CH 20

Chapter 20 – Life In The Mountains (1)

“Xiao Jingfeng, it’s not that I’m not giving you a chance but you can’t give me what I want.  For just 5 taels of silver, your mother issued a letter of family separation to sever all ties with her granddaughter.  Your Third Brother was even worse and was completely devoid of conscience.  Your child was only 6 months old when he planned to send her to the brothel.  However, you can’t bear to cut off communication with them because they are your family.”

“If you marry again, you’ll get a wife and it won’t be a problem for you to have another daughter.  We’re not that important to you and compared to your family, we’re insignificant, so why put on a pretense?  In this world, two perfections don’t exist and one can’t have the best of both worlds.  It’s just that you can’t accept it and wish to have both and you want us to compromise so that you can fulfill your duty of filial piety.  Those with the surname Xiao are truly a den of wolves and every one of you is extremely selfish.”

Being married once is considered a duty done.  If she were to carry the status of a single woman, she would not be able to accomplish anything but now she has a son and two daughters, she is divorced, and combs her hair into a married woman’s hairstyle.  Regardless of whether she would marry again in the future, she believes that remaining single at this time is the best decision.  Without any parents-in-law reigning superior above her, without any brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, and without any concubines to hinder her, she can make whatever decisions without any interference or objections from anyone.

“Jing Niang……..”  He just wanted his wife and daughter to return to him.  Is that so difficult?

Xiao Jingfeng never thought that the word ‘selfish’ would be used to describe him.

What is wrong with being filial to his parents as their child?  Why would she rather break up with him than reunite with his family and live a stable life without having to toil over work to support herself?

He could not understand nor figure out what she was thinking.  There was obviously a straight road ahead but instead of following the straight path, why must she take the path with twists and turns?

“Chief, the food is ready, we can start to eat!  Call Sister-in-law over to eat!  Bring the little boy, and the little girls as well!”

A soldier about 16 to 17 years old, who was smiling like the warm sun in spring, waved the large spatula in his hand.

“Jing Niang, let’s eat together!  Although the food is not very good, it can still fill the tummy.”

Xiao Jingfeng put aside the chaotic thoughts in his heart and took the little boy from her arms.

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“I…….”  When she looked at the pot holding a potpourri of food that was simply dumped in, her appetite waned.  She did not believe it would taste delicious no matter how good it looked.

“Mother, I want to eat.”

Shuangming blinked as he stared at the pot.  He had a covetous look on his face when he noticed a very fat rabbit leg inside the pot.

She hesitated for a moment.

“Alright, you can go with…….uh, Uncle Xiao first…….Mother will bring your sisters……..”

***☆☆☆***

“Uncle Xiao, why are you here again?”

What do you mean by ‘again’?  I never left, alright?

To Li Jing’er it seemed another adult had appeared to deceive the child.  That foolish son of hers is very easy to deceive.  He is so honest that he will believe whatever he is told.

He still needs to be taught!  This is not right.  The world is so chaotic that snakes and rats run rampant.  Those who are not smart would be led astray easily and since he is only 5 years old he can still be taught.  When spring arrives, she will teach him a few chapters of ‘Thick Black Studies’.  She would rather he schemes against others than be schemed by others.

Li Jing’er who received a modern education did not approve of children starting their education at an early age.  She believes that children should live their lives like children.  They should start learning at the age of 5 and then learn writing at the age of 6 instead of being taught to perform formal greetings to the elders at the age of three and start learning to sing those popular but extremely sad songs.

Enough of pulling the seedlings to help them grow!  Has anyone seen the development of those children when they became adults?  Are they as smart as touted?

“Aren’t you going up the mountains today to gather food stocks for the winter?  It just so happens that I am free these few days, so I’ll accompany you on the trip.  I have never seen what a mountain peach looks like.”

Without blushing or panting, Xiao Jingfeng was spouting nonsense with his eyes wide open.  When he saw Shuangming dodging away in disgust, he grabbed the little boy with his big hand and pulled him back to deliberately mess up the hair on his head.

Stinky brat!  You dare to dodge?  If not for your mother’s sake, I wouldn’t even care about you!

“Mountain peaches are star fruits and they grow this big!  My mother said that they are half a size smaller than an average star fruit.  They will only taste nice when they turn yellow.  They taste sweet and sour and are juicy.  The green ones can also be collected to make star fruit juice.  We have honey and after adding honey, it won’t taste sour.”

He said proudly with his face raised very high and arrogantly.

When honey was mentioned, Xiao Jingfeng’s expression changed slightly as if he could hear the humming sounds of the bees’ wings.

“Take fewer sweet drinks or you’ll lose your teeth.”

All 5-year-old boys are most afraid of changing their teeth.  So when Shaungming heard that he would lose his teeth, he hurriedly covered his mouth.

“Mother said to rinse my mouth so that worms won’t get into the teeth.”

“All children will lose their teeth.  After your first tooth falls out, then very soon all other teeth will also fall out as well until you won’t have any left.”

Toothless child!

“Ah…….you’re talking nonsense!  My teeth won’t fall out!  Mother, mother, I don’t want to lose my teeth!  I won’t eat candies, my teeth……..I want my teeth!…….”

Shuangming who was having a loose tooth at this time felt very scared and ran to his mother in tears.

“Your teeth are still here!  They didn’t fall out!  In the past, Uncle Xiao liked candies too and all his teeth fell out but because he ate a lot so his teeth grew back.”

Do you have so much free time to tease the child?!  How old are you?  Don’t you have better things to do?

Li Jing’er glared at him angrily.

Both of them, one adult and one child………their eight characters must be incompatible!

“Mother, I’ll eat………”

Shuangming’s tears were still falling as he removed his hand from his mouth pitifully.

“You have to eat everything and can’t be picky.  You must eat a lot of vegetables.”

The vegetables grown on the high mountains were not polluted as spring water was used for irrigation.  They were crispy, fresh, and juicy.  After eating the vegetables, the children did not fall ill or even have a minor cough.

“Do I need to eat vegetables?  Vegetables are hard to eat………”

He showed a shocked expression as if eating vegetables was equivalent to swallowing raw earthworms that would get stuck in his throat.

Generally, children like to eat meat but in Li Jing’er’s house, only the boy loves meat while her two daughters prefer to eat vegetables and they could even finish off a whole plate of vegetables.

“Delicious…….Guo-Guo.”  Little Sister Yue likes to eat vegetables.

Little Sister Yue, who was wearing autumn clothes stuffed with cotton wool, giggled.  She imitated her mother and rubbed her brother’s ears and then patted his back.  The meaning was that she would share her vegetables with him.

“It’s Ge-Ge………Little Sister Yue, how many times do I have to teach you?  You can’t rub my ears, you’re my younger sister………”

He pretended to be angry and wanted to poke his sister’s forehead but in reality, he was playing with her.

Before Shuangming’s hand could touch his younger sister, a hand that was several times larger than his, stretched out to block him.

A restrained voice said.  “Younger sister is still small, so you can’t bully her.”

When Xiao Jingfeng looked at his daughter that was somewhat similar to him, he subconsciously protected her.

“I didn’t bully my sister, you’re the one who bullied others.”

Shuangming pouted in dissatisfaction.  At the age of 5, he could feel that the uncle in front of him had a grudge against him.

“Still quibbling, it’s obvious……….”

“Xiao Jingfeng……..”  A cold voice sounded.

“Jing Niang?”

“Come over here.”

It seems the person who needs to be re-educated is him!

Upon seeing her cold eyes and raised eyebrows, his scalp turned a little numb.

“What’s the matter?”

Li Jing’er forcefully pulled the man to the edge of the vegetable field and used two fingers to pinch his fleshy armpit.

“Treat everyone equally or else you don’t have to appear again.  Don’t think the children are young so they won’t understand anything.  A child’s astuteness is beyond your imagination.  Since I raised the children, I will be responsible for them.  Don’t you dare be the rat shit that spoils the whole pot of porridge!”

“He poked my daughter………”  How can a father ignore that?

“It’s normal for children to fight.  Haven’t you fought with anyone when you were young?”

Boys tend to be naughty and it is normal for them to roll in mud and push each other around.

“No……..”

As far as he could remember, he was always working in the fields, and from morning to night, there was no time for him to play around.  However, his eldest brother and third brother would often get into fights with others.

When she heard him, she was stunned.

Which planet did he come from?  Planet Alpha?  A pacifist……..

“Sure enough, devoid of warmth.”

“What?’  He did not hear clearly.

“I said you’re so pitiful.  You have not even fought before, so how did you grow up?  With breadsticks?”

That is why his temperament is so soft and easily manipulated by other people.

Xiao Jingfeng’s face suddenly turned red.

“Am I in the wrong for not causing trouble?”

“Yes, that’s a big mistake.  You were never like a child at all.”

A child should be unreasonable and vexatious.

“You……..”  What nonsense!  Don’t teach his daughter the wrong things!

“Come here.”  She hooked a finger at him.

Go over again?  Does she think he is an animal?

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After the training session, Xiao Jingfeng did not return to Sanhe Guard Base with his team of soldiers.  He directly moved into Li Jing’er’s house in the village.  Every day before dawn, he would carry a bag of rice or white flour and other foodstuffs up the mountain and then return to the village a few hours later.  Then he would fetch a bucket of water from the village well to wash up and sleep in the house.

He would only get to sleep for 3 hours a day but every day when he went out, he would be full of vigor and in high spirits.  He was like a young man having a secret rendezvous with a girl and even a drink of water would taste sweet just seeing her.

“Don’t pinch me.”

She was becoming more and more like a mother-in-law and was unrestrained in her actions.  Although he was in pain, his heart was rejoicing as her action indicated that she no longer treated him as an outsider.