“I need to pee.” Yue Zhixian’s figure had already vanished into the night, leaving only his voice behind.
The old man cursed, “Lazy ass full of excuses,” then jumped off the cart to unhitch it while saying to Xie Mingzhu, “We can’t catch up with the group now. We’ll rest here tonight. A Xian’s wife, you take the children down first. When your man comes back, tell him to start the fire. This old man will feed our mule lord first.”
Though Xie Mingzhu wasn’t quite accustomed to the old man constantly calling her “A Xian’s wife” and referring to Yue Zhixian as “your man,” she still responded positively.
Lingnan was truly poor, but its people were genuinely good.
So she felt renewed hope for her future life here.
After helping the older children down first, she reached to carry the younger ones when a pair of sturdy arms beat her to it. “Little Shi, come to Daddy.”
Xiaoshi naturally threw herself into Yue Zhixian’s arms. “Daddy lift me high!”
She had called him “Daddy” countless times along the journey. Not only had Yue Zhixian grown accustomed to the address, but even Xie Mingzhu had become numb to it and stopped bothering to correct her.
Let her call him that—it was just a title after all. Besides, she saw Yue Zhixian as little more than a big kid himself, probably just finding it amusing.
During this journey, they had not only confirmed their home at Silver Moon Beach but also obtained a marriage certificate with Yue Zhixian. The children were registered at Silver Moon Beach, their corvée labor was exempted, and they wouldn’t have to serve at the Salt Fields anymore.
Moreover, they would be allocated land.
From what she gathered, there was plenty of land available for casual farming.
As for Yue Zhixian, his home was utterly destitute.
But Yue Zhixian disagreed with the old man’s assessment. He believed that having three full meals a day made him better off than many families in the village.
Xie Mingzhu had roughly figured out his background: he had lost his parents young, the village was poor, he’d barely received any communal support, and had been self-reliant since childhood.
Looking at Yue Zhixian’s tall and robust build, which showed no signs of malnutrition, she could see he truly had the capability to support himself.
And Silver Moon Beach likely had abundant living resources.
As for his laziness, it was somewhat understandable. Without elders to discipline him, the fact that he hadn’t gone astray or resorted to theft was commendable enough.
He was cheerful, and every pore of his being radiated confidence.
Though Xie Mingzhu couldn’t fathom where this confidence came from, given his poverty—he didn’t even have a change of clothes.
But his youthful self-assurance was indeed infectious, lifting spirits and brightening moods.
Or perhaps, Xie Mingzhu thought, she was like all women in the world—drawn to handsome young men, so just looking at him made her feel good.
Of course, she felt this theory needed verification.
But the lack of a proper house was a real problem. She heard he only had a small treehouse, with barely room to stand inside—just a narrow bamboo bed. Since the local climate was hot, quilts weren’t needed, so naturally, there were none.
The treehouse might be spacious enough for Yue Zhixian alone, but with all the children she had brought, they probably couldn’t even squeeze inside.
This worried her greatly.
Another thing: as she had suspected, Yue Zhixian was indeed young—only seventeen.
The same age as her future brother-in-law.
Just a big kid.
At that moment, Yue Zhixian had already gathered dry branches from the coconut grove and lit a fire pit. No one knew where he had dragged the dry branches from, but he supported them with one hand and broke them with a stomp of his foot. “Do you need to relieve yourself? I saw a flat, hidden spot over there. I’ll keep watch on the path while you take the children to take care of it?”
He figured that although they hadn’t drunk water on the journey, they had been eating various fruits continuously. Even he felt the urge, so the women and children must be feeling it too.
Xie Mingzhu did indeed have the need, but the pitch-black forest frightened her. She had been thinking of using her daughters as an excuse to ask Yue Zhixian to accompany them.
Now that he had taken the initiative, her heart warmed with gratitude. She hadn’t expected this young man to be so considerate. “Then I’ll trouble you,” she said.
She quickly asked Xiao Yunyan, who had already taken care of his needs, to watch the fire. Then, under Yue Zhixian’s protection, she took her daughters to relieve themselves.
By the time they returned with Yue Zhixian, Village Chief Old Man Sha had finished feeding the mules and was now climbing a coconut tree. Xiao Yunyan watched from below, his face full of envy.
Seeing this, Yue Zhixian sneered, “Old man, you really are getting old. So slow! Watch me.” With that, he scurried up to the treetop in a flash and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Step aside, everyone! I’m going to cut down some coconuts.”
Xie Mingzhu noticed that all the locals, men and women alike, carried a curved knife tucked at their waists. She realized this must be its clever use.
Old Man Sha, seeing Yue Zhixian already chopping coconuts, worried he might be reckless and hit the children below. “Throw them onto the path!” he instructed.
He then directed Xie Mingzhu, “A Xian’s wife, take the children and hide over here.”
Xie Mingzhu hurriedly led the children to a safe spot.
Soon after, a loud thud echoed as a coconut fell and rolled on the ground. One after another, coconuts were thrown down, landing in a pile. Xie Mingzhu felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.
The sound was like deep, heavy drumbeats, startling the birds in the surrounding woods into a frantic flurry of flapping wings as they fled.
For a moment, the thuds of falling coconuts and the rustling of bird wings filled the dark night with unexpected liveliness.
Yue Zhixian, still in the tree, beamed with pride. “Aren’t I amazing?”
The children got along with him exceptionally well, especially the youngest, Xiao Yunshi.
The little girl had hardly any memory of her biological father and seemed to have already regarded Yue Zhixian as her real dad. She clapped her hands enthusiastically and cheered, “Daddy is so amazing! The best in the whole world! Xiaoshi wants to be the very best with Daddy!”
Her words made Yue Zhixian grin from ear to ear.
Fueled by the praise, he worked with renewed vigor.
After climbing down, he immediately started opening coconuts for everyone. Then, he cut the bamboo poles he had gathered along the way into sections, took some rice from his bundle, grabbed a handful of dried scallops, and headed toward the nearby stream.
Seeing this, Xie Mingzhu felt she couldn’t let him do all the work. She lit a torch to follow him and provide light, picked up the banana leaves on the ground, and planned to wash them for later use.
Xiao Yunyan noticed this and instructed his second sister, Xiao Yunqing, “Qing’er, watch your sisters. I’ll light the way for Mother.”
Xiao Yunqing replied, “Be careful, Brother.”
Nearby, Old Man Sha was cutting pineapples into small cubes on neatly spread banana leaves, preparing to stuff them into the bamboo tubes later.
Looking up at this scene, he saw three figures lined up in a row within the flickering small flame in the distance.
The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile as he thought to himself: This wife of A Xian seems to be a diligent person—A Xian really got a good deal with this match.
Moreover, these five children came from four different mothers, yet they were so united—quite different from what those storybooks described. This must be because A Xian’s wife is such a good person, which is why these children are so well-behaved and sensible.
They were far better than those mischievous brats in the village.
Those little rascals in the village, even though they came from the same womb, were always fighting and squabbling. Just thinking about it made Old Man Sha feel irritated.
“Grandpa, do you need any help?” Just as Old Man Sha was lost in thought, several little girls had already neatly surrounded him—two on each side.
When he looked up, he was met with four pairs of innocent, beautiful eyes.
His tone couldn’t help but soften with affection. “No need. Just play by the fire pit. If you’re hungry, have some fruit first. Dinner will be ready soon—don’t wander off.”
“Mm, Grandpa, you’ve worked hard,” the children replied. Without blocking his way as he cut the pineapple, they all stepped aside to play.
But it was pitch black, and with only the light from the fire pit, there wasn’t much to do.
He wondered if it might rain tonight—there was no moon in sight.
Not long after, Xie Mingzhu and the others returned.
Xiao Yunyan led the way with a torch, Xie Mingzhu walked in the middle holding clean banana leaves, and Yue Zhixian brought up the rear.
It was unclear what they were talking about, but Yue Zhixian’s face was beaming with excitement.