The Comments Section Said She Was My Wife - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

◎ The kiss intended for the corner of her mouth brushed across her lips instead ◎

Shitian Village was soon behind them, and after a round of farewells, the group dispersed.

The trip back up the mountain was left to just Chu Tang and Xia Shi. Without the idle chatter of the others, the surroundings fell into a sudden, heavy silence. Compared to the lively journey to town, where Xia Shi had circled around her chattering about this and that, this quiet made Chu Tang feel strangely unsettled.

After only a few steps, Chu Tang couldn’t bear the atmosphere. She reached out and tugged at Xia Shi’s sleeve: “Why have you stopped talking?”

Xia Shi raised her eyes, glanced at her with a sullen, lingering look, and then retracted her gaze, trudging forward as if sulking: “It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”

Chu Tang didn’t believe that for a second. While the day had indeed been a long, tiring trek, she knew who Xia Shi was a woman who could crouch in the mountains for days on end to hunt, then shoulder a heavy deer and hike all the way to town without breaking a sweat.

Her stamina was far beyond that of an ordinary woman. There was no way she was too tired to talk now.

Chu Tang didn’t intend to play dumb. She quickened her pace to catch up, turning her head to look at her: “You aren’t tired, you’re unhappy.”

Xia Shi was rendered speechless by her bluntness. She pursed her lips, wanting to say something, yet realizing that whatever came out would sound like unreasonable pestering.

The truth was, she had brought Chu Tang back to have a home, to have someone waiting for her when she returned from the hunt. If Chu Tang kept running down to the village, wouldn’t her home be empty once again?

Beyond that, Xia Shi harbored a deeper worry: the longer they spent together, the more she realized that Chu Tang was far more than just a “pretty face.” She was literate, insightful, and possessed a refined manner of speaking that even an uneducated hunter like Xia Shi could recognize as high-born. While she didn’t know how Chu Tang had ended up in such dire straits, she felt a lingering sense of distance between them.

That distance made Xia Shi feel restrained. If not for it, they wouldn’t have been “married” for so long while having done nothing more intimate than holding hands or kissing ears.

Xia Shi’s mind was a tangled web of thoughts, and she felt that voicing them would be selfish and laughable.

Chu Tang, however, had watched the changes in her expression. After a moment of thought, she asked: “Why are you unhappy? Do you think I’m getting too close to the villagers and worry that I’ll run away?”

Xia Shi blinked, she hadn’t actually considered that.

Chu Tang didn’t wait for a reply, continuing, “I won’t. I won’t break my word. Even if I were to leave, it would be an open and honest departure.”

Xia Shi panicked. She lunged forward to block Chu Tang’s path, frowning: “You’ve really thought about leaving?” Before Chu Tang could respond, she added, “No! We agreed on this, I won’t allow you to leave!”

She thought she sounded fierce and serious, but to Chu Tang, she only looked anxious, flustered, and profoundly wronged, her dark eyes filled with vulnerability.

Chu Tang wasn’t made of stone. Although the time they had spent together was short, she had seen Xia Shi’s sincerity. While this young hunter wasn’t as dazzlingly brilliant as the men she had known in her past life, none of them could compare to her in pure, genuine heart. She hadn’t seriously considered leaving, she had just been caught in the flow of conversation.

There was no need to hide that, so Chu Tang reached out and gently stroked her cheek: “Alright, I was just teasing. You treat me so well, I haven’t thought about abandoning you.”

Xia Shi pursed her lips tightly, her eyes still stubborn, clearly unconvinced.

Chu Tang felt a headache coming on. She had known when talking to Tian Er’s wife that there would be some coaxing to do, but she hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. Well then…

Xia Shi suddenly saw the young lady rise onto her tiptoes, erasing the height difference between them. She leaned in, and a soft, warm touch pressed against the corner of Xia Shi’s mouth. Xia Shi’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening in stunned silence. Naturally, her head tilted slightly, and the kiss intended for the corner of her mouth brushed across her lips instead.

Chu Tang was startled by the unexpected shift and immediately retreated, but Xia Shi’s hand, still holding the bolts of fabric, pivoted. The long fabric struck Chu Tang’s lower back with a soft thud, just enough to push her directly into Xia Shi’s arms.

With her arms full of fragrance and softness, Xia Shi blinked, and the tight corners of her mouth finally curled into a secret smile.

Chu Tang felt that Xia Shi had done it on purpose, used the fabric to push her and make her look so disheveled.

But she couldn’t bring herself to ask, especially since she had been the one to initiate the kiss. Compared to that, falling into an embrace was nothing. They already slept in the same bed and woke up in each other’s arms regularly, a hug was truly nothing.

Still, she had to admit, Chu Tang’s initiative had bridged much of the distance between them. Xia Shi’s anxieties were mostly dispelled, and her pace for the rest of the climb was light and airy. When she noticed Chu Tang was tired, she didn’t hesitate to carry her on her back, running all the way home with stamina that was nothing short of superhuman.

Naturally, having swallowed her pride to win her over, Xia Shi expected her reward.

Chu Tang hooked her arms around Xia Shi’s neck and whispered in her ear: “So, have you agreed to me visiting Tian Er’s wife? Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere else, I’ll just stay at her house.”

Honestly, Xia Shi didn’t want to agree at all. She was clingy by nature, and now that Chu Tang had kissed her, she wanted to stick to her even more. But she was a hunter whose livelihood depended on the catch. With autumn being the season when game was fattest and furs were thickest, she needed to be in the mountains, not stuck at home all day.

Yet, to be away and forbid Chu Tang from seeing anyone was undeniably selfish. After sulking for a long time, Xia Shi finally compromised: “Fine…but only when I’m not home.” She fretted again: “No, that’s not enough. I won’t feel safe with you going down alone, I’ll have to take you down myself and come pick you up later.”

Chu Tang was both amused and touched. She rubbed her cheek against Xia Shi’s and, noticing they had arrived home, hopped off her back: “Fine, I’ll do whatever you say.”

Xia Shi touched her cheek where Chu Tang had rubbed it, easily mollified. A moment later, she followed Chu Tang inside: “Can we put off your going down for a while, though? We bought everything for the reading lessons, you can’t run off just yet.”

Chu Tang had already put the items away. She turned around to help Xia Shi with her load, raising an eyebrow: “Alright. Since we bought so much food, we don’t need to cook tonight. Before it gets dark, how about we start with a few characters?”

Xia Shi hadn’t expected the lesson to start so soon, but she nodded eagerly: “Alright!”

They set everything up. When Xia Shi didn’t know how to use the supplies, Chu Tang had her fetch a bowl from the kitchen, turning it upside down to grind the ink. A proper inkstone was expensive, and Chu Tang, accustomed to the finest things, looked down on the cheap ones in the shop, choosing to save the money instead.

With a little water in the bowl, the ink stick circled round and round until it became a dark, rich liquid. Chu Tang spread the paper, prepared the brush, and in a few moments, four clear characters appeared on the yellowish paper.

Xia Shi watched, thinking how beautiful her wife’s writing was. When Chu Tang finished, she cheered: “I know! Those two are ‘Xia Shi’, my name.” She pointed to the left, then to the right: “So are these ‘Chu Tang’? Your name?”

Chu Tang hadn’t realized Xia Shi couldn’t read and had simply written their names to start the lesson, yet here Xia Shi was, recognizing her own name. She hadn’t thought much of it while writing, but seeing their names side-by-side like that, she suddenly felt a wave of shyness, finding the paper hard to look at directly.

After a moment of awkwardness, she shoved the brush into Xia Shi’s hand: “It’s getting late. Let’s stick to these for today. Practice them a few times until you remember them, and I’ll teach you the others later.”

With that, she fled, using the dinner preparation as an excuse.