CH 41

Chapter 41 – New Year’s Day

At the other end of the bed, the three children slept with their heads stuck together and their sleeping faces showed their innocence and their ignorance of worldly affairs.  They were waiting to grow up in their carefree lives.

While on the other side of the bed separated by a curtain, the most vicious battle had been fought.  A cruel battle of survival was staged and they fought back and forth without swords or lights.  The winner could only be determined in the next round.

Li Jing’er who was exhausted from the battle was too tired to even raise her hands.  Sweat covered her whole body and she did not want to move.  She was not even aware that Xiao Jingfeng heated some water to help clean her body and with aches all over her body, she fell asleep as soon as her eyelids drooped.

Suddenly, just before dawn, a thunderous explosion resounded in the sky outside the stone house.  Xiao Jingfeng who was originally sleeping contentedly with his wife in his arms instantly opened his eyes.  He swiftly lifted the quilt to nimbly put on his clothes.

When the cold air swarmed around her body, Li Jing’er woke up with a start.

“Xiao Jingfeng, what are you doing?”

After being ‘busy’ throughout the night, he still has the energy to wake up so early.  He really has tremendous energy!

“Let me hear you call me ‘husband’.”  After tying his belt, he turned around to look at her.

“Pei!  Don’t act good after taking advantage!  Add some firewood to the stove, it’s cold.  Come back to bed and nestle down a little while longer!”

There is no urgent work to be done.  Everyone is celebrating the New Year, welcoming and visiting relatives and friends, and the lively celebration will last until the Lantern Festival.

“Jing Niang, do you still want it?  As your husband, I’ll accompany you.”

Xiao Jingfeng pretended to take off his clothes and acted like a wolf preying on a sheep.

A pillow stuffed with rice husks came flying at him and he caught it neatly.

“You can scram to wherever you want!  Don’t bother me!  If you’re allowed to torture me any further, I won’t be able to get out of bed!”

She spoke softly to avoid waking up the children.

Living in the stone house was very convenient, cleaning was simple, and she need not have to think of where to store the things.  The only inconvenience was the intimacy between husband and wife.  With the children present, they could not enjoy themselves fully and had to conceal the deed like a pair of mandarin ducks having a secret affair in the wild.  They had to suppress the high-pitch screams, could not roll around freely, and always be on alert in case the children wake up or it would be difficult to explain.

Fortunately, the bed was made of stone and no matter how violent their movements were, it would not shake even a bit.  It gave them a sense of security and they need not have to worry that the bed frame would break.

Li Jing’er had indeed thought about the children.  They will grow up soon and should have their individual bedrooms.  It was obvious that the stone house was not suitable unless she digs a few more rooms into the hard stone wall.  Otherwise, she really has to consider moving down the mountain to live in a house in the village.

One day when she has the money, she will buy a manor on the mountain.  She wants to be self-sufficient and dig a pond to raise fish and grow lotus roots.  She will set up a mulberry garden to raise silkworms, harvest the cocoons and weave silk cloth.  The whole mountain will be planted with fruit trees that bear fruits in all the different seasons.  It will save her the trouble of foraging all over the mountain for food and she will no longer be short of food.

Then she will buy a large piece of land near the manor and rent it out.  She will be a landlady who only collects rent and does not have to work to earn a living.

She had once told Xiao Jingfeng about her thoughts but he was silent for a moment and only said a sentence………..’Jing Niang, I’ll give you everything you want, just wait for me’.

So she conceded and gave in to this man.

“I’m going to leave now.  Even if you want me to stay, I can’t.  Take good care of the children.  I’ll try to make it back in time to take you and the children into the city to view the lanterns.”

After putting on the deerskin boots on his big feet, he stomped his feet a few times……..perfect fit.  Then he pulled his wife over and kissed her on the lips.

“Where are you going?”  The only disadvantage of working in the Guard Base…….no one can make decisions…….only follow orders.

He explained.  “That explosive sound at the foot of the mountain just now is a communication signal between me and the base to indicate that something had happened.  I have to quickly return to the base to make arrangements for the dispatch of troops.”

“It’s the New Year, what major trouble can there be?  They just refuse to let others enjoy the New Year!”

It was like being on leave and the boss used the mobile phone to remotely control the employees and order them to go on business trips causing unhappiness.

Xiao Jingfeng smiled.

“Don’t complain……..at least I came back to accompany you for the New Year.  Many of the brothers in the army can only eat corn buns and at the most, they can only have an additional piece of meat.  While they are eating, they can only think about their parents, wives, and children.”

“Do you think of your family too?”  She asked, referring to the Xiao Family in Wolong Village.

“My family is you!  I only think of you and the children.”  There was tenderness in his eyes and his big hand gently stroked her fine silky hair.

“Be careful…….leave early and return early.  I’d rather you do less work than risk your life.  I’m already married to you, so it doesn’t matter if the dowry is less.”

Anyway, it is already confirmed he is the one.

The smiling face was bright and clear.  “I know……wait for my return.”

Without bidding the children goodbye, Xiao Jingfeng stepped out into the cold winds at the first light of dawn and walked into the white snow land.

After Xiao Jingfeng left, Li Jing’er lay back on the bed and went back to sleep.  After an unknown amount of time had passed, she woke up again.  The continuous banging on the door made her unable to sleep.  After turning and tossing a few times, she sat up and shouted towards the door.

“Just a minute……..coming!”

This Xiao Jingfeng!  He must have left something behind and forgot to take it with him!  He’s already a father and still so forgetful.  How is he going to raise the children in the future?………

Li Jing’er, who was not fully awake yet, ran her fingers through her hair, then put on the indoor slippers made of rabbit skin and walked towards the door.  Only then did she realize that the children were all awake.  Her son was obediently practicing calligraphy with a piece of paper bought by his father while Shuangzhen and Little Sister Yue were roasting chestnuts in the residual red ember.  The two children were eating the roasted chestnuts and their mouths were stained with black ash.

The door was bolted.  Without having to stand on tiptoes, she removed the top latch and after putting down the latch properly, she removed the second latch.  At this moment, Shuangming remembered what his mother had taught him before and quickly put down the brush in his hand to run to the window opening.  He looked out through the window and was just about to call out to his father when he suddenly became petrified.

“Mother, it’s not Father!”

Not father………not father?!

Instantly, the latch in her hand slipped and fell back to its original lockdown position.  At the same time, because of the child’s shout, a loud sound came from the door and it seemed like someone was knocking heavily on the door.  The two latches looked like they could not resist the hard external force.

Upon seeing this, Li Jing’er became fully awake and her crisis instinct was activated instantly.  She immediately put back the top latch that she had removed and then moved a piece of a tree trunk, the height of a man to rest against and support the door.  Only then did the earth-shattering knocking sound tone down slightly.

Perhaps the people outside knew that the people inside had become alert and turned cautious, so the banging on the door stopped.  It was then followed by a mumble of voices as if they were in a discussion.

Suddenly a trembling female voice sounded………

“Li Jing’er, open the door!  I’m about to die from the cold, give me a bowl of hot soup!  I’m tired, hungry, and thirsty, I want to rest in your place for a while……”

“Who are you?”  Ai, where have I heard this voice before?

“You……..can’t you recognize my voice?  I……I am Chen Yulian………Chen Dasheng……Lord Zhenfu’s younger sister………”

She was so cold that her teeth were chattering.

Chen Yulian?……….  She is not familiar with her……..but Lord Zhenfu, Chen Dasheng……….

“Sorry, I can’t let you in, my man is sleeping, please go away!”

“Slut!  Slut!  How dare you lie!  We saw him leave the mountain!  There’s no man in your house and there’s only you and the children!”

She became very agitated as she shouted and her voice sounded angry and dissatisfied.  She could not believe that she had been turned away.

As soon as she heard the word ‘slut’, Li Jing’er remembered the woman.  Then when she recalled the woman mentioning the word ‘we’, her heart tightened.  She looked around the interior of the house and realized that except for the hatchet, there was nothing she could use as a weapon.

“You’re mistaken, that’s not my man.  My man is fast asleep, so don’t wake him up.”

Li Jing’er tried her best to prolong the time to see if she could think of a way to retreat from the enemy.

“You’re still lying.  Even if Xiao Erlang had turned into ashes, I’ll still be able to recognize him.  He has left and won’t come back, so don’t think you can fool me.  Hurry up and open the door.  Don’t force me to knock down the door, otherwise, this will turn ugly.”

Chen Yulian started to threaten.

“Regardless of whether my man is here or not, I won’t open the door.  We’re not friends, so why should I treat you nicely?  Leave the mountain quickly!  It might snow in a while and you’ll have a hard time walking.”

She kindly informed the woman that the snowy road would be difficult to access.

However, Chen Yulian who was outside the house did not show any appreciation and continued to shout.

“Bitch, do you think you can wait until Xiao Erlang realizes something is wrong?  Don’t be naïve.  It will be way past noon by the time he leaves the Guard Base and comes back.  If it snows, it will even be worse.  He won’t be able to hasten the journey and by that time, you’ll already be a corpse.”

If she does not kill this bitch, it will be hard to subdue her anger because this bitch is a hindrance in everything she does, and her wish will not materialize.

Corpse?

“What do you mean?”  Can this be premeditated?

Chen Yulian replied proudly.

“I learned of their communication method from my Elder Brother.  So I got people to set off firecrackers at the foot of the mountain to lure Xiao Erlang away.  Earlier on, Xiao Erlang had brought his men up the mountain to collect ginseng, so I asked those men the way up the mountain and they told me everything without holding back.”