I’ll Butcher Pigs to Support You! 21

Chapter 21

A day passed in a flash. Having forgotten to buy rice before, Song Yugui made a special trip after work today to buy a ten-catty bag, which cost another forty-five wen.

At this rate, the money she had left was already dwindling.

Song Yugui was worried.

She couldn’t even manage a smile when she got home.

Seeing her like this, Shen Xizhi’s heart fluttered with unease. Her large, dark eyes stared at her. She walked up to her and tugged at her sleeve, asking in a small voice, “Why are you unhappy? Did I do something wrong?”

The young woman instinctively looked for fault in herself, pressing even closer.

Song Yugui took her long, slender, pale fingers and said with confusion, “Hmm? What does it have to do with you? I was just thinking about something.”

After she spoke, she fell silent again, clearly not intending to tell her what it was. Shen Xizhi pressed her lips together, not very happy, but she didn’t say anything, just sat quietly beside her.

The half-month’s advance was almost gone. Her dream of eating meat every day was clearly not yet possible. She would have to live a frugal life for a few more days.

No matter how hard the congee was to drink, she had to drink it. No matter how much she disliked wild vegetables, she still ate them.

Of the remaining forty-eight wen, besides the three wen for cabbage seeds, she rarely touched it.

A month’s wages had to last for two months. She had to get through these two months at least, and then things would get a little better.

Song Yugui was like a workaholic, getting up early every day to cut a bucket of pig feed, and in the evening, she would take her wife to the mountains to gather firewood. After working hard for a month, she received the remaining one hundred and fifty wen, and felt that life was hopeless.

A month’s time always required some money. The household needed it, and two mouths had to eat. The forty-eight wen were long gone. Fortunately, she had received her wages, otherwise she wouldn’t have known what to do. But this wage also had to last for a month. Life was really tight.

On the way home, Song Yugui cursed herself all the way. It was one thing to spend all her own money, but she had even spent her wife’s money, money her wife had earned from washing clothes.

On the small earthen slope, Shen Xizhi was feeding the chicken with a basin of something. She opened the fence and went over to take a closer look. It was some shredded vegetable leaves.

Shen Xizhi sensed the familiar warmth approaching. Without turning her head, she knew who was back. She explained softly, “Auntie Li’s family grows cabbage. She gave me some rotten leaves to feed the chicken.”

“Oh.”

Song Yugui knew nothing about feeding chickens and could only watch with curiosity. After a moment, she asked, “Are we only raising one chicken?”

Shen Xizhi shook her head. “We can raise a few more in the future. There’s no hurry.”

Oh, right. They were poor. How could they have so much money to buy chickens?

“I’ll work hard to earn money.”

Song Yugui was dejected. Raising a family was so damn hard. She really admired her parents for being able to raise her. Now she could barely afford to support her wife.

Shen Xizhi, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care much about money. Hearing this, she turned to look at her, her expression extremely gentle. “It’s alright. This is good too. Don’t work too hard, Wife.”

She always remembered that they were both women.

Although women also had resilient spirits, their physical strength was still much weaker than men’s, and they tired more easily.

As long as they could get by, why work so hard to earn more money?

In the past, she had thought it would be best if Song Yugui was so poor she never came home. But now, a faint reluctance had begun to grow.

Song Yugui was noncommittal. She still felt uneasy without a couple of coins in her pocket.

“I’m going to the mountains to gather some firewood. Will you wait for me at home?”

“I want to go too.”

She couldn’t help with other things, but she could still gather firewood. To gather more firewood for the winter, she had to go with her every day.

The young woman found a basket she had recently woven from bamboo strips and trotted along behind her.

There were the most dead branches in autumn. They didn’t choose to cut down trees, but just picked up some thicker, more durable branches to take back.

Each of them carried a full basket, which could burn for a long time.

“Tired?”

On the way home, Song Yugui turned to ask.

Shen Xizhi obediently shook her head. “Not tired.”

What was this? She just fed the pigs and chickens at home every day. How could it compare to Song Yugui’s hard work? It would be too much to complain about being tired.

“Mmm, what’s for dinner tonight?”

“I… I bought two eggs. Can we have egg pancakes tonight?”

“You bought two eggs?”

Song Yugui caught the key words and suddenly turned her head, her eyes wide like copper bells. Thinking of Shen Xizhi’s stubborn nature and her recent tantrum, where she had refused to take her money, then…

“Where did you get the money to buy eggs?”

As she spoke, Song Yugui frowned. “You didn’t go washing clothes for people again, did you?”

It wasn’t that she was being suspicious. Shen Xizhi was disobedient!

She always feigned compliance.

The young woman’s pale cheeks turned a little red, and she stomped her foot coquettishly. “No, no! I helped some people in the village with their farm work, and they gave it to me.”

Song Yugui: ?

Listen to what I just heard.

You might as well have gone to wash clothes for people!

“Am I starving you or depriving you of drink, that you can’t sit still?”

She turned her head away, her voice sounding a little fierce.

Shen Xizhi shrank her neck and gripped the hemp rope that went over her shoulder, muttering softly, “But… but you’re also a woman. I can’t just do nothing at home and wait for you to support me.”

From the moment she knew she was marrying a woman, she had thought this way. As long as the other person was a little better to her than her parents, she would live a good life with her, and both of them would work hard to manage the family. But she hadn’t expected…

After marrying, she discovered that this was an even deeper hell.

She had resigned herself to a life with almost no light. If she couldn’t get by, she might as well die. But just at this moment, Song Yugui changed.

She became someone she wouldn’t have dared to dream of.

She would even feel pity for her.

A crack was torn in the darkness, and light rushed in. The young woman, who had never been treated well, was easily captivated.

“Don’t you wash clothes and cook? How can you say you’re waiting for me to support you?”

Song Yugui didn’t understand. The value of labor was also value!

“That… that’s different. I also want to earn some money for the family.”

She really didn’t know how to live a good life.

She was looked at with contempt, but Song Yugui didn’t dare to scold her. She had been angry for a whole day after being scolded a couple of times before, and she was hard to coax. Even though Song Yugui felt stifled with frustration today, she didn’t dare say much. After holding it in for a long time, she only had one sentence: “You’re not allowed to go again.”

Shen Xizhi: !

She pouted and muttered, “You’re not letting me go again. You’re always not letting me do this and not letting me do that.”

Ever since being coaxed so gently, her courage had grown a lot. She even dared to talk back.

“The fields are full of men. They’re strong. How much can a little girl like you help? You’re not allowed to go.”

She didn’t know what it was like here, but in modern times, she had seen enough social news to have a natural wariness of men.

Shen Xizhi couldn’t win against her. She puffed out her cheeks and silently turned her head away, ignoring her.

Angry again.

Hmph, if you’re angry, you’re angry.

Song Yugui lifted her chin and ignored her as well. But after a short while, she went over and held the woman’s arm, feigning a high and mighty attitude. “The mountain path is rugged. If you fall, there will be no one to cook for me!”

Shen Xizhi: …

Has anyone ever told you that you’re very bad at pretending to be mean? It’s so fake.

“Then I’ll have to trouble Wife.”

She wasn’t someone who didn’t know what was good for her. She quickly took the opportunity to back down. Her wife had worked hard all day; how could she argue with her and trouble her?

Shen Xizhi lowered her eyes. Forget it. If she doesn’t want me to go to the fields, I won’t. She’s already afraid that I’ll have an affair with other men. Why should I do these things to make her suspicious?