Leisure after dinner

Candlelight flickered in the kitchen. Li Yun did the work of three people on his own, deftly clearing away the bowls and chopsticks and wiping down the table. Lu Mingyi and Meng Zhixian wanted to help but could find no way to pitch in.

Li Yun drew them over to sit behind the stove and roast sweet potatoes. Having only just taken charge of the household affairs, Lu Mingyi could not help worrying about how much rice they were using. Since they also had sweet potatoes, he had cooked less rice that evening.

He had not expected their wife to have such a good appetite today and eat an extra bowl. With another person in the household as well, he had eaten a little less himself.

Li Yun had noticed this little consideration of his and, while there was still firewood burning in the stove, suggested roasting a couple of sweet potatoes.

Lu Mingyi felt both grateful to Li Yun and somewhat resistant to him. Li Yun seemed more like the master of the household than he did, keeping everything in perfect order while also attending to everyone's feelings.

Su Yuhe came in carrying the two candle cups from the bedroom, their candles burned down to the ends. She melted the stubs and wax drippings and added cotton wicks to make two more candles.

"What are you doing, Wife?" Unable to snag any work or get a word into the conversation, Lu Mingxi sidled over to her.

"The candles in the bedroom burned out. I'm making two more."

His eyes widened, first in astonishment, then he looked at her with admiration. "You're amazing, Wife!"

"Uh." Su Yuhe did not know what to say. "This is easy to make."

Lu Mingxi sat beside her. "Could you teach me, Wife?"

There happened to be two candle cups, so Su Yuhe gave him one and guided him through it step by step.

It was nothing more than using hot water to melt the leftover wax and drippings from the burned candles, adding a cotton wick, then leaving it to cool and set. That made another perfectly good cup candle.

Lu Mingxi followed her instructions and finished in no time. "You're amazing, Wife!"

In his delight, he failed to keep his voice down, and the whole kitchen could hear him.

The commotion drew the eyes of the three men by the stove. Meng Zhixian gritted his teeth, hating himself for being so useless and missing yet another opportunity.

Li Yun glanced over twice before looking away and taking Lu Mingyi's hand to feel it. "Your hands are so pretty."

The firelight from the stove shone on Lu Mingyi's face. He spread his fingers and examined them. In the past, he would have believed those words. His hands were still fair now, but the swollen, reddened joints still itched from time to time.

Meng Zhixian looked down at his own hands, then at Lu Mingyi's, comparing them inwardly. He was unhappy with Li Yun's remark. His hands were pretty too. Why did he only notice Lu Mingyi's?

"All right, I'll head home now. I'll come chat with you again in a few days." Li Yun took the roasted sweet potatoes out of the stove with tongs and set them on a plate. "Careful, they're hot."

Su Yuhe stood up. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

Li Yun's home was on the east side of the village, and there were no streetlights at night. It was unsafe for a man to go back alone.

She carried a lantern as she walked beside Li Yun. He linked his arm through hers and teased, "Every one of them is a delicate beauty. You really are blessed."

"Of course. But none of them is as capable a homemaker as you."

"Then why did you..."

He stopped himself. Su Yuhe knew what he meant to say and clasped his hand. "What I give you has to be the best."

He fell silent for a moment. "I'm going into the mountains for a few days to see if I can catch some big game."

"Stay safe. If you can't catch anything, let it go. Picking some wild greens to eat is enough."

"All right, you can leave me here."

Su Yuhe kept walking. "We're only halfway there. You didn't bring a lantern either. Are you going to feel your way home in the dark?"

"What do I need protection for? I'm not some fallen young master with a delicate, pampered body. Who would take a fancy to me besides you?" Li Yun's voice was subdued.

Most women liked soft, delicate men. He was big and clearly did not look like the attentive sort. Su Yuhe shared most women's tastes, but she would only bother with those standards if she had money. Without money, she could only find someone deft at work to share the burdens inside and outside the home.

Besides, he was not bad-looking.

Su Yuhe comforted him. "Why compare yourself to them? There are plenty of people like them in the world. You're one of a kind."

"Only you would say that."

Li Yun was still downcast. She had no idea what the village's loose-tongued husbands had been saying about him ever since those three delicate beauties moved into her house.

He had thought he was strong enough not to care about gossip, but in the end, those few remarks had still left him heartsick.

Su Yuhe walked him to his front door. "Go inside. I'm leaving."

He pushed the door open. "Take some more sweet potatoes back. I'll get them."

She followed him inside. "Do you have enough to eat? If not, don't give me any."

"As if I'd let myself go hungry."

His voice receded, and Su Yuhe waited in the courtyard.

Although Li Yun's family was small, they were fairly well-off. His house was a size larger than Su Yuhe's, and the roof was tiled rather than thatched, putting it ahead of most homes in the village.

"Brother Yun, you're back."

The courtyard gate was open, and a young man suddenly appeared. He was the same one who had visited her house last time.

When Ruan Puchuan saw who was in the courtyard, he hurriedly lowered his head and apologized in a small voice. "S-sorry."

Su Yuhe did not know why he was apologizing. "He's inside. He'll be out in a moment."

The youth had a slight frame, tall and thin, and looked as though he had not eaten his fill in a long time. He stood timidly in the courtyard, as if she had caught him sneaking in to steal and punished him by making him stand there.

She spoke up, kindly reassuring him. "Don't be nervous. I don't eat people."

He nodded like he was pounding garlic. Su Yuhe waited a little longer, then, seeing that Li Yun still had not come out, headed toward the room he had entered. She stopped outside the door and called in, "Someone from Li Wenxiu's household is here for you."

Li Yun came out carrying a back basket and glanced at the youth standing frozen there. He slipped the basket's straps over Su Yuhe's shoulders. "Can you carry it?"

Su Yuhe was especially weak compared with the women here, and especially weak compared with men like him who hunted and farmed. The basket was only a quarter full of sweet potatoes, yet she could barely carry it.

"Take a few more out."

Li Yun took out two large ones and chided her with a laugh. "Any fewer and you wouldn't even need this basket."

"All right, this will do. I can't carry any more."

"Hey." He caught the basket. "Take some wild greens too."

The wild greens were not heavy. Su Yuhe glanced at the uneasy youth. "Never mind. Keep them for yourself."

"That won't do. I'm heading into the mountains tomorrow. They'll all be wilted by the time I get back."

"All right, all right. Hurry up, then."

Li Yun went back inside. This time, he was much quicker, steadily piling greens into the basket on her back until it was full. "There. Go on home."

Su Yuhe walked out with her lantern. She had just stepped over the threshold when Li Yun caught up and stuffed a head of napa cabbage into her arms. "Take this too. I saw you still had some white flour at home. It'll be perfect for dumplings."

"You think too highly of me. Do I look like someone who knows how to knead dough and make dumplings?"

Li Yun pinched her cheek, smiling with exasperation at her failure to measure up. "I'll make the dumplings for you tomorrow morning before I head into the mountains. Will that do?"