Wading Village's weddings were simple.
There were no flower-covered arches, no priest reciting prayers, and certainly no wandering bard strumming a harp and singing saccharine love songs.
There were just a few long tables cobbled together, several barrels of cheap ale, and bowls of steaming stew.
Everyone in the village had come.
They were less there to offer their blessings than to see something unusual.
With their cups in hand, everyone kept sneaking glances at the newlyweds.
The groom, dressed in an ill-fitting old suit, looked like a prince who had wandered out of some royal gallery. Even with patches on his clothes, his face shone so brightly that people hardly dared look at him.
Then there was the bride.
Saina had made a special effort to tame her unruly hair that day and had put on just a little lipstick.
She looked quite a bit more presentable than usual, but beside Su Li's face, she still seemed... how to put it? A little like a maid.
"What a waste." Aunt Wang from the east end of the village gnawed on a pig's trotter as she whispered to Aunt Li beside her. "It's like a flower stuck in—no, more like a piece of swan meat falling into a toad's mouth."
"Isn't it just?" Aunt Li pursed her lips, looking full of regret.
"She must've married Old Buck for his big iron hammer," Aunt Wang said with a snicker. "He's just living off his wife, but this meal he's got... tsk, tsk, it's a little hard to swallow."
Su Li heard every word.
But he didn't even raise an eyelid. He simply kept smiling as he poured drinks for each villager who came to toast him.
His handsome hands were steady. The drink swirled around the rim of each cup, but not a drop spilled.
A waste?
Su Li rolled his eyes inwardly.
What did these ignorant bumpkins know?
A wife was someone to share your life with, not someone to put on an altar and worship.
Those noble ladies might be pretty, with skin so soft you could pinch water from it, but could you count on them to get up on a freezing winter's night and empty your chamber pot? Could you count on them to stay up all night making you porridge when you were sick?
Besides, Saina was just fine as she was. Slim where she should be, with a little softness where it counted.
And now that Saina had grown into herself, she was lovely to look at, too.
Su Li turned and glanced at Saina beside him.
The poor girl was so nervous that she clutched her skirt in both hands.
She had probably heard the gossip. Her head hung low, as if she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.
Su Li reached over and took her cold little hand beneath the table.
He gave it a squeeze.
Saina jerked her head up and met Su Li's smiling eyes.
There was no disdain or reluctance in them, only a reassuring calm.
"Don't listen to those gossipy women," Su Li whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her earlobe. "When we get home tonight, I'll show them who's really winning at life."
Saina's face instantly turned bright red, all the way down to her neck.
But her hunched back slowly straightened.
The wedding ended amid a din of chatter and drunken well-wishes.
Old Buck had to be carried home by two burly men. Even then, he kept mumbling that he would give his son-in-law the big iron hammer passed down through his family.
Life moved on like the bellows in a blacksmith's shop, huffing and puffing along.
Married life brought no earth-shattering changes.
Su Li was still a blacksmith's apprentice, only now he was the boss's son-in-law.
The morning sun spilled into the yard. Bare-chested, Su Li stood before the anvil.
He swung the eight-pound hammer, the muscles in his back tensing and relaxing with each blow.
Sweat trickled down the groove of his spine.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew.
Su Li stopped and caught his breath.
A fragrant towel was immediately held out to him.
Saina stood there with a cup of warm water in her hands, gazing at her man with sparkling eyes. Her look was so intense it could practically be spun into thread.
"Are you tired?" Saina rose on her tiptoes and gently wiped his face with the towel. "Why don't you rest for a while? Father's still asleep anyway."
Su Li took a sip of water from her hand and grinned.
"Rest for what? I've barely started." He held out his sturdy arm. "Want to feel?"
Blushing, Saina gave the hard muscle a couple of squeezes.
It felt so good—warm and full of strength.
She felt her heart racing again. Her urge to hide this man away so nobody else could see him kept getting stronger.
"I want to lock you in the house," Saina muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"N-nothing." Saina quickly shoved the dangerous thought aside and rushed into the kitchen. "I'll go check the stew!"
Su Li watched her flee and shook his head with a smile.
Silly wife.
That evening.
At Old Buck's house, bathing had always been a problem because they needed to save money.
Firewood cost money, and hauling water took effort.
Su Li used to make do with a quick rinse in cold water, but autumn had arrived, and the well water was cold enough to freeze him to the bone.
That evening, Su Li had just heated the water in the big iron pot and was about to pour it into the large wooden tub.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Saina came in carrying a pile of clean clothes. She shut the door behind her and even slid the bolt into place.
"Um..." Saina stood in the little room, its air thick with steam. Her face was rosy from the heat. "There isn't much water."
"There isn't," Su Li agreed as he poured the last ladleful of hot water into the tub. "You go first. I'll just wipe myself down with what's left."
Saina didn't move.
She bit her lip and twisted her hands in front of her, as though she were trying to wring her clothes apart.
"It'd be too wasteful," she finally managed to say after a long pause. "Father worked so hard to chop that firewood."
Su Li raised an eyebrow.
That excuse was even worse than her last one about spilling soup on the blankets.
There were dead branches all over the mountains. How could they possibly be short of firewood?
"So what are you suggesting?" Su Li leaned against the doorframe, watching her at his leisure.
"W-we could bathe together," Saina said in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. "To save water."
Before Su Li could say anything, she started undoing her buttons.
She moved astonishingly fast, shedding her roughspun dress in just a few quick motions.
Then came her undershirt.
And then...
A dazzling expanse of white appeared in the dim little room.
Su Li felt his throat go dry.
Saina might usually dress plainly, but she had a body that had filled out beautifully.
She had curves in all the right places.
Especially her waist and hips—they looked practically made for bearing children.
"Um..." Su Li swallowed. "The tub's a little small."
"We can... squeeze together. It'll keep us warm." Saina didn't dare look at him. She lifted a leg and stepped into the wooden tub.
Water splashed everywhere.
The tub really was small. Even by himself, Su Li had to curl his legs up. With another person in it, there was barely room to turn around.
Su Li sighed and climbed in after her.
The moment their skin touched, they both shuddered.
The water was hot, but Saina's body was hotter.
She curled up in Su Li's arms, her back pressed tight against his chest. The soft, slick sensation shot straight through his nerves to his head.
If he could stay calm in a situation like this, he might as well go become a monk.
"C-could you scrub my back?" Saina's voice trembled, tinged with an unmistakable, restrained desire.
Su Li picked up the rough cloth and laid it against her smooth back.
Her skin felt so slick beneath his palm that it made his heart pound.
With every pass, Saina let out a tiny moan.
The sound was like a hook, pulling the beast inside Su Li right to the surface.
"Saina." Su Li's voice had gone hoarse.
"Hmm?"
"You asked for this."
"Mm..."
The water sloshed violently, spilling over the rim and soaking the earthen floor.
The cramped little room grew hotter and hotter. The clean scent of soapberries mingled with a more intimate, heady fragrance, making them both feel dizzy.
Their bath lasted a full hour.
By the time they emerged, Saina's legs were weak, and she was practically hanging off Su Li.
Her face was red enough to drip blood, and her eyes glistened.
Su Li carried her back to the room and laid her on the big bed.
He let out a long breath, feeling as if his old bones were about to fall apart. That hadn't been a bath—it had been a pitched battle.
"Go to sleep." Su Li pulled the blanket over them. "We have to get up early and forge tomorrow."
He really was a little tired.
But barely two minutes after he closed his eyes, a hand crept over to him again.
Under the blanket.
The hand was up to no good. It slid down from his abs, teasing and testing him.
Su Li grabbed the misbehaving hand.
"What are you doing?"
Saina poked her head out from beneath the covers, her eyes shining startlingly bright in the dark.
"Brother Su..."
"Call me 'husband.'"
"Husband." Saina said it so smoothly, her voice sweet and pleading. "I... I'm not sleepy."
Su Li's eyes widened.
Seriously, what was this girl made of? They'd spent ages fooling around in the tub, and she still wasn't tired?
"I'm sleepy," Su Li grumbled. "Go to sleep."
"I don't wanna." Saina pressed herself against him, coiling around him like a beautiful snake. "Just now... there wasn't enough room in the tub. I want to..."
Su Li felt his self-control crumbling, pushed right to the edge.
If they kept this up, he wouldn't just be unable to forge tomorrow. He might not even be able to get out of bed.
"Saina," Su Li said sternly. "Doing that too much is bad for your health."
"I don't care if it's bad for me," Saina replied, entirely matter-of-fact. "I just want to give you a son. Mother said we should get started while we're young and healthy."
Having children.
Those words made Su Li pause.
Right.
The evaluation system had a category for "having children."
If they had a child, wouldn't that raise his rating by at least a little? Even if he couldn't get a C, surely an E was possible, right?
This was important.
It was for survival, for honor, for that damned cheat.
Su Li gave himself this little pep talk, and suddenly he was filled with righteous purpose.
"Fine." Su Li rolled over and pinned the reckless girl beneath him. "Since you're so committed, then let's 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 creaked in rhythmic protest for a long time, finally falling silent sometime after midnight.
The next day.
When Su Li woke up, his lower back felt like it had snapped in two.
He rubbed his aching back and looked at the woman beside him, who was drooling in her sleep. His feelings were complicated.
Life was tiring, but it did have its charms.
No scheming, no risking his neck. All he had to do was work hard, and in return he got peace and warmth.
Was this what life was?
Su Li sat up and looked out at the gray sky.
This F-rank evaluation didn't seem so hard to accept after all.
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