My Husband Is a Little Mute

My new novel, The Stuttering Little Husband, is now underway, everyone~

Divider

Blurb:

When Xia Xiaoqu was little, he fell gravely ill. When he woke up, he had not only lost his parents, but had also become mute.

His uncle and aunt took him in because they had no choice, and spent years treating him like a burden.

Having grown up dependent on others, Xia Xiaoqu was afraid of being abandoned, so he worked hard all the time.

He worked harder than an ox every day and ate less than a cat.

Even so, he overheard his aunt asking a matchmaker to find him a husband.

She said even an old widower would do.

Xia Xiaoqu was frightened. He didn't want to marry an old widower. He was only eighteen.

*

Cheng Tianshi, one of the village's older bachelors, announced that he wanted to marry. But his family was so poor that no one wanted to marry their child to him.

Cheng Tianshi was an orphan, too. All he had was a dilapidated thatched hut and a few plots of poor land.

He was tall and strong and ate a lot, so after paying the grain tax, there was often not enough food left at home.

Everyone laughed at him, saying he had eaten his family into poverty.

Cheng Tianshi heard from the matchmaker that a young man from the Xia family was looking for a husband. The only problem was that he was mute, so nobody wanted him.

He went home and thought it over all night. What did it matter if he was mute? As long as he was a living, breathing person who could feel hot and cold, that was enough.

So the next day, he went to the Xia family's home to ask for himself.

*

Aunt Xia asked for one tael of silver as the bride price. It took Cheng Tianshi over half a month to scrape it together.

After paying the bride price, there was no money left for a wedding feast. Aunt Xia covered Xia Xiaoqu with a piece of red cloth and told Cheng Tianshi to take him home himself.

Once they got home, Xia Xiaoqu lifted the red cloth and curiously looked around the house.

Cheng Tianshi hurriedly hid his dirty clothes. When their eyes met, he scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

The house was so shabby that he was sure it would make his husband suffer.

Cheng Tianshi guiltily explained that his family was poor and apologized to him.

Xia Xiaoqu understood. He stepped forward and gently took his husband's hand.

He smiled sweetly, pointed at himself with his index finger, then held it straight out and waved it from side to side. Finally, he patted his chest.

He meant: [I'm not afraid.]

*

Once their circumstances improved, the couple started thinking about having a child.

That night, Xia Xiaoqu was overwhelmed until his body trembled uncontrollably, and all he could manage were a few broken sobs.

He looked utterly pitiful.

Cheng Tianshi felt sorry for him and gently asked, "How about we don't have one?"

But Xia Xiaoqu shook his head, his eyes brimming with tears.

He touched his index finger to the area near his temple, then opened his palm and drew it inward from the outside.

Finally, he used his hands to indicate a small length and looked at the man imploringly.

He meant: [I want a baby.]

1. Faithful couple, everyday family life

2. The bottom is mute and stays that way

Divider

The Lucky Little Husband

When Fu Bao'er was thirteen, famine struck his hometown. He fled with his family, but they got separated along the way.

Exhausted, hungry, and cold, he clutched his only earthenware jar and stumbled into Wuxi Village. He sat down in front of the hunter Lei Yunshan's house.

The night wind hurt right down to his bones. Wrapped in his ragged coat, Fu Bao'er began to cry miserably. Then the door behind him suddenly opened.

He turned around, clutching his jar, which was half full of tears, and met the gaze of a man built like an ox.

*

Lei Yunshan had no land, and his family was desperately poor. The money he earned hunting in the mountains and doing hard labor was just enough to keep them fed. Now there was another person to feed, and they could barely make ends meet.

Someone in the village took a liking to the beautiful young man fleeing famine, with his bright eyes, pearly teeth, and vivid red mole between his brows. In private, he tried to persuade Lei Yunshan: "Your family is so poor. Why not sell the young man to me? You won't have another mouth to feed, and you'll make some money, too. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

When Fu Bao'er heard about it, he held back his tears and clutched his broken jar, asking pitifully, "Big Brother, are you really going to sell me?"

Lei Yunshan's heart twisted with pain. Tightening his belt, he said, "I'm not selling you. I'm strong, so I can handle going hungry. I can share half my food with you."

*

A promise, a flatbread broken in half, and a bowl of thin porridge with the bottom showing. That's how little Fu Bao'er and Lei Yunshan scraped by, but they were content.

When spring rain drizzled, they carried little bamboo baskets into the mountains to pick mushrooms. Under the blazing summer sun, they made and sold jelly along the streets. In the crisp autumn air, they climbed trees to pick fruit. When snow blanketed the world, they simmered a pot of pig's trotter soup and watched the little ones build snowmen outside the window...

They lived a quiet life like that, free from illness and disaster, happy to the end of their days.

Premise: Live with care.