The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 103

“Take Le Ge’er with you? Eldest, why do you suddenly have this idea?” Li Amu asked as soon as he heard it. He had raised Le Ge’er since he was little—now Li Yiran suddenly said he wanted to take him away. How could he bear that?

“Yes, and if you take Le Ge’er with you, who will look after him? You’re going to be busy with official duties all day. You can’t just keep him at home all the time,” Father Li added right away.

“It’s like this. The court has arranged housing for officials who haven’t bought property in the capital. Usually, several families share a large courtyard. There’s also a primary school nearby, so it would be a good chance for Le Ge’er to start learning to read,” Li Yiran explained. He wanted to make up for the time he hadn’t been there for his son.

“But Le Ge’er is only three years old. He’s just started speaking clearly, and now you want him to start reading? Isn’t it too early?” Li Amu still couldn’t agree.

“It’s not too early. Three years old is a great time for early education.”

“Can’t he just learn at home?”

“The Capital has much better resources. Whether it’s teachers or the learning environment, it’s far ahead of here.”

“…”

In the end, Li Yiran’s idea didn’t come to fruition—because Le Ge’er firmly refused. He wanted Grandpa and Grandamu, he wanted Uncle, Momo, he wanted Brother Lin, and he wanted the pigs in the backyard!

Li Yiran could only smile bitterly. 

So in the end, he was the one being left out? But it was true: the bond of raising a child was greater than the bond of just being a biological parent. If only he had taken more responsibility earlier, maybe things would have been different…

Li Yiran left with some regret, and life at the Li household returned to its peaceful rhythm.

But lately, Le Ge’er was always surrounded by a large group of children. Look—here they came again, calling him out from the gate.

Le Ge’er walked out proudly with his cloth bag on his back. He didn’t know why he suddenly had so many friends, but everyone seemed to listen to him, and he was having lots of fun.

The children didn’t understand, but the adults did. 

The villagers probably thought that since Le Ge’er’s father had become a high-ranking official in the capital, building a relationship with Le Ge’er now might be worthwhile. After all, they were just kids, so no one could say anything. Some people even secretly thought about arranging a future marriage between their children and Le Ge’er.

But no one dared to say it out loud. If Li the Hunter or Li the Butcher got angry, would anyone still be okay?

The Li family didn’t mind that Le Ge’er had made so many friends. He could play with whoever he wanted—no one dared bully him now anyway.

There was just one person who wasn’t happy: Liu Xilin.

In the past, Le Ge’er had followed him around like a little tail, calling him “Brother Lin” this and “Brother Lin” that. But now? He had Brother Hu, Brother Willow, Brother Fatty… they even blocked Liu Xilin from playing with Le Ge’er. And Le Ge’er, caught up in the novelty of it all, didn’t even realize Liu Xilin had been absent.

When he finally got tired of playing with the others, he looked around and realized Liu Xilin hadn’t come in a while.

“Momo, where’s Brother Lin?” he asked.

“He just finished practicing and went home,” Tian Xiaoman said casually while sewing a small toy.

“Oh. Momo, I’m going to play with Brother Lin!” Le Ge’er called out, and dashed out the door.

“Be back soon!” Tian Xiaoman called after him, but by then, Le Ge’er had already run off. Those short legs were fast!

When he got to Liu Xilin’s house, he saw him drawing on the ground with a stick. 

Le Ge’er squatted down, trying to get a closer look—only for Liu Xilin to wipe the drawing away with his foot.

“Brother Lin?” Le Ge’er tilted his head in confusion. He hadn’t even seen it yet!

“Hmph!” Liu Xilin snorted and turned away.

“Brother Lin?” Le Ge’er grew anxious, raising his voice and stepping closer, but Liu Xilin just turned his back again.

Then Le Ge’er suddenly remembered something. His eyes lit up. He took a small, beautifully made slingshot from his pocket. He had asked his uncle for it and meant to give it to Liu Xilin. Maybe that was why Brother Lin was ignoring him—because of the slingshot incident.

When Liu Xilin saw the slingshot, his expression eased a little, but he still kept a stern face and didn’t take it.

Le Ge’er handed it over again. “Brother Lin, I’m giving the slingshot back to you.”

Liu Xilin finally took it, tilted his head, fiddled with it a bit, then asked casually, “You’re not going to play with the others anymore?”

“Ah?”

“I mean Hu Zi, Fatty, Er Niu, the rest of them. You’re not going to play with them?”

Le Ge’er nodded seriously. “They’re dumb!” He thought they didn’t know martial arts and weren’t as good at playing as Liu Xilin.

Liu Xilin immediately broke into a grin, his whole body relaxing. He pulled Le Ge’er into a hug. “Come on, I’ll take you to shoot birds and catch fish, okay?”

“Okay~” Le Ge’er’s soft little voice rang out, and the two former playmates were back together again.

The Li family didn’t say anything about it. Whatever Le Ge’er wanted to do, he could do.

…

Tian Xiaoman’s belly was getting bigger and bigger. By the 15th of August, he couldn’t even see his feet. He had been found to be pregnant back in December—now it had been more than nine months.

He sat on a stone bench in the yard, listening to the story of the Moon Fairy as he did every year, holding a mooncake ball in his hand. Since he couldn’t eat crabs or dates, he had to satisfy his cravings with moon balls instead.

After eating a few, he started to feel a faint pain. But it wasn’t strong, so he didn’t pay attention to it.

Li Wenxuan saw him reaching for another moon ball and quickly stopped him. “Xiaoman, don’t eat anymore! You’ll be too full!”

Tian Xiaoman looked at him with pleading eyes, but Li Wenxuan ignored them. 

He had no choice but to put the moon ball down and eat some peanuts instead.

After a while, Li Wenxuan noticed that Tian Xiaoman had gone quiet. That was unusual. Why so silent?

He turned to look—and his expression changed. Tian Xiaoman’s face was pale, beads of sweat on his forehead.

Seeing Li Wenxuan looking at him, Tian Xiaoman said sheepishly, “I think… I peed my pants…”

He had just eaten a few peanuts when his stomach suddenly hurt a lot, and then the bottom of his pants felt wet, like he had just peed himself.

Li Amu was nearby. When he heard that, he knew exactly what it meant. 

He shouted, “Wenxuan, take Xiaoman into the room! He’s about to give birth!”

Before the couple could even react, Li Amu had already turned to Father Li and yelled, “Go! Quickly! Get the midwife!”

Father Li didn’t hesitate and rushed off. Li Wenxuan picked Tian Xiaoman up and hurried into the room to wait for the midwife.

So just like that, the Mid-Autumn Festival took an unexpected turn.

Tian Xiaoman would never forget this day—it was the day the little devil of the Li family was born!