Su Jin propped her head up and thought. Since she arrived here, she had eaten several pounds of meat. Buying meat required ration coupons, sugar needed sugar coupons, and even that required money. Where did he get all of this?
“Hiss~”
She touched her chin, wondering if he might have a secret stash of savings. After all, she had married him without really knowing his family’s financial situation.
Looking at him, he seemed just like a rough village man. If he hadn’t married her, his life would probably have been simple and careless—eating and drinking without much refinement. Could it be that he was secretly a big shot?
Su Jin’s heart leapt. So marrying Jiang Heng meant she could finally relax. Until now, her whole life had been a constant cycle of learning, with hardly any holidays or rest. Now she had a husband to rely on—she didn’t feel like working hard anymore.
Suddenly, she understood why so many handsome men had “deliberately tried to seduce” her in the past.
Just as she was about to take a bath, Su Jin noticed something. “Huh, where’s the soap?”
It was only then that she realized people in this era mainly used soap to bathe. Things like body wash and shampoo were rare—some she hadn’t even heard of.
Jiang Heng noticed too. Indeed, there was none left.
“Tonight, you’ll have to manage without. Tomorrow I’ll take you to the supply cooperative to buy some things.”
“The supply cooperative?” Su Jin thought. That should be a place to purchase goods.
“Yeah. Yangling Village is remote. Going to the city’s big markets takes a lot of time, but the commune’s supply cooperative has a lot of what you need.”
“Do… we have coupons at home?” she hesitated before asking. Meat and grain coupons were fairly common, but cloth and other types of coupons were scarce.
“Of course. Don’t worry about that—you’ll have plenty.”
Jiang Heng, with his back turned, curved his lips into a wide smile. So his little wife was still worried about money? No wonder she always seemed concerned about something. Thinking this, Jiang Heng felt a pang of guilt—how could he let his wife worry about these things?
Then he turned to her. “Tomorrow we’ll go. Think about what you want to buy now. We have enough coupons and money.”
Su Jin was about to make a plan in case there weren’t enough coupons, when she noticed him. Sitting on the bed, he looked at her with an expectant gaze. “Really?”
Jiang Heng pulled an iron box from the locked cabinet. “Open it and see if I’m lying.”
Su Jin opened it and saw it was filled with neatly rolled bundles and stacked ration coupons: grain coupons of one pound, three pounds, meat coupons, cloth coupons, industrial coupons, sugar coupons…
She froze. My goodness, her husband was so wealthy for someone living in this village. In her mind, she added, Although still not as rich as me (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎).
The bundles alone must be worth over a thousand. Jiang Heng ruffled her hair, signaling that she needn’t worry about money. His wife would be pampered in every way.
The dim, warm yellow light reflected their intimate silhouettes. Jiang Heng leaned close to Su Jin, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he stared at his wife’s delicate, fair profile, soft and sweet like glutinous rice cakes. He tried to suppress the urge to bite her, keeping a calm face, but inside he was completely distracted.
Su Jin’s long, fair fingers traced up Jiang Heng’s arm, across his shoulder, and up to his neck, lifting his chin with one hand.
Just as she was about to make the next move…
Jiang Heng grabbed her mischievous hand. “No touching.”
His tone was firm, with a hint of coldness that kept others at bay. Su Jin felt disappointed—she had thought the moment was just right to make a move.
Unexpectedly, her husband interrupted her. Jiang Heng’s face darkened, his features sharp and cold, and the atmosphere immediately turned tense, enveloping the room in silence.
“Ha~ha~”
Su Jin laughed awkwardly, while Jiang Heng abruptly stood, taking long strides out the door like he was running away. Normally, he had just shown her the money and coupons, trusting her to buy whatever she wanted. Wasn’t that a sign of trust?
Having no experience in romance, she was confused. Looking into the big red mirror, she saw herself—fair, delicate, flawless, breathtaking.
Meanwhile, Jiang Heng leaned against the wall, eyelashes lowered, his profile sharp under the shadow, exuding both coldness and desire. Only he knew how much he had restrained himself—when Su Jin’s fingertips brushed his skin, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. Even so, he felt his body betraying his mouth, his heart leaping with a new, unprecedented sensation.
Leaning against the wall in the moonlight, his breath came in heavy puffs. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, down his chin, along the moving Adam’s apple. Only after some time did he lift his white undershirt to wipe his forehead, letting his body cool a bit. If he hadn’t stopped Su Jin’s teasing, his wife might have ended up crying that night.
Meanwhile, Su Jin tossed and turned on the bed, mumbling in frustration. Her cheeks puffed in irritation.
It was late, and she still couldn’t see Jiang Heng’s return. Used to having a human-sized warm “heater” next to her, she had trouble sleeping.
Su Jin’s eyes gleamed mischievously. She realized she couldn’t rush things—this man was secretly passionate. On the surface, they seemed respectful and proper. After all, Jiang Heng had saved her and married her to protect her reputation; much of his care for her was out of responsibility.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled slyly, planning her next moves to win over Jiang Heng.
So far, Su Jin had been the one taking initiative. Based on his previous reactions, although he seemed cold and rough on the outside, he had still been teased by her. She decided to now use a strategy of retreat to advance.
“Snore~”
When Jiang Heng returned, he saw Su Jin curled up in a corner, breathing softly. Seeing her delicate profile, he gently traced her face with a bent finger, his expression full of endless tenderness.
This was the newlywed night of Su Jin and Jiang Heng—the rough village man and his unexpected sweet little wife.
