At around 5 AM, Julie got up and returned to her own room.
Haven didn't wake up until around 9 AM.
He had gone to bed a bit late the night before.
Lately, his wife wasn't very interested in intimacy. Even over the past month, she hadn't visited his room often.
Last night, Haven noticed that she treated him like part of a routine. From start to finish, she barely said a few words.
He felt a little sad but also hopeful.
Maybe if they had a child, things would get better.
Julie treated all the brothers equally.
If any of them had a child, she would take care of it.
But the current medical skills weren't good enough to guarantee a man's safety during childbirth.
Every year, there were still many cases where both the father and the child died due to heavy bleeding or the baby being in the wrong position.
She had thought about it — if someone got pregnant, she would buy some helpers and an experienced nurse who knew how to cook healthy meals and take care of postpartum recovery.
She had plenty of ginseng stored in her space.
She would make sure everything was prepared well in advance.
When Lorrie saw his second brother get up, he was surprised.
After all, their eldest brother only woke up in the afternoon.
Haven gave him a look — this little brother was always daydreaming.
Lorrie looked innocent. He hadn't even said anything.
Maybe everyone's body was different.
Or maybe their wife was tired last night.
So she had less energy.
Then what about the day after tomorrow? Would it be his turn?
He was willing. He thought the pain might only last a moment — he could endure it.
He hadn't even considered whether their wife would come to his room or not.
Bailee saw his second brother come to the kitchen to help, looking fine, and secretly felt relieved.
At the same time, he wondered — was his own body too weak?
Thinking of last night, his face turned bright red again.
For lunch, they had sweet potato rice, stewed pork ribs with potatoes, stir-fried greens, and tomato egg soup.
While eating, Julie suddenly remembered she had picked some chestnuts from two trees behind the mountain.
"Where are the chestnuts? Aren't we eating them?" she asked.
Bailee looked confused. He had no idea what she was talking about.
Normally, they didn't go deep into the back mountain. Villagers only gathered firewood or wild vegetables nearby, so no one knew about chestnuts.
When Bailee saw that bag of chestnuts before, he didn't know what they were.
He didn't dare ask at the time and later completely forgot about it.
The bag was still sitting in the kitchen, untouched.
Julie hadn't thought about it much either. In her past life in the apocalypse, chestnuts weren't rare.
"We don't have much sugar left. If you're free this afternoon, just boil some.
Once they're cooked, peel off the outer shell and eat them.
Next time I go to town, I'll buy some cane sugar and we can make candied chestnuts," Julie said.
She didn't love sweet things, but the men liked them. It was nice to have a little snack once in a while.
Bailee nodded. After lunch, he would wash the dishes and then cook the chestnuts.
Hearing there was something delicious, Lorrie's eyes lit up.
"Wife, when can we make the candied chestnuts?" he asked eagerly.
Julie gave him a quick glance and thought for a moment.
Recently, there wasn't much going on.
"Tomorrow," she said. "Do you have anything you want to bring back? Or do you want to come along?"
She didn't forbid the men from going out.
As long as they behaved properly, she was fine with it.
When the three brothers heard that, their eyes lit up with excitement.
At their age, even though they no longer lived in a broken, shabby hut, they still wanted to go out and see the world.
If the wife was willing to take you along, it meant she valued you or liked you.
If she didn't care about you, she wouldn't even ask if you wanted to go.
There were plenty of men locked up at home, wasting their youth, completely ignored by their wives.
---
Julie saw that the three of them wanted to go and said, "If you want to go, then all of you can go. We'll leave at Chen hour (around 7–9 am)." Now that they had a carriage, it was easier to travel.
After speaking, she continued eating.
The three brothers looked at each other, smiling.
In their hearts, they were already thinking about what to wear tomorrow.
The silk clothes their wife had bought them last time were already made, hanging in the wardrobe, waiting for the next time they could wear them out with her.
After all, no one would wear such expensive material to do chores at home.
That would just waste good fabric and money.
In the afternoon, Julie went to tend her land.
The three brothers originally wanted to follow her.
But Julie looked at their fair skin and their thin arms and legs.
She thought about how Lorrie needed both hands just to carry one bucket of water. She gave up on the idea.
She told them to stay home.
Otherwise, they would get sunburned and look all pitiful again.
The work wasn't easy either.
She figured she would be faster working alone.
She never intended to order men to do hard labor while she enjoyed herself.
She believed that as a woman working outside, and them as men managing the home, having women work outside and men stay at home was a good arrangement.
Mr. Leng also stayed at home, mainly to protect them.
Bailee took a good straw hat from the storage room and gently placed it on Julie's head. His eyes were full of tenderness as he said, "Wife, the sun is still a bit strong outside." Even though she always looked good, he couldn't bear to let her get sunburned.
Julie didn't refuse his kindness. She nodded.
She thanked him, picked up her tools, and went out.
It was around the time of autumn equinox, and now it was still afternoon, so the sun was indeed quite strong.
But it didn't bother Julie much.
In this era, women didn't care much about their looks. What mattered was their skills and strength. They didn't usually wear makeup—that was something only men did.
Still, because she knew it was his way of showing love, she gladly accepted it.
Julie knew that Bailee had a similar personality to her—he liked to do things instead of saying much.
People with such a personality often suffered losses and were not easily liked.
Wearing the straw hat, Julie watered the land, pulled weeds, and removed pests from the few acres of fields.
By the time she finished, it was already evening.
When Julie returned home, her body, face, and hair were covered with sweat.
She was a person who loved cleanliness and couldn't stand eating in such a sweaty state.
She quickly fetched several buckets of water from the well and took a cold shower in her room.
Boiling water would take too much time, and she didn't want to wait.
The weather wasn't too cold yet, except early in the morning or late at night when there was more moisture in the air.
Haven saw her and wanted to prepare hot water for her, but Julie stopped him.
She knew her body best.
After she finished her bath, she felt clean and refreshed.
She carried the used water outside to throw it away.
For dinner, they had noodle slices. It was Julie's first time eating them.
Each piece was about the size of a fingernail. The taste was pretty good—they added a few drops of sesame oil, some chopped green onions, and some chopped chili peppers. It tasted really good.
Julie ate two full bowls before stopping.
Bailee was happy to see his wife eating so much.
He remembered eating this when he was a child.
Since he thought it tasted good, he decided to make it for his wife too.
He was especially good at making soups and stews.
After eating, Julie returned to her room.
That night, she slept alone in her own room.
She didn't plan to indulge in pleasure every night, worrying it would wear her body out.
Even though she was still young, she didn't want to be too reckless.