The sweet potatoes, potatoes, radishes, amaranth, and cabbage from the fields took several days to pack into sacks. One sack was left in the kitchen for daily use, and the rest were stored in the cellar in the backyard.
By the time everything was finished, it was already the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Laba Festival.
Early in the morning, Bailee started cooking Laba porridge. He used rice, millet, mung beans, red dates, sugar beets, and lotus seeds to make a big pot. He knew his wife Julie didn't like overly sweet food, so he added very little sugar, making the porridge only slightly sweet.
There were still some buns left from before, so Bailee steamed about ten of them. He also made two simple side dishes: pickled vegetables stir-fried with eggs and chili peppers stir-fried with meat. The buns went well with the porridge.
Julie liked the buns a lot—she ate three in a row. But she only drank one bowl of porridge before stopping.
Lately, she had been so busy that she hadn't gone to their shared room at all, choosing to sleep in her own room instead.
During that time, Lorrie came to her alone, acting cute and apologizing, saying he wouldn't push her away again and asking for forgiveness.
Julie only replied with a simple "Mm" and said nothing more.
In her heart, she thought… next time, she would wait longer. She didn't plan to tolerate that behavior again. If she didn't act cold, he might do worse next time—maybe even try to kick her away again.
Even though Lorrie felt a bit sad, he didn't dare to say much. He knew he was at fault. At first, he didn't think it was that serious—until Haven found out and scolded him harshly. That's when he realized it was a big deal.
Luckily, Julie had a good temper. Otherwise… in a situation like that, not getting beaten half to death would've been a miracle.
He wasn't curious anymore.
Even though the pain had gone away, he was still a little shaken—maybe even scared.
That night, during the Laba Festival, Julie went to Bailee's room after 9 p.m.
She had been sleeping in her own room for half a month. Haven and Bailee never brought it up, even though it was Lorrie's mistake. As older brothers, they felt they hadn't taught him well or explained things properly.
Especially Bailee—he felt guilty, thinking it was his responsibility.
Julie wasn't angry at them—she just wasn't someone who gave in easily. If she could sleep alone for a while, she was actually happier that way.
But she also knew that it couldn't go on forever. Half a month was enough.
That's why she came that night.
When she entered the room, she saw Bailee sitting on the bed in white inner clothes, staring blankly at the blanket. A fire was burning in the stove on the floor, making the room nice and warm.
He remembered she had said she would come, so he waited. He was nervous. It had been a while since she had last come to his room.
When Julie saw that he looked distracted, she thought he might not be in the mood. So she got into bed, lay down fully dressed, and closed her eyes—clearly not intending to do anything intimate.
She didn't want anything to happen if he wasn't willing. Forcing someone wasn't meaningful.
It was the first time Bailee had seen her like this. He felt both nervous and panicked. He wanted to say something but was afraid it would backfire.
Seeing that she had already laid down, he slowly lay down too.
He turned on his side, looking at her face quietly. He… didn't want things to be like this.
Julie wasn't asleep yet. She could feel his intense gaze—she noticed.
She opened her eyes and turned her head. The two of them looked into each other's eyes.
Bailee didn't expect his wife to open her eyes and turn her head.
He didn't try to look away. Instead, he looked straight into Julie's eyes, full of tenderness.
Julie wasn't sleepy either. "Not tired?"
Bailee shook his head. "Wife, I'm not tired. I missed you. You haven't come for a long time." His voice was gentle, with a touch of affection and longing.
He gently reached out from under the blanket and held onto her sleeve—not tightly, but he didn't let go either.
Julie didn't mind his clinginess. In fact, she liked it.
She was usually quiet and reserved, not someone who talked a lot—even in bed.
But that didn't mean she wanted complete silence or no connection.
She had also held back for a while, and now her body was ready too…
Still, she didn't rush. Her soft little husband was being so sweet, and she was happy to spend time talking.
"You missed me? Where did you miss me? How much did you miss me?" she asked with a teasing voice.
Her tone was less cold than usual, now low and husky. Hearing it made Bailee blush, his ears turning red as the warmth between them slowly grew.
He got shy again after just a couple of seconds of bravery and lowered his head.
He spoke even softer now, "I… I missed you. Missed everything…" He couldn't meet her eyes.
Julie didn't tease him anymore. Since everything seemed fine now, she didn't plan to just chat under the blanket.
They spent the night together…
After all, it had been a while, and her husband was quite the sight.
She didn't leave Bailee's room until nearly dawn.
Bailee didn't sleep in too late like before. Even though he woke up later than usual, he was still up before noon, getting lunch ready.
Lunch was cabbage meatball and egg noodles, stir-fried shredded potatoes with minced meat and pickled vegetables, plus a plate of scallion pancakes.
Julie ate a big bowl of noodles and two pieces of scallion pancake before stopping.
After eating, she went straight back to her room.
The rabbits had multiplied, and a new litter had been born.
Julie had already been planning to butcher one, and that night, spicy rabbit was on the table.
Julie and Lorrie ate the most. Lorrie had slowly regained his former lively nature and was less cautious now.
But he still didn't bring up that issue again.
Since he didn't, Julie was happy to keep things easy.
The chicks had grown some, but they weren't laying eggs yet. That would take more time.
The fields would have to wait until after the New Year to be planted again, so Julie wasn't in a rush.
On the tenth, Julie went to town. Liu Ying had sent word that the shop construction was nearly finished and asked her to come check it and pay the final balance.
Julie ate lunch and then rode her black horse to the west market.
What used to be an abandoned street now had buildings, and it looked like a proper business district.
Liu Ying led her around to inspect each shop. Julie didn't really know the details, but she checked the structure and materials to make sure everything felt sturdy.
Since Julie didn't plan to open a shop herself, there were no signs or decorations—just an empty shop space.
She planned to rent them out, letting the renters do as they wished.
That day was also Liu Ying's team's last workday.
With less than a month before the New Year, they wanted to wrap things up and get paid so they could enjoy the holiday and find new jobs afterward.
Julie didn't find any issues during her inspection.
She trusted Liu Ying's responsibility and work ethic. That's why she hired her.
Julie took out a 50-tael silver note and a pouch with 28 taels in loose silver. She had prepared it in advance.
Liu Ying accepted the money and, after counting, smiled with relief.
The weight lifted from her heart—after all, nothing's certain until the money's in hand.
Now she could enjoy her New Year.
She told Julie to reach out anytime if there were any issues, then promised to personally oversee the final cleanup that day.
Julie nodded and was about to leave.
Before she left, Liu Ying offered some kind words for luck. Julie thanked her and went on her way.
Julie had come to check the progress a couple of times before, even sneaking around to observe from the shadows.
She hadn't seen any slacking, not even from Liu Ying. When she wasn't explaining how to lay bricks or build, she joined in and worked.
Julie was very satisfied with this—efficient, straightforward, no delays. She had no problem paying fairly for quality work.
She didn't go straight home. She stopped by the grain store and bought several hundred jin of grain, mostly cornmeal and soybeans.
It was too much to carry herself, so she paid two more wen for a worker to deliver it to her house.
She already had plenty of rice and wheat stored, so she didn't buy much of those.
She bought soybeans and sesame mainly for oil pressing.
Cornmeal, although coarse, tastes good when mixed with finer flour from time to time.
She skipped broken rice this time.
On the way back, she bought five jin of tiao fish. She'd liked it the last time—small like yellow croaker, but crispy when fried.
They were great with rice or as snacks, bones and all, packed with calcium.
She bought a lot, enough to last through the holiday. The next chance to restock would be after the Lantern Festival.
On the road, Julie did some mental math.
The land at West Market cost 92 taels. The shop construction came to 278 taels. Total: 370 taels.
Not exactly cheap.
Who knows how many years it would take to earn that back?
Still, there were benefits. Her activity had drawn attention—locals were already coming by to check out what was going on.
Some were just curious, but some were clearly interested.
Most were waiting to see. That was normal—people always want the best deal, and they worry about getting in too early and missing out on better offers.
Julie planned to write up a notice at home and post it on the shop doors after the town meeting in a few days.
She wouldn't sit around in an empty shop all day waiting for renters.
Anyone interested could come to the village to find her, or send her a message.
She wasn't worried about not finding renters.
She had already done the work to fix up the shops, her rent prices were fair—anyone with business sense would see the opportunity.
If someone always waits and hesitates, they'll only watch others make money while they sit at home feeling sorry for themselves.
Business means risk.
You can't expect to earn without ever putting something in. If all your time is spent hesitating, you'll miss every chance.