Chapter 31.2 - Bad Neighbour (2/2)

However, things were not always going smoothly for her.

For instance, the butcher in the butcher’s shop diagonally opposite her restaurant, who was the cold-faced man who lived next door to her, was a thorn in Shui Xian’s eyes.

Her feelings for Song Mo could be described as hatred stemming from love.

Towards Scholar Mei, Shui Xian was a little grateful. After all, that man had rescued her from the mud pit, married her, and given her wealth. She sincerely wanted to live a good life with him, show filial respect to her mother-in-law, and be an enviable scholar’s wife. But she was not destined to be with Scholar Mei; she couldn’t even become a real husband and wife with him. And she had no fate with her mother-in-law; in order to survive, she had to remain in the Mei house and be up against her mother-in-law.

When her mother-in-law was still alive, she had to act cautiously and not give her any opportunity to divorce her. But she was a woman in her prime, and she’d had a taste of pleasure in the bridal chamber, so how could she not yearn for love? After her mother-in-law died, no one could restrain her, so Shui Xian wanted to find a good man to remarry and have him move into her house. Of course, if he didn’t have a slew of annoying relatives, she was also willing to move into his house along with her dowry. She had remained chaste for three years after her husband died, in accordance with the current dynasty’s decree allowing widows to inherit the property of their deceased husbands.

Whenever she yearned for love, Shui Xian would think of Butcher Song who lived next door, Song Mo.

The Song family had been butchers for generations, slaughtering cattle and pigs for others in their spare time and selling meat for a living. Naturally, the Song family had accumulated a substantial amount of family wealth. In Song Mo’s generation, all the elders had passed away, and he was the only person left in his family, which met Shui Xian’s condition to remarry.

What attracted Shui Xian the most was Song Mo’s appearance.

Actually, Song Mo always left early and returned home late. Shui Xian rarely encountered him in her neighborhood. She would only occasionally hear the sounds of him fetching water, washing, sharpening knives, and chopping wood when she stood in the yard. Until the day she went to her own restaurant for the first time. When she noticed that the butcher shop on the other side was doing well, she leaned against the entrance to her restaurant and stared. As she continued to stare, the customers at the butcher shop gradually dispersed, revealing the figure of the shop owner.

Different from the rowdy fat man she had imagined, Song Mo, who stood there cleaning up his chopping board with an indifferent expression, was simply the most handsome man in the world.

It was no surprise then that the majority of his customers were married women and young maidens, and there was even a sedan chair parked in front of the shop, with a lady sitting inside.

Men loved women’s looks, but they didn’t know that women also cared about men’s appearances.

Looking at Song Mo’s face, Narcissus couldn’t help but blush.

If she could marry Song Mo, she would be willing to be a good woman, wife, and mother.

She tried every means to meet him by chance, but she was only met with his cold eyes in return. She felt cold all over her body, and he strode away without saying a word.

She boldly hired a matchmaker to go to his house, but Song Mo didn’t even let the matchmaker in. The matchmaker stood at the door and told him her intention, and the door in front of the matchmaker was mercilessly shut.

As Shui Xian’s feelings were unrequited, hatred grew in her heart, and she began to find fault with Song Mo.

They both lived on the east side of the town. Her house was the second from the side, Song Mo’s was the first, and beyond that were the fields. The Mei family had chosen this location because they couldn’t afford a house on the main street, whereas the Song family had specifically chosen a remote location because of the noise caused by slaughtering livestock.

There was a pigsty and a chicken coop in the Song family’s backyard, which were managed by Song Mo all by himself. Those animals would make a lot of noise when they were hungry. So, when Song Mo was feeding the livestock, Shui Xian picked up a small stone, hurled it over the wall, and scolded him for disturbing the neighbors. Whether the stone had hit Song Mo or not, Shui Xian had no idea. She only knew that if Song Mo was previously considered to be equally indifferent to her as he treated everyone else, now, he would look at her with disgust in his eyes.

When Song Mo ignored her, Shui Xian felt resentment in her heart, but now that Song Mo hated her, an inexplicable sense of pleasure was born in Shui Xian’s heart.

Even if it was disgust, she wanted him to have her in his eyes.

Her house was frequently visited by matchmakers. Most of them were for the rich and young men, expressing their intention to take her as a concubine. Shui Xian had chased them all away. Now that she had money and power, why would she give up her happy and carefree life for a life where she was at the mercy of the main wife?

There were also single playboys who came to find her in the hopes of having a good time with her and said that they could give her everything except a title. Towards men like this, Shui Xian neither agreed nor refused. She would tease them and leave them hanging. They would often visit her restaurant and occasionally buy her gifts, such as jewelry and clothes, which Shui Xian would never reject.

Once during a sudden rainstorm, Shui Xian didn’t have an umbrella and was about to order her staff to buy one for her, a young master smiled and offered to send her home.

Shui Xian was going to reject him when she noticed Song Mo closing his shop and preparing to go home, and after some thought, she agreed.

When she arrived at her house, she deliberately laughed with the young master at the front door. She sneaked a peek at Song Mo, who had also reached home, and found that his lips were pursed even more tightly.

In his heart, he must be chastising her for being an improper woman, right?

A conservative person would definitely be angry when he saw a shameless person.

Shui Xian then frequently agreed with others to send her home, and she occasionally held banquets in her courtyard, laughing out loud on purpose.

She was only concerned with enraging the man next door, but she had forgotten that men who came to mess with widows were not good men.

A young master was drunk and attempted to force himself on her.

Shui Xian was drunk as well. Because she was drunk, her head was a little muddled. If she had been sober, she could have dealt with this man with ease, but she was drunk. She felt aggrieved, thinking that she was so beautiful and liked by other men, but why Song Mo would not spare a glance at her?

She struggled desperately on purpose and shouted loudly, hoping that Song Mo would come to her rescue.

And then, she was disappointed. Until she was pushed down by the angry young master and hit her head on the wall, there was no sound of the door opening next door.

Song Mo, you were really cold-hearted…

Before she lost consciousness, looking at the figure of the man who fled, Shui Xian was still thinking about the man next door.

Her head bled, and Shui Xian fainted.

After being treated, Tang Huan woke up.

As she leaned on the bed, she stroked the white gauze wrapped around her head, and a slight smile spread across her lips.

Not bad. This Shui Xian, except for being a little foolish, she liked everything about her.

The author has something to say: Ahem, the first chapter, as usual, is to explain the background. I hope everyone likes it~

If you liked my translations, buy me a coffee, pretty please?

https://ko-fi.com/superbulatt