22: Chapter 22 Someone Came by Day
22 -22 Someone Came by Day
No matter what purpose he married her for, whether for her dowry or to satisfy physical needs, he still treated her fairly well in the end.
Having only been together for a day, from him letting her have rice in the morning to now offering her water, he was much better than the two aunts from the Gu Family.
It had been a long time since anyone had been so kind to her, and Gu Youyou was somewhat moved.
“Okay, thank you!” Gu Youyou’s gratitude was genuine!
In the Gu Family, she couldn’t even burn coal for warmth because of the cold, but Jin Zijin, as poor as he was, was still willing to build a fire for her, which was truly rare.
Jin Zijin was very efficient, and in no time, he brought over a stove made of clay and bamboo with several logs burning inside, and an iron teapot on top.
“Have you thought about what you want to eat?” After all the work, Jin Zijin didn’t forget to ask.
It was then that Gu Youyou remembered she had forgotten to choose between rabbit and pheasant.
After considering it, rabbit meat was delicious but not as nourishing as pheasant.
Her body was very weak now, so it obviously made more sense to eat pheasant.
“Let’s have pheasant…
oh, a simmered dish, mushrooms would be best, if there’s also a little…
oh, never mind, you decide how to stew it!”
Gu Youyou almost let slip the idea of asking him to stew some tonic herbs for her.
Thinking of Jin Zijin’s poverty, where would he get money for herbs?
It was already good enough to have pheasant to eat.
Jin Zijin hummed in acknowledgment and said, “I collected some mushrooms in the mountains earlier, which are now dried and hanging outside.
I’ll get some to stew with the pheasant…” As Jin Zijin stepped to the door, he turned back and asked, “Do you want to sit up for a while?”
The sun had already set by this time, and while it wasn’t completely dark yet, the temperature had dropped much from the daytime.
Gu Youyou thought for a moment and then nodded her head.
This body was really in bad shape; mostly ailments developed from too much sleep.
Even if not sunning herself, sitting up was better than lying down.
Jin Zijin moved a bamboo recliner over for her, placing it next to the stove, so she wouldn’t be too cold while warming up by the fire.
Gu Youyou noticed that this big recliner was new, and apparently, it was acquired on account of her.
Jin Zijin was busy on his feet all day; he had no spare time to sit on such a chair.
Soon, Jin Zijin returned from the river, carrying a thoroughly cleaned pheasant and two rabbits.
He asked suddenly, “Did anyone come by during the day?”
Gu Youyou nodded and said, “Wang Shun came once to deliver some firewood for you.
my second aunt also came by, she said the family’s cloth got damp, so she took it out to dry.”
Jin Zijin glanced at the few pieces of cloth drying on the poles outside with an unreadable expression.
His eyes flickered, but he didn’t say anything, putting down what he was carrying and then going to fetch the cloth, folding it neatly into the chest.
Gu Youyou sat by the stove watching Jin Zijin busy himself at the cooking platform.
He first prepared the pheasant, then started a fire, adding the soaked mushrooms and pheasant into the pot to stew.
The wood burning in the cookstove was delivered by Wang Shun that afternoon.
Jin Zijin picked a few thick logs to put in the stove; thick logs burned longer, meaning he didn’t have to keep watch over it constantly.
After tending to the pot, he seasoned the two rabbits with some salt and set them aside.
Now that the weather wasn’t hot, salting them meant they could be kept for several days.
The cooking platform was designed with a big and small section: the bigger one for stewing chicken, and the smaller one perfect for cooking rice.
First, he cooked the rice until it was half-done, then removed the divider between the two stove sections, allowing the fire to pass through to the rice.