In the end, to comfort his wife, Wen Yan was carried step by step by Jiang Zhou onto the boat.

Wen Yan was naturally small in stature, and especially after giving birth to Xiao Yi, he appeared even slimmer than before, so carrying him was not a strenuous task for Jiang Zhou.

Jiang Zhou carried him on his back and leaned his head close to Wen Yan. He spoke softly, “So, let’s name Xiao Yi as Jiang Rendong, alright?”

Wen Yan replied, “Alright.”

“And remember, don’t cry when you feel wronged. Tell Zhou-ge right away, okay?”

“Okay.”

Jiang Zhou lifted him slightly, “My wife is young. When we go back, you’ll eat well and gain some weight, alright?”

Wen Yan rested on his back, feeling the faint warmth that passed from Jiang Zhou’s body to his own. It made him drowsy, so he answered, “Okay.”

With his wife on his back, Jiang Zhou felt content and hummed a tune as they walked.

Wen Yan had never heard this particular melody before, so he asked curiously, “What are you humming?”

Jiang Zhou cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed to admit that he was humming the song ‘Pig Butcher Carrying His Wife Back.’ He just smiled and said, “Oh, it’s nothing, just humming whatever comes to mind.”

Wen Yan was somewhat skeptical but felt sleepy. He decided to let it go and settled on Jiang Zhou’s back, not saying another word.

“Wife?”

“Hmm.”

“Wife.”

“Yes.”

“Wife.”

“…”

When Jiang Zhou glanced back, he saw that Wen Yan had closed his eyes and was dozing off on his back.

Jiang Zhou stopped talking and continued humming softly to lull him to sleep.

As they approached the dock, light snow began to fall from the sky. At first, it was only a few sporadic flakes that melted before reaching the ground.

Jiang Zhou looked up at the sky, where the clouds had gathered and darkened. He worried that a heavy snowfall was on the way.

He carefully shifted Wen Yan from his back to his arms, removed his robe, placed Wen Yan in the crook of his arm, covered him with the robe, and resumed walking.

Wen Yan briefly woke up during the transition and asked with confusion, “What’s going on?”

Jiang Zhou reassured him, “It’s alright, it’s snowing, and heavy snow might follow. We need to hurry back.”

Wen Yan responded with an understanding “Oh” and tried to think more about it, but was gently stopped by Jiang Zhou, who said, “Don’t worry, I’ll carry you.”

Jiang Zhou picked up his pace and reached Uncle Yu’s boat just before the heavy snowfall began. He told Uncle Yu that there was no need to make the halfway stop today and that they should head straight back to Xiaohe Village.

The weather had grown too cold, and Jiang Zhou was concerned about the heavy snowfall on the return trip. Additionally, he didn’t want to put Uncle Yu through any unnecessary hardship, given that he was elderly.

Uncle Yu understood Jiang Zhou’s intentions and quickly took them back to the mountain village.

Uncle Yu lived very close to Lu Xiangxi’s home, so Jiang Zhou asked him to relay a message to Lu Xiangxi not to come today. Then, he carried Wen Yan to their home.

The weather had turned bitterly cold, and Jiang Zhou’s house lacked sufficient warmth. Luckily, he had made preparations and had enough winter supplies to last a day or two. He lit the stove in their room, moved it closer to the bed, placed a pot of hot water on the stove, and brought out a quilt to cover Wen Yan.

Since he wasn’t sure about the weather conditions for the next day, Jiang Zhou didn’t prepare too many oden ingredients, opting for half of the usual quantity.

Once the preparations were done, the water on the stove had reached the right temperature. Jiang Zhou poured a cup and set it aside to cool. He then mixed the remaining hot water with cold water to make it comfortable for wiping their necks and faces. After wiping their faces clean, he gave Wen Yan a sip of the hot water. With everything in order, he got into bed.

Despite the chill in the air, his body had warmed up from working for so long. Additionally, his natural body heat made him feel like a small furnace.

As a habit, Wen Yan shifted closer to him, gradually curling up into a comfortable position in his arms and ceased moving.

Jiang Zhou, elated to be holding his dear wife once again after a year, remained excited for quite some time before carefully pulling him close.

Wen Yan, when asleep, was soft and sweet. He appeared no different from when he was awake, maintaining a quiet and well-behaved demeanor with gentle breathing sounds. He had grown accustomed to Jiang Zhou’s presence in the past.

Later, he had to protect Xiao Yi while sleeping, his hands would stretch out to support the baby. Now that Jiang Zhou was holding him in his arms, he immediately hugged his waist and gently rubbed it.

Jiang Zhou froze and didn’t dare to move until Wen Yan fell back to sleep. It wasn’t until then that he pulled up the quilt and fell asleep too.

It was a peaceful night without dreams.

The next day, Wen Yan woke up in bed and sensed that something was amiss. This wasn’t the familiar bed he knew.

He blinked, trying to recall, before remembering that it had snowed the day before, and Jiang Zhou had carried him back home.

He reached out and touched the pillow and bed beside him, feeling only a faint warmth. Jiang Zhou must have been up for a while. As he was about to get up, he saw Jiang Zhou entering from outside, his head covered in snow.

“Don’t get up just yet. Your clothes got wet from the snow yesterday, and I was worried they might catch fire in the middle of the night, so I didn’t move them. I’ve just hung them up, and they haven’t dried yet. You should stay in bed a while longer and wait for your clothes to dry.”

Wen Yan rolled up in the quilt and laid back down. “Where have you been? You came back with a head full of snow.”

“I went outside to check if the river froze over. If it’s frozen, it’s not good for business,” Jiang Zhou replied. “I told your parents that you’d stay with me until the snow melts.”

Wen Yan hesitated for a moment but decided to bring up the issue. “But Xiao Yi’s hundredth day celebration is the day after tomorrow.”

“It’s not a problem; I’ve already checked. Even though it snowed heavily, it’s not very deep, and it melts immediately upon falling. It will probably be gone in a few days.”

Wen Yan fell silent. He laid in bed, wearing only his underclothes, and then he remembered that yesterday was the first time they had slept together in a year.

He peeked out from under the quilt and saw Jiang Zhou stirring something in a pot on the stove, his head bowed.

“The porridge will be ready in a moment. You can have a bowl and then get some more sleep.”

Jiang Zhou raised his head and met Wen Yan’s eyes peering out. They locked eyes for a moment, with Jiang Zhou maintaining his composure, while Wen Yan turned away.

The porridge on the stove was bubbling away, emitting a delightful, sweet aroma.

Wen Yan couldn’t resist his curiosity any longer and asked, “What kind of porridge did you cook?”

Jiang Zhou filled a bowl with the porridge and handed it to him, replying, “It’s salted egg and lean meat porridge.”

Preserved eggs were originally obtained by bartering with villagers for pork. With an abundance of duck eggs and unsure of what else to make, Jiang Zhou decided to make salted eggs a few days ago. They had been sitting for two days.

Wen Yan had never tasted salted eggs, let alone heard of them, so he was quite intrigued.

Jiang Zhou had been cooking the porridge since he woke up. He seasoned it only with salt and cooked it to a thick, creamy consistency, with the rice grains melting in one’s mouth.

Wen Yan sipped a bowl of it and felt a comforting warmth spread in his stomach. “It’s delicious,” he remarked with bright eyes, clearly wanting more.

Jiang Zhou took the bowl back, cautioning, “While the salted egg porridge is tasty, you shouldn’t have too much.”

The salted eggs he made didn’t follow the high-tech methods of salted eggs from his memory. He used the simplest recipe, which had some mildly harmful substances. Consuming too much of it wasn’t advisable for one’s health.

Fortunately, Wen Yan was obedient and followed Jiang Zhou’s guidance without resistance. When told not to consume too much, he refrained from having another bowl and resorted to eating snacks instead.

After finishing their meal and tidying up, Jiang Zhou started contemplating what to prepare for the 100-day banquet.