Chapter 35: Night Talk

Lin Xiangyi and Xie Qingxiao had already prepared dinner before Xie’s parents returned home. They had no meat, so they fried four eggs with chives and made a dish of shredded potatoes.

Lin Xiangyi poured the oil before frying, her hand trembled and she almost poured too much.

Xie Qingxiao saw her look of fear and almost died laughing. He thought she was exaggerating, which made Lin Xiangyi so angry she wanted to strangle him.

When Xie’s mother came back, her heart bled again. She had a strong urge to hide the oil and eggs or never let the couple cook again.

Of course, she only thought about it and didn’t actually do it.

She thought to herself, “Eat, eat, eat! After you finish, let’s see what these spendthrifts will eat!”

That night, Xie’s father returned to the room after taking a shower and saw his wife’s conflicted expression. He was both angry and amused, and said, “Why don’t we let them make their own portion of eggs tomorrow, and we won’t eat theirs?”

“You’re saying they should eat alone? They wouldn’t be happy about that!” Xie’s mother said.

Although she was angry with Xie Qingxiao for being lazy and thought Lin Xiangyi was too pampered, she knew they were not selfish people. Besides, Xie’s mother asked, “Would you be happy if they ate alone?”

Xie’s father was speechless. Indeed, they didn’t want to eat was one thing, but it was another thing entirely for Xie Qingxiao and Lin Xiangyi to eat alone and leave them out.

“What should we do then?” Xie’s father said, “We only have a dozen eggs left. If we eat them, they’ll be gone tomorrow.”

“I’ll get up early tomorrow morning and prepare our own lunch. We don’t need them to bring us lunch,” Xie’s mother said, “That way, they won’t have to cook for us.”

Xie’s father thought it was a good idea, but he also had an idea: “We can’t just sit around and do nothing. We have to make Ah Xiao and his wife work to support themselves. Xiangyi just got married this month, so let’s not make her work in the fields with us. Let her stay at home and do some light chores, like washing clothes and cooking.”

“But Ah Xiao can’t be idle anymore. He needs to go to the fields with us tomorrow!”

“Okay,” Xie’s mother, who wasn’t a mother who blindly doted on her children, nodded. “They’re probably asleep now. Let’s talk to him tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, let’s get up early tomorrow morning to make breakfast and wake Ah Xiao up. Let him sleep a little longer,” Xie’s father said.

“You go to sleep. I’m going to get some water,” Xie’s mother said. As she walked to the door, she turned off the light with a click.

“Aren’t you going to get some water? Why are you turning off the light?” Xie’s father said.

“Every little bit helps. Electricity is expensive!” Xie’s mother muttered.

“Be careful you don’t trip!”

“I know, I’ve lived here for years. We didn’t have electricity before, and we still walked around like this. Why are you so pampered?” Xie’s mother said as she walked out of the main room in the dark.

The west room had also been turned off.

Lin Xiangyi was forced to lie on a certain man’s chest, feeling the violent rise and fall of his breath, her face burning.

Hearing the man’s increasingly heavy breathing, she couldn’t help but raise her head, but the next second, she was pressed back down by the man.

Lin Xiangyi could only hum, “You, you keep your voice down. The soundproofing here is terrible. What if your parents hear us?”

“They can’t hear!” Xie Qingxiao kissed her ear, urging her to hurry up.

Lin Xiangyi: “…”

Her hands were going to be useless.

Half an hour later, Lin Xiangyi refused to continue, no matter what. Xie Qingxiao didn’t force her and hugged her to sleep.

The next day, Xie Qingxiao woke up first. He looked at Lin Xiangyi. They had been sleeping with their arms around each other, but he didn’t know when Lin Xiangyi had broken free from his embrace and curled up in the corner.

“You have no conscience!” Xie Qingxiao said softly, turning over and getting out of bed.

“You’re up?” Xie’s mother and father had already gotten up and made breakfast. They were about to go wake Xie Qingxiao up, but he was already up?

In the past, he wouldn’t wake up until noon. Of course, back then, he usually came home very late.

“Yeah, why are you up so early?” Xie Qingxiao yawned.

“It’s too hot in the afternoon. The sun isn’t as strong in the morning. We can finish work earlier and come back earlier,” Xie’s mother glanced at the west room and asked, “Is your wife still asleep?”

“No,” Xie Qingxiao paused for a moment before saying, “She’s too tired.”

Xie’s mother immediately understood what Xie Qingxiao meant. He was afraid she would think his wife was lazy, so he was explaining to her.

Xie’s mother laughed angrily. “You don’t have to explain,” she rolled her eyes at Xie Qingxiao. She was also an adult and knew that newlyweds… cough cough.

However, her son had been working hard all night and could still get up early and be full of energy the next day. As for Xiangyi… could it be that her body was too weak?

Xie’s mother remembered Lin Xiangyi’s thin frame and no longer felt sorry for her meat and eggs.

She had eaten what she had eaten. They were all family. Keeping the meat and eggs wasn’t for anyone else but their own family.

Xie’s mother thought, “Let them eat, let them eat. If they’re weak and accidentally get pregnant, they’ll suffer!”

Xie Qingxiao: “…” His wife wouldn’t even let him touch her, so where would the child come from?

He had completely forgotten about Lin Xiangyi’s previous claim of being pregnant. Or rather, he didn’t believe that Lin Xiangyi could know she was pregnant after only three days.

However, he also thought Lin Xiangyi’s body was too weak and she needed to eat more. He said, “Okay, let her eat.”

Xie’s mother: “By the way, your father and I have already made lunch…”

“That’s great,” Xie Qingxiao said, “My wife and I are going to the county town today. I was just going to tell you that we might not be back for lunch. We’ll make dinner and leave it in the pot to warm up. You can eat it when you come back. Since you’ve already made lunch, we don’t need to make it.”

“…” Xie’s mother: “You’re going to the county town?”

Xie’s father also asked, “What are you going to the county town for?”

“Something came up,” Xie Qingxiao said evasively. If he said directly that they were going to see if there were any business opportunities, Xie’s parents would probably explode. He’d wait until he had something concrete before telling them.

Xie’s father and mother looked at each other and swallowed the words they were about to say about making him work in the fields with them today. “Well, okay.”

Forget it, let him and his wife play for another day. They’d make him go to the fields with them tomorrow. It wasn’t a big deal if they waited a day or two.

Xie Qingxiao had no idea how much his old father and mother were worrying about how he and his wife would live in the future.

Soon after Xie’s father and mother left to work in the fields after breakfast, Lin Xiangyi woke up.

After breakfast, Lin Xiangyi went to the well to wash clothes, and Xie Qingxiao picked up a water bucket to fetch water, filling the water tank in the house.

When they were finished, it was almost ten o’clock. They went home and rested for a while before riding their bicycles to the county town.