Honey, you didn’t really drugged me, did you?

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Wife, do you want to know? Kiss me.

“The Golden Chicken is truly nourishing,” Ma Liu thought, even as Wu Zhong continued his martial training, hefting a millstone when Ma Liu left.

Aunt Bai had given Ma Liu two steamed buns and the leftovers of today’s meal, a bowl of stir-fried celery with pork.

With these in hand, Ma Liu made his way back home.

Su Yunjin and Daisy had been waiting in the yard, Su Yunjin wearing an expression of concern.

That morning when Ma Liu had come down from the mountain, he said a quick word to her and then, carrying a sack, went off to the Bai Family’s place, gone the whole day, and she had been worried sick.

The old Chen Jie, the hopeless gambler.

Su Yunjin had wished he’d just die out there, but these past few days of change, especially this morning’s firewood and the full water jar, had shown her the difference a man could make.

“I’m back.”

“Brother-in-law!”

Daisy sprinted towards Ma Liu, her eyes fixated on his hands.

“Brother-in-law, what delicious food did you bring?”

“Do you like stir-fried celery with pork?”

Ma Liu teased Daisy with a smile, and at the mention, she couldn’t help herself, swallowing saliva voraciously.

“Wife, please heat up the food and these two buns.”

Ma Liu handed the food to Su Yunjin.

“Husband, why did you bring food back again? It’s fine once or twice, but doing this often will breed resentment. You’ve just started apprenticing, don’t leave a bad impression on Doctor Bai.”

“Besides, you needn’t worry so much about me and Ruirui. We have lard at home, and sorghum rice. Life’s much better than before. I can go pick some wild vegetables, and we’ll still eat well. We don’t need to bring food back every day.”

“People will get annoyed over time.”

Su Yunjin rambled on.

Ma Liu nodded, “Wife, I understand, I didn’t ask for it, Aunt Bai insisted on giving it to me.”

Su Yunjin said, “Still, you can’t keep accepting it.”

“All right, all right, I’ll listen to my wife, whatever my wife says.”

…

The meal was quickly reheated, and after eating, Ma Liu watched as Ruirui and Su Yunjin sat at the table, enjoying the stir-fried celery with pork, Su Yunjin mostly eating the celery, giving most of the pork to Daisy.

“Sister, why aren’t you eating the meat?”

“Heh, I just don’t want any.”

Su Yunjin said indulgently, while Daisy looked at her puzzled, “Meat is so tasty, how can sister not like it? Ruirui likes it.”

Hearing this, Ma Liu picked a piece of meat from the plate and put it into Su Yunjin’s bowl.

Su Yunjin looked up, meeting Ma Liu’s eyes, a touch of confusion in hers.

“Ruirui is right, meat is delicious, how can my wife not like it? You should learn to enjoy it, it’ll make you even more beautiful, right Ruirui?”@@novelbin@@

“Mm-hmm, eat meat, become pretty, sister eat.”

Ruirui sensibly put his favorite piece of meat into Su Yunjin’s bowl.

Seeing this, Ma Liu added another piece, “Eat another.”

“Mm-hmm, eat another piece.”

“That’s enough, enough, I really can’t eat any more.”

Su Yunjin covered her bowl with a happily content smile, or else all the meat from the stir-fried celery would end up in her bowl.

Ma Liu felt it was enough, and said to Ruirui, “Well, let’s give sister a break. The rest is up to Ruirui, my little friend, to finish off.”

“Mm!”

Ruirui nodded vigorously, his face filled with joy, still five or six pieces of meat left in the bowl.

Su Yunjin ate a piece of meat, her mind weighed down with thoughts. She glanced at Ma Liu, opened her mouth as if to speak, but then lapsed into silence. Ma Liu understood her hesitation.

“Are you wanting to ask about Ma Liu’s matter?”

Su Yunjin paused, then looked at Ma Liu with worry, “Husband, I did some calculations at home today. Even if we sell our house, we could at most scrape up five silver taels, which is far too little for the twenty-five taels.”

After saying this, her face was clouded with sorrow.

“Ah, don’t worry about that, I’ve already taken care of it.”

“Hmm? You’ve taken care of it?”

Su Yunjin stared at Chen Jie in astonishment, her large eyes brimming with disbelief.

Her lips, slightly greasy from eating meat, were slightly parted and very enticing.

“Really??”

She asked incredulously.

“Really, I went to take care of it today.”

Su Yunjin steadied her heart and looked at Chen Jie, “Husband, how did you resolve it?”

Chen Jie laughed, “A man of wisdom always has his own clever plan.”

Su Yunjin said anxiously, “Husband, stop beating around the bush. Just tell me.”

“Do you want to know?”

Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin’s pretty face. Although it was a bit pale due to long-term malnutrition, the foundation of her scholar-family upbringing was still there; with some good food, she would definitely look healthier.

“Mhm.”

Su Yunjin nodded. The weight on her heart had nearly crushed her yesterday, and yet Chen Jie had managed to resolve it so easily. She was very curious about how he had done it.

“Kiss me, and then I’ll tell you.”

Chen Jie gazed into Su Yunjin’s eyes.

They were as bright as gemstones.

Upon hearing this, she blushed instantly and glared at Chen Jie with a shy rebuke.

“Ruirui is still here, what nonsense are you talking about!”

After that, she lowered her head to fiddle with her clothing.

Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin and said, “We are husband and wife, and it is all legal. What’s nonsensical about a kiss? It’s not a big deal. Ruirui!”

“Hm?”

Ruirui looked up.

Chen Jie pointed at his own cheek, “Kiss your brother-in-law.”

“Oh.”

Ruirui took a few steps forward, and with his greasy little lips, he planted a kiss directly on Chen Jie.

Smack!

“Good boy, go on and eat.”

Chen Jie grinned at Su Yunjin, “You see Ruirui, then look at yourself.”

Su Yunjin gave Chen Jie an annoyed look, “Damn it, Ruirui is a child, I… how can I compare?”

“Hehe, do you still want to know how I dealt with Ma Liu?”

Su Yunjin thought for a moment, “If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. After all…”

Smack!

Before Su Yunjin could say anything more, she suddenly stiffened as Chen Jie kissed her on the face, and she froze completely.

Heat warning!

Her face turned as red as a kettle ready to whistle.

Her heart was pounding fiercely.

In a patriarchal and traditional society, women were not as open as those in later times, so Chen Jie’s actions could be considered bold.

Seeing Su Yunjin’s reaction, Chen Jie felt like he was back in a junior high romance when girls would blush…

“Cough cough, wife, since you want to know, and you didn’t kiss me, I had to take a loss and kiss you instead. Now that the deal is done, can I tell you? Do you still want to know?”

“Mhm~”

Su Yunjin nodded lightly. Despite feeling overheated, curiosity still lingered, and the heavy burden in her heart had not yet been lifted.

Seeing this, Chen Jie searched in his bosom and found the IOU.

“Take a look.”

Chen Jie handed the piece of paper to her.

Su Yunjin took the IOU and skimmed through it. Her heart finally settled down completely; it was indeed the IOU Ma Liu had used to press for a debt, and with the IOU in hand, the debt was naturally cleared.

“Husband, how in the world did you do it!”

Curiosity and inquiry filled Su Yunjin’s eyes.