Chapter 42

Chapter 42

After returning from Chuiliu Town to the village, Zhong Yizhu handed Sun Yunniang the money he'd made selling sachets at the stall.

He pocketed two silver coins, claiming the copper coins were too much trouble to carry. Sun Yunniang wanted to protest but couldn't find the words; she knew he'd given her more than his share, but she couldn't very well exchange the silver for copper to give back to him. If the two of them were so meticulous about dividing things, that would really damage their relationship.

"Then I'll head back first, Mom." Zhong Yizhu took his mother's things out of his basket, covered it with a cloth, then put the basket on his back and said goodbye to Sun Yunniang.

Villagers generally lived frugally, so unless they were show-offs, anyone with nice things kept them hidden to avoid attracting envy.

"Go on now. Tomorrow I'll teach you to sew. Don't sleep in so late again. How did marriage turn you into such a little lazybones?"

Zhong Yizhu's cheeks reddened slightly. He said "Okay" and dashed off.

He didn't know how to explain to his mother that he didn't usually sleep in; he'd just been unlucky enough to get caught twice. All Pei Mu's fault.

Zhong Yizhu walked toward the foot of the mountain with his basket on his back. At this hour, the villagers were all busy with their own chores, so he didn't run into anyone. Just as he turned a corner, he suddenly ran into Pei Shui, who was carrying a basket of wild greens.

He didn't want to give him the time of day, but Pei Shui, as soon as he saw him, kept stepping to the side of the road, covering his nose in disgust.

"What a pain. Can't even walk the road without running into filth."

Zhong Yizhu stopped, stared at him, then deliberately took a few quick steps forward. As Pei Shui tried to back away but ended up scraping against a courtyard wall and leaving a yellow mud smear, a smug grin spread across Zhong Yizhu's face.

Pei Shui frantically brushed the mud and dust off his clothes. The wall of this house was made of yellow mud, and he was wearing light-colored clothes today, so a yellow patch stuck to it. He craned his neck to look behind, but couldn't reach the spot. Red-faced with fury, he started cursing, his mean expression a perfect copy of his mother Tian Shi.

Pei Shui was five years younger than Pei Mu. For as long as he could remember, his family had been well-off. His father buried himself in work and didn't bother much with them; his mother, though she favored the eldest son a little, still treated him fairly well. At least in Liushan Village, his life had been good.

Other girls and young men in the village had to help with farm work during the busy season, and even Tao Ge'er, the village head's son, was no exception. But Pei Shui only had to do some sweeping and tidying at home—ordinary chores like washing clothes and cooking. As for heavy work like carrying water and chopping wood, Tian Shi would order Pei Mu to do it.

Since childhood, he had followed his eldest brother in calling Pei Mu "Jinx" and "Jinx." When he got older, he learned that Pei Mu was actually their half-brother (different mothers), but he never cared. Later, when Pei Mu was conscripted to war, they only complained about losing someone to do the heavy work.

Pei Mu didn't die in battle as they had expected. After returning from the frontier, he fell out with the family and broke their eldest brother's leg. Pei Shui was afraid of Pei Mu, but he still looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.

He had never suffered much since childhood. Even the matter of being beaten in place of his father never fell on him, a young man. He assumed from the sidelines that his life would coast along like that until he married a good man in a year or two.

But ever since his eldest brother set his sights on that Li Erniang from Caishi Village, everything changed.

Their family's once peaceful days began to fall into chaos.

At first, it was just his eldest brother arguing with their parents. Aside from a few extra scoldings when his father was in a bad mood, Pei Shui didn't suffer much. But after news spread a few days ago that the match between his eldest brother and that girl was broken off due to incompatible birth charts, things took a turn beyond his imagination.

His eldest brother insisted on splitting the family to marry that girl, but his father wouldn't agree. His mother tried to mediate between them, and he and his younger brother Pei Yan became the punching bags for their parents' bad moods.

But Pei Yan was only six years old and a boy; at worst, he would get scolded for being naughty. As for Pei Shui, if he did even the slightest thing wrong, he would be met with a torrent of abuse. Having to do chores, cook, and take abuse these past few days, he had already come to hate that Li Erniang from Caishi Village, whom he had never even met.

Similarly, having heard from Tian Shi that all their problems were caused by that Jinx Pei Mu, even though they had already cut ties with Pei Mu, he still hated Pei Mu to the bone, and naturally hated Zhong Yizhu as well.

Now he was exhausted and disheveled, while Zhong Yizhu was beaming with joy. He couldn't stand this contrast. In his mind, Zhong Yizhu, having married that Jinx Pei Mu, should be living a miserable life—how could he be better off than him?

Looking at Zhong Yizhu's smooth, pretty face and fair, delicate hands, Pei Shui's face twisted with jealousy. He blurted out a string of vicious curses.

"What are you so smug about? Are you satisfied now that you've ruined my family? You'll both get what's coming to you! Go die! Pei Mu, go die too! All of you, go die!"

Zhong Yizhu quickly stepped back to dodge the spittle from his outburst. Seeing Pei Shui in such a hysterical state, he knew just how awful things had been for the Pei family lately.

And that was precisely why he couldn't even muster anger at being cursed—he only felt gratified.

Zhong Yizhu stepped back a little more. Just as Pei Shui was about to continue his tirade, Zhong Yizhu suddenly made a funny face at him.

"I'm not going to die. You're the ones who are going to die."

After saying that, Zhong Yizhu tightened his basket's shoulder straps and turned to run down the mountain, pretending he couldn't hear Pei Shui yelling furiously behind him.

Zhong Youtong had always liked to cause trouble for Zhong Yizhu. Zhong Yizhu had been raised well, and at first he would try to reason with her calmly, but it never worked, and sometimes she would even tattle on him falsely.

Until one time he said something that inexplicably made her cry. That's when he gradually realized a principle—

Winning or losing an argument sometimes isn't that important; as long as you make the other person mad, you've won.

Zhong Yizhu hummed a tune as he returned to the house at the foot of the mountain. He took out the cloth and cotton from his basket and laid them out neatly, waiting for his mother to come tomorrow and teach him how to line the cotton.

He had never taken Pei Mu's measurements, but there were Pei Mu's clothes at home, so he could follow those and wouldn't go wrong.

After putting the items away, he took the porcelain jars he had bought yesterday, put them in a wooden basin, and rinsed them to rinse off any dust, then set them on a rack to dry.

Even though his balms had gained a reputation at the last market, he didn't plan to make too many this time. Balms were expensive, and a box lasted a long time; even if the reputation was established, they wouldn't sell as well as incense pills. After all, they had a high price point.

However, the quantity he prepared was still a bit more than last time, and he also made more incense pills. The process for making incense pills was simple; he had prepared the preliminary amount two days ago and set it aside to dry. The rest of his time was mainly spent making balms.

They now basically went to the big market every ten days, and also went for other festivals in between. He had plenty of time to make incense, so these days, besides making incense, he was making clothes for Pei Mu.

Zhong Yizhu's embroidery skills were average, but making clothes only required neat and fine stitching, which wasn't difficult for him.

He cut the cloth together with his mother; he did the rest himself.

The garment in his hands gradually took shape. Once it was finished, Zhong Yizhu bit off the thread, picked up the clothes, and looked at them with satisfaction in the sun.

Pei Mu usually spent a lot of time in the mountains, and mostly wore dark-colored clothes, not much different from most men in the village, just cleaner and with fewer patches.

But even wearing the same clothes as others, Pei Mu had a completely different effect. Pei Mu was tall; there were fewer than five men in the village of similar height. Moreover, Pei Mu had a straight back and a good build, so he would look good in anything.

This time, one set of fabric he chose was Pei Mu's usual dark color, and the other was a lighter, navy blue. After all, clothes get dirty and need washing; light or dark, it's the same.

Thinking of how Pei Mu would look in these clothes, a smile spread across Zhong Yizhu's face. While there was still sun, he fetched water and washed the clothes, then hung them on the clothesline to dry, so that when Pei Mu returned, he could wear them directly.

·

On Zhong Yizhu's side, life was busy, and Pei Mu in the mountains also hardly rested.

When they had married before, he had other thoughts. The process of engagement and date selection was rushed; even their birth charts were matched only after betrothal. He had only glanced at Zhong Yizhu's birth card, but somehow remembered the date: August 16th.

After they expressed their feelings, he had been thinking of making a fur cloak for Zhong Yizhu before the frost in late autumn to keep him from cold. But last time at the market, when he saw a child clamoring for a birthday present, he suddenly thought of Zhong Yizhu's birthday.

He had never thought about celebrating a birthday before. No one in the Pei family celebrated birthdays, except Pei Song and Tian Shi, who had a celebration when they turned thirty.

But he felt that Zhong Yizhu should be different. Because he was so doted on by his parents, his birthday must have been truly cherished.

So he got the idea to make the cloak ahead of time as a birthday present.

He rushed up the mountain not because game was selling well, but to hunt the furs he still needed.

For this hunt, Pei Mu mainly went after rabbits and foxes. He specifically hunted for fur, ignoring everything else. After seven days, the cave he was staying in was piled with hunted animals. Combined with what he already had at home, that was enough to make a cloak for Zhong Yizhu.

He didn't rush down the mountain because he had spotted signs of a herd of sika deer.

Last time, he had hunted a wild male deer and sold it for ten taels of silver. Sika deer are rarer than ordinary deer and more popular among wealthy families. Previously, a rich man from a neighboring county had even offered a reward for five live sika deer to be placed in his garden. Hunters from that area had even come to these mountains, met him, and told him about it.

Therefore, Pei Mu decided to stay an extra day and try to catch one.

He followed the trail to a pond, examined the fresh hoofprints, and was about to figure out which way to go when he suddenly heard a chaotic jumble of footsteps and animal sounds.

Pei Mu looked around, quickly climbed a tree to conceal himself, and then fixed his gaze on the turmoil not far away.

There, grass and debris flew through the air. Through the gaps in the leaves, he caught sight of a wolf chasing a herd of sika deer.

Pei Mu's heart tightened. Wolves usually did not act alone. If there was a large pack, he might face a tough fight today.

He gripped his knife and bow tightly, but after holding his breath and waiting a moment, he still saw just that one wolf attacking the deer herd.

This was likely a wolf that had been driven out of its pack.

The wolf seemed starving; within moments, it had already killed three sika deer, but it did not stop, continuing to chase and tear into them.

Pei Mu made a quick decision. He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the wolf now approaching.

If he did not kill this wolf, he would have to wait for it to finish its hunt before he could leave. During that time, the scent of blood might attract something even more dangerous, bringing unknown and extreme danger. He had to act.

The arrow shot out with a whistling sound, piercing through the wolf's eye.

After a short, sharp howl, the wolf went still. The deer in its mouth kicked its legs but couldn't break free.

Pei Mu swiftly climbed down the tree, holding his cleaver as he approached.

Seeing that the wolf was definitely dead, he reached out to pull out the arrow.

But in that brief moment, something flickered at the corner of his eye. Before he could pull his hand back, the next moment, a sharp pain shot through it.

He swung his cleaver sharply, cutting a small red snake in two. The pieces still writhed on the ground.

Between the wolf and the deer, a snake had somehow been hiding.

Perhaps it had been knocked down from the tree during the fierce chase, or dislodged from a clump of grass.

But none of that mattered now.

Pei Mu frowned and squeezed a few drops of black blood from the wound. A numbing sensation spread from the injury, and his vision grew dim.

He tore a strip of cloth from his clothes as fast as he could and tied it around his upper arm, but the symptoms didn't subside.

Earlier, when he thought he might face a wolf pack, he had not regretted anything. But at this moment, real regret welled up inside him.

Ignoring the mess on the ground and the dead prey, he found a wooden stick to support himself, gripped his cleaver firmly, and, getting his bearings, began making his way toward the cave.

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Author's note: Thanks for the nutrient solution and thunder~