Haircut: He Nodded Thoughtfully
“The chive dumplings are delicious! Thank you, Aunt Xiaoman.”
“So fragrant!”
Seeing the children enjoying the dumplings, Eldest Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law were very happy. The children, particularly cautious not to be deprived, eagerly wolfed down the dumplings. Even if they were scalded, they laughed it off, their mouths glistening with happy oil.
“Mom, there’s an egg in it!” In the past, they rarely got to eat such treats.
Eldest Sister-in-law smiled and wiped her youngest son’s mouth, lips moving as she glanced at Su Xiaoman.
Xie Yaozu, the only child of the second family, received only one chive dumpling, like the other children. However, he was dissatisfied because Sun Mei used to give him extra food. Now, being treated the same as the other kids felt “unfair” to him, as he believed he was getting less.
He started to make a scene: “Grandma, I want more! I want more!!”
“I’m sorry, there’s none left,” Sun Mei frowned.
Sun Mei thought Su Xiaoman was particularly inconsiderate, making only one for each person and leaving nothing extra. But in this era, people counted every grain to get by, so she couldn’t blame her too much.
“I want more, I want more!!” Xie Yaozu shouted, shaking his arms and legs. Meanwhile, the other children, especially the younger ones, hurriedly finished their dumplings, while the older ones hesitated, looking to their own mothers to see if they should share half of theirs.
“Be good, Ya, there’s still some left. Don’t make a fuss,” Sun Mei comforted him repeatedly.
Seeing this, Second Sister-in-law smiled smugly and encouraged Xie Yaozu to continue making a scene.
“Grandma, I want more!!”
“Sweetie, there’s still some left.”
Although Sun Mei kept comforting him, her own chive dumpling remained untouched in her bowl. She glanced around at everyone and said, “Adults, eat less and let the children have more.”
Su Xiaoman took a bite of the crispy dumpling skin and agreed, “If I had known earlier, I would have given three to Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law’s child. With three, the child would have enough to eat. It’s okay for us adults to eat less, but it’s important not to let the children go hungry.”
Sun Mei swallowed her saliva and stared at the chive dumpling in her bowl. She was very hungry at the moment. Anyway, as long as she didn’t have to give up her own portion, any method to appease her precious grandson would do. “Second Brother’s family, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, give yours to your son.”
As the words came out, Sun Mei still couldn’t bear for her second son not to eat. As long as Second Sister-in-law gave up hers, it was fine. She didn’t care if she ate or not.
Compared to her son and grandson, daughter-in-law was not that important.
The smile on Second Sister-in-law’s lips froze.
Next to her, Xie Yaozu acted as if he had received a royal decree, immediately taking one from his mother’s bowl. In the young Xie Yaozu’s mind, it was only natural for anyone to give him their food. He was young, he was the treasure of the Xie family, and everyone should give way to him.
“Good boy, two is enough now, isn’t it? You’ve got one extra.”
Because the filling inside was still hot, Xie Yaozu hadn’t finished his first dumpling yet. He blew on it and nodded, continuing to eat.
The others also continued eating.
The room was filled with the aroma of chive dumplings. Second Sister-in-law, sitting beside Xie Yaozu, swallowed saliva as she watched the children eat. She watched as the crispy dumpling skin leaked green oil and the tender yellow eggs were especially tempting.
She was starting to resent this little brat.
Of course, she hated Su Xiaoman even more.
Meanwhile, Xie Lao and Sun Mei ate the dumplings, smacking their lips in satisfaction. The dish was so delicious that after finishing the dumplings, other dishes seemed less appetizing, making it hard to swallow.
But most of the Xie family members were quite satisfied with the meal.
When Sun Mei returned to her room, she muttered to herself, “I didn’t expect Su Xiaoman’s cooking skills to be quite good.”
The other daughter-in-law’s weren’t good at cooking, including herself. After years of eating mediocre food, suddenly having a good meal made them particularly eager for more.
After all, food is the most important thing.
“Should we let her take over the kitchen in the future?” Sun Mei suggested.
Xie Lao, smoking a cigarette, listened to her words.
“Forget it! We can’t afford to provide her with so much oil and grain!” Sun Mei gritted her teeth, knowing that Su Xiaoman couldn’t be allowed to cook regularly.
Xie Lao sighed softly, exhaling a puff of smoke.
Everyone in the Xie family enjoyed the meal, except for Second Sister-in-law, who was filled with resentment. When she returned to her room, she complained to her husband, “Why did Mom let Fifth Brother marry Su Xiaoman? Ever since she came to our house, it’s been nothing but trouble.”
“She’s causing chaos in our family as soon as she arrived.”
“Does this bitch still have feelings for Educated Youth Jiang? Sooner or later, she’ll cuckold Fifth Brother. Can a woman like her live peacefully?”
“Marrying such a wife back to the Xie family is embarrassing.”
Xie second wiped his glasses on the side, recalling Su Xiaoman’s appearance and her cooking skills. He felt a bit intrigued. After hearing Second Sister-in-law’s words, he said vaguely, “Fifth Brother’s wife isn’t bad either. I’m starting to change my opinion of her.”
“She didn’t say anything to Educated Youth Jiang when she delivered the meal that day.”
“Now that she’s married into the family, she’s one of the Xie family’s people. Treat her well.”
Hearing Xie second unexpectedly speak up for Su Xiaoman, Second Sister-in-law became even more furious, slamming the pillow several times out of anger.
She felt that she must defeat Su Xiaoman, or else her position would be threatened.
*
“The rabbit meat in the basket, was it prepared by you?”
Xie Mingtu, standing in the room, nodded.
Su Xiaoman knew that he seemed to be not very talkative, liked to keep his head down, didn’t look people in the eye when speaking, and was timid and shy, but very kind and simple-hearted. So she smiled and motioned for Xie Mingtu to come over, pushing a bowl towards him.
She whispered, “You eat, I secretly saved some extra for you.”
Xie Mingtu held the bowl, which contained three or four large chive dumplings that had cooled down a bit. The skin was still crispy, while the filling retained some warmth.
“Thank you for the meat this morning. My mom really liked it. I also saved a piece of cured meat. I’ll make something delicious for you in a few days as repayment. Consider it compensation for your rabbit meat. I won’t let you lose out,” Su Xiaoman said with a hint of a smile in her voice.
“No need to repay. It’s for you,” Xie Mingtu muttered with his head down, his slightly long, messy hair covering his eyes, and then added, “Was it made by you?”
Su Xiaoman nodded, “Yes, I made it.”
“Have some.”
“I’m fine, just ate. This is for you, go ahead and eat.”
Hearing her words, Xie Mingtu finally sat obediently by the bed, holding the bowl. He slowly ate the dumplings inside, bowing his head as if cradling a precious treasure, chewing carefully.
Su Xiaoman couldn’t help but glance at him several times. Though she shouldn’t, she felt like she was feeding a big, obedient dog.
Standing tall at over six feet, Xie Mingtu sat there obediently holding the bowl, his head down, his hair messy and resembling a fluffy Samoyed eagerly eating dog food.
Or maybe a stray Samoyed.
His clothes were dirty and torn, his hair dishevelled, but he looked like a small creature licking its wounds alone in a corner.
Perhaps women naturally felt a sense of care for such pitiful creatures. Su Xiaoman found Xie Mingtu’s dismal appearance somewhat pleasing to the eye.
Recalling what Liu Shufeng had said during the day, Su Xiaoman couldn’t help but wonder what Xie Mingtu would look like after cleaning up, trimming his hair, and shaving. So she went to fetch a pair of scissors.
“Xie Mingtu, let me help you cut your hair a bit shorter.”
With his head still bowed, Xie Mingtu nodded without refusing, allowing Su Xiaoman to play with his hair.
Su Xiaoman ruffled his hair a few times and found that Xie Mingtu’s hair was indeed long, black, and messy, but with a good texture, soft to the touch, very much like a furry dog.
She had never cut anyone’s hair before, and Xie Mingtu was her first.
Even though she had never done it herself, Su Xiaoman had seen others cut hair before and remembered the steps. Holding a comb in one hand and scissors in the other, she directly started cutting Xie Mingtu’s hair.
She thought that even if she didn’t do a good job, at least it would be better than Xie Mingtu’s previous stray dog look…
Of course, there was also a great possibility that she might end up with a haircut resembling a chewed-up dog toy.
However, it turned out that Su Xiaoman’s first attempt at cutting hair wasn’t bad at all. She neatly trimmed Xie Mingtu’s hair, giving him a clean and tidy haircut, and even styled a thin fringe.
This hairstyle finally allowed people to see Xie Mingtu’s features clearly. Su Xiaoman wiped off the stray hairs on his face and then noticed that Xie Mingtu was actually quite good-looking.
With sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his peach blossom eyes were deep-set, with the corners slightly upturned, and his eyelashes were long and dense like raven feathers.
A fine strand of hair fell on his eyelashes, tickling him a little.
Xie Mingtu blinked his eyes, raised his head, and his pupils were a deep ink colour, shining with a moist light, appearing exceptionally bright, like black sapphires immersed in water.
It was rare for someone’s eyes to be so beautifully black and bright like this, and Su Xiaoman couldn’t help but be stunned, her heartbeat slowing for a moment, leaving her momentarily stunned.
Seeing her lack of reaction, Xie Mingtu hesitantly asked with his head still lowered, “Should I shave this?”
He touched the messy stubble on his chin.
Coming back to her senses, Su Xiaoman felt a bit embarrassed. She strangely touched her nose and chuckled inwardly, thinking, “You also know you should shave?”
“Let’s leave it for now, it looks fine… for now,” Su Xiaoman said unconsciously, not quite sure why she said that. But once she realized what she had said, she thought it wasn’t a bad idea.
A few more days of that stubble could be spicy.
Change should be gradual. A sudden earth-shattering transformation might be hard for those around to accept.
The impact would be too great!
Xie Mingtu glanced at the mirror beside him, nodding thoughtfully.
So she liked it this way. He had heard some uncle say before that men with stubble had a certain charm, and women liked it that way.
**Nomad: No, she doesn’t like it. She just doesn’t want to give the villagers a heart attack.**
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