When Qin An came back, the yard was filled with the spicy smell of meat and the sound of Su Yan's sneezing.
He strode into the kitchen, where the young woman stir-fried the chili meat cubes in the pot. The pot was full, obviously prepared for him to eat.
"Daughter-in-law, let me do it."
Su Yan looked sideways at him, smiled and shook her head, "Your shoes are wet, go and change them first."
Qin An put down the basket on his back, grabbed a few fruits from it, washed them with water, and took a bite to taste.
Not sour.
He just fed it to his wife's mouth.
Su Yan opened her mouth and ate it. It tasted crispy and sweet, "Keep the rest for Tuantuan Erdan."
Qin An said in a low voice: "Hold my wife first."
Su Yan couldn't help laughing and gave him an angry look, "Go and change your shoes. The socks are on the stool."
Qin An went out and changed his shoes and then came back in. He sat at the door of the kitchen with his wet shoes and watched Su Yan cooking without saying anything.
After a while, he finally said: "Daughter-in-law, the palace examination is about to take place, are you afraid?"
"What are you afraid of? As promised before, the whole family will be together." Su Yan said firmly.
The Xiao family will not let anything happen to Tuantuan, so she has nothing to worry about.
Qin An put his hands on his knees and tightened them slightly, but in the end he just said "hmm".
Su Yan glanced at him, and she knew without guessing that he was under a lot of pressure, "My husband, leave yourself a way out in everything, and take your time with the rest."
"Okay." Qin An nodded.
Song Nuan put a pot of spicy diced pork in seven or eight bamboo tubes, sealed it with oil paper, and put it in a vat until Qin An took it away tomorrow.
When Erdan came back at noon, the family gathered around the pavilion to eat grilled fish. Tuantuan couldn't eat spicy food yet, so he boiled two sugar-coated eggs and fed them to him.
This child didn't eat egg yolks. He ate them and spit them out, leaving yellow stains on his mouth. Qin An whispered: "Don't waste it. If you don't want to eat it, just say you won't eat it."
Tuantuan nodded as if she understood, "Here... Mom, eat, Mom, eat..."
Su Yan laughed, took a piece of fish and put it in Qin An's bowl, "If you don't like it, give it to my mother. What should I do if my mother doesn't like it either?"
"Daddy, eat it." Tuantuan pointed at the side of his father's face with his short finger.
His father was amused by him and said "Yeah".
Erdan took care of the thorn for a long time, and finally put it into Qin An's bowl. He was so obedient that he didn't say anything.
Qin An naturally saw it, but didn't say anything. After finishing the meal, he waved to Erdan, "I'll take you to the academy."
Erdan's eyes lit up and he was naturally happy. He ran towards him with his book bag in hand.
On the way, Qin An bought Erdan a pancake and put it in his book bag, "If you are bullied, you have to go home and tell Uncle Dong."
Erdan shook his head: "No one bullied me. Last time someone bullied me, I told my wife."
"Dad, when are you leaving? Will you leave later?"
"Leave tomorrow night."
Qin An said in a low voice: "Is mother eating at home?"
"Eat, but eat very little. Only when you are at home, daddy, will mom eat a lot. If you are not at home, mom will not dare to wear nice clothes."
Erdan has actually understood that my mother is a widow and many people don't want to see her.
The tip of Qin An's nose felt sour, and she gently touched his head with her big hand, "Come on, mother will be able to wear nice clothes in a while."
…
That night, Qin An, who always talked little, hugged Su Yan and talked a lot, starting from the poor house at home to now.
Su Yan listened quietly, and both of them knew in their hearts how bad the situation would be next time they separated this time.
But there is no way out.
The next day, Su Yan got up early to pack Qin An's things and urged him to leave in the morning. It was not good to travel at night.
"Ms. sir, let's go quickly."
Qin An held the ax in his hand and chopped the firewood quickly, "I'll leave as soon as I finish chopping."
He always wants to do more work for the family while he is here.
Su Yan took his arm from the side and whispered: "Let me rest assured and leave early."
"I should worry about you at night."
"Put your coir raincoat on."
Qin An looked at her for a while before putting down the ax in his hand, "Okay." After saying that, he walked sideways into the house.
Su Yan followed closely and saw him standing motionless by the bed. When she walked in, she saw his red eyes, "You have been here for so many years, what are you afraid of?"
When he didn't speak, she pursed her lips and said, "Qin An, don't regret it."
"I said we will fight together, life or death will be the same."
Qin An held her in his arms, held her tightly, and said in a low voice: "Daughter-in-law, I don't want you to die."
"Even if something happens to me, you and your children should live a good life in the county."
"I won't. If something happens to you, I will definitely come to you."
Su Yan hugged him tightly and said, "We just have to do our best, and the rest is up to God."
In a dynasty where imperial power was supreme, it was extremely difficult for them, ordinary people, to reach this point.
As for whether we can achieve Consummation, it depends on whether God has eyes.
Qin An lowered his head and kissed her forehead, holding her pretty face, "Daughter-in-law, I have wronged you by following you all my life."
Su Yan's eyes were a little blurry, and she turned her head and said, "What did you say? I didn't feel wronged. I haven't felt wronged even a day while living with you."
"But I keep causing you trouble."
"It's not a problem." Qin An interrupted.
…
After sending Qin An out, Su Yan stayed in the room and calmed down before coming out. Tuantuan probably hadn't seen his father for a while and kept crying.
Su Yan hugged him and coaxed: "Don't cry, daddy has gone to work. Only when he has to work can he buy you candy."
Tuantuan struggled and cried: "No...Tangtang...I want...I want daddy."
"Daddy will be back in a while. Don't cry. It won't look good if you cry. Daddy won't like you when he comes back." Su Yan patted his shoulder gently.
After finally appeasing Tuantuan, she handed it to Cuilan.
…
The next day, Mrs. Ren Li came to talk about the kiln early in the morning, and Su Yan carefully told her the kiln master's requirements.
Ren Li saw that she spoke eloquently and clearly had done this before, "Why do you know everything?"
Su Yan smiled and said: "In order to make a living, you have to do any kind of work."
Hearing this, Mrs. Ren Li sighed: "It's your turn to earn this money."
"When the palace has tried it, your luck will come."
Su Yan smiled and said nothing. After a while, she said, "I heard that there is a shortage of silver in southern Fujian for disaster relief?"
"Yes, the imperial court has no money in the treasury for disaster relief in recent years. It is said that the descendants of disaster relief merchants will be given priority in the future when they want to take official positions." Ren Li whispered.
Then she added: "But we still keep the money by ourselves. There have been many natural disasters in the past few years, and we never know when it will be our turn."
Su Yan suddenly said: "Can you do me a favor? Your family has a caravan going to southern Fujian. Help me bring some food to southern Fujian."
"Calculate money as you should."
"How much to bring?"
"Five thousand catties of grain."
Ren Li was surprised, "So many? Now that food prices are rising, I'm afraid I'll have to spend some money."
"I know."
Su Yan was silent for a moment and said truthfully: "My husband-in-law has passed the imperial examination this time. He will definitely ask the emperor to marry me."
"If it were someone else, the emperor would definitely agree, but as I am a widow, he will offend that person."
"I want to provide disaster relief in his name. Even if the emperor is angry at that time, considering the people's anger, he will not punish me."
