At that moment Jing Li thought he had heard it wrong.
The chopsticks he was using to pick up food were suspended in mid-air, and he looked up and blinked blankly.
Fang Tianying met his gaze and became confused: "What's wrong, sister-in-law?"
Jing Li: “…”
You heard it right.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little weird.
During the long silence, Qin Zhao was the only one who maintained an unchanging expression with extraordinary composure, and calmly picked up some food for Jing Li: "I'm calling you, why are you daydreaming?"
“Call... call me..." Jing Li turned his head to look at him, a little confused.
Qin Zhao met his gaze and nodded sincerely and affirmatively: "Yes, I'm calling you."
Jing Li: “… … …”
As if realizing something from Qin Zhao's words, Jing Li retracted his gaze and said with difficulty through gritted teeth: "Thank... Thank you."
Fang Tianying looked at their reactions, thought for a moment, and quickly realized: "Sister-in-law, are you still not used to it?"
"Ah?" Jing Li was confused by his question, "I... I didn't..."
"I understand. After all, you are newlyweds. You will get used to it after some time." Fang Tianying interrupted him, his tone was quite teasing, "If I hadn't heard from my servants, I wouldn't have known that Brother Qin had married a beautiful girl."
"… When I heard about it yesterday, I thought they were just being too confident. But when I saw her today, I realized that my sister-in-law is indeed very good-looking and a perfect match for Brother Qin."
Jing Li: “…”
If Jing Li was still a little confused just now, after Fang Tianying's words, he completely understood.
Husband... does it mean Madam
Is it still possible to marry a man in this era
Jing Li had a lot of questions in his mind that he wanted to ask Qin Zhao, but now was really not the right time.
But Fang Tianying kept calling her sister-in-law, which was very smooth, making Jing Li feel uncomfortable. He stopped explaining and just responded vaguely, then buried his head in his food.
Qin Zhao turned his head and happened to see the other person's red ears.
The little guy is quite shy.
Fang Tianying wanted to make another joke, but was interrupted by Qin Zhao, "Young Master Fang..."
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything nonsense, so as not to make Brother Qin feel bad." Fang Tianying said with a smile, "Eat, eat."
Jing Li was distracted during the meal and found it particularly unbearable.
After finally finishing their meal, it was already noon. Fang Tianying was afraid that the sun was too hot and they would not be able to walk back, so he specially called a bullock cart from home to take Qin Zhao and Jing Li back.
If Qin Zhao had not resolutely stopped him, he would probably have gone to Linxi Village.
The Fang family's oxcart was a closed carriage, much more comfortable than the open oxcarts in the village. Taking advantage of the time when she was back to the village from the town, Qin Zhao took the initiative to explain her husband's affairs clearly.
Jing Li was in a trance when he heard the last part.
Is the setting of this world so mysterious
Not only can she marry a man, but she can also let him give birth to a child
Jing Li never thought about it this way from beginning to end.
When Qin Zhao said he was Fu Lang in front of the villagers yesterday, he was so frightened that he didn't even notice what Qin Zhao said. As for Qin Zhao mentioning this word again later, he still didn't understand the meaning, and Qin Zhao refused to explain, so he had to give up.
It wasn't until today that Fang Tianying called her "sister-in-law".
Even if he didn't know what his husband meant, he would definitely not misunderstand what his sister-in-law meant.
In the eyes of outsiders, he and Qin Zhao are already husband and wife.
… How did things turn out like this
Qin Zhao took advantage of the little guy's lack of time to throw the pot out: "You appeared on my bed like that yesterday. If I don't say this, how can I convince the villagers?"
Jing Li was still a little confused. He looked up and met the other person's calm and determined gaze, but found that he could not find any reason to refute.
He lowered his head and said uncertainly: "It seems... it seems to make sense."
If it wasn't for saving him, Qin Zhao wouldn't have been forced to tell this lie. He bears a great responsibility.
Jing Li asked again: "What should we do in the future?"
"Now it seems that we can only play along and continue the show." Qin Zhao said, "In the future in the village, you will play the role of my husband. Remember to act carefully and don't let others find out your flaws in what you say and do."
Jing Li nodded obediently: "Got it."
Qin Zhao touched his head.
Xiaoyu obviously had not recovered from the information just now. She was twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, and it was unknown what she was thinking. She didn't even notice that her collar was a little loose, and the fish scales on the side of her neck were exposed.
He had been out of the water for too long, so there were obviously many more scales on his body than in the morning.
Thin and small fish scales are densely attached to the texture, making the skin look white without looking out of place.
The bright red fish scales extending all the way from the collar actually arouse a lot of imagination.
It is such a beautiful little fish, but it has no conscience at all and believes whatever you say.
If it falls into the hands of others, there is no telling what will happen.
Although... it's not that good here.
Qin Zhao smiled to himself and reached out to help him straighten his collar.
Jing Li's body temperature was on the cold side, even at noon, his body was still icy cold. The sensitive skin on the side of his neck touched the other person's fingers, and he shivered at the heat.
"Don't move." Qin Zhao said, "The fish scales are exposed."
When Jing Li heard this, he stopped moving and let Qin Zhao help him tidy up.
Qin Zhao slowly pulled Jing Li's collar, and even he himself didn't realize that he was doing it very slowly. His fingertips occasionally brushed the cold skin on the side of the other's neck, but his eyes were on the other's face.
The temperature difference made the boy uncomfortable with this kind of touch. He lowered his eyes and his long eyelashes trembled slightly.
I can't even stand a touch on my neck, if it touches other places...
Qin Zhao couldn't control his thoughts from thinking about more possibilities. He put his fingers around Jing Li's neck, and his hot palms almost touched Jing Li's skin.
The skin under the palm is cool and smooth, but it makes people feel a little uneasy.
After a while, Jing Li shrank back and asked in a low voice: "… Is it ok?"
Qin Zhao suddenly came back to his senses, responded softly, and withdrew his hand.
The ox cart soon arrived at Linxi Village. Qin Zhao thanked the driver and took Jing Li off the cart.
The cloth bought from the cloth shop had been delivered to the village entrance in advance. Qin Zhao clicked on it and found that not only were the materials they bought packed, but also several bundles of cotton thread for sewing clothes.
After getting the things, Qin Zhao brought Jing Li to the gate of a farmhouse.
He first took out the cloth from the backpack and placed it at his feet, then stretched out his hand towards Jing Li.
"?" Jing Li looked at him blankly, then looked at the hand stretched out in front of him, and as if possessed by a ghost, he raised his hand and clapped his hands.
Qin Zhao: “…”
Qin Zhao was almost amused by him, and said patiently: "I asked you to stretch out your hand."
Jing Li said "Oh" and obediently stretched out his hand, which was held by Qin Zhao.
"The first thing to do when pretending to be a husband," Qin Zhao explained calmly, "is to hold hands when you are outside."
He held Jing Li's hand with one hand and knocked on the gate with his other free hand.
A middle-aged woman came out of the house.
"It's Qin Zhao." The woman opened the gate and saw that he brought a lot of cloth. She understood, "To make clothes?"
Qin Zhao: "Yes, thank you for your help, Auntie."
The woman's husband's surname is He, and everyone in the village calls her Aunt He.
Aunt He has excellent sewing skills, and many people in the village like to ask her to sew clothes for them.
It was Aunt He who opened the door, which meant that the man in her family was not at home. Qin Zhao deliberately did not enter the house, but just bent down to carry the cloth at his feet into the yard, and then took out a list from his arms and handed it over.
"This is the size of the clothes. I have already drawn the blueprint. Just make it according to it."
This was not the first time Qin Zhao asked Aunt He to make clothes for her. Most of the women in the village were illiterate, so Qin Zhao wrote down the sizes in her usual way.
After reading the list, Aunt He flipped through the fabrics Qin Zhao brought and asked in surprise, "Is this all made for your husband?"
Hearing this word, the person behind him visibly tensed up.
Qin Zhao held his hand tightly and nodded: "Yes."
Aunt He was very surprised.
She has made a lot of clothes for the village. Farmers always pay attention to the durability of their clothes, and the materials are usually hard, and this kind of delicate and soft fabric is rarely used.
Not to mention that this dress is meant to be worn by my husband.
No one in Linxi Village married a man, but she had seen many in her mother's family.
Life...is not going well.
Not to mention wearing such nice clothes, even for food and drink she could only pick up the leftovers from the men in the family.
There's nothing we can do about it. It's their fault that they can't do heavy work and are not as good at giving birth as women.
She heard yesterday that Qin Zhao brought a husband back to the village.
Qin Zhao was in poor health and could not do farm work. Even though he had a good-looking face, few girls would be willing to marry him. But he was already quite old. When he was planning to build a house, many people in the village talked about whether Qin Zhao was going to get married.
Sure enough, she found a husband.
Aunt He was not surprised that Qin Zhao got married, but she did not expect that Qin Zhao would treat his husband so well.
Aunt He lowered her eyes and saw the two people's hands tightly clasped together, and she felt mixed emotions.
Why doesn't her man care about her so much
It’s great to be young.
Qin Zhao could roughly guess what Aunt He was thinking.
Her husband, Shuang'er, did not have a high status in that era, especially in a small mountain village like this, where she was bullied.
He was forced to let Xiaoyu pretend to be his husband, and he would never let Xiaoyu be looked down upon by others in the village.
Therefore, he needed to let others know that he doted on his husband.
… It’s not just about taking advantage.
Jing Li was not used to being stared at like this, his eyes wandered, and he quietly hid behind Qin Zhao. Qin Zhao patted his hand soothingly and asked, "When can these clothes be finished, Auntie?"
Aunt He suddenly came to her senses and said, "It will only take two or three days. I'll find someone to send it to you when it's ready."
Qin Zhao: "Thank you."
Aunt He charges cheaply, only ten cents to sew a piece of clothing. After sewing all the clothes plus two pairs of shoes, it would cost about sixty-five cents.
Qin Zhaoxian gave twenty cents as a deposit.
After settling the clothing issue, Qin Zhao took Jing Li back home.
It was not until he met Aunt He that Jing Li finally realized clearly that he had changed from a fish raised by Qin Zhao to a husband raised by Qin Zhao.
In front of outsiders, we should hold hands, be intimate, and show affection...
It's much more troublesome than being a fish.
Jing Li fell on his back on the bed and rolled over while hugging the quilt.
Qin Zhao looked at him with a smile and took out a wooden box from the depths of the closet.
The box was filled with a lot of copper coins.
Qin Zhao took out the purse from his arms and put the remaining copper coins into it.
He took two strings of money with him when he went out today, and when he came back he only had a few hundred coins left. After all the scattered spending, he spent more than three hundred coins.
Jing Li turned over and rested his chin on the bed, watching him do this.
After Qin Zhao built the house, there was not much money left from selling herbs. Fortunately, Fang Tianying was willing to help them with some furniture, which saved a lot of expenses.
Qin Zhao quickly counted the copper coins in the wooden box.
Not counting the unpaid wages and the balance of the clothing production, they still had about twelve strings of cash to use.
If it were Qin Zhao alone, this money would be enough for him to spend for most of half a year.
But now I have to support a young husband, so I'm afraid I'll have to make a big concession.
The situation is indeed not optimistic.
Qin Zhao turned around and saw the person in question still looking up at him in confusion. His eyes were crystal clear and watery, very beautiful.
He opened his mouth and swallowed the words that they might need to be more frugal in the future.
… After all, I still can’t bear to let him down.
Qin Zhao thought for a moment, closed the wooden box and placed it in front of Jing Li.
Jing Li blinked: "For me?"
"From now on, you will be in charge of managing and keeping accounts of the family's food, clothing and other expenses." Qin Zhao said in a calm voice.
Jing Li didn't understand what he was doing and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I will spend all my money on snacks?"
You can't blame him for this.
Although Jing Li's life before he traveled through time was not particularly wealthy, he worked to earn money and never worried about not having enough to eat.
Now that I'm in this shabby place where I have to budget carefully even to eat a piece of candy or cake, I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
He had little confidence in his ability to control himself.
Qin Zhao seemed to have expected this and just smiled: "Then I will have to live on the streets with you and starve."
Jing Li: “…”
That’s too cruel, even crueler than not spending money on him.
"I'll take care of it." Jing Li turned over and sat up, holding the wooden box in one hand and opening the closet with the other. "From now on, these will be our family savings. You must report to me if you want to touch these money!"
Qin Zhao said calmly: "I understand, ma'am."
Jing Li's hands shook and he almost dropped all the family savings on the ground.
He pretended not to hear and calmly put the wooden box deep in the closet, carefully covering it with clothes.
Qin Zhao looked at his red earlobes and smiled softly.
Silly fish.