The woodcutter was a little surprised, too.
But he agreed with the woman's guess.
"Maybe he'd eaten his fill during the day, so he couldn't eat much at night?"
"Mm."
The woman nodded.
She smiled. "I was wondering how someone's appetite could suddenly grow so much."
"That makes a lot more sense."
"I'll make my younger brother more food during the day from now on."
"At night, I'll make him the same amount he used to eat."
"Mm."
The woodcutter nodded.
"Good."
"You're clever, my dear."
"Whatever you decide is fine."
The woman smiled and playfully swatted the woodcutter's arm.
"What's clever about that?"
"You're clever, my dear."
The woodcutter nodded.
"I'm the stupidest one in our family."
The woodcutter knew his own limits.
Fortunately, he was strong.
He could make a living by chopping wood in the mountains.
Sometimes, he could even hunt some game.
That helped improve the family's meals.
Their life wasn't exactly prosperous,
but at least they had enough to eat.
Once his younger brother made something of himself...
their family would be able to leap from obscurity to fame.
When that happened, he would definitely buy his wife a beautiful outfit.
One as lovely as the clothes worn by the wealthy ladies he'd seen when delivering firewood in the city.
After his brief surprise at the difference between how much food he ate during the day and at night, the Young Scholar felt deeply grateful for his sister-in-law's perceptiveness and thoughtfulness.
That solved his problem.
He no longer had to worry about being served too much food at night.
He came from a poor family.
Wasting food was simply unthinkable.
But if he couldn't eat any more, there was no way to force it down.
Of course, the leftovers could