The Spirited Daughter-in-law and the Mountain Man

“Who said I wasn’t happy?” She tapped his head, “What do you think about all day long?”

“I…” Stumped by her words, he stuttered, “I only wish for you to live well…”

“But I have a deed of sale to the Xiao Family…”

“Once I’m home, I will find a way to burn your deed of sale.” He looked at her unwillingly, “You should go.”

“Oh, then I’ll go.” She nodded, tossed him the empty carrying pole, and walked away.

Watching her figure disappearing into the crowd, Xiao Qinghe felt an unbearable pain in his heart.

“Wife…” He whispered soundlessly.

Tears coursed down his clean cheeks.

They blurred his vision.

The tears fell in silence.

A passerby who saw his tear-strained face asked, “Young man, why are you crying? Has your family abandoned you?”

He shook his head, only to realize he was crying when he touched his face.

“Young man, why are you crying?” The passerby asked again, concerned.

With a hollow tone, he replied, “Sand in my eyes.”

“Do you know how to get home?” The passerby asked once more.

He nodded grimly.

He wiped the tears from his eyes, but they would not stop flowing.

He stopped his wheelchair at a street corner, leaned over his knees, and buried his face.

Someone patted his shoulder.

He didn’t move.

A hand patted his shoulder again.

He still didn’t react.

The hand finally yanked his hair.

Disturbed once again, he finally lifted his head and asked impatiently, “What is it?”

It was his wife!

Surprised to the point of forgetting his own tears, he exclaimed, “Wife …”

Su Qingyue handed him two steamed buns, with one in her own mouth, “We haven’t had lunch yet. I went ahead to buy some buns. Why are you crying alone?” Rolling up her sleeves, “Tell me, who wronged you? I’ll confront them!”

A blush crept up Xiao Qinghe’s handsome face, “Wife, weren’t you leaving?”

“Leave, what leave!” She knocked him on the head, “You can’t shoulder or lift anything, how can I be at ease if I leave?”

His wife was staying for him. Xiao Qinghe’s broken heart took flight in joy, “Wife …”

From the side, a vendor selling rouge and face powder remarked, “Little wife, how can you leave your husband alone on the street? Especially when his legs aren’t very useful. Didn’t you know? The moment you left, he seemed as if his soul had been sucked out. He’s all about you in his heart …”

Embarrassed by the comment, Su Qingyue handed the bun to Xiao Qinghe, picked up the empty basket and the pole, and started walking.

After a few steps, seeing Xiao Qinghe still rooted to the spot, she shouted, “What are you dawdling for? Hurry up.”

Only then did Xiao Qinghe come out of his daze and followed her by turning his wheelchair wheels.

When they reached a less crowded area, Su Qingyue stopped and turned around, her face stern as she faced Xiao Qinghe, “Fourth brother, I know you like me, but I am your third brother’s wife. Later, do not call me ‘wife’ recklessly. Even when no one who knows us is around, you can’t just blurt it out, understand?”

Was she telling him that she only wanted to be third brother’s wife? Xiao Qinghe felt a stab of pain in his heart. Recalling the suffocating pain when he thought she was leaving, he decided that, as long as she was willing to stay, as long as he could still see her, anything was fine.