Chapter 83: Teaching Leng Yun the Importance of Saving

Without the brick-and-tile house, large courtyard, well, firewood shed, and outhouse, how could they have this cozy, free, and comfortable life tucked away in their little corner of the world?

If it weren’t for the fact that Leng Xiao and the others were destined to go to the capital, and if it weren’t for the famine year, Wen Nuan Nuan thought staying in this small courtyard would be quite nice.

With ample food, lush vegetation, and different wild vegetables, fruits, and game each season, it was practically the life she had always dreamed of.

Unfortunately, Leng Xiao and the others were destined to go to the capital to achieve their ambitions, and she couldn’t survive here alone.

Even with enough food and no need to hunt, her safety in this village couldn’t be guaranteed—sometimes people were more terrifying than animals.

Leng Yun listened in a daze, his mind filled with thoughts about words he had never heard before.

“Like last time when we owed money, if we really couldn’t pay it back, we still had this house to settle the debt. If we didn’t have the house, wouldn’t we have had to sell ourselves into servitude? In the future, when you earn silver, you can use part of it to keep your business running, part for daily expenses, and part to save for emergencies. You shouldn’t deny yourself enjoyment, but you also shouldn’t indulge too much.

In this regard, I really admire your eldest brother. He has strong self-control. When he earns silver, he doesn’t spend it on food, drink, or entertainment but on studying and acquiring property.”

Leng Xiao truly lived up to the saying: the greater the hardship endured, the greater the blessings enjoyed.

Leng Yun’s little face shifted from confusion to clarity as he nodded solemnly. “Sister-in-law, I understand. I shouldn’t focus only on enjoyment. Without a financial foundation, pleasure is only temporary. Without a family fortune, one might end up miserable in old age. I must work hard to earn and save diligently.”

Wen Nuan Nuan wore a gentle and virtuous expression, as if pleased with her teachable pupil. But when she spotted the tall, straight figure standing by the door, her composure shattered!

Stammering and stumbling over her words, she asked, “Y-you… didn’t you go to deliver food to Eldest Brother and the others?”

The snow had stopped the same day they had the snowball fight, and it had only reached calf height. Over the past few days, it had mostly melted, so it was still possible to deliver food to the two little ones.

Wen Nuan Nuan’s mind raced as she recalled what she had just said. Thankfully, thankfully, it was all praise, admiration, and approval for him.

This damned “Cao Cao effect”—speak of the devil and he shall appear!

Her luck was truly something else.

Leng Xiao’s deep, lake-like eyes gazed over from a distance, shimmering like rippling waves that spread layer by layer. “I just went to check the traps I set in the mountains, retrieved the game, and processed it. I also brought the accumulated pelts from these days to the city to be tanned.”

Wen Nuan Nuan understood.

The twelfth lunar month marked the end of the year. This year’s abnormal climate had left everyone anxious. With little to do during the farming off-season, the mountain villagers hunted in the mountains whenever rain or snow didn’t hinder their movements. They did this to gather more food to make up for the grain shortage and to sell pelts for silver.

Naturally, Leng Xiao was no exception.

And he was exceptionally skilled, harvesting at least five or six hares every day. On the second day after the heavy snow, he even pulled two foolish roe deer out of the snow.

Yes, pulled. According to Leng Yun’s explanation, roe deer were incredibly foolish. They would turn their heads at any sound and even run back from afar to see what had happened.

Leng Xiao didn’t even need to set traps. He simply piled the snow extra thick in one spot. When a sound occurred, the foolish roe deer would run over, sink into the snow, and all he had to do was pull them out.

As Wen Nuan Nuan listened, she thought, “They’re so adorable! I really want to keep one!”

Then, seeing Leng Xiao carry the bloodied dead roe deer and a string of bloody fat hares without changing his expression, she silently swallowed back the words “so cute.”

Then she thought of herself from a few days ago—wasn’t she also overly curious and talkative? It almost made her shiver!

She always had a premonition: the roe deer died from foolishness, and she would die from talking too much!

Leng Xiao looked at the little lowered head, his thin lips lifting just a little in restraint. “If you don’t like eating roe deer, I’ll take it to sell along with the others. The hares I’ve already cleaned, so I’ve kept them all.”

Although Wen Nuan Nuan wanted to affectingly say, “Bunnies are so cute, how can we eat bunnies?”

But the braised rabbit heads, honey-glazed roasted rabbit legs, spicy rabbit dices, and young ginger rabbit she had made during this time had truly won her over. “Oh, okay, thank you!”

After Leng Xiao’s skillful hunting over the past ten-plus days, plus what Eldest Brother had caught earlier, minus what they had eaten, her storage room now had seventy or eighty fat hares and pheasants that surpassed the previous ones!

The abundance of meat gave her such a rich feeling.

And it was all meat she loved to eat.

The meat in her refrigerator was currently enough for them to eat. Originally, she had thought that with the cold weather and ample meat, Leng Xiao wouldn’t need to go out hunting. She remembered Leng Xiao’s reply at the time:

“This area has many mountains and little land, so harvests are scarce. Even when there was land before, not much grain could be harvested, and going hungry was common. Most households also lacked oil and salt.

When heavy snow falls, it’s the most exciting time. Hares caught can’t be taken to the city to sell, so they’re kept for eating. Even with little oil and salt, it’s a rare and delicious meat. People here, whether adults or children, all know how to catch hares and have their own unique methods.”

She had asked curiously at the time, “Do you also have a unique method?”

Leng Xiao answered casually, “I’ve gone hungry before too.”

Wen Nuan Nuan understood: Leng Xiao’s skills were forged out of necessity.

She ate hare because it was delicious, for a change of taste.

Leng Xiao and the others ate it to fill their stomachs, survive, and improve their meals for nutrition.

Mountain households ate wild hares and pheasants more often than chickens or ducks.

Thinking this way, Wen Nuan Nuan’s bit of affectation about bunnies being cute vanished completely.

Snapping out of her reverie, Wen Nuan Nuan looked at Leng Xiao, who still carried the chill of the outdoors, and asked softly, “The Laba porridge I made is really elaborate. Do you want to eat some before going to the city? Little Brother just said it’s already cooked.”

Leng Yun nodded vigorously beside them.

After the last snowball fight, he had a feeling: Eldest Brother didn’t seem to like him getting too close to the two of them?!

So whenever Eldest Brother and sister-in-law were together, he would either quietly leave or, if he couldn’t leave, try to shrink himself to avoid drawing their attention.

Over these days, it had worked quite well—at least Eldest Brother no longer gave him those sinister looks!

“Okay.”

The Laba porridge Wen Nuan Nuan made was indeed as elaborate as she said, not only in ingredients but also in preparation.

Well, that’s just the self-cultivation of a foodie.

The rural area she lived in as a child ate savory Laba porridge, while Leng Xiao and the others here had always eaten sweet. Wen Nuan Nuan was fine with either savory or sweet, so she made it sweet according to the preference of the majority.

Mixed into the rice were many things: glutinous rice, millet, walnuts, pine nuts, peanuts, red beans, mung beans, chestnuts, red dates, longan, raisins… a total of over ten types!

She had started washing the rice, soaking the fruits, peeling and pitting them since yesterday morning. The beans, which were harder to cook, had been soaking all along. After dinner, she poured everything into the large iron pot, added enough water at once, and after bringing it to a boil, simmered it over low heat until the next day. Only then was the Laba porridge finally ready.

Five flavors harmonized, a hundred aromas bloomed.

The Laba porridge, simmered slowly over a gentle fire like this, allowed the ingredients to seep into and blend with one another, complementing each other perfectly. The taste was absolutely incredible!

Not only did Leng Xiao and Leng Yun find it delicious and each down three large bowls in a row, but even Wen Nuan Nuan thought it was fragrant, smooth, soft, and glutinous. Drinking it warmed her stomach and felt incredibly comfortable.

After the three of them finished the Laba porridge with great satisfaction, Leng Xiao hitched the carriage, loaded it with food, roe deer, and furs, and set off.