Chapter 105 – Jealousy (6)
“That’s good. You don’t need to come with us. It’ll be enough with your second brother, third brother, and me.” said Li Mo.
“It’s okay. I can help with handing over the straw,” Li Hua hurriedly said.
Li Shu finished eating the last bite of noodles and chimed in, “Just stay inside. Your hand is already injured. I can stay on the ground and toss up the straw instead.”
After that, he asked Li Man, “Wife, is there any more left?”
Li Man had been thinking that these brothers got along really well. Caught off guard by Li Shu’s question, she instinctively got up while answering, “There’s more.” She took his bowl, went over to the stove, and filled his bowl with more noodles.
Li Shu was stunned. “Wife?” He had just been worried that his wife would be annoyed with him for eating too much. He hadn’t expected that she would personally add more food to his bowl.
He was still calling her that? Feeling a fresh burst of annoyance, she placed his bowl down in front of him, glared at him, and didn’t respond.
However, Li Shu’s heart was still happily skipping even after his wife had given him a supercilious look. Holding up the bowl of noodles, he took a big gulp of the soup first. This soup smelled so yummy, and his heart felt so at ease as he drank it.
It didn’t talk long for the family to finish eating lunch. Li Mo and his two younger brothers went to the backyard to continue work. Li Hua felt bad, so he wanted to at least wash the dishes. But, his fingers were injured, so how could Li Man possibly let his hands get wet? She hurriedly pushed him away.
After she was done with the dishes, Li Man returned to her hut and heard thumping sounds from the roof. She knew that they were fixing her roof, but when she looked at bed, she saw that half of it was still very wet. It would take at least a few days of sunny weather before she could sleep on it again. What to do? Where would she sleep tonight?
Even though she was felt depressed over this, she still had to take care of the piglets and chicks. The yellow chicks had been moved into a corner of the kitchen with the fence surrounding them. They only needed to be feed some food and given some water. But, what about the piglets that were in the backyard? The backyard was full of mud. How could she go over there to feed them? She already skipped feeding them this morning and could hear them wailing for food.
Would… would she have to go barefoot in order to feed the piglets?
After struggling over what to do, Li Man went over to ask Li Hua, “Are there any wooden clogs?
“Eh? Where are you going?” Li Hua doubtfully asked.
“To feed the piglets.” Li Man said with a miserable expression on her little face.
“Oh.” Li Hua got down from the bed with a slight smile. Then, he rolled up his pants and said, “I’ll do it.”
“You?” Li Man looked at him. He was such a gentle, refined, and elegantly handsome scholar. Wouldn’t it be a crime against nature to have him go feed the pigs?
Just as she was about say no thanks, Li Hua had already gone outside before her and went to the kitchen. He filled a small cask with slop and some fodder and wheat bran. He lifted up the cask and was about to go out.
“Wait.” Li Man saw that he was going outside while only wearing cloth shoes and asked, “It can’t be that this family doesn’t even have a pair of wooden clogs, right?”
There really weren’t any other shoes. Back when there wasn’t any woman in this family, they would just walk barefoot when the ground was too muddy from the rain. But now, looking at Li Man, Li Hua thought it would be a good idea to have a pair of clogs for Li Man’s convenience.
“When the sky clears up, I’ll go buy a pair of them from the town.” After saying this, Li Hua walked to the doorway, took off his shoes, and walked outside in his bare feet.
Li Man looked at his slender and white feet. His feet were so attractive, but they were stepping into mud. She suddenly had the urge to cover her eyes to block out this sight.
However, Li Hua didn’t have this feeling at all. He brought the slop over to the pigpen and came back after feeding the piglets.
At this time, Li Man had already brought over a basin of water and was waiting by the doorway. Seeing him coming back, she said, “Here’s the basin. I’ll help you wash your feet.”
“Oh.” Li Hua looked bashful. “I can do it myself.”
(T/N: It’s so sweet how much Li Hua’s older brothers baby him.)
