Riding his bicycle back home, he saw Fang Shiyu and his younger sister, Wang Xiuxiu, sitting at the entrance shelling vegetables.
"Wife, I'm back!"
Seeing him return, Fang Shiyu and Wang Xiuxiu walked over, getting ready to take the things from him.
Catching sight of the standing fan strapped to the back of the bicycle, Wang Xiuxiu asked excitedly, "Third Brother, did you buy an electric fan?"
"Yeah, with the weather getting hotter and hotter, I bought one so we can sleep more comfortably at night."
After parking the bicycle, he first handed the fishing rod bag he had been carrying to Wang Xiuxiu, then gave the rest of the items to Fang Shiyu, and carried the standing fan into the main room himself.
He plugged in the power cord, turned on the fan switch, and a blast of cool wind blew directly into their faces.
"Whirrr—"
"Third Brother, this wind is so strong, and it feels so good!"
"You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until Brother buys an air conditioner in the future—now that will be comfortable!"
"Great, I want to blow the air conditioner too when that time comes."
"Ha-ha, you can come every day!"
Wang Xiuxiu handed the fishing rod bag back to him and asked with curiosity, "Third Brother, what's in this bag? It's awfully heavy."
"Oh, the fishing rods I bought today."
Hearing that it was just fishing rods, Wang Xiuxiu lost interest, still feeling that the fan was much better.
Actually, you couldn't really blame Wang Xiuxiu. After all, with so many children in the family, whatever money Wang Mangul had managed to earn over the past few years went entirely toward paying off the debts incurred from the eldest and second brothers' weddings, as well as putting several children through school. The family simply had no spare cash to buy any major appliances.
The meager earnings Wang Chu'an had managed to scrape together in recent years weren't even enough to build a house, considering that building a proper brick-and-tile house nowadays cost upwards of 2,000 yuan.
When he got married, he had given 300 yuan in bride price, bought two wristwatches, and today he had handed over another 500 yuan. Emptying the family coffers probably still wouldn't be enough, and they were likely still in debt to outsiders.
Right now, he lacked the ability to give his family a better life; he could only take things a step at a time.
"Xiuxiu, don't go back for lunch today. Eat here."
"Right, Sister-in-law, you haven't tried my Third Brother's cooking yet, have you? My Third Brother is a fantastic cook."
He glanced at his watch—it was already past ten o'clock, time to start cooking.
"All right, then I'll go make lunch."
With that, Wang Chu'an took the things and headed to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Fang Shiyu followed him in, drew some water from the kitchen vat, and began washing the vegetables they had just shelled.
First, he blanched the pork bone, added scallions, ginger, and garlic into a clay pot, and placed it on the small stove nearby to simmer.
Fang Shiyu brought in the washed vegetables, just as she was about to start chopping.
Seeing this, Wang Chu'an stepped forward, took the kitchen knife from her, and said, "Go keep Xiuxiu company and play. I'll take care of things here."
"It's fine, this little bit of work isn't tiring at all."
"Aren't you sore down there? Make sure to rest more these next few days."
Hearing him bring up something so intimate, Fang Shiyu's face flushed instantly. She reached out and pinched him hard on the waist, snapping, "What nonsense are you spitting? What if Xiuxiu hears you!"
"It's fine, Xiuxiu is in the main room with the fan on, she can't hear."
"That still won't do!"
"Fine, I won't say it anymore, okay? Let go of my hand, it hurts like hell."
"Humph! Say that again next time and I'll pinch you to death!"
She pulled her hand back, but didn't forget to rub the spot for him.
"You're trying to murder your own husband."
"Who told you to be so bad? How come I never noticed it before!"
"Ha-ha, it's too late to regret it now."
...
As the two of them chatted, their hands didn't stop working. Wang Chu'an finished chopping the vegetables, and Fang Shiyu finished washing the rice.
Seeing that it was almost time, they started stir-frying dishes, with Fang Shiyu stoking the fire underneath the stove.
"How much did the fan cost you today?"
"165."
"Ah, that expensive? That's almost four months of wages."
"Well, the production volume of these appliances is low right now, so the price is naturally high. It'll get cheaper later on."
"What about your fishing rods? Even the packaging looked expensive. How much did they cost?"
Right now, he didn't dare tell the truth. When he bought them, he hadn't thought much of it.
Thinking about it now, it cost nearly half a year's wages for an ordinary person. If people found out he had spent half a year's salary on a single fishing rod, anyone who saw him would call him a prodigal son.
Luckily, he had made 115 yuan selling fish today, and he usually kept a little secret stash of over 30 yuan. Quick-wittedly, he calculated the numbers and told Fang Shiyu, "They're imported goods, cost 115!"
Even with mental preparation, Fang Shiyu was still startled.
"So going out today means you spent 300 yuan?"
By this point, he was feeling a bit guilty. When he was spending the money, he hadn't really felt anything.
Now, calculating it this way, he realized this single trip of his had nearly cost a whole year's salary for an ordinary person.
After all, wages nowadays were only forty or fifty yuan a month. Lowering his voice, he said, "Yeah, pretty much!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Shiyu looked on the verge of tears. She didn't say a word, just stared straight at him.
"I promise I won't spend money recklessly from now on. You can manage our family finances from now on," he promised hurriedly at the sight.
At the same time, he took out all the money from his Space—a total of a little over 230 yuan—and handed it all to Fang Shiyu.
Holding the money in her hands, she looked at him and said, "It's not that I won't let you spend money, but you can't just spend it like this!"
"Right, right, I know I was wrong."
Seeing his sincere attitude, she pulled a 10-yuan bill from the stack and handed it back to him.
"A man can't go out with empty pockets. Take this ten yuan for your daily expenses first."
Taking the money, he stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Fang Shiyu's waist, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Hehe, my wife is so good to me."
Just then, a voice suddenly piped up from nearby.
"Ah—I didn't see anything!"
Startling them both, Fang Shiyu hurriedly broke free from his arm and took a step back, her face blazing red as she kept her head down, nervously clutching the hem of her shirt at a complete loss for what to do.
Wang Chu'an glanced at Wang Xiuxiu and scolded with feigned annoyance, "Why aren't you in the main room enjoying the fan? What are you running into the kitchen for for no reason?"
"I came to ask when we're eating. I'm starving!"
"It'll be ready right now. Take those stir-fried dishes over."
"Oh, okay—"
Seeing Wang Xiuxiu carry the dishes out, Wang Chu'an stepped forward, stroked Fang Shiyu's hair, and gently comforted her.
"All right, it's fine. Xiuxiu's already gone."
"Oh dear, how mortifying! It's all your fault—"
"Hehe, it's all my fault," he said with a light chuckle.
...
During lunch, Fang Shiyu was too embarrassed to look at Wang Xiuxiu. She kept her head down while eating, not even daring to pick up any vegetables for herself.
With no other choice, seeing her shy appearance, he had no choice but to actively pick food and put it in her bowl.
After the meal, Wang Xiuxiu volunteered to clear the table, wash the pots, and clean the bowls.
Seeing that enough time had passed and Fang Shiyu had recovered her composure, he told her he was going to return the bicycle.
When he arrived at Xu Wenjie's house, seeing that they were still eating, he greeted them, returned the bicycle, and headed home.
Back home, he saw Fang Shiyu and the others chatting while gathering clothes to wash by the river.
He originally intended to step up and help, but a single look from Fang Shiyu stopped him in his tracks—probably fearing village gossip if people saw them.
Thinking that the water in the storage vat was running low, he grabbed two buckets from the kitchen and headed to the village well to fetch water.
After a round trip, he hadn't actually fetched much water, but he was completely exhausted.
After all, he had never carried water on a shoulder pole before. Lacking the proper technique, the buckets swayed wildly from side to side, splashing water everywhere along the path.
Seeing that they weren't home, they must have gone to the river to wash clothes.
He set the buckets aside and hurried back toward the well. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody was around over there, he used the Space to draw three cubic meters of water.
Upon returning, he first filled the kitchen's water vat to the brim, and then filled the large vat in the back vegetable garden so it would be ready for watering the crops later.
Once he finished these chores, Fang Shiyu had returned from washing the clothes, and he helped her hang them up to dry.
Seeing that Wang Xiuxiu hadn't come back with her, he figured she must have gone back to the old family home.
Since there was nothing pressing to do at the moment, he told Fang Shiyu to go back to her room and rest for a while.