Chapter 55

Cheng Duo walked halfway and found a quiet and deserted mountain forest to put the box back into his storage space. Then he continued on his way with a half-empty back basket.

Upon returning to the village, he first went to the blacksmith Niu Tie to pick up the large iron pot and arrows he had previously customized because it was still early in the day. He could only go back to his own house for now.

The weather was already very hot, and the sun hung overhead like a furnace. Cheng Duo was sweating profusely and the first thing he did when he got home was to boil water for a bath.

Coming out of the shower feeling refreshed, Cheng Duo was pleasantly surprised to find that Yong Ge had actually come. He was in the kitchen preparing food for him.

"Why did you come?"

"I was worried and came to check the vegetable field…" Yong Ge awkwardly made up an excuse. In fact, he had come once yesterday and didn't see Cheng Duo. He couldn't sleep well last night when he returned.

"Just checking the vegetable field? I thought you came to see me." Cheng Duo raised an eyebrow, and a deep black gaze slowly filled with a smile.

Don't think he didn't notice. When he came back, the vegetable field was wet, obviously someone had watered it before.

"Y-yes, I also came to see you."

"Missed me?" Cheng Duo approached with water vapor clinging to his body. Seeing that Yong Ge was too shy to answer, he didn't mind. He planted a kiss on Yong Ge's face and said, "I missed you."

Yong Ge's face turned hot from the partially exposed chest and the hot breath. He shyly glanced at Cheng Duo and hesitantly said, "Missed you too."

After speaking, he quickly escaped back to the kitchen.

Cheng Duo burst into laughter, casually tossing his dirty clothes into a wooden basin before following Yong Ge into the kitchen.

The weather was so hot for cooking, and he couldn't bear to leave his wife alone in the kitchen. Relationships needed cultivation. You do your thing, I'll do mine. Even the best relationship would fade if taken for granted.

In fact, Cheng Duo's kitchen was not big, and he couldn't stay by the stove all the time. So he casually flicked the firewood a few times and went to watch Yong Ge cutting the meat. "What are you making?"

"How about a cold dish?" The weather was too hot, and Yong Ge was afraid Cheng Duo wouldn't have an appetite, so he decided to make a cold dish. Cheng Duo had vinegar, so he added a little soy sauce, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and the chili sauce he made himself. It should go well with rice.

"Okay." Cheng Duo was tall and leaned his chin on Yong Ge's shoulder as he watched him cut the meat. His hands were wrapped around the other's waist. It wasn't that he wanted to do anything, he just liked the feeling of being together.

Yong Ge felt a bit helpless. Cheng Duo not only blocked his light but being so close in this weather made them both hot… But he couldn't bear to ask Cheng Duo to step aside.

Yong Ge lowered his head and couldn't help but smile.

Yong Ge's knife skills were good. The cooked pork belly was thinly sliced, with alternating layers of red and white, and the translucent meat slices slightly curled up, neatly arranged in a bowl. Cheng Duo stole a piece and even though he only added ginger and a little salt, the pork itself was fragrant, with the added aroma of the big pot and firewood. It tasted great like this.

Yong Ge saw Cheng Duo stealing a bite and couldn't help but ask, "Is it delicious? Is it cooked well enough?"

"It's enough." Cheng Duo nodded and stole another piece. The answer to whether it was delicious was self-evident.

Yong Ge knew that Cheng Duo might be hungry and asked, "Did you have any snacks on the way back?"

"It's too hot, I couldn't eat."

Yong Ge felt sorry for him and unconsciously increased the speed of cooking. He knew that Cheng Duo still had buns and steamed buns in his storage space, so he didn't make anything else. He just steamed them for a while and also blanched some eggplant and stir-fried cabbage. He also made cabbage soup using the meat broth, which made a perfect meal with three dishes and a soup.

At this time, the sun was still high in the sky, but they were already having dinner.

During the meal, Yong Ge hesitated for a moment and asked Cheng Duo, "Any news about my father?"

"No, I went to Xiling Camp to look for Wei Ling, but the guards said he wasn't there." Cheng Duo didn't know about the others either. He couldn't just barge in and search by himself.

He thought that Wei Ling might have gone with Li Wang or was out on business like Meng Ji. He couldn't inquire about either of these options, so he decided to return first.

It's not that Cheng Duo didn't want to personally go and look, but the Yu Fang Mountain area was very large. If he went there, he wouldn't be able to return in a short period of time. Besides, he wasn't originally from this village. If he left for one or two months, what would happen to his house and land?

The most important thing was Yong Ge. Cheng Duo didn't feel at ease leaving him alone in the village.

"Yong Ge, your father must have been delayed by something. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"Mmm." Yong Ge nodded and could only continue to wait, hoping that his father would send someone back with a message.

To shift the focus, Cheng Duo talked about his plan to build a brick and tile workshop and showed Yong Ge the metgod he had bought.

But Yong Ge couldn't read and looked a bit embarrassed holding the paper. "I, I can't read…"

Cheng Duo held his hand and said, "It's okay. This time I went to twenty-li slope and bought several copybooks. We can learn together when we have free time. I'll teach you."

Yong Ge was worried that he wouldn't be able to learn, but seeing Cheng Duo's enthusiastic expression, he didn't want to dampen his spirits. He could only nod and say, "Then I'll learn slowly. Don't get angry with me."

Seeing Yong Ge's furrowed brows, Cheng Duo smiled and said, "We're not in a hurry. Take your time learning."

Yong Ge felt relieved.

After finishing the meal, Cheng Duo took advantage of Yong Ge washing the dishes and washed his dirty clothes. He then started to work on the arrowheads.

These iron arrowheads were thin on both sides and thick in the middle. They needed to be embedded into the wooden arrow shaft from the hollow part at the back and then attached with feathers. After that, they were polished to have a sharp edge.

Yong Ge finished washing the dishes and saw Cheng Duo working on them. He squatted nearby with interest and after a while, asked, "Can I try?"

"Sure." Cheng Duo readily handed over the task of embedding the arrowheads and attaching the feathers to Yong Ge while he focused on sharpening them.

Cheng Duo had great strength. He poured water onto the whetstone and quickly sharpened the arrowheads. Before long, the arrowheads revealed sharp edges.

After making five or six of them, Cheng Duo took out the bow he had made earlier and let Yong Ge try its feel.

The courtyard of the farmhouse was spacious enough, and Cheng Duo didn't ask him to go outside. He simply took a bundle of straw with a knife inserted in it and hung it at the other end of the courtyard wall for Yong Ge to practice.

"Be careful not to hurt yourself."

"Mmm." Yong Ge held the new bow excitedly. Not only did he like it, but Cheng Duo had also personally made it. He would definitely take good care of it.

Cheng Duo noticed that Yong Ge wasn't very accurate at first. Every time the arrow hit the mud wall, he would have an expression of pain. However, after a while, he adapted to the feel of the new bow, and his accuracy improved significantly.

Of course, the straw bundle was an inanimate object, and the distance in the courtyard was not far. If it were a more complex forest terrain, his accuracy would certainly decrease.

But Yong Ge was already very satisfied. He tirelessly pulled the bowstring and aimed. Whenever he hit the straw bundle, he would jump up happily like a child.

Well, he was still young.

Cheng Duo smiled and shook his head, continuing with his work. After practicing for a while, Yong Ge also came to help. The two of them cooperated with each other and finally finished making all the arrowheads before it got dark.

It was already dark, and Yong Ge had to go home.

The people in the village went to sleep early. Cheng Duo and Yong Ge walked back to the village along the small path, one after the other. Yong Ge's heart was beating fast, feeling as if they were engaging in some forbidden love affair. The barking of a dog in someone's yard would make him turn his head in alarm.

But unfortunately, no one came out to discover their "illicit affair."

Cheng Duo entered Yong Ge's house and first asked him to light the oil lamp. Then he took out everything he had bought for Yong Ge: in addition to the large iron pot, there were leather armguards, belts, an arrow quiver, clothes, shoes, and some groceries such as pig pancreas, salted vegetables, kerosene, bowls, and plates from the general store.

Yong Ge was dumbfounded. "Are all these for me?"

There were too many, how much money did Cheng Duo spend!

"These clothes and shoes are expensive, they're even made of silk. Why did you buy these? I can't wear them!" Yong Ge felt sorry and asked with no hope, "Can these things be returned?"

"Why return them? I bought them for you to use." Cheng Duo smiled.

"I don't need so much…" Yong Ge hesitated in his words.

Cheng Duo knew what he was thinking and casually took out a fifty-two taels silver ingot. "What do you think this is?"

Yong Ge's eyes widened, and he stammered, "W-where did you get so much silver? Last time Wei Gongzi gave fifty-two taels, didn't you already buy land with it?"

He couldn't even earn this much by selling wolf pelts!

"I sold two cans of fruit we ate. Here are fifty-two taels for you. Keep it as your pocket money." Cheng Duo originally wanted to show off the money he earned to his wife and make him happy, but Yong Ge was clearly already shocked. After thinking about it, he decided to talk about it later.

They had only been dating for less than a month. Yong Ge still didn't have a sense of security. What if he thought Cheng Duo had money and wanted to change the relationship? Cheng Duo couldn't leave a pile of money with Yong Ge. It would be better to surprise him when they got married.

Cheng Duo had thought it through, but on the night they got married, when he revealed his wealth, it might not be a pleasant surprise for Yong Ge but rather a shock…

"I-I don't want it!" Yong Ge quickly refused.

"This fifty-two taels is only a part, the majority is still with me… Yong Ge, if you distance yourself from me like this, refusing even a bit of pocket money, aren't you afraid that I'll misunderstand?"

Is this just a bit? Whose pocket money is fifty-two taels? Moreover, they hadn't even gotten married yet! Yong Ge couldn't help but laugh and cry.

But he was also afraid of upsetting Cheng Duo, so he hesitantly accepted the money. "Don't overthink it. Can't I keep it?"

Then he held the silver and looked around, realizing that there was no place in his own home to hide it, as his two older brothers had already searched everywhere.

Yong Ge looked at Cheng Duo with a bitter face. "I have nowhere to hide this silver either. If my brothers come back and find this big lump of silver, I definitely won't be able to keep it. Besides, you gave me fifty-two taels, what can I spend it on?"

"Or maybe you can keep it at your place. You can hold onto it for me, and when I need it, I'll come to you?" Cheng Duo had bought him so many things, and he lacked nothing. It would be difficult for him to spend the silver.

He returned the silver to Cheng Duo and then stuffed the clothes and shoes back to him. "I can't accept these clothes and shoes either. They're too eye-catching. You take them back for now."

Cheng Duo chuckled. Yong Ge had actually learned to turn the tables on him and used his own tactics against him.

But it made sense. Cheng Duo helplessly took back the clothes and brought back the silver ingot, exchanging it for a pile of small silver coins and a few copper coins. "Is this pile okay?"

This stack of silver coins included the leftovers from his purchases and the ones he had snatched from the group of bandits. Those bandits were surprisingly wealthy, and this stack amounted to over ten taels.

Yong Ge reluctantly nodded. "I'll use them sparingly."

"No need to be thrifty. When you run out, just come to me." Cheng Duo was feeling quite generous at the moment and pretended not to notice Yong Ge's slightly wrinkled forehead as he chuckled to himself.

He picked up the pair of leather armguards, the belt, and the quiver and handed them to Yong Ge. "Put on these in a few days. I'll take you hunting in the mountains."

"Really?" Yong Ge's doubts vanished when he heard this.

"Can I deceive you? Practice your archery at home for a few more days, and when you're ready, I'll take you."

"Mmm."

Yong Ge took it to heart and spent several consecutive days practicing archery in the hills behind his house. During that time, Sha Yang secretly came to find him once and was scared away by his archery skills.

Because Yong Ge didn't listen to what Sha Yang had to say, he had no idea that his marriage had already been arranged by Li Man Cang and Wu Gui Hua.