Shopkeeper Yang, familiar with him by now, understood that eight out of ten sentences Fang Zichen spoke were boasts, and the remaining two were specifically meant to annoy people.
"Has your fulang finally had enough of you? Has he started sleeping in a separate room?"
Fang Zichen glared at him. "What nonsense! What do you mean, 'had enough'? You have no idea how much my fulang adores me!"
Seeing how arrogantly he puffed out his chest, as if to reach the heavens, Shopkeeper Yang laughed. "How much does he adore you?"
Fang Zichen: "Enough to be desperately in love, unable to live without me."
Shopkeeper Yang casually replied, "If he loves you that much, then why isn't he sleeping with you?"
"It's just that the shop is too busy!" Fang Zichen said gloomily.
"Then just go to the slave broker and buy two people," Shopkeeper Yang said.
Fang Zichen blinked.
Oh, right!
Buying people is illegal in modern times, but the Da Xia Dynasty has a slavery system!
He threw aside the account books and hurried back to find Zhao Ger.
But this trip was in vain.
The head broker said he had come at just the right time, a certain family had recently sold off a batch of maidservants, each one pretty. Zhao Ger took one look, then turned and pulled Fang Zichen away.
These maidservants were still wearing the servant uniforms of the Ge family. He had heard that Madam Ge had sold off these maidservants because they were dishonest. Just now, when Fang Zichen appeared with him, he had clearly seen the restless ambition in those women's eyes.
___
Around the middle of the month, Uncle Liu (ger) came to find him. He mentioned that the chili plants in his field had recently produced another batch and asked if Zhao Ger was still buying.
The weather had turned cold, and this was the final batch, but the yield wasn't great. Before, one plant could yield two to three jin, and each chili grew well. This final batch not only yielded less but also didn't grow well—they were small, the surfaces weren't smooth, as if malnourished.
If sold directly, their poor appearance would have made them unsellable. However, they were perfectly suitable for making chili sauce. Since the chilies would be chopped up during processing, their visual flaws became irrelevant.
The main source of income for the shop was the chili sauce. It had been selling well recently; some traveling merchants came to his place to buy stock and resell it in neighboring provinces. Now, there wasn't much left.
Zhao Ger thought it over. Zhou Ger had been away for over ten days now, staying with him in town every night. He was probably missing his family. Although earning silver was important... Zhao Ger missed his husband. It had been so long since he had been held by his husband to sleep. If he went back~ Just thinking about it made Zhao Ger's heart feel warm. He decided on the spot to close the shop and go back, to buy chilies for two days.
Initially, he only bought from Aunt Liu's family. Gradually, it expanded to two families, then three, then the entire village.
The Ma and Zhou families also grew chilies, but since they had conflicts with Zhao Ger and Fang Zichen, Zhao Ger would rather not sell chili sauce than buy from their families.
Although Xiaohe Village was located in the south, most people could eat quite spicy food. Many families grew a lot of chilies in their fields, but they usually couldn't sell them easily. Often, if they couldn't eat them all, the chilies would rot in the fields. But this year was different. Because of Zhao Ger, everyone had earned some silver—not much, but it was still some income. Everyone saw how well Zhao Ger's chili sauce business was doing. If the chili sauce sold well, the demand for chilies and garlic would definitely increase. Some people considered planting more chilies and some garlic next spring.
Now, seeing him and Zhou Ger return, everyone was quite happy. Seeing him carrying things, they came over to help, escorting him all the way home and only leaving after putting his things down.
"The aunties are so enthusiastic towards you! It's like they've taken the wrong medicine. With that attitude, anyone who didn't know would think you were their long-lost ger returning home after marrying far away!" Zhou Ger said.
Zhao Ger smiled but didn't say anything.
Actually, apart from being gossipy, most villagers didn't have bad intentions.
When he was first sold here, he was still young and couldn't work efficiently, so Madam Ma often beat him. Some aunties and uncles couldn't stand it and spoke up for him, but every time they said just a few words, Madam Ma would retort harshly. Her words were nasty, and the men in her family were also bullies. Gradually, everyone no longer dared to speak up for him.
After Fang Zichen returned from work and they had eaten, he immediately picked up Guaizai and hurriedly tried to coax him to sleep. Zhao Ger pursed his lips, his face feeling hot.
After washing the dishes in the kitchen, he came out to find Guaizai already asleep. Fang Zichen called to him from the next room: "Zhao Ger, come quickly! I'll be your horse to ride!"
Hearing this, Zhao Ger first looked around, then rushed in and hit him twice. "Talking nonsense again! What if someone hears?"
"It's the middle of the night, no one's outside." Fang Zichen directly carried him to the bed, puckered his lips, and kissed him.
When the demons fight, it often ends after three hundred rounds.
Zhao Ger's eyes were brimming with tears as he lay limp on the bed, drained of strength. During this period, staying in town, although he could see Fang Zichen every day, he always felt something was off, as if something was missing, leaving his heart feeling empty. Seeing Fang Zichen bring in water again, he proactively stretched his feet to the edge of the bed. His gaze fell on Fang Zichen's hairline, then moved to his tall, straight nose bridge and his perfectly defined, resolute jawline.
He thought back to when Fang Zichen first arrived; there were many things he didn't know how to do, and he was extremely particular and picky. He couldn't start a fire, didn't know how to dig up sweet potatoes, and when eating wild vegetables, he complained they tasted terrible and bitter, constantly exclaiming, "Yuck, yuck!". From his words and actions, it wasn't hard to tell that he must have been a young master from a wealthy family before, surrounded by maidservants, with food and drink served by others, living an upper-class life. But now, this noble and handsome man was kneeling on one knee on the ground, soaking his feet and giving him a massage. Zhao Ger felt that the sense of happiness was almost overflowing from his heart.
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