Leftovers

Neither brother had contributed any money to the household, but both were experts at spending it.

The younger brother wanted candied hawthorn skewers when their wife hadn't even had any.

The older brother had hurt his hand and needed medicine. The cheapest he knew of cost ten taels of silver, and even if medicinal herbs were cheaper in this remote backwater, they still cost far more than cabbage.

Su Yuhe was a little surprised to see the three dishes on the table. She hadn't expected two young masters whose fingers had never touched dishwater to manage this without her instructions. They had done quite well.

She dug some ginger out of a kitchen corner, washed it, smashed it with the flat of a knife, then chopped it roughly and tossed it into a pot to make ginger soup.

Lu Mingxi wrinkled his nose. "That smells awful."

She didn't like it either. Once the water boiled, she ladled out a bowl. Meng Zhixian and Lu Mingyi happened to come in one after the other, and she said to Lu Mingyi, "Come drink this ginger soup to drive out the chill."

Meng Zhixian paused and turned to look at Lu Mingyi. He still looked as unruffled as drifting clouds and a light breeze as he sat down without haste. "Thank you, Wife."

Su Yuhe had been hungry the whole way home and couldn't wait to sit down and eat. Meng Zhixian unfolded the oilpaper parcel. The steamed buns inside were still warm.

Lu Mingxi watched longingly. She shifted her chopsticks, and the bun she held dropped into his bowl. "Eat up. There's just enough for one each."

He hesitated, then shook his head. "Let's save them for breakfast tomorrow."

"Eat." She picked up a bun for herself and began eating it with the warm dishes.

Meng Zhixian abruptly withdrew the chopsticks he had just begun to reach out with, lowering his head to sweep through the vegetables in front of him.

"Here, Brother."

Lu Mingyi's expression turned cold. Lu Mingxi looked at him guiltily. "I can't finish it."

Meng Zhixian glanced at the two of them and realized why the little glutton had said he wouldn't eat it earlier. He only wanted the filling and had no intention of eating the bun around it.

He understood. He didn't like eating the outside of buns either, but that had been before. He could no longer afford to indulge his young master's whims.

Lu Mingyi thought the same way and put the emptied bun back into his bowl. "Eat it."

"All right."

Lu Mingxi ate in tiny bites, barely making any headway. As soon as Su Yuhe finished eating and went to wash up, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and followed her. "Wife, wait for me."

She was only going to check whether the chickens she had bought that day would fight with the original inhabitants of the coop. She waved a hand. "Take your time eating. Don't mind me."

Meng Zhixian saw through the boy's intentions at once. He glanced unobtrusively at Lu Mingyi and watched him slowly pick up the emptied bun from the boy's bowl, taking a long time before biting into it.

The man opposite him said nothing, neither frowning nor showing the slightest displeasure, yet Meng Zhixian could clearly sense his unhappiness.

Of course. Who wanted to eat someone else's leftovers?

He wasn't the one eating them, anyway. Seeing Lu Mingyi suffer put him in an excellent mood.

But his good mood soon faded.

Because he realized that he still had to clear and wash the bowls and chopsticks on the table. Lu Mingyi would help, so it wouldn't be difficult, but he was still nowhere near as carefree as Lu Mingxi.

Meng Zhixian gritted his teeth in anger. That boy really was something. He was two years younger than him, yet he had more schemes up his sleeve than Lu Mingyi.

It seemed the inner quarters of the Lu household had been far from peaceful, to have taught such a young boy so many underhanded tricks.

Lu Mingyi lifted his eyelids. The strikingly beautiful youth was washing the dishes indignantly, muttering something under his breath. He looked very angry.

Leaning against the stove, he ladled himself another bowl of ginger soup. He didn't like the taste either, but his head was still a little dizzy, and he felt as though he had caught a chill.

Now he only hoped the ginger soup really could drive out the chill and keep him from coming down with a cold.

"I'm done washing. I'll go wash up first."

Meng Zhixian set the bowls and chopsticks aside and headed next door. Lu Mingyi stopped him. "It's cold. Don't bathe. A basin of water to wipe yourself down will be enough."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Mingyi pinched the space between his brows. "Water isn't cheap, and heating it uses firewood. I'm afraid a bath every day is out of the question."

Meng Zhixian fell silent for a while. "Am I the only one who can't bathe?"

"No. Everyone except Wife."

"Understood."

Meng Zhixian left the kitchen in a few strides, fetched his copper basin and towel from the bathing room, and returned to the kitchen for water to wash up. He even kindly brought Lu Mingyi's copper basin and towel.

They washed in silence, then returned to the room one after the other.

Seeing that everyone was there, Su Yuhe nudged Lu Mingxi, who was lying across her knees. "Go on, make room for your brother."

Lu Mingyi didn't understand. He sat down beside them and slowly removed his outer robe, then drew out his wooden hairpin. His ink-black hair settled obediently over his shoulders, and in the flickering candlelight, his features looked even more sharply defined and stern.

Lu Mingxi shifted reluctantly, yielding the innermost spot. "Brother, sleep on the inside."

Lu Mingyi looked at Su Yuhe. She was already preparing to lie down. "It's warmer inside. Together with the ginger soup, it'll help you sweat and recover faster."

He lowered his eyes. "Thank you, Wife."

She reminded him, "Don't forget to apply the medicine. Let Mingxi help you."

Lu Mingxi rolled over and sat up, looking ready to help him apply it. Lu Mingyi walked over to the candle. "No need. I'll do it myself."

Hearing that, Su Yuhe said no more. Meng Zhixian quickly slipped under the covers, draped the outer robe he had just removed over the quilt, and nestled naturally against her to murmur, "I copied quite a lot today. I was much faster than yesterday."

Not to be outdone, Lu Mingxi rolled over to Su Yuhe with the quilt wrapped around him. "I cut lots of wild grass today. It's enough to feed our chickens for several days."

Su Yuhe had wanted to close her eyes and fall straight asleep, but now she had to respond. She gave a couple of absent, perfunctory hums. The two stopped talking, but there was now a head on either side of her neck.