Wild boar meat isn’t as plump as domestic pigs, but when weighed, it still came in over 120 jin.
They kept some offal to round down the number.
At thirty-five wen per jin, 120 jin could be exchanged for 4,200 wen.
After the butcher processed the meat skillfully, he returned home to fetch his ox cart to load the meat and brought the money along as well—four taels of silver, plus two strings of copper coins.
“Uncle Li, may your business prosper.”
After counting the money, Cao Wen helped the butcher load the cart and gave a reminder: “I hope this transaction won’t be widely spread.”
The deal went smoothly, and the hunter was relieved.
He looked at Cao Wen and said,
“I understand. Don’t worry. If you have business like this again, nephew, just come to your uncle. I’m tight-lipped and don’t like gossip.”
Cao Wen nodded and saw the man out of the courtyard.
Once the man was gone, he returned inside.
Xu Duoyan was rinsing the pig blood in the yard with water, using wood ash to remove the bloody smell.
If the pig blood was left out, others might gossip, and the smell would become unbearable in the summer heat.
After this experience, Cao Wen thought that if he had another chance to sell livestock like this, he wouldn’t have the butcher come to the house to slaughter it.
He’d just drive the live animal directly to the butcher’s place, saving the trouble of boiling water and cleaning up.
They had a simple dinner, no time to rest.
He still had to sort through the wild produce collected that day.
If left until tomorrow, it would likely be squashed in the basket.
The wild boar was just a bonus—today’s main gain was actually the basket of mountain goods.
While Xu Duoyan was washing the dishes, Cao Wen fetched a large bamboo tray and poured the gathered goods into it in the middle of the main room.
There was a lot and it was messy, all mixed together.
The honeysuckle at the bottom was already wilting a bit—maybe sprinkling some water over it could help.
Although both fresh and dried honeysuckle sell well, half-dry and not-fresh ones fetch a worse price.
He squatted down to patiently pick out the honeysuckle one by one, preparing to sort and pack them.
Suddenly, his shoulder was poked.
“What’s wrong?”
Xu Duoyan set the basin aside, raised his chin, and gestured for him to put his hand over.
Originally, Xu Duoyan hadn’t planned to bother with him, but that pair of injured hands was just too eye-catching.
He didn’t know what the guy was thinking—he’d already bathed, yet the hand towel was still tied on tightly, not even cleaned of blood stains.
Seeing him dumbly walk over, Xu Duoyan grabbed his hand.
He opened his simple first-aid kit to treat the wounds.
The oil lamp flickered in the summer night breeze.
The warm yellow glow cast a gentle light.
His side profile in the dim light looked as if a painter had deliberately sketched it out—so refined.
Xu Duoyan didn’t notice Cao Wen’s gaze.
He gently untied the cloth stuck with blood and herbal juice.
The wound had scabbed over.
When the cloth was removed, it pulled the wound again.
Even though he was being careful, it still caused some bleeding.
He instinctively held his breath and glanced sideways at Cao Wen.
Cao Wen, caught being stared at again, tensed instinctively.
Even though this wasn’t the first time, he still blinked innocently with wide eyes.
Xu Duoyan looked at him being all silly and asked patiently,
“Does it hurt?”
Cao Wen only now realized his hand was bleeding again and shook his head honestly.
Xu Duoyan frowned.
“It doesn’t hurt?”
“Ah…it does, it hurts.”
Xu Duoyan lowered his gaze.
Though speechless, he softened his movements even more.
He gently applied the herbs he had prepared earlier in the kitchen, then tied a clean hand towel around Cao Wen’s hand.
This towel was something meant for a woman—it had never been used, still looked brand new.
The brand-new towel landed in Cao Wen’s eyes, and his chest visibly heaved.
The original owner’s younger brother, how lucky was he?
His wife wasn’t just beautiful—she was gentle, thoughtful, and cared about him in every way!
Cao Wen bit his lip in frustration, feeling an unexplainable sourness in his heart.
“It’s your right hand, and you use it often. Don’t move it too much now, let it rest tonight and wait for the wound to scab.”
Xu Duoyan gestured and said,
“I know how to handle the herbs—I’ll take care of it. You go rest.”
“It’s fine. I’m not tired. Just a small injury, it’s nothing.”
Xu Duoyan said nothing, only looked at him.
Cao Wen glanced weakly at the person holding the medicine box, and they stared at each other for a while.
In the end, Cao Wen sat on the couch with a fan in hand, swatting away the buzzing mosquitoes near his ears, while watching Xu Duoyan sort through the wild goods.
The bracken fern was the biggest haul—it needed to be bundled neatly with palm leaves to sell by the bundle later.
Xu Duoyan aligned the ends of the bracken, chopped them flat with a kitchen knife—the bundles looked neater and more appealing that way.
The rest of the herbs and wild vegetables were packed separately.
Since the quantities weren’t large, they were all put into one bucket to be sold in bulk—no need to separate them.
After busying around for half an hour, he finally finished.
When he looked up, Cao Wen had already fallen asleep with one leg dangling off the side of the couch.
Xu Duoyan shook his head—he said he wasn’t sleepy.
He quietly carried the vegetables to the kitchen and sprinkled some water to keep them fresh.
After tidying up, he extinguished the lamp.
The kitchen, lit by moonlight through the open window, glowed faintly—the moon already high in the sky.
Xu Duoyan returned to the main room, hands on hips, staring at the man half-hanging off the couch, not sure what to do with him.
After hesitating, he returned to his room—only to come out again shortly after.
When footsteps approached, the man on the couch had already woken up.
But Cao Wen didn’t open his eyes, secretly hoping the other would invite him to come sleep in the room.
Yet after waiting a while, no voice came.
Instead…a light breath grew closer.
With eyes shut, Cao Wen could sense Xu Duoyan leaning down beside him.
Leaning down…wait—what’s she planning?
She couldn’t be trying to kiss him while he’s sleeping, could she?!
Taking advantage of the moonlit quiet night?!
With a 100% chance in his mind, Cao Wen forgot how to breathe.
Should he open his eyes or not?
If he opened them right as her lips were near, wouldn’t that be even more awkward?!
Normally, if a husband saw his wife like that, shouldn’t he kiss her back more enthusiastically?!
If that’s the case, maybe it’s better to keep pretending to sleep—if she kissed him, that would just be that.
Now that he thought about it, maybe keeping his eyes shut really was the safer option.
Ugh!
Why did he have to fall asleep while swatting mosquitoes?
He was doing just fine!
Now that he was awake, he should’ve gotten up on his own instead of lying there, waiting like a fool for her to call him.
But then again…was she going to kiss his cheek?
His forehead?
Or……!!
His first kiss!
Died young…
Suddenly, he felt warmth spread across his body.
A blanket was gently laid over him, from his chest down to his legs.
Xu Duoyan stood there, frowning as she looked at him on the couch.
She sighed slightly, wondering if maybe he was dreaming of their time in the mountains today.
It had been dangerous, though they made it through unharmed—enough to leave a cold sweat on anyone just thinking about it afterward.
She still couldn’t quite believe how he had managed to subdue such a fierce wild boar.
But seeing his tightly bandaged right hand…she felt like maybe she had a partial answer.
At the end of the day, she still regretted not seeing with her own eyes how Cao Wen had taken the boar down.
Someone not even twenty yet—where had he found the courage?
Compared to the way he used to follow behind Zheng Kui, swaggering and shouting just because he had someone backing him, this was a whole different person.
A thought suddenly popped into Xu Duoyan’s mind: Did he change…because of her?
Otherwise, with those skills, he could’ve made a decent living working for Master Qian’s household.
Why would he willingly stay under Zheng Kui’s command, getting ordered around like that?
If there was even a small chance that this change had something to do with her, Xu Duoyan felt a brief, subconscious flicker of joy.
But then rationality caught up—and her emotions got complicated.
She was probably just overthinking things.
Maybe the guy simply valued the wild boar’s worth and was willing to risk his life for it.
She quickly came up with an excuse to explain the whole situation to herself.
Tilting her head, she rubbed her sore neck.
After a long day, it was time to rest.
Tonight was going to be great—she could finally sleep without being disturbed.
The thought made her steps lighter as she entered her room and shut the door behind her with a soft click.
But to Cao Wen, that small click sounded like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head in the middle of winter, instantly putting out the fire thudding in his chest.
He opened his eyes wide and stared at the gray, dusty ceiling beams, falling into deep, deep thought…
This can’t be right.
Why didn’t she…?
Ah.
Was it because he didn’t look kissable enough?
No way, right?
He had lain there completely still—he didn’t show any signs of waking up.
Of course, he definitely wasn’t disappointed.
Nope, not at all.
He was just…scientifically curious.
He was a quick learner by nature.
If he didn’t understand something, he liked to figure it out fast and learn.
Sign language was easy—what was hard was the complex and ever-changing art of being a good husband.
That being said, how many newlyweds in this kind of situation could stay so proper and pure-minded?
Probably not many.
So…why was she like this?
Cao Wen let out a quiet groan and thought it through carefully.
After these past days of close observation, he arrived at a conclusion:
She was shy.
That had to be it!
Every time he held her hand, she would look flustered.
That’s just how young girls were—easily embarrassed.
Nothing strange about that.
But then again…wait, something didn’t add up!
When he first came here, didn’t she touch him on her own?
And when he ignored her, she even got upset about it!
The next day, he left without even telling her.
So, while she was indeed gentle and virtuous, at her core…she wasn’t shy at all!
Suddenly, Cao Wen sat upright on the couch.
He pursed his lips and glanced sneakily at the tightly shut door.
Then why was she like this?!
A moment later—thump—
Cao Wen flopped back down onto the couch.
He just couldn’t figure it out.
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
Girls’ thoughts were way too hard to guess—even harder than enemy battle plans.
Curling up with the blanket, he hugged it tight.
Sure, he’d said he’d treat her well, but everything had its limits.
He couldn’t spoil her too much, either.
Tonight, he would sleep outside.
Let her sleep alone in the room and be scared!