Sky went to wash a basin of dirty clothes by the river after Aries' father-in-law left the house grumbling. He thought since the sun was out, he'd better get it done early so the clothes could dry by evening.
Aries' father, Mawen, was never a hardworking man. In the past, he only washed his and Aries' clothes when they were extremely filthy—and even then, they were never truly clean.
Sky noticed while tidying up that there wasn't a single piece of clean clothing in the house. Everything was crumpled into balls and stuffed into the closet.
Although the Ning family was also poor, Sky's mother, Ning Wushi, was hardworking and neat. Sky had grown up watching her and picked up the same habits. He couldn't stand a messy home.
So on his first day in Aries' home, he rolled up his sleeves and started cleaning. It was just too messy.
After working all yesterday afternoon and this morning, he finally got the house in order. He'd carried three full buckets of water just to wipe down the place.
He was hanging up the laundry when he heard the sound of wheels and the neighing of horses getting closer.
He looked up and saw Aries driving the cart home.
Sky didn't notice anything else—his eyes were only filled with his wife.
She looked so strong and cool driving the cart!
Sky's heart beat fast. He quickly wiped his wet hands and opened the door to greet her.
"Welcome home, wife!"
Aries looked up and saw her little husband coming out with a bright smile. His almond-shaped eyes were full of joy.
They were eyes that smiled too, making Aries' heart itch a little.
At the gate, the cart was too big to fit through the small door, so she had to unload outside.
She jumped down and went to the back to move things. As for Mawen, he didn't need Aries' help at all.
He was only thinking about the stuff in the back of the cart. As soon as it stopped, he couldn't wait to reach out and touch the fabric.
Immediately, five dirty fingerprints appeared on the clean cloth.
Then came a loud slap! Aries hit the back of his hand.
"Go wash your hands. If they're not clean, you're not allowed to touch anything."
Looking at his slightly red hand and the stained fabric, Mawen was unhappy but didn't say a word. He obediently got off the cart and went to the yard to wash up.
Sky stood quietly by the cart and softly said again, "Wife…"
Aries gave a small "Mm" in response, and he began helping with the things in the back of the cart.
Seeing how skinny he was, Aries remembered how bony he'd felt in her arms last night. She only let him carry the light things and left the heavier ones for herself.
"You go inside and sort those things. I'll bring the rest."
Her tone was calm, but Sky could hear the care in her voice. His heart warmed, and the tips of his ears turned red.
"Yes, I understand."
He walked into the house holding the fabric, while Aries followed with the other items.
Seeing his red ears, Aries thought, He was bold just now, but now he's shy?
After washing his hands, Mawen came out and saw them both carrying things into the house. He didn't leave again and just followed them in.
He had to see what his daughter Aries had bought.
This was the first time she'd ever brought anything home. He couldn't let her waste money on useless stuff. Whatever wasn't practical would be returned tomorrow.
Aries saw him and had no intention of letting him touch anything.
"Go clean out all the junk in your room. Get rid of it. Don't leave it lying around."
Mawen looked around in confusion. "What junk? Everything's still useful!"
Aries ignored him and pointed straight at his bed. "Everything on there—throw it out."
Then she turned to Sky, who was organizing the spices. "Ours too—everything on our bed goes."
"Yes, wife!"
Sky was busy but had been listening to Aries the whole time, so he quickly answered.
When he heard her say our bed, he blushed again.
Still, he felt it was wasteful to throw the bedding out.
Yes, it was old and dirty. Okay, very dirty. But after a good wash, it could still be used.
However, since his wife said so, he quietly kept working without arguing.
He thought, Father-in-law is so stingy he doesn't even allow extra grains in cooking. Today, when wife wasn't home, he told me to use more water and fewer grains. He definitely won't agree with this.
Just as he expected, Mawen immediately protested, "They're all fine! Why throw them out? We can still use them!"
Aries frowned, clearly unhappy.
She simply didn't want dirty things in her home. Now that they had new stuff, why keep the old, filthy ones?
"I said throw them out, so throw them out. If you don't want to, then don't use any of the new things."
She didn't argue further and cut him off completely.
Mawen was only stingy before because they had no money.
But now that there were better things, of course he wanted to enjoy them too.
As soon as Aries said he couldn't have the new things, he gave in right away.
He was already imagining himself wearing new clothes and showing off—how could he miss out?
So he went to his room, gathered his bedding, and threw it outside. Staring at the sheets and blankets on the ground, he felt a strong sense of loss.
But then he remembered—they now had a hundred taels of silver! Why care about this little bit?
Feeling better, he happily went back inside.
Seeing that his father-in-law couldn't argue with Aries either, Sky had no choice but to go to their room and start cleaning too.
While tidying up, he heard Aries call out again, "Throw out all the old, ragged clothes in the wardrobe too."
Sky sighed and went to clean out the wardrobe.
While he worked, he thought, Good thing I washed a lot of clothes today. Otherwise, she might've tossed everything.
Wife is really wasteful. She doesn't know how to live frugally at all.
But he only dared to think that in his heart. He'd never say it in front of Aries.
Once everything was cleaned, and the new bedding Aries bought was in place, she finally felt satisfied.
After throwing out everything she didn't like, Aries let out a deep breath.
Everything was ready just in time for her appointment with the villagers to return the money.
She hadn't sat down for long before the villagers arrived.
She glanced at Sky, who was wiping the table. "Go make dinner."
Then, like she just remembered something, she added, "Steam white rice. No grains. And cook the meat."
"Yes, wife!" Sky quickly headed to the kitchen. He couldn't let her go hungry.
Aries had suddenly remembered that villagers usually ate coarse grains, and rarely had white rice. That's why she reminded him.
She had no interest in grains—she wanted white rice and meat.
She said she was going to enjoy life, so she meant it. Only the best would do.