The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 98

The finished bamboo shoots needed to be buried underground for a few days, so Tian Xiaoman had nothing to do during this time.

Le Ge’er had recently been taken out by Liu Xilin to play with other children and wouldn’t come home until dinner. 

Feeling bored, Tian Xiaoman carried a basket and went out to cut pig grass.

He was almost five months pregnant now, but his belly wasn’t very obvious. It looked more like he had stuffed Le Ge’er’s cloth tiger under his clothes. Because of that, he didn’t feel very much about the pregnancy yet.

However, he couldn’t bend over like before to cut grass. He could only squat halfway and try not to press against his belly. This position got tiring quickly. 

After seeing that the basket was only half full, Tian Xiaoman decided to stop.

As he was walking back with the basket, he suddenly heard a commotion ahead. Curious and fond of excitement, Tian Xiaoman headed over.

A group of villagers had gathered outside Liu Laoshi’s house, peeking inside. 

Tian Xiaoman squeezed closer and saw a man tying up another man and a young ger, talking to Liu Laoshi.

“Let’s make a deal. If you give me ten taels of silver, I’ll act like nothing happened today. If not, I’ll call my brothers to come beat these two up.”

“…” Liu Laoshi stood off to the side, looking timid and not saying a word.

Tian Xiaoman noticed that the tied man looked like one of the idle loafers in the village, and the ger tied with him was Liu Laoshi’s husband.

“What’s going on?” Tian Xiaoman had come late and didn’t know the details, so he asked Grandma Liu, who was also watching.

Grandma Liu leaned in mysteriously and said in a low voice, “That man saw something dirty and came to ask Liu Laoshi for compensation!”

“Huh? What dirty thing?” Tian Xiaoman asked in a hushed tone.

“Hehe, it’s about the man and the ger!” Grandma Liu grinned with a knowing expression.

Tian Xiaoman wasn’t naïve—he immediately understood. “You mean he cheated?”

“Exactly! Apparently last night, Liu Laoshi’s husband snuck out while Liu Laoshi was working and hooked up with Lai San. That idle man happened to see them and claimed seeing something filthy at night ruined his gambling luck. He demanded compensation or said he’d beat them both to death!”

Needless to say, Lai San had no money. He Chun had money, but it was all at home—he didn’t carry any with him. The man was furious and tried to beat them. 

Lai San panicked and pleaded, “Master, don’t hit him! He’s got money!” He pointed to He Chun, hoping to redirect the trouble.

“What? You’ve got money and didn’t say so? Looking for a beating?” The man lifted He Chun and was about to teach him a lesson.

“T-That money belongs to my man!” He Chun trembled.

The man let go of him and sneered, “So you two are adulterers? One tael of silver won’t cut it now—ten taels!”

The two of them turned pale. Ten taels? Lai San couldn’t come up with that even if he were beaten to death.

“That’s too much!”

“Too much?” The man snorted and punched Lai San, making blood pour from his nose.

“Not too much! Not too much!” Lai San begged.

Seeing the man about to strike again, He Chun quickly said, “I’ll go get it! I’ll go back and get the money!”

“Stop! What if you run away?” The man didn’t trust them. He thought they were just lovers who wouldn’t care if the other got beaten, so he tied them up and followed to collect the money himself.

He Chun had no choice but to bring him home. He still hoped Liu Laoshi would be out. But little did he know, Liu Laoshi had returned early that morning after finishing up his work. Since it was already time to plant rice, he was in a rush.

When they got back, Liu Laoshi was standing outside, not wanting to wake his husband. 

Then came this bombshell. The man shouted the whole story at the door, attracting the whole village.

Tian Xiaoman listened in shock, feeling a flutter in his belly—but he was too absorbed in the story to notice.

“Will Liu Laoshi give him the money?” he asked.

“I don’t know, he’s still inside!” Grandma Liu motioned for him to see for himself.

Tian Xiaoman looked again and saw Liu Laoshi’s husband kneeling and crying, begging for help.

Liu Laoshi’s expression softened. 

A young man nearby, clearly furious, shouted, “Do you still have any backbone? He’s been fooling around outside, and you still want to help him pay off his shame?”

“He… He’s my husband…” Liu Laoshi mumbled. He had always been ugly, and after finally marrying someone good-looking, he couldn’t let go easily.

“I don’t have a brother like you! He’s shameless. You treat him so well, and he doesn’t care at all!” The young man’s face was red with anger.

“Brother…” Liu Laoshi tried to comfort him, but He Chun cried even louder, calling out “Husband” for the first time.

Liu Laoshi’s heart melted. Ever since they got married, He Chun had only called him “hey” or “you.” Hearing “Husband” now made his heart waver. 

He helped He Chun up and was about to speak—

“If you give him money, you’re no longer my brother!” Liu Yu’er snapped. He had moved out of their small house to make room for them, had always supported Liu Laoshi, but this was too much.

“Husband! I haven’t given you a child yet, and I’m about to get beaten to death! Please help me! I’ll live a good life and give you two fat babies!” He Chun wailed, tugging at Liu Laoshi’s weakness.

Liu Yu’er watched as Liu Laoshi took out his hard-earned wages and even fetched his long-saved silver, handing it all to the man. 

He completely broke down.

From today on, he had no brother.

The villagers sighed. Liu Laoshi really lived up to his name—able to endure anything.

After the man left, Lai San slunk away in shame. The crowd gradually dispersed.

Tian Xiaoman walked home carrying the basket, his mind full of one question: Does Liu Laoshi really love his husband?

If he did, how could he tolerate him fooling around with others? If it were Tian Xiaoman, and Li Wenxuan dared to do such a thing, he would make a scene and divorce him on the spot.

If he didn’t love him, why would he give away all his savings just to keep him from being beaten?

So… does he love him or not?

Still caught up in the question, Tian Xiaoman arrived home.

Li Wenxuan had returned from the market and was looking for him. When he saw him with the basket of pig grass, he asked anxiously, “Xiaoman, are you okay? Why did you go cut pig grass? I’ll do it this afternoon. Don’t go again, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine! I have something to tell you…” Tian Xiaoman then recounted everything he had just witnessed.

Li Wenxuan’s forehead twitched. So he had stood there watching that whole mess?

“If it were me, would you give me money?” Tian Xiaoman suddenly asked.

Li Wenxuan froze and stared at him.

“I mean if! Just a what-if!” Tian Xiaoman quickly added, afraid of his serious face.

Only then did Li Wenxuan relax. Why joke about such things? Still, those loafers in the village really were troublesome. What should he do?

Tian Xiaoman noticed Li Wenxuan zoning out and pouted, then sat down to drink water. Standing that long had really worn him out.

After a sip, Tian Xiaoman suddenly felt a flutter in his stomach again. He froze, afraid to move, trying to see if it was real. Then it moved again.

“Li Wenxuan!”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Li Wenxuan turned to see Tian Xiaoman sitting there, frozen, holding his bowl.

“My… my stomach moved! Am I going to give birth?” Tian Xiaoman looked at him in horror.

“…Xiaoman,” Li Wenxuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Did you forget? Pregnancy takes ten months. You’re not even five months yet!”

“Then why is it moving?” He’d never heard of such a thing. Didn’t people in the village just go into labor all of a sudden? Was he giving birth to a monster?!

“Xiaoman, I forgot to tell you. I asked Doctor Zhou last time—he said a ger will feel fetal movement after four months. That’s the baby moving inside. It’s normal. Don’t be scared.” Li Wenxuan sat down and gently placed a hand on his belly.

As if in response, the baby kicked—right under his hand.

Excited, he said, “Xiaoman! The baby greeted me!”

Tian Xiaoman quickly placed his own hand on his stomach. 

The baby kicked again.

“It’s true! I felt it too!” He beamed.

The two silly, first-time parents grinned at each other, hands still on his belly, neither willing to let go.