Recaps

Su Yuhe learned that the village and the court planned to build granaries in preparation for a predicted great freeze, and that her household would owe money or labor for both. She was left weighing the cost against sending Lu Mingyi to work.

• The village chief told Su Yuhe that the imperial preceptor had predicted the return of a devastating great freeze.
• The village chief explained that Su Yuhe’s household owed two taels or five hundred double-hours of labor for the city granary.
• Su Yuhe learned that the village would also build its own granary and that her household would owe another two taels or labor.
• Lu Mingyi offered to work off the remaining hours, but Su Yuhe said she could not pay the full amount at once.
• The village chief said Su Yuhe could pay with grain at market price and promised to return in a few days to collect the money.
• After the village chief left, Su Yuhe considered the expense and thought about the value of owning farmland for growing sweet potatoes.

Su Yuhe arranged for Lu Mingyi to copy books at home instead of working off his labor quota, then sold their completed copies to earn money. At the market, she spotted two seedlings that might be chili peppers but walked away when the vendor asked too much.

• Su Yuhe gave Lu Mingyi books to copy and told him to wait until his chilblains healed before writing.
• Lu Mingyi and Lu Mingxi hurried out to tend the cooking fire, leaving Su Yuhe and Meng Zhixian to keep copying.
• In mid-March, Su Yuhe sold two books she had copied and one Meng Zhixian had copied for four and a half taels of silver.
• Su Yuhe bought vegetables at the market and noticed two wilted seedlings said to bear spicy red fruit.
• Su Yuhe suspected the seedlings were chili peppers, but walked away when the vendor insisted on charging ten wen each.

Su Yuhe bought wild greens and arranged to buy mustard greens from Second Sister Li, who offered to sell her vegetables directly in the future. The chapter left Su Yuhe returning home with the greens while keeping her distance from most villagers because of their gossip and a past price-gouging incident.

• Su Yuhe bought meat, grain, and cheap wild greens after the stall owner agreed to her price.
• Su Yuhe asked Second Sister Li for ten jin of mustard greens, and they agreed on a price of three wen per jin.
• Second Sister Li stopped at her field and gathered forty mustard green plants with her husband.
• Second Sister Li gave Su Yuhe eleven jin of greens and offered to sell her vegetables directly in the future.
• Su Yuhe accepted the offer and recalled avoiding villagers after one had overcharged and guilt-tripped her over cabbage.

Su Yuhe returned to find Li Yun selling the wild boar he had hunted in her courtyard. After he grew distant and jealous, she teased him and reached for his hand, but he asked what right she had to care whether he was angry.

• Su Yuhe came home to find the village chief and others gathered around Li Yun’s young wild boar, which the butcher cut up and Meng Zhixian sold.
• After the customers left, Li Yun explained that he had sold the boar at the house and saved some pork collar for Su Yuhe.
• Li Yun compared his rough, callused hands with Lu Mingyi’s and assumed Su Yuhe would prefer handsome, wealthy young men from the city.
• Su Yuhe told Li Yun to rest and bathe, then caught his wrist when he tried to leave before lunch.
• Li Yun insisted he was not angry and asked Su Yuhe who he was to her.

Su Yuhe reassured Li Yun that she intended to marry him after his mourning period, then showed him the practical bathing room she had designed. She gave him a new outfit, leaving him delighted but unaware that the clothes had originally belonged to Xubai and his manservants.

• Li Yun accused Su Yuhe of preferring her three husbands at home and of thinking him ugly, but she denied it and promised to marry him after his mourning period.
• Su Yuhe showed Li Yun the bathing room's hot-water tap, reused bathwater drain, and stool for washing clothes.
• Li Yun praised Su Yuhe's clever house design, and she modestly said she would not be suited to building houses.
• Su Yuhe brought Li Yun a sky-blue robe and moon-white inner garments, and he was delighted to learn they were for him.
• Su Yuhe revealed that she had obtained the fine clothes from Xubai and his manservants.

Li Yun cooked pork for Su Yuhe and the others after returning with money from selling a wild boar to help pay for the village granaries. As the household discussed preparing for the coming great cold, Meng Zhixian worried that he had no useful skills and might be abandoned.

• Su Yuhe assessed Li Yun's new clothes, and he offered to cook sliced pork for dinner.
• Li Yun explained that he had sold the wild boar after learning about the payments needed for the village and official granaries.
• Li Yun suggested planting more sweet potatoes before the great cold, while Lu Mingxi volunteered to help chop firewood.
• Su Yuhe discouraged Li Yun from going up the mountain so soon after returning and offered Lu Mingxi cloth for embroidery, but he refused.
• Meng Zhixian regretted never learning practical work and feared that he would be left behind when the great cold came.

Su Yuhe reassured Meng Zhixian after he asked whether she hated him, and he kissed her. Meanwhile, Yongqin tried to keep Xubai from returning to Su Yuhe by claiming she had been intimate with the government slaves, but Xubai dismissed the accusation.

• Li Yun served lunch and agreed to make Lu Mingxi hand-rolled noodles with minced meat and a fried egg the next day.
• Su Yuhe went to the study to copy books for a silver bonus, where Meng Zhixian asked whether she hated him because she had never touched him.
• Meng Zhixian leaned against Su Yuhe, kissed her cheek and lips, and called her Wife.
• At the inn, Yongqin urged Xubai to return to the capital and accused Su Yuhe of fooling around with the government slaves.
• Xubai insisted Su Yuhe could not have been with the slaves and said she would know to choose him over them.

Yongqin’s interference drove Xubai to decide to return the next day and confront Su Yuhe, while Su Yuhe woke from a dream about him and spent the morning with Li Yun and Lu Mingxi. The chapter ended with Li Yun insisting on carrying a hot bowl for her.

• Yongqin told Xubai that Su Yuhe was living well with the three men and argued that she was unworthy of him.
• Xubai accused Yongqin of separating them to use him, and told her he would return the next day.
• After Yongqin left, Xubai vowed to trust Su Yuhe and ask her everything when he saw her.
• Su Yuhe woke from a dream in which Xubai accused her of changing her heart and stabbed her.
• Su Yuhe joined Li Yun and Lu Mingxi as they prepared dried sweet potatoes and hand-rolled noodles.
• Li Yun stopped Su Yuhe from carrying a hot bowl and insisted he would take it himself.

Su Yuhe ate hand-rolled noodles with Lu Mingxi while Li Yun and the others brought home a large supply of cheap sweet potatoes. She and Lu Mingxi made sweet potato congee for afternoon tea, and Meng Zhixian came to call her when it was ready.

• Su Yuhe burned her hands trying to carry a hot bowl, and Li Yun cooled them in water before serving the noodles.
• Li Yun returned with Lu Mingyi and Meng Zhixian, who carried baskets of sweet potatoes bought cheaply from village families in need of silver.
• Li Yun said the more than five hundred jin of sweet potatoes would take the afternoon to dry and last them a year.
• Su Yuhe asked Lu Mingxi to fetch sweet potatoes, then showed him how to make sweet potato congee.
• Su Yuhe copied books and helped dry the sweet potatoes while Lu Mingxi prepared afternoon tea; Meng Zhixian entered the study to call her to eat.

Su Yuhe and the others finished unloading sweet potatoes while Second Sister Li complained about the cost of preparing for the great cold. As she listened, Su Yuhe wondered how the authorities would fund the granaries and concluded that confiscating corrupt officials’ estates might replenish the treasury.

• Su Yuhe comforted Meng Zhixian and wiped the sweat from his forehead before Lu Mingxi interrupted them and invited him to dinner.
• Meng Zhixian washed his face while Lu Mingxi gathered clothes to take a bath, then Meng Zhixian and Lu Mingyi set out to carry more sweet potatoes.
• Second Sister Li arrived with Li Yun and helped unload the remaining sweet potatoes and vines into the courtyard.
• Second Sister Li complained to Li Yun that her household could not afford the seven taels demanded for the granaries and questioned whether the authorities could protect the people from the great cold.
• Su Yuhe considered the state’s expenses and thought that confiscating corrupt officials’ estates could fill the treasury.

Lu Mingxi asked Su Yuhe to share her quilt after bathing, and Li Yun later asked her to write them a marriage contract. After Li Yun left to prepare food, Su Yuhe remembered the imperial preceptor’s warning of severe cold and began considering down-filled bedding.

• Lu Mingxi asked Su Yuhe to smell his jasmine-scented soap and agreed to sleep beside her that night.
• Li Yun visited Su Yuhe’s study and asked her to write a marriage contract for them, which he carefully tucked away after the ink dried.
• Li Yun told Su Yuhe he had pickled vegetables and planned to make buns and chicken broth for the next day.
• Su Yuhe reassured Li Yun that he was just as good as anyone else after he belittled himself.
• After Li Yun left, Su Yuhe recalled the prediction of severe cold and considered collecting duck or goose down to make warmer bedding.

Su Yuhe discussed household expenses and winter preparations with Lu Mingyi while she copied books. That night, Lu Mingxi and Meng Zhixian disputed who would sleep beside her, and Meng reluctantly switched places with him.

• Su Yuhe ate the sweet potato porridge Lu Mingyi brought and told him to reimburse Li Yun for the sweet potatoes if he wished.
• Lu Mingyi suggested that Li Yun manage the household money, but Su Yuhe said Lu Mingyi was better suited to handle household affairs.
• Su Yuhe said they would postpone wedding preparations until after Li Yun's mourning period and asked Lu Mingyi to barter for goose and duck down.
• Su Yuhe finished bathing and climbed onto the kang, where Lu Mingxi complained that Meng Zhixian would not let him sleep beside her.
• Su Yuhe told Meng Zhixian to sleep beside Lu Mingyi, and Meng reluctantly exchanged places with Lu Mingxi.

Li Yun woke from a sweet dream of Su Yuhe and found Ruan Puchuan waiting outside Lu Mingxi’s home, then let him in and prepared a chicken. Later, Su Yuhe joined the villagers’ work, while Lu Mingxi eagerly waited for her before eating.

• Li Yun woke remembering his dream of Su Yuhe in wedding robes and found Ruan Puchuan waiting outside Lu Mingxi’s house.
• Li Yun invited Ruan Puchuan inside and told him to feed the chickens, while Lu Mingxi asked Ruan Puchuan to teach him how to slaughter one so he could cook for his future wife.
• Li Yun took over slaughtering the chicken and told Ruan Puchuan he would handle such tasks for Lu Mingxi; Ruan Puchuan declined Li Yun’s offer of sweet potatoes and left.
• Villagers gathered at Li Yun’s courtyard to prepare sweet potatoes, while Lu Mingxi chatted with them and Su Yuhe slept in.
• When Su Yuhe woke, Lu Mingxi hurried to announce that it was time to eat, and Lu Mingyi told her not to indulge him by waiting for her meal.

Su Yuhe watched Lu Mingxi and Meng Zhixian bicker over steamed buns, while Ruan Puchuan delivered lunch to Liu Xiaobo in the fields. Two wealthy young men arrived by carriage and asked Ruan Puchuan whether he was from Reed Flower Village.

• Lu Mingxi shared steamed buns with Su Yuhe and the others, and Meng Zhixian eventually gave him another bun to eat.
• Ruan Puchuan brought lunch to Liu Xiaobo, who argued with the older man from the Zhuang family about his son-in-law.
• A carriage stopped beside Ruan Puchuan, and two young men in fine clothes asked whether he was from Reed Flower Village.
• Liu Xiaobo hurried to Ruan Puchuan's side and fawned over the two young men.

Two young men paid Liu Xiaobo to learn about the three government slaves, while Ruan Puchuan hurried to warn the household. At a restaurant, Xubai began questioning Liu Xiaobo about his connection to the slaves.

• A young man in pale blue asked Liu Xiaobo about the household that had taken in three government slaves and paid him a tael of silver to share what he knew.
• Liu Xiaobo kicked Ruan Puchuan and told him to return home, while Ruan memorized the two men's appearances and hurried toward the blue-brick house.
• At dinner, Su Yuhe tried to pass her rich chicken soup and drumstick to Lu Mingyi, but he drank the soup after she insisted.
• Ruan Puchuan arrived at the house panting and asked, "What are you doing here?"
• The two young men brought Liu Xiaobo to Xubai at a three-story restaurant, where Xubai warned him to answer truthfully and asked about his relationship with the three government slaves.

Xubai interrogated Liu Xiaobo about Su Yuhe and learned that she had been close to the hunter Li Yun before three city men arrived. Liu Xiaobo’s account left Xubai questioning Su Yuhe’s romantic ties and the men’s place in her household.

• Xubai kicked Liu Xiaobo away, then demanded that he explain his claim that Su Yuhe had a lover.
• Liu Xiaobo said Su Yuhe had been involved with his neighbor Li Yun for two years and had promised to marry him.
• Liu Xiaobo described how Li Yun had helped Su Yuhe with money and household chores, and said he had brought her a hunted wild boar.
• Liu Xiaobo revealed that one of the three city men collected money for the boar meat and that Su Yuhe was their wife.
• Xubai mocked Su Yuhe’s supposed romantic fortune and asked Liu Xiaobo whether he agreed; Liu Xiaobo denied it and said she did not seem able to afford several husbands.

Lu Mingyi, Lu Mingxi, and Meng Zhixian wondered who had sent people to ask about them, while Su Yuhe suspected Xubai was behind it and feared he would discover her feelings for Li Yun. After days of anxious waiting, Su Yuhe finished copying two books and collected her payment from Shopkeeper Liu.

• Meng Zhixian suggested that the people asking about them might know Lu Mingyi and Lu Mingxi, and Lu Mingyi wondered whether his parents' former retainers had come looking for them.
• Lu Mingyi told Lu Mingxi not to bring up their past again and to treat them as government slaves living in the countryside.
• Su Yuhe suspected Xubai had sent someone to find her, then persuaded Li Yun to go home before he told her he would soon return to the mountains and asked her to water his plot.
• Su Yuhe waited anxiously for several days, then finished copying both books and took them to town.
• Shopkeeper Liu paid Su Yuhe seven taels for the books, and she took all four stationery boxes back with her.

Su Yuhe spent her new earnings on cloth and treated Lu Mingxi to wontons and candied hawthorns instead of buying roast chicken. Lu Mingxi struggled to accept the small treat, and the chapter ended with Su Yuhe persuading him to eat the meatball she had ordered for him.

• Su Yuhe collected four taels from Shopkeeper Liu and took Lu Mingxi to buy moon-white and black cloth.
• Su Yuhe passed up lotus-root-white cloth and roast chicken, choosing a cheap wonton stall for brunch.
• Lu Mingxi stared at the candied hawthorns, but he protested when Su Yuhe bought him a skewer.
• Lu Mingxi said the skewer could have bought several cabbages, revealing how carefully he valued money.
• Su Yuhe urged Lu Mingxi to eat the lion's head meatball she had ordered for him, and he finally left it in his own bowl.

Two women tried to recruit Lu Mingxi to entertain Xubai for money, but Su Yuhe refused and took him home. Yongqin discussed Su Yuhe with Xubai, then Lu Mingyi and Meng Zhixian argued over the cost of bathing.

• Two guards invited Lu Mingxi to meet their young master, offering him wages, but Su Yuhe refused and led him away.
• Yongqin watched Su Yuhe protect Lu Mingxi and told Xubai she planned to meet Su Yuhe after handling her affairs.
• Xubai asked Yongqin to stop suggesting he take other wives and said he wanted to return to the estate.
• That night, Meng Zhixian complained that Lu Mingyi was taking too long to bathe and challenged him to contribute money to the household.

Meng Zhixian confronted Lu Mingxi about making him wait to bathe, then sought Su Yuhe’s attention and asked to stay with her. Su Yuhe promised to take him into town, and he resolved to keep winning her favor rather than let Lu Mingxi have her to himself.

• Meng Zhixian complained that Lu Mingxi kept delaying his turn to bathe, and Lu Mingxi agreed to bathe last in the future.
• Lu Mingyi noticed that Lu Mingxi had been unusually distracted since their return from town and watched him leave for bed.
• Meng Zhixian joined Su Yuhe in the study, kissed her, and asked to stay there for the night.
• Su Yuhe persuaded Meng Zhixian to go back to bed by promising to take him into town when she finished copying.
• Meng Zhixian asked for candied hawthorns and became unhappy when Su Yuhe offered to buy them for everyone, then resolved to win her heart and keep Lu Mingxi from having her all to himself.

Xubai returned and learned that Su Yuhe had been copying books, which eased his suspicions about her. He summoned her, but his excitement turned to anger while she hesitated outside his door, and he confronted her about having a new love.

• Zhuxin greeted Xubai after he returned and noticed his anger.
• Zhuxin showed Xubai four books Su Yuhe had copied, and Xubai decided to invite her over.
• Xubai ordered Zhuxin to prepare a meal and bring back the three slaves, then dressed in bright red to meet Su Yuhe.
• Xubai made Su Yuhe wait downstairs before Zhuxin escorted her to his room.
• Xubai watched Su Yuhe hesitate outside the door, grew angry, and pulled her inside, accusing her of having a new love.

Su Yuhe and Xubai reunited after his return, and he refused to let her end their relationship. He left her seated at his table, drinking chicken soup and enduring his efforts to feed her nourishing food.

• Xubai confronted Su Yuhe about saying they could not continue their entanglement, and she insisted her low status made their relationship impossible.
• Xubai kissed Su Yuhe hard enough to cut her lip and told her not to say she wanted to leave again.
• Su Yuhe explained that Xubai’s dismissed attendants were helping her at home, but Xubai changed the subject and told her the kitchen had made chicken soup.
• Xubai led Su Yuhe to the table and insisted she drink soup before leaving, then served her food and fed her pork liver.
• Su Yuhe stopped eating by pretending to be angry, and Xubai backed off because she was near her period.

Su Yuhe told Xubai that copying books had become her livelihood and that she was using Zhixian and the others to help her earn money. Xubai accepted her explanation, but still insisted on meeting the three men, leaving Su Yuhe worried he would disrupt their work.

• Su Yuhe tried to leave Xubai so she could return to copying books, but he demanded to know whether her work mattered more than him.
• Xubai warned Su Yuhe not to keep getting tangled up with the three men, and she explained that she had spent the month copying books and choosing meals.
• Su Yuhe told Xubai that she earned one tael per book and had found Zhixian work copying books for half a tael per book.
• Xubai realized the bookshop had reduced the pay he had set and decided he would have someone warn the shop or buy it to provide Su Yuhe with work.
• Su Yuhe explained that Zhixian and the others helped her earn money, pleasing Xubai, who then said he would go meet them.
• Su Yuhe worried that Xubai would interrupt their book copying, but he told her to stop working and stay by his side instead.

Su Yuhe sought money from Xubai, who refused to let her earn it but gave her a box of gold. She returned home after dinner and told Lu Mingxi she had something to discuss with them later.

• Su Yuhe asked Xubai to let her earn money, but he refused and questioned whether she had come only for money.
• Xubai showed Su Yuhe a heavy box of gold, and she happily accepted it after promising not to give any away.
• Su Yuhe stayed to eat chicken soup with Xubai, then returned home after dusk with the untouched food.
• Lu Mingyi met Su Yuhe at the gate and carried the food to the kitchen while she told Lu Mingxi she had something to discuss later.

Su Yuhe told Lu Mingyi, Lu Mingxi, and Meng Zhixian that she had found them jobs at Xubai’s farm estate, then brought them there the next morning. After Su Yuhe asked Xubai to give Lu Mingxi lighter work, Xubai noticed that Meng Zhixian seemed intent on using his looks to win women over.

• Su Yuhe told the three men she had found them jobs, and they reluctantly agreed to follow her arrangements.
• The next morning, Su Yuhe led the men to the farm estate and asked Zhuxin whether Lu Mingxi could be given lighter duties.
• Su Yuhe went upstairs to ask Xubai to spare Lu Mingxi strenuous work, and Xubai looked down at the men in the courtyard.
• Xubai focused on Meng Zhixian’s carefully groomed hair and suspected that he was a foxy seducer who relied on his looks.