Li Long never made it to the bridal chamber teasing that evening. Mainly, after returning home from the wedding feast, he had thought he had nothing to do that afternoon, so he had hitched up the horse-drawn cart at his eldest brother's house, loaded it with Li Junshan, and hauled a load of fish to the County Seat on his own.
When he reached the compound, Gu Xiaoxia was not off work yet. After unloading the fish himself, Li Long went into the room to rest and drink some water, only to discover that the stove had gone out.
He went to the kitchen and found there was no boiled water either. The flatbread and pickled vegetables from breakfast had not even been cleared away and were still sitting on the table.
It seemed work really was busy.
She even had to work overtime on weekends.
Li Long sighed. First, he lit the stove in the room, then went to the kitchen to boil water before preparing ingredients and cooking.
He soaked dried chilies, opened a jar of tomato sauce, washed and sliced potatoes, and peeled scallions and garlic.
Then he kneaded the dough.
He planned to make Gu Xiaoxia some Latiaozi with simmered dried chilies. It was cold outside now, and eating this would make her feel warmer.
The stove blazed, and the room warmed up. In less than an hour, Li Long had cooked two dishes.
They would not cool down anytime soon in the warm room, so he went on to pull the noodles.
The gate sounded. Li Long looked out through the window and saw Gu Xiaoxia pushing her bicycle inside, a bag stuffed with thick stacks of papers hanging from the front handlebars.
She parked her bicycle and carried the bag toward the kitchen, smiling