A Good Country Wife

After the mountain bandits issue on Longhu Mountain had been resolved, Lin Yue had thought the return journey would be smooth-sailing. However, the day after they passed Longhu Mountain, it started to rain, and the rain grew heavier with time. By the afternoon, it had turned into a torrential downpour. The group could no longer proceed, and given the rain showed no signs of abating or stopping, drizzling incessantly, they knew the situation would only worsen by night. Unable to reach a town to find an inn, they had no choice but to seek shelter in a nearby village at a farmer’s house.

The farmer’s yard was quite large, and the house was spacious, with several large rooms, which barely managed to accommodate Lin Yue and her companions. The head of the household, however, consisted of only an old man with white hair, and a little boy, about six or seven years old—a grandfather and grandson, by the looks of it. They were dressed in tattered clothes, and the home was very poor, even more destitute than Zhao Erhu’s when Lin Yue first arrived.

Lin Yue didn’t know the circumstances that led to the family’s poverty or where the rest of the household members had gone. Since it was their first visit, it didn’t seem appropriate for Lin Yue to inquire too much. The group had been utterly drenched by the rain and were busy settling in, with no time to pay attention to the situation of the grandfather and grandson.

"Wife, come, have the ginger soup first. It’s raining so heavily outside, and you got quite wet just now. It’s important not to catch a chill, especially in this weather. Catching a cold now would be even more uncomfortable. I’ve asked the old man to heat some water in the kitchen. After you drink the ginger soup, you can take a hot bath."

"Hmm." Although Lin Yue disliked the taste of ginger soup, she still wrinkled her brow and drank the entire bowl that Zhao Erhu brought over. In the past, she hadn’t needed to worry about her health, but since arriving here, her constitution wasn’t strong, and she had fallen sick more than a couple of times. Lin Yue had gradually corrected her disregard for her own health and started to pay attention to self-care. She already felt her nose getting stuffy, and without proper care, she was afraid she might really catch a cold. She didn’t want to get sick and have to drink the bitter medicinal concoctions—hard to swallow and enough to kill one’s taste, especially since catching a cold these days was not a trivial matter. Negligence could lead to being bedridden, resulting in death.

"It’s so hard to swallow." Lin Yue’s brows, nose, and eyes were all scrunched up as she handed the empty bowl back to Zhao Erhu, who found her expression amusing and at the same time, somewhat reassuring. His little wife was quite sensible, even if the ginger soup didn’t taste that bad—she looked as if she had drunk poison.

As Zhao Erhu thought this, he lavished praise with his words, treating her as one would a child, "Wife, you’re so good. Drinking it all is the right thing to do. The ginger soup will expel the cold, and you won’t catch a cold that way. Indeed, you are my good wife."

"Zhao Erhu, don’t just talk about me; you should quickly drink a bowl of ginger soup yourself. Don’t think you can ignore your health just because you’re strong." Lin Yue recalled how Zhao Erhu had also been caught in the rain, especially since he had been busy making arrangements outside, unlike her staying inside the carriage. Earlier he got completely soaked, so she promptly urged him to quickly have a bowl of ginger soup as well.

"I’ve already had some," Zhao Erhu said with a smile, but inside he felt very comforted that his little wife was so concerned about him.

"Really?" Lin Yue’s gaze rounded with skepticism as she stared at Zhao Erhu, worried that he might be brushing her off.