Time Traveling: the Only Beloved Husband

When Shen Xiangyan nodded in agreement to being called “Rong’er” by him, Shen Xiangyan began to prepare to get up to fetch water. However, before he could get up, he was stopped by Xia Rong tugging at his clothes.

“Husband, Rong’er can fetch water.” Her eyes were very determined. Xia Rong had often done these chores back when she was with the Xia family. If her husband knew she could work, maybe he wouldn’t mind how much she ate.

“You don’t need to do these things, Rong’er. In the future, let your husband handle this. Rong’er, you just need to sit here and wait for your husband.” Although it was autumn and there had just been an autumn rain, making the weather start to get cold, and it was so late; there was no way he could let Xia Rong do these tasks.

When Shen Xiangyan came in with the water, Xia Rong was in front of the dressing table undoing the flower crown on his hair. Seeing him struggle, Shen Xiangyan went over to help. As he combed Xia Rong’s hair with a wooden comb, he felt Xia Rong’s hair slip through his fingertips, feeling smooth. Shen Xiangyan couldn’t help but spend a little longer helping him.

After the two finished washing up and got into bed, Shen Xiangyan clearly saw a figure buried under the quilt, with only the top of the head showing. Seeing the slight trembling under the quilt, Shen Xiangyan chuckled softly. After all, he was still a child; getting married to someone he had never met must be scary.

However, Shen Xiangyan didn’t want their first night of marriage to be awkward like this. It had to start slowly. So, he started cuddling, pulling Xia Rong into his arms, feeling the stiffness and coldness of the person in his arms. Shen Xiangyan frowned slightly, gently soothing his back with his arms around him and making sure the quilt covered him tightly.

“Rong’er, tell me about your father.”

“My father? When my father left, Rong’er was still young. Rong’er only remembers that my father could draw beautiful paintings and tell stories to Rong’er. My father was very gentle, very gentle.”

“Is that so? Then, in the future, would you like me to tell you stories too?”

“Really?”

“Really.” Looking down, Shen Xiangyan saw Xia Rong’s eyes sparkling brightly. He had never been gazed at like this before, and enchanted, he gently kissed her beautiful eyes. After the kiss, he cleared his throat and slowly began to tell the story of Snow White. However, it was a modified version of Snow White where the princess became Shuang’er, the prince remained the prince, and of course, they ended up happily together. Feeling the person in his arms gradually relax, Shen Xiangyan knew that he had told the story correctly.

By the time the story was over, Xia Rong was almost asleep. Shen Xiangyan glanced at the burning candles, adjusted their position so that Xia Rong could sleep more comfortably in his arms. As for the bridal chamber, perhaps they should wait until Xia Rong was a little older. He softly whispered, “Go to sleep,” and held the person close as they drifted off.

Early the next morning, Xia Rong woke up in Shen Xiangyan’s arms. Thinking about the gentle kiss Shen Xiangyan gave him last night, Xia Rong blushed a little, feeling a bit embarrassed. In fact, before Xia Rong got married, his mother casually threw him a book on pre-marital sex education, but she didn’t explain what it was. Xia Rong had very limited interactions with people and was quite innocent by nature. He got scared after reading just the first page of the book and hid it at the bottom of his trunk, never flipping through it again. So, Xia Rong was still quite clueless about the bridal chamber. Since Shen Xiangyan didn’t make any advances last night, he didn’t feel like anything was wrong.

Shen Xiangyan had actually been awake for a while. He had the habit of getting up early, but he didn’t dare to move around to avoid disturbing the person in his arms. However, he was surprised to find that this little one had also woken up so early. Seeing that Xia Rong didn’t intend to go back to sleep, they both got up to wash up.

Shen Xiangyan’s house was a small courtyard with two sections. The outer section was just half the size of a regular courtyard and was used for receiving guests. Once you passed through the hanging flower gate, you entered the inner courtyard, which was of decent size. The three main rooms were where they currently lived, with the east wing being the study and the west wing being converted into a room for making incense. Inside were various common spices left behind from the family’s previous incense business. However, ever since Shen’s father passed away and his mother fell seriously ill, no one in the family had managed the business. The little shop left behind by Shen’s father had long been closed.

After waking up in this body, Shen Xiangyan planned to continue the incense-making business. He believed in his craftsmanship and the incense recipes he possessed, which would surely allow him and Rong’er to live a good life.

He made breakfast, a simple vegetable and lean meat porridge with a few tasty side dishes. Shen Xiangyan’s cooking was quite good; after all, in his previous world, he had always lived alone and couldn’t eat out all the time. Over time, he learned to cook for himself. Seeing Xia Rong enjoying the food he made so much, Shen Xiangyan smiled inwardly. It seemed he had indeed married a little foodie.

“After we finish breakfast, Rong’er, let’s go out together. We need to buy some things for the house, and you can think about what you need. I’ll also buy you something,” Shen Xiangyan suggested. Xia Rong only brought over one box of things when he moved in, and Shen Xiangyan had taken a quick look this morning when he opened it. There were only a few old clothes and some miscellaneous items. It was time to buy him some new clothes and jewelry. Although there were about eighty taels of silver at home, and he needed to be frugal in some areas, he didn’t want Xia Rong to feel neglected. Besides, he was planning to reopen the family shop, so he believed they could earn more money.

“Can Rong’er go out with husband? Rong’er doesn’t lack anything and doesn’t need to buy anything,” Xia Rong blinked his eyes, looking like a little puppy coaxing its owner. Xia Rong had rarely been out on the streets since he was young. When he heard that Shen Xiangyan wanted to take him out, he naturally became excited.

“Of course you can. We’ll go together later,” Shen Xiangyan replied, choosing to ignore Xia Rong’s claim that he didn’t lack anything.

After finishing breakfast and resting for a while, Shen Xiangyan took Xia Rong to the market in the town. They bought two pounds of pork, one pound of beef, one carp, and fifty eggs. They still had rice and flour at home, but Shen Xiangyan wanted to ensure Xia Rong’s health. He had felt Xia Rong’s bones when he hugged him last night; he was too thin. Seeing a pastry shop ahead, he remembered Xia Rong’s fondness for sweets, so he bought a few items and had them wrapped in oil paper by the shopkeeper.

Afterward, Shen Xiangyan took Xia Rong to the best clothing shop in town, Jinxiufang, and bought two ready-made outfits for Xia Rong: one in goose yellow and another in water blue. Finally, he selected a few brightly colored fabrics and had the shop’s old tailor take Xia Rong’s measurements and customize the clothes. They ordered a few warmer garments for the changing seasons, agreeing to pick them up in two days. Originally, Shen Xiangyan had planned to buy Xia Rong some intimate garments as well, but Xia Rong blushed and shyly insisted he could make them himself. Shen Xiangyan didn’t expect Xia Rong to be so thrifty and capable of making clothes, so he bought two pieces of plain but high-quality fabric for Xia Rong to make his own.

Actually, Xia Rong’s sewing skills weren’t particularly good, but after only spending a day together, Xia Rong felt too shy to let Shen Xiangyan buy him intimate clothes. That’s why he volunteered to make them himself.

After purchasing these items, Shen Xiangyan took Xia Rong to the place where the government handled the buying and selling of people. In Fengyu Kingdom, the buying and selling of slaves were conducted through official intermediaries, which provided a sense of security. Shen Xiangyan wanted to buy someone to help him manage the shop. Although hiring a worker was an option, he felt more secure having someone he bought himself. After calculating the money left in his hand—spending about one tael on food, six taels on clothes and fabrics—he estimated that twenty taels would be enough to buy someone who could write and keep simple accounts. He could use the remaining money for other expenses.

Finally, Shen Xiangyan chose a twenty-year-old man who seemed honest. He had previously worked as a steward in a wealthy household, but the family had gone to the capital to visit relatives, and unnecessary servants were sold off. Shen Xiangyan took his sales contract and changed his name to Shen An.

Then he led the way to the Shen family’s shop, which had been closed for nearly a year. The shop wasn’t large, but its location was advantageous. It was divided into three rooms, with the outermost room used for receiving regular customers, the inner room for accommodating distinguished guests, and the smallest room tidied up temporarily for Shen An to stay in.

Shen Xiangyan had already done a simple cleanup of the shop beforehand. Now, they just needed Shen An to determine what simple supplies he needed to purchase. Shen Xiangyan instructed Shen An to come to the house tomorrow to collect some incense pellets and cakes he had recently prepared, leaving him two taels of silver to manage on his own.

By the time they finished arranging everything, it was almost noon. Xia Rong, who had followed him around all morning, seemed tired, so they hastened their pace back home. On the way back, they saw someone selling candied hawthorns. Shen Xiangyan noticed Xia Rong glancing at them and smiled, leading him over.

“How much for the candied hawthorn?”

“This young master, it’s two wen per stick. Buy one for your husband.”

“Then I’ll take one.” Shen Xiangyan paid the money and selected a stick with particularly large hawthorns and the most sugar coating, handing it to Xia Rong.

Xia Rong took the candied hawthorn, but couldn’t help feeling remorseful for his earlier behavior. Before getting married, he had heard his parents saying that the family of his future husband was not as well-off as before. Today, his husband had bought someone and spent so much money on him. He should have stopped his husband from buying these things.

“What’s wrong, Rong’er? Why aren’t you eating?” Shen Xiangyan noticed that Xia Rong had been holding the candied hawthorn for a while without taking a bite, clearly lost in thought, so he asked.

“Husband, when I was young, my father used to say that it’s better to be frugal in life. You don’t have to buy so many things for me next time…” Xia Rong gathered his courage and voiced his thoughts.

“Ah, my little husband is so thrifty. You’ll definitely be a good housekeeper in the future. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take care of you,” Shen Xiangyan assured him, reaching out to poke Xia Rong’s nose. “Leave the money-making and household matters to your husband; you don’t need to worry.” Xia Rong was worried that the family might not have enough money. Shen Xiangyan found Xia Rong’s courage to speak up adorable and couldn’t help but pat his nose affectionately.

They returned home, and Shen Xiangyan prepared braised carp, boiled beef, shredded three delicacies, and tomato and egg flower soup with rice for lunch. He was sure Xia Rong would enjoy it.

Seeing that her husband was about to go to the kitchen to cook, Xia Rong hurriedly expressed his desire to do it instead and let her husband rest. However, Shen Xiangyan refused. But with Xia Rong’s insistence, Shen Xiangyan eventually agreed to let him help out. Well, in the end, the tasks assigned to Xia Rong were setting the table and taste-testing. Of course, Shen Xiangyan didn’t let him carry any plates with hot dishes, fearing he might accidentally burn his hands, so he took them to the table himself.