Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 23: LIVING TOGETHER

After taking the medicine the two continued to work around the property. Zimo weeded the garden and pulled out a few ripe vegetables, and LongWei went to the shed to butcher the rabbit they had caught. He planned on making a rabbit soup with vegetables and rabbit meat. It was the beginning of spring the the rabbit was a bit thin, but enough for the two of them.

After he LongWei finished skinning the rabbit, he brought it to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. They had eaten not long before. However, cooking would take some time and he wanted to eat early before he grew dark. Nights on the mountain were dangerous. There was a mud fence surrounding the home, roughly shoulder height. It could keep out most smaller creatures, but LongWei started thinking about building it higher. If it was higher he would feel more at ease leaving Zimo here when he went out hunting.

Time went by quickly. Zimo had finished weeding the garden. The vegetable lands in the garden were not healthy anymore from the lack of water and care this past month. "Don't worry little plants, I will take good care of you from now on. Are you thirsty. Wait a minute and I will get you some water." Zimo was whispering to the plants as he worked. LongWei noticed, but didn't say anything. He liked to hear Zimo's soft chatter in the yard.

"Dear, are there any vegetables you want for dinner?"Zimo said as he popped his head through the kitchen door.

Not long after opening the door Zimo regretted it. He could feel the heat coming from the fire in the stove and the crackling of the wood burning inside. Immediately he got flashbacks from his death.

LongWei noticed him stop talking and turned to look at Zimo, only to find him turn a ghostly pale and start shaking. LongWei quickly got close to him and pulled him out f the kitchen.

"Zimo, what wrong?" LongWei said with concern.

"It took a few seconds for Zimo to snap out of his memories, he looked at LongWei who had gently wrapped his arms around him and said,"

"Sorry, I... I'm not very good with fire." Zimo said in a quiet voice. He didn't know how to explain his fear of fire. He didn't even realize himself how bad it was.

That wasn't to say this is the first time he felt nervous around fire. They didn't have electricity, so naturally they used candles to light the house at night. However, they were not rich so they did not use them often at the Yuan house. When they did, Zimo would feel uncomfortable looking at the flame, so he he would avoid them. If the room had a candle he would not go in. This wasn't a problem for LongWei's and his room at the time. No one would bother wasting a candle in them.

"It's okay. I'll do the cooking and deal with any fires we might need. Don't worry. Don't be scared." LongWei coaxed as he held Zimo. He didn't know why Zimo was afraid of fire, but that didn't matter. Seeing Zimo so scared was enough for him to make a decision. He held Zimo in his arms and rubbed his head trying to calm him down.

After some time had passed LongWei could smell the pot on the stove begin to burn, he didn't want to let go of Zimo, but he needed to.

"I'lol finish the cooking. If you need anything knock on the door and I will come out. You don't need to go in or look inside for me." LongWei said as he pulled away from Zimo.

Zimo had calmed down and nodded. Remembering why he had come n the first place, he asked LongWei.

"In the garden there are some vegetables like cabbage, and so,e eggplant. Do you want me to bring you any?"

"One eggplant should be enough. I can fry it. Did you see any leeks?" LongWei asked.

"Hm." I'll be back soon. Zimo went back to the garden to grab the vegetables. "LongWei is so nice. He is a lot nicer than I thought he would be. The voice is deep, and I can't stop myself from drowning in it. I just wish he would stop rubbing my head. If he keeps doing it I'm going to end up bald by the time I'm thirty.

...

After Zimo finished in the garden, he moved to where they had hung up the bedding and clothes LongWei had washed earlier. The mountain wasn't as sunny as in the village with the trees, so Zimo was worried the bedding and clothes would not have enough time to dry. Feeling the thicker quilt, he was surprised to see it had dried already.

"It must be because the wind is blowing strongly in this area." Zimo thought as he admired the the fresh, clean bedding.

LongWei came out of the kitchen with dinner and brought it to the room to eat. Not seeing Zimo, he started looking around. "Where is he?" LongWei thought as he checked the garden and shed. Not seeing him in the yard he began to panic a little. The area around the house and yard were safer than the rest of the mountain, but not entirely. He hadn't had a chance to teach Zimo about what to look out for and where he could or couldn't go yet.

"Zimo?" He called as he left the yard in a hurry.

As Zimo was walking back to the house he noticed LongWei rushing towards him. Seeing his dark face Zimo panicked.

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong? Maybe I weeded something from the garden that wasn't a weed? Oh,no." Zimo braced himself to be reprimanded.

LongWei grabbed Zimo and hugged him fiercely. "Zimo, don't worry me like this. It's dangerous. You need to tell me before you go out of the yard." LongWei said a little out of breath.

"Dear? I'm sorry, I wanted to get the bedding." Zimo said happy LongWei wasn't angry at him. It may seem normal for most people, but for Zimo, he isn't used to others worrying about his whereabouts or greeting him with a hug instead of a fist.

LongWei took the bamboo basket full of laundry and they walked back to the house for dinner. LongWei had made a simple meal. There was roasted rabbit, rice porridge with leeks, and fried eggplant. Nothing exciting, but surprisingly delicious.

After eating Zimo cleaned the room, while LongWei turned to the kitchen to wash the dishes and prepare the medicine for at night once more. He seemed to be making more medicine than food at the moment but it was necessary if he wanted to raise his little birdy, well.

Night came and just like the night before LongWei helped Zimo rub the medicine over his bruising. It had only been one night and the bruising looked much better. "The medicine was expensive, but he works. I'll need to go back to that doctor again the next time we go into town." LongWei thought as he admired the medicines effects.
Laying in bed Zimo turned to LongWei.

"Dear, what should we do tomorrow?"

"Hm. There are a lot of things that need to be done, but there is no rush. The biggest priority right now is the fence." LongWei said as he pondered the long list of things they needed to do.

"Eh? Isn't the fence fine? I didn't see any broken areas."

"The current fence isn't tall enough. It will keep most small animals away, but not the larger ones. We have a mule and chickens which will attract predators. A taller wall will help keep them out and make the house safer." LongWei explained.

"Is it difficult to build the was higher?" Zimo asked. He knew the wall was built with mud and stones, but he wasn't sure how.

"It not too difficult. There is a place about 5 minutes from here with clay mud. I used it previously to make the current walls. With the mule we can gather a lot and bring it and some larger stones over. If we work in the morning for the next four or five days on the wall. It shouldn't take to long to finish." LonWei didn't feel like it would take too long. In fact before the accident he would have been able to finish it in two days at most. He needed to consider their current physical state and not rush through anything.

"Okay. Dear." Zimo said as he yearned and buried his face into his pillow. He had taken a nap earlier today, but so much had happened he could not help but feel tired and quickly fell asleep.

LongWei waited for Zimo to enter a deep sleep, before once again moving his pillow and places his arm in Zimo's embrace again. He liked feeling the other persons warmth. The two slept well together for the first night in there mountain home.