The Comments Section Said She Was My Wife - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

◎ Touched by something soft ◎

Sanhua’s family indeed had plenty of vegetables. What could be considered “not enough” when they had harvested two full baskets of white radishes and had radishes drying all over the courtyard?

While Xia Shi was slightly disappointed, she found it only natural, radishes were easy to grow and grew large, and when dried, they could sustain a family through food shortages. To her, however, they were just a bit monotonous.

Sanhua, a clever little sprite, saw Xia Shi’s expression and knew she wasn’t satisfied, so she added: “My family only has radishes, but I know Dog-wa’s family next door grows winter melon and taro, and Aunt Pear Blossom at the end of the village grows cabbage. If you trade for my family’s radishes, I’ll take you to find the others.”

The little girl was only six or seven years old and certainly couldn’t make decisions for the household, but she wasn’t alone. The noise of several people standing at the courtyard gate talking finally disturbed the adults inside.

An old woman with silver hair walked out, trembling slightly. Her eyesight wasn’t great; she stared at Xia Shi at the gate for a long time without recognizing her, sensing a stranger, and alertly beckoned Sanhua to return to her side.

Sanhua wasn’t shy at all. She skipped over to the old woman and shouted at the top of her lungs: “Granny, it’s the hunter from the mountain, she wants to buy some radishes from us. How much should we sell them for?”

The old woman was hard of hearing, but the child’s voice was piercing, and she heard it the first time. Xia Shi hadn’t even opened her mouth to decide yet, but the little girl had already arranged everything perfectly. Xia Shi didn’t object, radishes were excellent for stewing, and stir-fried dried radishes with meat were very flavorful, so she had truly intended to buy some.

Then, Chu Tang watched the whole process of Sanhua bustling back and forth, passing messages to sell the vegetables, with Xia Shi’s pile of radishes growing larger and larger.

To Chu Tang’s surprise, when it came time to settle the bill, Sanhua’s grandmother only asked for ten coins for half a basket of radishes, and another ten for a large handful of dried radishes—it was so cheap that Chu Tang almost didn’t recognize the value of the coins.

As for the basket, it was borrowed from Sanhua’s family, to be returned next time they came down the mountain.

After buying the radishes, Chu Tang was led away by Xia Shi in a daze. The winter melons, taros, and cabbages that followed were all exceptionally cheap. Only then did Chu Tang realize how difficult it was for a farming family to make money. As for what they would eat after selling the vegetables? Naturally, they would dig up more wild herbs to make up for the loss.

Carrying a basket that grew fuller by the minute, Xia Shi held Chu Tang’s hand and followed Sanhua on a circuit around the village.

The village was very quiet during the autumn harvest. The adults capable of working were all in the fields, leaving only some half-grown children playing wildly around the village.

Sanhua finally led them to Pear Blossom’s house. Besides buying cabbage, Pear Blossom’s family really did have a pear tree. At this time of year, golden pears hung heavy on the branches. Chu Tang just glanced at the branches a bit longer than usual, and Xia Shi instinctively climbed the tree to pick them.

Of course, she paid for them. Xia Shi jumped down, paid the money, and turned to present them to Chu Tang like a treasure.

Before Chu Tang could say anything, Sanhua and Pear Blossom both let out a “Wow,” their stares making the two of them blush. Seeing Chu Tang flush, Xia Shi felt her own face heat up for no reason, and she quickly waved her hand at the two children: “Go, go, go! What are you kids yelling about?”

Sanhua wasn’t afraid of her. She rolled her eyes and looked at the two of them before asking: “Hunter, what is your relationship with her? You used to have such a cold face, but you just smiled, you even know how to please people, and now you’re blushing.”

Children are uninhibited, truly saying whatever comes to mind; only adults feel awkward.

Xia Shi snuck a glance at Chu Tang. Seeing her turn her head away, a strange sense of disappointment washed over her. She immediately raised their joined hands and said to the children with a straight face: “What do kids know? This is my wife. Of course, I’m going to smile at her. Would I smile at a little brat like you?”

Chu Tang had only been overly dependent on Xia Shi because she was unfamiliar with the surroundings, overlooking the fact that they had been holding hands the entire way. Now, seeing her show off in front of the children, she felt a strange sense of shame and annoyance. She moved her hand, attempting to pull it free from Xia Shi’s grip.

Xia Shi noticed immediately, but the person who was usually quite compliant toward her was now being stubborn, holding her hand tightly and refusing to let go. When Chu Tang struggled harder, Xia Shi simply leaned in and whispered in her ear: “Don’t move. I’m declaring my status. If you struggle any more, I’ll hold you and walk out of the village right now. Do you believe me?”

Chu Tang’s ears turned beet-red. Although it wasn’t the first time Xia Shi had held her, she truly didn’t want to be carried out of the village in public. So she glared at her angrily and scolded: “Shameless!”

Xia Shi blinked, looking bewildered, clearly not understanding: “What?”

Chu Tang was instantly stifled, grinding her teeth in secret, thinking it was time to put literacy training on the schedule.

The two bought a full basket of vegetables, estimating it would last for many days, before bidding farewell to Sanhua and heading back up the mountain.

Because she had offended Chu Tang in front of the children, Xia Shi spent the entire journey back coaxing her. Unfortunately, Miss Chu was not easily appeased. She didn’t even want the big pear she had just received, focusing only on burying her head and hurrying along.

The two left the village like that, one walking, one coaxing. Occasionally, villagers would straighten their backs to watch, not finding it strange at all—Tian Er and the others had said upon returning from the mountain that the little hunter had taken a wife, the couple had argued, so wasn’t it normal for her to be coaxing her wife?

Therefore, no one noticed that Liu Sheng, standing at the edge of the Liu family’s field at the entrance of the village, had stared at their retreating figures for a long time, only returning to his senses after his father kicked him.

After running this errand down the mountain, it was already late morning by the time they returned to the mountain. It wasn’t too late yet, especially with the dense vegetation in the mountains shading them from the midday sun, making it a good time to enter the forest.

However, after running up and down the mountain, Xia Shi didn’t care much, but Chu Tang’s feet were tired from the walking.

She didn’t say anything, taking advantage of the moment Xia Shi was washing the pears to secretly sit on a stool and rub her ankles. But when Xia Shi handed her a washed pear, she refused to take it, turning her back to Xia Shi.

Xia Shi watched her, and thinking of something, she suddenly reached out and poked Chu Tang’s back.

Chu Tang’s body shuddered, leaning forward slightly to dodge. Xia Shi poked again, and she dodged again, until Chu Tang couldn’t help but laugh, which immediately earned her a glare from Chu Tang.

Xia Shi hurriedly covered her face with her hands, though her hands weren’t big enough, covering only the lower half of her face; her smiling eyes still looked at Chu Tang. Only when she saw the person was truly about to get annoyed did she cough lightly and say: “The way you looked when you were angry just now, you looked like a ruffled cat.”

Hearing this, Chu Tang’s face turned bright red, and she raised her hand to hit her.

Xia Shi jumped up and dodged, continuing to tease her: “It’s true, now you look even more like one. Meow…”

Chu Tang’s attempt to hit her had been posturing, but now she was genuinely provoked. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she got up to chase her. Xia Shi was incredibly agile; there was no way she could catch her, and the two went around in circles in the courtyard.

Just as Chu Tang looked exhausted from running, Xia Shi suddenly turned and caught the person who had inadvertently thrown herself into her arms.

Chu Tang tried to struggle, but was held tightly by both of Xia Shi’s arms. The latter leaned forward and pressed against her ear, warm breath exhaling onto her auricle: “Hey, we agreed back then, I bought you to be my wife. Are you regretting it now, are you unwilling?”

The struggle suddenly stopped. Chu Tang still remembered the misery and despair of that day, and she remembered that Xia Shi’s appearance was like a light illuminating a way to survive.

She wasn’t a person who would break her word, and she wasn’t actually unwilling, it was just…just that she hadn’t adapted to this new identity yet…She was feeling awkward when suddenly, she felt a chill on her ear, touched by something soft.