Eating and Bathing
After the constables left, Zhou Yao turned back into the courtyard and shut the main gate.
He saw the twin sisters standing at the door of the house, still in the courtyard rather than inside. They seemed to be waiting for Zhou Yao.
Seeing the twin beauties' tense, uneasy expressions, Zhou Yao said to them, "Come inside..."
When they heard Zhou Yao, the twin sisters followed him into the house, their hearts filled with unease.
Zhou Yao pointed to the stools at the dining table and said, "You two sit down first!"
The twins hurriedly replied, "Th-thank you, husband, for letting us sit." Then they obediently sat down at the table.
The sisters watched Zhou Yao turn and head for the kitchen.
Before long, Zhou Yao came to the table with two bowls, a basin of rice porridge, and a basket of steamed buns and pickles.
The twin sisters stared at the porridge and steamed buns on the table. Their eyes instantly went wide, and their mouths fell open so far they could have fit a bun inside.
Th-this... this... who exactly is the man we sisters married? How could there be rice porridge and steamed buns to eat in such a remote place out in the countryside?
The twins swallowed involuntarily, and just then their stomachs betrayed them with a "Gurgle... gurgle... gurgle..."
The twin sisters blushed without meaning to. Burning with shame, they lowered their heads.
Just then, Zhou Yao's words eased their embarrassment. "Eat! I know you two are hungry. Everything else can wait until you've finished your meal."
The twin sisters looked at each other, then at Zhou Yao, as if asking whether they really could eat the porridge and steamed buns on the table.
"Eat! Don't worry about running out of food. My family has plenty of grain; you can't eat us out of house and home."
"And... I'm ordering you two to eat."
Seeing Zhou Yao's stern tone and that he was about to get angry, the sisters immediately picked up steamed buns and took a bite. Wow... h-how is this bun so delicious? It's fragrant and sweet. How come I never noticed steamed buns could taste this good before?
After a few bites of their buns, the twin sisters each ladled out a bowl of porridge and took a sip. Delicious... delicious... Then the two of them began wolfing down their food like a storm sweeping away the clouds.
Zhou Yao, meanwhile, turned and went to the kitchen to heat water. The twin sisters were very dirty and smelled sour and foul. Zhou Yao heated some water so that, once they had finished eating, they could give themselves a thorough wash and change into clean clothes.
Zhou Yao heated a whole big barrel of water, enough for the twins to bathe.
After two years of drought, water was in extremely short supply. Using a whole big barrel of water for a bath was an extravagant luxury.
That barrel of water could have sustained some ordinary families for an entire month. If anyone saw Zhou Yao using so much water just for a bath, they would have cursed him as a wastrel, a wastrel.
But Zhou Yao's home was far from prying eyes, and no one would see any of this.
After finishing all that, Zhou Yao returned to the twin sisters. He saw that they had eaten their fill and were sitting motionless on their stools, still burping. He said nothing, then cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen to wash.
The twin sisters saw the state they were in and thought it might lead their husband to curse them and beat and kick them at the slightest provocation.
The sisters had already prepared themselves for a scolding from their husband. Unexpectedly, however, he did not scold them, but cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen to wash.
This left the sisters' heads spinning. They didn't know what to do, and they grew even more frightened. It would have been better if he had simply beaten and cursed them, because they had grown used to being beaten and cursed by others over the years. What they feared most was this kind of silent treatment.