SLH | Chapter 49

Snowbound Village

As soon as the ox cart reached the village entrance, they saw a tall, sturdy man briskly walking toward them. Sixth Aunt Yang teased, “Isn’t that Huzi? The young couple’s relationship is really good. Even going out, he comes to the village entrance to greet her.”

Song Tingzhu smiled but said nothing. When the man got closer, he naturally picked up the basket and even scooped up Xia Ge’er into his arms.

“Wife, why didn’t you wait for me when you and Xiaomei went to town to buy lime?”

Song Tingzhu glanced at the man, “Didn’t you also go to Uncle Ma’s to pick up the pottery without telling me?”

“I wanted to come back and go to town with you to buy lime, so I went a bit earlier.”

Song Tingzhu pursed his lips. He had thought he had neglected his husband last night, making him angry, which was why he left for Shanghe Village without a word.

Sixth Aunt Yang handed the basket to Xiaomei, watching the two bicker yet stick together, exchanging a teasing glance with Aunt Cai.

Both aunts were experienced and knew this was a sign of a good relationship, so they didn’t interrupt the couple’s conversation and went back to their own homes hand in hand.

“Wife, are you still mad at me?” Liu Hu asked a bit nervously.

Song Tingzhu shook his head. He wasn’t mad, just a bit unused to it and felt wronged.

Usually, whatever he did, he would inform him, but this morning, he left the house without a sound, such a big difference made him overthink.

Xia Ge’er hugged Liu Hu’s neck, tilting his head to look at the two, “Uncle, Uncle, have you made up?”

Song Tingzhu raised his hand and gently pinched the little guy’s cheek, “We’ve made up.”

The little guy cheered, “That’s great~”

His hand was touched, then held tightly by the man.

He curved his lips, a smile in his eyes.

It wasn’t really a quarrel, just a small misunderstanding. But in the future, they couldn’t be like today, sulking over a tiny misunderstanding.

Song Tingzhu, though he lost his mother and grandfather young, and the Song family didn’t treat him well, with Granny Liu, Qingzhu, and Hongmei, the three of them treated him like a child, doting on him. Deep down, he still had some spoiled nature, especially when facing the people closest to him, unconsciously exposing his true self hidden in his heart.

He lowered his eyes, looking at the hand held together with his husband’s, even if there were women and husbands watching, he didn’t let go, just pursed his lips, quietly blushing at the ears.

The turbid wine needed to be filtered and left overnight. After getting home, Song Tingzhu directed his husband to slowly pour the purchased lime into the jar, then sealed it.

At night, Song Tingzhu leaned in his husband’s arms, thinking of what Doctor Cen had advised him, suddenly losing sleep.

Liu Hu knew his wife was awake, holding him, he asked, “Can’t sleep?”

Song Tingzhu didn’t answer, curling up in the man’s arms, enduring the embarrassment, he softly said, “Today I went to Doctor Cen for a pulse check. He said my body is fit for intimacy, just need to be careful with the timing and not overdo it.”

Liu Hu’s mind buzzed, too flustered to speak clearly.

“Wife, I didn’t think about those things, I…”

Song Tingzhu was thin-skinned, having said this much, yet this fool still didn’t understand, going deeper was impossible, he could only glare at him, scolding softly, “Fool.”

Liu Hu wasn’t really a fool. After realizing, he was at a loss for words, “Wife, I’m afraid of hurting you.”

“You just need to be gentle.” Song Tingzhu’s face was burning, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

Married for a year and still not consummated, probably only he was like this in the village.

Today on the ox cart, what the women and husbands said, he didn’t believe it. His husband was definitely not like that, but he couldn’t help but let the words sink in. His husband wouldn’t be like that, but what if someone else approached him, what would he do?

He and his husband hadn’t consummated, there seemed to always be a barrier between them, making it hard for him to sleep peacefully.

Thinking of summoning the courage, he took out the ointment bought from Doctor Cen from under the pillow, blushing as he stuffed it into the man’s hand.

Song Tingzhu’s cheeks were burning hot, seeing his husband staring dumbly at him, his neck turning red.

“What are you staring at, do you need me, a little brother, to teach you?”

Liu Hu felt a wave of heat, grabbing his wife’s wrist, swallowing, he said, “Wife, I won’t hurt you.”

Having worked in town for years, what dirty jokes hadn’t he heard? In the first two years, because he was young, he was often teased by a group of married men, even being coaxed into looking at a picture book a few times.

Song Tingzhu thought his husband was a blank slate, hesitating whether to take the initiative, then saw the man leaning over, his hot hand resting on his waist, his breath suddenly caught.

As the inner clothes were undone, he trembled, supporting himself on his husband’s shoulder, softly calling, “Husband…”

His tone was a bit panicked, his body stiffened.

“Wife, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you,” Liu Hu said in a low voice.

Song Tingzhu hadn’t experienced it, only before being sent to the Liu family, he had glimpsed a picture book Granny Liu stuffed into his arms, the man on the little brother’s body was so burly, just looking at it made one’s heart tremble.

He couldn’t help comparing his husband to that man, finding him even more formidable!

Granny clearly said picture books were exaggerated, in reality, few men were so, so fierce…

Song Tingzhu felt a retreating intention, but his husband’s next actions left him speechless, like a puppet, manipulated at will.

The man remembered his words, not to be impatient, not to be reckless, so he acted with utmost gentleness, though sometimes too much gentleness was a kind of torture.

Song Tingzhu bit his lip, soft whimpers spilling from his tightly pressed lips.

…

In the middle of the night, snow fell outside, covering the ground.

In the quiet Liu family courtyard, the rustling in the west room ceased, and the next moment a lamp was lit, the tall man hurriedly went to the kitchen, returning with a basin of hot water.

“Wife, I boiled some hot water for you to wash up.”

Song Tingzhu wrapped in the quilt, ears burning, his gaze touching the quilt twisted into a ball, kicked to the foot of the bed, as if scalded, he quickly averted his eyes.

They had just messed around, unable to control themselves, the bedding was all ruined. While his husband boiled water, he endured discomfort to get up and change the bedding.

He planned to wash it out in the morning, but worried Xiaomei might see, affecting the young girl’s impression, he blushed and softly told the man, “Husband, go wash the quilt, I’m afraid Xiaomei will see in the morning.”

“Okay, I’ll go after helping you wash up.”

Liu Hu’s tone was natural, not a hint of embarrassment, even smiling, looking a bit silly.

Song Tingzhu saw him staring and smiling, embarrassed, he couldn’t help but punch the man’s shoulder.

“Stop staring, is there a flower on my face? You’ve been staring for a long time.”

“Beautiful.” Liu Hu wrung the cloth, grinning with a big white smile.

Song Tingzhu was shy on the outside but sweet inside, he couldn’t help but curve his lips too.

After washing up and being carried into the bed, pulling the quilt over, only revealing a pair of eyes still flushed, he shyly looked at the man.

“Next time, husband can be a bit rougher…”

After saying this, as if his courage was exhausted, he turned away, covering himself completely with the quilt.

Liu Hu, holding the basin, his honest face broke into a smile.

The next day, Ruan Xiulian got up early, seeing the quilt drying in the courtyard, she was momentarily stunned.

She said to Tang Chunxing, who came out right after, “Eldest daughter-in-law, didn’t you remind Zhu Ge’er to take in the quilt yesterday? Leaving it out all night, it’s frozen solid.”

Tang Chunxing was confused, “We didn’t wash clothes yesterday.”

“Then this quilt is…”

Ruan Xiulian thought of something, exchanged a glance with her daughter-in-law, both having a guess.

She cheerfully said, “Pick three eggs from the basket, boil them for Zhu Ge’er, Xia Ge’er, and Xiaomei, then fry some with soy paste, eat them with porridge later.”

Tang Chunxing happily responded, “Alright, I’ll go pick them now.”

At dawn, as the sun barely rose, Song Tingzhu had just dressed and opened the door.

Liu Hu and his brother were chopping wood in the yard, father-in-law was weaving bamboo baskets in the shed, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were busy in the kitchen, Xiaomei was feeding chickens and ducks in the back, even the youngest Xia Ge’er was up, squatting by the well, wiping his face with a cloth.

Ruan Xiulian came out of the kitchen with a white dough, seeing her son-in-law standing at the door, she beamed, “Zhu Ge’er, you’re awake. There’s warm water on the stove, wash up and get ready for breakfast.”

Xia Ge’er heard and quickly turned to call, “Uncle, come quickly.”

Song Tingzhu greeted his in-laws first, then glanced at his husband, seeing the man had stopped his work at some point, looking at him with concern, his heart skipped a beat.

Fool, with such straightforward eyes, aren’t you afraid others won’t know what happened last night?

He went into the kitchen, fetched warm water, and squatted beside Xia Ge’er.

The little guy tilted his head, innocently asking, “Uncle, there’s a red spot on your neck, was it bitten by a bug?”

Song Tingzhu was momentarily stunned, then tightened his collar, changing the subject, “Quickly dry your face, when I’m done washing, I’ll braid your hair.”

The little guy immediately forgot about the bug, rubbing his face with the cloth, “Uncle, Xia Ge’er wants a new hairstyle today, is that okay?”

“Okay, go get the wooden comb.”

“Alright~”

After braiding the little guy’s hair, breakfast was served.

Holding the little guy’s hand, they had just stepped into the main room when they saw mother-in-law and sister-in-law smiling at him, then turning away as if nothing had happened, talking about other things.

“The snow last night was heavy, when I went to the Cai family to buy tofu at dawn, I saw a few houses collapsed.”

Liu Dasheng rarely spoke, “It’s been decades since it was this cold, this winter won’t be easy.”

Ruan Xiulian said, “Yes, it’s a good thing Zhu Ge’er bought cotton, otherwise relying on those old cotton clothes, we might catch something bad.”

Outside, it was still snowing lightly. After breakfast, with nothing to do, the family lit a fire basin in the main room. Ruan Xiulian and her daughters-in-law started embroidery, Granny Chen couldn’t see well, just watching from the side, while Liu Dasheng and his sons went outside to clear snow from the roof.

Song Tingzhu set up his small desk in the main room, writing couplets, then was pulled by Xia Ge’er to play string games.

Life was simple and stable, yet he liked it very much.

A few days passed like this, the snow showed no sign of stopping. At night, Song Tingzhu lay on his husband’s arm, feeling uneasy for some reason.

After a while, he looked up and asked, “Husband, did you hear a child crying?”

Liu Hu was about to say no, then heard a loud crying outside.

Song Tingzhu sat up, looking outside.

“It’s not Xia Ge’er, it sounds like it’s coming from outside the courtyard.”

Liu Hu furrowed his brows, dressing, “I’ll go check outside, wife, stay warm, don’t catch a cold.”

“Alright.”

Liu Meng also dressed and went outside, the brothers opened the courtyard gate, the crying followed the north wind into the courtyard, waking the whole family.

Everyone dressed and went to the courtyard, Granny Chen also came out with her cane, only Xia Ge’er was ordered to stay inside, not allowed out.

“Mom, what’s happening outside?” Liu Xiaomei asked, rubbing her eyes in her cotton clothes.

Ruan Xiulian frowned, “Probably someone was lazy and didn’t clear the snow, causing the roof to collapse.”

Tang Chunxing added, “The crying is so loud, it doesn’t sound like just one family.”

“Mom and Dad, we’ll go see if we can help.”

Ruan Xiulian sighed, “Go ahead, it’s still snowing, the child crying like that, hope they’re not hurt.”

The family waited in the courtyard for a while, then the brothers quickly returned.

Ruan Xiulian asked, “Why are you back so soon? Did you see whose roof collapsed?”

Liu Meng looked grim, “The Yan family, He family, and Aunt Zheng’s house all collapsed, the damage is severe, they can’t stay there, they’re all taking their kids to relatives’ houses to shelter from the snow.”

Ruan Xiulian asked again, “Is anyone hurt?”

“Just some minor injuries, no blood.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Everyone, go back to sleep, close the doors and windows tight, don’t let the cold wind in and catch a chill.”

The family went back to their rooms.

That night, few in Yunxi Village could sleep.

The next day, the village was snowbound, the cold weather killed many livestock, though the Liu family had penned their chickens and ducks early, two chickens still froze to death.

The Liu brothers were in the courtyard plucking the dead chickens when the village head Zhang Hongbo’s two sons came rushing in.

“Uncle, Aunt, something’s happened! My dad’s at the wheat field, you need to come quickly.”

When the family arrived, the wheat field was already surrounded by people.

Zhang Hongbo, seeing everyone was there, took a puff of his pipe, his face serious, “With the snow this heavy, the beasts in the deep mountains won’t be quiet. Everyone needs to take shovels, go to the back mountain to cut trees and make fences, women and brothers gather thorny branches, even if we can’t hurt those beasts, we can’t let them have it easy.”

In past years, there had been incidents of beasts coming down the mountain to eat people. When the old hunter was alive, he kept them in check, but since his passing, the beasts have become restless. When people went into the mountains to gather wood, they occasionally saw footprints and broken branches.

The foot of the mountain was still safe, but with the village snowbound and no food in the mountains, the starving beasts might come down to find food.

Hearing this, everyone was panicked, and without needing to be urged, they went home to fetch tools, heading to the back mountain to work hard.

———————–

Author’s Note: 4000…

Don’t worry, I’ll keep writing today, and I’ll definitely catch up tomorrow!

Congratulations to the young couple on consummating their marriage, throwing flowers~ [flower][flower][flower]