Saving Water is a Good Habit

The wedding in Wading Village was simple.

There were no floral arches, no priests chanting scriptures, and certainly no bards plucking harps to sing those nauseatingly sappy love songs.

There were only a few long tables pushed together, several barrels of cheap ale, and pots of steaming stew.

The entire village had come.

It was less about offering blessings and more about satisfying their curiosity.

Everyone held their ale mugs, casting shifty, sidelong glances at the newlyweds.

The groom, wearing an ill-fitting old suit, looked like a prince who had wandered out of some royal gallery; even with the patches on his clothes, his face was so radiant that people dared not look directly at him.

Then there was the bride.

Saina had taken special care to comb out her usually messy hair today, and she had even applied a bit of lipstick.

Although she looked much more presentable than usual, set against Su Li's face, she still looked... how to put it... a bit like a maid.

"What a waste," Auntie Wang from the east end of the village muttered while gnawing on a pig's trotter, whispering into the ear of Auntie Li beside her. "It's like a fresh flower stuck in... no, it's like swan meat falling into a toad's mouth."

"Ain't that the truth," Auntie Li said, curling her lip with a look of pity.

"She's just after Old Buck's big iron hammer," Auntie Wang chuckled. "He's just a freeloader, though this free meal... tsk tsk, it's a bit hard to chew."

Su Li heard every word clearly.

But he didn't even lift an eyelid, continuing to smile as he poured ale for every villager who came to toast them.

His handsome hands were steady; the ale swirled at the rim of the cup without a single drop spilling.

A bad deal?

Su Li rolled his eyes in his mind.

These ignorant bumpkins didn't know a damn thing.

You marry a wife to live a life with, not to put on a pedestal and worship.

Those noble ladies might be pretty, with skin so delicate you could pinch water out of it, but could you count on them to get up in the middle of winter to empty your chamber pot? Could you count on them to boil porridge for you all night when you were sick?

Besides, Saina was just right as she was. She had curves in all the right places.

And now that she had blossomed, she was quite easy on the eyes.

Su Li turned his head to look at Saina beside him.

The girl was incredibly nervous today, her two hands gripping her skirt tightly.

She had likely heard the gossip, as her head was bowed low, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Su Li reached out and took her cold little hand under the table.

He gave it a squeeze.

Saina jerked her head up, colliding directly with Su Li's smiling eyes.

There was no disdain in those eyes, nor any reluctance—only a sense of calm that put her at ease.

"Don't listen to those gossiping hens," Su Li leaned in close to her ear, his voice low, his warm breath tickling her earlobe. "Tonight, when we get back, I'll show them who the real winner in life is."

Saina's face turned as red as a monkey's backside in an instant, the blush spreading all the way to the roots of her neck.

But her previously hunched back slowly straightened.

The wedding ended amidst a cacophony of noise and drunken well-wishes.

Old Buck was eventually carried home by two burly men, still muttering about wanting to give his ancestral iron hammer to his son-in-law.

Life moved forward like the bellows in the blacksmith shop, puffing along rhythmically.

There were no earth-shattering changes to their married life.

Su Li was still the blacksmith's apprentice, only now his status had changed to the boss's son-in-law.

Morning sunlight spilled into the courtyard as Su Li stood before the anvil, bare-chested.

He swung the eight-pound sledgehammer, the muscles on his back tensing and relaxing with every movement.

Sweat trickled down the groove of his spine.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew in every direction.

Su Li stopped and caught his breath.

A towel, still carrying a faint scent, was immediately offered to him.

Saina stood there, holding a cup of warm water, her eyes sparkling as she stared at her man. The look in her eyes was almost thick enough to spin into silk.

"Are you tired?" Saina stood on tiptoe, gently wiping his face with the towel. "Why don't you take a break? Dad isn't up yet anyway."

Su Li took a sip of water from her hand and grinned.

"What's there to rest for? We've barely started." Su Li extended his sturdy arm toward her. "Want to give it a squeeze?"

Saina blushed as she pinched those rock-hard muscles a couple of times.

The texture was truly wonderful. It was warm and brimming with a sense of power.

She felt her heartbeat accelerating again, and the urge to hide this man away so no one else could see him grew stronger and stronger.

"I want to lock you in the house," Saina muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"N-nothing." Saina hurriedly suppressed that dangerous thought, turned around, and ran into the kitchen. "I'm going to check on the stew in the pot!"

Su Li watched her fleeing back and shook his head with a smile.

What a silly wife.

Nighttime.

At Old Buck's house, bathing had always been a major issue for the sake of saving money.

Firewood cost money, and hauling water took effort.

In the past, Su Li would just rinse off with cold water and call it a day, but now that autumn had arrived, the well water was bone-chillingly cold.

That evening, Su Li had just finished heating the water in the large iron pot and was preparing to pour it into the big wooden tub.

Footsteps sounded from behind him.

Saina walked in carrying a pile of clean clothes. She closed the door behind her and made sure to slide the bolt shut.

"Um..." Saina stood in the steam-filled cubicle, her face flushed pink from the heat. "There isn't much water."

"It isn't much." Su Li poured the last ladle of hot water into the tub. "You go first? I can just wipe myself down with what's left later."

Saina didn't move.

She bit her lip, her hands twisting and turning in front of her as if she were trying to shred her clothes.

"It's too wasteful," Saina finally managed to squeeze out after a long pause. "This firewood was hard-won by Dad."

Su Li raised an eyebrow.

That excuse was even worse than the time she claimed she had "spilled soup on the quilt."

With a whole mountain full of dead branches, how could they possibly be short on firewood?

"So, what are you suggesting?" Su Li leaned against the doorframe, watching her with leisurely interest.

"Let's... let's wash together," Saina's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum. "It saves water."

Before Su Li could even speak, the girl began unbuttoning her clothes.

Her movements were astonishingly fast; in two or three motions, she had tossed her coarse cloth dress onto the floor.

Next came the undershirt.

And then...

A dazzling expanse of white exploded within the dim, cramped cubicle.

Su Li felt his throat go dry.

Even though this girl usually dressed in such dowdy, rustic clothes, her figure was truly well-endowed.

She had curves in all the right places.

Especially the line of her waist and hips; it was as if she were built specifically for bearing children.

"Um..." Su Li swallowed hard. "The tub is a bit small."

"If we squeeze... we'll be warmer." Saina didn't dare look at him at all as she lifted her leg and stepped into the wooden tub.

Water splashed everywhere.

The tub was indeed small. Even when Su Li sat in it alone, he had to curl his legs, and now that another person was added, it was a struggle just to turn around.

Su Li sighed and stepped in as well.

The moment their skin touched, both of them shivered.

The water temperature was high, but Saina's body was even hotter.

She curled up in Su Li's arms, her back pressed tightly against his chest. That soft, smooth sensation surged through his nerve endings and straight to the top of his head.

If he could remain unmoved in a situation like this, he might as well go straight to a temple and become a monk.

"Help... help me scrub my back." Saina's voice was trembling, carrying an irrepressible, seductive charm.

Su Li picked up the coarse cloth towel and laid it against her smooth, clean back.

The skin beneath his palm was alarmingly soft.

With every stroke, Saina let out a faint, soft moan.

That sound was like a hook, pulling out the thing in the depths of Su Li's heart known as the "beast."

"Saina." Su Li's voice had gone hoarse.

"Hmm?"

"You asked for this yourself."

"Mmm..."

The water splashed violently, spilling over the rim of the tub and soaking the dirt floor.

The temperature in the cramped cubicle rose sharply, the air thick with the refreshing scent of soap locust and that distinct, heady musk of hormones, making one's head spin.

The bath lasted for a full hour.

By the time the two of them emerged from the cubicle, Saina's legs were weak, and she was practically hanging off Su Li.

Her face was flushed as if it might bleed, and her eyes were brimming with moisture.

Su Li carried her back to the room and tossed her onto the large bed.

He let out a long breath, feeling as though his old bones were about to fall apart. This wasn't a bath; it was a hard-fought battle.

"Go to sleep." Su Li pulled the quilt over them both. "We have to get up early to forge tomorrow."

He was truly exhausted.

But no sooner had he closed his eyes for two minutes than a hand began to sneakily grope its way over.

Under the covers.

That hand was far from well-behaved, sliding down his abdominal muscles with a touch that was both probing and provocative.

Su Li grabbed the troublemaking hand.

"What are you doing?"

Saina poked her head out from under the quilt, her eyes shining startlingly bright in the darkness.

"Brother Su..."

"Call me husband."

"Husband." Saina said it so smoothly, a hint of a coquettish nasal tone in her voice. "I... I'm not sleepy."

Su Li widened his eyes.

Wait, what was this girl raised on? After all that tossing about in the wooden tub, she still wasn't sleepy?

"I am." Su Li said irritably. "Go to sleep, now."

"I don't want to." Saina pressed her entire body against him, winding around him like a beautiful snake. "Just now... we couldn't really move in the tub. I want to..."

Su Li felt his sanity teetering on the edge of collapse.

If they kept this up, never mind forging, it would be a question of whether he could even crawl out of bed tomorrow.

"Saina," Su Li said sternly, "doing that too much is bad for your health."

"I'm not afraid of that," Saina replied righteously. "I just want to give you a son. Mother said that while we're young and healthy, we have to seize the opportunity."

Procreation.

Those four words gave Su Li pause.

That's right.

In that evaluation system, one of the criteria was "procreation."

If he could have a child or two, wouldn't his rating go up a notch? Even if he couldn't reach a C-rank, surely there was hope for an E-rank?

This was serious business.

This was for survival, for honor, for that damn golden finger.

It was absolutely not because he was indulging in pleasure.

Su Li completed this bit of mental gymnastics, and a sense of righteous integrity surged within him.

"Fine." Su Li flipped over and pinned the reckless girl beneath him. "Since you have such high awareness, let us thoroughly explore the mysteries of the origin of life."

"Ah..."

That night, the moon over Wading Village hid behind the clouds.

The poor, old wooden bed let out long, rhythmic protests that didn't cease until the latter half of the night.

The next day.

When Su Li woke up, he felt as if his lower back had been snapped in two.

He rubbed his aching waist and looked at the woman beside him, who was sleeping so soundly she was drooling, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

This life, though tiring, certainly had its flavor.

No backstabbing, no living on the edge of a blade. As long as he put in the effort, he could trade it for stability and warmth.

Is this what life is?

Su Li sat up and looked at the gray, hazy sky outside the window.

This F-rank evaluation didn't seem so hard to accept after all.