The Comments Section Said She Was My Wife - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: This Home Finally Feels Like a Home

After staying in the mountains for two days, Xia Shi returned to find only white porridge to eat, but it counted as a warm meal nonetheless.

Xia Shi was easily satisfied, but she realized that Chu Tang had been eating porridge for many days and her stomach needed some substance. She rolled up her sleeves, sliced some smoked meat, and went out to gather some wild vegetables, managing to add two dishes to the table.

Chu Tang wanted to say something but hesitated. She felt that Xia Shi must be exhausted after two days of trekking, and it wasn’t right for her to start cooking immediately upon returning. However, looking at the wild vegetables which Chu Tang couldn’t even identify, she couldn’t bring herself to brag and tell Xia Shi to rest while she took over. For a moment, her brow furrowed in evident distress.

Xia Shi noticed, but misunderstood. She said sheepishly, “I used to just get by, there was nothing in the house, and I forgot to save any vegetables for you. It won’t happen again. I’ll go exchange for some vegetables in the village this afternoon.”

She thought for a moment and added to herself, “I also need to get two chickens back to lay eggs. You must have finished the last of the wild pheasant eggs, right?”

Chu Tang didn’t answer that, instead frowning in disapproval. “Stop fussing. Rest for a bit first. I don’t know how you spent these two days on the mountain, but it couldn’t have been easy. Don’t worry so much the moment you get back.”

Xia Shi understood the concern behind these words and couldn’t help but grin, her accumulated fatigue seemingly swept away.

After they finished eating, Chu Tang didn’t let Xia Shi go down the mountain, instead urging her to rest. Xia Shi couldn’t resist, took a quick rinse with the hot water boiled after the meal, and obediently went to bed. She had looked full of energy before entering the room, but the moment she fell onto the bed, she was fast asleep.

Chu Tang entered the room with Xia Shi’s discarded clothes, intending to say something, but seeing her sound asleep, she swallowed her words. She turned back to the kitchen, grabbed a wooden basin, and started scrubbing the clothes using water from the vat, she had learned this from Xia Shi. On her second day here, after she had simply wiped herself down, Xia Shi had washed her discarded clothes for her.

While Xia Shi was away, Chu Tang had boiled water to bathe and washed her own clothes. Luckily, the autumn weather was still warm and the clothes weren’t thick; plus, Chu Tang rarely left the house, so her clothes weren’t very dirty.

Xia Shi’s clothes were a different story, covered in mud and blood, Chu Tang scrubbed for a long time before they were barely clean.

On one side of the courtyard was a bamboo pole used for drying clothes; when not in use, Xia Shi also hung meat there. Chu Tang walked over with the basin. Lacking the strength to wring them out properly, she just gave them a quick twist and hung them up soaking wet. As the clothes unfolded, she noticed several tears in them, likely caused by friction or being snagged by tree branches.

In fact, Chu Tang had noticed long ago that Xia Shi’s clothes were often damaged. Some were patched, some weren’t, but the stitches on the patched ones were uneven, thrown together messily just to make the garment look complete.

Chu Tang didn’t know much, but she had learned a bit of needlework. She couldn’t do intricate embroidery, but simple mending wasn’t difficult. The only problem was that she couldn’t find a sewing kit, though she could confidently claim to be Xia Shi’s wife when dealing with villagers, in reality, she had only been here for a few days. Years of upbringing told her not to rummage through someone else’s room.

She had just wanted to ask Xia Shi where the sewing kit was, but since she was asleep, she would have to wait until she woke up.

Xia Shi woke up in the afternoon, and Chu Tang had already started cooking dinner.

Of course, she only knew how to cook rice; she couldn’t cook dishes at all, intending to wait until she could learn the ropes.

Xia Shi walked out yawning and saw Chu Tang feeding the sheep in the courtyard. Then, as she turned her head, she saw the clothes hanging in the courtyard, fluttering in the wind—even if not wrung out thoroughly, they were mostly dry after being out all afternoon, making the tears in the fabric all the more obvious.

Just as Xia Shi saw her tattered clothes, Chu Tang noticed she was awake. She clapped her hands, stood up, and asked, “I saw your clothes were torn. Do you have a needle and thread at home?”

Xia Shi paused, nodding subconsciously. “Yes, I bought them from a peddler.”

She turned and went into the house, quickly returning with a ball of thread with a single needle stuck into it.

Chu Tang didn’t say anything, stepping forward to take the needle and thread. “Take out whatever other clothes are torn. I’ll help you mend them before it gets dark.” She paused slightly, then added righteously, “I’ve never really eaten wild vegetables before, so I don’t know how to cook them. The rice is already on, so you’ll have to handle the dishes tonight.”

Xia Shi wanted to say something but held back. It was only after Chu Tang urged her that she went back to get the rest of her damaged clothes.

As it turned out, Xia Shi basically emptied her entire wardrobe—as a hunter who spent her days weaving through forests, getting clothes torn was a common occurrence. Her clothes weren’t particularly old, but there wasn’t a single one in good condition, and the ones she had patched herself were skewed and ugly.

Xia Shi walked out with a pile of clothes and met Chu Tang’s surprised look, finally blushing. “Um, is it too many? No rush to mend them. I’m just a bit rough on clothes, I’m used to wearing them torn.”

Chu Tang sighed and walked over to take the clothes.

She had specifically found something to do because she couldn’t cook, but seeing Xia Shi like this, she felt these clothes had to be mended. After all, Xia Shi was a young woman; she shouldn’t be going out in rags. Besides, she had to undo all those messy patches and redo them, she couldn’t just stay in this house and eat for free, right?

Once Chu Tang made up her mind, she didn’t find it troublesome. After checking each garment, she set aside the two most damaged ones and put the rest back. Seeing that Chu Tang didn’t find it a bother, Xia Shi felt her lips curl upward unconsciously, her eyes and brows filled with smiles.

It’s so good. Someone is cooking and sewing for me. This home finally feels like a home.

Of course, dinner fell on Xia Shi, and she didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Besides the usual wild vegetables and smoked meat, she found two leftover pheasant eggs in the kitchen and stir-fried them.

When Xia Shi finished cooking and called Chu Tang to eat, Chu Tang had already finished mending one garment and handed it over for Xia Shi to see. “It’s mended. Take a look.”

Xia Shi took the garment and saw that all the tears had been sewn shut; the stitches were dense and neat, with almost no trace of mending. She gave a thumbs up, praising, “Amazing! You can’t even tell. It’s as good as new.”

Chu Tang felt a bit shy at the praise. After wandering here for so many days, she had felt useless, unable to help with anything except eating and drinking for free. Now that she had finally found something she could do, it wasn’t actually as impressive as Xia Shi claimed. But seeing the sincerity on the other girl’s face, she couldn’t help but feel happy.

The atmosphere was harmonious, and Xia Shi took Chu Tang’s hand naturally. “Alright, we’ll talk about the rest of the clothes later. Let’s eat first.”

Chu Tang carefully put away the needle, folded the clothes, and followed her.

Xia Shi’s cooking wasn’t great, and the wild vegetables hadn’t been meticulously prepared, so it wasn’t exactly a delicacy. Chu Tang didn’t complain while eating, and Xia Shi couldn’t help but peek at her, saying a few more words than usual.

She said, “Eating wild vegetables is fine once in a while, but we still need to go down the mountain to exchange for some proper vegetables.”

She added, “It’s been sunny lately, which is convenient for the harvest. Once it rains, mushrooms will pop up in the mountains overnight. When that happens, I’ll take you to pick some, they’re delicious.”

Getting excited, she continued, “It doesn’t matter if there aren’t any mushrooms now. The fruits in the mountains are ripe. How about I take you into the mountain in a day or two? The fruit is at its sweetest right now; if we don’t pick them, the birds will just ruin them.”

Back home, Chu Tang was used to the rule of “no talking while eating,” but listening to Xia Shi describe the happenings in the mountain so vividly, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of interest. Seeing Chu Tang interested, Xia Shi talked even more, her face glowing with such excitement that she seemed ready to drag her into the mountains immediately, barely caring about the food anymore.

When the meal was finished, Xia Shi had already made up her mind: “Tomorrow, we’re going into the mountain to pick fruit.”