Chapter 56

Translated by An Edited by An

This day, Xiao Jing came back much earlier than usual. The sky was filled with bright red rays of sunlight, even dyeing the clouds red.

Xiao Jing walked hurriedly on the road. He was someone who had been working hard all day but he was still full of energy. There was no trace of fatigue on him. Moreover, when he thought of what happened last night, that pair of black eyes twinkled even more, as his strides became quicker.

There was a faint smile on his rough face.

That liquid he drank yesterday ah, was so sweet.

It’s so sweet that he wished to drink a few sips of it every day.

Along the rural path, other farmers were also returning from the fields. They couldn’t help but glance a few times at Xiao Jing, some with fear and some intending to peek.

Xiao Jing has always been alone in the village. Firstly, it was due to his unknown origin and secondly because of his tall and sturdy stature. When he first arrived at the village, he had an intensely fierce and tough aura, which slowly receded in the few years he stayed at the village.

Therefore, the villagers did not dare to have more contact with Xiao Jing. They always felt that with a wave of his arm, this boorish man could directly slam everyone to the ground one after another.

It’s just that it’s been a long time and Xiao Jing had never done anything off the scale. So, their hearts gradually relaxed a little. In addition to that, some people allegedly saw their village’s Xiao Jing buying a woman in the town with ten taels of silver. Naturally, it made everyone wonder what kind of a woman could be worth so much money.

They were even more curious about how Xiao Jing, whose total asset was only a dilapidated house, had so much money.

The curiosity of the womenfolk was much more than the men. They were used to spending money in terms of one or two copper coins. How could they have ever seen a whole ten taels of silver!

After hearing all these things about him, they were not as scared as before when they looked at Xiao Jing.

As for the reason why two taels of silver ultimately turned into ten taels of silver… it was nothing more than an exaggeration which increasingly distorted the truth. Evidently, if the amount of silver became greater, this piece of information would sound even more incredible.

The woman didn’t know about these rumors and slanders but Xiao Jing had actually heard some of these things.

He didn’t clarify it, feeling that there was no need to explain the facts to others. In any case, after a while, when something else happened, reports about it would naturally replace this matter.

Right now, all he could think of was that he just wanted to get home as soon as possible and see his soft and delicate wife.

In the fenced yard, the clothes that were put to dry by the sun swayed gently in the breeze.

Over the kitchen room, smoke rose out in spirals through the vent…

‘Smoke?’

The moment Xiao Jing saw it from a distance, his gaze turned sluggish, but his heart was filled with joy. After he entered the yard, he walked straight to the kitchen room and immediately heard a crackling sound mixed with the woman’s hurried breathing.

That slender figure was sitting in front of the stove with her back turned to him. Her body was stooped down and her unkempt long hair cascaded down her back as she bustled about with something in her hands.

Xiao Jing stood beside the door with a serious expression on his face, staring profoundly at this scene.

From his position, he couldn’t see the woman’s face but he could still perceive her anxiety and frustration of encountering a setback from her deep and quick breathing.

Several times, the woman huffed anxiously, even gritting her teeth with resentment, holding firewood in one hand and a flame stick . in the other. Her shoulders were tense, itching to throw the things out of her hands.

But… the thin shoulders finally slumped down heavily. Taking another deep breath, she continued to do what she was doing with firewood and flame stick in her hand.

Sometimes, a tiny flame would indeed spark, which was probably the reason why he had seen smoke come out from the vent. However, after a while, the flame that had finally started burning with great difficulty would extinguish again.

After this happened many times, the woman knelt down and sighed. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, gasped for breath, and rested for a while before continuing to add firewood, in hopes of lighting a fire.

She was so immersed in her task that she didn’t even hear the sound of Xiao Jing returning home.

The tall and straight sturdy figure of the man stood there in silence. He had hurried back all the way, but now that he was only a step or two away from her, he… didn’t know how to step forward again. He was even more reluctant to disturb the scene in front of him.

This was the first time someone had washed his clothes and cooked for him ever since his mother passed away.

“Wuwu…”

The woman who was busy making a fire suddenly threw out the flame stick in a flurry. Just now, she was a little careless and nearly burned the long hair on her shoulders.

“I’m back.” Xiao Jing immediately spoke up in anxiety.

“Wu—”

As soon as the woman heard Xiao Jing’s voice, she was startled. Her body suddenly trembled as she turned her face in horror. Even her pupils were shaking, just like an extremely panicked little rabbit jumping around.

She looked at Xiao Jing and then looked at the sky outside, where only the afterglow of the sunset could be seen. How did it get so late all of a sudden!

Seeing the expression on the woman’s face, the corners of Xiao Jing’s mouth were stretched taut. He wanted to laugh, but he suppressed his urge and cleared his throat, saying again, “I’m back.”

He stepped forward and picked up the flame stick dropped by the woman, saying again, “I’ll do it.”

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