Fortunate Wife Chapter 101
Published at 2nd of June 2019 08:33:58 AM Chapter 101
Chapter 101 – Jealousy (2)
"What?" Li Man thought she had misheard . "What does this have to do with oldest brother and Little Five? Those two aren't like you guys . Is wife something that you can randomly call out?"
Li Shu very innocently said, "I'm not . If you don't like me calling you wife, I'll call you something else . Wife, what do you want me to say instead?"
"Say..." His words had confused Li Man for a moment . After shaking her she said, "This issue isn't how you're addressing me, it's..."
"What is it?" Li Shu looked at her in puzzlement . "Wife, you don't need to be anxious . You can take you time to think . I'll wait and listen to all of it . "
"Aiya . " Li Man was vexed enough that it felt as if her tongue tied up in knots . She finally found the right words to explain . "Li Shu, listen to me . You know what wife means, right? Only a husband can call his wife that . So, don't call me that anymore . Other than wife, you can call me whatever you want . "
"But, you are my wife . " Looking as if he had been wounded, Li Shu's face was scrunched up as he followed after her as she headed outside .
At the very least, he should only call her wife after they got married . If they had already gotten married, why wouldn't they be sleeping in the same hut? Li Man very scornfully thought Li Shu must have lost his mind from wanting a wife too much . Oh, no, that wasn't correct . It was that all three of these men had lost their minds . Right, men their ages would have normally gotten married by now in ancient times .
But, they couldn't address her as wife just because they wanted one, ah .
Li Man angrily snorted . When she went outside, she saw that Li Mo was sitting on a small stool underneath the eaves and weaving bamboo . As for Li Hua and Little Five, they were crouched down next to him and acting as assistants .
To be honest, Li Man felt an instinctive sense of respect towards Li Mo . It wasn't just because he was the head of the household and he had saved her once, it was more from the fact that he gave off a calm and prudent feeling that made people feel that he could be relied on . With him here, her heart felt at ease .
Li Man crouched down by Li Mo's side and found something to ask about, "Why are you weaving that?"
Li Mo's movements noticeably slowed down . He answered, "It'll be used for the roof . This will be the bottom layer, and some straw will be put on top of it . This will help prevent leaks . "
Li Man nodded . "Oh, you've work hard . " She felt very moved when she saw that his hair was wet, and the bamboo had cut his large hands in several spots .
Li Man turned around and went inside . She brought back a towel that she used to dry her hair and presented it to Li Mo . "Here, use this to dry your hair . You'll be more likely to get a headache when the wind blows by with your hair being so wet . "
Li Mo stared at that clean piece of cloth . It exuded a grassy fragrance . He felt a bit overwhelmed by her favor . He stretched his hand out, but there was a lot of muddy water on his hands, so he hurriedly took his hand back . "It's okay . I'm used to it . "
"Come on, use it to dry off . It won't be good if you catch a cold . " She had learned her lesson in this area . When she was younger, she had heard that using a blow dryer would damage her hair . And so, every time she washed her hair, she would just let it air dry, even in the middle of winter . Sometimes, she would go to sleep with her wet hair draped over her shoulders . After a long time of doing this, she ended up getting serious migraines . So regretful, ah .
Li Hua looked at Li Man with a daze expression, then he looked at his oldest brother . In the end, he said in a low voice, "Oldest brother, just go along with it . "
"No need, my hands are dirty . " Li Mo rubbed his hands together and didn't take it .
Seeing this sight, Li Shu said to Li Man, "Wife, I'm wet from the rain too . Look, my hair is wet too . Help me dry my hair . "
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Fortunate Wife Chapter 102
Published at 9th of June 2019 10:51:01 AM Chapter 102
Chapter 102 – Jealousy (3)
He called her wife again . Annoyed, Li Man glared at him . "Go inside and dry your own hair . " After saying this, she tossed the dry towel to him .
Li Shu didn't get annoyed . Instead, he acted as if he picked up a treasure . He even lifted up the towel and sniffed it . "Wah, it smells so good . Wife's stuff is naturally great . "
"You?" Could this be considered taking liberties with a woman in public? Li Man was so angry that her face changed colors . She snatched the towel back and said, "You don't have to use it . "
"Eh? Of course, I want to use it . " Li Shu hurriedly stretched his hand out to snatch it back, but Li Mo glared at him and said, "Third brother, don't cause trouble . "
Li Man clutched the towel in her hand . Seeing Li Shu being forced to yield and accept defeat, she bit her lip to stop herself from smiling . Sure enough, this fellow needed someone to keep him in line .
"Hey, looks like you guys are having a lively chat over here . " At this time, Li Yan came around the corner of a hut . Seeing everyone was gathered underneath the eaves, he curved his lips into a smile .
Li Man could hear that there was a bit of sourness in his words . When she looked at him, he looked back at her with his mesmerizing phoenix eyes slightly narrowed . He only briefly glanced at her with an unfathomable look before looking away .
He had been busy all morning with fixing the vegetable garden, so his hands were muddy too . He went over to the hand pump water well to wash his hands before coming over .
Although the heavy rain had stopped, there was still a drizzle . He had been outside all morning, so his hair was wet too, and there were droplets of water trailing down his face .
Li Man couldn't stand seeing him like this . When he came over, she gave him the towel . "Here, use it to dry off . " His hair and face were both wet . Ai, couldn't he have put on a raincoat before going out to work? Oh, wait, there weren't raincoats in this time period...
Li Yan was slightly stunned . Soon, his handsome face looked as if he had seen a clear sky with bright sunshine after the rain . The corners of his lips curved up, and there was even a smile in his eyes . He didn't say a word . He took the towel, lightly wiped his face, and slowly dried off his hair .
There was a stunned look in Li Mo's eyes, but then he lowered his head and silently worked .
Li Shu wasn't happy and wanted to snatch the towel from his second brother's hand . "Second brother, I want to use it to dry off too . Look, my hair is wet too . "
"Just go inside and get another towel . " Li Yan shot him a side-glance . He had finished drying off, but he didn't return the towel to Li Man . Instead, he folded it up and tucked it inside his clothes .
"What are you doing?" Li Man looked at him in surprise . That was a towel, not a handkerchief . He couldn't also want to keep it as part of his private collection or something, right?
Li Yan showed a slight smile at her . "I dirtied it . I'll give it back to you after I wash it . "
Rubbish! Li Man almost couldn't resist using foul language . Since she had come here, she had been doing all of the laundry in this household . "No need . Give it back to me, I'll give it a quick wash . "
Li Yan only roguishly smiled while looking at her . He didn't say a word, but Li Man had a thin face that quickly turned hot just from him roguishly looking at her . Annoyed but not daring to meet his eyes, she simply stretched her hand out . "Give it . "
"Ha . " A teasing look flashed through Li Yan's eyes, and he lightly scratched her palm with his icy fingers . It felt like a passing electrical current . Li Man hurriedly took her hand back, but he acted as if he was indifferent . He chuckled, then he simply turned around and left .
He... that jerk!!!
Li Man was stopped short with anger . She wiped the hand that he had touched against her clothes .
Li Shu seemed to desperately want their wife's belongings and chased after his second brother .
As for the people left underneath the eaves, Li Mo continued working while feeling irritated, and Li Hua continued to blankly look at Li Man . His inky black eyes looked lost and seemed unable to focus .
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Fortunate Wife Chapter 103
Published at 10th of June 2019 05:51:12 AM Chapter 103
Chapter 103 – Jealousy (4)
When Li Man returned to her sense, her gaze collided with Li Hua's deep gaze . His eyes were very beautiful, but there was a distressing dimness to them .
He? He couldn't be feeling jealous, right?
At this time, Li Mo stood up with the finished woven bamboo and headed straight for the backyard .
Li Hua turned around and followed after him .
Li Man suddenly felt a bit upset . She could go cook . It should be around noon now .
Little Five seemed to have noticed her dejected expression . He stood up and walked to her side . He careful held her hand and raised his head to look at her .
"Little Five, let's go cook lunch . What do you want to eat?" Li Man patted his hand and went into the kitchen with him .
Little Five smiled . He wanted to say that he liked everything that she had made . Everything that she cooked was very yummy .
However, before he had time to speak, Li Man had already started to mumble to herself, "There's not much fresh vegetables left . I might as well cook noodles . That's fast and convenient . "
Little Five seconded her idea by nodding .
"Vegetables have to be added to the noodles for it to taste good . " But, the ground outside was very muddy . She couldn't go to the backyard herself . Otherwise, her embroidered shoes would be ruined .
Oh, right, didn't those men go around barefoot? Did they not even have wooden clogs? Walking around barefoot wasn't sanitary or safe, ah,
Thinking of this, Li Man felt worried and walked to the window that faced the backyard . She furtively looked out and saw that Li Hua was standing in the mud and lifting up a bundle of dried grass with a makeshift tool . Everyone else was probably up on the roof .
She probably wouldn't be much help at repairing the roof . Never mind . Li Man closed the window, searched the kitchen, and found a jar of pickled vegetables . She smiled at Little Five and said, "Older sister will make you a meal of knife-cut noodles today . You haven't eaten that before, right?"
As she said this, she took out some pickled snow cabbage from the jar .
After rinsing the pickled snow cabbage and chopping it up, she put it on a clean plate . Then, she scooped out some flour into a bowl and mixed in the water .
A short while later, Li Hua came into the kitchen and saw that Li Man was holding a knife in one hand and dough in the other . The knife seemed to dance through the dough as noodles fluttered into a pot of boiling water like snowflakes .
Li Man finished cutting the rest of the dough and found time to ask, "Are you guys done?"
"Not yet . " Li Hua walked to her side and wiped water from his face .
Feeling a sensation of wetness, Li Man turned her head and saw that Li Hua's fair and clear face was covered in droplets of water . Some of his wet hair was also sticking to his face .
She couldn't help but furrow her brow . "Is there nothing at home that can be used to block the rain?" One after another, they had gotten drenched by the drizzling rain and looked like drowned rats . Weren't they worried about catching a cold?
Li Hua didn't say anything . With his eyes half-lowered, he quietly listened to her speak .
Li Man stirred the noodles with a spatula, then she covered the pot . Seeing that Li Hua was still standing by her side, she asked, "What's wrong? You should hurry and go get a towel to dry off . "
Li Hua made a sound of assent, but he stretched out his right hand towards her .
Li Man was startled when she saw blood oozing out from his right forefinger and middle finger . "What happened?"
Li Hua acted as if it was no big deal and lightly said, "It's nothing . I just got pricked by the bamboo a few times . "
"How could you be so careless?" Li Man grabbed his hand and thought of the alcohol that she used to disinfect Li Mo's cut last time . She hurriedly went over to the cupboard, took out the alcohol, and poured out a little bit into a small bowl .
Not having anything else at hand, Li Man said, "Wait here, I'll go get some cotton . "
After saying this, she hurriedly ran out .
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Fortunate Wife Chapter 104
Chapter 104 – Jealousy (5)
There was a shallow smile on Li Hua's lips as he stood by the stove with his right hand raised.
Little Five was leaning on the side of the stove. Seeing his fourth brother like this, he tried to keep his own smile a secret, but he couldn't stop the laughter from escaping his mouth. He hurriedly covered his mouth.
Li Hua had already heard him and turned his head to look at Little Five. The smile on Li Hua's face deepened, then he gestured for Little Five to keep silent by placing his finger against his lips.
Little Five nodded and tactfully sat back down and pretended that he was just empty air.
At this time, there was the sound of someone approaching here in a hasty walk. Li Hua raised his head and saw that Li Man had come back with a clean and old piece of clothing.
While he was feeling slightly stunned, Li Man had already stuffed the old clothing into his other hand. "I couldn't find much. Just use this to wipe off the water."
After that, she dipped a cotton wad into the alcohol, lifted his other hand higher, and carefully helped him clean his wounds.
When the cool alcohol seeped into the wounds, it felt as if countless needles were stabbing into his fingers. And yet, Li Hua suddenly felt that he liked this type of feeling. He even wished that he could feel this sensation forever.
Once the wounds were cleaned, Li Man tossed the cotton wads into the bottom of the pot. Then, she used tiny strips of clean cloth to wrap up his fingers and tied up the makeshift bandages with string.
"Done." Seeing the disinfected fingers, Li Man let out a long sigh and felt quite accomplished.
"En." Li Hua's heart felt comfortably warm. Seeing her smiling face, he felt a bit giddy too.
However, as soon as Li Man raised her head and saw that there was still water dripping down his forehead, she furrowed her brow. Displeased, she asked, "Why didn't you dry yourself off?" After asking this, she took the old piece of clothing from his hand, stood on her tiptoes, and wiped the water from his forehead to his cheeks. At the end, she even patted his shoulders, chest, and back with the old clothing to help him remove the excess moisture.
After having done this, she tossed the old clothing into his arms and said, "Hold onto this."
Water was bubbling out from underneath the lid. Li Man was worried that the noodles were going to be overcooked, so she hurriedly went over, lifted up the lid, and used the spatula to stir the noodles around. Then, as she sprinkled some of the already minced garlic into the pot, she asked, "Where's everyone else? Call them over to eat."
"En." Li Hua deeply looked at her for a moment. Then, he looked at Little Five, who was tending to the cooking fire, and smiled at him before turning around and walking out.
Repairing a roof took time. The parts of the ruined thatched roof had to be completely removed and that area had to be cleaned. Li Mo along with Li Yan and Li Shu had been busy with this work for quite a while, but the work was only half done. They didn't come down from the roof until Li Hua came over and told them it was lunchtime. They washed their hands and got ready to eat.
Li Man had already taken out the noodles and portioned it out into bowls on the table. There was one large bowl of noodles for each person, and there was still steam wafting above each bowl.
Li Shu had gotten hungry a while ago. He started eating as soon as he picked up his chopsticks and ate half of his bowl without pausing. Once he was done, he raised his head and smiled at Li Man, "Wife, how did you make these noodles? They smell really good."
"This is called knife-cut noodles. There's no meat at home. If there was meat, I could have added braised minced pork..." Li Man amicably explained. However, when she reached halfway, she remembered that she was still feeling annoyed that he kept calling her wife, so she closed her mouth and stopped talking.
Since she had trailed off, Li Shu couldn't resist asking, "Braised? What's that?"
Li Man diligently ate her noodles and didn't say anything.
Li Mo took a sip of the noodle soup and said, "Let's eat. There's still work left to do after lunch. The rain will most likely get worse in late afternoon."
"Oh." Li Shu nodded as he ate. He didn't want to climb back onto the roof when the rain got worse. It was really uncomfortable to work when it was pouring outside.
At this time, Li Yan looked at Li Hua and asked, "Fourth brother, is your hand okay?"
Li Hua's fingers instinctively stiffened for a moment. "It's fine."
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Fortunate Wife Chapter 105
Published at 17th of June 2019 06:13:59 AM Chapter 105
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 . "