The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 40

Not counting how Le-ge’er stayed at home fretting for them, Tian Xiaoman and Li Wenxuan were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Tian Xiaoman and Li Wenxuan had grown even closer. When Tian Xiaoman sat on the horse, he now leaned on Li Wenxuan’s arm comfortably, no longer stiff or trying to keep his distance, as he had in the beginning.

“What were you doing in the kitchen just now?” Tian Xiaoman asked, turning to Li Wenxuan.

“You’ll find out when we get there!” Li Wenxuan laughed, unwilling to reveal anything.

Tian Xiaoman huffed and turned his head back, and pretended to be mysterious himself.

The two rode together for about a quarter of an hour before they came upon a large lake. The shores were dotted with tall reeds, and white, cotton-like flowers bloomed in patches on the water. Numerous small creatures had made their homes in the reeds.

The lake’s waters were clear, but deep. 

Tian Xiaoman dismounted the horse, picked up a stone, and threw it into the water. With a thud, the stone sank. “Li Wenxuan, the water is so deep! How are we supposed to catch crabs?” For Tian Xiaoman, even standing on the lakebed seemed doubtful, let alone catching anything.

Li Wenxuan dismounted and patted the horse’s neck. The horse trotted off to the other side to graze. Li Wenxuan then took out a thin line from his pocket, followed by an oil paper bag, which he shook in front of Tian Xiaoman. “Of course, we’ll rely on this!”

“Oh!” Tian Xiaoman suddenly realized. “Are we going to catch crabs like fishing?”

“Exactly!” Li Wenxuan smiled as he untangled the line, opened the oil paper, and revealed a few thin pork strips, lightly salted. He tied the pork to the line, gave it a quick shake to make sure it was secure, and handed one end to Tian Xiaoman.

Tian Xiaoman realized he’d been misled. He’d imagined catching crabs like in the stream, but this was actually fishing! If he’d known it would be this way, he might have brought Le-ge’er instead of staying still.

Li Wenxuan noticed his distracted look and guessed what was on his mind. “Don’t worry, Xiaoman. I won’t make you sit still. I’ll show you how it’s done!”

Reluctantly, Tian Xiaoman let Wenxuan guide him. 

They moved to a shallow part of the lake, and Li Wenxuan signaled him to throw the line out. He did, then asked, “Can you really catch crabs like this?”

“You’ll see for yourself,” Li Wenxuan replied with a smile, hiding the fact that there were many crab holes on the stone wall in this spot. It was a place known to few, a bit far from the village, and the people here didn’t often come for crabs.

As the two chatted, a crab had already caught the scent of the salted pork and crawled toward the line. 

Li Wenxuan saw the rope move and immediately shouted, “Pull it up!”

Tian Xiaoman hesitated for a moment, but his hands obeyed and pulled the rope. To his surprise, a large black crab was hanging on the line, its claws bared, gripping the meat tightly.

“Wow! Look at this!” Tian Xiaoman exclaimed, impressed. “It’s bigger than my hand!”

Li Wenxuan’s eyes softened as he looked at his smiling face. “You’re amazing, Xiaoman.”

Tian Xiaoman’s cheeks flushed—he wasn’t used to being praised in that coddling tone, and he muttered, “What’s with that tone? Are you trying to coax a child?”

Li Wenxuan took the crab down and placed it into a bamboo basket with a lid to keep it from escaping—after all, crabs were notorious escape artists.

“Let’s keep going, Xiaoman. One crab isn’t enough for us. We’ll need at least one each.”

“Right!” Tian Xiaoman nodded and eagerly let the rope down again, eyes fixed on the water. Li Wenxuan did the same.

The first crab was a stroke of luck, but the second one took longer to catch. 

Tian Xiaoman’s arms grew sore before he finally pulled it up. However, he soon realized that Li Wenxuan had already caught several.

“Xiaoman, is it almost time to head back?” Li Wenxuan asked, counting the crabs. There were already five or six in the basket. Crabs were cold in nature, so eating too many wasn’t advisable, especially with Le-ge’er not being able to eat any. Five crabs were enough for his family.

“No way! I need to catch more!” Tian Xiaoman wasn’t ready to stop. He’d only caught two—there was no way he could let it end like this.

Li Wenxuan saw his determination and, knowing he was trying to compete with him, said, “Alright, catch two more, and then we can head back with eight, okay?”

Tian Xiaoman nodded eagerly and began fishing again. 

Li Wenxuan stopped fishing this time, instead finding a clean spot to lie down in the warm sun, resting with his hands behind his head. He admired Tian Xiaoman’s movements as he worked on catching the crabs.

After a while, Li Wenxuan noticed that he hadn’t caught the last two yet. He stood up quietly and walked away.

Tian Xiaoman, after much effort, managed to catch the last two crabs. He was about to share his success with Li Wenxuan when he turned around and realized he was gone.

He called out tentatively, but there was no response. A few louder calls also met with silence. His heart began to race, and the once pleasant surroundings now seemed eerie. The peaceful lake became a dark, endless void in his eyes. The strange stories the old Amus had told him suddenly came flooding back.

Just then, Li Wenxuan appeared with a nest of wild duck eggs in his hand, thinking he could cheer Xiaoman up. But when he saw his panicked face, he quickly dropped the eggs and walked toward him. “Xiaoman, what’s wrong?”

Tian Xiaoman jumped at the sight of him. “Where were you? I was so scared!” He ran toward him, shaking his fist. “I thought you’d been dragged away by a water ghost!” 

The last part was barely a whisper, and Li Wenxuan could sense the faint tremble in his voice.

Li Wenxuan pulled Xiaoman into his arms. “I’m sorry, Xiaoman.  I thought I’d be quick. I didn’t think you’d be so afraid on your first time. I went to get these duck eggs for you!”

Tian Xiaoman’s eyes welled with tears. “Who wants your stinky duck eggs?”

Li Wenxuan chuckled, “Alright, I’ll throw them away later. But, Xiaoman, how could you think there are water ghosts?”

“It’s the Amus who told me!”

Li Wenxuan was speechless. He’d been fooled by the old Amus’ stories, just like when his Amu told him and his brother stories about tigers eating people as children. Now, he’d told Le-ge’er the same tales, and he was scared of tigers.

“Xiaoman,” Li Wenxuan said seriously, “Men don’t talk about such strange things. How can you believe in water ghosts?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tian Xiaoman muttered. Though he’d calmed down, he still couldn’t shake off the unease. He thought to himself, some of the Amus had seen things for themselves, but Li Wenxuan didn’t believe it?

“Let’s go back,” Tian Xiaoman said, eager to leave. “We’ve got eight crabs now.”

“Alright,” Li Wenxuan agreed. He whistled, and the horse came trotting over. 

He helped Tian Xiaoman up, handed him the bamboo basket, and prepared to leave.

“Wait, wait!” Tian Xiaoman suddenly remembered. “We still have the duck eggs!” He had been eyeing them for a while and couldn’t let them go to waste.

“Didn’t you just say you didn’t want them?” Li Wenxuan smiled, shaking his head. “You said you didn’t want my stinky duck eggs.”

“You listen to everything I say?,” Tian Xiaoman fumed. “When I told you to stop bothering me, you didn’t listen, but now you’re so obedient!”

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry! I’ll get them now!” Li Wenxuan quickly dismounted and handed him the nest of wild duck eggs. There were 20 to 30 eggs in the small nest, since wild ducks laid smaller eggs.

Tian Xiaoman brightened immediately, thinking what a scatterbrained spendthrift Li Wenxuan was—saying “don’t want” and then bringing back a treasure trove of eggs anyway.

If Li Wenxuan kept being so wasteful, Tian Xiaoman thought, he’d be the one to go broke—but the thought made him smile rather than scold.