11 – What to do when you have no experience coaxing women?
Qin Feng took two steps toward Taohua, feeling somewhat at a loss.
He felt he should comfort his little wife, but he had never interacted with a woman like this before—he lacked experience!
However, after some thought, he realized his little wife was still young. If he treated her like a child and coaxed her, it should be no problem.
He felt a bit awkward: “Did I scare you just now? But don’t be afraid, I won’t treat you like that. They were the bad ones.”
“Mm!” Taohua nodded. “I know, but Brother Qin, you’re so amazing!”
Taohua’s bright, clear eyes seemed to glow as she stared straight at Qin Feng, her face filled with admiration.
“How did you do it? I didn’t even see clearly what happened before the two of them started howling in pain.”
Seeing Taohua’s reaction, Qin Feng breathed a sigh of relief—at least he didn’t have to coax a child.
He found it amusing: “You’re not bad either, managing to knock both of them down. I haven’t even asked you yet—what exactly happened?”
“I don’t know either. I just fought back randomly. I feel like today everything went exactly as I wished. I thought it would be best if the two of them tripped and fell right in front of me, and then they actually stumbled over each other. After that, I went to look for you, hoping to see you as soon as possible, and you appeared right in front of me.”
As she spoke, Taohua grew excited. Without caring whether it was day or night, she grabbed Qin Feng’s large hand.
“Brother Qin, it’s so wonderful to be married to you.”
But Taohua soon grew worried: “Brother Qin, the Wang family are not easy to deal with. We injured them—what if they go to the Village Chief to complain?”
“Don’t worry,” Qin Feng reassured her, seeing the concern on his little wife’s face. “Let them go and make a fuss. It’s even better if the whole village knows that the Qin family’s door isn’t something just anyone can walk through.”
After saying this, Qin Feng took the initiative to spread out the furs Taohua had brought from the storage room to dry in the sun.
He worked swiftly, leaving Taohua no chance to help.
Not only that, but Qin Feng also told her to rest on the side.
For a moment, Taohua felt a bit unaccustomed to this, as she had never had a moment of idleness back in the Chen family.
Watching the busy man before her, her heart felt instantly filled by him.
After drying the furs, Qin Feng didn’t feel comfortable leaving Taohua alone at home, so he took her with him to the back mountain.
While Qin Feng cut bamboo to set traps, Taohua took a small hoe and searched everywhere for winter bamboo shoots.
But at this time of year, winter bamboo shoots hadn’t yet surfaced—they were usually buried in the soil and hard to find.
Last time, she and Qin Feng had spent nearly half a day digging and only managed to find five or six, and after peeling them, they weren’t even as long as a finger.
But today, for some reason, Taohua seemed to have incredible luck!
She had been walking through the bamboo grove just fine when she suddenly tripped, and the hoe in her hand struck hard into the muddy ground.
When she pulled the hoe out, she discovered a cluster of winter bamboo shoots. After digging for just a little while, three large winter bamboo shoots surfaced!
From then on, wherever she dug with her hoe, bamboo shoots would inevitably appear. In no time, a pile of winter bamboo shoots had accumulated at her feet.
When she called Qin Feng over to help carry them, even he found it unbelievable:
“How did you find so many?”
Taohua herself was even more surprised than Qin Feng: “I don’t know either, but my luck was just good today. This is enough for us to eat for several meals. But with so much, how do we carry it home?”
“I’ll handle it,” Qin Feng said, quickly weaving a simple basket out of thin bamboo branches.
He placed the smaller winter bamboo shoots into the bamboo basket, tied the larger ones with vines, and carried them in his hand, not letting Taohua do any of the heavy lifting at all.
Taohua still wanted to help lighten his burden: “It’s fine, Brother Qin, I can carry some.”
Qin Feng glanced at her: “You’re still young, how much strength could you have? Just help me carry the machete.”
The machete weighed hardly anything, and Taohua felt delighted inside. Her Brother Qin was truly too good.
She was already thinking that when they got back, she must make something delicious for her Brother Qin.
It was just a pity there wasn’t much rice left at home, so today they could only eat porridge. But there was still some meat left, which would also fill them up.
Soon, the two returned home through the back door.
Taohua walked behind Qin Feng, and just as she was closing the door, Qin Feng suddenly turned back and said to her:
“It sounds like someone is calling you.”
“Huh?” Taohua was a bit confused. “Who’s calling me? There are only the two of us here.”
“It’s coming from the front door, a woman’s voice.”
“Really? I didn’t hear it.”
Even so, Taohua quickened her pace toward the front courtyard.
As she walked, she also heard the voice Qin Feng mentioned—it was Sun Xiao Lan.
Taohua couldn’t help but exclaim: “Brother Qin, your hearing is so sharp. It’s my little sister coming to see me. I’ll go open the door for her first.”
Qin Feng gave an “mm” of acknowledgment and at the same time reached out his hand to Taohua: “Give me the machete and hoe. There’s dirt on your clothes.”
Taohua obediently handed the machete and hoe to Qin Feng, then lowered her head to brush off the mud on her clothes before quickening her pace again.
“Xiao Lan, what brings you here?” Taohua asked, a smile spreading across her face when she saw Sun Xiao Lan.
Sun Xiao Lan craned her neck to look behind Taohua: “Where’s your man? Isn’t he home?”
“He is. He went to the storage room to put things away. I just dug up a lot of winter bamboo shoots in the back hills. I’ll give you some to take back later. I remember you like them too.”
Sun Xiao Lan’s expression turned serious: “That can wait. I have something to tell you.”
“Then let’s talk inside, don’t stand out here,” Taohua said, ushering Sun Xiao Lan into the house.
Sun Xiao Lan followed Taohua inside and, after looking around, remarked:
“Your courtyard is quite large, but why is the house so small, with only one room? The sleeping area and the main room are all connected. It must be inconvenient when guests come over.”
“That’s true,” Taohua said with a smile. “We’ll think about it when the weather warms up next year. Actually, this courtyard was newly enclosed too. On the day I married into this family, there wasn’t even a fence around the yard.”
“Really? It really is different when there’s a woman managing the household. But that’s not what I came to talk to you about today. Let me ask you…”
Sun Xiao Lan frowned: “Did Granny Wang’s two sons come to your house today to cause trouble for you?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Taohua quickly realized and grew anxious. “Did those two go to the Village Chief to complain about us?”
“Right, those two scoundrels are limping, all bruised and battered, claiming you and your wife beat them up. They’re crying and wailing, begging my grandfather to give them justice. Is that really what happened?”