My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 40p2

Chapter 40 p2: Daily Life in the County Town

When the weather got hotter in the summer, the herbal tea would sell even faster. The other stall owners, seeing their Bobo Chicken selling so well, had different expressions.

Especially the ones selling plum juice and herbal tea next to them. They looked at Xu Zhizhou and Jiang Zhuo with hostility. Most of the people who bought Bobo Chicken would also buy a portion of herbal tea. After drinking their herbal tea, who would buy the plum juice and herbal tea from the other stalls?

The two of them moved their things to the courtyard and returned home before the sun set. They looked at each other and smiled in the courtyard. After a day, their relationship had grown closer.

Jiang Zhuo said, “Then I’ll be going back first.”

Xu Zhizhou nodded.

They still had to prepare dinner. They would heat up the rice again. They still had a few potatoes and some vegetables left from today’s cooking.

Xu Zhizhou made a simple stir-fried potato slices with green peppers, a loofah soup, and cut half a section of sausage.

He gave some of the remaining herbal tea to Jiang Zhuo. It couldn’t be kept overnight. He kept some for himself in a teapot, and gave the rest to the neighbors.

He and his husband were going to be living in Mijiang Lane for a year, so they had to get to know their neighbors.

After giving away the herbal tea, Xu Zhizhou went back to his room. He would count the money after dinner. He felt that his money pouch was heavy, and his eyes curved into crescents.

He felt that he had earned even more than in Shuibo Town.

Song Changxu and Feng Xin’ou arrived at Mijiang Lane and went back to their respective homes. When he returned home with his book box, Xu Zhizhou saw him and said, “Time to eat.”

Song Changxu was stunned for a moment, then he nodded, put his book box in the bedroom, and then helped Xu Zhizhou serve the dishes.

“I was busy with the stall today, so it’s just a simple meal,” Xu Zhizhou said, serving him some sausage.

Song Changxu’s heart felt as if it were soaking in a bowl of warm water. He agreed, “Thank you for your hard work. I’ll come back early in the evening and cook.”

Xu Zhizhou was skeptical. “Can you do it?”

Song Changxu was being looked down on again. He said, “I can still cook a simple meal.”

Xu Zhizhou: “Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

Xu Zhizhou said guiltily, “Won’t it interfere with your studies?”

“From morning till night, I’ll just read a little more in the evening. The rest of the time is free. I might as well do some work.”

Xu Zhizhou was relieved. He lay on a chair. After Song Changxu had finished eating, he washed the dishes. Seeing that the water vat was empty, he went to fetch some water.

In Qishan Village, both families were large households, and they had their parents and elder brothers to help, so they didn’t have to do too much work, and they didn’t have to worry about food.

Now that they were in Jinhe County, they didn’t know many people. Although they had an uncle, they didn’t want to trouble him. They were like mayflies in this county town, one of the many.

Song Changxu thought to himself that he was the one who had wanted to come and study, so he couldn’t let Xu Zhizhou suffer alone.

After he had filled the water vat, Xu Zhizhou said, “Husband, hurry and help me write a sign.”

Song Changxu wrote the prices.

“I can finally count the money,” Xu Zhizhou said, his eyes glowing green at the mention of money.

Song Changxu: “…”

He was really a money-grubber.

Xu Zhizhou emptied the money pouch onto the table and pulled Song Changxu along to count.

Seeing the amount, a trace of surprise flashed in Song Changxu’s eyes. He lowered his head to count. After the two of them had finished, Song Changxu said, “It’s two taels of silver in total.”

“Oh my god, I’m so amazing,” Xu Zhizhou said, dancing with joy.

His eyes narrowed into a slit.

He had earned two taels of silver in one day.

Song Changxu was infected by Xu Zhizhou’s joy, a smile in his eyes. But when he saw the trace of fatigue in Xu Zhizhou’s eyes, his heart grew silent again.

The more money one earned, the more one had to put in, unless one was the boss. Song Changxu did not dampen Xu Zhizhou’s spirits. He knew some things in his heart.

After putting away the money, Xu Zhizhou washed up and quickly went to bed. Song Changxu was still reading. He turned around and saw a small lump in the quilt. Xu Zhizhou was sleeping on his side, his legs wrapped around the quilt.

Song Changxu patted his hair, then his hand moved down from his hair to his collarbone. His Adam’s apple bobbed. It was nothing, just the pleasure of fish and water. What was the big deal?

Song Changxu went to take a cold shower.

Xu Zhizhou woke up in the middle of the night. He was held in Song Changxu’s arms. He struggled a little, but was held even tighter.

He kicked Song Changxu in a huff. Song Changxu woke up in a daze and loosened his grip.

Xu Zhizhou crossed over Song Changxu to go to the latrine. When he came back and was about to cross over again, he was held by the waist by Song Changxu.

“What are you doing?” his voice was soft and coquettish, his appearance stunning.

A beauty under the hazy moonlight was even more beautiful.

Song Changxu couldn’t take his eyes off him.

Meeting Song Changxu’s gaze, Xu Zhizhou quickly looked away, paused for a moment, and then quickly turned over and pulled the quilt over himself.

His ears and cheeks were red, his face flushed, his clear eyes darting around.

“It’s the middle of the night. Why aren’t you sleeping? You have class tomorrow morning. Go to sleep,” Xu Zhizhou said fiercely, pulling the quilt over Song Changxu’s head.

The quilt was warm. Song Changxu, having just been covered, should have been able to breathe, but he held his breath, unable to, his nose filled with a fresh and fragrant scent.

They both used soapberries to wash, but Xu Zhizhou was a bit more vain. He would pick some peach blossoms in the village to soak in water and then rinse his body with it. This time, he had also brought a jar of dried peach blossoms from the village to the county town.

Over time, he naturally had a peach blossom scent on him.

Seeing no movement in the quilt, Xu Zhizhou pulled Song Changxu’s head out again.

Seeing that Song Changxu’s face was red, Xu Zhizhou reached out and poked his cheek.

“You, you, you’re a xiucai, and yet you look like this. You don’t look like a xiucai at all,” Xu Zhizhou snorted coldly.

His fingers were as fine as jade, with thin calluses on the web between his thumb and forefinger, but that didn’t detract from his beauty at all.

Song Changxu seemed to have been bewitched. He leaned over and kissed Xu Zhizhou’s lips, the sweetness inside making him want to extend his tongue to possess it.

When their lips parted, both of them were a bit moved.

Xu Zhizhou turned over, leaving his back to Song Changxu. “You have to study tomorrow, and I have to set up my stall. Go to sleep.”

Song Changxu calmed down. He moved over and hugged Xu Zhizhou’s back, his hand caressing the dimple in his waist.

Xu Zhizhou was annoyed by him. He turned around fiercely, his fingers curled, and scratched at him.

“I think you’re tired of living!” like a kitten getting angry and about to scratch someone.

Song Changxu was scratched.

“Go to sleep.”

Xu Zhizhou rolled his eyes.

Song Changxu: “…”

He hated that he had been so pretentious before and hadn’t seized the opportunity. Now that they were busy, Xu Zhizhou didn’t listen to him at all.

It was so hard to be homophobic.

In the morning, the young couple woke up together. They had breakfast at home and then went to the county school. When Song Changxu arrived at the classroom, he started to work even harder.

He knew that his foundation was still too weak compared to the others. He had to work harder to live a good life.

The world would always make way for the capable and the ambitious.

He knew that he had a certain advantage in writing essays, but he never dared to underestimate the ancients.

Song Changxu studied at the county school. Whenever he didn’t understand something, he would go and ask the teacher. Over time, he became familiar with the teachers at the county school, and they had a certain good impression of this diligent and studious student.

Learning that he had come from the countryside to the county school, they cherished his talent even more.

Xie Feng found that Song Changxu was becoming more and more active in front of Teacher Zhou, and he had also built a relationship with the scholars in the class.

Feng Xin’ou was still distant with the others, but because of Song Changxu, the other scholars were still a bit friendly to him.

“When you ask Brother Song a question, he’s never stingy with his time.”

“That’s right, and Brother Song has a good temper, not as timid as the others. What’s the point of a grown man being afraid of this and that?” one of the scholars said.

He liked to play leaf cards. In the past, he had also looked down on Song Changxu, this country bumpkin, but after playing a round of leaf cards with him, he had become obedient.

Song Changxu did know how to play a little, but he was not an expert. He just knew how to count cards.

He had had the idea of gambling to make money, but after thinking about it, he had given up. He was packing his book box when Xie Feng came over, holding in his anger.

“Brother Song, I’m hosting a small literary gathering today. Would you like to go?”

Song Changxu thought for a moment. “Do we have to compose poems?”

Xie Feng’s clear voice came. “Of course we have to compose poems at a literary gathering?”

Song Changxu: “Then I won’t go. Thank you for your kind invitation, brother.”

Xie Feng: “?”

Song Changxu still had to cook when he got home. He made two dishes and one soup, which Xu Zhizhou found quite good.

Xu Zhizhou: “It’s your first time cooking, and it’s already not bad. It seems you have more talent for cooking than I do.”

Song Changxu smiled.

They had made more Bobo Chicken today. The people who had eaten it yesterday had brought more people to eat it. Today, they had earned even more than yesterday, three taels of silver.

Xu Zhizhou said, “I was originally selling rice. This noon, some people from the docks came to buy rice and Bobo Chicken to eat together. I sold half of the rice. It’s a pity that the rice can’t be kept for too long.”

Song Changxu said thoughtfully, “It’s not difficult to keep it warm, but the effect might be a bit poor.”

Xu Zhizhou blinked his eyes and looked at him with longing.

“Wrap the wooden bucket tightly with an old quilt. It can retain some of the heat. Also, you can make a little less rice.”

Xu Zhizhou nodded. “I also know that I should make less rice. Many people come to the street to try something new. They don’t want to eat Bobo Chicken as a meal. I’ll reduce the quantity first.”

A business was built up step by step. If something sold well, you made more. If it didn’t, you made less. This way, you could not only control the cost, but also maximize the profit.

Xu Zhizhou held his face and said with a troubled expression, “In the past, when I was setting up the stall with Elder Brother, I only had to worry about washing the vegetables and collecting the money. Now that I’m in charge, I still have a lot to learn.”

Song Changxu looked at Xu Zhizhou’s troubled little face, and for some reason, his heart softened.

He didn’t say anything, just looked at him quietly.

Xu Zhizhou quickly recovered. He swung his legs, squinted his eyes, and counted the copper coins again.

“It feels so good to have money. Husband, do you think I’ll be a rich person in the future?” Xu Zhizhou asked, nudging Song Changxu with his elbow.

At night, a candle was lit on the table. The flame flickered, crackling.

The orange candlelight softened Song Changxu’s features.

Seeing that Song Changxu was silent, Xu Zhizhou continued to nudge him with his elbow with dissatisfaction. “Why aren’t you talking? Say something.”

Song Changxu said, “I think you’ll be a rich person in the future.”

Xu Zhizhou nodded with satisfaction.

“Don’t worry, the great rich man Xu won’t treat you badly. You study hard, and I won’t despise you, this poor husband of mine.”

Xu Zhizhou was very proud.

After washing up, the two of them went to bed together. Xu Zhizhou’s mind had been very excited these past few days. From time to time, he would kick up the quilt with his feet to let the cool breeze in.

Song Changxu was not yet sleepy. He suddenly felt a chill and turned to his side to grab Xu Zhizhou’s restless leg.

“You were lecturing me last night. Now you’re not letting me sleep?”

Xu Zhizhou said righteously, “I saw that you weren’t sleeping, so I kicked up the quilt.”

He grabbed Song Changxu’s hair and found that it was dark and thick. “How did your hair grow? Why is it even darker than mine?”

What’s the point of a man having such good hair? Ge’ers are the ones who love to be beautiful. Stinky men don’t.

Song Changxu said in a huff, “I wash my hair with soapberries, just like you.”

***

Author’s Note:

Little Song: Dark and straight hair. [Milk tea]

Little Xu: I don’t agree that a grown man’s hair is better than mine. [Crying]