Chapter Twenty-One: This Wife Is Truly Remarkably Virtuous

Chu Yun saw that they truly refused to take his money, so he put away three of the knife-shaped coins and said, "Uncle Ye, no matter what, you must accept these two coins. This is the money for the wild ginger I’m buying from you. If you won’t take it, then I won’t take your ginger."

Old Ye couldn’t help but glance at Ye Zhelan.

Ye Zhelan knew Chu Yun was being kind and helping them, and she was all the more moved. She nodded, "Father, let’s accept it."

Only then did Old Ye accept the coins and brought out all the wild ginger Ye Zhelan had gathered.

There wasn’t much, as they weren’t sure it was actually medicinal, but it was more than enough to treat Jiang Lin’s illness.

Chu Yun took the herbs, thanked them, and turned to leave.

The father and daughter invited him to stay for a meal, but he declined directly.

They were already so poor that they barely had any grain to eat. If he stayed for a meal, wouldn’t he just be adding to their troubles?

Old Ye watched as Chu Yun’s figure disappeared, and saw Ye Zhelan still gazing into the distance after him. He couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh, "A grown daughter really can’t be kept at home."

Ye Zhelan’s face turned bright red at his words. "Father, what are you saying?"

Old Ye replied, "You know exactly what I’m saying, don’t you? Still, Chu Yun is a doctor now, he can earn money treating people and will never want for a living. If you were to marry him, it wouldn’t be bad. Even if he just married a principal wife a few days ago and you could only be a concubine."

Ye Zhelan blushed even harder and couldn’t be bothered to respond.

...

By the time Chu Yun returned home with the herbs, dusk was already falling.

As soon as Yang Liu’er saw him, she came over to help, took the basket off his back, and asked with concern, "Husband, did everything go smoothly on the mountain? You didn’t run into any wild beasts, did you?"

Chu Yun nodded. "Everything went fine, I didn’t meet any wild animals, and I collected quite a lot of herbs."

"Good." Yang Liu’er responded, "Husband, go and rest. I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare dinner."

"Alright."

Chu Yun replied with a smile, his heart full of happiness.

Before he came to this world, he had been a special forces military doctor, and had always hoped that someday, after retiring and working outside, he could return home after a busy day to a beautiful wife who would cook for him.

He never thought that this wish would come true in this world.

After setting down the basket, Yang Liu’er busied herself in the kitchen.

Chu Yun didn’t sit down to rest either, but instead took out the herbs one by one, laying them out on the floor so they wouldn’t spoil, and resolved to have someone make him a drying rack for herbs the next day.

After he finished, he went to the main room and saw that Yang Liu’er had used his money to buy a new table and two new chairs, and had also placed an oil lamp on the table.

In the bedroom, he saw that the old, worn table and chairs that had been in the main room were now piled with coarse hemp clothes, one of which had a bronze needle and hemp thread stuck in it.

Although the needle was thick and the thread coarse, the stitches on the garment were fine and even, showing that the hand using the needle was deft and nimble.

Clearly, Yang Liu’er had not been idle after he left. After buying new furniture, she had taken on a lot of mending work for others.

And from the look of her sewing, it was obvious this was not a skill learned in a day or two.

"She really is a diligent woman," Chu Yun couldn’t help but sigh, feeling once again that Chen Ping had truly done him a great favor by introducing him to such a wonderful girl.

Then, thinking of how the original owner of this body had wanted to sell her to the Red Pavilion, he couldn’t help but curse that man as worse than a beast.

Chu Yun went to the kitchen, where Yang Liu’er was busy. On the stove were newly bought oil, salt, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns.

There weren’t any other seasonings, though.

Chu Yun remembered how backward this world was, how even salt was generally rough and unrefined. He subconsciously thought there probably wasn’t even soy sauce here. Otherwise, Yang Liu’er would have bought some.

But then he recalled the signature braised lamb dish from the Ten-Mile Fragrance restaurant.

That braised color was proof that they used soy sauce in cooking, and the taste was unmistakably that of soy sauce.

So Chu Yun asked, "Liu’er, didn’t you buy any soy sauce when you bought the seasonings?"

Yang Liu’er looked puzzled. "Husband, what is soy sauce?"

Chu Yun was taken aback. Did this world really not have soy sauce?

He thought for a moment and said, "You remember the braised lamb I brought back from Ten-Mile Fragrance yesterday? The reason the lamb had that color was because of soy sauce, and it had a special aroma too—that’s from the soy sauce."

Yang Liu’er shook her head. "I’m sorry, Husband, I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Chu Yun was stunned again, and then said, "It’s alright, just keep cooking."

He decided to go to the market the next day and see if anyone sold soy sauce.

"Alright, Husband. Just wait a moment, dinner will be ready soon," Yang Liu’er replied, continuing her work.

Remembering her sewing, Chu Yun said, "Liu’er, you don’t need to take on any more mending work from now on."

Yang Liu’er paused and turned to look at him, puzzled. "Husband, why? Sewing is what I do best. I want to earn a little money to help with household expenses. After all, this is our home, and I can’t let you bear everything alone."

Chu Yun smiled. "You sew very well, but if you want to help with expenses, you don’t need to do this. In my dreams, an immortal taught me many ways to make a living. Any one of them could help you earn much more and make our life better."

Yang Liu’er grew a little excited. "Really?"

Chu Yun nodded.

But then Yang Liu’er frowned. "Husband, I’m not very clever. I’m afraid I won’t be able to learn the skills that immortal taught you."