The ger hadn’t actually gone to sleep; he was keeping watch by the lamp, waiting for someone to return.

Seeing Huo Ling enter, he set down what he was holding, rubbed his eyes, and shifted closer to the edge of the bed. “So?” he asked. “Did Brother and Sister-in-law take the silver?”

Huo Ling’s heart softened at the thought of him waiting for him.

He then handed the silver to Yan Qi, motioning for the ger to put it back into the pouch.

“They absolutely refused to take it. They pushed it back to me for ages. When they saw I wouldn’t accept it, they insisted my sister-in-law bring it over to you.”

“If it truly won’t do, I’ll buy a few things later and use this money to make up the difference.”

Even though Huo Feng claimed he’d gained an advantage in the family division, Huo Ling didn’t see it that way. With both parents gone early, the eldest brother naturally shouldered more hardship.

During the years Mother was ill, he was still young and left behind to care for her. The family’s income relied entirely on his eldest brother working in the city to supplement it. Borrowing from their uncle’s family and several households in the village was also his brother’s responsibility—he had to put on a thick face to ask for help.

The debts accumulated back then totaled nearly a few dozen taels, and it took several years afterward to pay them off.

Yan Qi pondered for a moment. “It’s a considerable sum. Whatever you buy with it, your brother and sister-in-law will surely refuse it. If you insist on giving it, it might seem unnatural.”

Huo Ling knew his elder brother better than anyone. “You’re right. He might even get seriously angry with me.”

Yan Qi paused, then offered a suggestion.

“If giving it directly to your brother and sister-in-law won’t work, giving it to Ying-zi might be easier. How about I sew her a couple of new outfits? Once they’re done, they can’t very well refuse. Then, come the New Year, we’ll give her extra red envelopes.”

Huo Ling enjoyed hearing Yan Qi use the word “we.” Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that after spending a few days up the mountain, his ger now seemed more like family.

No wonder people said a short separation felt like a new marriage—they weren’t exactly about to ‘marry’ each other.

The thought made him smile.

“That’s settled then. You really are thoughtful.”

Anything labeled “for the child” was impossible for adults to refuse. After all, it was only right for elders to give gifts to their juniors. He and Yan Qi were, after all, Huo Ying’s uncles.

“But this means more needlework for you.”

He noticed the deep indentations the thread had left on Yan Qi’s fingers and instinctively reached out to rub them.

“What’s the big deal? Every family does this daily. As her aunt, it would be unthinkable if I didn’t make my niece a proper outfit after she enters the family.”

Yan Qi didn’t think much of it. A wife’s household chores were few and far between. Before he married and still lived in his hometown, he spent his days sewing and mending.

His fingers bore the marks, just as Huo Ling’s hands had calluses and scars.

If anyone suffered hardship, it was undoubtedly the family’s main breadwinner.

At this point, he pushed the oil lamp aside on the kang table, retrieved the new cloth shoes he’d hurriedly finished stitching just as Huo Ling left, bit through the last thread, and held them out.

“Almost forgot—come try these on to see if they fit.”

Newly made cloth shoes often felt tight at first, due to the stiff fabric, but they’d loosen with wear.

Huo Ling slipped them on. Since the soles were clean, he walked a few steps right on the kang, pressing down firmly.

“They fit perfectly.”

Now he, too, wore shoes crafted by his husband.

The new shoes were meant for the wedding day, so after trying them on, he set them aside. Huo Ling then asked Yan Qi how the medicine was working.

“I take it every day without fail. I feel much better—I sleep soundly at night and have energy during the day. Master Ma’s medical skills are truly remarkable.”

Huo Ling was surprised. “Is he really that amazing? The way you talk about him, he sounds like a miracle healer.”

Yan Qi scratched his cheek. “It’s true. Ming-ger said so too. Maybe the herbs from beyond the pass are just better?”

Neither of them understood medicine, so they couldn’t explain it properly. Huo Ling nodded. “Whatever the reason, it works. That means the medicine money wasn’t wasted.”

Before bed, Huo Ling touched the ger’s feet and found they were actually warm. Before, they’d been ice-cold, impossible to warm even after a whole night of covering them.

“Once we finish the remaining medicine, it’ll be time to head up the mountain. Before we go, we should visit Bearded Ma again and see what he says.”

At the thought of having to drink more medicine, Yan Qi immediately felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Yet he dared not protest—his previous objections had been futile—and obediently agreed.

Huo Ling, having held his husband again after several days apart, felt immense joy. Clinging close, he took full advantage of the moment.

Yan Qi, dazed and confused, was kneaded and kissed like dough. After a long while, two soiled handkerchiefs were tossed aside amidst the rising and falling of the quilt.

The ger lowered his eyes in embarrassment, letting Huo Ling wipe his hands. He thought to himself that this must be what consummating the marriage was like. He couldn’t imagine anything more intimate than what they had already done.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Dawn broke, the sky still dim.

Huo Ling planned to take Yan Qi to the market. Huo Feng and Ye Suping came to help pack their things.

The brothers worked together to untie the ropes, securing several pairs of antlers with knots in the middle for Huo Ling to carry.

Yan Qi also carried a small backpack filled with dried kidney grass and lion’s mane mushrooms.

Though these two items looked substantial, they weren’t particularly heavy. The heavier loads were all taken by Huo Ling.

The remaining basket of duck eggs, while not light, couldn’t be placed in the backpack. Yan Qi checked several times to ensure the straw padding was thick enough, then secured the burlap cover on top. He carefully slung the basket over his arm.

Seeing their hands and shoulders fully laden, Huo Feng couldn’t help but sigh, “When will our family have an oxcart? Then going to the market would be so much easier.”

This was still spring, when the mountain produce was scarce. There wasn’t much to take to the market. Come summer and into autumn, the mountain’s bounty would be endless, and Huo Ling would return exhausted every single time.

But a beast of burden costs more than an acre of fertile land. Any family that bought livestock would face higher taxes after harvest, not to mention the expense of building a cart. Talk was cheap—he simply couldn’t afford it anytime soon.

Huo Feng never considered asking Huo Ling to contribute to the purchase. Since his second brother didn’t farm and couldn’t drive an oxcart up the mountain, it made sense for their branch to buy it. When Huo Ling came down from the mountains, they could lend it to the young couple for their use.

Huo Ling tugged the straps of his backpack upward and weighed the antlers in his hands. With his strength, he could carry a hundred or eighty pounds and still stride effortlessly. This load was nothing.

“We’ve managed like this for years. We live off the mountain; this is how we earn our money.”

They needed to head to town early. The journey was long, and arriving too late would mean missing the first wave of customers, making business uncertain.

Yan Qi trailed two steps behind Huo Ling as they exited the door. Every few steps, she bent down to check on the eggs. Huo Ling said nothing at first, but after walking a short distance, he finally looked down and said, “Once we’re out of the village, if we see an oxcart heading toward town, we’ll hitch a ride.”

Yan Qi tilted her head slightly to look at Huo Ling. ”Did you hitch a ride on oxcarts when you went to town by yourself before?“

Huo Ling chuckled. ”I didn’t hitch rides. I walked there.“

Yan Qi then said, ”Then we don’t need to hitch a ride. I can walk too.”

Huo Ling instantly regretted his words, remembering how his husband was always trying to save money. He quickly added, “Well, sometimes I do. Like today, with all this stuff, a few copper coins for the cart fare aren’t worth worrying about.”

After speaking, he deliberately lifted the antlers higher.

“Look at all this stuff. It won’t even fit in the backpack. It’s such a hassle.”

Yan Qi walked in silence, saying nothing.

He didn’t believe a word of what Huo Ling said. After all, even if they encountered an ox cart along the way, it would either be someone transporting their own goods or passengers, or it would be a cart specifically for hire. Either way, Huo Ling’s antlers would likely take up space meant for several people.

Most likely, there wouldn’t be any room at all. If he really wanted a seat, he’d have to pay for several extra heads.

Judging by the man’s long, brisk strides, he was clearly accustomed to trekking through the mountains for hours each day, wearing out countless pairs of shoes year-round. He certainly wasn’t someone who often hitched rides to the market.

Today, he suddenly insisted on hitching a ride after leaving home—only because he had an extra person to carry.

Watching Yan Qi’s pace quicken, Huo Ling could only blame himself for speaking out of turn.

After walking six or seven li, they were both sweating. The journey had been too hurried. Huo Ling called out for Yan Qi to stop, and they sat on a roadside stone to rest their feet.

By now, the sky had fully brightened. Huo Ling unfastened the water skin from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and offered it first to Yan Qi.

The young ger took it, gulping down two mouthfuls with a “glug glug.” He licked his lips and asked curiously, “Did you soak something in this water?”

He squinted into the narrow opening of the skin, but it was too small to see anything inside.

“I steeped some birch mushrooms in it early this morning. Yesterday, I sifted out some too-fine bits—they’d just get picked out if sold, so I kept them for our own drinking.”

Huo Ling took several large gulps himself before retying the now-deflated water skin.

His waist was heavily laden with gear, as was his usual setup for venturing into the mountains.

“Drinking this regularly is good for your health. The taste isn’t strange, and it quenches your thirst.”

The birch mushroom infusion had a distinct herbal note, yet it wasn’t astringent—just mild and soothing.

Yan Qi wiped his damp lips with the back of his hand. Seeing beads of sweat on Huo Ling’s forehead, he pulled a handkerchief from his bosom and offered it for him to wipe his brow.

After Huo Ling used it, Yan Qi tucked the now-soiled handkerchief into his own bag—he wouldn’t ask for it back. He’d brought several spares precisely for moments like this, when sweat or dirt made wiping hands impossible.

Back home, they washed everything in one go, finishing quickly.

By the first hour of the morning, the couple arrived at Baojia Town.

The fifteenth day market bustled with extraordinary energy. Riders on donkeys, herders with oxen, and even pedestrians like them crowded the entrance road so tightly that not a drop of water could pass.

Huo Ling led Yan Qi along familiar shortcuts through the alleys. After what felt like endless twists and turns, they emerged from a long lane into a wide-open space.

Gazing toward the end of the road, they could make out a temple with blue tiles and vermilion walls. Even before reaching it, the faint scent of incense wafted toward them.

Huo Ling staked out a spot, set down his backpack, and noticed Yan Qi staring in the opposite direction. “That’s our town’s City God Temple,” he said.

As he spoke, something occurred to him.

“During the New Year, my brother and sister-in-law insisted I go pray to the Goddess for a match. I even got burned by incense ash while offering my sticks.”

At the time, Huo Ling had been reluctant to go. Unlike the City God, the Goddess’s altar was crowded with women and gers praying for children or marriage—what business did a man like him have squeezing in?

Afterward, when Ye Suping saw him rubbing his fingers, she learned the ash had fallen and burned him. Delighted, she patted his arm several times.

“You silly boy! That’s the City Goddess showing her favor!”

This even drew the attention of an old woman who fancied Huo Ling. She came over to inquire, but upon hearing he was a mountain-chasing laborer, she shook her head, curled her lips, and walked away, leaving Ye Suping thoroughly exasperated.

Later, Ye Suping chattered all the way home from town, insisting that Huo Ling was destined for a good marriage this year and that she shouldn’t pay any mind to that ignorant old woman.

At the time, Huo Ling hadn’t believed a word of it. What incense ash? It was just a coincidence.

But now, he looked at Yan Qi and nudged the ger’s shoulder with his elbow.

“So, does that mean we should go fulfill that vow?”