I’ll Butcher Pigs to Support You! 71p1

Chapter 71 p1

Song Yugui had worked hard for another half a month, saving up nearly fifty taels of silver. She then went to town to find a craftsman with a slightly better reputation and asked him to draw up blueprints for her to build a house.

It would still take a few days for the blueprints for the new house to be drawn up. During this period, Song Yugui and Xizhi stayed in town every day, just to choose the green bricks for the floor and the tiles for the roof.

Shen Xizhi had never lived in a house with green bricks. Most of their houses had been dirt floors, both her family’s and her later wife’s.

But now, her wife said she wanted to build a green-brick-and-tile house!

She excitedly picked out the green bricks, but after asking about the price for a while, she turned back with a sad face, her head drooping, and pouted, saying dejectedly, “Wife, they’re all so expensive.”

A good green brick cost about ten wen. To pave a house, you would need at least a few hundred to a thousand green bricks. She was already scared to death before she even calculated the price.

It turned out that the money she had in her hand before couldn’t even buy a single brick!

How pitiful. It’s a good thing my wife changed in the end, so I didn’t have to stay like that.

Shen Xizhi didn’t dare to look at the green bricks that cost more than ten wen, but Song Yugui felt that they were not bad when she touched them.

If she bought a thousand bricks, it would be fifteen taels of silver. The price was indeed expensive, but she felt that it would look quite nice when it was laid down.

Xizhi was still looking at the bricks that cost less than ten wen, but she had already started to bargain with the boss.

The boss was also a straightforward person. He told her that a thousand bricks were not enough. If she really wanted them, he would give her another hundred bricks for free after she bought them at the original price.

Song Yugui didn’t hesitate for long before she agreed.

By the time Shen Xizhi came back from looking at other bricks, she had already paid the money.

Shen Xizhi: …

I was just about to buy a cheaper one!

“Fifteen taels of silver, so expensive.”

“Mmm, good bricks are naturally more expensive. Fifteen taels might not be enough. We’ll see again when the master comes. If we’re short, we can come back and buy more.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll listen to Yugui-jiejie.”

Although she thought it was expensive, she was already very used to listening to her wife.

They had the shopkeeper help them load the green bricks into the cart, then they bought an equivalent amount of tiles. A thousand tiles were definitely not enough, so she paid twenty taels first and asked them to deliver the tiles, along with her and her wife, back home. Many of the materials needed for building the house were piled up in the backyard.

Adding the five hundred wen for hiring someone to draw the blueprints, they had already spent a total of over thirty-five taels, almost not enough.

Shen Xizhi held her wife and swayed, her tone a little worried. “The things you bought are too expensive. Fifty taels won’t be enough.”

Song Yugui was embarrassed. She also knew that she loved to spend money and liked better things. She hadn’t considered that it would cost so much when she bought them.

“Then… then I’ll just have to work a little harder these next two days.”

Earning one tael a day was already the limit. At most, she could earn three taels in two days. How much harder could she work?

Shen Xizhi glared at her wife reproachfully, then held her arm again, her soft voice still thinking about the fat pig in the backyard.

“Wife, when are we slaughtering the pig?”

A pig could be sold for several taels. With that money, at least they would look a little more well-off and feel a little more at ease.

“We’ll slaughter the pig when the craftsman comes. The craftsman will be working hard to build our house, so we’ll have to provide meals. I’ll save a little more meat then, and you can make them some meat soup or something, okay?”

“Oh, okay.”

She had forgotten about having to provide meals. The young woman became anxious again. How can living like this cost so much money?

Just then, someone from the village came and asked Song Yugui to help slaughter a pig and have a pig-slaughtering meal. Before she could agree, her wife had already agreed for her and pushed her to go.

The price for slaughtering a pig was forty wen. After it was done, the owner would also invite them to have a pig-slaughtering meal.

Forty wen was also a lot.

Song Yugui didn’t say anything. The money at home was indeed more important. She took two butcher’s knives and went. She nimbly dismembered the pig there and had a meal. When she came back, she saw Chi Xiangyue and her little cousin guarding her gate, their posture quite familiar, even a little funny.

“Miss Chi, what are you…”

Chi Xiangyue knew what the two of them had been up to. She had seen them when she had passed by on her way home!

So her gaze became even more resentful, as if she had been let down in some way.

This left Song Yugui speechless.

After a long while, she finally said with a gloomy voice, “Was the food outside delicious?”

…

Only then did she remember that there was still a hungry female lead tonight. She was suddenly guilty, her eyes looking at the sky and the ground, just not daring to look at the other directly, and said dryly, “Ah? It… it was alright. It was also quite delicious.”

Chi Xiangyue suddenly felt sad. “Hmph, you thought it was delicious, but you forgot about others, just caring about eating and drinking well yourself.”

She deliberately made a fuss. Before Song Yugui could say anything, her little cousin was so distressed that she kept trying to coax her.

“Cousin, don’t be angry. I’ll make you some pastries tonight, okay? The pastries I make are also very delicious.”

Her cousin usually loved to eat the pastries she made. It was just that after coming here, there was someone in front of her.

Chu Wantang pressed her lips together, hiding a hint of displeasure.

Chi Xiangyue couldn’t bear to see her little cousin so anxious. She squeezed her wrist and said helplessly, “We haven’t even had dinner yet. I’ll just make a fuss and have Xizhi cook us a bowl of noodles.”

Shen Xizhi: …

She knew this was Miss Chi’s purpose.

She went in without a word. Chi Xiangyue knew there would be food and, changing from her former look of being abandoned, she became cheerful again.

“I heard your house is going to be renovated in a few days?”

Mentioning this, Song Yugui’s brow couldn’t help but relax a little. She nodded slightly, a smile on her lips. “Mmm.”

“Then is there anything you need my help with? Just say it. I will definitely not shirk my duty!”

She said with great magnanimity, which surprised people. She subconsciously asked, “Do you also know how to renovate a house?”

Chi Xiangyue paused and scratched the back of her head. “That I don’t. But you’re usually busy. I can help you supervise them. I’m just afraid that some of the craftsmen will be lazy. I once had a house, and when I had the craftsmen renovate it, I didn’t send anyone to watch them all the time. They actually embezzled my money and replaced all the things with second-rate ones. They weren’t careful when building either. It was one thing for the brick joints not to be properly sealed, but the roof beam fell down and almost killed me!”

Mentioning this past event, Chi Xiangyue’s face was filled with speechlessness and bad luck.

But Chu Wantang was filled with pity and guilt. She gently held her cousin’s hand, bit her pink lip, and said in a small voice, “It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me that day, my cousin wouldn’t have had to suffer such a scare.”

It was all because she had run around that her cousin had almost been hit by a roof beam while trying to protect her.

The young woman regretted it every time she thought about it, her eyes sparkling with tears, on the verge of crying.

Chi Xiangyue had only just mentioned this and hadn’t intended to make her cousin sad. Seeing her like this, she immediately became a little flustered. “No, it’s not your fault. What are you talking about? When have I ever blamed you! You didn’t know what would happen either. Tangtang is the most obedient little girl, always listening and sensible. That was just an accident. We don’t blame you at all. And besides, I’m fine, right? It’s precisely because I haven’t taken this matter to heart and have never blamed you that I occasionally bring it up!”

Chu Wantang leaned softly against her cousin’s embrace, her eyes filled with tears, the corners of her eyes slightly red as she nodded gently. “Mmm.”

I knew it. My cousin is the best to me. Only my cousin is that good.

She thought with her head bowed.

Shen Xizhi had cooked noodles for three people inside, not just for Chi Xiangyue and Chu Wantang, but also for her wife.

“Yugui-jiejie, you should have some too.”

After all, they had eaten at someone else’s house for dinner. She was too embarrassed to ask for another bowl. Shen Xizhi could tell at a glance that her wife was not full and had originally planned to make something more when they got back.

“Alright, then we can each have half a bowl. You can have some too?”

Her own wife’s figure was too slender. Even though she had been well-fed for a long time, she had only gained a little weight on her face, but she hadn’t gained any weight. She still hoped that Xizhi could eat a little more.

Shen Xizhi didn’t refuse and nodded slightly, saying softly, “I’ll have the soup. Yugui-jiejie can have the noodles.”

So good.

“No. You should have some noodles too. Drinking soup is not filling and won’t make you gain weight.”

Meat soup did make you gain weight, but that was unhealthy weight.

She wanted Xizhi to eat her fill and gain weight healthily.

“But I thought I was full.”

Her appetite was small. She would be full after a few bites at someone else’s house.

“Then just have a small bowl. Just a small bowl is fine.”

A small bowl? Then I should be able to finish it.

Shen Xizhi held up two long, slender, white fingers and negotiated with her wife. “Just two bites.”

Her wife was cute. Two bites was two bites. It was better than not eating at all.

She smiled and nodded. “Mmm, then two bites.”

Chi Xiangyue was getting sick of it and had long since taken her bowl and left. But Chu Wantang stayed behind to watch, a hint of envy in her eyes.

It’s so good to be a couple. They can act so coquettishly without any restraint. Although she also always acts coquettishly with her cousin, it’s different after all. In her cousin’s heart, she still only sees her as her younger sister.

The thought of it was annoying.

Just as Chu Wantang was about to get her noodles, Chi Xiangyue came out from inside again and slapped her outstretched hand away with a gust of wind.

Her little cousin cried out in surprise and looked up at her with a wronged expression, clutching her hand.

“You can just go in and sit and wait to eat. Don’t do it yourself. Your skin is so tender. What if you get burned? It will leave a scar.”

Chi Xiangyue had practiced the sword for many years and had thick calluses on her hands, so she was not afraid of being burned. But her little cousin was different. She was very delicate. When she was at her most delicate, she even had to have her tea fanned for her before she could drink it. Not to mention warming her stool for her.

It was all a drizzle.

Her cousin was very hard to please.

“Oh.”

So she was concerned about her. That scared me. I thought my cousin was being fierce with her.

Chi Xiangyue took the bowl in and placed it next to her own, then sat down and slurped up a chopstick of noodles. In a short while, her cousin came in from the front hall. She didn’t sit down herself but inexplicably kicked her cousin’s stool.

Chi Xiangyue looked up, glanced at her cousin’s expression, and as if she had understood, she switched her bowl with her cousin’s. She went to the side to sit on the cold stool, giving her already warmed seat to her cousin.

Only then was Chu Wantang satisfied. She tidied her clothes and sat down with great composure and beauty, which made Song Yugui and Shen Xizhi stare at her in a daze.

Soon, Shen Xizhi’s gaze turned to her wife with a reproachful look.

…

Wait, how did it get so competitive?

Song Yugui guiltily gave Xizhi a piece of beef topping. “Good ancestor, let’s not compare with others, ah.”

Shen Xizhi glared at her, lowered her head to eat her noodles, and in a short while, a few more spoonfuls of soup were poured into her noodles. Someone coaxed her, “Eat it with the soup. It’s more delicious this way.”

“Oh.”

The young woman replied and obediently went to eat.

After they finished eating, Song Yugui remembered that because of her little cousin, the female lead hadn’t been to the stall with her recently, but she hadn’t even gone to the fields to work. She was quite curious. “You don’t want to plant the fields anymore?”