The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 144

“My wife’s taste has changed drastically since she got pregnant. She wants to eat Wang Er’s pickles everyday. Our whole family has to eat with her. I’ve had toothaches recently…” A minor official in the Ministry of Justice was complaining to his colleagues when he suddenly heard a voice behind him, “Excuse me, do pregnant women like to eat the pickles from Wang Er’s house that you mentioned?”

The clerk turned his head and was startled to see the person who was talking. It turned out to be the famous Minister Mei in the Ministry of Justice, known for his strong work ethic as well as his aloof personality. This person usually never spoke to anyone except regarding work. Yet he suddenly came to talk to him. The clerk was quite flattered, and his voice was stuttering. It took him a long time to remember the question the person in front of him had just asked. He grabbed the black gauze hat on his head and hesitated, “Ah, ah? Yes, pickles; my wife likes them. I don’t know if pregnant women do.”

Mei Zhuyu decided to give it a try, and then the clerk told Minister Mei where to buy pickles. That night, Mei Zhuyu took a large jar of Wang Er’s pickles home.

“This tastes good; very appetizing.” During the meal, Wu Zhen indeed ate more than usual. Mei Zhuyu silently breathed a sigh of relief.

After Mei Zhuyu went to take a shower, Wu Zhen’s face turned bitter as she drank a large pot of chrysanthemum tea to dilute the salty taste in her mouth. The pickles were too salty. If it weren’t for the fact that her husband was worried recently, she would not have eaten that stuff just to make him happy. She didn’t know who gave him that bad idea.

The officials in the Ministry of Justice had just finished a busy morning of work. They were rubbing their sore necks and chatting together. Suddenly, someone started talking about Mei Zhuyu.

“Are you serious?” A middle-aged official in blue looked at his colleague in disbelief.

The handsome middle-aged man sitting next to him, with a beautiful beard, stroked it and smiled. “Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, just try it, and you’ll know.”

The blue-robed official looked around and lowered his voice, saying, “What if they really come?”

The bearded official also whispered, “He will come. He’s just a little withdrawn, and he won’t hurt anyone. I’ve never even seen him swear at anyone. What are you afraid of?”

The blue-robed official curled his lips in his heart. There was nothing to be afraid of. Why were they speaking so quietly? However, he was still very interested in what his friend said, so he stopped talking and deliberately cleared his throat to test the waters. “When my wife was pregnant, she loved to eat a dish called ginger flower sea bass. The sea bass is fried in clear oil and seasoned with ginger, garlic, etc….”

As he spoke, he looked around inconspicuously. Suddenly, a male voice came from behind him and asked, “Which restaurant sells this ginger sea bass you’re talking about?”

The blue-clothed official was startled, holding his chest and taking a breath, thinking how could Minister Mei appear out of nowhere  without making any sound? After being shocked, he thought it was really as his friend said; as long as he mentioned what his wife ate when she was pregnant, Minister Mei would appear.

After Mei Zhuyu got the answer he wanted, he thanked him and left. The blue-robed official suddenly laughed out loud, shook his head, and sighed to his friend beside him. “Minister Mei has been in the Ministry of Justice for more than a year, and I have never spoken to him. I only heard that he is not easy to approach. But now it seems that he is just an ordinary man who is afraid of his wife. It’s not as exaggerated as others say.”

Recently, a rumor had been spreading within the Ministry of Justice. It was said that if one mentioned in public the food that his wife loved to eat when she was pregnant, the eccentric Minister Mei would suddenly appear.

Many idle officials did not believe in it and deliberately talked about these topics with their colleagues and friends. The result was that, without exception, Minister Mei would appear silently, ask them, and then leave silently.

As time went by, that became an unspoken anecdote in the Ministry of Justice and even an interesting little game. After many interactions, many officials who originally thought that Mei Zhuyu was arrogant and difficult to get along with began to change their views on him, thinking that Minister Mei was just taciturn and not deliberately alienating others. Minister Mei, who collected recipes everywhere for his pregnant wife, finally began to understand the world through the eyes of his colleagues.

As a direct result, Mei Zhuyu discovered that more colleagues came to talk to him recently, and several of them would greet him when they saw him on the road, instead of pretending not to see him and walking past like before. Not only that, some colleagues invited him out for a drink, and even if he refused, these people did not get angry but instead smiled and told him where to find good dishes.

Mei Zhuyu didn’t understand and finally attributed it to the fact that the weather had been good recently and everyone was in a good mood.

Wu Zhen was in a good mood recently. After getting over the panic and caution in the early stages of pregnancy, she regained her former carefreeness. She felt that it was just that her belly was a little big and that the belt should not be too tight when wearing clothes. Other than that, there was no inconvenience. Since ancient times, people who watched others during pregnancy were more nervous than those who were pregnant. Wu Zhen had already started to relax, but Mei Zhuyu was still terrified when looking at her belly every day.

In addition to staring at Wu Zhen’s belly seriously, Mei Zhuyu was also worried about her three meals a day. Wu Zhen’s appetite had been poor since she became pregnant, and she ate much less than before. Mei Zhuyu had been bringing all kinds of food home since the time he brought back Wang Er’s pickled vegetables.

It was said that Wu Zhen ate Wang Er’s pickled vegetables for two consecutive days. On the third day, she could not help but say to her husband, “I don’t want to eat this pickled vegetable anymore.”

Mei Zhuyu asked, “What’s wrong? The pickles don’t taste good today?”

Wu Zhen told him seriously, “Pregnant women’s tastes are not fixed. They do not like something for more than two days.”

Mei Zhuyu believed her without hesitation, and then he tried all kinds of ways to find things that pregnant women might like to eat. Although he didn’t know what Wu Zhen wanted, there would always be some things among the many he brought back that she would like.

Sometimes what he brought home were ingredients, sometimes they were dishes that had already been prepared in restaurants, and sometimes they were fruit snacks.

Every day when Wu Zhen came back, the first thing she would ask was whether her husband had returned. If the servants said yes, her next question would be what her husband had brought back that day.

“Madam, he brought back two big turtles today!”

“Madam, he brought back some fish sausages stuffed with vinegar made by Li restaurant today.”