Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 6: TWITCH*

"Dear, today was a great day.. I got a chance to go up the mountain a little. Little brother TingFen was kind enough to teach me about some of the local snakes in the area. There's is this really long black snake. When I first saw it I thought it was poisonous, but TingFen showed me that there is nothing to be afraid of. They apparently leave everywhere in the mountains. After he taught this valuable lesson, I made a trip up the mountain to release it back to it's natural habitat."

Zimo chattered on and on about the days actives to LongWei as he prepared for bed. He had been living with the Yuan's for ten days now. He had made a lot of mistakes, but slowly he has learned about what can and cannot be done if he wants to avoid being hurt.

For example today, when Zimo spoke about the snake. The real story is not so cute. TingFen, is very mischievous. He often laces strange things in places he knows Zimo will go in order to scare him or cause him to make a mistake. Today's snake was placed by inside Zimo's bamboo basket that he often uses to gather pig and chicken grass.when he first saw it he panicked thinking it was venomous, but luckily it was harmless.  After nearly having a heart attack from seeing it, TingFen started laughing aloud at him and pointed out how much of a fool he is for not knowing about the local snakes.

As for the other members of the family, the father was to put it bluntly and drunk gambling addict. He would spend most of the day with some other men in the village gambling and drinking. As long as Zimo avoided being seen or heard by him, there was no problem.  It if he was caught the man would immediately hit him and start cursing at him. Zimo couldn't quite understand why. According to mother Fu, he was the one who brought up the marriage between the Yuan and Zhang family to her, yet he seemed to be the most dissatisfied with Zimo.

Mother Fu on the other hand, treated Zimo like air most of the time. Whether he was hit, or daydreaming out in the courtyard she simply ignored him. If there was anything she needed him for, she would ask sister Yun to convey the message and make sure it was done.

Sister Yun did not make it easy for Zimo. She often criticized him in everything he did. Sometimes he worked too quickly or too slow. She would find any excuse not to give him enough food for him and LongWei, or to make him redo his work again. A few nights ago she had him stay up all night making bamboo baskets and pans because the one he often used had a whole in it.

Tummy the worst one of all was the eldest brother QianFei. Whenever zimo saw him, he would be stared at with a disgusting look that sent shivers down his spine. Zimo would quickly move further away, sometimes almost running whenever the man approached him. He was truly afraid of what QianFei might do if he was caught.

In the house there was also a pair of twin girls. LinLin and AiAi. These two girls were quiet and kept themselves busy by mother Fu's side most of the day. Because of the way the rest of the family treated Zimo, they didn't really care about him. And Zimo was never good with children either, so the feeling was mutual.

As Zimo chattered on about the days event, he didn't forget to respectfully ask LongWei's permission and patient when crawling into bed. Although Zimo was never very good and speaking with others. He never felt this way with LongWei.

"Dear, Ive never seen your eyes, or heard your voice, but it's so comfortable next to you. I can't help but hope you never wake up. When you do... will you hate me? Oh no! Don't get me wrong. I also want you to wake up. When you do I know you will be able to live a splendid life without me... I just can't help but be a little bit selfish. Sorry dear, sorry LongWei."

Zimo sighed as he looked at the man sleeping next to him. After many days in a coma, his fine muscular body had shrunk at least two sizes and because of the lack of good food his complexion was a little poor. However, Zimo still thought he looked handsome. The underlying bones were good. Seeing him shrink in size, only made Zimo more determined to take better care of LongWei.

Zimo took a deep slow breathe as he continued to speak,

" I know this marriage was not something you wanted. And when you wake up, you might feel disgusted when you find out that you were basically forced to marry a man...
Despite this, all I ask is that you don't throw me out immediately. Could you give me a bit of time to prepare before leaving. Maybe... could you maybe point me in the direction of the military or something. I know my body is weak and I probably won't survive a single battle, but... I would at least like a chance to survive." Zimo whispered.

As he began to fall asleep he couldn't help but repeat again and again like a magic spell,

"I'm sorry, please don't hate me too much..."

TWITCH*