I’ll Butcher Pigs to Support You! 64

Chapter 64 

After eating her fill of noodles, Chi Xiangyue cautiously peeked in from outside, her head poking through the door. “Have you two made up?”

Song Yugui sat on the edge of the bed, one arm around her wife, and looked up with a gentle smile. “Xizhi and I weren’t even fighting. How can we make up? Isn’t that right, Xizhi?”

Shen Xizhi leaned against her embrace and replied with a seeming reluctance.

“Oh, then you two should hurry up and eat. The food will get soggy and won’t be good later. Is Xizhi feeling better? Does it still hurt?”

Listening to the two of them argue, even if she were stupid, she could have guessed why Xizhi’s stomach hurt. She disapproved just like Song Yugui. “You really should touch less cold things when you’re on your period. When my cousin is on her period, I even have to warm the stool for her before I dare to let her sit down. Otherwise, she’ll complain about her stomach hurting.”

Shen Xizhi hadn’t told Chi Xiangyue directly that she was on her period, but Chi Xiangyue had guessed. And not only had she guessed, but she had actually said it out loud!

Song Yugui looked down and held the person in her arms a little tighter. Seeing her very pale face, the anger she had felt when she had discovered her touching cold water surged up again, and her tone was not good. “Did you hear that? Do you dare to do it again next time?”

Shen Xizhi bit her lip and buried herself in her wife’s body, her muffled voice coming out, “I won’t dare, I won’t dare. I really won’t dare anymore. Don’t scold me.”

And in front of Miss Chi, too.

She felt a little wronged in her heart. How can she scold me in front of others?

Song Yugui snorted and said with a huff, “Get up and eat first when you’re feeling a little better.”

“Oh.”

Shen Xizhi replied. With her wife’s hand warming her, and after lying down for a while and drinking a bowl of hot soup, her stomach indeed didn’t hurt as much. She obediently got up to eat.

Chi Xiangyue had arranged to go and chop firewood with Song Xingchuan and didn’t stay for long.

The two bowls of chicken soup noodles were fragrant and rich, smelling delicious.

Shen Xizhi sat obediently at the table, waiting to eat.

Song Yugui placed the served noodles in front of her, with a layer of tender chicken and some mushrooms on top.

She glanced at it, then picked up her chopsticks and put the meat into the other bowl. “You should eat more too.”

She was stopped by her chopsticks being held back. “Alright, I know. You don’t have to give me any.”

“Oh.”

Seeing that there was a lot of meat on her noodles as well, she was relieved and lowered her head to eat her own.

The noodles were coated in a fresh, rich soup and were very delicious.

After they finished eating, Song Yugui prepared to go and cut some pig feed for her pig and left Xizhi at home to rest.

“You can’t be too tired when you’re on your period. After these few days, I’ll definitely take you with me wherever I go, hmm?”

She stroked her wife’s small, round head. She didn’t know how she had slept as a child to have such a beautiful head.

Shen Xizhi was clearly a little dejected but didn’t say anything, or perhaps she knew it was useless to say anything. When it came to her health, her wife would not agree, so she just nodded quietly.

“The clothes I made for you are ready. You can try them on when you get back. If there’s anything that doesn’t fit, I can alter it.”

She had not only made clothes for her wife but had also made shoes and a sachet. She had gotten up early in the morning, and since her wife hadn’t taken her out, she had nothing to do, so she had started making clothes.

Finally, the clothes she had been promised were ready. Song Yugui’s mood improved a little. She took out a sandalwood box from her robes. “Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can. By the way, I bought you a pearl hairpin.”

The moment she had gotten home, she had been so angry about Xizhi washing the bedsheet with cold water that she hadn’t had a chance to take out the hairpin.

Hearing that her wife was going to give her jewelry again, the joy in the young woman’s heart gradually blossomed, but she refused to admit it on the surface and even complained with a hint of displeasure, “Wife is wasting money again. I already have enough jewelry. There’s no need to buy any more.”

“I bought it for you because it looked good. Do you want to try it on?”

Shen Xizhi took the box and opened it gently. The moment she saw the pearl hairpin, her eyes were filled with a bright light.

She said, “So beautiful!”

“Mmm, as long as you like it.”

She had just been feeling sorry for the money, but now she threw herself into her wife’s arms and kissed her on the side of her face. “I like it, I like it.”

Tsk, what’s with the kissing now? She’s on her period.

Song Yugui thought to herself, then turned her head and also held her wife’s tender lips, her tongue lightly licking them.

“Then will you wait for me at home?”

“Mmm, mmm. Wife can go now. I’ll wait for you!”

She was idle anyway. Seeing that her wife was not there, she sat on the edge of the bed and quietly began to embroider a pouch. The last time, she had embroidered a little pig. This time, she would embroider a green bamboo.

When she was at home before, she had often heard Shen Yaozu clamoring for clothes with green bamboo embroidery. He said that all his classmates had them, and he couldn’t be the only one without and be laughed at. It was clear that it was a good pattern.

She also had to embroider one for her wife.

In order to take care of the pregnant pig at home, Song Yugui carried three baskets on her back and went up the mountain to cut pig feed. By the time she returned, it was almost dusk. She happened to run into Chi Xiangyue and Song Xingchuan.

The two of them stopped at her gate.

Seeing them from a distance, her heart tightened. Seeing Shen Xizhi also lift her skirt and come out of the house, she hurried back to her own home.

Song Xingchuan’s honest gaze often looked into the courtyard.

But Shen Xizhi didn’t notice and just spoke to Chi Xiangyue in a kind and gentle voice.

As for Song Xingchuan, she didn’t even greet him, strictly following her wife’s request.

Chi Xiangyue, on the other hand, looked at Song Xingchuan several times.

I don’t even know what’s so good to look at! Could it be that she’s really being driven by the plot?

Song Yugui ran and panted all the way, returning with three baskets full of pig feed.

The moment Shen Xizhi saw her wife, her eyes lit up. She called out to her, “Wife!”

As she spoke, she didn’t even have time to open the fence and hurried to extend her hands to Song Yugui, her snowy white, delicate face lifted, her expression dependent.

Song Yugui reached out and held her in her arms, in front of the male lead!

Song Xingchuan’s gaze darkened slightly, and he silently turned his head away.

Song Yugui, who was secretly watching him from the corner of her eye: !!!

Hah, I told you so! He’s really coveting my wife! You turtle bastard! And you’re the male lead? You don’t even spare another’s wife! So shameless.

She nuzzled her wife’s soft, tender cheek. “Did you listen to me and wait at home?”

Shen Xizhi looked up, her cheeks puffed out. “I didn’t do anything this time. I just embroidered a pouch for you. Do you like it?”

She took out a pouch with a little pig embroidered on it from her robes.

Song Yugui’s eyes went black when she saw it.

Wait, you could have embroidered anything, but you had to embroider a pig. Am I going to be tied to a pig for the rest of my life?

Chi Xiangyue also craned her neck and said, “A pouch? Let me see. My cousin also made me a pouch before, with a red plum embroidered on it. It’s so pretty—pfft, hahahaha!”

Halfway through her words, she saw that Shen Xizhi’s pouch had a pink, fat little pig on it and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Although the workmanship was exquisite, it was still a little pig!

Song Yugui could dislike this pig herself, but others could not.

She took the pouch from Xizhi’s hand, put the money from her old pouch into it, then re-tied it to her waist and looked at Chi Xiangyue, her tone dangerous. “Is it funny? Is the pig Xizhi made not cute?”

Chi Xiangyue’s smile froze, and she quickly stood up straight. But from behind her, a man’s dazed, soft voice suddenly came. “Very cute.”

Song Yugui: …

I xxx, the male lead really isn’t a good thing. Just like in the novel, he’s attracted to Xizhi on one hand, but on the other, he feels that the female lead is more suitable for him. Hah, what kind of person is he? Is it your turn to choose?

Song Yugui smiled without smiling. “That’s right. Your sister-in-law made it with her own hands. You think it’s very cute too, right? By the way, I haven’t heard you call Xizhi ‘sister-in-law’ yet. She’s my wife, after all. You only call me but not her. Your sister-in-law is not happy.”

“Ah?”

Shen Xizhi’s rosy lips parted slightly, her long, slender lashes opening, and she looked at her wife with a blank expression, thinking, I’m not happy? When? What does it have to do with me whether others call me or not?

In fact, it was Song Yugui who was unhappy. She was even a little angry, and the words that came out were faint, as if she were educating someone.

Song Xingchuan’s body stiffened. Thinking that Shen Xizhi was really unhappy because of this, his face immediately became nervous, and his tongue almost got tied. After a long while, he finally said dryly, “I… I’ve called her that before.”

He had clearly called her ‘sister-in-law’ before.

“I don’t remember. Cousin can call her again. She’s your sister-in-law, after all. Don’t not call her when you see her in the future. It’s rude.”

He had always only called her ‘cousin’ and would rarely call her ‘sister-in-law’, as if he didn’t want to acknowledge this sister-in-law. With Song Yugui’s prejudice against him, she selfishly thought, Hmph, he must have some wild thoughts!

Although Shen Xizhi didn’t know why her wife insisted on having him call her ‘sister-in-law’, she didn’t say anything to stop her. She didn’t even glance at him, looking… as if she were really angry because he hadn’t called her.

Song Xingchuan’s heart was nervous. At this time, of course he couldn’t escape. He could only press his lips together, his fingers almost breaking the edge of his pants, and finally called out, “Sister-in-law.”

Shen Xizhi nodded slightly but still didn’t give him much of a look.

My wife doesn’t like him, so of course I won’t talk to him much, lest my wife misunderstand again.

Only then was Song Yugui satisfied. “How did you come over with Miss Chi?”

“I was chopping firewood on the mountain and passed by…”

It was indeed passing by, but Chi Xiangyue had told him to go on ahead. He had, for some reason, thought about whether he could see her today and had stopped for a while.

“So that’s how it is. Then it’s getting late. Cousin should be going back. I won’t see you off.”

The sky was getting dark now. It would be hard to see the road in a little while. She wasn’t wrong.

Song Xingchuan had no reason to stay. He nodded, controlling his gaze not to look in Shen Xizhi’s direction, and went back with a full back of firewood.

Seeing him walk away, Shen Xizhi lay on her wife’s shoulder and said softly, “I didn’t talk to him. I ignored him.”

As if to tell her wife, You can’t be angry with me for this anymore.

Chi Xiangyue had watched from beginning to end, completely bewildered. At this moment, she poked her head out like a ghost and asked curiously, “You won’t let Xizhi talk to Song Xingchuan? Why?”

Song Yugui glanced at the clueless female lead and said slowly, “Because I’m very possessive. I don’t like Xizhi talking to other people.”

Shen Xizhi’s pretty face turned red.

Chi Xiangyue: …

“You won’t even let her say a word? You’re too petty. I think that Song Xingchuan is a nice person.”

“What do you know?”

Song Yugui glared at her, and taking advantage of the fact that she and her wife were the only lesbians in the whole village, she said outrageously, “We lesbians are all this petty.”

“Then how come you’re willing to let Xizhi talk to me?”

Puzzled.

Song Yugui shrugged. “A few words are fine. If you talk too much, I’ll also get angry.”

Chi Xiangyue: …

You lesbians are really shocking me.

After a long while, she finally managed to say, “Then thank you so much for being willing to let me say a few words to Xizhi.”

“No need to thank me. After all, you’re different from Song Xingchuan. You’re our friend.”

Of course a friend was closer than a cousin who was eight hundred streets away.

Chi Xiangyue hadn’t expected her to be so shameless and simply ignored her. “By the way, what’s for dinner tonight? Xizhi, does your stomach still hurt?”

Shen Xizhi was immersed in the beautiful dream of her wife’s possessiveness, her eyes sparkling, and she didn’t notice Chi Xiangyue’s words at all.

It wasn’t until Chi Xiangyue waved a hand in front of her. “What are you thinking about? Are you stupid? Why aren’t you talking?”

Shen Xizhi turned her head and buried it in Song Yugui’s embrace, held by her slender waist.

She was puzzled. “Hmm? Did Miss Chi say something?”

Chi Xiangyue: My goodness, she didn’t even hear me. Are all lesbians like this?

She looked her over once and shook her head. “It’s nothing. I see you’re not uncomfortable anymore.”

After lying down for a while, it didn’t hurt anymore, at most just a little bloated.

“Mmm, with my wife taking care of me, of course I’m not uncomfortable. My wife bought beef. Let’s have beef tonight.”

The second before, Chi Xiangyue’s teeth were aching from their love. The second after, she was genuinely happy.

It was just that her mouth still hurt very much, which greatly affected her eating.

Finally, a stir-fried beef and a cumin beef that was a replica of the modern version were made. Chi Xiangyue was about to faint from the fragrance. She endured the pain and ate until her stomach was round, still wanting more. She slapped the table with her large hand. “I still want to eat! Xizhi, I’ll go to town tomorrow and buy ten catties of beef. Can you help me make it?”

Her expression was exceptionally pleading and pitiful.

Even when reading the novel, she had never seen the usually resolute female lead show this kind of expression.

It was clear how important eating was to her.

Shen Xizhi shook her head. Although she spoke softly, her refusal was very firm. “No. In my house, whatever my wife wants to eat, I make.”

She looked gentle and graceful, but her meaning was very clear. In my house, my wife is the one who decides. What you say doesn’t count. I’m not on your side.

Chi Xiangyue: The evil of lesbians!

She looked at Song Yugui again. Before she could even brew a pitiful expression, she was rejected again.

“No. My wife can’t make that much. She’ll be tired.”

Chi Xiangyue: The damn lesbians.

“Alright, then what are you planning to eat tomorrow?”

“Probably mo.”(1)

Many families also had mo. It sounded like a very ordinary food. Chi Xiangyue: Dejected, lowering her head.

But she quickly perked up again. “With Xizhi’s skills, even if it’s just ordinary mo, she’ll definitely be able to make it better than others. I want to eat too!”

“Whatever, it’s all the same.”

She wanted to eat roujiamo2! There was also roujiamo in ancient times, but it wasn’t very widespread, so she usually couldn’t eat it.

It was getting late. Chi Xiangyue went back early. Song Yugui tried on the long skirt Xizhi had made for her. It was a deep blue color, made with a good fabric that was famous in the town. It was actually… very magnificent. Looking at the wide skirt and cuffs, she felt that it would be very difficult for her to wear it out in this village.

No wonder it had taken so long to make. It was so exquisite.

Shen Xizhi held her wife’s arm with satisfaction. “Isn’t it beautiful? It took me a long, long time to make it!”

The corners of Song Yugui’s mouth twitched. “It’s beautiful, but I’m afraid I can only wear it at home.”

She was afraid that if she wore it out, she would drag it through chicken poop without noticing, and it would probably be dirty in a day.

Shen Xizhi nodded vigorously. “That’s right, that’s right! It’s just for wearing at home. Wife can just wear it for me to see.”

Such a beautiful wife. I didn’t plan to let others see her with me in the first place.

So that was her idea.

There was nothing she could do. The clothes were already made. It had taken so much effort. She couldn’t possibly not wear them. She liked them very much, very much.

“Alright then. But it can’t be that only I have such clothes. Aren’t you going to make a set for yourself too?”

Song Yugui turned in a circle, admiring the hem of her skirt, her words laced with a hint of temptation, with ill intentions.

Shen Xizhi shook her head. “I have a lot of clothes! The ones Yugui-jiejie bought!”

She emphasized that she also liked those clothes very much.

But Song Yugui also shook her head. “No. You have to have a set like mine.”

“Ah… but this will take a long time to make.”

The young woman hesitated. She was willing to spend so long making clothes for her wife but was unwilling to make them for herself. It was so troublesome. She could just wear whatever. The many clothes her wife had bought were enough for her to wear for a lifetime!

Song Yugui held her on the bed, sat down herself, then held her and lay her down in her embrace, coaxing her gently, “Make it. Make the skirt a little wider. It will be very beautiful. We can wear them together. I have a novel style of clothing. I’ll tell you, and you can make it, okay?”

Shen Xizhi was very obedient to her wife. Hearing the other say she had a novel style, she quickly nodded, her eyes watery and sparkling. “Alright, you say, and I’ll make it.”

Song Yugui then went closer to her wife’s ear and said slowly, “You can leave the chest area empty. Don’t sew any fabric there. How about that?”

Shen Xizhi’s eyes widened little by little as she heard her wife’s words. She couldn’t believe what she had heard.

When she turned her head, her red lips were slightly parted, extremely shocked.

Song Yugui was still smiling, not thinking there was anything wrong with what she had said.

“If you’re willing, you can also not put any fabric on the back. But I think if I really dare to let you do that, you’ll be so ashamed you’ll bite me to death.”

Shen Xizhi stared at her and nodded seriously. “I really will!”

Song Yugui was amused and agreed warmly, “Mmm, so it’s fine as long as you make the front. And then make a pair of underpants, mmm…”

At this, she thought of something else, went closer to her ear, and said a few words. The young woman’s face instantly turned red, and she pushed her forcefully. “You… how can you be so shameless! If you say those things again, I won’t talk to you anymore! You’re always thinking of lewd ways to bully me!”

She was so angry she didn’t even get out of her embrace, just turned her head to the other side and deliberately ignored her.

Song Yugui held her slender waist and swayed it, her gaze gentle. “Good Xizhi, we’ve been together for so long. What part of you haven’t I seen? This time, it’s just different from before in that we’re wearing clothes. Are you going to refuse me?”

She looked a little pitiful again.

Shen Xizhi bit her lip tightly and suddenly turned her head. “Hmph, I… I…”

She “I”d for a long time but didn’t give an answer, neither saying she was willing nor refusing her.

Song Yugui looked at her wife with a smile and threw out a sentence, “Then I’ll take that as a yes.”

Shen Xizhi pushed her and said angrily, “I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Then she moved to the side and lay down.

But the bed was not big, and there was still not much space between them. The moment Song Yugui lay down, she touched her.

Knowing that Xizhi was thin-skinned and that it was impossible for her to say such words out loud, but since she hadn’t explicitly refused, what was the difference between that and directly agreeing?

Song Yugui narrowed her eyes and went closer to hold her wife, who had her back to her, in her arms. She was on her period and was wearing a thin inner garment and pants. She didn’t dare to provoke her and just held her in her arms, saying in her ear, “Sleep.”

Shen Xizhi pressed her lips together, the blush and heat on her face not yet faded. She said in a small voice, “You can sleep with your hand on my stomach.”

“Not uncomfortable anymore?”

“Mmm, a little.”

“Alright.”

A warm hand rested on her stomach, and the dull ache gradually dissipated. Shen Xizhi’s brow slowly relaxed, and she closed her eyes in her arms.

The next day was another day of slaughtering and selling pigs.

After working hard for several days in a row, she had even heard that the female lead and Song Xingchuan were playing together.

She had heard it from Xizhi.

“The spring planting season has arrived. Miss Chi is helping the Song Xingchuan family with sowing. I saw it.”

Song Yugui: …

She’s even doing farm work. She’s quite used to being a young lady in the countryside.

“By the way, Wife.”

Shen Xizhi thought of something and lifted her head.

“Our family also has land. Do you want to plant some rice this year?”

Rice could be sold to the grain store, or they could eat it themselves. In short, it could save some money.

She had thought about it before she had married into the Song family. If… if Song Yugui was good to her, she would also live a good life with Song Yugui. While she was out selling pork, she would manage the household chores and farm work.

She had also thought about planting rice, but her wife had not been good to her before, so she hadn’t mentioned it. But now…

Now it was different. Of course she had to think of the family in every way. And besides, her wife had said that if she wanted to renovate the house, her money was temporarily not enough. If she didn’t have enough money, how could she stay at home? Her wife worked from dawn to dusk for the family. She should also do something to supplement the family’s income.

Who knew that her wife would refuse her again!

Hmph, hmph, hmph.

“Farming is too tiring. You can just stay by my side and help me count the money. I’ve already rented out the land.”

Shen Xizhi: ???

“When did that happen? Didn’t you say we could farm this year?”

Song Yugui spread her hands with an innocent expression. “It was just yesterday. When I said it, we were broke. Of course we would rather work a little harder to earn more money. But now is different from the past. We’re not that poor anymore. Why do we have to work so hard?”

She was not that old yet. She didn’t want to die from overwork.

Shen Xizhi pouted and leaned against her embrace. “Then I can’t do anything!”

The house they lived in, she couldn’t contribute to it at all.

Her heart was always a little heavy.

“You can help me collect the money. Sometimes there are a lot of people who come to buy meat, and I don’t even know who has paid and who hasn’t. You can help me watch, okay?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Shen Xizhi finally agreed reluctantly. “Alright then. Then I’ll go to town with you tomorrow.”

Shen Xizhi’s period usually lasted for about five days. Today was already the fifth day, and there was only a little bit. She could go out tomorrow.

“Mmm.”

Song Yugui also didn’t want to leave her at home. These past few days, the more she looked, the more she was surprised by the influence of the plot. The female lead was actually getting along with the male lead like in the early stages of the novel. The only difference was… her own villain wife hadn’t gone to cause trouble.

Chi Xiangyue was different from Xizhi. She couldn’t badmouth the male lead to Chi Xiangyue, but in this situation, it was clearly not appropriate to leave Xizhi behind.

What if she was affected by the plot and something happened? It would be over.

How could she be at ease if she didn’t have her by her side?

Translator’s Notes

1 Mo (馍) is a general term for various types of steamed bread or buns in Chinese cuisine.

2 Roujiamo (肉夹馍), sometimes referred to as a “Chinese hamburger,” is a street food originating from Shaanxi province, consisting of braised pork or other meat stuffed into a flatbread.