A dilemma

Lu Mingyi stood timidly before her, tall and slender. Once cleaned up, he revealed a handsome face, with skin whiter than snow, swordlike brows, fine eyes, and dark pupils like cold, deep pools.

"Wife."

Su Yuhe looked him over a little longer, then caught sight of his hands, red from the cold. "Chilblains are no fun."

He hid his hands behind his back. "It won't affect my work."

"Go make dinner."

Lu Mingyi hesitated. "All right."

She sat up in her rocking chair. "Do you know how to cook?"

Judging by his figure and looks, he didn't seem like someone who knew how to cook.

He shook his head, then hurriedly added, "This slave learns quickly. It won't take me long."

"We don't have enough grain for you to practice with." Su Yuhe stood and headed toward the kitchen. "Start by learning to light the fire."

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw the other two standing in the middle, gazing longingly at the cured sausages and meat hanging overhead.

Lu Mingyi coughed twice. The other two boys turned around, revealing their freshly washed faces. Both were exceptionally good-looking.

They seemed very afraid of her. The moment they saw her, they lowered their heads and called softly, "Wife."

Su Yuhe set the earthenware jar of rice on the stove. "Do you know how to rinse rice?"

Both shook their heads. Su Yuhe had expected as much and was not disappointed in the least by their answer. She demonstrated how to rinse the rice, then asked, "Any questions?"

None of the three had anything to ask. She snipped off a length of sausage and put it in the large pot to steam with the rice.

She had originally planned to make do with the leftovers from breakfast for dinner, but with more mouths in the household, that was no longer possible.

She taught them as she cooked. The youngest sat behind the stove tending the fire, another washed and chopped vegetables, and the oldest, Lu Mingyi, learned to stir-fry beside her.

"Put the oil in first. Once it's hot, add the vegetables. Stir-fry them a few times, add salt, then dish them up when they're cooked."

Su Yuhe gave instructions from the side. At first, Lu Mingyi looked quite convincing at the stove, but when he tipped in the vegetables, oil splashed onto his face and hands, and he instinctively jumped away.

Meng Zhixian stepped forward to take over. After stirring the vegetables a few times, he wanted to ask his wife whether he was doing it right, but when he turned, he saw her holding Lu Mingyi's hands and rinsing them with water.

Meng Zhixian pressed his lips together, added salt as his wife had just instructed, and kept stir-frying.

Lu Mingyi rarely had contact with women, and his cheeks grew hot despite himself. He murmured softly, "This slave is fine."

Su Yuhe glanced up at him and continued rinsing his hands with cold water. If she didn't treat this properly, her purse would be the one in trouble.

The kitchen was bustling when she distinctly heard another round of knocking at the gate: "Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock."

By now, that sound frightened Su Yuhe. Fewer people had come looking for her in the past two years than had today.

"Miss Su!"

It was Li Yun's voice. Why was he addressing her so formally? She wasn't used to it at all.

Su Yuhe was just about to open the gate when she caught sight of Meng Zhixian cooking at the stove. She hurried over in two strides. "Dish it up, dish it up! It's about to burn."

Meng Zhixian frantically scooped the vegetables out of the wok. The fire underneath was blazing, and once the vegetables were out, the empty wok began giving off white smoke. He was both anxious and frightened.

Amid the rush, Su Yuhe told Lu Mingyi, "Go open the gate."

Before long, footsteps approached, and Li Yun entered the kitchen. Su Yuhe brightened. "Quick, help me."

A slender boy followed behind Li Yun, but she was too busy to attend to him just then.

Li Yun went behind the stove and stopped Lu Mingxi from stuffing more firewood into the firebox. "The fire's big enough. No more wood."

The vegetable leaves that hadn't been removed in time had burned in the wok. Su Yuhe scraped them with the spatula, added a ladle of cold water, and rinsed the wok, not forgetting to tell Meng Zhixian, "Use this to wash the wok. Scrub it a few times, pour out the water, then scrub it again. Once the water looks clean, you're done."

He nodded and took the loofah scrubber from her, copying her movements as he scrubbed the wok. Seeing that he was doing a decent job, Su Yuhe casually praised him.

Of the three, Meng Zhixian had performed the best. There was hope that he might inherit her mantle.

They had just stir-fried two dishes and steamed a sausage. With the leftovers from lunch, that was enough for four people. Once the wok was scrubbed clean, they replaced it with a pot used specifically to heat bathwater.

After all the turmoil, Su Yuhe looked at the less-than-lavish dishes on the table and warmly invited them, "Have you eaten? Stay and have a little."

Li Yun helped carry the steamed food to the table and waved his hands at her invitation. "I've eaten."

Only now, after all that work, did Su Yuhe remember the boy by the kitchen doorway. Her gaze moved between Li Yun and the unfamiliar boy. "Who's that?"

Li Yun went to the doorway and introduced him. "He's from Li Wenxiu's household. He heard you brought three... husbands back from the authorities and specifically asked me to come with him to see whether you needed any help."

Only then did Su Yuhe look at the boy by the door. His features were striking, lovely as peach and plum blossoms, but he was far too thin. He stood there ill at ease, looking as though a single harsh word could frighten him.

She asked, "Have you eaten?"

The boy shook his head, then nodded. She turned and instructed Lu Mingyi, "Serve six bowls of rice."

Li Yun stepped forward to stop him. "I ate before coming. There's really no need."

"You really won't eat?"

"No, really."

Su Yuhe knew Li Yun well, so she stopped standing on ceremony and invited the boy who had come with him to eat. After declining a couple of times, the boy began wolfing down the food, finishing a bowl of plain rice without taking a single bite of the dishes.

The three newcomers in her household were no better. Like reincarnated hungry ghosts, they ate two bowls of rice before having much of the dishes.

Fortunately, she had anticipated this and cooked plenty of extra rice. If they couldn't finish it, she could use the leftovers for fried rice tomorrow. Now it looked as though there would be none left.

Li Yun helped tend the fire behind the stove. "I've dug up quite a few bamboo shoots these past few days. I left some outside for you."

Su Yuhe grinned. "You could've just come. Why bring me things?"

She stood and fetched a fresh pair of chopsticks, then put some of the dishes into each of the four bowls. "Don't just eat rice. These dishes can't be kept until tomorrow."

Li Wenxiu's young husband stole a glance at her. After finishing what was in his bowl, he set down his bowl and chopsticks and said softly, "I'm full. Thank you."

Su Yuhe gave him another small half-bowl of rice. "Have a little more. Look how thin you are."

Li Wenxiu's young husband tried to decline, then bashfully finished what was in his bowl. Once everyone else had finished, he volunteered to take care of all the washing up.

How could she really let a guest wash the dishes? In the end, though, she couldn't dissuade him. The three newly arrived boys were not as quick as the one from Li Wenxiu's household. In no time, the young husband had efficiently washed the bowls and chopsticks, wiped down the stove, and even swept the floor.

Su Yuhe's three newcomers watched helplessly from the side, each finding something to do. The youngest, Lu Mingxi, took a hemp cloth and wiped the stove over and over.

She looked away, only to spot Meng Zhixian crouching on the floor, doing something she couldn't make out. She went over to ask.

Oh, so he was looking for a chopstick that had fallen on the floor.

Sigh. I can't bear to watch.

Li Yun had come to bring her bamboo shoots, but after arriving, he had helped both heat and carry water. Su Yuhe didn't know what to say.

She saw the two of them out with endless thanks.

Su Yuhe returned to the bedroom and found herself in a dilemma as she looked at the quilt on the bed.

The mattress was all right, since it had been made to fit the heated kang bed, which could sleep six or seven people. But the quilt could cover at most two.

Lu Mingxi was the first to finish bathing. Draped in Su Yuhe's cloak, he pushed open the door and entered, interrupting her troubled thoughts.

She patted the kang. "Come on up."

They didn't even have a change of clothes. Lu Mingxi wore nothing beneath the cloak. A little bashful, he inched over, tightened the cloak around himself, and sat beside her with his head lowered. "Wife."

"Sleep on the innermost side. It's warmer."

The innermost side was closest to the kitchen and warmed up first.

She took a thin quilt out of the wardrobe. There were only two quilts in the house: one for winter and one for spring and autumn. In summer, she covered her belly with a handkerchief.

Lu Mingxi obediently lay down on the innermost side. She shook out the quilt and covered him. "Give me the cloak. I'll take it to the others."

Blushing, he passed the cloak out from beneath the quilt. Once she had left, he wrapped the quilt tightly around himself. He had never slept without his underclothes before.

Su Yuhe knocked on the bathing room door. A flurry of footsteps came from inside, and Lu Mingyi opened the door a crack. She handed the cloak in.

Back in the bedroom, she continued fretting. Four people and two quilts meant she would have to share one with one of them. But they had no change of clothes and were stark naked. What was she supposed to do?