didn't notice anything.
While Shen Xuan was brewing medicine for Xue Fenglin, Xue Fenglin washed the dishes. After Xue Fenglin finished his medicine, Shen Xuan brought a basin of hot water and said,
"After you wash up, go to sleep. You sleep in this room tonight, and I'll sleep in that one. This old house is nice; it has two rooms, so we don't have to sleep on the ground."
Xue Fenglin was stunned, then saw Shen Xuan put down the basin and leave the room, going to the other one. Xue Fenglin was left alone, feeling the whole room was empty.
He quickly washed up and poured out the water. Turning back, he saw the light still on in Shen Xuan's room and wondered if he should go say goodnight. Suddenly, the light in Shen Xuan's room went out. Xue Fenglin was speechless.
Lying in bed, Xue Fenglin thought: 'Anyway, with my status, I'm destined to marry a noble lady. Not to mention my stepmother and younger brother at home are difficult to deal with. If I enter officialdom next year, I'll rely on my in-laws' help. Since Shen Xuan said he doesn't want to marry, I'm not letting him down, so isn't everyone happy?'
After thinking this, he closed his eyes to sleep. A stick of incense later, he suddenly opened his eyes again, cursing that the wooden bed wasn't as comfortable as the straw bed at Shen's house.
Xue Fenglin tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep soundly, while Shen Xuan surprisingly slept until late morning. Without the Wang family to order him around and eating well, Shen Xuan felt refreshed.
He pushed open the door and found Xue Fenglin already awake, struggling to draw water from the well with a bucket.
"You're still recovering from your injuries, you should rest," Shen Xuan said, taking the bucket from Xue Fenglin and examining him carefully.
Today, Xue Fenglin looked much better than yesterday. His swelling was mostly gone, and he moved more flexibly.
Although his skin still had some bruises, his face's contours were clear. Shen Xuan noticed his particularly high nose bridge and a pair of clear, distinct eyes that had become visible as the swelling subsided.
Coupled with his tall stature and well-built physique, he might even be handsome once the bruises healed.
Shen Xuan was somewhat attracted to good looks, so admiring a handsome man was naturally pleasing, and his mood improved a few points.
After drawing water, he went to the kitchen and mixed the remaining cornmeal into a paste, adding salt, and making two flatbreads. After eating the flatbreads, there was no more food left at home.
Shen Xuan thought for a moment and decided not to go looking for snails today. Moving yesterday was rushed, and there were many places in the house that hadn't been tidied.
Additionally, many of the Shen family's belongings were tightly controlled by the Wang family and couldn't be brought out, so new items needed to be purchased.
There was a small market at the village entrance, often with stalls selling meat and tofu. Many villagers also brought extra rice, flour, vegetables, or even shoe insert they had sewn to sell there.
They could buy what they needed for the house there. "I'm going out to buy some things," Shen Xuan told Xue Fenglin.
"Your medicine is simmering on the stove. Watch the fire, and once it boils, you can take it off and drink it." Xue Fenglin nodded; though he still couldn't walk easily, he could do that.
Shen Xuan put on his basket and left. In less than a stick of incense's time, he arrived at the village market.
Some villagers had already slaughtered pigs to sell that morning, and there was also Zhang's tofu stall, which had been there for decades and came out whenever the weather was good.
Shen Xuan had caused such a stir in the village yesterday, and now he and the other protagonist of the gossip appeared at the village entrance, naturally becoming the focus of all the villagers' attention.
"Shen Ger, congratulations! You're finally married off!"
"The iron tree has blossomed. Shen Ger is married, and that little brother from the Wang family is still left!"
"Shen Ger, do you know what your husband's name is?"
Shen Xuan smiled and said, "Of course, I know. His name is Lin Ye." Shen Xuan's sudden clear and articulate speech startled the other villagers.
"Shen Ger, why aren't you silly anymore?"
"Did getting married make you clear-headed?"
Shen Xuan had already left the Wang family and would have to manage many things himself in the future, so he was too lazy to pretend anymore.
He directly said, "I hit my head a few days ago, and then I slowly woke up."
The crowd was very surprised and surrounded him, asking many questions. Shen Xuan answered them all fluently, which made them believe that he had indeed regained his clarity.
"It truly is a fool's luck! Now you're awake and married, you'll have a good life from now on," said Aunt Zhang, who sold tofu.
As a merchant, her words were more pleasant than the average villager's. Shen Xuan happened to need tofu, so he bought two pieces of firm tofu from Aunt Zhang.
Each piece of tofu cost three wen, the same price as by the main road. Shen Xuan gave Aunt Zhang six wen, and she wrapped the tofu in lotus leaves.
Shen Xuan put the tofu into his basket and then went to see Grandpa Huang, who sold meat nearby.
Grandpa Huang was the father of Village Head's wife, Aunt Huang Er. His family had just slaughtered a pig that morning. Besides what they kept for themselves, everything else was brought to the village entrance to sell.
Shen Xuan and the others came late, so the pig blood and offal had already been sold, leaving one rack of ribs that hadn't sold due to its high price.
Pork ribs were ten wen per jin, and one rack of ribs was at least ten jin. Villagers lacked oil and preferred fatty pork belly over lean ribs.
Moreover, ribs were heavier than meat, with ten jin of ribs only yielding five jin of meat, which villagers found uneconomical.
Grandpa Huang had been selling for two hours and thought if no one else wanted them, he'd take them home to eat himself.
"Grandpa Huang, sell me this rack of ribs," Shen Xuan said, having taken a liking to them. In the few days since he transmigrated, he hadn't eaten any pork and was very hungry.
Plus, he had a patient at home who needed nourishment. Just looking at the ribs, Shen Xuan's mind was filled with thoughts of sweet and sour ribs, pan-fried ribs, roasted ribs, and all sorts of other ways to cook them.
"These ribs aren't cheap, ten wen a jin," Grandpa Huang said after looking at Shen Xuan. It wasn't that he looked down on Shen Xuan, but this rack of ribs weighed twelve jin and six taels, and buying the whole thing would cost over 120 wen.
Everyone knew how Shen Xuan had lived at the Wang family's place. Where would he get the money to buy ribs?
"Then weigh it and tell me the price, I'll buy it," Shen Xuan smiled.
He took a string of copper coins from his sleeve and counted them out in tens. Grandpa Huang saw that Shen Xuan still had a good amount of money and immediately took his scale to re-weigh the ribs for him.
"It's 126 wen in total, but I'll only charge you 120 wen as a wedding congratulation," Grandpa Huang generously rounded down the price for Shen Xuan.
With the ribs sold, he hummed a little tune happily as he put the ribs into Shen Xuan's basket.
Seeing Shen Xuan buy so many ribs at once, the surrounding villagers were stunned. That was 120 wen! Unless it was a holiday, how many families in the village would be willing to spend so much money on meat at once?
"Where did Shen Xuan get so much money all of a sudden?"
"He doesn't have any money, it's probably from his new husband, right?"
"Tsk tsk, he's lucky. We thought he picked up a sickly person, but he's quite generous, so he'll have good fortune from now on."
The villagers discussed animatedly, and naturally, there were many sour remarks. Shen Xuan pretended not to hear them and didn't bother to argue. He bought two radishes, some polished rice, and some white flour before returning home.
After he had walked far away, Brother Zhong put down the shoe inserts in his hand and said with a hint of sourness, "Spending money so freely, he doesn't know how to save. I think he's still silly."
Little Sister Zhong, who had come to the village entrance with him to sell shoe insert, laughed when she heard him and said,
"It's his man's money anyway, why are you feeling bad? Are you jealous he's married off?"
"Who would be jealous of him?" Brother Zhong was angered by this. "Look at that man's face, bruised and purple, enough to scare people to death. Only someone like Shen Xuan isn't picky."
"Hehe, I told you not to be too picky," Little Sister Zhong laughed heartily. "You're a Ger, sixteen this year. What if you end up like Wang Xiaolian, over eighteen and still unmarried?"
This completely enraged Brother Zhong. He snorted, stomped his foot, threw down the shoe insert stall, and turned to leave.
No one noticed that not far from them, in the field by the path, Wang Xiaolian was hiding in the tall grass with a vegetable basket, grinding her teeth in hatred.
Wang Xiaolian cried as she rushed home, hugging Wang Niangniang's arm and saying, "Mother, it's all Shen Xuan's fault. Now he's married off, but I'm still left, and the whole village is laughing at me!"
"Whose fault is that?" Wang Niangniang was furious upon hearing this.
It was Wang Xiaolian's own fault for not being good enough. Previously, she had found several matchmakers for him. But either he looked down on others, disliking their poverty or ugliness, or others looked down on him.
"Isn't it because my dowry is too small?" Wang Xiaolian said, wiping her nose and tears.
"Brother Chen from the neighboring village married well; his family gave five mu of land as dowry."
"Brother Chen is an only son; how can he be like you? Five mu of land! Our Wang family only has fifteen mu of land in total. You open your mouth and ask for five mu; won't your two sisters-in-law cause a scene?" Wang Niangniang glared at Wang Xiaolian, frustrated.
"Mother, you went to the Shen family to be a Nanny right after I was born; I didn't even get to drink a mouthful of your milk." Wang Xiaolian's words touched Wang Niangniang's sore spot.
Back then, Wang Niangniang sold herself to be a Nanny in the Shen family, separating from Wang Xiaolian for many years, which made her feel indebted to him and thus so doting.
Wang Xiaolian also felt from a young age that Shen Xuan had stolen his mother, which is why he particularly disliked him and always compared himself to him.
Wang Niangniang thought for a moment before saying, "How about this. Tomorrow, I'll have the matchmaker come again and ask her to find someone for you in the village."
"A dowry of five mu of land?" Wang Xiaolian asked, holding up five fingers.
"Three mu," Wang Niangniang said, gritting her teeth.
"Tsk, how stingy." Although Wang Xiaolian was still a bit dissatisfied, three mu of land was considered a lot of dowry in the village.
"You must find a good one, at least better than Shen Xuan's." Today, he saw that Shen Xuan's man gave him a lot of money, and he even bought a whole rack of ribs!
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