A Good Country Wife
Chapter 212 - 211 Unintended by Ghosts and Gods_1

Chapter 212: Chapter 211 Unintended by Ghosts and Gods_1

Zhao Erhu removed his coat and climbed into bed, taking great care not to wake his sleeping wife; he gently gathered her into his arms.

In such hot weather, the little body in his arms was actually ice-cold. He carefully loosened the small hand that his wife was clenching and felt her palm was clammy with cold sweat. Zhao Erhu sighed deeply as he looked at the pale Niuniu in his embrace, his brow furrowing, then used a hand to smooth it out and kissed his wife’s forehead, which was also covered in cold sweat. He felt both pity and helplessness. Why was this Niuniu so stubborn, insisting on being contrary to him?

Alas, it seemed Niuniu had made up her mind to keep up the fight. It seemed he would have to be the one to back down first. A real man can flex and yield, and there was nothing wrong with apologizing to one’s wife. All other matters could be set aside for now. But even if he were to apologize now, his wife might not be willing to accept it; he had missed the right moment in a burst of anger and now needed to take his time and come up with a good plan.

Zhao Erhu thought back to the previous day when he tried to feed his wife some soup, and how she reacted so violently and with such disgust, clearly not wanting him to touch her. It was clear that before making up, he couldn’t make any excessive moves toward his wife. Not daring to let Lin Yue know he had held her while she slept, Zhao Erhu stealthily rose from bed at the crack of dawn and went to work in the fields.

The weather was extraordinarily dry now; they had to water the vegetable patch every day. With several acres of land and the plots spread apart, even with Zhao Dahuo and his wife helping, Zhao Erhu still had to lend a hand to manage the workload. Not to mention he had to deliver vegetables to the city. Apart from the Government Office, their farm had acquired two more customers, and Zhao Erhu, being too busy to manage alone, hired Wu Qiang to help transport the produce to the city, paying him a monthly wage for his assistance.

When Lin Yue woke up, there was no one beside her. Looking at the other half of her bed that had clearly been slept in, she realized Zhao Erhu must have come back last night, likely very late, and had gone out again early in the morning.

After sleeping through the night, Lin Yue’s mood wasn’t as bad as it had been the day before. Although she hadn’t intended to forgive Zhao Erhu, she also decided not to mistreat herself any further. She hadn’t eaten much the previous night and now felt ravenously hungry upon waking, so she prepared to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Mom, you’re awake," Lin Yue had just opened the door when four little heads popped up in front of her simultaneously. Dalang and his brothers gazed at Lin Yue with eyes full of hope, their expressions tinged with a mixture of caution and eagerness to please.

Because of what Lin Yue had said the day before, the boys were worried she really might not want them anymore. They hadn’t slept well last night, and after eating breakfast, they all came and waited outside Lin Yue’s door, eager to make a good impression. Although Dalang always believed Lin Yue would never really abandon them, and Erhu mocked them for being foolish since their mother had only said those things out of anger and didn’t mean them, they all scrambled to get to Lin Yue’s room as soon as possible. Once there, seeing that Lin Yue had not arisen, they sat by her door, waiting, and none had left.

"What are you guys doing waiting outside my door so early?" Lin Yue asked in surprise upon seeing Dalang and the others. But when she saw the hurt look on their faces, she remembered something. These children, due to their experiences growing up, lacked a sense of security. Probably after hearing her angry words yesterday, they had taken them to heart and were waiting here early to please her; her heart instantly softened.

"We..." Dalang and Erhu, being older, were too embarrassed to speak aloud, but the younger two, Sanshu and Xiaosi, had no such reservations and clung onto Lin Yue, one on each side.

"Mother, I’m afraid you don’t want me anymore," said Niuniu, holding back tears. "You said I’m not your flesh and blood, but I can’t even remember what that mother looked like. All I know is that you are my mother. You make delicious food for me, clothe me, and protect us from being bullied by our auntie. Please don’t reject us, okay? We are all very obedient. Big brother and Erhu are very capable and can help you with work."

Dalang was the one among the siblings who cried the most. Sobbing, he tugged at Lin Yue’s sleeve and, after finishing, seemed to feel he wasn’t of much help either. He quickly added, "Mother, I am useful too. I can help taste the food, and I’m good at weeding and watering the plants. Please promise me, from now on, you’ll still be my mother, and the mother of big brother, Erhu, and Xiaosi, okay?"

Lin Yue looked at Dalang with some admiration. Not bad, this kid—his eloquence was quite impressive. Normally he seemed the hungriest and a crybaby, but when it really mattered, he showed his worth.

"Mother," said Erhu, "what Xiaosi has said is exactly what we all want to tell you. From now on, you are our real mother. We will all treat you well. Please stop pushing us away. Even if you’re mad at dad, please don’t reject us." After saying this, Erhu looked at Lin Yue with a pleading, vulnerable look in his eyes.

"All right," Lin Yue said, looking at her children. For some reason, she was possessed to agree, and by the time she realized what she had done, she felt she had been too soft-hearted to resist the children’s plea.

Thinking it over, even if she was angry with Zhao Erhu, there was no need to take it out on the children. They were innocent, having lost their biological mother early on and grown up in a despised and bullied environment. They had already suffered enough. Now they regarded her as their own mother. Even if her arguments with Zhao Erhu had something to do with Dahu and Erhu, they were still children, what did they really know?

"Mother, you didn’t eat much yesterday. Are you hungry? Dad has heated up some rice for you in the pot, and there’s a chicken soup simmering on the small stove. Shall I bring it to the table for you?" Dahu, though the eldest, was the most simple-minded among the brothers. Seeing Lin Yue agreeing to Xiaosi and Erhu, he carelessly brought up his father, seemingly unafraid that it would anger Lin Yue.

Erhu, on the other hand, cast a few stealthy glances at Lin Yue and only relaxed when he saw no sign of anger. Turning his back to Lin Yue, he even gave Dahu a glare. Erhu felt that sometimes his big brother was too clueless! Mom had just had a fight with dad and they had not reconciled yet, and here he was, hastily speaking well of dad, not afraid of mom getting angry again? If that happened, they could all end up out of favor with her.

Xiaosi’s eyes rolled around observantly. He glanced at Dahu and the others, then took a pair of tongs and started sifting through the ashes in the stove. After finding something amidst the ashes, he brought it over to Lin Yue.

"Mother, if you don’t want to eat what dad made, then don’t. It’s his fault for making you angry, we won’t care about him! I sneaked this egg into the stove to slow-cook it this morning. It’s so fragrant and delicious. I know you hardly ate anything yesterday, and you must be hungry this morning. I saved it specially for you." Xiaosi presented the egg, covered with a little ash, blew on it, then carefully wiped it clean with his sleeve before placing it in Lin Yue’s hand.