Later: Why Did You Change?
Outside, Xie Mingtu sat on a rock, leaning against the earthen wall, holding an old knife in his hand. The blade slid against the wood, and wood shavings fell to his legs, swirling around in the wind.
With eyes downcast, he stared at the piece of wood in his hand, vaguely forming the outline of a comb. Through the cracks in the earthen wall, third brother Su’s voice reached his ears.
Xie Mingtu stood up, his dark eyes under his black hair seemed deep and mysterious. He pursed his lips and left the place.
Su Xiaoman had to put in some effort to finally send third brother Su, away.
She wiped the non-existent sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Third brother Su, genuinely cared for her, but he was too impulsive and unpredictable. Su Xiaoman had to coax him to leave, otherwise, he would have taken her back home and caused a scene.
—Doing things without considering the consequences.
She opened the basket and took out the fish soup inside, pouring herself a bowl. With a chipped porcelain bowl in her fair hands, Su Xiaoman avoided the chip and drank the warm carp soup sip by sip.
The fish soup wasn’t seasoned much, nor did it have much oil. It only had some pickled vegetables and ginger to remove the fishy smell. It wasn’t particularly tasty, but after drinking half a bowl of fish soup, she felt warm in her stomach and her heart warmed too.
You could tell it was made by Liu Shufeng.
Su Xiaoman’s life was much better than hers. She had parents and brothers who genuinely cared for her.
Aside from the fish soup, there was also a packet of brown sugar and four or five eggs in the basket. Su Xiaoman planned to hide the brown sugar and eggs somewhere for later, in case she got hungry.
The wooden door creaked, and Xie Mingtu walked in with his head down. Su Xiaoman glanced at him, noticing that he always kept his head low.
Su Xiaoman poured him a bowl of fish soup.
“Have this bowl of fish soup.”
Su Xiaoman was someone who repaid kindness. She wouldn’t forget favours or turn against those who helped her. Although Su Xiaoman had intentionally fallen into the water before, this man had indeed saved her from drowning.
When she was sick before, he took care of her. The first person she saw when she woke up was him. He even gave her rice soup before. Now that there was fish soup, she naturally should share a bowl with him. Considering his situation, he wasn’t having it easy either.
This marriage fiasco wasn’t caused by Xie Mingtu. He just bravely saved someone. Even though Su Xiaoman was now married to him, he hadn’t done anything inappropriate to her.
When Third brother Su, tried to persuade her earlier, she could indeed have gone back with him. She could even have caused this marriage to be annulled. But if that happened, both she and Xie Mingtu would become the laughingstock of the whole village.
Su Xiaoman could handle it herself, as her family would protect her. But Xie Mingtu would face even more gossip and rumours. Even if their marriage was invalid, he would still be mocked and humiliated. Su Xiaoman couldn’t bear to see him suffer like that.
She had experienced the taste of defeat and betrayal, and she didn’t want to put someone through that.
He was just an eighteen-year-old boy who kindly saved someone. He shouldn’t end up like this.
“I don’t need it.”
Unexpectedly, Xie Mingtu, still keeping his head down, refused. He didn’t even glance in the direction of the fish soup.
However, at that moment, Su Xiaoman suddenly realized that the man’s voice was very pleasant to listen to. It was deep and magnetic, with a hint of hoarseness, but he didn’t speak often.
Su Xiaoman urged him, “You should drink it. It was sent by my third brother. I’ve had enough, and if you don’t drink it now, the soup will turn fishy when it cools down.”
“Consider it repaying you for the two bowls of rice soup you gave me earlier.”
Xie Mingtu lifted his head slightly, giving her a surprised look, then silently drank the bowl of fish soup.
There was a scar on his index finger from a cut with a knife. As he held the bowl, the heat of the soup seeped through the porcelain and stung the wound, but Xie Mingtu didn’t seem to mind.
Although the fish soup wasn’t fresh anymore, it still warmed the stomach when consumed. With some pickled green beans in the soup, the salty and sour taste spread in the mouth, making one feel much more spirited.
While Xie Mingtu drank the fish soup, Su Xiaoman tidied up the room, stored away the brown sugar brought by her brother, and also arranged her clothes. Xie Mingtu’s room was narrow and dilapidated, with only a few broken cabinets.
“These cabinets will be mine from now on. Don’t touch them.” Su Xiaoman pointed to the cabinets nearby.
Xie Mingtu held the bowl, looking bewildered. From now on? What did that mean?
… Was she planning to stay?
“Are you listening? These cabinets will hold my things from now on. Don’t touch them.” Su Xiaoman repeated, pointing at the cabinets.
Xie Mingtu lowered his head and took a sip of soup, nodding obediently.
Su Xiaoman didn’t have much guard against the man in front of her, who appeared thin and tall on the surface, but was actually timid and honest.
The original book said he would grow up to become a major antagonist, but for now, he was still in the stage of budding villainy.
Just a poor soul who was bullied by others.
Su Xiaoman had heard that it was often the people who were once pure white who suffered a series of unjust manipulations and ended up becoming darker and more ruthless.
Before he turned dark, he should be just a blank piece of paper.
At night, although there was only one bed in the room, it was clearly divided. A worn-out blanket separated them, with each sleeping at one end.
Since Su Xiaoman came here, they had always slept separately. Although she was now officially Xie Mingtu’s wife, he had never forced her into any marital relations, which was also why Su Xiaoman had decided to stay here before.
It was also one of the reasons why she decided to stay temporarily now.
Su Xiaoman covered herself with the blanket and closed her eyes. Not far away, Xie Mingtu slept soundly, like an old monk in meditation, lying still on the bed. She could hardly feel any movement from him.
While Xie Mingtu remained motionless, Su Xiaoman tossed and turned a few times, causing the bed to creak and squeak, which sounded particularly harsh in the dark night.
Finally, she settled down and stopped moving.
In the silence that followed, Su Xiaoman began to have some random thoughts. This was the first time she had lived in such a rural house in the Su family. What would life be like in the village in the future?
—Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, leisurely gazing at the southern mountains?
The reality of life was probably not as beautiful as that. It seemed that not far outside the house was a pigsty, where two pigs were kept…
She didn’t even know what time pigs went to sleep at night.
Lost in her thoughts, Su Xiaoman soon fell asleep. However, not long after, in the middle of the night, autumn rain began to fall.
The gentle autumn rain tapped on the roof tiles, and the night wind grew colder and colder.
The house was leaking.
Awakened in the middle of the night, Su Xiaoman stared dumbfoundedly at the intermittent streams of water inside the house. There was a leak, right at the foot of the bed.
Xie Mingtu, who had already woken up, skilfully fetched a basin to catch the water. The raindrops fell into the wooden basin, making a patter-patter sound.
Not far away, it seemed that there was some commotion in the pigsty.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
She suddenly felt that she had been too optimistic during the day. It was difficult to endure even one day in such an environment, let alone until the 1980s?!!
With a basin to catch the water, the risk of leaking was temporarily mitigated, but half of the bed was still wet, especially the area where Xie Mingtu slept.
Xie Mingtu, seeing the situation, seemed already accustomed to it. He went to fetch some dry hay and spread it on the ground, apparently intending to sleep on the hay for the night.
Su Xiaoman swallowed her saliva. The rainwater from earlier was flowing on the ground, making it damp and leaving footprints where it had been stepped on.
Sleeping directly on the ground…
“You come up here. Let’s squeeze together,” she said. They were both fully dressed, so it wouldn’t matter if they got a little closer. People on the green trains sat together, men and women alike. Letting someone sleep next to you wasn’t a big deal.
Xie Mingtu didn’t dare to do anything to her. If he had really wanted to, he would have done it long ago.
Su Xiaoman was already very tired at this point. She squeezed her wet blanket into the corner and lay down, not taking up much space on the bed.
Xie Mingtu lay down beside her, silent and facing away from her. The rain continued to patter outside.
Su Xiaoman quickly lost consciousness and fell asleep. She slept soundly, free from the insomnia that had plagued her in the past. Now that she was away from the people and events of the past, she was exhausted, as if Zhou Gong had finally taken her as his disciple.
**Nomad: Zhou Gong was the younger brother King Wu of Zhou. He was seen as wise and virtuous. The author uses a figure of speech, a way of saying that Su Xiaoman fell into a deep and restful sleep, as if she had finally found peace and tranquillity under the guidance of someone as wise and revered as Duke of Zhou.**
While Su Xiaoman slept carefree, Xie Mingtu lay next to her, wide awake and unable to sleep, listening to the steady drip-drip of the rain.
Xie Mingtu didn’t like Su Xiaoman. Previously, Su Xiaoman had also rejected and despised him. They were mutually repulsed. But why had Su Xiaoman changed today?
Thinking of the smile he had seen during the day, his heart suddenly raced, and he could even hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
Xie Mingtu was startled by his body’s subconscious reaction and abruptly grabbed the bedding under the bed, trying to forget the image in his mind.
…Even he was starting to feel strange.
He silently glanced at the woman sleeping beside him, got off the bed, and sat on the hay pile for the rest of the night.
Early the next morning, he went to work at the production team. Under Xie Mingtu’s eyes were dark circles, but since he usually kept his head down with his hair dishevelled, no one noticed anything unusual.
Having slept through the night, Su Xiaoman woke up to a bright day. The rain had stopped long ago, and she stretched lazily, feeling incredibly comfortable. It had been a long time since she had slept so well.
She didn’t expect to sleep so soundly despite the leak in the roof last night.
She was alone in the room now, and the wooden basin from last night had been tidied up. Su Xiaoman changed into fresh clothes, her long, black hair cascading over her shoulders. She casually ran her hand through it and suddenly noticed a peach wood comb on the wooden table.
It was a beautiful comb, with simple bamboo patterns. Was it her comb?
Su Xiaoman didn’t remember owning this comb. She held it in her hand and smelled a faint fragrance, suddenly recalling her previous comb, which she had broken in anger.
And this comb… Could it have been prepared by Xie Mingtu?
Su Xiaoman brushed her hair with the comb and decided to ask him about it when he returned.
Su Xiaoman was a girl who loved beauty. Her family was relatively well-off in the village, and she had many beautiful hair accessories. At that time, girls didn’t usually wear their hair loose; they preferred to braid it. Standing by the well under the Osmanthus tree, Su Xiaoman hesitated if she should braid her hair.
The well, shared by three or four households in the village, was closest to the Xie family’s house. Su Xiaoman drew water from the well, washed her face with a towel, and began to comb her hair.
At this time, there weren’t many people around, as they were probably all at work.
A five or six-year-old girl suddenly appeared from somewhere. Her face was dark, but her eyes were bright as she stopped beside Su Xiaoman, curiously eyeing the pretty hair accessories.
Su Xiaoman looked up and recognized the little girl as the eldest daughter of Third Mrs. Xie.
She was about to speak to the little girl when another person emerged from the corner, none other than Third Mrs. Xie, who had been scolding her yesterday.
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