I’ll Butcher Pigs to Support You! 12

Chapter 12

Shen Xizhi’s eyelashes trembled. Having been found out, a sense of shame and embarrassment inexplicably washed over her. She buried her head even lower, her voice small and thin as she denied it. “No, I’m not.”

Song Yugui deliberately put on a cold face. “Then lift your head so I can see.”

Shen Xizhi’s body stiffened, her head almost buried in her rice bowl.

Hah.

“Disobedient?”

Those two words seemed to catch in the woman’s throat. After a moment’s hesitation, the young woman silently, slowly raised her eyes and looked at her timidly before lowering them again. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked terribly wronged.

Song Yugui was baffled. Things were clearly getting better, so why was she crying?

Wait, no one’s wronged her, have they? Did I? Did I give her the wrong food?

The more she thought about it, the less she understood. Song Yugui’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. “Why are you crying? Give me a reason!”

She seemed angry.

And when she got angry, she hit people.

The young woman’s heart began to pound with fear again. Her pearly white teeth bit her thin lip, her eyes shimmering with tears. After a long moment, she managed to timidly utter a few words. “I-I’m sorry.”

Her voice was soft and trembling. Her quivering lashes lifted cautiously to steal a glance at her before quickly lowering again.

Song Yugui was astonished. I ask you why you’re crying, and you say you’re sorry? Are we even having the same conversation?

She grew even angrier. “I’m asking you why you’re crying in the middle of a perfectly good meal. Who are you sorry to?”

The sudden outburst startled her even more. Shen Xizhi could almost see the Song Yugui from a few days ago. Her body still remembered the beatings; the moment she saw her get angry, she was terrified.

But her mouth was sealed like a gourd, refusing to utter a single useful word.

No one had told her the villain was this coy.

Shen Xizhi saw from the corner of her eye that her brow was furrowed enough to crush a mosquito. Her delicate body trembled again, and she pouted, looking even more wronged. Her eyes were red, and the thick mist in them looked as if it would spill over in a cascade of tears at any moment. It made one want to scold her, but at the same time, fear that a single harsh word would make her cry.

Finally, she had to ask through gritted teeth, “Are you deliberately trying to ruin my meal?”

She was finally getting to eat meat and had been so happy just a moment ago, her voice gentle and pleasant. Now she was suddenly crying. It couldn’t be that she thought her chopsticks were dirty, could it?

She looked down at herself suspiciously.

She couldn’t help but question her. “Are you looking down on me?”

The woman’s tearful expression faltered, and she looked up in a panic. How could she think that? She was her wife. Why would she look down on her?

Alright, maybe in the past, but now…

When she wasn’t angry, wasn’t drinking, wasn’t fooling around, how could she look down on her!

Shen Xizhi quickly shook her head, her large eyes blinking, making one’s heart melt.

“Then what are you crying about?”

Song Yugui was patient, but she still looked rather fierce.

The young woman didn’t dare to remain silent any longer, afraid that she would start hitting her if she got angry. And being hit hurt a lot.

So she pouted and said cautiously, “I’m happy.”

Song Yugui: ?

Happy?

Crying tears of joy?

Are you crazy?

Her expression was complicated. Seeing the other holding her bowl, looking obedient and serious, she guessed what she was happy about.

It was nothing more than being able to eat meat.

But was that worth crying tears of joy over?

She couldn’t understand.

She looked at the young woman for a long time before her expression softened. “If you’re happy, you’re happy. Why cry? I thought I had wronged you again.”

Shen Xizhi bit her lip to stop her tears, her voice still soft and low. “I didn’t mean for you to know. You were the one who asked.”

Song Yugui raised an eyebrow. “So it’s my fault?”

She wouldn’t dare to imply that.

So she quickly shook her head again, shaking it like a rattle-drum.

Cute.

“Alright, eat. The food will get cold and won’t be as good.”

Stir-fried dishes with lard were naturally best eaten hot.

Her voice softened.

This made the other less worried. She won’t hit me. Wife is in a good mood today; she won’t hit me.

“Mmm, mmm.”

“Eat more.”

She buried her head in her food again. If they were sitting closer, Song Yugui would have even wanted to reach out and tuck her hair back, but they were sitting opposite each other.

“I’m already not going to be able to finish. Don’t give me any more, Wife.”

This was the first time she had eaten so much. Her stomach felt bloated and uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to waste the food and wanted to try to finish what was in her bowl. Song Yugui saw her little face crinkled up, as if she were very troubled, and she was a little skeptical.

This small bowl of rice, with a little bit of vegetables, and she was full?

Her appetite was like a kitten’s.

“Let me see,” she said.

Then, while the other was still stunned, she walked over, reached out, and pressed on the woman’s soft belly until she felt a slight bulge, then withdrew her hand.

“You really are full,” she murmured. “If you’re full, then don’t eat anymore for now. Eat a little more at every meal from now on, and your appetite will gradually increase.”

She seemed to have a fixation on having a large appetite, constantly mentioning it.

But Shen Xizhi didn’t understand. Her long lashes lowered, hiding the emotion in her eyes. “Why do I need to increase my appetite? Isn’t a small appetite good?”

A small appetite meant eating less, which could save a lot of food.

Other families all preferred small appetites. Why was she so different?

Song Yugui’s face turned serious, and she strongly disagreed. “What’s so good about a small appetite? Your appetite wasn’t always this small; it’s from being starved. If a person goes hungry for a long time, they’ll get sick and won’t be able to get fat. Being chubby is healthy.”

Although there were no physical check-ups in ancient times, she could still see at a glance that Shen Xizhi was severely malnourished. She wasn’t tall either, about 1.6 meters. The original owner, on the other hand, was well-nourished, at 1.7 meters.

“But everyone thinks being thin is better.”

Shen Xizhi pressed her lips together and continued.

Song Yugui didn’t care what others thought. She looked at her and said slowly, “I like them a little chubbier. I don’t like them too thin.”

Shen Xizhi understood. No wonder you’ve never liked me, always hitting me, bullying me. It turns out I’m not at all what you like.

But if that was the case, why did you marry me?

She didn’t understand.

“Alright, when you’re done eating, stand up and come for a walk with me. Don’t go to sleep with a full stomach.”

That wasn’t good for the body either. Haven’t you heard that a hundred steps after a meal will let you live to ninety-nine?

Shen Xizhi hadn’t heard of it, but she didn’t ask why she shouldn’t sleep with a full stomach. She just obeyed. As long as she wasn’t beaten, she would do whatever she was told.

Song Yugui’s heart softened once again. She reached out and helped her up, letting her lean on her hand.

Shen Xizhi’s expression was timid and gentle. She was actually very beautiful, but her timid and shrinking demeanor suppressed her beauty.

“You should go for a walk after eating from now on too.”

That way, she could be healthier.

For such a small matter, she didn’t care whether she wanted to or not, so she agreed in a low voice.

They walked down the slope together and ran into Auntie Li, whom they had seen earlier today. Auntie Li had also married into the village from a nearby village and felt a sense of kinship with Shen Xizhi, so she was usually nice to her.

Song Yugui thanked her for lending them a cabbage, and she waved her hand, telling them not to worry about it.

“It’s only right for neighbors to help each other. It’s pitiful that there are only the two of you women in your family. Of course I have to help when I can.”

Song Yugui didn’t feel particularly pitiful. If she had a father and mother-in-law, she would really explode. It was simpler with just the two of them.

But she also knew that the other meant well, so she didn’t say anything to refute her, just nodded with a smile and pulled Shen Xizhi along. “Let’s go for a walk over there.”

“Mmm.”

Shen Xizhi listened to everything she said, going wherever she was told, always staying by her side.

The moon was nearly full and bright enough to light the path.

There seemed to be some people arguing up ahead. Song Yugui led her wife closer, only to suddenly hear a raised voice cry out, “Song Xingchuan!”

She froze, looking into the crowd in disbelief.