CH 19

Chapter 19 – Doting On His Wife (2)

There are a lot of treasures in the mountains.  It depends on whether one is diligent or not and it is not difficult to fill one’s stomach.  Wild vegetables that grow in the mountains can be picked and eaten and although the wild fruits are small, they taste good.

“Mother, I don’t want to be hungry.”  Shuangming cried with a sad face because he thought that they were about to run out of food.

“Just bear with it!  We still have water to drink!”

Humans can live without food for 7 days but cannot stay alive for more than 3 days without water because water is the source of life.

Looking at the spring that was bubbling with water, Shuangming looked like he was about to burst into tears.  He bit on his lower lip and restrained himself from crying.

He had such a pitiful expression that it was unbearable to look at him.

The mother and son shared a tree trunk as a bench and sat in front of the door as if they were guarding against thieves.  Shuangzhen and Little Sister Yue were playing a game using strings inside the house.  From time to time, they would look out curiously to see what the people outside the house were doing and wondered whether there was any game that they could also join in.

“Jing Niang, you shouldn’t fabricate stories to mislead the children.  My soldiers are very disciplined.  They brought their own dry food and water, so they won’t rob you of your food stocks.”

Xiao Jingfeng felt angry and found it funny at the same time.  He patted the top of the child’s head and then rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s difficult to understand a person’s heart just by looking at his appearance and face.  Who can be sure that all of you are disciplined?  Soldiers have huge appetites.  Are you sure you brought enough dry food?  As a woman, I can’t stop you from snatching my food stocks.”

She insinuated that soldiers and bandits are the same.

In times of war, soldiers are more vicious than bandits since they kill and rob.

When he heard, he shook his head helplessly.

“I’ll take my whole team out of here in a little while.  Your place here is relatively remote.  I’ve checked around and found a few beasts.  I’ll take a few people to check again.  If possible, try to avoid the danger and I’ll remove all the ferocious beasts.”

“Using official authority for private interests.”  She did not appreciate his help.

“Later, I will send someone to bring you the hunted prey.  You can decide whether you want to eat it now or preserve it with salt.  I brought 20 catties of salt up the mountain this time which is enough for you to marinate meat for this whole season.”

What she lacked now is the freshly slaughtered meat and the large number of soldiers he brought could hunt together.

There were not many households or hunters within a hundred miles of the mountains, so there was plenty of prey roaming in the mountains.  While they were executing the night raid, they came across a herd of wild deer.  The 40 to 50 heads of wild deer were gathered near a water source that had an abundance of plants and without the experience of being hunted, they did not bolt when they saw the people.

Initially, Xiao Jingfeng had the intention to persuade Li Jing’er to go down the mountain and wanted to arrange for her to stay in another residence.  However, when he realized the mother and children were self-sufficient and living happily, he swallowed back the words.  They seemed very happy and did not show the misery of being alienated by society.

He thought over Li Jing’er’s words seriously.

Given the present situation, they could not return to the Xiao Family.  His father, mother, and even his two brothers would never accept children who are not their own.  The only option is to split up with Xiao Family to set up his own family and be his own master.

In the past, he had never thought about separating from the family.  No matter how difficult life was or how exhausted he was, he still wanted to keep the family together.  It did not matter if he suffered a little loss as long as they share weal and woe and live in harmony together as a family.  A brush cannot write two characters of ‘Xiao’ simultaneously and their family is blood-related.

However, when he heard that his brother wanted to sell his daughter for money and ruined Little Sister Yue’s life with disregard for brotherhood, he was overcome with sadness and wondered what in the world was he doing.  He sacrificed himself in exchange for the cruel betrayal of his family and it was even at the expense of his wife and daughter……..is all this worth it?

Family separation is no longer an unbearable option for him.  When a tree grows, branches will sprout.  Once there are too many people in a family, separation is inevitable and they will have to live their own lives.  He had done enough for the Xiao Family and now it is time to think for himself.

A man’s heart is on the left side with only a few exceptions.

Therefore, Xiao Jingfeng’s heart is naturally inclined toward his wife who gave birth to a daughter for him.  Although both of them were considered divorced, he was unwilling to let her go.  Even if he has to beg, he will seek a reunion and continue their relationship as husband and wife.

“Do you plan to come again?”  Li Jing’er glared at him with dissatisfaction.

When he saw she was glaring at him with her cheeks puffed out, Xiao Jingfeng could not help but laugh aloud.

“I have 10 days of leave after this training.”

“How does that concern me?”

“Have you thought of what you want?”  He is a good temporary laborer.

Li Jing’er rolled her eyes and threw dried mushrooms at him.

“No way!  Don’t even think about it!  A widow’s house won’t take in men.  You can go wherever you feel happy.”

“Your man isn’t dead yet.  It’s too early to assume you’re a widow.”  He was so angry that he had to laugh.

He is alive and living well but she insisted she is a widow.  Is she cursing him to an early death?

Taboo.

“I’ve already considered my man as dead.”  She raised her chin provocatively.

If he is not dead, could she have left that easily?

“Would you like to verify whether your man is dead?”

Facing her arrogance, Xiao Jingfeng smiled dangerously as he leaned closer and his warm breath swept over her face.

A man’s pride should never be challenged repeatedly.  He left home soon after getting married and was affectionate with his wife only a few times.  A man full of energy like him needs a woman.

“You…….what do you want to do?”

Her heart skipped a beat and blushing, she hurriedly hugged her son close to her chest.

Upon seeing his wife’s plump twin peaks being pressed down by the little stinky boy, a faint trace of unhappiness flashed in his eyes.

“There’s a bed inside!  Let’s have another child!”

“Xiao Jingfeng, why are you behaving so shamelessly and bullying me, a weak woman?!”

Such shamelessness!  The man’s brain is only the size of a pea and all he thinks about is only that kind of thing!

“How can a weak woman be able to set up traps that a bunch of men could hardly solve?  Do you know that those bees almost killed me?  I was itchy and sore and my body was red and swollen.  I had to soak in cold water for three days.”

The most difficult part he had to endure was not the healing process but the ridicule of his comrades.

He went up the mountain in search of someone and got stung by the bees which caused swollen lumps to appear on his head.  Whoever saw him would bend over in laughter and say that he must have encountered the mountain spirit, Mandrill.

“It was for self-protection.  Anyway, why didn’t the bees sting me and only sting you?  It must mean that you have a very bad character.”

Li Jing’er could not help but burst into laughter when she imagined the scene of him running all over the mountain while being chased by the hornets.  In her previous life, she was also the butt of the joke when she first went to a house to remove a beehive.

Firefighters are regarded as super-powerful rescue heroes.  They can climb mountains and dive into the sea.  The most outrageous encounter she experienced was about an old lady who lost her walking stick.  The old lady called the fire brigade from her home to seek help.  Instead of asking them to look for her walking stick, she requested the firemen to carry her from the 23rd floor to the 1st floor.  The reason was she wanted to go to the hospital to visit her old friend who was hospitalized.

The matter was too extreme.  Although there was an elevator directly outside the door of her house, she still insisted on being carried down.  It turned out she was claustrophobic and would suffocate once inside the elevator.

In the end, 7 to 8 team members took turns carrying the old lady downstairs.  Then they sent her into the waiting taxi and all in all, they spent around 3 to 4 hours on the operation.

“I am of bad character?”  She can still laugh about this?!

“How did I meet with catastrophes if my character is considered bad?  I traveled back and forth and went up and down the mountain.  Look, I still have sting marks on my body.”

Only fools tread on the path of Hell.

That path was meant for people with bad intentions.  There was a secret passage in front of a certain trap.  After bending down, she would walk on another path that runs parallel to the original path and the two paths were not too far apart.

Poisonous plants grow in abundance in the mountains and Li Jing’er would collect and dry them.  Later, she would burn the dried plants into ash and sprinkle the ash on the area that she walks on.  A few days later the grass will no longer grow and a small passable path would be formed.  Every time she goes down the mountain she would buy a bag of lime or sulfur to sprinkle along both sides of the path so that insects and snakes would not come near.

After all, the children travel with her and she had to ensure their safety.  She even weaved bamboo fences and tied them on both sides of the dark path to prevent miscellaneous trees from growing again and producing branches that would poke and hurt the children.  She used simple crude methods to create an ancient version of a mountain climbing path that ran 5.5 miles long.

Xiao Jingfeng stared at his wife.

“Jing Niang, don’t kick up a fuss with me anymore, alright?  We are a family so there’s nothing we can’t talk about.  I did wrong in the past but I won’t make the same mistake again in the future.”

She is his wife, so he will dote on her.  It is unreliable to entrust others to do it.

Upon seeing that he was very sincere, she also softened her tone.

“The main point is not on you and me but the attitude of the Xiao Family.  Do you think they will accept me all over again?”

“This…….”   That is indeed a bit difficult.

“And……..I won’t live with your parents.  During New Year and festivals, we can go back to offer prayers to the gods and ancestors.  However, they’re not to interfere with my daily life, there won’t be any communication between us and they will live their own lives while we lead our own lives.  Can you do that?”

She is the most impatient when dealing with relatives and especially if they are wicked relatives.

With a 21st-century mindset, Li Jing’er did not place any importance on so-called filial piety.  Before she transmigrated over, she had moved out of her home at the age of 17 and lived alone.  At first, she rented a house, and later on, she bought her own.  She rarely lives with her parents as she was busy and her parents were even busier.  Although they lived together in the same house, she rarely gets to see them.

Xiao Jingfeng raised his eyebrows and was stumped.

The eldest son is traditionally considered the Heir and after a family splits up, the elderly parents will stay with the eldest son.  As long as the second son and third son contribute money to support the elders, it was considered they had done their filial piety and no one could say anything.

However, cutting off communication with them cannot be done except if he is expelled from the family and his name is removed from the family register.  Although since he was little, his parents did not love him much unlike the way they doted on his brothers, he still had food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and clothes to wear.  He was still kept warm and fed and free from worries.

But from now on, he has to treat them like strangers and that is a hurdle in his heart that he really could not get over.

**Please note that the translator will be away for two days.   Three chapters (Chaps 19-21) are posted today to make up for the break and another three chapters will be posted when I return.