At the same time, after nightfall, Sun Cheng returned to a luxurious house.
He smiled at everyone he saw, greeted them all politely, and hurried toward the dining room to find something to eat.
He plopped down at the table, all strength gone from his body.
There were two steamed buns and a plate of pickled vegetables in the bowl. Sun Cheng wolfed them down in a few bites and sighed inwardly. His father-in-law was really stingy.
The whole family's meals were either steamed buns or porridge every day, served with pickled vegetables.
He had once brought up the idea of eating meat once every seven days, only to be laughed at for a whole month.
Sun Cheng had thought more than once that if he weren't a live-in son-in-law but a son, things surely wouldn't be this bad.
Still, no one could really be blamed. The Da'an Dynasty had always treated live-in sons-in-law as lower-class people, making them do hard labor in the army and charge at the very front as human shields.
But live-in sons-in-law shouldn't be looked down on, either. The literary giant Zhang Qian, the Sage of Poetry Li Fu, and the famed general Yan Shao had all started out as live-in sons-in-law. Maybe one day he, too, could make a name for himself in letters and arms.
After talking himself around, Sun Cheng carried a basin of hot water to the bedroom and set it beside the bed to wash his wife's feet.
Hu Zhi half closed her eyes, enjoying her husband's service.
Seeing that his wife was in a good mood, Sun Cheng voiced what was on his mind. "Sister Zhi, I want to eat meat. Could you talk to Father about it?"
"Eat meat?" Hu Zhi gave a couple of chuckles. "I want