The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 16

After lunch, Tian Xiaoman and Yang Xiaoguo walked home together. Along the way, Yang Xiaoguo kept talking about how delicious the meat was and how many pieces he had eaten.

Tian Xiaoman sulked—after the summer harvest, he would go to Yang Xiaoguo’s house for meals too!

When they reached the door of Tian Xiaoman’s house, Yang Xiaoguo was about to say goodbye and head home when he suddenly smelled a meaty aroma. He sniffed the air and realized it was big bone soup. It smelled so delicious!

Tian Xiaoman looked at him standing at the door and weakly rubbed his forehead. “Come in…” he said. He knew Yang Xiaoguo wouldn’t leave unless he had something to eat.

“Hehe, Xiaoman is the best!” Yang Xiaoguo slipped into the house and went straight to the kitchen. When he opened the lid of the earthenware jar, it was indeed bone soup! He immediately looked at Tian Xiaoman with sparkling eyes.

“Don’t even think about it, it’s not ready yet!” Tian Xiaoman crushed his hopes. But when he saw Yang Xiaoguo’s expression instantly fall, he felt a little softhearted. “Alright then, my brother sent back some pastries—there’s still one piece left. I’ll give it to you, want it?”

Yang Xiaoguo’s face lit up again. “Xiaoman, let’s eat it together!”

The two sat in the room, shared the pastry, and then lay down on the bed to nap.

In the summer heat, sunlight streamed through the window, making tiny dust particles visible in the light. Outside, cicadas chirped endlessly in the trees, trying their best to attract mates. On the bed, the two boys slept soundly facing each other, their youthful faces still carrying scars deeper than most.

…

When Tian Xiaoman woke up from his nap and stretched, he felt full of energy. He looked at Yang Xiaoguo, who was still sleeping, smiled, and then quietly got up to head to the kitchen.

On the stove, the bone soup was still simmering on low heat. Before leaving earlier, Tian Xiaoman had stuffed two thick pieces of firewood under the stove. This kind of wood burned slowly with a steady flame—perfect for stewing soup or an old hen without needing to watch the fire constantly.

He opened the lid, and a rich fragrance filled his nose. Inside, the soup had turned a milky white, proof that the gelatin from the bones had been fully cooked out. People around here rarely bought bones to eat—they thought there wasn’t much meat and that it took too long to cook. If you wanted to fill your belly, it was better to buy big chunks of meat. But the bones Li Wenxuan had given them weren’t bare bones—they still had plenty of meat clinging to them.

Tian Xiaoman loved eating meat off the bone most of all.

He liked nibbling every bit, then stripping the meat into a bowl and drizzling it with a sauce of sesame oil, chili oil, soy sauce, and scallions. Mixed together, it was absolutely delicious!

Just thinking about it made him swallow and crave a taste right away. But remembering his father and Amu working hard in the fields, he resisted.

Tian Xiaoman poured in the winter melon he had cut that morning and stirred it with a spoon before closing the lid again.

Winter melon couldn’t be overcooked, or it would fall apart into mush, impossible to scoop out neatly.

When it was almost done, he lifted the lid and added a little salt. The fresh sweetness of winter melon blended perfectly with the rich broth. He ladled out two bowls of winter melon and bone soup, making sure each had both melon pieces and chopped bones, then sprinkled chopped green onions on top. The mix of white and green was appetizing just at a glance.

He removed the unburned firewood from the stove and placed a clay pot over it to keep the soup warm, so that when his parents returned, they could drink hot soup.

Just as Tian Xiaoman was about to carry the bowls out, Yang Xiaoguo stumbled over, rubbing his eyes as if he hadn’t fully woken up.

“Xiaoman, I smell something!” he mumbled, his eyes still half-closed but his nose twitching nonstop.

“You’ve got a dog’s nose, of course you smell it!” Tian Xiaoman teased.

Yang Xiaoguo didn’t mind at all. Grinning, he picked up a bowl and began drinking the soup happily.
Seeing this, Tian Xiaoman picked up the other bowl and drank too.

…

The next morning, Lao Ma came as promised to deliver things.

Tian Xiaoman took the basket, thanked him, and after watching him leave, carried it to the kitchen.

Today’s basket seemed heavier than yesterday’s. When he opened it, he found two candied haws wrapped in oil paper on top, a bag of pastries in the middle that smelled like refreshing crystal jelly, and at the bottom, a piece of lean meat and two pig ears.

He couldn’t help but smile sweetly. Who wouldn’t be happy, being cared for so much?

He first put away the candied haws and pastries to keep ants away, then took out the lean meat and pig ears. Since he had eaten braised pork yesterday, he was already a bit tired of it—fortunately, today’s lean meat was different!

He shredded the meat, mixed it with salt, rice wine, and soy paste, stirred it well, and set it aside. Then he scooped sweet potato flour from the jar and coated the meat with it so it would turn out extra tender when stir-fried.

Next, he handled the pig ears. Pig ears had a lot of tiny hairs, and if they weren’t cleaned well, finding one while eating would be unbearable! He lit a piece of firewood, singed the hairs until they curled, blackened, and turned to ash, then scraped them clean with a knife before rinsing them thoroughly.

He planned to make a cold pig-ear salad: boil them with spices until cooked but still crisp, slice them thinly, and toss them with chili, sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, ginger, and a splash of aged vinegar. The aroma alone made the mouth water!

After finishing the pig ears, he stir-fried the shredded pork with green peppers and prepared two vegetable dishes. Then he was ready to take the meal out. The food had been so good these days—he knew he would miss it once the summer harvest was over.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard rhythmic “clip-clop” sounds from afar. 

Could it be…?

Tian Xiaoman looked up quickly. Under the blazing sun, a man rode toward him on horseback. When he caught Tian Xiaoman’s gaze, he broke into a bright smile—brighter than the sunlight itself.

Perhaps it was the heat, but in that instant, Tian Xiaoman felt his heart race.

“Whoa…” Li Wenxuan reined in his horse and stopped beside him, his eyes soft as he looked him up and down, still smiling.

“Why… why are you here?” Tian Xiaoman stammered, his face burning from the heat—or maybe something else.

“I heard the summer harvest started, so I came to help!” Li Wenxuan replied.

“Oh… to help…” Tian Xiaoman squinted against the glare, his eyes stinging so he couldn’t look up. He just stood there, clutching the basket, head bowed in embarrassment.

Li Wenxuan looked at his delicate face and felt his chest burn. “Xiaoman, are you bringing food to Father- and Amu-in-law?” he teased shamelessly.

“Who… who are your father-in-law and Amu-in-law?” Tian Xiaoman snapped, blushing furiously.

“Well, whoever my husband is, his parents are naturally my in-laws!” Li Wenxuan said boldly. But when he saw Xiaoman about to explode from shyness, he quickly straightened his face. “I’ll take you there. Come on, hop up. Don’t let them starve!”

“Have you eaten yet?” Tian Xiaoman asked softly. The county wasn’t close, and though he’d come on horseback, it was already noon—he probably hadn’t eaten. “Why don’t you eat at home first? I can go by myself.”

Hearing his concern, Li Wenxuan smiled. “It’s fine. I’ll eat with you all in the fields.”

“Oh… then I’ll… go pack some extra food.” Xiaoman turned quickly and ran back to the kitchen to pack up the remaining food.

Li Wenxuan looked at his back and smiled like a big-tailed wolf. 

Today, Tian Xiaoman looked especially cute in front of him! It seemed the food strategy had worked.

Tian Xiaoman closed the courtyard gate and walked out.

When Xiaoman came out with the food, Li Wenxuan took the basket, then pulled Xiaoman onto the horse, holding him close. Once Xiaoman was settled, he tugged the reins, and the horse trotted forward. He didn’t dare ride too fast—what if the food spilled?

It was Tian Xiaoman’s first time sitting on a horse. He was very frightened at first, tightly gripping Li Wenxuan’s arm around his waist. Once he got used to it, he started to feel embarrassed again. Li Wenxuan’s hot chest pressed against his back, as if their hearts were beating together. He tried to lean forward uncomfortably, but always ended up sitting back down because of the horse’s movement.

This made Li Wenxuan suffer! It was already hot in the summer, and with Tian Xiaoman twisting and turning in front of him, he couldn’t help but react. Seeing Tian Xiaoman freeze up and noticing his ears turn red, he found it a little funny. It seemed his little husband didn’t understand everything after all.

Although Tian Xiaoman was innocent, villagers often said nonsense, so he roughly understood some things about marriage and having children. Gers’ bodies weren’t easily aroused, but men were different.

Tian Xiaoman never expected this would happen just by sitting together! If he had known Li Wenxuan would react like this, he would never have gotten on the same horse with him.

Both of them were embarrassed, but fortunately, they soon arrived at the field. When Tian Xiaoman got off the horse, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

The difference was: Li Wenxuan was holding back desire, while Xiaoman was burning with shame.