Chapter 75 What a coincidence, I don’t like it either
Sang Zhixia hadn't expected him to be so perceptive. She was stunned for a moment, then tutted her tongue and replied softly, "She's angry. She just said she's not feeling well and has been cooped up in the house for several days."
But it doesn't matter.
No one cares about it.
Xu Yu heard the hidden meaning in her words and smiled silently. Sang Zhixia thought for a moment and said, "Are you hungry? How about I get you something to eat first?"
It's easy to guess that Xu Yu and his companions must have not eaten well or slept well during the past few days in the mountains. If they were still hungry when they returned home, it would be really embarrassing.
Xu Yu's face revealed a hidden sense of satisfaction: "I'm not hungry."
"The fried noodles you made are very filling. Two bowls can last a whole day. If it weren't for Brother Wu and the others helping out, Third Uncle and I would have left some for ourselves."
Their family had prepared food for them before they left, but compared with his wide variety of dry rations, what the others could eat was relatively inferior.
Thanks to the unique fried noodles in the mountains, his interactions with his fellow travelers became even closer than before.
All this is thanks to Zhizhi.
Sang Zhixia couldn't understand why he suddenly started laughing. She paused and turned her attention back to the stove.
She stared at the gradually rising steam and said, "The last time you came with me to deliver a letter back to Kyoto, was it to Duke Dingguo's Mansion?"
Xu Yu was startled, and then he heard Sang Zhixia's soft voice: "Madam Bai from the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion has taken good care of my mother. Now my mother and brother are living a much better life in the mansion."
"Xu Yu, thank you."
Xu Yu actually didn't have to do this.
Although he had a bad reputation in Kyoto, he was born with a pride that was no less than anyone else, and the arrogance of a prince also made him unwilling to bow his head and ask for help.
Even when the Xu family encountered a disaster and their entire family was confiscated and exiled, facing the difficulties of the migration and the pain of surviving in the village, he never asked anyone for help.
But in order to improve Aunt Xie's predicament in the mansion, he did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to ask someone to take care of her.
A little care may be just a piece of cake for the high-ranking Lady Dingguo, but for Sang Zhixia, who lives thousands of miles away from her family with a huge gap in status, it is a favor that she does not know how to repay.
This was a favor Xu Yu owed her mother.
Xu Yu was silent for a while, then slowly raised his head and looked into Sang Zhixia's eyes from bottom to top: "Do you know why I didn't tell you then?"
"I don't want to hear you say thank you to me."
He grabbed the axe and chopped the wood hard, his voice muffled: "If I hadn't fallen into this situation, I would have done these things myself."
Entrusting others is a last resort.
But none of these made him more angry than hearing Sang Zhixia say thank you.
Treating each other with respect may be the relationship between husband and wife that is admired by the world, but in his eyes these words are shit.
What he wanted was never politeness or distance.
Xu Yu clenched the axe handle in frustration, frowned, stared at Sang Zhixia, and said, "Do you know what 'holding an eyebrow up to the same level' means?"
Sang Zhixia raised her eyebrows provocatively: "Do you want me to raise the table to my eyebrows when I treat you to dinner?"
If you dare to nod, I will stuff the entire table and bowl into your mouth.
Xu Yu was amused by the anger flashing in her eyes and raised the corners of his lips. He said with satisfaction: "Don't you like it?"
Sang Zhixia narrowed her eyes dangerously: "What do you think?"
"What a coincidence. I don't like it either."
He smiled and rubbed his palms together, then said slowly, "We are husband and wife, so there is no need to be polite to me."
"I will slowly do what I should and can do, and I will make up for what I owe you every day. Don't say thank you or not, from now on."
Sang Zhixia was speechless for a moment and didn't say anything else. Outside the door, there was a noise of people talking and commotion.
In just a short while, quite a few people came, and they all brought their own gear.
Those carrying buckets of water hurried to fetch water, while those carrying firewood went to the stove and pestled it.
"Hey, Xia Xia, do you have a butcher knife at home?"
Aunt Wu busied herself back and forth, saying happily, "It's impossible to kill a wild boar this big without a proper butcher knife!"
Sang Zhixia smiled bitterly and said, "Auntie, you really stumped me. How about a kitchen knife?"
"That won't do."
Aunt Wu said seriously, "How can a kitchen knife be as powerful as a butcher knife?"
"Just wait, I'll ask my daughter-in-law to borrow money from the village butcher!"
"Here we go, the big pot outside is ready, hurry up and send the hot water out!"
"Okay!"
Sang Zhixia scooped the hot water from the pot into a bucket, and Xu Yu, Xu Wenxiu and others began to take turns carrying it out.
The wild boar, so fat that its flesh was shaking, was lifted onto a wooden board amid the shouts of "one, two, three". Hot water was poured on it and they began to shave its hair with a knife.
Xu Wenxiu and her two aunts were at a loss as they saw such a scene for the first time. They wanted to help but couldn't find where to start.
Sang Zhixia simply said, "You guys boil some water inside, and use the rice wine we just made yesterday to boil a pot of rice wine so that those who need to take a break can have a drink of warm water."
Aunt Xu said with a look of relief, "Okay, okay, I'll go now."
Second Aunt Xu also pulled Xu Wenxiu aside and said, "It's the same for us helping out in there. If you can't bear to watch, don't force yourself to watch."
In just a short while, seeing the white knife going in and the red knife coming out, the faces of these people became uglier than each other. If they continued to watch, they would probably vomit.
Xu Wenxiu said with a pale face: "Okay, then let's go in first."
The three sisters-in-law hurried back to the courtyard. Aunt Wu saw them and joked kindly, "It's important to say that your mother-in-law and aunt look very elegant. They are different from the women in our village."
Her daughter-in-law was young, but she was capable of slaughtering chickens and ducks. She couldn't stand Wu Changgui's clumsy shaving skills, so she was so anxious that she wanted to grab the knife and do it herself.
The women of the Xu family were too delicate to even be looked at. They looked delicate and frail, not like those who grew up in the countryside. Instead, they looked like the wives of wealthy families who ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures.
Sang Zhixia found it a little funny: "Auntie, you're joking."
"My mother-in-law and my two aunts are good at embroidery. They're always weaving and sewing. Their most skillful thing is their hands. They can easily embroider the most intricate patterns or the most beautiful clothes. With someone as clumsy as me doing rough work, how can I waste their skillful hands?"
"If we switch gears, it wouldn't be difficult for them to do what I do, but I can't do what they do. So I think I should do it."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only Aunt Wu laughed, but even the people from other families who came to help laughed out loud.
Throughout history, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law have been enemies. They will only get the chance to say a few ugly words to slander each other. Few people will say good things about the other party.
Sang Zhixia is young, but he is very sweet in his words.
The main goal is not to offend anyone.
There was laughter outside the door, and the three people in the yard who were a little nervous breathed a sigh of relief without saying a word.
They were afraid that what others said would become thorns in Sang Zhixia's ears, and they were also afraid that it would destroy the rare harmony in the family.
Since Sang Zhixia didn't care, they felt much more relieved.
With everyone working together, the wild boar, which looked like a small mountain of meat, was quickly cut into steaming chunks in the hands of experienced people.
The best parts are the two hind legs, which have only one large bone and yield the most meat.
Wu Changgui's father blew out the smoke from his mouth and made a decision in front of several families: "Everyone knows that the Xu family kid contributed the most. His family also sent two people. The hind legs are all his. Do you have any objections?"
"No, how can you have any objection to this?"
Uncle Xie smiled and said, "If it weren't for Xu Yu, we wouldn't be able to catch the pig's tail even if we saw the hair. We are able to share these, and it's all thanks to the uncle and nephew!"
"Yeah, if you ask me, the Xu family should take the lion's share, and we'll be fine as long as we get some."
"How can that be possible?"
The old man saw the opportunity to interject, "What we have worked together for should be divided equally. Three pigs have six hind legs, so no matter how we divide them, every family will get something. The villagers are kind, and we can't just pick and choose the best. Otherwise, what kind of people would we be?"
The village chief wanted to say something, but the experience he had gained from being in charge of the village was not on the same level as the experience the old man had in the court, so he was convinced by the old man in just a few words.
The village chief was unknowingly being led by the old man: "So, what do you say? Take it all out and divide it equally?"
"Equally, of course."
The old man already had a plan in mind. He pointed out the location with a simple gesture, and then weighed it.
Three wild boars of different sizes, weighing a total of 620 kilograms of meat.
Uncle Xu Sanshu and Xu Yu were from the same family, so the soup was divided among five families in total. The old man wanted to make some good friends, so he decided to give the Xu family an extra 80 kilograms, and each of the other families got 120 kilograms each.
Wu Changgui originally thought that it would be good enough if he could get 50 or 60 kilograms for his family, but he was a little shocked for a moment.
"We got such old clean meat. Aren't you and your third uncle at a disadvantage?"
Xu Yu said with a smile, "That's how it should be. What's the disadvantage?"
"And these pig offal, you..."
"Oh, then we can't ask for it anymore."
The big man blushed as he carried his share of pork and said decisively, "We're already taking advantage of this. The rest is yours!"
"Yes, yes, yes. And these pig hairs and blood, please help clean them up!"
Aunt Wu jumped out and said, "Hurry up and help clean up while there are so many people here. Otherwise, how long will it take their family to clean up after we leave?"
"Hurry, hurry, come and help if you have free hands!"
The group of people made a lot of noise for a while, and finally even swept the ground in front of Xu's house clean.
By the time the noisy voices died down, the night had already become so dark that it could not be dispelled.
Uncle Xu was so tired that he couldn't even straighten his back. "No, I have to pack up and go to bed."
My eyelids are drooping!
Xu Yu took the pork and cleaned intestines to the kitchen and arranged them, looking at the several hideous-looking pig heads with some worry.
Everyone says this is a good thing, but what should we do with it?
Sang Zhixia went in and out several times to bring the hot water for Xu Yu to wash into the west shed. When she came out and saw him baring his teeth at the wild boar's head, she was a little puzzled.
"Xu Yu?"
The tusks are so big, how big are they compared to the tusks of a wild boar???
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