A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Chen Shujie caused quite a stir on the day she returned to her parents' home, but it had nothing to do with the first wife's family.

Wang Jinzhu continued doing what she was supposed to do, and life went on as usual.

Chen Tianfang, on the other hand, seems to be holding something back these past few days.

Early in the morning, he carried a wood-chopping knife out the door, saying he was going to chop firewood in the back mountain. Wang Jinzhu glanced at the short knife tucked into his waistband—it wasn't a wood-chopping knife, but a hunting knife for skinning animals.

"Bringing a hunting knife when chopping wood?"

Chen Tianfang looked down and his ears turned red.

"Just taking a look around."

Wang Jinzhu was too lazy to ask further; this person always lied, and his ears were more honest than his mouth.

In the afternoon, Chen Tianfang returned, carrying half a bundle of firewood on his shoulder and two pheasants in his right hand. The pheasants' legs were tied with straw ropes, and they were flapping their wings.

Chen Tianrun was the first to rush out: "Brother! Wild chicken!"

Chen Tianfang tossed the firewood in the corner of the yard, put the two pheasants on the ground, and called out into the house, "Jinzhu, come out."

Wang Jinzhu lifted the curtain and came out, saw the pheasant, and raised an eyebrow.

"Not chopping wood?"

"Just something." Chen Tianfang pulled something out of his pocket—a handful of dusty wild hawthorns wrapped in leaves. "I saw them on the way, they're sour. Didn't you say you had no taste in your mouth last time—"

Before she could finish speaking, Wang Jinzhu had already picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth, her eyes squinting from the sourness.

"Delicious!" Chen Tianfang grinned immediately.

Chen Tianwei watched from the side, secretly amused.

Wang Jinzhu squatted at the kitchen door plucking pheasant feathers, while Chen Tian boiled water beside her. The firelight cast their shadows, one tall and one short, one nimble and the other clumsy.

Chen Tianfang's fire-starting skills were poor; the fire was inconsistent in size, and he was glared at by Wang Jinzhu twice.

"Go chop wood."

"I'll help you—"

"The stove doesn't need you. Go away."

Chen Tianfang stood up, took two steps, and then turned back.

"Golden Pearl".

"Um?"

"I'll go to the back mountain again tomorrow, you'll come with me."

Wang Jinzhu's hands didn't stop moving, but her eyes flickered.

"What are you going to do in the back mountain?"

"Let me see something."

"What is it?"

Chen Tianfang, unusually, kept it a secret and didn't say anything.

The next morning, the couple headed towards the back of the mountain.

Chen Tianfang led the way, with Wang Jinzhu following behind. Chen Tianrun insisted on coming along, but Chen Tianwei pulled him back—"Why are you getting involved when your sister-in-law and brother are going out alone?"

It's not far from the back mountain. Go around the pine forest behind the village and walk up the stream for half an hour.

Chen Tianfang had walked this road hundreds of times; he could walk it with his eyes closed without getting lost. He would occasionally glance back at Wang Jinzhu to see if she was having any trouble climbing the hill.

Wang Jinzhu, weighing 120 pounds, did find walking on mountain paths more strenuous than the thinner villagers, but she gritted her teeth and kept quiet. When her parents were home, she had gone up the mountain with Wang Dali to cut pig feed, so her legs weren't too bad.

Chen Tianfang, however, couldn't stand it anymore and came back to squat down.

"Come up."

"what?"

"I'll carry you. The road ahead is steep."

Wang Jinzhu glared at him: "I weigh 120 pounds, can you carry me?"

Without a second thought, Chen Tianfang said, "I've carried a 200-pound wild boar before."

That sounded rather harsh!

"Then you carry me." When Wang Jinzhu climbed on, Chen Tianfang's back was as broad as a door panel, steady and warm. Walking in the woods, the pine needles rustled under their feet, and sparse sunlight filtered down from above, shining on the two of them.

Wang Jinzhu rested her chin on his shoulder.

"What are you going to show me?"

"We're almost there."

After walking for another fifteen minutes, Chen Tianfang turned onto a narrower path and stopped in front of a shady cliff, carefully putting Wang Jinzhu down.

Wang Jinzhu steadied herself, looked up, and froze.

At the foot of the cliff, a large patch of wildflowers grew—purple, white, and yellow—crowded together densely, blooming in full glory in the afternoon spring sunshine. The purple ones were wild azaleas, the white ones looked like tiny fluffy balls of starlight, and the yellow ones were patches of wild chrysanthemums. When the wind blew, they swayed in layers, as if adding a splendid border to the gray cliff.

"I saw it a few days ago while chasing a rabbit," Chen Tianfang said, standing beside her, his voice softer than usual. "I was thinking... you might like it."

Wang Jinzhu didn't speak, but slowly walked towards the flower patch. She squatted down in front of the flower patch and reached out to touch a cluster of purple petals. The petals were soft and carried the unique, crisp scent of the mountains.

"It looks good." Her tone was light, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, and her eyes seemed to brighten a little.

As if he had received some reward, Chen Tianfang immediately squatted down as well. His rough fingers fiddled with the flowers, picking out a few of the best-blooming purple azaleas and adding a few small white flowers, clumsily but carefully weaving them together.

Before long, a rather plain, even slightly crooked, wreath took shape in his hands. He looked up at Wang Jinzhu, then at the wreath, seemingly a little embarrassed, but still handed it over.

"for you."

Wang Jinzhu looked at the flower wreath, then at him. Chen Tianfang's ears turned slightly red again, his gaze darting away, fixed only on the flower wreath in her hand.

She took it, but didn't put it on immediately; she just held it in her hand and twirled it around. The petals on the wreath were still damp with mountain dew.

"The writing is a bit off," she commented.

Chen Tianfang scratched the back of his head and chuckled twice.

Wang Jinzhu eventually put the flower wreath on her head. The purple flowers, against her round face, even gave her a bright and lively look.

She turned her head, about to speak, but her gaze was drawn to a rather inconspicuous patch of grayish-white beside the flowerbed and below the cliff.

Its color was different from the surrounding brownish-yellow soil and dark gray rocks. She subconsciously got up, pushed aside a few clumps of overgrown grass, walked closer, squatted down, and scratched at the grayish-white rock wall with her fingers.

The powder fell in a soft rustling sound, and she picked up a little and rubbed it between her fingers. The powder was fine, with a unique, slightly rough texture.

Saltpeter can be used to make ice. In the summer, wealthy families in town would spend several tens of coins on a bowl of iced drink.

Chen Tianfang followed her over and looked down at the grayish-white stone in her hand: "What's wrong with this stone? I saw it last time; this whole rock face is this color, unlike the rest of the area."

Wang Jinzhu didn't answer immediately. Her mind raced; saltpeter releases heat when it comes into contact with water, which can then be used to make ice. In the summer, a bowl of iced drink could fetch the price of meat in town.

The Wang family owns a butcher shop in town. What if they set up a stall next to the shop to sell iced drinks...?

But she quickly suppressed the thought.

not now.

They haven't separated yet. If she manages to find a way to make money now, most of the money she earns will probably go towards supporting Chen Shuyan's studies. She's not that foolish.

"Is this stone useful?" Chen Tianfang asked. He didn't understand these things, but judging from Wang Jinzhu's expression, he knew she had figured it out.

"It works." Wang Jinzhu stood up, dusting off her hands, "but not now."

Chen Tianfang didn't ask any more questions. If his wife said it was useful, it was useful; if she said it wasn't now, it wasn't now.

"Wait for when?"

"Equal division of the family."

Chen Tianfang paused for a moment. "Shuyan will take the imperial examination next year. If he passes..."

"If he gets into the family, he'll definitely cause trouble and try to separate the family," Wang Jinzhu said with certainty. "That kind of person of his, he'll abandon the main wife after he's used her."

Chen Tianfang didn't refute it; he knew Chen Shuyan better than anyone else what kind of person he was.

The two didn't leave immediately. Wang Jinzhu walked back to the flowerbed and sat down again. Chen Tianfang sat down next to her, about a fist's distance between them.

A mountain breeze blew by, carrying the scents of pine resin, earth, and faint flowers. Wang Jinzhu, unusually, didn't think about anything; she simply gazed at the vibrant, seemingly useless, yet undeniably uplifting flowers before her.

Chen Tianfang glanced at her sideways. Sunlight shone on her face, her chubby cheeks dappled with the shadows of the flowers, and wisps of hair fluttered in the wind by her temples. The slightly crooked flower wreath was still on her head.

good looking.

Those two words popped into his mind again, and this time he didn't look away.

"Golden Pearl".

"Um."

"Now that we've separated, I'll hunt more, and you can do whatever you want."

"That was the original plan."

"I mean," Chen Tianfang unusually added, "you don't have to shoulder everything yourself. I'm here for you."

Wang Jinzhu turned to look at him. This man was usually as taciturn as a stone, but today he was acting all coy and unpredictable. She didn't reply, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she reached out to straighten the flower wreath on her head.

On the way down the mountain, Chen Tianfang carried her on his back.

Wang Jinzhu clung to his back, still clutching the few purple wild azaleas she had picked from the flowerbed. After walking a while, she turned back to look at the vibrant colors blooming below the cliff, and the silent, greyish-white rock face beside them.

One is aesthetically pleasing, and the other is practical.

We all have to wait.