Zhao Ce walked into the kitchen and saw that it was clean and tidy. He couldn't help but nod his head.

This little girl was indeed capable. During the time he was out of it this morning, she had cleaned up the previously messy kitchen so well.

The original owner, being a scholar, naturally did not enter the kitchen. After all, the saying "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen" although not meant to keep gentlemen out of the kitchen, had been misinterpreted to that extent.

So in Zhao Ce's memory, there was no scene of him entering the kitchen at all. Usually, after finishing classes at the academy, he would find something to eat in the city.

This kitchen had been idle for a few years, and it was easy to imagine how dirty it was. Ancient kitchens didn't have good lighting, but you could still see that the tabletop and stool were clean and tidy.

Zhao Ce sat on the clean stool that the little girl had wiped. He looked at the little amount of loose firewood left in the corner. This loose firewood had been brought back by Zhao YouCai. The little girl over there had already kindly served him a bowl of porridge.

The hot porridge was emitting the fragrance of rice, with a suspiciously shaped animal floating on top, and a little... Zhao Ce sniffed and detected a dry musty smell.

Seeing her husband lean in to smell the porridge, Su Cai'er explained, "Husband, you haven't used the kitchen for a long time. The rice in the rice jar has gone bad." "I washed it for a long time, cooked it, and it's not a problem."

Seeing the rice bugs on top, Su Cai'er quickly said, "Oh, there's a rice bug too." "I'm sorry, I didn't scoop it out." "I'll scoop it out for you, husband." After saying that, she diligently took the bowl of porridge away, took a wooden spoon, and carefully scooped out the rice bug in the corner of the kitchen where the water came out, and then brought the porridge back again.

Zhao Ce looked at the bowl of porridge, at a loss for words. Although he was a young man of the new era, he had seen rice bugs before. But the fact that the original owner had squandered his family's resources to such an extent had truly broadened his horizons.

Seeing the little girl scooping out the unfinished rice bugs from the pot, Zhao Ce said, "Don't worry about it, you can eat first." It was almost noon since last night. Zhao Ce was also hungry. After he finished speaking, Su Cai'er agreed and also took a bowl for herself.

She scooped half a bowl of rice soup. There was no brown rice in her husband's house, only white rice that had grown moldy in the rice jar.

But even if it had grown mold, it was still porridge made from white rice... The rice soup was also white, and it looked very tasty. Su Cai'er swallowed her saliva, avoiding scooping up the rice at the bottom, and served herself half a bowl of rice soup. Zhao Ce looked at the not-too-hot bowl of rice porridge, with about half a bowl of rice in it.

The porridge had a musty smell, but he had no intention of smelling it. He took three or four sips and then turned his head. He saw the little girl holding a bowl that was bigger than her small face, taking a sip of the rice soup. Her small throat rolled a bit. After putting down the bowl, she saw that Zhao Ce was looking at her, and she tilted her small head with some confusion. There was still some water on her little mouth.

Sticking out her little tongue, Su Caier licked the bit of rice soup and quickly lowered her eyes. She whispered, "Does my husband want more after finishing it?" As she spoke, she was about to put down her own bowl and give Zhao Ce a refill.

Zhao Ce thought that this little girl was a bit timid and completely unable to look directly into his eyes, always leaving behind two rows of long eyelashes like little fans.

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How could her family be so heartless as to send her directly to the government matchmaking agency? But it was said to be her cousin and aunt who did it. Zhao Ce guessed that there was a story behind it.

No rush, there was still plenty of time to find out later. Zhao Ce was indeed not full. He smiled at the little girl who was about to come over to serve him and said, "It's okay, you eat."

Then he picked up his bowl and walked over. He scooped some soup from the pot with a wooden spoon. Only a thin layer of rice was left in the pot. When he looked up again, the rice soup in the little girl's bowl was completely clean, not even half a grain of rice left.

Zhao Ce paused with the wooden spoon in his hand. The little girl next to him said, "Husband, let me give you all the rice." Zhao Ce said helplessly, "Why not save some rice for yourself?" Su Caier waved her hand and said, "This is all white rice, it's too precious." "It's for my husband to eat." "I'm fine with just drinking the rice soup."

This was the first time Su Caier had ever drunk rice soup made entirely from white rice. she was already very happy. Zhao Ce reluctantly took the little girl's bowl, which was only left with a little rice soup, and scooped half a bowl of rice porridge with rice grains in it for her. "Here, drink this." "Later we'll see if there's anything at home that can be exchanged for food." Zhao Ce handed over the bowl in his hand, but the little girl waved it away. "No rice, leave it for my husband to eat."

Zhao Ce looked at this little girl and asked with a smile, "Is there still rice in the rice jar?" Su Caier didn't understand why the topic suddenly shifted here, but she still nodded honestly. "There's still some left, probably enough for three or four days." Then she repeated, "I'm full, my husband can eat the remaining rice." After listening, Zhao Ce nodded and stirred the rice in his bowl before putting it into his bowl.

The little girl next to him said again, "Pour the rice over there." After speaking, she thought of the fact that this was the bowl that she had drunk from before, and her little face turned a bit red as she glanced at her husband.

"My husband doesn't mind at all... Su Caier thought happily.

The rice in the bowl was only reduced by a little bit. Zhao Ce put down the girl's bowl and picked up his own.

He filled his bowl with porridge and, with the little bit of rice that had just been poured out, drank it all up.

Wiping his mouth, he said firmly, "I'm full."

"You've to eat all the rice, if you can't finish it, just throw it away and cook new rice tonight."

"Since there's still rice in the rice jar, just put in more rice, or else I won't be full."

After saying that, he left the girl alone in the kitchen and walked out.

Su Caier heard that he wanted to throw away the remaining rice and widened her eyes.

How could he do that?

She looked at the pot with about a bowl of porridge left and guiltily poured it all into her bowl.

"My husband is a learned man and must have his own rules."

"But it can't be thrown away, I have to drink it all."

"All of this is white rice."

Su Caier pouted and picked up the porridge with a layer of white rice on the bottom.

After taking a few sips, she squinted her eyes and exclaimed, "This white rice is so soft... it doesn't scratch my throat at all."

After drinking all the porridge in the pot, she went to wash her bowl.

...

Meanwhile, Zhao Ce walked out of the kitchen and sighed.

"This situation is so bad that even a dog would shake its head and leave."

"Yet, I managed to get a hardworking little wife."

Zhao Ce thought helplessly, it wasn't all bad in ancient times.

Shaking his head, he pushed all the miscellaneous thoughts out of his mind.

Zhao Ce walked into the original owner's room and prepared to look through what belongings were left.

After rummaging for a while, he was sweating profusely.

Looking at the messy room, Zhao Ce, holding two inferior land deeds, couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"At least it's not a total waste..."

"At least there are two cheap land deeds."

In ancient times, the amount of tax paid on land varied depending on the fertility of the soil.

These inferior lands meant that the soil was not very fertile, the crop yield was not good, and the selling price was naturally not high.

Looking at the two land deeds in his hand, Zhao Ce sighed again.

The original owner considered himself noble, claiming to be a learned man.

But this doghouse was a mess, and he didn't even bother to clean it up.

Zhao Ce even found a few "salted fish" robes under the bed.

Those robes had such a heavy smell that he threw them out of the room.

Just as he was thinking, Zhao Youcai's voice calling at the door came from outside.

He probably came for the girl's business.

Zhao Ce put down what he was holding and wiped the sweat off his face.

Then he went out.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Zhao Youcai and a few people standing outside.

But those people, when they saw Zhao Ce open the door, their faces became strange.

Two of them, unable to hold back, burst out laughing.

Zhao Ce: "???"