Chapter 38: Lin Muyu’s Background

“Ha! I knew it! How could the second brother’s family possibly eat meat every day?”

Wang Jinhua spat, stepped down from the rock, and turned to yell at Xie Youshun, “We’re having eggs today! To nourish you and your parents! When Jinlong comes back in a couple of days, you’ll get plenty of meat to eat!”

Xie Youshun nodded. Limping on his bad leg, he sat down at the table with a joyful grin.

Old Man Xie and Zheng Guie were also seated. Wang Jinhua brought them their bowls, placing two eggs in each.

She quickly wiped her hands and turned to the two elders. “Dad, Mom, when Jinlong gets back, I’ll cook you some more delicious food! The second brother’s family and I don’t get along, but that’s a separate matter. Since you two are living with Youshun and me, I promise I won’t let you go hungry!”

Xie Changtian and Zheng Guie nodded. Their lips twitched, but in the end, they said nothing.

Sigh.

Back then, they were the ones who had wronged the eldest daughter-in-law after all.

They would just have to muddle through their days like this.

Every family had their own difficulties, and who could they blame when the eldest son was crippled?

*

Night fell.

Right after dinner, Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen grabbed their bamboo baskets and headed out.

Knowing they were heading to Dahetan, Tian Xiufen prepared clean clothes and trousers for them, worried they would catch a cold if their clothes got wet.

Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen left first with Xie Tian.

Xie Zhao finished tidying up and was about to follow them out when Tian Xiufen grabbed him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Xie Zhao was startled.

Huh?

“To gather river snails! To make money!”

Annoyed, Tian Xiufen gave him a gentle shove. “Look at your own situation. Why are you tagging along?”

She pointed toward the room lit by the kerosene lamp. “Your wife just came back today. There’s no rush to make money right this second. Go spend time with her tonight and help watch the babies. You don’t want to make her feel neglected.”

Xie Zhao paused.

In truth, Xie Zhao had always been very dense when it came to matters of the heart.

When it came to Lin Muyu and the children, his mind was entirely occupied with making money to give them a good life.

But emotionally, he was a complete blank slate.

Seeing Xie Zhao’s bewildered expression, Tian Xiufen sighed.

Men.

How could they ever understand a woman’s mind?

But on second thought, Xie Zhao was only eighteen after all. He was too young, still a child himself!

She felt a little more at ease.

It was fine.

She could still teach him.

“A woman needs you most right after she gives birth. She literally walked through the gates of death^[1]. Who did she do that for? Do you really think it was just for the two children? It’s because she loves you and wanted to have them for you!”

Tian Xiufen lowered her voice. “Your wife is different from others. They say she married into our family, but how is that any different from being sold to us? She’s going to spend the rest of her life with you! You need to spend more time with her and treat her better, do you hear me?”

Xie Zhao froze.

Sold? Sold to them?

What did that mean?

He was about to ask, but when he looked up, he saw that Tian Xiufen had already gone to the stove to boil water.

Xie Zhao felt a mix of shock and guilt.

Memories of his past life were like moldy clothes packed away at the bottom of a chest; Xie Zhao had long stopped touching them.

But now that Tian Xiufen had started this conversation, he could only carefully sift through everything she had told him back then about Lin Muyu.

Yet, even as he stood at the door of his own room, his mind remained a muddled mess.

He rubbed his temples, stood in silence for a moment, and then gently pushed the door open.

Creak.

The old wooden door groaned as it swung open.

He turned his head and saw Lin Muyu, who had just finished changing Xi Bao’er’s diaper, looking at him in surprise.

“Why are you here?”

She asked softly, “Didn’t Little Sister say you were going with them to look for river snails?”

As Lin Muyu spoke, she lowered her eyes slightly.

The flickering candle cast a warm orange glow, tracing the contours of her face and lending an air of absolute gentleness to even the loose strands of her hair.

Xie Zhao’s heart suddenly grew calm.

He walked inside, gently closed the door behind him, and said, “I came to keep you company.”

Lin Muyu looked at him in surprise.

Keep her company?

Since when… was he so thoughtful?

Though surprise showed on her face, she could not suppress the joy in her heart. Lin Muyu tucked the blankets around Xi Bao’er and Le Bao’er, then began to softly and slowly tell him all the little details of what the babies had done that day.

“Le Bao’er has such an appetite. Mom said if she keeps this up, she’s going to turn into a little chubby girl.”

“With how much they eat and fill their diapers, Mom must have had a hard time.”

“Xi Bao’er cries a lot and is stubborn, too. If I’m even a little late feeding her, she tightly shuts her mouth and refuses to open it. I don’t know who she takes after…”

She spoke in a soft, cheerful voice, the love in her eyes and the curve of her brow impossible to hide.

“Like me.”

Xie Zhao suddenly spoke.

It was like a stone suddenly tossed into a tranquil lake, sending ripple after ripple across the water.

Lin Muyu instinctively looked up at him.

In the quiet room, on the old bed, the two little babies were fast asleep.

She sat leaning against the edge of the bed, a heavy cotton-padded jacket draped over her shoulders, making her look all the more delicate and slender.

The pale skin of her neck, smooth as cream and white as jade, was incredibly beautiful.

Sitting slightly sideways, she stared at him in astonishment.

Her beautiful almond eyes looked like the starry sky reflected on a lake, rippling with startled, shimmering light.

Xie Zhao could clearly hear the rapid pounding of his own heart.

For the first time, the very first time, he wanted so desperately to understand someone.

“Tell me about yourself,” Xie Zhao said softly, his eyes fixed on her.

“Start from when you were born. I want to hear it.”

Lin Muyu was stunned. She instinctively reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Xie Zhao… wanted to know?

A faint smile touched the corners of Lin Muyu’s lips. She looked away, attempting to appear casual.

“There isn’t much to say about my past. Everyone already knows it. But if you want to hear it, I don’t mind telling you…”

It was a very cliché story.

Lin Muyu took after her mother, their features carved from the very same mold.

In her early years, her mother had been the daughter of a wealthy landlord^[2] and a beauty renowned for miles around. Even when the times grew turbulent and she was dragged into the mud, she had decisively changed into a military uniform and joined the army.

Later, when peace returned and she went back to her hometown to farm, she met Lin Muyu’s father.

When they met, neither was young anymore, both in their early thirties. It was love at first sight, though there was no grand, earth-shattering romance. It was simply him helping her guide the plow and her helping him weed, and just like that, they ended up together.

The year Lin Muyu was born, Father Lin wept tears of joy.

He harbored no preference for sons over daughters. Overjoyed, he set up a table at his front door and wrote couplets^[3] for the villagers for free for three days.

He only stopped when his wrist swelled up so badly that he could no longer write.

The two of them also had times of deep, passionate affection.

Full of lingering tenderness and gentle intimacy, they wished they could whisper every sweet nothing in the world to each other.