Chapter 8: One Hundred Taels of Silver Startle the Beloved Wife

This scene moved Chu Chen deeply.

As the mule cart slowly came to a stop, Chu Chen jumped down immediately.

Without a second thought, he pulled Li Qinglian into a bear hug, paying no mind to his second uncle standing nearby.

“My second uncle is still here,” Li Qinglian said forcefully, pushing him away.

Chu Chen scratched his nose awkwardly and said to his second uncle, “Second Uncle, please help unload the things.”

“All right!” his second uncle replied loudly, seeming eager to shake off the earlier awkwardness.

Chu Chen mused that the world was still too conservative. If he could popularize bikinis, what a scene the streets would become.

With a mischievous grin, he looked at Li Qinglian before him and thought, “Hmm, first get her to gain some weight; she might even need a size bigger.”

Chu Dazhuang busied himself carrying items into the house—rice, cloth, clothes.

Halfway through, Chu Chen stopped him.

“Second Uncle, let me handle the rest,” Chu Chen said.

Chu Dazhuang looked puzzled at Chu Chen’s actions.

Chu Chen selected about fifty pounds of rice, a lamb leg, and a bolt of cloth.

“Second Uncle, take these home and have Second Aunt make you some clothes.” Saying this, he pressed a ten-tael silver ingot into his hand.

Chu Dazhuang’s mouth dropped open at the generous gift from his nephew.

Quickly, he said, “Nephew, that’s not right. No reward without merit.”

“Second Uncle, just for standing in front of me today, you deserve it. Don’t be sentimental. Hurry home—Second Aunt and Brother Huzi must be anxiously waiting. Oh, and ask Brother Huzi to come here tomorrow.”

Before Chu Dazhuang even understood what “being sentimental” meant, Chu Chen was already urging him to leave, carrying the items along.

At that moment, Li Qinglian stared blankly at the items before her, momentarily speechless.

“What are you standing there for? Go cook quickly! I’m starving—make plenty!” Chu Chen ordered.

Li Qinglian didn’t ask where the things came from. Hearing Chu Chen was hungry, she turned and went straight into the kitchen.

Taking advantage of the pause, Chu Chen slipped into the cart and pulled out several down quilts and some daily necessities from the storehouse.

Only then did he leisurely enter the house.

Seeing the meat on the table was clearly more than yesterday, Chu Chen smiled with satisfaction.

“Not bad, you’re improving fast. You’re too thin and weak—you need to eat more.”

Li Qinglian spoke to Chu Chen, “Husband, all these things must have cost a lot of silver, plus the mule cart.”

In truth, Li Qinglian still worried; this sudden fortune that had befallen the man didn’t feel real at all.

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“I’m telling you, don’t worry about it. Just understand this: your husband has been enlightened by an immortal and has opened his mind. More strange and wonderful things will come. Don’t ask questions—just follow me and enjoy the good life,” Chu Chen said, cutting off Li Qinglian’s line of questioning.

That night, as the temperature suddenly dropped, Chu Chen called Li Qinglian to take the two down quilts off the mule cart.

It was the first time Li Qinglian had seen such soft bedding, and she stood there stunned.

Luckily, as a peasant woman who had never been to the county town, she regarded such products of the new era as high-end city goods.

This saved Chu Chen a lot of explaining.

“Go on, get into bed first. I’ll go to the latrine,” Chu Chen instructed.

He was troubled over the pile of silver—600 taels in total. After today’s expenses, more than 500 taels remained.

Approaching the mule cart, Chu Chen decided to conduct an experiment: could things from this world enter the supermarket space?

He took out 100 taels from the bag, leaving the rest inside.

Grasping the bag and focusing his mind, he appeared inside the supermarket space.

The bag came along with him, and Chu Chen bounced with excitement.

Damn, this thing means I won’t need to carry stuff around anymore. It’s such a pleasant surprise.

He then left the space, grabbed the ten silver ingots of ten taels each, and headed back inside.

Li Qinglian sat on the bed, staring blankly at the two down quilts.

Suddenly, a clattering sound startled her awake.

Ten silver ingots fell onto the bedboard. Chu Chen smiled cheekily at her.

“Hey, young lady, here’s a hundred taels. How about spending a night with me?”

“Ah...” Hearing Chu Chen’s flippant words, Li Qinglian’s face flushed red in an instant.

Ugh, so easily teased, how boring.

Her eyes shifted from Chu Chen’s figure to the silver ingots scattered on the bed.

“Husband, where did all this money come from?” Li Qinglian asked.

“Uh, I went to the city today to treat a wealthy man’s illness. This was the payment,” Chu Chen replied.

Seeing Li Qinglian’s eyes fill with tears again, he watched as she wept and said, “Husband, please put it away quickly. If others find out, it will attract bad people.”

Sigh, she’s great in every way except she cries too easily.

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Chu Chen didn’t realize how immense a fortune a hundred taels was to this impoverished peasant woman.

Since their farmland and family assets were lost, she worked odd jobs daily, struggling to keep the household afloat—it was far from easy.

For this reckless husband to suddenly place so much money before her, she was holding herself together well, not to mention not losing her mind.

“Go ahead and keep it. It’s for you—to have some money on hand in case of emergencies,” Chu Chen said.

“Ah, it’s for me? So much money? I can’t accept it. You should keep it with you,” Li Qinglian shook her head firmly.

Chu Chen grabbed her frail shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“Wife, now our family has money. Things are no longer like before. You need to change your mindset quickly, okay?”

Seeing Chu Chen so serious, Li Qinglian stopped crying.

Though she didn’t understand some of his words, she nodded earnestly.

Chu Chen gently wiped away her tears and looked at her tenderly.

“I hope that when you wake up tomorrow, I’ll see a confident and beautiful Li Qinglian standing before me.”

“All right, husband, I’ll listen to you,” she said, touched by the unprecedented gentleness of this man.

At this moment, a feeling of happiness welled up inside her.

Chu Chen pointed to the pile of clothes and cloth in the corner and spoke to Li Qinglian again.

“These clothes were all bought for you. I don’t know if they’ll fit. Try them on. If not, give them to Second Aunt.”

“And the cloth—please make me a few sets of clothes.”

Earlier, Li Qinglian hadn’t noticed and assumed the cloth was for Chu Chen. She had even thought about making clothes for him tomorrow.

She hadn’t expected he would also buy clothes for her—and more than one.

Suddenly on the verge of tears again, she was silenced by a sharp look from Chu Chen.

“To have her transform overnight from someone who can barely fill her belly to a wealthy lady—it’s really not a matter of a single day or two,” Chu Chen thought quietly.

Meanwhile, Li Qinglian held the pile of clothes, staring at herself in a daze.