CH 18

Chapter 18 – Doting On His Wife (1)

With etiquette one can stand firm, without etiquette there’s no way to stand up.

“Who told you a relationship can’t be severed?  Your Mother could do it so simply and completely.  Just as long as she could drive me away to save on my portion of food, she didn’t even want her granddaughter and even directly issued me a letter of divorce, saying that Little Sister Yue is not a descendant of the Xiao Family.  Now Little Sister Yue’s surname is Li and her name is Li Shuangyue…….”

“Don’t you see?!  You don’t even know your daughter’s name, right?!  Your Xiao Family are all heartless and cruel people and they didn’t even give her a name.  They called her a debt collector* but so what?  She is now collecting debts from me and I’m willing to let her do it.  Your Xiao Family doesn’t want her but I want her.  I don’t believe that I won’t be able to survive after leaving the wolf’s den………”

(In ancient times, daughters were usually called debt collectors and looked down on by others because raising daughters was considered a loss.  It was believed that daughters came to the family to use the parent’s money and when the daughters reach the suitable age to marry, the parents had to give them dowries.)

The more Li Jing’er spoke, the angrier she became and she was so angry that her eye rims reddened.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t………”

Xiao Jingfeng was at a loss and showed a flustered look when he heard.  He did not know that her resentment towards the Xiao Family ran so deep.

“Even if you didn’t, you were an accomplice because you are too weak and submissive.  Everything that you did, you were only concerned about harmony in the family.  Whatever your brothers refused to do, you shouldered the burden.  But you’re not the only son in the Xiao Family, so why should you be the only one to take responsibility?  With your good-intentioned indulgence, they always got whatever they wanted and as a result, they never attached importance to your wife and daughter.  They thought that this is what the Second Branch should do.  If you don’t do it, who will do it?”

The First Branch was cunning, the Third Branch was slippery and the Mother-in-law was strong while the Father-in-law did not care.

The Xiao Family had determined Xiao Jingfeng was the chosen one since he never complain and was willing to work hard.  His obedience made it convenient for everyone and he never refused to work, so they made full use of him.  He was of much better use than the old cow in the family.  He was willing to work and took care of the family as well.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

In comparison, the Xiao Family’s selfishness and characters were not developed over a short period.  Lao Da, the eldest son, received a lot of attention since he was young and the family had high hopes for him.  Lao San, the youngest child, was especially favored and would get whatever he wanted.  Eventually, he developed a temperament that whenever he held out his hand, his wish would be granted.

Only the second child, Lao Er was not loved by anyone.  No one cared about him, and he silently did the work others did not want to do.  Silently, silently……..and over time it turned into a habit, and finally, it became work that he should do.  The other members of the Xiao Family were very happy to see they had succeeded because they had gained without doing anything.

“Jing Niang, give me time to change.”

After listening to her, Xiao Jingfeng thought about it seriously.  The more he thought, the more frightened he felt and was overcome with terror.

Is the selfishness of his family something that he nurtured unintentionally?

When he recalled the past, he realized he had indeed done a lot of things for his family.  He plowed the fields in spring when no one was willing to do it.  He was exhausted when autumn arrived as it was the harvest season.  He alone had to take on two men’s work and did not sleep so he could complete the harvesting.  When his eldest brother complained of having sore arms, he drove the ox to plow the fields.  When his third brother shouted that his legs hurt, he helped to carry the sacks of rice.  When his mother was short of money to spend, he found part-time work and gave her all the money he earned.

“You can change but your family can’t.  They only think about draining other people’s blood and never planned to spend the money together with the rest of the family.  Your heart and my heart are not in sync and we don’t share the same thoughts.”

The hearts of humans are always biased and the five fingers of a hand are of different lengths.

He was rendered speechless by her words and was unable to retort.

The Xiao Family’s heart is indeed true like what she had said.  They are similar to mud that cannot stick to the wall and even if he has the determination, he would not be able to make them change.

“I’m still the father of the child.  You have to let me acknowledge her, she is my only daughter.”

When she saw that he had lowered his stance and was aggrieved, Li Jing’er, who understood it was not his fault, did not want to make it difficult for him.

“I don’t want to hear anything about her being your only daughter.  If you want to acknowledge her, then you’ll have to acknowledge all three children.  You’re to guard your words in front of the children and not let them know the truth.  I treat all of them as my children, and if anyone of them is hurt by you, then don’t blame me if I become angry and turn ruthless.”

Unfavorable words must first be spoken.  One should be a villain first then only a gentleman*.

(To be a villain first then a gentleman means to first talk frankly even if it may offend others and then only talk amiably.)

“Where did the other two children come from?”

Especially the eldest one.  He seemed to be here to collect debts.  Every time Xiao Jingfeng sees him, he would show a fierce expression as if his mother would be snatched away.

“Picked up.”  Simple and to the point.

“Picked up?”  She was very firm and steady and treated other people’s children as her own.

The people in ancient times, who could easily give birth to a whole bunch of children, would never be able to understand the pain of the parents in modern times who could not have many children and instead, have only one or two.  Children in the modern world are treated like precious treasures, given the best education, the best growth environment, the best food, and the best clothing.  The parents could not bear to give them anything inferior.

Li Shuangjing’s father owns a real estate company and her mother is a stockbroker.  She has three siblings.  One works as a public relations manager in Japan, another is the manager of a branded German car manufacturer and another is a NASA technician.  She is considered the most unpromising as she works as a fire brigade commander.

As the youngest child in the family, she is never short of money and the money she receives every New Year is higher than her annual salary.  All her siblings are childless and they yearn for one.

“Let’s skip the matter about the children.  I want to know how you got through the traps I set which most people can’t get through.”

It took her several months to set them up and suffered several cuts on both hands because of them.  She painfully set up these traps that were used to test the Marine Corps level by level.  One person could not pass through them because a whole group of people needs to work together using physical strength and wisdom to solve them.

A proud smile appeared on Xiao Jingfeng’s face.

“I’ve tried to break through them once before and spent 5 days recuperating and healing my wounds.  After that, I sent scouts to explore the area and drew up a topographic map.  The men under me hadn’t been training for a long time, so I took them up the mountain for a night raid cum training drill.”

“You brought your men up the mountain?”

Does he think this is a bandit’s den or she is a bandit?

Li Jing’er jumped up in shock with a slight change in her expression.

“I……”

A reason is needed before one can leave the camp. The 3-days 2-nights mountain forest training is indeed valid.

“Hello, Sister-in-law!……..Sorry for the disturbance!………”

Suddenly, uniform loud voices chorused in unison.

At this time, the curtain of mist had lifted and the rising morning sun was spilling golden rays of light.  The trees……..no, it was clumps of branches and leaves stuck together on bodies disguised as trees started to move……….and about 20 young men emerged ‘from the trees’.

Avatar……Q version.

All the young men’s faces and arms were covered with green juice and some of them even had chicken feathers and miscanthus flowers in their hair……….

Suddenly Li Jing’er had a severe headache.

God must have seen that she was leading a good happy life and deliberately wanted to cause her trouble to make her understand that life comes with suffering and that one must experience the 8 great sufferings of……….

Birth, old age, sickness, death, parting from love, long-lasting resentment, futile wish, and the inability to let go………

***☆☆☆***

“Mother! Who are they?!”  So many strange people!

Shuangming looked at the large open space that his mother had purposely weeded, removed obstructing pieces of wood and stones, and laid a layer of soil to stabilize the land.  The open land was specially prepared by his mother for him and his siblings to play but a group of strangers presently occupied it and the land seemed to have become much smaller and not big enough to accommodate them.

He was filled with excitement and his eyes showed vigilance.  He wanted to go over and play with them but was afraid he would be chased away, so he hid behind his mother and asked in a whisper.

“Those are wicked men!”   Wicked beyond redemption!

Why is this happening?  Received an inch and wanted a foot?!

Before sending them down the mountain, she kindly invited them to have a drink from the spring.  As a result, all of them did not show any courtesy and treated the place as their home and became kings of the mountain.  After drinking from the spring, they lay down on the ground and slept soundly.

After a night of training, they were very tired but they should not have treated the front door of someone else’s house as their bed!  They slept haphazardly, horizontally, and vertically…….all over the place.

After having a good night’s sleep, it should be time to leave!  It is supposed to be the manners that a guest should have!

But they didn’t………

A few young men began setting up pots and started a fire while some gathered firewood, some washed rice, and some chopped up vegetables and meat.  The cooking was done in several pots simultaneously.

At this moment, the open land in front of the stone house was used as a military camp.

What could Li Jing’er say?  They were a big group of people and she could only grit her teeth and endure.  She was not so stupid as to attack those people with a knife.

All of them were well-trained soldiers.  Regardless of their young age which was no older than 20 years of age but all of them were experienced on the battlefield and had killed people.  Even the tips of their swords were stained with blood.

However, this matter was too much for her to accept.  When she said they were ‘wicked men’ it was too easy on them because they were simply like locusts that had crossed the border and could not be driven away!

“Wicked men?”  Shuangming’s eyes widened and he clenched his small fists.

“That’s right!  They’re wicked men and came uninvited!  Another way of referring to them is ‘uninvited guests’.  Our family is so small and there’re so many of them.  Eventually, our food stocks will all be gone and we’ll become poor.”

Li Jing’er pulled out the mushrooms and wild red dates that had been drying for a few days to remove the impurities and sand and then let them dry in the abundant sunshine.

She started to prepare food stocks once again.  As soon as autumn arrives, fruits like hawthorn, wild pears, sour oranges, dates, persimmons, walnuts, chestnuts, etc., would ripen one after another.  All these could be stored for a long time or they could be sun-dried and preserved and have high nutritional value.

The humidity in the mountains is high and mushrooms grow all year round until the snow falls.  However, other mushrooms like straw mushrooms, chicken mushrooms, and hazel mushrooms……..depend on the climatic conditions.  Usually, these fungi are found in abundance after the rain.  As long as Li Jing’er sees them, she would not let them go.

During these 7 to 8 months, she had collected several baskets and planned to keep a basket for her own use.  As for the rest, she would carry them down the mountain and sell them off in the next two days.

Sometimes, if she is lucky she would come across Matsutake mushrooms which give off a strong fragrance when cooked.