Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 5: Second Night

That night Zimo prepared for bed. There was only one bed and quilt, so he had to either jump in with LongWei or  curl himself up in the corner somewhere.

"Dear, I hope you don't mind, but can I sleep with you? I promise I'm an honest sleeper, I won't steal the blankets or grab on to you at night." Zimo said as he crawled under the quilt.

Zimo stared at the handsome man next to him, imagining what kind of person he was. Mother Fu told him that LongWei had been in the military until recently.

"Was it difficult in the army? Did you have these great muscles before you left or did you get them from training hard all day in the hot sun? I don't really know you, but is it okay to think you are a hard worker? I can't imagine getting such a strong and handsome body without putting in a lot of effort... Well anyway good night dear. Sweet dreams."

Zimo finally fell into a deep sleep. Normally Zimo would have nightmares about the past. In fact, last night and tonight he didn't dream about anything.

The next morning Zimo woke up early. At first he didn't want to get up. His body felt heavy and the pain from the beaten the day before had left him with little strength or energy. But he couldn't stay in bed, if he did it would only give them a reason to hit him again. So he got up and started preparing to wash himself and his husband.

After cleaning up he walked by the kitchen, Sister Yun noticed him and passed him the days porridge and told him what he would need to do.

Today Zimo would have to finish washing all the bedding, than clean the animal pens in the backyard. Once that was done he would gather chicken and pig grass to feed the animals. He had to complete everything today, or they wouldn't give him any dinner again tonight.

Zimo went back to the room and told his dear husband about his busy schedule,

"Dear, today I will go back to the river again to finish washing the bedding. It's so nice by the river, the water is cool and the breeze smells of wildflowers from across the river. There seems to be many beautiful flowers, maybe I can pick a few and bring them for you? Do you like flowers? I do, I find them so beautiful. Even under the hot sun or cold rain, they stand tall and shine brightly with confidence...
  I've never taken care of animals before. But I look forward to learning how. The more you learn the wider the world becomes. You can live your whole life and think you know everything possible, than BAM! Someone tells you there are fish living at the bottom of the ocean  that glow in the dark, or a plant that can cure any illness growing deep in the Amazon. The world is filled with so many amazing things.
Oh no, it's already so late! Sorry dear, I need to go quickly. When I come back I'll tell you about all the wonderful things that happened. Bye-bye."

Zimo grabbed the bedding and made his way over to the river to wash the remaining bedding. As he scrubbed them in the river he saw a large fish. It looked delicious. Although Zimo had gotten to eat in the morning, it was more water than rice, so he was far from full or satisfied.
Looking at the fish he started to imagine all the ways he could prepare and cook it. Zimo couldn't cook, everytime he had tried in the past it would always end of as dark cuisine. He even gathered hundreds of recipes and seriously studied them, but he never improved. However, he could still use his extensive knowledge to imagine the different dishes that could be made.

As he sat there daydreaming an older woman with a look of curiosity approached Zimo. She called out to him, but Zimo didn't answer her, she tried to subtly get his attention by kicking a small stone in his direction, but Zimo still didn't notice.

She originally wanted to approach Zimo to gossip about the Yuan family. However, Zimo didn't react at all so she could only walk away frustrated. After leaving she saw sister Yun. Thinking about how Zimo had ignored her, she decided to complain to sister Yun.

" Deng Yun, that new wife of you rfamily is so very rude."

"What do you mean Lei Hong ? What has Erzi's wife done to upset you?"

"Listen to this. I simply wanted to introduce myself to him. You know? Although he also grew up in this village he is from the north side. I don't often go to that side of town or hear much about it, so as a good neighbour I wanted to welcome him to the area.
I planned to tell him that if he ever needed help he could come and ask me. But that rude boy ignored me. If that is not rude behaviour then I don't know what is.
You need to keep a close watch on him. Quickly educate him on how to treat his neighbours before he causes an even greater embarrassment for your family. Luckily this time it was me. I am kind and willing to forgive him this time, but next time the person he offends may decide to cause a big fuss." Said Lei Hong.

She spoke with a noble attitude, but everyone in the village knew how terrible she truly was.

When Deng Yun heard what she had to say, her face grew dark. Although she knew Lei Hong liked to exaggerate and spread gossip, she couldn't take this lightly. She quickly walked towards the river where Zimo was washing the bedding.

"You fool! Do you intend to make things more difficult for me?" She shriek.

Zimo was still in his own little world, so he didn't quite notice sister Yun. Actually, to be honest it wasn't simply because Zimo was off in his own daydreams. Zimo was actually completely deaf in his left ear. He had noticed it when he first transmigrated, but the thought of telling anyone didn't occur to him. As long as he paid attention, he could still understand what others said, and hear the birds and the insect sing around him. But if he didn't pay attention, it was easy for him to miss what was being said.

Noticing Zimo was ignoring her, sister Yun became angrier. She jumped next to him and knocked him over with her foot. She had only planned on giving him a little push, but she lost her balance and pushed him completely into the river. Zimo quickly became scared.

Although he had always wanted to learn how to swim, he never had a chance. Even when the school had compulsory swimming lessons, the orphanage wrote the school a letter excusing him for medical reasons. But the truth was that they didn't want the school seeing all of the bruises and scars littered across he body.

As Zimo struggled in the water, sister Yun grew pale. She quickly ran to the house to look for QianFei. He often fished in the river and knew how to swim.

After fining him they quickly ran back to the river and found Zimo grasping on a stone further down the river. He could not swim so returning to shore was impossible, he could only hang on for dear life and hope someone would come save him. Upon seeing sister Yun and Eldest brother QianFei, Zimo breathed a sigh of relief.

The husband and wife worked together to get Zimo out of the water. When  QianFei reached the stone and planned to grab Zimo to help him swim back to shore. Zimo's back grew cold. Similar to when a rabbit senses a fox approaching it, the hair at the back of his neck raised and he shivered under QianFei's stare.

When QianFei grabbed Zimo, he was not polite. He grabbed his waist and placed his hand firmly on Zimo's butt. Feeling uncomfortable Zimo tried to move away and change positions, but QianFei would not let him escape. Instead, his grip strengthened and he whispered into his ear,

"Behave, my little rabbit or this big bad wolf will have no choice but to take a juicy bite out of you."

Hearing this Zimo froze.

"What did that mean? No! No! No! Please don't! Don't let it be that." Zimo thought to himself as he was carried back to the shore.

Once on shore again sister Yun decided to reprimand Zimo once more. Not only for ignoring their fellow villagers but also for causing such a big event so early in the day. She then went back to the house to change her clothes and care for her two children.

Zimo tried his best to return to where the bedding was, prepared to continue washing them while also hoping to move as far away from his brother-in- law QianFei.

QianFei looked at Zimo, laughed in a low voice that sent shivers down Zimo spine, before finally leaving.