The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 34

Chapter 34

With the silver given by Ji Yunniang, the money saved from slaughtering pigs over the past half-year, and the original ten taels stored in the jar, the total amounted to seventy taels.

Mu Dingxiang had never seen so much money in her life. Her eyes were momentarily dazed by the sight of the silver notes, silver ingots, and copper coins.

Chu Yu looked at the girl’s starry eyes and tapped her head: “You really are a little girl who hasn’t seen the world.”

Mu Dingxiang blushed: “It really is the first time I’ve seen so much silver. You can go ahead and laugh at me for being a country bumpkin.”

Chu Yu shook her head and said: “I wouldn’t dare laugh at you. Look, over this past half-year, the money you saved from farming is more than what I made from slaughtering pigs. How could I laugh at you?”

Mu Dingxiang smiled, her lips pressed together: “This farming money is a bit ‘inflated’ to begin with. First of all, if not for Zhu-er’s help, the crops wouldn’t have grown so well. If it were like the Mu family’s land, these ten mu would only yield five or six thousand catties of rice; even if the two of us didn’t eat or drink, the final amount in hand wouldn’t be much. Now, Auntie Ji gave so much extra for us to get this much silver. Plus, you help with the work every afternoon after you wake up, so it can’t all be credited to me.”

Hearing Mu Dingxiang mention her, Zhu-er climbed out from somewhere. Her short legs scrambled up Chu Yu’s pant leg, and she sat on the table. Touching the pile of money spread out on the surface, she said gigglingly: “Zhu-er has a share of the credit for this money too.”

Mu Dingxiang laughed and pinched her little face: “Yes, yes, yes. Zhu-er has the most credit. So when we build the big house, we’ll save a room for Zhu-er too.”

Having said that, she turned to look at Chu Yu, seemingly waiting for the approval of the head of the household.

Chu Yu looked at the two pairs of equally sparkling eyes before her and couldn’t help but laugh: “Why are you looking at me? With this much money, we can definitely build a one- or two-entry courtyard. There will be at least five or six rooms. Our Zhu-er has such a small bottom; how much space could she take up? Never mind one room even if it’s two, Mother can afford it.”

Zhu-er was overjoyed. She crawled across the table, grabbed Chu Yu’s head, and planted a kiss on her cheek: “Thank you, Mother Chu Yu.”

Chu Yu lovingly rubbed the back of her hand against Zhu-er’s cheek: “Then shouldn’t you also say thanks to Mother Dingxiang?”

Hearing this, Zhu-er let go of Chu Yu’s neck, turned around, and crawled toward Mu Dingxiang, repeating the action by planting a kiss on her face with a ba-ji sound.

Mu Dingxiang, who was close to her every day, reached out and hugged her, locking her in her embrace.

Smelling the faint wood-like herbal scent on Mu Dingxiang, Zhu-er hummed and rubbed against her neck comfortably.

Watching the warm scene, a warm smile appeared on the corners of Chu Yu’s mouth: “What kind of house do you want to build? We’ll follow your ideas.”

Mu Dingxiang lifted her eyelids slightly and saw a trace of “currying favor” on Chu Yu’s face. This person was, after all, a dozen years older than her; seeing her like this felt quite out of place.

“I don’t know what kind of house to build myself. As long as it’s a place to settle down and keeps us out of the wind and sun, it’s fine.”

Chu Yu disagreed with her words.

“If it were just to stay out of the wind and sun, we might as well just sleep in the cave. Why bother building a house? Since we’re building, let’s build a good one. Anyway, the silver is enough.”

Hearing her say this, Mu Dingxiang couldn’t help but feel a lot of anticipation. Although Chu Yu had said before to let things happen naturally, over these days she had been busy looking after her with great care. It was clear she was seriously planning their future together.

Thinking of this, she felt joyful in her heart.

“A central hall, one bedroom, one kitchen, and a courtyard. Some plants along the courtyard wall… that would be about it. Oh, right, one room for Zhu-er and one for storing grain.”

Chu Yu made a calculation. “We only have one child, Zhu-er. In the countryside, a one-entry courtyard is enough. A central hall to receive guests, our bedroom on the left, and the kitchen on the right. Next to the kitchen will be the east wing for storing grain. The west wing across from it will be for Zhu-er. Then there’s the row of rooms by the courtyard gate; we can partition those into three small rooms. They don’t have much use for now, so we’ll leave them empty.”

As Chu Yu planned, a large courtyard seemed to appear before Mu Dingxiang’s eyes, with houses arranged in an orderly fashion. Hearing her say they only had one child, Zhu-er, she felt Chu Yu truly treated her as her wife and Zhu-er as her child. Planning the future as a family of three made that secret sweetness stir again, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red.

“When the time comes, we also need to build some small pigsties and chicken coops outside the courtyard to raise some piglets and chicks,” Mu Dingxiang said.

“Mm. Raising livestock in the courtyard would be smelly, and Zhu-er wouldn’t like it.” Chu Yu agreed.

Seeing both Mothers considering her in every part of the house planning, Zhu-er was delighted, acting spoiled in Mu Dingxiang’s arms and twisting like a little grub.

Finding it funny, Chu Yu pinched her plump, tender little bottom: “If you don’t listen in the future, I’ll toss you into the pigsty.”

Zhu-er immediately bristled and lunged into Chu Yu’s arms to bite her. Chu Yu played with her for a while before letting go. “Then starting tomorrow, I’ll go to the county to look at stone materials. Some can be quarried nearby, but it’s more convenient to just bring in bricks. Let’s look at the prices first. I’ve seen red bricks and blue bricks in the county, but I don’t know which is better.”

Mu Dingxiang knew nothing about these things and could only wait for Chu Yu to ask people who had built houses before.

On the second morning, Chu Yu and Shi Man finished slaughtering the pig and opened the stall on time. Customers came one after another, and in no time, half the pig was gone.

Chu Yu was bowing her head to cut meat when she heard someone calling her. Looking up, she saw Ji Yunniang. Remembering the stack of money she had brought yesterday and Mu Dingxiang’s face, which looked more like hers every day, she wordlessly raised a smiling face to greet her: “Auntie Ji has come for meat again. Is it for home or for the restaurant?”

Previously, she had called her “Sister Ji,” but since Mu Dingxiang always called her “Auntie,” Chu Yu didn’t want to mess up the generations for her wife, so she called her “Auntie” as well. Hearing this, Ji Yunniang broke into a radiant smile.

Ji Yunniang smiled: “For home. For Niannian and A-Zhu. Give me some pork belly that strip there.”

The young woman pointed to a beautifully colored strip of meat while her side-glance studied Chu Yu. She pretended to ask casually: “Chu Yu, didn’t you mention building a house before? Have you saved enough silver?”

Never having seen someone so eager to offer money, Chu Yu’s gaze turned deep, but in the moment she looked up, she wore a smiling face: “The silver Auntie Ji gave yesterday, plus what I and Dingxiang saved before it’s more than enough to build a one-entry courtyard even in the county.”

Ji Yunniang immediately picked up the conversation: “A one-entry is too small. It won’t be enough when the child grows up. Since you’re just starting, build a two-entry one directly. If you don’t have enough money, Auntie can give you some more.”

As soon as she finished, she saw Chu Yu staring at her without speaking. Only then did she realize she had been too eager. Realizing she had misspoken even mentioning a child since the person before her was a woman, and how could two women produce a child she felt she had overstepped and gave a sheepish smile.

“Ahem, I just think that girl Dingxiang is so piteous. When I went back to my parents’ house when she was little, every time I saw her, she was a tiny thing shrunk in a corner, or she was driven to work in the fields in freezing weather by that poisonous woman. I truly pity her in my heart…”

As Chu Yu listened to her and saw the slight redness at the corners of her eyes, the subtle emotional changes were clear under Chu Yu’s nearly blunt gaze. She sighed inwardly; if it was just a guess before, now she was almost certain that the relationship between this woman and her little wife was anything but ordinary.

She just didn’t know what happened during the grain collection the day before yesterday to make her successfully confirm her suspicion.

However, hearing the woman’s description, a thin, small figure toiling in the fields through wind and rain appeared before Chu Yu’s eyes, and her heart couldn’t help but ache. The trace of sentimentality that had just risen vanished instantly.

She said somewhat muffledly: “There’s no need for Auntie to worry about that. Her biological parents gave birth but didn’t raise her. Now that she has me, I naturally won’t let her suffer like that again.”

Hearing her words, the blood drained from Ji Yunniang’s pretty face. She paused a moment before saying: “You are a good child. Dingxiang is lucky to have met you… Regardless, if you encounter any difficulties, you can come find me and her Uncle at any time…”

Thinking this was too abrupt, she hurriedly added: “Our restaurant will rely on the grain Dingxiang grows to expand in the future, so naturally we will help whenever we can…”

Chu Yu’s hand movements paused. After a brief thought, the displeasure on her face gradually faded, replaced by a smile: “Since Auntie Ji is so enthusiastic, I happen to have something I’d like Auntie to help look into.”

“What is it?” Hearing she could be of help, Ji Yunniang’s expression was somewhat excited.

“It’s about the house again. Dingxiang said that in the countryside, since we won’t have children in the future, a one-entry courtyard is about right. But the process for bricks is troublesome, and we don’t have time to fire them ourselves. We want to buy them from a brickyard and haul them back. But I don’t know if red or blue bricks are better. Uncle is widely experienced; perhaps he could ask for us.”

Ji Yunniang said hurriedly: “Blue bricks are better, blue bricks are better! Red ones look good but aren’t useful; blue ones are sturdier and more durable. I’ll have my husband ask a few nearby brickyards for you once I get back; he knows them well. I’ll give you a word tomorrow.”

Ji Yunniang was naturally beautiful. In her youth, she was the “flower” of the surrounding villages. She was well-preserved after marrying Liu Heng and was still not yet thirty-five; she was still a genuine beauty. Usually, there were plenty of people currying favor with her, yet now she was the one taking such a proactive stance before Chu Yu it was indeed a bit strange. A regular customer nearby couldn’t help but steal a few glances at her.

Seeing this, Chu Yu hurriedly weighed the meat and said: “Then I’ll trouble Auntie Ji. It’s almost noon; Auntie, you should get back. Niannian and the others must be waiting at home.”

Only then did Ji Yunniang take the meat and hurry home.

Shi Man finally spoke up: “That Madam Liu looks a bit off.”

“Yeah. Since coming back from my house for the grain collection, she’s been looking distracted,” Chu Yu said vaguely, though her mind was as clear as a mirror.

“Then you’d better not get too close to her. Everyone says you like women and you’ve even married a little girl. If you get close to her, people outside will have something to say again.” Shi Man looked wary.

Chu Yu hadn’t expected Shi Man to say such a thing and burst out laughing: “Others might not know me, but don’t you?”

Shi Man was somewhat embarrassed by her laugh: “I know, but people outside love to wag their tongues. That Madam Liu is in her prime and as beautiful as a flower; there will be all sorts of talk.”

Chu Yu shook her head, laughing until her stomach ached, calling Shi Man a “clueless blockhead.”

All things considered, Ji Yunniang was her mother-in-law.

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