Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 4: The Lost Wife

Zimo woke up with in a cold sweat. He had dreamt of his death. Even in his dreams he could still remember the vivid sensation of being burned alive. Gasping as he tried to calm his heart, he looked around noticing that the sun had rising high in the sky.

"Oh no! I can't believe I fell asleep. I still haven't even washed a single quilt. Will they hate me for this?" He wondered as he hurriedly gathered the bamboo basket full of bedding and rushed back towards the direction he came from.

....

YUAN HOUSE

"Where is it! That little dumb thing. Where has he gone. Does he think he can simply run off. We paid good money for him." Said sister Yun as she told Mother Fu about Zimo's disappearance.

She had noticed the bedding still placed in the rooms and wondered why he hadn't taken it with him. Asking her husband QianFei if he had seen Zimo.
She found that no one had seen him since he left earlier in the morning with a bamboo basket on his back.

She walked over to the river that was not far if you went out from the back of the yard. At most, it would take ten minutes walking.

As she wandered by the river, she could not see Zimo. She returned to the house and quickly told her mother about Zimo's disappearance taking the chance to complain.

Mother Fu grew worried. In the morning she had learned that Zimo was not told anything about the wedding. She began to suspect that Zimo might have run away. How could she accept such a thing. Her and Sister Yun quickly found Father Yuan, QianFei, and XiaoFeng. Together they started searching for the little runaway, growing angrier as time passed.

....

Zimo was not sure were he was so he simply turned back the way he originally came, hoping to see someone soon. When he finally spotted someone, the man looked familiar as he ran towards him.

Zimo froze in place. He knew something was wrong the moment he saw the blood red face and furrowed brow.

Before the man  had reached Zimo's side he had already begun to yell.

"You! You! You, ungrateful white eyed wolf. Our family took you in when know one else wanted you, we paid good money for you yet you dare to runaway! You dare to make a fool out of our Yuan family!" As the man yelled he raised his fist high and knocked Zimo to the ground.

Before Zimo could truly understand what was happening, or why the man was so angry he was beaten.

"It hurts." He thought as he curled up tight to protect is more vulnerable parts.

Not long after, Mother Fu and the rest of the Yuan family finally caught up.

They yelled at him, claiming he had tried to runaway. Never giving Zimo a chance to explain that he had simply gotten lost. When he saw the teenage boy TingFeng his younger brother-in-law and the youngest son of the Yuan family, who had given him directions earlier in the morning, he stared at him with large pleading eyes hoping he would explain things. But TingFeng simply looked down at him with an amused half smile. He was enjoying this.

After some time QianFei and TingFeng picked up Zimo off the ground and carried him back to the house. They then threw him on the floor by the door.

"I asked you to wash the bedding by the river, yet you dared to try and runaway." Accused sister Un.

"Take this as a lesson, no matter how far you may try to run, we will find you, and next time it won't end with just a beating." Father Yuan threatened as he looked down at Zimo.

" Quickly grab the bedding and follow me to the river, and finish it quickly." Said mother Fu as she urged Zimo.

Zimo got up struggling hard, he took the bamboo basket once more and followed Mother Fu with a limp and his head down, afraid of showing his face and angering them more.

Once they reached the river, Zimo thought maybe mother Fu would listen to his explanation. But when he tried to speak she cut him off and said,

"I have so much to do already, it is not easy raising three boys. Our family does not have much money and the youngest needs to start looking for a wife soon. I hope you have learned your lesson today. Do your work and you will have a place to sleep and food to eat. But if you don't, do not hate me or blame my family for your troubles. Your death will not be on my conscience. Do you understand, Zimo?"

Zimo looked down and slowly nodded. With this Mother Fu had cut off any responsibility and would not be someone he could rely on.

Knowing that life here would not be much different to his life before at the orphanage, Zimo began to wash the bedding.

Zimo had started washing the quilt late, so he only managed to finish half. If he tried to do more they wouldn't have enough time to dry before the sun set. Therefore,  he returned to the house and got ready to do the next task.

Sister Yun grabbed him aside and told him to cut the firewood for the stove, and pull the weeds in the yard. Then, he would need to prepare LongWei's medicine on the medicine stove and feed it to him.

Zimo did everything they asked for. When he finally finished he realized they had not called him inside for dinner. But left one bowl of porridge on the table next to his husband.

In the morning, they got two, but this time it was only one. It was clear they did not want him to eat dinner after what he did in the morning. So Zimo slowly fed LongWei his dinner sparring two spoonful's for himself to calm his own stomach and relieve his hunger pains a little.

"Dear, today was a wonderful day. I went for a walk to the river, but got lost. Along the way a saw many animals. I saw a family of cute little rabbits hopping by a tree with lush green leaves. They looked so cute. There was a mother and father rabbit, and five little babies following along...
When I was in the tall grass I could here the insects happily chirping along...
Today was a very sunny day, I decided to take a a break under a tall lush tree, it was so very comfortable I could not help but fall asleep for a long time...
Your family noticed I was gone and became worried. They quickly found me and helped bring me back to the house. After, mother Fu showed me to the river, so I could wash the bedding. I washed our bedding today, What do you think, does it smell good?..."

Zimo the little chatterbox, spent a long time talking about his day. Although many bad things happened he decided to look on the brighter side.

He did not want to bore or make is dear husband upset. This is something Zimo has been careful of. When he used to help the old man with his research he would do the same when asked how he was or what he had done the day before.

When the other children at the orphanage found out they began to ridicule him. Saying he was a true fool. And wondering how could he talk about the beautiful flower he saw next to him as he was being beaten into the ground. However, Zimo didn't care. Speaking this way made him happy and that's what mattered most to him.

After he finished feeding LongWei he went to the back of the kitchen and wash the bowl and spoon before placing it next to the door. He remembered how Sister Yun had told him to never step into the kitchen.

As he was washing the dish he could feel someone staring at him. He looked back and saw the eldest son QianFei. The look in his eye was not something he had seen before, but it gave him goosebumps all down his back. Not wanting to remain in the man's sight for long he quickly washed up and returned to the room, ready to wash LongWei and prepare for bed.