Marry a Northern Song Dynasty civil servant

Chapter 4

Song Xiaohua is clearly neither of those, so it's perfectly normal for her heart to flutter a little.

However, first, she needed to make herself beautiful and alluring, so she could make her move. Her current appearance was already quite good; with a little maintenance, she could at least be pretty and charming, if not dazzlingly beautiful. Then, with the aid of 21st-century "handsome guy seduction techniques," she was determined to make Lu Ziqi fall head over heels for her, regretting his "blind" decision and weeping bitterly! Hehehe…

Thinking about her triumphant and glorious future, Song Xiaohua couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

Feeling her body tremble, Lu Ling turned her head and looked up at her with a puzzled expression, asking, "Mommy, what's wrong? Are you cold?"

This silly boy, who would be shivering from the cold with a roaring fire burning in the stove? Song Xiaohua was thinking of how to brush him off when Lu Ling pulled her hand to his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and breathed heavily on it: "In winter, Uncle Huo always warms Ling'er like this, Mommy, are you still cold?"

Looking at Lu Ling's earnest expression and bright, dark eyes, Song Xiaohua felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears. She hugged the small body tightly in her arms: "I'm not cold anymore, I'm not cold anymore, Mommy isn't cold. Ling'er is so good, so obedient, so sensible, Mommy loves you to death!"

As she spoke, she kissed his fair and rosy cheeks several more times, making Lu Ling giggle incessantly. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck, knelt on her knees, and returned the kisses just as she did, murmuring in his childish voice, "Mother is the best, Ling'er loves Mother too..."

With his back to them, Lu Ziqi listened to the conversation and the laughter of the two, one big and one small, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but turn up higher and higher.

This is what a warm and happy home feels like... although the way we express our feelings seems a bit too direct...

In just about half an hour, Lu Ziqi prepared four side dishes and a pot of clear soup.

"Wow! It looks delicious!" Song Xiaohua sniffed hard. "It looks and smells amazing! So you know about 'four dishes and a soup for comfort and health'!"

Lu Ziqi lifted his shirt and sat down: "That statement... is not bad, it makes some sense."

"Of course..."

Song Xiaohua originally wanted to say that these eight words were the essence of the "anti-corruption and integrity" campaign, but thinking that it would be too inappropriate for such words to come from the mouth of a girl who probably didn't even know what corruption was, she held back.

As Lu Ziqi lifted Lu Ling onto the specially made, slightly higher chair, he said, "The dishes are all rather light, which is good for your health."

Song Xiaohua has never been particularly demanding when it comes to food; as long as the taste is acceptable and she can eat her fill, she's fine. So, she knows absolutely nothing about cooking. However, it's clear that today's meal is significantly more refined than what Aunt Zhang has made before, and it looks quite appealing and smells delicious.

Her illness had depleted her energy, and now, with few snacks and only three meals a day to sustain her, her appetite was exceptionally good. She felt ravenously hungry and, with a shout of "Dinner's ready!", began to devour her food. While not quite like a tiger descending a mountain or a wolf pouncing on its prey, her manner and demeanor were enough to make her stand out among the countless beauties of the Northern Song Dynasty…

Lu Ling was used to this kind of scene and just focused on eating his meal. Lu Ziqi, however, was seeing it for the first time. Even though he was usually very composed, he couldn't hide his surprise at this moment.

To be honest, Song Xiaohua's eating habits weren't that bad; she just ate a bit too fast and in large quantities. This would be perfectly normal for a 21st-century urban office worker who eats like it's a battle. However, for a young wife who should have been shy and cautious over a thousand years ago, it's quite strange, even bizarre.

Lu Ziqi habitually raised an eyebrow, and a ridiculous thought suddenly popped into his head: Could it be that his newlywed wife had been switched with someone else...?

However, seeing her eat so heartily made others' appetites soar as well.

Her unpretentious simplicity and authenticity are exactly what I've always wanted. So, no matter what twists of fate led to this outcome, it's not only harmless, but it's even a pleasant surprise.

He smiled with relief and picked up his chopsticks.

Author's Note: Well…it's said that scholars in ancient times would absolutely never enter the kitchen, let alone an official like him. So, regarding the scene where the male lead cooks…just consider this my wildest fantasy about the perfect man…TT~

Chapter Five: The Grand Bathing Plan

After eating and drinking their fill, Song Xiaohua and Lu Ling washed pots and dishes by the well. Although it was called working, it was mostly just playing around.

When Lu Ziqi brought over a bowl of herbal medicine, he saw that not only was the ground covered in puddles, but he was also soaked. Almost half an hour had passed, and the pots and pans that needed washing were still sitting there almost untouched.

The slight displeasure in her heart vanished when she saw the two water sprites, one big and one small, beaming with joy. At the same time, a little worry arose: would there be any problem entrusting Ling'er to a girl who was still a big kid herself...?

"Alright, stop playing around." He shook his head helplessly, walked over, and handed the medicine bowl to Song Xiaohua: "It's time to take your medicine." He then bent down to wipe the water droplets from Lu Ling's forehead: "Go inside and change your wet clothes."

Lu Ling looked at Song Xiaohua with reluctance, while Song Xiaohua stared bitterly at the dark Chinese medicine.

She truly admires the greatness of traditional Chinese medicine, that's for sure. However, she really misses Western medicine's injections, IV drips, and pills! But longing is one thing, reality is another; longing is wonderful, but reality is unbearably bitter…

Holding my breath and closing my eyes, I silently counted "one, two, three," then tilted my head back and drank it all in one gulp with great bravado. I secretly vowed once again to eat well, drink well, sleep well, exercise well, and build up my health—not just for beauty, but also so that I would never again have the chance to drink such bitter, almost unbearably bitter Chinese medicine in my lifetime!

Seeing the grief and indignation on her face as she drank her medicine, and her face scrunched up in a grimace, Lu Ziqi couldn't help but recall that Ling'er always looked the same when she was sick and taking medicine. So he smiled, took the empty bowl, and pretended to be angry while suppressing his laughter, saying, "You've only just gotten a little better and you're already so careless. What if you accidentally catch a cold again? Won't you become a walking medicine cabinet, eating medicine every meal?"

Lu Ling understood Song Xiaohua's pain all too well. Hearing this, he was startled and quickly tugged at her sleeve: "Mother, Mother, come with me to change your clothes. Medicine is the hardest to drink. You can't keep drinking it!"

Song Xiaohua was dragged a few steps by him before she remembered to turn around and yell at Lu Ziqi, who was still standing there, "I'll wash those pots and pans later!"

Lu Ziqi simply smiled and remained silent. Only after they turned the corner did he roll up his sleeves, squat down, and begin tidying up the mess before him.

During his year in 'Beiya County', although Huo Nan took care of his daily life, he also did his share of household chores. Firstly, to help out, and secondly, because he gradually discovered that he enjoyed it.

Ordinary life and simple, mundane things are actually the most precious and hard to come by.

I didn't understand it then, and now that I do, it's too late...

——————————————————————————

——————————————————————————

In the afternoon, Lu Ziqi went to the county government office, while Song Xiaohua took Lu Ling to the street.

So far, the furthest she'd gone was a short trip with Aunt Zhang to the nearby market. Today, feeling great and in a wonderful mood, with clear short-term goals for the future, she made her first major shopping plan since arriving here—to buy a bathtub!

Having been here for so long, she hadn't had a proper bath yet. Aunt Zhang, using the excuse that she shouldn't get wet while sick, practically made her skip washing her face. She begged and pleaded, almost threatening suicide, before finally getting the chance to wipe herself with a wet wipe. Later, she secretly washed her hair twice.

Otherwise, one would surely have smelled the stench before even seeing the person...

Thank goodness it's not summer now! Life without modern bathing facilities is just unbearable!

According to Song Xiaohua's understanding these days, people in the Song Dynasty bathed very frequently. There were public bathhouses in various places, and many homes also had rooms similar to bathrooms.

For wealthy people with both money and leisure time, it's at least once a day. Of course, if they have obsessive-compulsive disorder or other problems, it might be several times a day... As for ordinary people, it depends on the season, but on average, they can always guarantee about once every three to five days.

Women naturally couldn't go to public bathhouses, so they usually bathed at home using wooden or copper tubs or basins.

Song Xiaohua only found a small bathtub at home, which was for Lu Ling. She had initially thought Lu Ziqi was the kind of extreme person who only bathed twice a year, once in summer and once in winter, but she hadn't expected him to be a cold-water bath enthusiast. That was for the best; she wouldn't have to worry about hygiene issues from sharing a bathtub with someone else.

Hehe, she's been eyeing that big wooden bathtub for so long, and now she can finally enjoy it all by herself!

It takes about twenty minutes to walk from home to the market. The original magistrate's residence was behind the county government office, in the most bustling and prosperous area of the county. However, Lu Ziqi converted it into a public school, and he moved to a dilapidated courtyard in the suburbs.

When talking about this, Aunt Zhang couldn't help but shower her with endless praise and express her gratitude.

Song Xiaohua led Lu Ling along, enjoying the warm autumn afternoon sun and gentle breeze, and taking in the golden farmland along the way.

She was a typical city dweller, completely unskilled in physical labor and ignorant of farming, having practically never seen any living crops in the fields growing up. On this trip, Lu Ling acted as her guide, this 'newbie' who found everything new and unfamiliar. Despite his young age, the little rascal knew quite a bit and truly broadened Song Xiaohua's knowledge considerably.

It was the busy autumn harvest season, and most farmers were working in the fields. The streets were sparsely populated, but surprisingly, eight out of ten people she encountered recognized Lu Ling. When greeting her, Lu Ling would always loudly introduce the petite, radiant woman beside him: "This is my mother!" Without exception, Song Xiaohua would immediately feel a genuine and overflowing warmth.

This situation became even more pronounced after entering the city and the market.

Song Xiaohua quickly grasped two truths: First, never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Second, the giant pandas in zoos aren't actually that happy...

She had only visited a few shops when almost everyone in the market knew that Magistrate Lu's new wife had arrived.

So, amidst the warm greetings of the crowd and the intense gazes of everyone, Song Xiaohua finally arrived at the place that specialized in selling bath tubs, stopping every few steps.

Patting her face, which was stiff from smiling and even starting to cramp, she sighed deeply, "Being a leader or a celebrity, those are jobs that no human can do..."

"Mommy, they all like you very much!"

Glancing at Lu Ling, whose eyes were practically gleaming with excitement, Song Xiaohua mumbled weakly, "It's all thanks to your old man..."

She finally realized, to some extent, that being the wife of an honest official is no easy task!

"Madam Lu's presence at our humble shop is truly an honor, and we are deeply fortunate to have her..." The shop owner, who had been waiting patiently, finally found an opportunity to speak and immediately launched into a series of exaggerated compliments.

"Likewise, you're too kind!" Song Xiaohua laughed jokingly, looking around the store.

Legend has it that the Song Dynasty was economically prosperous and rich in resources, and this is indeed true. Although 'Beiya County' was just a poor border county, it had a wide variety of daily necessities, including many finely crafted and high-quality items.

Song Xiaohua had inquired about the price of bathtubs from Aunt Zhang beforehand. Since she had no concept of prices, she couldn't judge whether they were expensive or cheap. However, since it was an essential item for every household, it shouldn't be as shockingly expensive as it is over a thousand years later, to the point that people would want to rob a bank.

As she wandered around, lost in thought, whenever she stopped to show interest in an item, the shopkeeper beside her would immediately rattle off its material, function, advantages, disadvantages, and price—sounding fairly honest. After all, he certainly didn't have the guts to rip off the magistrate's wife.

Finally, Song Xiaohua and her "shopping advisor" Lu Ling reached a consensus and chose a carved bathtub that was mid-to-high-end. The price was also within her budget.

The money in Song Xiaohua's pocket was her dowry. As a modern person who knows that "money is not everything, but you can't do without it", the first thing she did after waking up and finding that she had "transmigrated" was to quickly find out how much she had to rely on.