My delicate husband

Lan'an woke up before daybreak. As usual, she rubbed against Zhang Xiaomo's chest, revealing her round shoulders. Lan'an liked to hold something when she slept, and Zhang Xiaomo was used to Lan'an clinging to him like an octopus. She felt warm in his arms. It would be even better if she didn't rub against him all the time.

Lan Euan was obviously more excited than usual today. When Zhang Xiaomo opened his eyes, he saw her fragrant shoulders. His Adam's apple rolled and he couldn't help but bite her gum on it.

Lan Euan's body softened due to the stimulation from Zhang Xiaomo. She hummed softly and bit Zhang Xiaomo's rolling Adam's apple. She was surprised to find that she bit too hard and licked it with her tongue.

"An'an~"

Zhang Xiaomo held Lan'an's slender waist tightly, and his thumb sank into it, leaving a deep mark. There were not only some red marks, but also a purple bruise. Lan'an's skin was still too tender.

The two of them clung to each other tightly, trying to calm down their restlessness, and Lan Euan trembled with tears.

"An An, don't be afraid, I will wait for you to grow up."

"Brother Xiaomo is the best."

"An An, why don't you sleep a little longer? It's still early."

"No, it has delayed a lot of time. It's urgent."

Zhang Xiaomo guessed that Lan An's early rising was related to the so-called surprise, but Lan An did not mention it on his own initiative, so he would not ask even if he was curious. The two of them had a natural tacit understanding.

"I'm going to prepare some food. Guo Ge'er probably hasn't woken up yet. I'll go call him later."

"Go ahead, I'll read a book."

Lan'an made porridge for breakfast. Porridge is the simplest and most time-saving. When it was almost done, he went to wake up the two brothers. Guo Ge'er was sleeping with a rosy face, like a little apple. Lan'an pinched his face, but it was not as comfortable as Zhang Xiaomo's. Sure enough, his cat was the best.

The family was still having dinner, and Guo Ge'er was still a little sleepy. He was too excited last night and fell asleep very late, and he got up too early today.

The sound of horse hooves came from far away, and suddenly a strange male voice sounded

"Is this Young Master Zhang Xiaomo's home?"

When Guo Ge'er heard the noise, his sleepiness disappeared immediately. He didn't care about the unfinished porridge in the bowl, put down his bowl and chopsticks and ran out.

"Brother, brother, brother, there is a carriage at our door. Should we take a carriage? It's my first time."

Guo Ge'er's voice was a little high-pitched, and he couldn't hide his joy, and his words were a little incoherent.

Lan Euan was a little disgusted with the conspicuous bag and quickly finished the porridge in the bowl before leaving.

"Big brother, this is Mr. Zhang Xiaomo's home. I've hired your car for a day. Please wait for us."

"Okay, sir, please take your time to prepare. I will be at your service all day."

The groom was very polite, but Guo Ge'er was still very excited. Lan An asked him to clean up the table. Guo Ge'er did not waste any porridge and drank the porridge in the bowl in two mouthfuls. Lan An went over to help Zhang Xiaomo, and seeing the joy in his eyes, he raised his eyebrows proudly.

"Didn't I agree to take you to the market? Are you satisfied with this surprise?"

Zhang Xiaomo didn't say much, he just walked up and hugged Lan'an, not letting go for a long time. Lan'an slowly hugged him back.

"Brother, An'er, stop being so annoying. Come on, let's go to the market in a carriage."

Lan An pulled himself out of Zhang Xiaomo's arms. He still had the house to clean up, which indeed took up a lot of time. He could only let Guo Ge'er help Zhang Xiaomo get into the car first.

Guo Ge'er kept urging her, so Lan An could only speed up the process, clean up the place simply and close the yard. Zhang Xiaomo was a little angry and looked at Guo Ge'er with displeasure.

"Zhang Xiaoguo, shut up, or you can stay home."

Guo Ge'er immediately shut up. He was still very afraid that Zhang Xiaomo would be angry. Lan An also packed up quickly, and the family got on the carriage. The carriage was very stable and fast, and they could reach the county town in an hour.

"Brother Xiaomo, are you sleepy? You can take a nap. It'll be an hour soon. There's brown sugar water in the cup."

"Anger, you are biased."

"When you grow up, someone will love you."

"Brothers must love their husbands."

"Who said that, Brother Guo? When you find your other half in the future, he or she must love you, pamper you, and accommodate you."

"Oh."

"An An, Guo Ge'er is still too young."

Guo Ge'er took away too much of Lan An's attention, and Zhang Xiaomo was a little unhappy.

Arriving in the county town, the crowds exceeded Lan An's expectations. The once spacious streets were now filled with people. Lan An carefully protected Zhang Xiaomo, fearing that he would be squeezed by the people around him. The two held hands tightly, otherwise they would be easily separated by the crowd.

Zhang Xiaomo looked at the bustling market and felt very surprised. This was the first time he saw such a prosperous street scene. Lan Euan was not too surprised, but just very annoyed because there were too many people. Fortunately, his cat was still there.

Although the sky was just getting light, all we could see was the Chinese red. The market was decorated with lights, red lanterns were hung on both sides, and various paper-cuts were displayed, giving off a strong New Year atmosphere.

The market was filled with a dazzling array of goods and the constant shouting of vendors – this was what we often call the atmosphere of life. The carriages of the wealthy, without much regard for the surroundings, drove along the already crowded streets, adding to the chaos. Lan An was worried that Zhang Xiaomo might get hurt, so he planned to find a teahouse to accommodate him.

"Brother Xiaomo, please sit here for a while. Guo Ge'er and I are going to buy some things. The academy isn't open yet. When it opens, ask the driver to take you there. The carriage is parked next to the teahouse."

Zhang Xiaomo nodded. It was true that his body could not bear it. He watched Lan An and Guo Ge'er squeeze into the crowd and slowly disappear. Looking at the bustling street scene, his heart was filled with emotion.

Lan'an held Guo'er's hand tightly. There were so many people that it was easy for them to be dispersed by the crowd. Usually they were accompanied by men. It was rare to see two half-grown men like them visiting the market.

Lan An thought about it and decided that it would be better for him to go to the East Market alone. It would not be convenient to bring Guo Ge'er with him, and he could not guarantee that he could take good care of Guo Ge'er.

Lan An brought Guo Ge'er to the morning market, where they were greeted by waves of fragrance: sweet candied haws, steaming buns, sweet and soft eight-treasure porridge, white and fluffy steamed buns, flower rolls of various shapes, fragrant wontons, various noodles, and sweet and salty pastries. Although they had already had breakfast, Lan An and Guo Ge'er still felt hungry.

When Guo Ge'er saw the lifelike sugar figures, he couldn't take his eyes off them. He spent thirty cents to buy three strings of blue eucalyptus. The cat probably hadn't eaten sugar figures for a long time. He also spent nine cents to buy three strings of candied haws. He had only eaten candied haws once, and his eldest brother bought them for him.

After much thought, Lan An decided to take Guo Ge'er to the west market, where meat and various vegetables were mainly sold. It was not too early, so there were fewer people.

Lan An saw that there were not many people in the wonton shop in the West Market, so he asked Guo Ge'er to wait for him there, and he went into the market to sell meat. He bought 20 kilograms of meat (300 wen), 5 kilograms of bones (40 wen), six ribs (120 wen), and two pig's feet (40 wen). Seeing that the pig's feet and ribs were so cheap, Lan An thought he had made a fortune, but others thought he was stupid and had a lot of money.

I walked around for a long time before I found a pig's head (100 wen). Normally, no one wants a pig's head, but during the New Year, many families buy pig's heads for sacrifice, and the price is higher than usual.

Lan'an thought that there were only two old hens at home, and he would definitely not be willing to eat them, so he just bought some at the market. In the end, he bought two chickens (50 wen each) and two ducks (60 wen each). He unexpectedly saw crucian carp, so Lan'an bought five of them (50 wen). Fish is still rare, and Lan'an himself loves to eat fish and seafood. There is no need to think about seafood, fish is also very good.

The vegetables at home were just radishes and cabbages, as well as dried vegetables, but Lan'an was not used to them. He could accept sauerkraut, but he always felt it was weird to eat dried vegetables, so he gave all the dried vegetables to Aunt Wang next door. Aunt Wang thanked him for a long time for this, and of course, gave Lan'an some pickles as a return gift.

As expected of a big market, there are many vegetables that are not usually seen. Lan Euan bought eggplant (8 wen/jin), lentils (6 wen/jin), leeks (9 wen/jin), lotus roots (5 wen/jin), mulberry (3 wen/jin, similar to radish, the roots are also eaten), and yam (5 wen/jin).

(To explain: because the main vegetables here in winter are radish and cabbage, some vegetables are more expensive.)

Most of them can be kept for a long time. I sold 5 kilograms of each type of blue gum. When I saw green onions and garlic, I bought two kilograms of blue gum as well. After buying all the vegetables, I spent almost one or two taels of silver.

There were too many things to fit in one backpack, so Lan'an had to buy another one. The two backpacks were both conspicuous and heavy. The waiter was very enthusiastic to help Lan'an carry the backpacks, so Lan'an had to let him help put them on the carriage, and Guo Ge'er also lent a hand to Lan'an.

While there was no one in the carriage, Lan Euan put most of the vegetables into the space.

After buying the vegetables, the sky was bright and the whole county town was exposed. Lan An still couldn't let go of Zhang Xiaomo. Although he knew he had gone to the academy, he was still a little worried. He asked the coachman to take Guo Ge'er to find Zhang Xiaomo, and he would do the rest of the shopping by himself.

When we arrived at the clothing store, the waiter immediately greeted us warmly.

"Sir, it's been a long time since we last met. What are you looking for? New Year's Eve is coming soon, so I need some new clothes."

"Show me the latest winter clothes."

“It’s all here.”

Lan An took a look and thought the style was pretty good, except that it was loose. Clothes from that dynasty were all like that, making them look ethereal.

Lan Euan touched several types of fabrics and found that the linen one was still too rough and not suitable for wearing next to the body, but it was good enough to be used as outerwear.

Lan'an bought two sets of woolen flannel linings (360 wen) for the three of them. They are very comfortable to touch, soft and thick, and very good to wear in winter. Except for the price, everything else is really good.

Each person got a set of thickened cotton clothes (360 wen). The ones I bought before were not as thick as this one, and one more set was not enough for changing, so Lan Euan chose another set.

The interlining is made of silk cotton, very soft (240 wen). Lan'an sells the most outer robes, three per person. Cotton-padded clothes are hard to wash in winter, so they buy two extra for washing. His and Guo'er's are made of linen (180 wen), which is stain-resistant. Guo'er is a child after all, so getting his clothes dirty is normal. He has to work, so they don't need to buy the best. Zhang Xiaomo's is made of silk (450 wen). Lan'an doesn't want him to wear linen clothes, so he wants to do his best to buy good clothes for his cat.

Lan'an looked at the shoes on his feet. They were cloth shoes with cloth and straw inside. They were not warm and would get wet easily when it rained. Guoge'er's shoes were also badly damaged and had patches on them. If it weren't for his cold feet, he wouldn't have thought of buying shoes. After all, his pants were too long and his outer robe covered his shoes.

Lan'an asked the waiter what shoes he had, and the waiter began to introduce them enthusiastically.

Lan An bought them a pair of cotton shoes (150 wen) and a pair of leather shoes (375 wen). (They were made of animal fur, so they don't get wet easily.) He also bought Zhang Xiaomo a pair of boots (300 wen, long, with rabbit fur inside and leather outside, very warm in winter. All prices are total. Thank you.)

When the owner of the clothing store saw that Lan An had bought so many things, he knew that she was an old customer who always bought a lot of clothes every time she came. He did not waste time and did not bargain much. He gave Lan An six pairs of socks, three pairs each of linen, cotton and velvet, and also generously gave her a small change and asked the waiter to pack up quickly.

Lan An accepted it after a few polite words. After all, he spent more than two taels of silver. He returned to the carriage with the waiter. Seeing that there was no one in the carriage, Lan An left a small package of clothes and put the rest into the space.

Lan Euan went to the grocery store he had visited before, and the owner greeted him warmly. He was very impressed by this guy and would buy a lot of things every time he came.

"Sir, you are here for the big market as well. I have some seafood in my shop, are you interested?"

"Oh, what's new?"

I recognized the blue eucalyptus at a glance. It had seaweed, dried hairtail, scallops, and some dried shrimps, which could be used to make soup and porridge. I bought a pound of blue eucalyptus and spent about three hundred coins.

There was not much food left at home, so Lan Euan bought 20 kilograms of refined rice and flour, 10 kilograms of brown rice and brown flour, and 8 kilograms of coarse salt, which he planned to use to smoke meat. He also bought two cans of soybean oil, 10 plates, two fish bowls, two large soup bowls, a new set of teapots and cups, four rice bowls, and a larger ceramic earthenware jar, totaling nearly two taels of silver. The boss politely gave them four small baskets and a small wooden basin, which the family didn't have, so Lan Euan politely thanked him and, accompanied by the waiter, sent all the things to the carriage.

When he got into the carriage and saw that there was no one there, Lan Euan put most of the things into the space as usual. Fortunately there was still space, otherwise the carriage would have been full.

Lan An went to a special funeral shop and bought some paper money, incense and candles. Finally, he did not forget the gold ingots that Aunt Wang mentioned, and bought a lot of them. Lan An never thought that his memory was so good. Lan An also bought some other paper items. After all, they were his parents, so he burned more.

But it was also strange. He and Zhang Xiaomo had only been separated for less than half a day. He missed him so much and wanted to see him, but there were still many things he hadn't bought, so he could only speed up the process.