CH 11

Chapter 11 – The Ex-husband Is Not Dead

When she heard him call ‘Jing Niang’, the hairs on Li Jing’er stood on ends and her heart bristled.  Goosebumps rose all over her and she shivered.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person.  I’m not a local, I don’t have relatives or parents and I’m alone.”

“Minjiang County, Furong Town, Wolong Village.  There’s an old locust tree in front of the door and a well under the tree.  You should be familiar with that!”

He described the scenery of his hometown.

Li Jing’er’s eyes narrowed and her scalp turned numb.

“Are you a fellow villager?”

“My surname is Xiao.”

If Xiao Erlang’s surname is not Xiao, then can his surname be Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li?

(Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li are all surnames and these four are part of the list called ‘A Hundred Surnames’.)

“Half of the residents in Wolong Village have the surname Xiao and it is a common surname in the village.”

“My name is Xiao Jingfeng.”

The time they spent together was too short so perhaps she really could not remember him.

“Oh, your name is Xiao Jingfeng.  Nice to meet……..”

Wait a minute, that’s not right……..this name sounds familiar like she had heard it somewhere before…….

Suddenly, Li Jing’er’s eyes widened like copper bells, and pointed at him in shock.

“You…….you are Xiao Jingfeng?!”

She finally remembered!

It was like seeing ghosts in broad daylight!

“I am.”  Looking at her dumbfounded expression revealing some panic, Xiao Jingfeng could not help but want to laugh.

Is he that scary?

“Aren’t you dead?”

As far as she knows, even the tomb where his clothes were buried had been erected and the son of the First Branch of the Xiao Family was adopted as his heir.

(Tomb buried with his clothes – This is usually the case when the body of the deceased can’t be found and his clothes are used to represent him.  Since he died without a son, a son from his brothers is chosen to represent his heir and the adopted son will offer prayers to him as his descendent.)

“It was misreported, I’m still alive.”

After speaking, he could not help but reach out his hand to touch the face that was always in his mind and it was this memory, a charming shadow that gave him the courage to live.

Li Jing’er turned her head aside to avoid his touch.  She was as calm as usual and said in a cold tone as though she was greeting a fellow villager.

“Congratulations on your escape from death.  Your parents should be very happy and they’re waiting for your money to support them.  Your fame of being filial has spread hundreds of miles.”

“Jing Niang…….”  Is there resentment in her heart?

“It’s time for me to go, it’s getting late.  If I don’t leave now, I’ll really be late.”

She waved to the children to come over and then left without any expression.

Does Li Jing’er truly have no complaints?

She would have preferred he died.  A person who is dead should remain dead, so why did he come back alive to scare people?  When she was in the most difficult times of her life, the man was not by her side.  After she had overcome all difficulties and adversity had reached the extreme and prosperity was about to come, he appeared again like a ghost.

Why is she not allowed to live her own life?!  In this world, it is always the women who are unlucky.

Li Shuangjing, who had transmigrated through time, did not want to have any interactions with this man who is known as her ‘ex-husband’.

This kind of person is as sticky as a dog skin plaster that could not be shaken off and is unreasonable.  Without any rationality at all, he is determined not to retreat until he hits the south wall.  He refuses to listen to anyone and insists on doing things his own way and his stubbornness is like a stone in a cesspool.

Smelly and hard.

Perhaps the consciousness of the original owner of this body still exists.  Although she may have forgotten what Xiao Jingfeng looks like, she could still remember she had hurriedly got on the sedan chair, hurriedly went through the wedding ceremony and after becoming husband and wife for twenty days, her husband left and never to return like a kite whose line had broken off and flown away.

Despite all this, when she heard his name, she could not help but react.  However, it was not Li Shuangjing’s feelings but the original owner’s feelings and as a sour feeling rose in her heart, she had the urge to cry.

Li Jin’ger suppressed the feeling and did not let the original owner’s sadness affect her mood at this time.  To her, Little Sister Yue’s father was a stranger whom she had never met.  He had a daughter with the original owner and never looked back.

However……..what is this?  Doesn’t he have anything to do?  Isn’t the military discipline very strict and harassment of the common people strictly prohibited?  It seems that the military rules vary from person to person…….

It was dusk and getting dark as the rays of the sun faded with the elongated afterglow covered by the night.  The sky was already dark and the winds blowing on both sides were rustling.

The first star made its appearance on the horizon.

“How long do you want to follow me?  Don’t you have to return to the military camp?  Failure to return will be subjected to military punishment.”

It was not out of concern for him but he was so irritating that she wanted to scream in frustration.

“I’ll send you back.  It’s inappropriate for a woman to take three children on the journey back.”

He just wanted to accompany her a bit longer.  He had been looking for her for a long time and both of them miraculously met in this place.  He did not want to miss this opportunity again.

“No need, please return!”

The weasel greets the chicken for the New Year*.  

(The weasel greets the chicken for the New Year – Weasels feed on chicken and here it means the person is harboring bad intentions and has ulterior motives.)

Who was the one who placed her in this situation?  If he had not obstructed her, she would have returned home long ago.

“Let me help you……..”

With a cold expression, Xiao Jingfeng reached out his hand and wanted to take the bamboo basket from her back in which one of the little girls was standing while the other was sitting.

The youngest child, Little Sister Yue was asleep leaning against the basket with her head nodding frequently.  Shuangzhen who was standing felt uneasy as she took care of her deeply asleep sister so that she would not bump around.  With her other hand, she grabbed onto the sharp bamboo basket that could scratch her and looked at the person, who was talking to her mother, in terror.

Why hasn’t he left?  She doesn’t like him!

It was just that Shuangzhen was a child and falls asleep easily.  After being out the whole day, she felt a little sleepy and her eyelids kept drooping and drooping…….

Shuangming, who believed that he had grown up, pursed his lips and refused to let his mother carry him.  As the eldest son in the family, he should take care of his mother who worked hard to raise him.

But it was obvious he was also tired.  He could no longer walk fast and his legs seemed to be held down by something heavy.  The more he walked, the slower he moved, and could no longer lift his head.

Li Jing’er shifted away unhappily.

“Stay further away from me and that would be helping me.  If it weren’t for you, would we have missed the ox cart back to the village?”

She has a bad temper.

“I’m sorry but I can’t agree to your request.  You’re my child’s mother, so I can’t ignore you.”

They are his responsibility and he will protect them all his life so that they will not encounter any trials and tribulations again.

Li Jing’er wanted to hurt him and said sarcastically.

“Didn’t you ignore us for a long time?  You left your wife and daughter to your selfish mother, your mean father, and your sisters-in-law to make a living without enquiring about their welfare.  Even your brothers were nothing good.  All day long, they just wanted to do less and only wished to gain more benefits.”

As soon as she transmigrated into this body, she gave birth to a child, and disregarding everything, she went into confinement.  But when she saw the haggard face of the original owner, the calloused hands that had been working for a long time, and the broken body that could not even endure the birth of a child, she understood how the family treated the original owner.

Without the need to ask, she knew that the original owner had to do all the housework such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, cutting hogweed to feed the pigs, cleaning chicken manure, and mixing rice bran to feed the chicken.  She also had to chop firewood and carry water and as soon as she was free she had to prepare hot water for the whole family to bathe.

It was because she was pregnant that she was given less work, otherwise, she would have to work in the fields, take care of the children of the First Branch and Third Branch and pick manure and as well as water the fields.

Before the baby was born, they did not the gender so they treated her better.  No matter how ruthless Mother Wu was, she still cared about her unborn grandchild.  It was common to favor the sons over daughters and the older generation valued the continuation of future generations.

So immediately after the child was born and when Mother Wu saw the child was a girl, she ignored the mother and child and did not even give Li Jing’er any food.  On the second day after giving birth, she was asked to get up from the bed to grind corn and was not even bothered about whether her placenta had been discharged.  She would not be fed if she did not work.

At that time, Li Jing’er was no longer the original owner ‘Li Jing’er’ who could be manipulated easily.  Li Jing’er understood the importance of confinement to a woman, so she took out the 200 copper coins she earned from embroidering handkerchiefs and asked Auntie Jiu who usually treats her well to prepare confinement meals for her.  She only left her room after completing her confinement.

During this period, the Xiao Family treated her badly.  They either abused her or satirized her for becoming squeamish.  After giving birth to a girl, she even dared to oppose her parents-in-law.

Li Jing’er turned a deaf ear to all these. It was their business if they were hopping mad, just as long as she lives her life well.  Anyway, she will leave sooner or later and this kind of home is not what she wants.  She would not swallow her anger and endure anyone who treats her badly.  The path in life is set by oneself.

“I’ve saved money to support the family……”

Whenever he received his military salary, he was reluctant to spend it on himself and wanted to save more so that his family could live better.

She let out an ‘uh’ and sneered.

“Do you think that with your Mother’s temperament, she will take out the money?  She still disdained it for being too little.  She wanted me to do more work before giving me any food.”

“I……I didn’t know.  I thought she would give me face and be nice to you.”

Xiao Jingfeng’s throat was dry and uncomfortable.

He could endure all hardships for the family.  Even when the draft order was issued and the other brothers found excuses not to go, he had accepted it with gritted teeth to prevent the family from being torn apart.

His only request was for them to take care of his newly wedded wife.  It was not known whether he would make it back from the battlefield but she was still part of the family.

Although they were known for their arrogance and selfishness, they should have at least done their best on the surface!  At least, they should not have made her suffer from hunger since he sacrificed his life to feed them.

But he was too naive and had overestimated his family’s conscience.  They were so ruthless to abandon their flesh and blood, so what else can’t they do?

“However, that’s good too.  I didn’t even get a single cent that you sent and when the news of your death arrived, they ganged up together to drive me away saying that one more person eating would make them poor.  They thought of a way to kick me out of the house and even wanted to take away my pitiful dowry.”

They estimated that if it was sold, it could only fetch less than a tael of silver but they were unwilling to let go.