Aunt Martha's Open Scheme

The donkey cart's wheels crunched over the gravel at the gate, emitting a rhythmic creaking sound.

Old Buck was back.

The trade had gone smoothly; not a single one of the fifty spearheads was returned, and the logistics officer of the garrison had even tossed in two extra silver coins as a rush fee.

The old man was in high spirits. As he entered, he hummed an unknown tune, carrying a roast goose he'd bought by the roadside. The oil-paper wrapping couldn't contain the aggressive, savory aroma, which had the large black dog in the yard spinning in circles with anticipation.

Dinner was naturally a feast.

Besides the roast goose, Aunt Martha had specially fried a few scallion pancakes and boiled a pot of thick, hearty vegetable soup.

The family sat around the chipped, rough-hewn wooden table, the dim oil lamp casting long, flickering shadows for everyone.

Su Li ate with great refinement. Even though he was now doing the heavy labor of swinging a sledgehammer, and even though the gluttonous worm in his belly was staging a rebellion, he maintained a rhythm etched into his very bones.

He tore off a strip of goose meat, dipped it in the soup, and chewed it slowly and deliberately, spitting out even the bones cleanly and stacking them neatly at the corner of the table.

Old Buck, by contrast, was truly "gnawing."

He opened his wide mouth, chewing through skin, meat, and even bone shards before swallowing, his mouth glistening with grease. He didn't forget to lift his cup for a sip of cheap rum, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

Aunt Martha didn't eat much.

Holding half a pancake in her hand, her sharp little eyes darted back and forth between the two young people at the table.

This boy, Su Li, was truly excellent.

When he first arrived, he was like a weakling, but now, only a month later, his shoulders had broadened, his arms were filled with muscle, and that scholarly air had faded, replaced by a sharp, rugged intensity that made it hard to look away.

Especially that face—now that it had a bit of worldly grit, it was even more attractive.

Look at the daughter of Old Li from the head of the village; she had been loitering by the smithy for no reason lately, borrowing a hoe three times in a row.

Then look at her own daughter.

Sena was keeping her head down, sipping her soup in tiny mouthfuls, her face nearly buried in the bowl.

Occasionally, she would sneak a glance at Su Li across from her, but the moment she met his gaze, she would shrink back like a startled rabbit, her face as red as the goose's tail.

Useless.

Aunt Martha cursed inwardly.

It had been a month already, and she was still acting this half-dead way.

Her eyes were practically trailing after him, yet she didn't dare take a bite.

The cabbage was already washed and delivered to her lips; did she really need her mother to chew it up and feed it to her?

If she didn't hurry, Su Li would sooner or later be snatched away by some flashy, cheap hussy outside. By then, there would be nowhere to cry.

Aunt Martha put down her pancake and cleared her throat.

"Ahem."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was effective at the dinner table. Old Buck immediately stopped chewing, and Sena looked up, staring at her mother with a blank expression.

"Little Su," Aunt Martha put on a smile so kind it was unsettling, "you must be exhausted lately, right?"

Su Li was struggling with a goose leg. Hearing his name, he quickly swallowed the meat in his mouth, set down his chopsticks, and sat up straight.

"Not tired, Auntie. This work builds strength; it's quite good," Su Li replied with a smile, his attitude impeccable. "It's all thanks to Uncle's good teaching."

"That's right." Old Buck proudly lifted his chin, just about to brag a bit about his teaching skills, when he was silenced by a sharp glare from Martha.

"What teaching? The boy is just smart!" Aunt Martha snapped at the old man, then turned back to smile at Su Li. "But I've noticed you've been looking a bit worn out these past few days. Haven't you been sleeping well at night?"

Su Li's heart skipped a beat.

What was this? Why did this opening sound so familiar? Back in his past life, those bosses usually laid the groundwork like this before trying to squeeze out his surplus value.

"I'm doing fine. It's cool in the stable, and I'm used to it," Su Li deflected.

"Cool, my foot!" Aunt Martha slapped the table, sending ripples through the soup in the bowls. "It's autumn now; the dew is heavy morning and night. I got up in the middle of the night yesterday and heard that old donkey sneezing. If even the donkey is catching a chill, what about a person?"

Su Li's mouth twitched. Was that the donkey sneezing? That was the donkey choking on dry hay.

"I'm really fine, Auntie. My constitution is sturdy."

"Sturdy or not, it won't do." Aunt Martha's tone was firm, carrying an unquestionable authority. "We aren't that kind of stingy household. If word got out that we let a strapping young man sleep with a donkey every night, people would point fingers at our backs and say the Buck family bullies outsiders."

At this, Aunt Martha paused, her gaze shifting to Sena, who was playing the part of a quail.

"I've been thinking, you should just move into the house."

Old Buck was drinking his wine; upon hearing this, he spat it all out onto the floor with a "pfft."

"Cough, cough, cough... Old woman, have you lost your mind?" Old Buck's eyes widened as he pointed at their tiny house. "Move where? Our room is barely big enough to turn around in; are you going to make him sleep in the stove pit?"

Su Li also waved his hands quickly. "Uncle is right, that's really inconvenient. I'm fine in the stable; if nothing else, I'll just lay down an extra layer of straw."

"Who said anything about the stove pit?" Aunt Martha ignored the protests of the two men, her eyes locked onto her daughter. "Isn't Sena's room quite spacious?"

The air froze.

Even the large black dog under the table stopped gnawing on its bone, looking up at the eerie atmosphere.

The spoon in Sena's hand clattered into her bowl. She opened her mouth wide, staring at her mother in terror, as if she had just heard something utterly fantastical.

"Mom... what... what did you say?"

"I said let Brother Su move into your room!" Aunt Martha declared righteously. "Your room has plenty of empty floor space; you could lay down a rug and sleep two people. It's not like I'm asking him to sleep in the bed, what's wrong with a pallet on the floor?"

"This... this won't do!" Old Buck grew anxious, the veins on his neck bulging. "A man and a woman alone together? If word gets out, what happens to Sena's reputation? How am I supposed to hold my head up in this village?"

Su Li stood up in a hurry as well, genuinely panicked this time.

This wasn't a favor; it was a death trap. If he really moved in, Old Buck's heavy iron hammer would eventually find its way onto his skull.

"Auntie, this absolutely cannot be done." Su Li put on a face of pure integrity. "I don't fear hardship, nor do I fear the cold. But Miss Sena is pure and innocent; I cannot ruin her reputation. If this gets out, who would ever dare come to propose?"

At these words, Old Buck's expression softened slightly, and the look he gave Su Li held a hint of appreciation.

At least the kid knows his place.

But Aunt Martha wasn't buying it. She was a woman of experience, and a businesswoman at that.

Reputation? Could you eat reputation? If she could turn this son-in-law into a done deal, it would be worth it even if their reputation took a hit.

Besides, let those gossiping women in the village talk all they wanted. Once the two were truly together and had a chubby baby in a couple of years, who would dare wag their tongues then?

"Propose? I'd like to see who dares to come and propose!" Aunt Martha sneered. "That pig butcher at the east end of the village wants to propose, but would Sena ever look at him? Or what about that idiot farmer?"

She turned to look at Su Li, her gaze becoming meaningful.

"Little Su, let's not beat around the bush. Auntie sees that you're an honest lad who knows how to care for others. Sena may not be a top-tier beauty, but she's sincere and knows how to manage a household. You've been eating from the same pot for so long, why draw such clear lines?"

"Besides, if our hearts are upright, we have nothing to fear. You sleep on the floor, she sleeps on the bed, with eight feet of space between you—who could possibly gossip? Unless..." Aunt Martha narrowed her eyes, "unless you have a guilty conscience?"

Su Li nearly buckled under the weight of that accusation.

This wasn't a discussion; it was a forced ultimatum.

She was trying to tear through the window paper by force and shove the two of them into the same bed.