After deciding to lose weight, Wang Youbao would eat at most one bowl of rice per meal, and his self-discipline was truly astonishing as he persisted with this routine.
As soon as Wang Youbao finished his bowl of rice, he set the bowl down and didn’t eat any more.
An Jing, pleased by this, teased him despite her satisfaction, "Aren’t you hungry eating so little?"
Wang Youbao immediately clenched his fist and declared, "I want to slim down soon and learn a few self-defense moves from Changyi!"
An Jing did not point out that her husband might not teach him but instead smoothly asked, "Have you been running around your courtyard recently?"
"Yes, running twenty laps used to be tough, but now I can do thirty. I plan to try thirty-five tomorrow to see if I can manage it."
An Jing disagreed, "Weight loss is a long-term battle. Don’t be too eager to slim down; you should lose weight healthily."
"I know." Wang Youbao said, smiling happily at the concern shown for him. "Now I’ve definitely lost a lot of weight. I feel more spirited than before and I seem to have a lot more energy. I used to feel weak and listless, short of breath after just a few steps, but all those symptoms are gone now. Just the other day, I had the doctor take my pulse, and he said my body is much better than before, not so frail anymore."
"That’s good to hear." An Jing was pleased that the health of her friend Wang Youbao had improved.
After lunch and some light conversation, Wang Youbao left.
An Jing and Xiao Changyi sat opposite each other at the table in the main room, with the six thousand taels’ worth of silver notes that An Jing had taken from her bosom on the table.
They didn’t look at the silver notes but at each other, gaze locked in silence.
After a while, An Jing chuckled and while glancing at the silver notes on the table, said, "Husband, does this count as striking it rich?"
Xiao Changyi said nothing.
Undeterred by Xiao Changyi’s silence, for she knew he was listening, An Jing surveyed their exceedingly plain main room with a chuckle before adding, "Do you believe that if we went out and claimed we had six thousand taels, nobody would believe us?"
Finally, Xiao Changyi spoke, succinctly, "Believe."
"Youbao is really honest, actually sharing the money with us. It seems we didn’t misjudge him." As An Jing laughed, she reached out and grasped Xiao Changyi’s left hand laying on the table.
Xiao Changyi naturally clasped her hand back.
The smile on An Jing’s face grew wider, and just as she opened her mouth to say something, Mrs. Hongxia’s urgent voice came from outside, "Changyi, oh, Changyi. Changyi!"
An Jing frowned, not understanding why Mrs. Hongxia was seeking her husband.
Xiao Changyi gave a reassuring squeeze of her hand, clearly conveying: I’ve got this.
An Jing immediately relaxed into a smile, and then she and Xiao Changyi stepped out of the main room together to meet Mrs. Hongxia.
Mrs. Hongxia was calling Xiao Changyi’s name urgently while pounding on the courtyard gate.
As soon as the courtyard gate opened and Mrs. Hongxia saw Xiao Changyi, she grabbed his arm and pleaded, "Changyi, please, I’m begging you, for the kindness I’ve shown you as a head of the household, go and save Sizi. He followed the others into the mountains to hunt five days ago and still hasn’t returned. Please help me look for him in the mountains."
While pleading, Mrs. Hongxia began to cry, "Wuu... Sizi is the only son of our household. If anything happens to him, our line will come to an end. Changyi, I’m begging you..."