Ch 19: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

Jianbing Guozi

Qin Xia hadn’t expected the egg burger to become so overwhelmingly popular. Each one sold for twelve wen, yet they were still in short supply.

Many customers, after trying one, would buy at least two the next time they came, and some even ordered an entire pan’s worth for themselves.

Even though his breakfast items weren’t considered cheap in the county’s morning market, the novelty of the flavors drew people in. Those who couldn’t afford the meat and egg options could still satisfy their cravings with a starch sausage, and many were willing to pay for it.

Qin Xia also noticed a shift in buying habits. Previously, when parents took their children out, they’d often buy sugar-coated hawthorns or twisted sugar to appease them. Now, it had become fashionable to buy starch sausages instead. At three wen each, two sausages cost only five wen, making them more economical than sugar-coated hawthorns and less likely to cause tooth decay than twisted sugar.

At the same time, Qin Xia observed another change.

Since the incident where they had the neighborhood elder resolve the dispute and secured compensation from the Gao family, Qin Xia had begun seeing familiar faces at his stall more frequently.

These were mostly neighbors from Furong Alley and Ziteng Alley. In the past, they avoided Qin Xia, fearing trouble, and warned their children not to associate with him, lest they pick up bad habits.

But now, they were actively visiting his stall to buy food.

Even those who were initially skeptical, unsure whether this “late-blooming” cook’s food was worth trying, quickly realized after seeing the bustling crowd that if they didn’t buy, there were plenty of others who would.

And so, without hesitation, they’d pull out their money and jostle their way to the front of the line.

In this way, almost unintentionally, Qin Xia managed to reverse the negative reputation left by the original body, thanks to his cooking skills.

Now, when he and Yu Jiuque walked through the alley, many people would greet them with a smile.

A few days later, Qin Xia seized the momentum of this ongoing popularity and hung a small wooden sign with the words “Jianbing Guozi” on the edge of the oiled paper umbrella over his stall.

The umbrella was already adorned with several signs: one issued by the street office, one bearing his family name, and now, with the iron plate tofu removed, the remaining items were grilled cold noodles, starch sausages, egg burgers, and jianbing guozi.

Grilled cold noodles were sold only at lunchtime, while jianbing guozi was available both in the morning and at noon, with egg burgers being a limited breakfast item.

Speaking of jianbing guozi, it even led to a humorous incident.

Unlike grilled cold noodles, jianbing guozi’s taste relies heavily on having an egg in the batter. However, the eggs Qin Xia bought were quite expensive.

Even though he wasn’t making much profit from the eggs, many people still felt they were overpriced.

One day, a regular customer, without being prompted, brought an egg from home. As he reached Qin Xia’s stall, he pulled a warm egg out of his pocket and asked, “Boss, I’d like a jianbing guozi. Can you use my egg instead?”

Qin Xia, who had been worried about the increasing difficulty of sourcing eggs as the New Year approached, was more than happy to agree.

During this time, many of the eggs sold by farmers were bought in bulk by large restaurants or wealthy households, leaving little for small vendors like Qin Xia. So, he readily accepted.

Others quickly followed suit, and soon, people began bringing eggs from home.

Some customers, who either wanted to buy something else or worked nearby and didn’t want to wait in the cold, even marked their eggs and left them at the stall to hold their place in line.

From that day on, if someone asked for directions to Qin Xia’s food stall on Liubao Street, those in the know would often joke, “Just keep walking until you see the stall with a row of eggs lined up!”

Qin Xia’s stall, now famously associated with “a row of eggs,” became even more well-known thanks to this unexpected twist.

…

In the blink of an eye, the days had entered the twelfth lunar month, and the festive atmosphere on the streets was gradually growing.

Business at the food stall was booming, with the sound of coins clinking in the money jar, providing a satisfying weight when held.

The downside was that both Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque’s arms were nearly sore from the constant work.

From the moment they woke up, they were busy like spinning tops all day long, leaving them with aching backs and legs. Despite this, many customers were still urging them to open the stall for the night market.

Qin Xia repeatedly begged for mercy.

For him, the idea of running a night market was out of the question. Since arriving in this place, he hadn’t even had the chance to visit a night market himself.

Every day after closing the stall in the afternoon, they would head home, roll up their sleeves, and wash the pots and dishes, chop vegetables, prepare fillings, and get the ingredients ready for the next day. Then, they would start preparing dinner for themselves.

During all this, they couldn’t forget to feed Da Fu and the hens in the backyard, which had yet to lay a single egg.

At night, after Yu Jiuque drank his medicine and they both washed up, they were usually so tired that they were yawning and ready to sleep by the hour of Hai (around 9-11 p.m.).

If it weren’t for Qin Xia’s determination to endure the hardship for a while longer and save enough money to rent a shop, where they wouldn’t have to face the cold winds on the street, he would have likely given up selling breakfast altogether.

With just the lunch sales, he could still support Yu Jiuque.

When this thought crossed his mind, Qin Xia was startled.

It seemed that habits were indeed a powerful force. If Yu Jiuque ever left, it would take some time for him and Da Fu to adjust to life without him.

Thinking of this, Qin Xia couldn’t help but smile wryly to himself.

…

That night, the wind howled fiercely.

Qin Xia tightly closed the windows and stuffed cloth strips around the window frames to block the cold.

“It looks like the temperature will drop tonight. I’ll stoke the kang (a traditional heated bed) a bit more,” he said.

Yu Jiuque, who was bending over to make the bed, replied, “I have a hot water bottle, so I won’t feel cold. If you stoke it too much, you might not sleep well.”

Qin Xia, being naturally warmer, had stoked the kang once before. That night, Yu Jiuque woke up to find that Qin Xia had kicked half the quilt off, and he had to carefully cover him back up.

Qin Xia didn’t seem concerned.

“It’s no big deal. I can just use a thinner blanket.”

Yu Jiuque’s hands and feet were like ice, and the old doctor Xu had advised against letting him get cold at night, warning that poor circulation could render the herbal treatments ineffective.

As it turned out, things happened just as Yu Jiuque had said.

While Yu Jiuque comfortably stretched out, Qin Xia, feeling like a pancake on a griddle, tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position due to the heat.

After a few rounds of this, his drowsiness faded.

With a light sleep, he became more aware of the sounds of the night.

One ear caught Da Fu in the main room rustling the hay in its cage, while the other listened to Yu Jiuque’s steady, rhythmic breathing.

Just as Qin Xia was about to drift off into sleep, Yu Jiuque’s breathing suddenly became rapid and labored, with a distressing undertone.

Qin Xia jolted awake and turned to check on him.

“Ah jiu? Ah jiu!”

…

Yu Jiuque was being tormented by a nightmare.

Since the incident with Gao Lu, where he fainted after their conflict, he had been plagued by dreams almost every night, none of which were pleasant.

The dreams lacked any concrete imagery, much like his damaged memories—fragmented and chaotic—but the feelings were intensely real.

Over and over, Yu Jiuque relived despair in his nightmares.

He was either being held down in a pool of water, strangled, or having his palms whipped and beaten, the pain so intense it made him want to die on the spot.

When Qin Xia finally managed to wake Yu Jiuque, there was still a lingering emptiness in his eyes, a remnant of the shock from being abruptly pulled out of his nightmare.

Qin Xia was startled and quickly shuffled over in his slippers to light a candle. He placed it by the bedside, and the flickering light illuminated the space, revealing that Yu Jiuque had broken out in a cold sweat, his damp hair sticking to the sides of his face.

Qin Xia frowned and asked, “Did you have a nightmare?”

Yu Jiuque had been breathing erratically and muttering in his sleep, so Qin Xia guessed that he must have been dreaming about something unpleasant.

In the book, it was mentioned that Yu Jiuque had a problem with nightmares. Even the imperial physicians in the palace couldn’t cure it, as it was a psychological issue stemming from his past experiences—something that only “heart medicine” could heal.

Qin Xia surmised that this ailment might have originated during his time in Qinan County. Before that, as a lonely and vulnerable ge’er, his life must have been difficult both before and after entering the palace.

These dark experiences were buried deep within him, only surfacing when he was at his most vulnerable, overwhelming him and causing him to lose his composure.

Yu Jiuque was breathing heavily, his eyes narrowing slightly in response to the sudden brightness of the candlelight, tears welling up as they were pricked by the light.

The sight of those tear-filled eyes stirred Qin Xia’s emotions, causing a wave of turmoil in his heart.

As Yu Jiuque tried to calm his feelings, the stabbing pain in his temples returned, but he managed to say to Qin Xia, “Yes, I had a chaotic dream, but it’s all right now that I’m awake.”

He let out a long breath, grateful that Qin Xia had pulled him out of the nightmare.

“Did I wake you?”

Yu Jiuque lowered his gaze, feeling that he was once again troubling Qin Xia.

Qin Xia shook his head and quickly came up with an excuse.

“No, I was woken up by Da Fu. I was about to go scold him when I noticed you were sleeping restlessly. I thought you might be having a nightmare, so I woke you up.”

Yu Jiuque blinked, a bit dazed.

“Da Fu?”

Qin Xia nodded, speaking as if he had truly been woken up by Da Fu.

“He was scratching at the hay in his cage, and I thought it might be a rat. Then I remembered that it’s winter, so there couldn’t be any rats.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, and Yu Jiuque smiled along with him.

The muddy mire of the dream seemed to fade away in an instant.

Looking at the thin and fragile Yu Jiuque sitting on the bed, Qin Xia said softly, “You’re all sweaty. I’ll get some water so you can wipe yourself down and change into clean clothes before going back to sleep.”

He then picked up the outer robe that had been folded by the bedside, gesturing for Yu Jiuque to put it on.

Yu Jiuque took the robe, still warm from being near the stove, and watched as Qin Xia was about to leave. Suddenly feeling a wave of panic, he spoke without thinking for the first time, his words coming out before his thoughts could catch up.

“Husband.”

Qin Xia turned back to look at Yu Jiuque.

“Could you stay a little longer?”

The young ge’er hesitated as he finished his sentence, his expression showing that he wouldn’t insist if Qin Xia refused.

Qin Xia’s heart softened like the yolk of a soft-boiled egg, trembling at the slightest touch.

He retracted the foot he had just stepped out and took a dry cloth to wipe the sweat off Yu Jiuque.

It took more than a quarter of an hour for Yu Jiuque to finally calm down.

Mindful of the busy day ahead, the two of them lay down again to sleep.

When Qin Xia returned to bed, he noticed that Yu Jiuque was clearly still tense.

The blanket was tightly wrapped around him, as if he wanted to cover himself completely.

Yet after Qin Xia settled into the bed, a small hand quietly reached out to grasp the edge of his blanket.

“Still scared?”

Qin Xia’s voice was slightly hoarse in the night.

Yu Jiuque, caught in the act, was about to pull his hand back when Qin Xia reached out from under the blanket and held his hand.

For the first time in many days, Yu Jiuque slept soundly, without any disturbances.