I Am A Husband Curser, And You Are A Wife Curser. - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Back Home

“Dinner is ready!” Xiang Xi called out to Yang Tongchuan, who was still in the courtyard playing with the dog.

“Coming!”

With just the two of them at home, there was no need to use the formal dining table in the main hall. They simply ate at the small table in their own west wing room.

Yang Tongchuan looked at the dishes on the table and felt they were a bit too “green,” so he went back to the kitchen and brought out two salted duck eggs.

“The egg white is too salty; you eat the yolk.” Yang Tongchuan peeled the egg and placed the oil-dripping golden yolk into Xiang Xi’s bowl.

“Mm, it’s delicious.” Xiang Xi used to decline such gestures out of modesty, but now he had completely forgotten to be polite.

The two finished a simple meal together. Yang Tongchuan took it upon himself to wash the dishes and tidy up the kitchen. In the afternoon, having nothing else to do, he sat at the desk in the room and taught Xiang Xi how to read.

Teaching him to read was mainly for Xiang Xi’s convenience when reading picture books at home, so he wouldn’t have to rely on guesswork whenever he encountered an unfamiliar character.

That night, with no one else in the courtyard and Xiang Xi’s condition stable, Yang Tongchuan’s “little thoughts” began to stir.

“No… what if you hurt the baby?”

“I won’t. Do you remember the drawings I made before? I drew a few new ones, look.” Yang Tongchuan had long since put his desires onto paper.

“How can this be… so dirty?” Xiang Xi was shocked by the content of the drawings. He hadn’t expected Yang Tongchuan to have such “crooked” ideas.

“It’s not dirty. We’ve washed up. Let’s try; if it doesn’t work, we’ll stop.”

“I don’t want to. How can a spouse from a good family do such a thing? This mouth…”

Yang Tongchuan didn’t give Xiang Xi a chance to continue speaking. Instead, he smothered him with kisses. His logic was simple: as long as he served Xiang Xi well and got him into a daze, Xiang Xi would naturally agree.

As it turned out, he was right.

Afterward, Yang Tongchuan proactively brought water for Xiang Xi to rinse his mouth. He had even prepared scented tea to remove any lingering taste.

This was clearly premeditated.

Xiang Xi was so annoyed he wanted to splash the tea in Yang Tongchuan’s face, but since his mouth felt uncomfortable, rinsing took priority.

Having found release, Yang Tongchuan was immensely satisfied. He tried to pull Xiang Xi into a cuddle to sleep, but Xiang Xi was too annoyed to let him.

He wasn’t bothered, though.

“Just for a bit. It’s getting cool now that it’s autumn; I’ll warm your feet for you.” Yang Tongchuan’s skin was getting thicker by the day. He used his legs to encircle Xiang Xi, his toes tentatively tickling the arch of Xiang Xi’s foot, making the latter squirm.

In any case, there was no one else in the courtyard, so it didn’t matter how much of a commotion they made.

During the few days Yang’s parents stayed in the countryside, the tenant family hosted them with great care. They even had their third son, Niu Sanli, wait on them the entire time.

The Yang family’s tenants were the Niu family. The old couple had three sons and one Ger. The two eldest sons had married one after the other, and the eldest daughter-in-law was currently pregnant. Their youngest Ger had fallen ill at the beginning of autumn, costing them a lot of money, and was only just recovering.

Between two weddings and the medical bills, the old couple’s savings were depleted. By the time it was the third son’s turn to seek a marriage, they had nothing left but a pile of debt.

Niu Sanli had been born prematurely and was poorly nourished as a child. Though he was fifteen or sixteen, he was a head shorter than his peers. The villagers joked that he was so full of “cleverness” that the weight of his wit kept him from growing tall.

Sanli wasn’t physically robust and didn’t look like a typical farmhand. Coupled with his family’s poverty, no girl or Ger in the village was likely to take an interest in him. Sanli understood this well; furthermore, he didn’t want to stay in the village. He felt that farming—relying on the whims of the weather—wasn’t the life for him.

When the Yang family came to visit, Sanli saw an opportunity. Since he wasn’t as good at farming as his brothers, he figured he might as well beg the Yangs to take him to town to make a living.

He proactively suggested to Old Man Niu that he wanted to sign a five-year flexible labor contract with the Yangs as a general servant. He had pried some information out of Yanzi: she was on a “death contract” (permanent) and earned 150 wen a month. His would be flexible, so it might be less, but it wouldn’t be too far off. After all, the Yangs were known to be a kind family.

“You want to go, but the Yangs might not even want you,” Old Man Niu grumbled. He was reluctant to agree, mostly because he felt it was a loss of face and feared being gossiped about by the villagers.

“Father, the young men who go to the docks to haul cargo only earn about that much. Could working for the Yangs be more exhausting than hauling cargo? We have to pay back the debt to Uncle by the end of the year. If I don’t go out to earn, what will we use to pay it?” Sanli was sharp-witted. Though he was mostly illiterate, he was very observant.

Ever since the Yangs arrived, he had been at their beck and call, arranging their stay and showing them around. When the eldest daughter-in-law mentioned offhandedly that she wondered if there were wild fruits in the mountains, he immediately went and gathered a basketful. When the eldest son needed to hitch the cart to look at the land, Sanli had it ready, cleaned, and waiting at the door.

On the day the Yang family packed up their grain to return, Mother Yang ordered ten hens from the Niu family. She wanted them delivered later so she could raise them for the second son’s spouse to eat during his postpartum recovery. Sanli took on the task, promising to pick the fattest hens for her.

With the return of the parents and the eldest brother and his wife, the house became lively again.

One day, Niu Sanli arrived with a donkey cart to deliver the hens. Mother Yang was very pleased and even gave him a few extra wen when settling the bill.

Clutching the money, Sanli suddenly dropped to his knees before Yang’s parents. He spoke of the hardships at home and begged them to keep him as a general servant.

Father Yang considered it for a moment but felt it wasn’t appropriate. His sons, Tongshan and Tongchuan, had sensitive government and business jobs that easily drew scrutiny. If the neighbors saw that they were already buying servants after only a few years of working, there would be unfavorable rumors. Thinking of his sons’ reputations, he was about to refuse.

However, Sanli was in luck. Yang Tongshan happened to be home on his day off.

The owner of the pawnshop where Tongshan worked had been making good money and planned to open a “Treasure Gallery” (Zhenbao Ge). This shop would sell overdue or bought-out jewelry, paintings, and antiques after they were refurbished and packaged. Because Tongshan had done so well over the years, the big boss intended to move him there as the manager, with a share of the profits.

The Treasure Gallery wouldn’t just serve locals but also traveling merchants. These people had money to spend, and the quick turnover would yield pure profit. During the stay in the countryside, Tongshan had noticed that Sanli was a clever lad. Since Sanli was looking for work and Tongshan needed an assistant, it worked out.

“The Yang family doesn’t actually need more servants,” Tongshan said. “But if you’re willing, you can come work at my boss’s Treasure Gallery when it opens. Working as a shop assistant by my side will pay more than being a domestic servant.”

“Thank you, Eldest Master Yang! Thank you!” Sanli had grown up in the village and had never even set foot in a pawnshop or a high-end store. He thought being a servant was the best possible outcome; he never expected the eldest son to offer him such a promising path.

“Don’t worry about the wages; it will certainly be more than what we could pay you at home. But the work is harder than being a servant. If you think you can handle it, go home and discuss it with your family. Come back the day after tomorrow with your things, and I’ll take you to the shop.”

“Yes! I will be here early!” Sanli stood up and hurried home to share the news. The family would finally have money to pay off their debts this year.

When Yang Tongchuan came home from his shift and heard the news, he couldn’t help but marvel at his brother’s cleverness. It was essentially using his boss’s money to hire himself a personal assistant!