CH 24

Chapter 24 – Let Him Into The House

“Mother…….Uncle…….it’s raining……cold……..”

The rain in the mountain comes and goes very quickly.  It will usually last for half an hour or at the most an hour.  The rain will gradually decrease and then slowly stop.

After the rain, the mountains will instantly clear up and the leaves that were washed by the rain will become bright and shiny like the cypress leaves that had just sprouted…….bright green.

Birds will come out to look for food while squirrels will jump from branch to branch.  The thorn-covered porcupines led by Papa Porcupine will venture out.  The whole family will then dig and dig under the tree for grassroots buried under the soil.  With an ‘Ah-wu’, they will then take a bite and arch their noses.

However this time the rain was a bit abnormal.

It had been raining for more than 2 hours and there was no sign of it stopping.  Instead, it was getting heavier and heavier accompanied by the rumbling sounds of thunder.

Li Jing’er used to be a firefighter who saved people from fires, therefore, she was not an unkind woman.  The concept deeply ingrained in her heart was to prioritize other people.  Her heart thumped loudly as she listened to the sounds of the heavy rain and was worried about the safety of the man outside the house.

“Little Sister Yue, do you feel cold?  Cover yourself with the quilt then you won’t be cold.”

Li Jing’er, who was preoccupied with her thoughts, picked up her coat to cover her daughter and did not notice the difference in the weight between the coat and the quilt.

“Mother, little sister’s meaning is that it’s raining outside and Uncle Xiao will get wet in the rain.  We can let him come in to shelter from the rain.”

Shuangming quickly completed the sentence for Little Sister Yue.

“Right…….Mother.  Uncle Xiao in……the rain.  Cold outside…….very pitiful.”

Little Sister Yue put on a pitiful expression and her two curved eyebrows drooped downwards.

“Should we allow Uncle to come in?”  Li Jing’er looked at the children.

Little Sister Yue nodded heavily with her little finger pointed towards the door and Shuangming hesitated for a while before he nodded slightly.  When Shuangzhen saw both her brother and sister nod, she nodded as well.

After the three children agreed unanimously, Li Jing’er still hesitated for a long time and was undecided.  As the falling bean-like rains drummed into her ears, she paced back and forth in the house restlessly.

In the end, her conscience bothered her and she unbolted the door.  Just as she pulled the door open and was about to call out to him, she suddenly discovered the tall figure was already standing in front of her.

“Jing Niang………”

When she heard the hoarse voice, her throat tightened and she felt apologetic.

“Your body is dripping with water and it’s gotten all over me too.  Were you just fished out of the water?”

“The hay shack was leaking…….”  The rain was pouring in continuously with water flowing to the ground and the hay that was laid on the ground as his bed was soaked.

“Don’t think I sympathize with you.  You’re someone who had fought in wars, so I don’t believe you have never marched in the rain before.”

It’s just that I don’t feel distressed when I don’t see it with my own eyes…….but now that I can see you, my heart aches…….

There was no way for him to drink hot soup or tea.  That lonely figure was bent over hugging his knees.

He laughed softly.  “I’m so pitiful, let me in!”

“You……..hmph!  Come in!  Wipe yourself dry with a cloth first.  There’s a fire over there.  Dry yourself before talking.”

That miserable look…….does he look like a man?

Li Jing’er simply threw him a cloth towel that her son uses to wipe his body after washing up that had a cute frog embroidered on it.

However, as soon as Xiao Jingfeng placed it on his body, it looked very small.  After drying his hair with the towel, his clothes could not be dried.  When he brought the towel to the front of his chest, his back dripped with water and after wiping his face, his whole body was still wet.

Li Jing’er, who could not stand it any longer, told him to strip and change his clothes.  She has a piece of green cloth that she bought to make new clothes for herself and her children to usher in the New Year in spring.  Now the piece of cloth came in handy and was just right for him to wrap around his body……..which was better than being naked…….

It’s piercing to the eyes.

“Strip?”  Xiao Jingfeng raised his eyebrows.

“Can it be that you want to start the stove fire in your wet clothes?”

She has no objections and will not comment on other people’s preferences.  Some people are naturally born with the fate of not being able to lead a good life.

Kerosene was not used inside the stone house in case the children play with fire and burn themselves.  There was a hollowed-out fireplace in the kitchen and the firewood burned with roaring flames that twirled upwards.

It was the source of light and illuminated every corner of the stone room.  Several torches were stuck on the stone walls and they were used outside the house or when searching for food stored in the inner caves.

In fact, the furnishings inside the stone house was very simple.

Originally, there was a stone table and Li Jing’er moved several blocks of wood inside to use as chairs.  She used a simple wooden cabinet that was nailed together to keep the children and her clothes as well as some needles and threads, some pieces of cloth, and some strings used for tying hair.  The quilts were never kept away and were laid on the stone bed throughout the year.  When they become dirty and damp, she will then pick a sunny day to take them apart to wash and dry them.  After a day of drying in the sun, the quilts will become fluffy and would be taken back into the stone house to be laid on the bed and reused again.

In a corner stood a row of racks and it was the place designated to hang preserved meat and salted pork.  Meat would store better when dried and it was the place where vegetables were normally hung up to dry.

The sand tray used by the children to write, the shuttlecock the children play with, the playthings picked up in the mountains, the straw-weaved stuff, and the grasshoppers in the bamboo box……..everything was visible with a glance.

“I was only afraid you would mind.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he started to take off his clothes.  First, he untied his belt, then took off his coat……..Xiao Jingfeng’s lips curled up slightly into a smile.

“Wait a moment.  I’ll turn my back then you can strip.”  When she saw him bare his upper body, she finally came back to her senses and stopped him with an embarrassed look.

Aiya!  Why is she so mesmerized by a man’s body that she became starry-eyed and infatuated?  All he has is only stronger back muscles with a V-shape back and a firm powerful waist……….

Hmmm…….it seems like she is looking a little too much.

“It’s not like you haven’t seen me like this before.  You were shouting and crying on our wedding night…….”

At that time, he was also a little too hasty and had barged in recklessly.

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Thinking of the tight fit he felt at that time, Xiao Jingfeng who had been celibate for the last 2 to 3 years was slightly aroused and a heat source rushed up between his legs just below his waist.

“Stop!……..”  Even if he does not feel ashamed, she feels shy.  “The past is the past and let the past remain in the past.  No one is allowed to mention it again.”

Speaking too much will result in mistakes.

Otherwise, she would not have traveled thousands of miles away once she left the Xiao Family and did not return to her maiden home.  The reason was that her temperament had changed drastically, so the more people she meets, the chances of being discovered would be higher.

Therefore, it was better for her to stay far away and distance herself from all possibilities.

But apparently, she did not go far enough and ended up meeting her ‘deceased husband’.

The abominable Murphy’s Law!

No matter where one goes, one would still bump into the person one is fated to meet.  God sure can’t bear to see people living too well!

“To me, it seems like that day was just yesterday.”

When he closed his eyes, he seemed to see her shy fearful look and her trembling lips that showed a stiff smile.

“If you don’t want me to throw you out, you can continue to recall the past.  All the sad and unpleasant things of the past had passed and things of the future should start today.  A flower that had withered will bloom again but will never be the original bloom.”

She hinted that what should be broken off should be severed and should not be allowed to cling like vines.  In this world, some things cannot start over again and one can only move forward without looking back.

The smile on his lips faded and turned bitter.  The road to chasing his wife is still a long journey ahead.

“Jing Niang, you still can’t get rid of the flaw of having a cruel mouth and a soft heart.”

She mumbled to herself…….how can two different people have the same kind of temperament?

“Are you done stripping?  Stop acting like an old woman, I don’t have the time to wait on you.”

When he saw her holding a bowl of ginger tea and waiting at the side, Xiao Jingfeng smiled.

“I’m done.”

His body was not fully wrapped in the cloth and only had a piece of bright green cotton cloth tied around his waist.  The light green pattern on the cloth could barely conceal his little brother whose head had risen slightly.

If he was a little more peremptory, he could have at any time pushed down his officially-wedded wife onto the bed, pressed her down, and acted recklessly.

However, it was just a thought and he could not do such a beastly act.  With the children around, he could not do anything and could only stare and think about how to get on the stone bed.

If he can get close to her, the gap between both husband and wife should be able to mend slowly.

He was not in a hurry and would take a step at a time just like marching to war.  One who can’t endure is doomed to encounter disasters when his troops are dispatched…….and be defeated like the collapse of a mountain.

“Here, take this.”  The hot tea was stuffed into his hands.

“Uh, thank you.”  Not afraid of the hot tea, he took a mouthful.  A while later, his body heated up and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Are you hungry?”  Li Jing’er asked casually.

“Yes.”  He is really hungry.  It’s not a lie.

“Wait a while.  I’ll cook something for you to eat…….Xiao Jingfeng, I notice that your horns are raised.  Don’t think that I care about our past relationship.  I just don’t want anyone to die inside the house and it will be a hassle to pull the corpse outside.”

She did it on humanitarian grounds and even a prisoner on death row must eat a full meal before being sent on the way.

“I know.”  But he could not contain the joy in his heart.

“What do you know? …….Green-headed turtle.”  She pointed at the green cloth wrapped around him.

Li Jing’er knew that she must get rid of her soft-heartedness.  If not, she would not have picked up 7 children along the way when she was fleeing which eventually caused her to run short of money and she almost ended up as a beggar.

However, the one who should change is not her.  Even though she doesn’t like children, she still could not bear to see them suffer, so she tried her best to help them.

When others drown, one drowns.  When others starve, one starves*.

(When others drown, one drowns, when others starve, one starves means to feel concerned for others when they are suffering.)

“I haven’t seen white rice for a long time.  It’s very fragrant.”  This is the taste of home.

Southerners eat rice and Northerners eat wheat.  Xiao Jingfeng is from the south and is not used to eating the flatbreads that the northerners eat but after a few years of war, he could eat anything.

It was all due to hunger!  There was a constant shortage of food supplies in the army and they had to eat whatever was available.  When they were very hungry, they even caught voles for food to fill their tummies so they could return home to see their parents.

So when Xiao Jingfeng saw the fragrant soft white rice in the big pot, his eyes heated up and he was so emotional that he could not speak.

“Just eat whatever is available and try to adapt.  It’s a pity to throw away the leftover rice and vegetables. “

Originally, she had planned to add some water to the leftovers and cook a pot of porridge for tomorrow morning.

Li Jing’er could not find a bowl to hold the rice, so she picked up the pot directly and poured half a plate of fried cabbage together with the vegetable sauce into the pot.  Then she put in the remaining half of the fried fish head and added a few pieces of fried meat, a few pieces of stewed rabbit meat, and beans.

With such a pot, it was enough as a full meal for an adult man.