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墨書 Inktalez
Farmhouse They go to bed early at night, partly to save on lamp oil, and partly because after a long day, they want to rest. Moreover, they have to get up early the next morning.
Farmhouse is like this; regardless of whether there is work the next day, they will rise with the dawn. If there is work in the fields, they go out to work; if there isn’t, they tidy up the house inside and out until it’s spotless. Those who sleep in late are considered lazy and incapable of managing their lives, looked down upon by others. For unmarried men and women, it becomes difficult for women to find in-laws and for men to marry.
Stone and Wood quickly became sleepy, sitting beside Parents, yawning and rubbing their eyes, yet they refused to go to sleep.
Xiao Lihua had already prepared their blankets for them to sleep.
Stone said, “Mother, I want to hear the story about Monkey King.”
Wood blinked his eyes and looked over; as soon as he heard about the story, his sleepiness vanished.
Xiao Lihua told them to lie down and smiled, “Alright, you two lie down well, and Mother will tell you a story. Just wait for Mother to finish spreading the bedding so we can lie together!”
At this time, Xie Youshun had already spread the bedding. When Xiao Lihua saw this, she took off her outer garment, lay down beside the two children, covered herself with a thin blanket, and began telling them a story.
Xie Youshun also took off his clothes, turned off the lamp, and lay on the kang listening to Xiao Lihua’s gentle voice slowly narrating a story he had never heard before. He thought her voice was so pleasant, better than any woman’s voice he had ever heard. It turned out that when she wasn’t noisy or disruptive, her voice was like this. Moreover, she told stories well; such vivid tales flowed from her lips so fluently without even a stutter—better than any storyteller he had ever listened to. Listening to such a voice made him feel as if something was gently grasping his heart; it was a very comfortable feeling.
By the time Xiao Lihua had only told half of the story, she could hear the two children’s breathing and knew they had fallen asleep. She covered them with their blankets and then turned her body around after lying on her side for a while; it had become somewhat stiff from being in that position for too long, and she let out a soft sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
Xie Youshun, not yet asleep, asked upon hearing her sound. He reached out his hand casually and grasped Xiao Lihua’s hand. Feeling that sensation of being held in his heart stabilize somewhat, he didn’t let go.
Xiao Lihua smiled and said, “It’s nothing; I just lay on my side for too long and got a bit stiff. Just lying here is fine.”
Then both of them fell silent. Xiao Lihua wanted to pull her hand back but didn’t succeed; she remained still, listening to Xie Youshun’s breathing. Gradually feeling a bit nervous inside, she had already decided to be Xiao Lihua, knowing that Xiao Lihua was a married woman with two children. She would certainly engage in that kind of activity; besides, when she was Xiao Li, she wasn’t unfamiliar with such matters and wasn’t afraid of it. Xie Youshun was also a decent man who should be acceptable. She thought that if Xie Youshun really wanted it, she wouldn’t refuse either; it was just that sometimes thinking about it was easy, but facing it in reality still made her anxious.
Xie Youshun sensed that Xiao Lihua wanted to retract her hand and felt somewhat complicated inside. When he married Xiao Lihua, she didn’t want to be with him either. He didn’t particularly like Xiao Lihua, but she was his wife. Despite all the trouble Xiao Lihua caused him—he never hit or scolded her—there were times when he felt extremely angry and could have taken action. He thought that marrying a wife meant having children; children were his hope. So without much thought, they ended up having two kids.
Now Xiao Lihua was different from before; Xie Youshun realized he truly liked his current wife because he cared about her. Even if he thought about it deeply inside, seeing her unwillingness made him unable to act on those thoughts. So he just held her hand tightly.
After waiting for some time without seeing any movement from Xie Youshun, Xiao Lihua softly asked, “Are you asleep?”
“No, I’m thinking about whether you still don’t want to do that with me.”
"You what..." Xiao Lihua was somewhat astonished, not expecting Xie Youshun to say such a thing directly. Her face flushed, and she wanted to pull her hand back but was unsuccessful.
"I just haven't recovered from the injury on my head... Of course, although we've been together for these years, we've also had our share of playful banter. Suddenly being intimate feels a bit awkward for me. I'm a little nervous, but if you give me some time, I'll be fine after a while. We should spend more time together, and I’m sure I can naturally accept you. Honestly, I don’t dislike you; you’re quite nice."
Xiao Lihua finished speaking in one breath, wondering whether Xie Youshun would agree to give her time. She thought about the saying that one should marry first and then fall in love. They should also have a romantic relationship. If Xie Youshun didn't consider her feelings, she wouldn't refuse him. However, since he asked her now, she naturally wanted to buy herself some time. Even though she was somewhat hesitant about love due to the hurt from her previous husband, she still wanted to get familiar with this husband before becoming more intimate.
Listening to Xiao Lihua's earlier words made Xie Youshun feel a bit down, but when he heard the last sentence, he felt happy that his wife said she didn’t dislike him and thought he was quite nice.
"Then let's take our time getting along."
Xie Youshun thought that during this time, he would treat his wife better and improve their relationship before moving on to that next step. Just thinking about that matter caused his previously subdued physical reaction to resurface. He tried hard to calm himself down, feeling truly tormented; he had never experienced this before. It seemed that it was because his wife had become better that he felt interested again. Unfortunately, even though his wife had improved, he could no longer treat her as he did before.
When Xiao Lihua heard that Xie Youshun agreed, her heart finally settled down.
"Let's go to sleep." Xie Youshun turned to his side and reached out his arm to hold Xiao Lihua tightly, then fell silent.
Xiao Lihua did not reject his closeness; she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
That night, Xiao Lihua slept exceptionally well. When she woke up early in the morning and noticed the bright light outside, she got up only to find that not only was Xie Youshun gone, but even her two sons were nowhere to be seen. She thought to herself that she must have slept too soundly. It seemed that previously she had always worried about what Xie Youshun might do to her, which made her sleep lightly; after hearing his assurance, she relaxed and slept deeply.
Xiao Lihua got up, dressed herself, folded the bedding neatly, then put on her shoes and went outside to look for her two children. Seeing that the door was locked from the inside made her realize they hadn’t gone out. She then went to the backyard and indeed found the two little ones squatting in front of the chicken coop, their eyes fixed intently on four speckled chickens. The chickens were all particularly quiet as if facing a great enemy, which amused Xiao Lihua greatly.
"Shitou, Muto, stop staring at those chickens! If you keep staring at them, they won’t dare lay eggs."
"Mom, you're awake!"
"Mom, we’re waiting for eggs!"
The two children ran over to Xiao Lihua's side. Children are like this; no matter how bad their parents were before, as long as they treat them well now, they immediately become close again. Now they were very affectionate towards Xiao Lihua; one tugged at her clothes while the other jumped into her arms and hugged her.
Xiao Lihua bent down and kissed their foreheads for a moment and said, "Wait until you hear them clucking before you go check. The chickens that lay eggs will look like they've won a victory. If you keep staring at them like this, they won't have any spirit left to lay eggs; they'll see you as enemies. Even if you stare at them, you need to hide."
Both children nodded obediently with expressions of sudden realization, which made Xiao Lihua kiss them a few more times. Hearing them say they were hungry, she walked into the kitchen and saw there were still plenty of dumplings left. She heated some up, set aside half for later, and made soup with the other half for the two children while she drank some broth herself. She placed the remaining dumplings in a bowl and put it in a basket in preparation for going out to the fields.
Yesterday, I said I would go to the fields, but I overslept. Now I'm bringing lunch to Xie Youshun and helping out a bit. The two kids naturally followed along. The three of us locked the door and went out.
The Xie Family is now on the west side of the village, while their fields are on the east side. We have to pass through the entire village. Along the way, Xiao Lihua smiled at everyone she saw. If she recognized someone and thought they were nice, she greeted them; if not, she remained silent. People in the village thought that this daughter-in-law of the Xie Family had really changed her temperament after surviving a great ordeal. No wonder there were rumors that she was possessed by a ghost. However, seeing her greet people now and recognizing quite a few, it was clear that she was not possessed; how could a ghost be so clear-headed? Those with good temperaments smiled back at her, and her cheerful demeanor made conversations pleasant.
Xiao Lihua spoke appropriately and tried her best to integrate some of her own personality traits, making people believe that this was indeed a change in her character.
Some gossipers brought up the rumors about her being possessed.
Xiao Lihua laughed and said, "Am I possessed? I just died once and met Yama, got scared, and came back thinking about living well. As a result, people started talking behind my back. I know who said it; I just didn’t want to make trouble for the sake of the Li Family. Otherwise, with this injury on my head, I would have settled things with her. Some people just can’t stand others doing well; they are so ruthless that they seem to wish I had died and want others to harm me again! You all should keep your distance from such people; otherwise, you might get stabbed in the back by them."
Xiao Lihua already knew that Zhang Shuitao was spreading these rumors and thought to herself that this woman just couldn’t be happy unless she caused trouble.
As they watched Xiao Lihua leave, those women remarked that she was indeed still the same Xiao Lihua—quite formidable—and from her words, it was clear she had figured out that the village chief's second daughter-in-law was slandering her behind her back. They thought about how Zhang Shuitao nearly caused someone’s death and now claimed that person was possessed; she truly couldn’t stand to see anyone do well.
Someone suggested that maybe it wasn’t Zhang Shuitao who spread the rumors, but then another person recalled hearing Zhang Shuitao say by the river while washing clothes that Xiao Lihua was possessed. The first person to say this was Sister Zhu, who had a good relationship with Zhang Shuitao, so it seemed certain that Zhang Shuitao was involved.
Soon enough, word spread throughout the village that Xiao Lihua knew Zhang Shuitao had spoken about her but chose not to hold it against her.
When Zhang Shuitao heard this, her face turned red with anger and then pale; Sister-in-law from the Yang Family told Father-in-law about it, leading him to scold her. She grew even more resentful towards Xiao Lihua.
When Xiao Lihua arrived at the fields and looked at the vast wheat field before her, she spotted Xie Youshun in the distance. The children shouted "Dad" loudly, causing not only Xie Youshun to turn around but also several others nearby.
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