While Fu Mei Li was happily eating the bowl of porridge served by Aunt Li in the main room, the Jin brothers were currently walking back to their house after resolving the uncles' matters.
"The wife is very kind, isn't she?" Jin Weimin commented to his brothers. This honest and simple guy was smiling happily while walking. He was actually moved by what the wife did.
"We must thank her properly." The fifth brother, Jin Longwei, said in his soft voice. Just like his brothers, he was surprised that she volunteered her money.
The only time he was with her was during the trip from the capital to their village. She didn't even come out of the carriage except for taking care of certain bodily functions. He thought she disliked them and didn't want to marry.
The other brothers remained non-committal.
Fu Mei Li was in the middle of shoving the porridge into her mouth when the brothers returned.
The five men failed to say anything at first. Where did the calm and poised woman of this morning go? This greedy eating posture, what happened? But her bright eyes showing her enjoyment of the food and her stuffed cheeks like a hamster was also looking a bit...cute!
Fu Mei Li looked at the brothers who were just standing there staring at her eating and she felt a little embarrassed. She was really starving since she woke up, alright!
"Did things go well?" She put the bowl down and asked them.
Mingyu nodded and Weimin brightly smiled at her. "Wife, you're really good! Without your help, the uncles would have made more trouble." Fu Mei Li was taken aback by the third brother's enthusiastic approach and that "wife" was especially jarring, and so she just smiled at him. Weimin was stiff for a second. Wasn't the wife's smile too beautiful?
"We are thankful. We will repay you double when we earn the money." Jin Mingyu's expression was still distant but it seemed to have softened a bit.
Fu Mei Li shook her head. "You don't have to. I will be living here from now on. I should also contribute a little." She smiled at them with a hint of teasing, "Just don't treat me unkindly, okay?"
She decided that if she was going to live a peaceful life in this home, she should try to be friends with these brothers first and show them her value. Otherwise, she'd really have to leave and who knows what danger she'll encounter out there. She didn't want to do that until she was certain of what her other options were.
"Of course, we will treat our wife kindly!" Weimin was filled with conviction and enthusiasm. The twins also smiled at her. The second brother kept silent.
"You can rest assured that we will not treat you unfairly." Jin Mingyu promised her without too much change in his expression. He remained aloof and distant.
Fu Mei Li was still happy to hear that though. At least these brothers have some decency.
"Alright, she needs to rest more." The fourth brother, Jin Shufen, ended their conversation by shooing the brothers out. "Drink your medicine." He told her before exiting the room as well.
Fu Mei Li didn't have any objections. Her body was indeed weak and had just recovered from days of travel fatigue and illness. She was feeling sleepy after eating, so she happily lied down and was asleep in just a few minutes.
A few days passed by uneventfully and Fu Mei Li slowly regained strength. After close to three years of malnutrition, her body was still really frail but at least she wasn't feeling awful anymore.
Aunt Li came in with another bowl of porridge and Mei Li wanted to cry. Aunt Li's cooking was not bad but she had been eating porridge meal after meal and she was sorely missing other types of food!
Add to that the fact that she's been drinking bitter medicine for days now, so she really wanted to give her tastebuds something different and delicious.
"Aunt Li, can you please show me around the house? I would also like to see the kitchen."
"Ah. Yes, yes of course! You haven't actually gotten out much since you came here. Come, I'll show you around."
And so Aunt Li gave her a tour around the Jin family courtyard that afternoon.
As she noticed previously, the whole compound was on the large side but was looking dilapidated.
The property was actually a traditional Siheyuan complete with a master, east, and west wing. There is also a north hall or backside building constructed behind the master residence. Two smaller utility rooms were attached to the master wing. There were also three reverse-facing rooms located at the south of the property, by the main gate.
Overall, there were three courtyards, with the inner courtyard being the largest and there was a well there. The outer courtyard, which was closest to the main gate, was sizable too. The rear courtyard was the narrowest although there was still plenty of space, and there were empty raised vegetable beds there.
She then found out that the master wing was where the first brother, Jin Mingyu, lived. One of the smaller utility rooms was actually his study while the other one was used as storage.
Three brothers lived in the north building behind the master wing - the second (Haoran), third (Weimin), and fifth (Longwei). As for the fourth brother, Shufen, he was living in the west wing, which was divided into his bedroom and a medicine room. It turned out that Jin Shufen practices medicine and he was the one decocting all the medicinal soup she had drunk so far.
As for the east wing, it was used as a kitchen and dining area. The outhouse was located at the farthest corner of the outer courtyard. There are three reverse-facing rooms in total. One was used by Aunt Li as her bedroom while the other two rooms were used for storing farm tools and other household implements.
She also found out that the eldest brother has been sleeping in the fourth brother's room ever since she occupied the master wing to recuperate. She felt a little bit guilty about that, so she requested Aunt Li to take her to the kitchen after the house tour.
She decided to thank the brothers by cooking a delicious meal for them!