NOVEL NEXT chapter 14
14
Ding Xiang led Mike towards the nearby woodshed and pushed open the door. Mike was startled by the sight of a huge pile of cluttered wood scattered everywhere.
“Haha, don’t mind it. Although it’s a bit much and messy, with some effort it won’t take many days,” she said.
As a girl herself, Ding Xiang felt somewhat embarrassed; meanwhile Mike looked at her and gave a smile before responding with an “okay”.
Ding Xiang patted his shoulder and said,
“Do your best; I believe in you.”
…
“Wow! I never imagined Auntie Ding and Uncle Mike were so different when they were younger. Even now I can hardly see any trace of Auntie Ding being such a heroic woman back then,” remarked Tina with surprise.
Ding Xiang smiled enigmatically,
“Well those are youthful follies we’d rather not mention.”
“Aunt Ding, how did you fall in love with Uncle Mai?”
Ding Xiang thought for a moment.
“I don’t really know, but if I have to specify, I think it was around that time. A month after bringing Mike home, even though he had finished chopping all the firewood, he didn’t leave. Every day he not only accompanied me up the mountain to gather herbs but also took it upon himself to cook when we got home. You could say his presence really changed my life significantly. Gradually, we grew more familiar with each other.
One day, I planned to go into the city to sell herbs.
‘Today I’m going to the city to sell herbs; you stay home and cook and wait for me to come back, OK?’
‘OK.’
So off I went alone towards the caravan…
…
Inside the yet-to-start carriage,
A sleeping Ding Xiang was suddenly awakened by someone.
‘Nobody move… hand over your money…’
Startled awake, Ding Xiang saw a short robber in front of her and slapped him across the face.
‘What are you doing?’
The slapped robber Tubba continued,
‘The money…’
Ding Xiang disdainfully said,
‘A robbery?’
Tubba received another slap.
‘The money…’
Ding Xiang pointed at Tubba mockingly and said,
“You, with that bear-like appearance, robbing someone? You can’t even speak properly.”
“I, I, I…”
Before Tubba could finish, another slap landed. Ding Xiang, impatient, said,
“I was damn sleeping, you scared me!”
After being slapped several times, Tubba finally managed to say a complete sentence,
“I am, am a toll, toll collector.”
Ding Xiang, who seemed to be getting a kick out of slapping, paused and started whistling,
“Huhuh, so you’re a toll collector.”
Angered, Tubba’s speech became much smoother,
“I’m robbing, robbing your grandma’s robbery!”
Even though Ding Xiang knew Tubba’s identity, she couldn’t help but laugh at his way of speaking,
“Ha ha, sorry, it’s just that you look like a robber.”
Tubba, touching his burning face, roared,
“Are you, you sick?”
…
Listening to the story, Gu Ming seemed to recall something and asked with a strange expression,
“That, Aunt Ding, the Tubba you mentioned, doesn’t he have a son named Tu Er?”
“Ah, young man, how did you know? Indeed, he has a son named Tu Er. I heard they moved to some city called O-something,”
Gu Ming inwardly sneered.
“Nima, so it’s hereditary for you too, just like your old man,” he cursed.
Gu Ming replied, “We’ve only met once, hardly know each other, haha.”
Ding Xiang nodded indifferently and said, “Oh, then it really must be fate.”
“Let me continue then…
After being kicked off the bus, I returned home feeling gloomy. The first thing I saw was Mike with his darkened face grinning and waving at me.
“Sister Ding, you’re back early! I just finished cooking; let’s eat together.”
Unable to hold back, Ding Xiang pointed at her own face and joked: “What happened to your face? Did you go fight with the Demon Army or what? Haha.”
Mike touched his face in confusion; his hand came away pitch black. “Must have gotten it while tending the firewood. I’ll go wash up; wait for me a bit okay?”
Ding Xiang waved him off: “Go ahead.”
Watching his foolish silhouette leave made all my bad mood vanish instantly. Seeing the steaming dishes on the table and his busy figure around the house made me feel good about having such a man taking care of things at home. Perhaps it was at that moment that I truly acknowledged my feelings.
Mia asked incredulously: “Really? Aunt Ding, just like that you fell for him?”
Ding Xiang smiled softly…
“It’s just that simple. Our love has always been this simple and ordinary. Are you two girls disappointed?”
Mia and Tina shook their heads in unison, while Ding Xiang continued with a somewhat clichéd tone, “Love is just like this. It’s not about thrilling adventures; it’s about companionship, sticking together through thick and thin, holding hands and growing old together. I’m glad that I found him that day and fell in love with him. It was the luckiest and most correct thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
After hearing the end of the story, Gu Ming quietly left, leaving the women to continue discussing topics about romance.
…
“Alright then, my dears, I’ve almost finished telling my story. Why don’t you two share your love stories with me?”
Mia and Tina blushed as Tina hesitantly said, “Aunt Ding, let’s not.”
Mia chimed in on the side, “Yes yes, let’s not Aunt Ding.”
Ding Xiang smiled at them both saying,”I wanted to give you some advice too; what a pity! What if he isn’t your Mr. Right?”
Mia and Tina objected simultaneously: “Brother (our master), he definitely is Mr. Right!”
Seeing their excited expressions made Ding Xiang laugh: “Alright alright! I understand now; it seems you are also very blessed indeed. and so is that young man!”
Tina blushed again while Mia proudly added from beside her: “Absolutely! My brother…my husband holds us dear to his heart…”
Hearing Mia’s words made Tina incredibly embarrassed internally thinking: “Where did Mia learn to say such things? So embarrassing!”
(The instigator, Gu Ming)
…
“Oh, by the way Aunt Ding, who confessed first between you and Uncle Mai?”
Tina also pricked up her ears to listen as Aunt Ding spoke softly,
“I was the one who confessed first.”
“Ah, I thought it was Uncle Mai who confessed first.”
Aunt Ding glanced at Mike outside the house, smiled with a closed mouth, then spread her hands to show a bit of helplessness.
“That timid guy, your Uncle Mai. if we waited for him to speak his heart out, we might have had to wait until all the demons were dead. I couldn’t wait that long so I just went ahead and confessed.”
Mia admired,
“Wow, Aunt Ding you’re so brave. Weren’t you afraid that Uncle Mai would reject you?”
Aunt Ding looked kindly at Mia,
“Of course I was scared. But having been around him for so long day and night gave me some insight into his thoughts. enough to muster up the courage.”
Tina asked curiously,
“Can you really tell if someone loves or not?”
Aunt Ding laughed,
“You definitely can tell. If you spend enough time with the person you love. even if they hide it well. they will eventually show some small signs that give them away.”
Mia and Tina nodded their heads in agreement and decided inwardly that they would look more closely for signs from Gu Ming.
Seeing their earnest expressions filled with naive purity of love made Aunt Ding somewhat emotional as she reminisced about various moments from her own life.
“All right now don’t dwell on these things too much. you both still have plenty of time. Just spend more years together with him; sooner or later such an understanding will develop naturally.”
She then stood up and began walking away while speaking.
“Granny, I’m going to start preparing dinner,”
Tina also stood up and said,
“Aunt Ding, let me help you,”
Mia raised her hand to interject,
“I want to go too,”
Aunt Ding turned her head and replied,
“Sure, come and give your aunt a hand. Today, I’ll let you see my cooking skills,”
Mia exclaimed excitedly,
“Aunt, I want to eat stir-fried beef, can you make it?”
Aunt Ding proudly patted her chest,
“There’s nothing your aunt can’t do,”
“Great, then let’s hurry and cook, Aunt. My stomach is already growling,”
“Okay,”
Later, after finishing his work, old Mike also came to the kitchen to help, while Gu Ming practiced swordsmanship in the yard.
…