Father Leng moved out with his share of the family money, borrowed some more, and hired people to build a house. Their lives started to get better.
Gradually, the family built up some savings. But one time, when Father Leng went hunting in the mountains, he was bitten by a venomous snake and didn't survive.
When Cold Mother heard the news, she passed away on the spot.
Leng Yuan's parents died on the same day. He had to handle such a monumental event all by himself.
Grandma Leng and his second and third uncles showed up then. They put on a show of weeping at the funeral without contributing a single cent, and in the end, they even demanded a share of the house.
Leng Yuan didn't fight them. He wrote a letter severing all ties, gave them the house, and took all his belongings from inside.
Of the entire Leng Family, the only person Leng Yuan still had contact with was his youngest paternal aunt, who lived in the County Town and was married to an official. She pitied Leng Yuan and wanted to take him in, but he refused.
Leng Yuan had lived on his own for three years. He was now just twenty years old.
As for Gu Jiaojiao, she was only eighteen.
She cringed a little at the thought. 'People get married young in this era, so eighteen isn't that strange. But back in my time, this would be way too early.'
'But my soul is mature!'
Thinking about her husband's past, her heart filled with pity for him.
"Don't worry! I won't be stingy."
After she said that, she remembered that the body's original owner had been in Qingshan Team for over half a month and not only had zero work points, but also seemed to owe the team thirty catties of grain. Her face instantly flushed red.
"The grain distribution is in a little over ten days, right? I... I probably don't have many work points. Maybe we should be a little more frugal after all!"
Leng Yuan only had work points from the Qiushou and the summer harvest. Gu Jiaojiao's were negligible. Combined, they didn't have many work points at all, so they naturally wouldn't receive much grain.
Remembering the original owner's gluttonous and lazy nature, Gu Jiaojiao quickly added, "Don't worry. I'll work hard from now on. I can definitely support myself."
She didn't want to end up with the same tragic fate as the original owner. She had already taken the first step to change that by marrying Leng Yuan.
'Next, of course, I have to change everyone's impression of me.'
In this era, if you didn't perform labor, people wouldn't have a good impression of you, no matter how high your status was.
Ultimately, to change their impressions, she had to participate in the collective labor. So, Gu Jiaojiao decided she would start working in the fields.
Leng Yuan was surprised by her words. Ever since Gu Jiaojiao had arrived at Qingshan Team, she hadn't worked in the fields a single day. Now, she was suddenly talking about earning work points. 'Is she really planning to live a proper life with me?'
True or not, Leng Yuan didn't really care.
"There's no need to skimp. I can support you."
Just as Gu Jiaojiao was about to speak, she caught a whiff of something burning. "My porridge!"
With that, she dashed into the kitchen, and Leng Yuan hurried in after her. Gu Jiaojiao had already lifted the pot lid, revealing porridge that was almost completely dry.
Leng Yuan immediately pulled the firewood from the stove and doused the flames with a ladle of water.
Gu Jiaojiao quickly scooped out the porridge and added water to the pot to let it soak.
Luckily, they had saved it just in time. It was still fine, just a bit dry.
Besides the vegetable pancakes and the chicken and vegetable porridge, there was also a cold side dish containing fried peanuts and raisins.
It was the first time Leng Yuan had ever seen raisins in a cold dish, and he instantly became a bit skeptical of Gu Jiaojiao's cooking skills. Still, he had to admit, the meal laid out before him looked quite appealing.
Seeing Leng Yuan just staring at the food, Gu Jiaojiao picked up a piece of the cold dish with her chopsticks and placed it in his bowl, urging, "Go on, eat! See how it tastes."
A rare hint of conflict appeared in Leng Yuan's eyes.
He wasn't picky about most things, but he was particular about his food. Even though his own cooking was merely average, he couldn't stomach any dish that tasted worse than what he could make himself.