Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Zhou Lian Gets Angry (Part 1)
Li Xiu hurried home under the moonlight. He hadn’t slept holding his wife for two nights, and his heart felt like a piece was missing. Tonight, he could finally hold her again.
Hearing Li Xiu’s voice, Grandma Li opened the door. Seeing her grandson standing in the doorway, her heart ached as she pulled him into the courtyard, muttering, "You must be hungry. Grandma will get you something to eat."
Li Xiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he watched his grandma pull him along, forgetting to even close the gate. He turned back to shut it. When he turned around again, he saw Zhou Lian standing at the entrance to the main hall, holding a lamp. Under the dim light, Zhou Lian stood there gracefully, her baby bump visible. The look of utter infatuation in Li Xiu’s eyes made Grandma Li, who was standing beside him, shake her head.
She quietly went into the kitchen to light a lamp and make her grandson something to eat. ’He came back so late, he must be starving. And just look at that rascal, unable to take his eyes off his wife. This granddaughter-in-law has truly captured his eyes and his heart!’
"Wife, I’m back," Li Xiu said, looking at Zhou Lian with a silly grin. He had always known his wife was beautiful, but he’d never realized she was beautiful to this degree. Her fair, oval-shaped face, her curved willow-leaf eyebrows, her delicate yet high-bridged nose, and her rosy lips—the more he looked, the more beautiful she seemed.
Seeing the undisguised infatuation on her husband’s face, Zhou Lian gave him an exasperated look. ’Is he for real? It’s only been two days, but he’s acting like it’s been years.’ "What are you standing there gawking for?" she said. "Hurry up and get washed. Grandma is making you something to eat."
"Alright, coming!" Getting that look from his wife made Li Xiu’s heart flutter, and he agreed eagerly. He took the basket from his back, placed it in the kitchen, and called out a greeting to his grandma.
Just as he turned around, he saw his wife preparing water for him to wash up. He strode forward and said, "Wife, I can do it myself. It’s pitch-dark; you don’t need to be doing this."
Seeing her husband’s anxious expression, Zhou Lian gave him a captivating smile. "It’s fine, I’m being careful. Don’t worry. Now, come and get washed."
Taking off his shirt, Li Xiu stood by the courtyard well to wash his hair and face. A full bath would have to wait. ’Grandma’s still in the kitchen!’
Watching Li Xiu wolf down his food, the two women’s hearts ached for him. He probably hadn’t eaten properly for days. After all, it was hot and dangerous deep in the mountains; he likely had no appetite to eat.
After clearing the table of food like a whirlwind, Li Xiu let out a satisfied burp and drank the water his wife handed him. Looking closely, he saw the heartache on the faces of his grandma and his wife, and his own heart felt full to bursting. His grandmother had always doted on him—he was her eldest grandson, the apple of her eye—and he was used to that.
But the look of heartache on Zhou Lian’s face made Li Xiu feel a little dizzy. He had only ever seen such an expression in his past life, right after they had first married. After that, it never happened again. They had been married for over half a year in this life, and this was the first time she had so clearly shown her concern for him.
"Was that enough? Should I make you some more?" Grandma Li asked uncertainly. She had prepared a lot and didn’t want him to stuff himself, but seeing that he’d finished everything, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was actually full.
"Grandma, I’m full," Li Xiu said. "I just hadn’t eaten all day, so I was starving. Don’t worry, you should get some rest. I’m going to wash up and go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow. I’m completely exhausted." There was no need for formalities with his own family; Li Xiu was genuinely bone-tired.
He’d had two sleepless nights—fighting a tiger the night before last, and hauling nearly a thousand jin of goods out of the mountains last night. Combined with the high-strung tension of being in the mountains, the moment he saw his wife, all his energy just drained away. All he wanted was to hold her and get a good night’s sleep.
"Alright then, you go on ahead. I’ll sleep on the kang tonight. Go on, hurry!" Grandma Li said, deftly clearing the dinner table.
"You get some rest too, Grandma!" Zhou Lian called over her shoulder as Li Xiu helped her out of the room.
Grandma Li simply waved her hand, shooing them away. Her grandson was truly exhausted. He had spent three days and two nights in the mountains; this time, he was utterly wiped out.
Watching the young couple leave, Grandma Li wiped away tears, her heart aching. ’He wasn’t blessed with good parents, so of course he has to risk his life like this,’ she thought. ’That boy... it just breaks my heart.’
’Daqing Mountain... that’s a place that can take a person’s life, and he spent two nights there. My second son is a real piece of work—knows how to have a child, but not how to raise one. That bastard... he’ll regret this one day!’
Unaware that his grandmother was silently cursing his father, Li Xiu helped Zhou Lian sit down at the dressing table in their bedroom. He pulled all the money from a hidden pocket at his waist, placed it on the table, and lit another candle to make the room brighter.
"Bao’er, you count it. I’m going to take a bath," Li Xiu said gently, once he had his wife settled comfortably.
Looking at the pile of bills on the dressing table and then at her husband’s expectant face, Zhou Lian smiled. "Okay, you go ahead. Don’t worry, I won’t move around carelessly." She knew he was worried she might not see clearly in the dark and bump into something.
Once her husband had gone to take his bath, finally reassured, Zhou Lian stared at the money on the dressing table and seethed. ’That damn man... he came out of the mountains and went straight to the city. He must have provoked some huge beast again!’
She quickly counted the pile of money and froze. Twenty-eight thousand, three hundred yuan. ’What in the world did he do in the mountains?’ she thought, stunned. ’This isn’t the future; this is 1978. A ’ten-thousand-yuan household’ is a rarity. Twenty-eight thousand yuan now is like twenty or thirty million in a later era!’
"Bao’er, I’m all washed up," Li Xiu said, walking into the bedroom bare-chested and greeting his wife, who was still sitting at the table.
She looked up and saw the unconcealable exhaustion on her husband’s face. Lowering her gaze, Zhou Lian said in a calm voice, "Let’s go to sleep. We can talk after you wake up."
The dim light perfectly concealed Zhou Lian’s true feelings. Li Xiu, not noticing anything amiss, said happily to his wife, "Bao’er, did you count it? With this money, our family will have a much easier time."
Zhou Lian bit her lip and said softly, "Mhm, I counted it. It’s a lot. Don’t say any more for now. Just get some sleep first. You can tell me all about it when you wake up. I’m getting a little sleepy myself!"
Hearing that his wife was sleepy, Li Xiu immediately agreed. He helped Zhou Lian to the bed, took off her shoes, and let her lie down. Then, he swept the money from the dressing table into the drawer, pulled the drawer out, and stuffed it into a wooden chest under the bed. After wiping his hands on a towel and blowing out the candle and oil lamp, he finally climbed into bed. He wrapped his arms around his wife and let out a comfortable sigh. ’Finally,’ he thought, ’I’m holding my wife again.’
Finding a comfortable position in his embrace, Zhou Lian asked softly, "You’re exhausted, aren’t you? You didn’t eat properly in the mountains, so why didn’t you grab a bite in the city before coming home? What would you have done if you’d starved?"
Hearing his wife’s words of concern, Li Xiu said gleefully, "I didn’t have time to eat! I reached the county seat before dawn to find Wang Yuan and sold him the tiger and roe deer. Then I took a bus to the provincial capital but didn’t arrive until noon. After leaving the pharmacy, I immediately caught a bus back, but the sun had already set by the time I reached the county seat again. Then I had to go to the distillery to get the mule cart. It was already dark when I got back to the village. I just dropped the cart off at the brigade office and rushed right home."
"This trip into the mountains must have exhausted you. Go to sleep, alright? You can tell me the details when you wake up," Zhou Lian said in a gentle voice, though she was gritting her teeth. In the darkness, her face was a mask of fury.
"Mhm, you get some sleep too, Bao’er. Our daughter must be sleepy as well," Li Xiu said after a yawn, lifting his head to give his wife a kiss. Cradling her, he closed his eyes in contentment and fell asleep.
Once she felt him fall asleep, Zhou Lian let out a sharp breath. ’That damn man! A tiger and a roe deer... Does he have a death wish? If I hadn’t seen how completely exhausted he was, and if I didn’t feel so sorry for him, I’d have taught him a lesson he’d never forget tonight!’
’What did I tell him before he left for the mountains? Huh?! ’Be careful! Safety is the most important thing!’ And yet he dared to provoke a tiger! Is he insane? That damn man! We’ll see if I ever let him go into the mountains again. Daqing Mountain is extremely dangerous even in the future, let alone now. I never should have let him go in the first place.’
But she knew he did it all for their family, for her and their child. Zhou Lian wiped away her tears and looked at her husband’s sleeping face in the moonlight. Even in his sleep, his arm was circled carefully around her. Her heart was in turmoil. She understood his feelings for her, she understood all of it. ’Maybe I should let go of the unresolved issues from our past life,’ she thought, ’and finally respond to him properly.’
She had seen the joy and infatuation that erupted in his eyes when he’d first seen her tonight. His affection was like a fire—fierce and scorching, the kind that could easily burn himself and others. But she also knew that he could never bear to hurt her. ’That’s right,’ she thought, ’he could never bear to... otherwise, in their past life, he wouldn’t have simply stood by and watched.’
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