Chapter 29 p2
Shen Xizhi saw the door to the private room being pushed open and thought it was Song Yugui again. She had finally managed to compose herself after a long journey of feeling down and embarrassed. She looked up with clear, bright eyes, only to meet a not-so-familiar woman.
Her body stiffened, her mouth opened, but she couldn’t say a word. The air was filled with a sense of quiet. Her eyes lowered again, and after a long moment, she pressed her lips together and said, “Miss Shen Cui.”
Her voice was pleasant, like a gurgling spring in the mountains, Shen Cui thought.
“Uh, s-sister-in-law?”
She didn’t know what to call her. ‘Sister-in-law’ was not appropriate, nor was ‘brother-in-law’. After thinking for a long time, she had to call her ‘sister-in-law’, even though Song Yugui usually called her ‘sister’.
Shen Xizhi’s long lashes trembled. She nodded. “Is there something, Miss Shen Cui?”
“Ah, oh, it’s not time for us to eat yet, but Song Yugui was afraid you were hungry and asked me to bring you something to eat.”
Her gaze fell on the bowl of rice covered with vegetables and meat. She nodded. “Thank you, Miss Shen Cui. Where is Yugui-jiejie?”
“She went out. Didn’t she tell you? I don’t know where she went either.”
Shen Cui was very honest.
Hearing that she had gone out, Shen Xizhi knew it was her turn to rest for a while, but she hadn’t come to find her and had gone out alone. A sense of disappointment welled up in her eyes.
Was I too noisy, always angry, always not talking, so Song Yugui is unhappy? It must be… she doesn’t like petty girls.
Shen Xizhi’s chopsticks kept poking at the rice, her heart filled with many things. Her small face was wrinkled with worry, like a withered flower, until the door was opened again. Song Yugui walked in and looked at the full bowl of food that hadn’t been touched, surprised. “Why aren’t you eating?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Xizhi immediately sat up straight, her eyes a little dazed, not having reacted yet. “Weren’t you not coming?”
“What do you mean, I’m not coming? I went to buy you some snacks. Try them. Once your mouth is sweet, you’re not allowed to let your imagination run wild anymore, hmm?”
Shen Xizhi watched as she unwrapped the oil-paper package layer by layer. The sweet fragrance from inside could not be concealed and completely permeated the air. She had bought several kinds: water chestnut cake, hibiscus cake, snowflake crisp, and taro cake.
Except for the water chestnut cake, she had never even seen the others. She didn’t have to think to know that they were very expensive. Shen Xizhi’s eyes widened slightly. She subconsciously gripped her chopsticks, her heart tense and flustered, and also a little pained. “Why did you buy these? I don’t even like snacks. Why did you waste that money?”
“I thought you were quite happy eating them last time. Why don’t you like them anymore?”
Song Yugui was puzzled.
The young woman pressed her lips together and said in a small voice, “They’re so expensive… I can do without them.”
She did like them. What girl didn’t like a little bit of sweetness? But even if the other girls in the village liked them, they wouldn’t touch such expensive things. How could she bear to buy them for herself? It was too expensive.
Song Yugui suddenly understood. It was about the money again.
The novel portrayed the villain as someone who disliked the poor and loved the rich, who was attracted to the male lead’s wealthy family and his brick house in the village. She didn’t think that was entirely true. She was clearly a good girl who didn’t like to spend money. It was just that she had suffered too much in the past.
She casually rubbed the person’s fluffy, rabbit-like head. “Just eat. I bought them especially for you because you were unhappy. After you’ve sweetened your mouth, you’re not allowed to give me the cold shoulder anymore when we get back.”
Shen Xizhi’s expression froze. Hearing this, she suddenly became unhappy and pushed the pastries to the side. “Then I don’t want to eat them.”
Song Yugui quickly said, “Aiya,” and realized, “Was what I said wrong? Alright, my little wife wants to give me the cold shoulder, and I should just take it. I dare not say anything to you anymore.”
She was smiling, but in her heart, she felt that Shen Xizhi had a strange temper. But she also felt that her temper was cute. When she kept her anger bottled up, she was the least cute. She wouldn’t say anything to her, her expression was faint, and when asked, she would say she wasn’t angry. It was enough to make her hair fall out from worry.
Shen Xizhi thought she was being sarcastic with her. Her eyes flashed with anger, and she was about to argue with her or glare at her. But when she looked up, she met a pair of smiling eyes.
Her face instantly turned red.
So she was smiling when she said it. Then… then she probably wasn’t really being sarcastic.
Shen Xizhi blinked her eyes. Seeing her smiling so brightly at her, her mood improved a little, but a large part of it was still heavy with unease because of her wife’s suspicion.
She muttered, “I wasn’t giving you the cold shoulder. It was you, you were the one who was not good.”
Hearing her voice turn sullen again, Song Yugui’s heart became uneasy. She secretly squatted down and looked up at her to see if she was crying. She was glared at and forcefully pushed away, almost making her lose her balance and fall on her bottom.
Seeing that she had made her angry, she could only slowly stand up, hold her fist to her lips, and cough twice. “How was I not good? Where do you think I was not good?”
Shen Xizhi pressed her lips together, a little reluctant to say, but also felt that if she didn’t, she would always misunderstand her, always suspect her chastity.
At this thought, her fists clenched.
Today, Song Yugui’s behavior had been too obvious. It was unbearable!
Shen Xizhi stood up abruptly, her small, delicate face turning cold, which frightened the smiling Song Yugui so much that she didn’t dare to smile anymore. Her hands were nervously placed on her legs, occasionally picking at the hem of her pants.
Am I that bad? I’ve made her so angry she’s not herself anymore.
As she was thinking this with a panicked heart, Shen Xizhi glared at her, her small face extremely tense and serious, and asked through gritted teeth, “Do you still think I’m having an affair with your cousin?!”
Song Yugui: ?
Wait, haven’t we already discussed this?
She was shocked. “So you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder all this time because of this?!”
Shen Xizhi pressed her lips together and didn’t speak, but her eyes turned red again.
Song Yugui had indeed had a fleeting thought on the way that the villain might have fallen for the male lead, but she hadn’t given the male lead a single glance for the rest of the journey, so her heart had settled down. Faced with her wife’s questioning, she certainly couldn’t reveal her own suspicions, or the sky would fall.
So she feigned helplessness. “Haven’t I already told you about this? I don’t think you’re having an affair with Song Xingchuan. Even if you were, it would only be Song Xingchuan’s unrequited love. You don’t even talk to him. How could you be having an affair with him?”
Shen Xizhi was wronged. She looked up at her with red eyes and pouted. “But the moment you see him, you act like you’re facing a great enemy, always hiding me behind you, as if you really don’t want me to see him. Isn’t that because you suspect me, afraid that I’ll cheat on you?”
Ah…
Well… if you put it that way, it is a little obvious.
Song Yugui opened her mouth, not knowing how to explain. She didn’t want them to have contact because she was afraid that Shen Xizhi would fall for the male lead, just like in the book, and do many vicious things for him, ending up in a miserable state.
But she couldn’t say that. Xizhi was already concerned about this. If she said it, she would be drowned in salty tears today. After thinking for a long time, Song Yugui decided to shift the blame, her expression suddenly becoming very serious. “Don’t you think Song Xingchuan treats you differently?”
Shen Xizhi was stunned. She shook her head obediently. Her whole heart and mind were on her wife; how could she notice anything else?
Song Yugui sighed, her gaze as if looking at some incredibly naive person. She shook her head and said, “I think Song Xingchuan has feelings for you.”
The young woman gasped in shock, her jade-like fingertips covering her slightly parted small mouth, as if she had heard some outrageous statement.
It took her a long moment to react. She quickly said, “Wife, don’t talk nonsense. I haven’t even spoken two sentences with your cousin. How could he… how could he have feelings for me?”
In her anxiety, the form of address she had just changed last night came back.
Song Yugui thought, How could he not? He does like you. Hmph, the author even admitted in the novel that he had feelings for you. He was just hesitant and timid.
“Every time we meet, he only calls me and not you. He doesn’t want to admit that you’re married.”
Song Yugui didn’t care if she was right or wrong, just spouting nonsense, leaving the young woman, who had not experienced the dangers of society, completely bewildered, her eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. Really?
“In the past, when I met him, we wouldn’t even greet each other, like strangers. But now he takes the initiative to bring us firewood, to walk with us, and even pays for our oxcart ride. After we sit down, he always glances at you. Naturally, I have to be more vigilant. You’re my wife. Even if you want to divorce me one day, I will never let you be with a man who covets another’s wife and has bad character!”
Her words were serious, and her eyes were even more sincere and upright!
Shen Xizhi’s brow furrowed slightly. She thought for a long time. She thought she was thinking about Song Xingchuan, but when she looked up again, she was a little unhappy again, her tone questioning. “Why would I want to divorce you?”
She really didn’t understand. Her life was perfectly fine; why would she want a divorce?
Although Song Yugui was occasionally infuriating, compared to others, she was still very, very good to her.
Shen Xizhi’s gaze fell gently on the bag of pastries.
“Even if… I’m not saying it’s a certainty.”
The villain likes men, not women. Sooner or later, she’ll meet a man she likes and leave me.
Thinking of it this way, she felt quite dejected.
Shen Xizhi stomped her foot coquettishly. After hearing her reason, the last of her unhappiness dissipated. As long as she doesn’t suspect me, it’s fine. Her mood brightened considerably, and she expressed her dissatisfaction with her words. “Even if is not okay. As long as you don’t sell me, I won’t divorce you.”
After she spoke, she buried her head in Song Yugui’s embrace and nuzzled her affectionately.
Song Yugui wrapped her arms around her little wife’s waist. She had originally thought of divorcing her after earning a little more money, but now she seemed a little reluctant. The wife the original owner had left behind was so cute, so delicate and soft. Although she often got angry, she was always easy to coax and would forgive her after a few days.
She rubbed the woman’s supple lower back and continued to coax her. “I’ve said it a hundred times, I won’t sell you. Don’t mention it again, hmm?”
“Oh.”
Shen Xizhi replied and reached out to hug her again.
The door creaked open. Shen Cui stood at the doorway in shock. Seeing the intimate couple both look over, her voice stuttered a little. “I… I wanted to ask if sister-in-law was done eating, so I could clear the bowl and wash it.”
Song Yugui said warmly, “It’s fine. I’ll wash it when I have a break later. You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll be out in a bit.”
“Oh, oh, okay.”
Shen Cui had never seen such a grand display of affection between two women. Hearing that she wasn’t needed, she quickly closed the door and slipped away. Shen Xizhi had already buried her face in her embrace the moment she saw Shen Cui. Only now did she cautiously lift her head, her doe-like eyes looking wronged. “Someone saw us again. It’s all your fault.”
Song Yugui thought, You were the one who jumped on me. What does it have to do with me? But this didn’t stop her, who had finally managed to coax her wife, from taking the blame and coaxing her gently. “Mmm, it’s my fault. I didn’t tell her not to come in.”
