An Jing's smile immediately turned super big. Her aloof boyfriend seemed to have smiled~
When An Jing and Xiao Changyi entered the kitchen again, it was so dark they could not see anything; Xiao Changyi could only light the lamp.
Usually, to save money on lamp oil, they would go to sleep as soon as it got dark, but today was an exception.
An Jing looked at the kitchen lit by an oil lamp, still quite dim, and greatly missed the light bulbs of the modern world.
Seeing that Xiao Changyi had stopped eating, An Jing asked, "Are you done eating?" She had only eaten half of her corn bun.
"Mhm."
An Jing glanced at the table and noticed there were still three corn buns left. She knew Xiao Changyi was done eating, but probably not full; however, she did not say anything.
The memories of Lin Anjing showed that Father Lin and Lin An Dong would eat at most two corn buns each meal. It was not really because they were too poor to afford three; it was to keep reserves for disaster years.
Farmers relied on the heavens for their meals. In a disaster year, with floods, droughts, locust plagues, and such, crops might yield nothing, and many people would starve to death each disastrous year.
While at the Lin family's home, sometimes Lin Anjing would get one corn bun; sometimes she would get none and always went hungry, which explained why her body was as thin as a bamboo pole.
An Jing looked at the remaining half of her corn bun. The coarse food made it difficult for her to swallow, and eating half was already pushing her limit, but if she did not eat it, she might get hungry later.
Thus, An Jing decided, "I'll save this half for later."
An Jing placed the half corn bun in her bowl, ready to take it to bed with her in case she got hungry during the night. If she was not hungry, she would not eat it and would save it for tomorrow.
After all, she could not afford to waste food.
The family was simply too poor to waste anything.
At that moment, An Jing realized what her next goal was—to ensure that both she and Xiao Changyi could soon have good food, shelter, and clothing.
Xiao Changyi saw that An Jing had only eaten half a bun and was saving the other half. He did not say anything but picked two more buns from the plate to put in An Jing's bowl.
An Jing got startled and hurriedly stopped him, "No need, this half is enough for me!"
Knowing that he cared warmed her heart, but she really did not want to eat more of the coarse corn buns. If she were not afraid of starving, she would not want to eat it at all.
Xiao Changyi did not immediately withdraw his hand. He looked firmly at An Jing, making sure she was not just pretending, before retracting his hand and putting the two buns back onto the plate.
There was only a small plate of wild vegetables, but still, half a plate was left. Xiao Changyi picked up the chopsticks he had put down earlier and finished the remaining half-plate of wild vegetables. The remaining pickles could be saved for tomorrow.
Watching Xiao Changyi eat the wild vegetables, An Jing felt both sour and sweet in her heart. She wasn't foolish. Although he had not said anything, she could tell that the half-plate of wild vegetables was originally meant for her.
As soon as Xiao Changyi finished the wild vegetables, he stood up, cleaned up the table, and then went to wash the dishes and chopsticks.
An Jing continued to sit at the table, first idly scanning the kitchen before fixing her gaze on Xiao Changyi, who had his back to her while washing the dishes.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, the golden ratio of an inverted triangle, a tall and slender figure... that back view was perfect!
An Jing was very pleased with Xiao Changyi's good physique, and seeing him now washing dishes diligently, she felt he was as good as a man could possibly be.
Back in the day, her father had never washed dishes; it was always her mother who did.