Free Web NovelChapter 43: Chapter 43: Making Snacks for His Wife
Zhou Lian looked at his mischievous grin and felt her hands itch. In two lifetimes, she had never seen someone so shameless, but she’d certainly gotten an eyeful these past few months. ’What on earth is this man thinking about all day!’ "How did you become like this? Can’t you think about something proper for a change?"
Seeing her brow furrow, Li Xiu was delighted. His wife had truly opened up now. In front of him, she would laugh when she was happy and hit him when she was mad. He smiled and continued to tease her, "Bao’er, we’re still in our honeymoon phase. With our little girl on the way, I have to look at a feast every day but can’t take a bite. How could I not be impatient?"
Zhou Lian looked at him speechlessly, a charming blush spreading across her face despite her efforts to hide it. No matter how much she tried to convince herself she was an old woman at heart, her innate conservatism and a woman’s natural bashfulness in the face of her husband’s teasing still made her blush uncontrollably.
Seeing his wife was too shy to respond, Li Xiu didn’t dare tease her any more. He gave her a kiss, had her sit and watch, and then went to the kitchen to prepare the suckling pig. It had already been butchered and cleaned at his father-in-law’s house. Li Xiu washed it again and scored the skin with a knife so the marinade would seep in. Zhou Lian was dazzled by his deft movements; she never expected her husband to have such a skill.
Li Xiu woke up before dawn. After washing up, he first set the suckling pig on a rack over a fruitwood fire to slowly roast. Only then did he go to the kitchen to see what he could make for his wife. The wheat harvest was starting in the next couple of days, and he had to request time off from work for her. She was about four months pregnant, and the harvest was tiring, hot work. He couldn’t bear to let his wife and unborn daughter suffer through it.
After making breakfast, he went into the room and saw Zhou Lian sleeping soundly. He didn’t have the heart to wake her. Seeing that it was still early, he went to the kitchen to turn the suckling pig, locked the main gate, and headed to the team captain’s house.
When he arrived at the Sun Family home, Sun Er’s wife was making breakfast. The production team captain had just woken up. Seeing Li Xiu, he invited him inside. Li Xiu smiled and said, "Second Brother, no need. I just came to talk to you about something."
Sun Ershan looked at him and laughed, teasing, "Here to ask for time off for your wife?"
Li Xiu nodded sheepishly and asked, "How did you know, Second Brother?"
Sun Ershan roared with laughter and called out to his wife, "Ma, come here a minute!"
Sun Er’s wife walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. She greeted Li Xiu and then asked her husband, "What is it?"
Sun Ershan said with a laugh, "See? See? What’d I tell you? Here he is! Told you he’d come! And you still wanted to argue!"
Sun Er’s wife looked at her husband’s smug expression, then at Li Xiu’s shy one...
Suddenly, Sun Er’s wife excitedly circled Li Xiu twice, slapped her thigh, and said with a laugh, "Getting married really does change a man!"
Li Xiu was a little bewildered by her actions. Sun Er’s wife pulled her husband over and said, "Look! Hasn’t our younger brother gotten much better-looking? And he’s grown a lot taller, too!"
Hearing his wife’s words, Sun Ershan also sized him up carefully for a moment, then nodded and said, "You’re right! I always felt something was different, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now that you mention it, he really has gotten taller. I’m telling you, kid, you’ve done well. Looks like you married a good wife! Look how well-fed and sleek she’s keeping you!"
Li Xiu’s brow darkened as he looked at the couple. ’What do they mean, "well-fed and sleek"? They make me sound like some kind of animal.’
"Oh, right, how’s your wife doing now? Is her morning sickness bad?" Sun Er’s wife, feeling it was best not to tease him further, changed the subject.
"She’s alright, just can’t eat much," Li Xiu said a bit shyly. ’Actually, his wife was eating much better than usual, but he couldn’t say that to others. There had to be an excuse for her not to go to work. In this day and age, people didn’t make a big deal about pregnancy. Some women even gave birth right in the fields!’
"Oh, that won’t do. She’s eating for two now," said Sun Er’s wife.
"I know, but she just has no appetite. She gets nauseous and dizzy. That’s why I wanted to talk to you, Second Brother. She can’t work in this condition, and it’s too hot in the fields now. I’m worried she can’t handle it," Li Xiu continued.
Sun Ershan smiled knowingly and said, "Alright. When a woman’s pregnant, she needs to be taken care of. Besides, if she doesn’t work, she doesn’t get work points. There’s nothing for anyone to say about it."
"Thank you so much, Second Brother. I’ve got a fire going at home, so I should head back. I’ll let you get back to it," Li Xiu said, his eyes lighting up. He hastily took his leave. ’If his wife woke up and couldn’t find him, she’d get worried.’
Seeing how happy he was, Sun Er’s wife also smiled and said, "Hurry on back then. Your wife will worry if she wakes up and you’re not there!" Li Xiu gave her a smile and turned to leave.
Watching his hurried steps, Sun Er’s wife shot her husband a look, then flung her hands down and stormed into the kitchen. Sun Ershan was baffled by his wife’s glare. ’What’s this woman up to now?’ He followed her into the kitchen and asked, "What’s gotten into you now, woman?"
"Nothing. Just jealous! All the good men belong to other women!" Sun Er’s wife lamented without turning her head, her hands still busy.
Sun Ershan was a sharp man. His eyes darted, and he said with a grin, "Honey, I’ll help you with the fire!"
Sun Er’s wife smiled. She wasn’t really angry. Didn’t she know perfectly well what kind of man her husband was? She just started chatting with him about Li Xiu.
"I think Li Xiu did well in marrying his wife. Look, how long has it been? Li Xiu is like a different person. Before, you could see he was capable, but he was dark and skinny, and not that tall. Look at him now. He must be nearly six feet tall, right? His complexion is good, he’s dressed neatly, and he was already handsome to begin with. Now his wife has nourished him and made him even better-looking. What were his parents thinking? You can tell at a glance that Li Xiu is a decent and righteous man. How could they just force such a promising eldest son away?"
Sun Ershan sat by the stove opening, grunted twice, and then said, "No one in that family has any sense. You married in later, so you don’t know. That old woman... just because Li Xiu was raised by his grandmother and aunts, not by her side, and because he doesn’t know how to suck up and say sweet things, she couldn’t stand him. Her favoritism was completely out of control."
"You just watch. They’ll get what’s coming to them. Don’t be fooled because Li Xiu seems generous, reasonable, and easy to talk to. That’s because you don’t know him. That kid is generous and reasonable, but he’s also ruthless. He’s less than ten years younger than me, but I watched him grow up. That kid is fiercely protective of his own. Just look at how he dared to split from the family before his engagement, leaving with almost nothing. And look at him after the split—one thing after another, he never lets the old family home interfere. He’s extremely protective of his wife!"
"So if his mother and his wife were to clash, what do you think he would do?" Sun Er’s wife asked casually. ’Aren’t all men the same? No matter how important their wife is, they’ll still side with their own mother!’
Sun Ershan laughed outright. He said to his seemingly nonchalant wife, "His mother wouldn’t dare!"
"Wouldn’t dare? What mother-in-law doesn’t control her daughter-in-law?"
"You know about the fuss during their wedding ceremony, right? Why do you think Li Xiu did that?" Sun Ershan asked, shaking his head at his wife.
"Why? Was there some hidden meaning to it?" Sun Er’s wife asked, confused. "Weren’t all three brothers of the Li family just receiving the ceremonial bows together?"
"Li Xiu didn’t let his wife bow separately to Second Brother Li and his wife. That was to stop them from putting on the airs of a father- and mother-in-law! If they dared, Li Xiu would dare to use Eldest Li to suppress them! Besides, don’t forget Li Xiu’s grandmother. She’s a formidable woman. A widow managing the family estate who even dared to send her eldest son to the battlefield. And Li Xiu is the main heir of the old Li family. She protects Li Xiu fiercely. Second Brother Li and his wife wouldn’t dare cause any trouble!" Sun Ershan explained to his wife with a smile.
’That Li Xiu is a clever one. He planned it all out from the very beginning. With that move, he secured both substance and face. Everyone praises him for being righteous and magnanimous, but look at him—he’s built a big house, married a wife, and now has a child on the way. He himself has gotten taller and filled out, and his spirits are high. You can tell at a glance that he’s living a very comfortable life. Compared to before he split from the family, it’s like the difference between heaven and earth. And yet everyone just says Li Xiu is capable, forgetting his parents kicked him out with practically nothing!’
Sun Er’s wife sighed and shot Sun Ershan a look. "I really got the short end of the stick marrying you!"
Sun Ershan didn’t argue with her. "My mom isn’t biased!"
Sun Er’s wife laughed too. Her own mother-in-law was the truly sharp one. She was impartial toward her three sons, treating them all equally. If her four daughters dared to cause trouble for the three daughters-in-law, her mother-in-law would immediately discipline her own girls. She’d say, "A married daughter is like spilled water." If they dared to come back to their maternal home and stir up trouble, they shouldn’t bother coming back at all! Everyone in the surrounding villages knew it. When her youngest brother-in-law was having his marriage arranged, matchmakers wore out their doorstep just because of her mother-in-law’s reputation!
