Chapter 7
As dusk approached, Wang Jincai's wife, Lin Xinghua, was the last to come down from the mountain.
She carried an empty basket, which had been full when she went up the mountain. Now that it was empty, it was clear she had given a basket of vegetables to the Shu family.
After going up the mountain, I saw two skinny children and felt sorry for them.
But on the way down the mountain, I felt a little sorry for the vegetables and ten eggs I had given away.
As she walked, she muttered to herself, "What kind of men know how to manage a household? I think giving away four or five eggs would be fine, but they insisted on giving away ten. What a spendthrift! We have four chickens, and two of them haven't laid eggs lately. How many days will it take me to save up ten eggs? One egg can clearly be exchanged for two coins at the market... Oh dear, my money!"
As Lin Xinghua crossed the log bridge amidst her own muttering and the babbling of the stream, she suddenly stopped abruptly.
She withdrew her left foot, which had been heading home, and mysteriously picked up a grass-cutting stick. She then crouched down and began searching through the clumps of weeds.
“You can’t take back what you’ve given away, but those two speckled chickens that we feed well every day always seem to fly away.”
"I think it's not that they don't lay eggs, it's that they don't lay them at home."
"Those things that secretly lay eggs outside are just as useless as spendthrift old men!"
She searched through the bushes in all directions, but found nothing. Ahead was a very dense clump of grass; she rolled up her sleeves and approached. "Hmph, it must have fallen here."
...
"Of course there is."
Lin Xinghua grumbled and searched several places, but didn't find even a single chicken feather.
But she was already certain that there was something wrong with the two speckled chickens at home. Instead of giving up when she couldn't find them, she became even more determined and searched along the downstream of the stream.
She walked for an unknown distance, and when she looked up again, the moon was already hanging in the sky.
"It's so late?"
Aside from the faint sound of flowing water, the only sounds were the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects. Lin Xinghua hadn't expected that a casual search would lead her to this hour without her noticing. While inwardly grumbling about why her husbands hadn't come out to look for her, she quickly turned and hurried home.
Although there shouldn't be too many snakes this season, she deliberately chose to walk through the grassy areas. If something suddenly jumped out and ran past her feet late at night, she would probably be scared out of her wits.
So she returned the way she came, but after walking a short distance, she turned in another direction, used her vegetable basket and a grass-cutting stick to clear a path through the weeds, and left the stream as if her pants were on fire, arriving at a smooth path free of weeds.
She only had time to breathe a sigh of relief before she became nervous again.
Because she heard a rumbling sound ahead, and whether it was a hallucination caused by excessive fear, she felt the ground in front of her was trembling, as if something heavy was crushing on the ground.
At that moment, Lin Xinghua was filled with deep regret.
I should have known better than to look for eggs.
As the voice drew closer, she involuntarily stepped back. Unfortunately, there were no houses around, so she had nowhere to call for help or hide in someone's home.
The Bodhisattva took pity on her and did not let her live in fear forever.
"Apricot Blossom? Wife? Where are you?"
Although the voice was somewhat distant, Lin Xinghua immediately recognized it as her man's voice. Forgetting what was in front of her, she shouted back at the top of her lungs as if she had been bitten on the tail by a dog, "Here!"
"Honey! Come get me quickly!!"
Before Wang Jincai could respond, Lin Xinghua heard another slightly puzzled voice.
"Aunt Lin?"
The young man's voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.
Most importantly, the rumbling sound stopped.
Lin Xinghua still hadn't seen anyone, but knowing her husband would be here soon, she wasn't afraid anymore. She pulled back her retreating steps and stepped forward, demanding sharply, "Who are you?"
"Whoosh, whoosh." In the darkness, there were two breaths first, followed by the sound of flames igniting.
A young man emerged from the darkness, carrying a tinderbox.
"I am Xun Yi."
Lin Xinghua looked up by the firelight and saw that the handsome features were indeed those of Xun Yi.
"Why aren't you home so late at night? What are you doing wandering around outside?"
Because she had been frightened earlier, Lin Xinghua spoke somewhat impulsively, completely unaware that she was also one of those wandering around outside late at night.
Xun Yi took a step back, shone his tinderbox behind him, revealing a wheelbarrow and two baskets of iron on it. "I'm back from buying iron in the county."
Don't be fooled by his imposing stature; he's usually quiet and reserved, and he does physically demanding work like blacksmithing.
In fact, judging from Lin Xinghua's words and expression, he had already realized that the noise he made while traveling in the dark had frightened people.
"I'm sorry for not speaking up sooner."
Lin Xinghua knew he had gone to buy iron materials, and her anger immediately dissipated.
"Never mind, never mind. I was delivering vegetables down from the mountain when I remembered that my chickens might have laid their eggs outside. I searched along the water's edge and lost track of time. It's not your fault."
Thinking that her husband would take over soon, Lin Xinghua simply didn't want to walk away in the dark alone. Standing there, she asked, "How many days did you go to the county?"
Xun Yi answered methodically, "Two days."
"Staying at an inn again?"
"yes."
Lin Xinghua clicked her tongue in envy. She had never even been to the county town, let alone had the opportunity to stay in an inn that required money. She couldn't help but ask, "Is staying in an inn more comfortable than staying at home?"
Xun Yi thought for a moment and then denied it.
"The room I stayed in was a shared dormitory with twelve people, which was not as good as home."
"What?" Lin Xinghua's eyes widened. "How come the county town is like this? Even Wang Mazi, the poorest man in our village, doesn't live like this!"
Oh, Wang Mazi's family is indeed poor. There are 21 people in the family, four generations living together in a house with only six rooms. They live very cramped.
Compared to other guesthouses, the ones in the county town aren't that great; they're not even as good as the ones in the village.
However, in the future, Wang Mazi's family will no longer be the poorest.
Lin Xinghua's eyes darted around. Calculating the date Xun Yi left, it must have been the day before yesterday. He certainly didn't know that a family of refugees had settled in the village.
"You don't know yet, do you..."
Wang Jincai arrived breathlessly, carrying a torch, only to find Xun's son standing there intently, listening to his wife's endless chatter.
Hey! If it weren't for the fact that they were from different generations, he'd be furious.
“I went up the mountain to look for you, but the Shu family girl said you had already gone down the mountain. I thought you had gone to visit someone, so I went to the village to look for you again. Tell me, what have you been doing all this time?”
Lin Xinghua was still full of grievances!
"The chickens at home were laying eggs outside, and I was looking for them so much I lost track of time. What's wrong with you?! Can't you shout louder when you're looking for someone?! How am I supposed to know you're looking for me if you don't shout?!"
It's all because this spendthrift man is so generous, giving away ten eggs with a wave of his hand. But it's not something she can say in front of outsiders. She'll have to complain about it when she gets back.
"Alright, it's getting late, let's go back. Xun, you've been away for a few days, you should come home soon too."
After a brief argument, he said this, and the couple walked home side by side, hand in hand.
Xun Yi watched their backs disappear into the distance, blew out the tinderbox, and pushed the wheelbarrow back down the mountain toward his home.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Updates will only be posted at night; the rest of the time will be spent revising the text.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
