The Second Young Master’s Obedient Husband : Chapter 54

Winter passed and spring arrived. The mountain forests turned green, and another year of busy days began.

After spring came, Liang Yu took Su Qingyu up the mountain. The couple worked together in the hills to earn silver. Su’s mother had moved into the new house, with a few familiar wives from the village looking after her. Mother Liang also went over from time to time to do needlework and chat together. Su Qingyu felt much more at ease following Liang Yu into the mountains.

The wooden cabin was still the same wooden cabin, but the courtyard now held quite a few more things. A chicken coop had been built against the wall, housing seven or eight little chicks. Su Qingyu chopped vegetable leaves and mixed them with bran to feed them every day, hoping they would grow up quickly. The mountain path was hard to walk, and eggs were difficult to carry up. Bird eggs were too small and not satisfying to eat. It wasn’t easy to get eggs on the mountain, but once the chicks grew up, they wouldn’t have to go without.

The vegetable garden had expanded, and the variety of vegetables planted had increased as well. They were busy making a living, and they couldn’t let themselves go short on food. The cabinet was hung neatly with cured pork and cured fish. Strings of dried mushrooms and mountain goods hung under the eaves. They also brought up plenty of grain and rice. The kitchen was fully stocked, and just looking at it felt reassuring.

The sky had just begun to lighten when Su Qingyu woke up.

The spot beside him was still warm, but the person was gone. Su Qingyu yawned, sat up, put on his clothes, and pushed open the window to look outside.

In the courtyard, Liang Yu was chopping firewood bare chested. His solid muscles rose and fell with each movement, and sweat ran down the groove of his back. The axe fell, and the wood split cleanly apart. Liang Yu chopped firewood with speed and precision, and in no time a small pile had accumulated beside him.

Su Qingyu rested his chin on his hand and watched for a while. When he came back to his senses, his face reddened. He closed the window, got out of bed, and dressed and combed his hair.

After washing up, he went to the kitchen to prepare food. Liang Yu had already put the porridge on to cook when he got up. Su Qingyu saw that the porridge was nearly done. He took a few steamed buns from a cloth bag, placed them on a steaming rack, and put the rack into the pot to warm the buns. He covered the pot with its lid, washed some vegetables, stir fried them with vinegar to make sour cabbage, and cut a small dish of pickled vegetables, drizzling some sesame oil over them.

Just as he set the food on the table, Liang Yu pushed open the door and came in. His hands and face were wiped clean, and the smell of sweat on his body was faint, mixed with a hint of morning dew.

Liang Yu brought out the steamed buns, and Su Qingyu served the porridge onto the table. The two of them sat down to eat breakfast.

After the meal, Su Qingyu went to the kitchen to wash the bowls and chopsticks, while Liang Yu went into the room to pack his hunting gear.

Since getting married, the worry had left Su Qingyu’s face. He smiled every day now. Even looking at the fully stocked kitchen and washing dishes made him happy.

Liang Yu finished packing his hunting gear in the room and came out carrying a basket. He saw the smiling person, and a smile crept onto his own lips. He walked over, wrapped his arms around Su Qingyu, and pinched his face. “What are you smiling about?”

Su Qingyu shook his head, pressed his face against Liang Yu’s palm and rubbed against it, put away the clean bowls and chopsticks, wiped his hands, turned around, and wrapped his arms around Liang Yu’s neck. He looked up at him with a smile.

Liang Yu lowered his gaze to look at him. The moment their eyes met, they kissed.

After they separated, Su Qingyu’s ears were red and he lowered his eyes, not looking at him. Liang Yu smiled and kissed his face, then picked up his hunting gear and went out the door.

Su Qingyu stood in the courtyard, watching his figure disappear into the forest before he began the day’s work.

He fed the chickens, watered the plants, tidied the house, and carried the bedding out to air in the courtyard. The sun was good today, and he left it out for the whole day to make the quilts fluffy and warm. Sleeping under them at night would surely be comfortable.

After airing the quilts, he brought out the laundry basket to wash clothes. The ones changed yesterday hadn’t been washed yet. Su Qingyu picked up a piece and soaked it in water, scrubbing very carefully. Whether intentionally or not, Liang Yu’s underpants always ended up being washed last. Once all the other clothes were done, Su Qingyu had no way to avoid it and finally picked up the underpants and soaked them in water. Even though he had washed them many times before, his face still flushed every time.

After hanging the clothes to dry, Su Qingyu went to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables and made himself lunch. Liang Yu wouldn’t be back at noon since he had gone out hunting. Su Qingyu made a simple meal, ate it, and mixed the leftover vegetable broth with some steamed bun to feed to Shanfeng. Shanfeng was easy to keep alive. When he saw Su Qingyu coming to feed him, he eagerly came over and rubbed against Su Qingyu’s legs, his tail wagging like a windmill, and buried his head in the food happily.

In the afternoon, Su Qingyu always took a nap. They stayed up late at night, and Su Qingyu wanted to make breakfast together with Liang Yu in the morning. The couple would cuddle for a while, then Su Qingyu would see Liang Yu off to go hunting. He didn’t get enough sleep at night, so he could only make up for it with a midday nap.

After waking up, there wasn’t much to do in the afternoon. Su Qingyu would move a small stool to the courtyard to do embroidery, occasionally play with Shanfeng for a while, and the afternoon would pass just like that.

When the sun was about right, he went into the kitchen to put the rice in the pot, and washed and chopped the vegetables and meat, waiting for Liang Yu to come back so he could stir fry them in the wok.

When the evening glow lit up the mountain forests, the tired birds returned to the woods, and Liang Yu came back too.

He carried his hunting gear in his hands, and his back basket was filled with mountain goods and game. Sometimes it was a wild hare, sometimes a pheasant, and when luck was good, there might be a roe deer. Su Qingyu went out to greet him, and Liang Yu would lower his head to kiss him. Su Qingyu’s face would redden as he put the back basket into the kitchen, then poured out the hot water warming on the stove to mix with water for Liang Yu to wash his face and hands.

In the evening, the two of them sat at the table eating dinner, talking about the day’s events. Su Qingyu said how many eggs the chickens had laid, how much the vegetables had grown, and that the embroidery was nearly finished. Liang Yu said what he had seen in the mountains, how many traps he had set, and where he would go tomorrow. They talked about whatever came to mind, and before they knew it, they had talked about many things.

After dinner, Su Qingyu cleared the dishes, and Liang Yu processed the game in the courtyard. Each was busy with their own tasks, occasionally looking up at the other. When their eyes met, they would smile at each other and continue with their work.

…

The mountain goods in the house grew more and more numerous. Not only did Liang Yu bring them back, but Su Qingyu also deliberately went out to gather them.

Sometimes when Su Qingyu didn’t feel like doing embroidery, he would take Shanfeng to gather mountain goods nearby. Not many people came to the deep mountains, so there were plenty of mountain goods to be found. There were all kinds of mushrooms alone. What they couldn’t eat, they dried and stored away. Before they knew it, they had filled a large bag. There were also wild medicinal herbs in the mountains. Su Qingyu only picked the ones he recognized. Once he had gathered enough, he sold them to the medicine shop in town, which could also fetch quite a few copper coins.

Every half month, the two of them would go down the mountain once, bringing the accumulated embroidery and mountain goods to sell in town. Good mountain goods sold without worry, and when delivered to familiar shopkeepers, they got a fair amount of silver in no time.

When they finished selling and it was still early, Liang Yu would take Su Qingyu through the streets and alleys to sell the embroidery. Su Qingyu’s embroidery was excellent, with fresh and novel patterns, much more delicate than what the local embroiderers made. Those with more experience would recognize it as southern style embroidery. With one shout, those from well off families would come to buy something new and interesting.

As the sun climbed higher, Su Qingyu grew tired from walking. The two of them would rest their feet at a tea stall with a bowl of tea, sell the remaining embroidery to a familiar cloth shop, eat lunch in town, and buy some miscellaneous items to take home in the afternoon. Sometimes they also went back to the village to see their parents and keep them company.

In the evening, the two of them sat in the room counting silver. Su Qingyu had accumulated quite a lot of embroidery this time and earned a large bag of silver. He smiled happily after counting, and handed the silver he had earned to Liang Yu to see, his eyes bright and sparkling with pride.

Liang Yu smiled and pinched Su Qingyu’s face, praising him sincerely. “My husband is truly capable.”

Su Qingyu was thoroughly satisfied with the praise. Looking at Liang Yu’s smile, his face reddened again. He leaned against Liang Yu’s chest, pressed his lips together, and said nothing. Liang Yu knew he was shy again. He held him and kissed and coaxed him, and they ended up in bed again.