Chapter 213 Killing a Chicken for Her
Seeing him start to frown as if he was about to get angry, Zoey couldn't help but throw down the gloves she was using to handle the durian and said furiously, "Is it really that important? If it's so important, why did you go see Janice?
You've left me home alone time and time again. Have you ever cared about how I feel? Let me tell you, I got pregnant back when we were in Europe. You didn't care about me then either. You thought I was lazy, sleeping all day and being dramatic. Don't think I don't know! Anyway, I'll raise this child myself when it's born. I don't need you to worry about it."
Charles looked at Zoey, shocked and heartbroken.
So this is what she's been thinking all along!
But thinking about it more carefully, he really hadn't paid much attention to her. He always assumed she would be there, would always be there, and that no matter what he did, she would silently stand behind him.
But she actually cares too. She gets hurt too.
Zoey continued crying, "From the very beginning, you never liked me. The only reason you agreed to marry me was because we slept together once. You didn't care about decorating our wedding room, didn't care what wedding dress to wear, and for the honeymoon you just let me go wherever I wanted. After marriage, you came home like it was a chore. Since you don't like me, then stop trying to control me here..."
Anyway, Zoey poured out all her past grievances.
Matilda watched from the side, worried that Zoey's agitation might affect the baby. She quickly came over and hugged Zoey, "Zoey, stop talking."
Zoey kept crying, "Why can't I talk about it? During my pregnancy, I've been taking care of myself. Other pregnant women have husbands who care about them. I'm home alone, scared and anxious, and I have to put up with him seeing his old flame. When I said I wanted a divorce, he wouldn't agree. When I went for my prenatal checkup, I saw him taking care of another woman and a kid..."
Matilda couldn't help but hold Zoey tighter.
Zoey kept crying in Matilda's arms.
Charles watched for a while, his heart aching too much to speak.
He didn't know when this little chipmunk had entered his heart, nor did he realize how much he actually cared about her.
Watching her cry felt like knives stabbing his heart.
He had always thought of her as a little sun, always bright and cheerful.
Charles didn't dare stay and upset her further. He quietly walked out the door.
Zoey cried for a while, and when she noticed Charles was gone, she wiped her tears and snot, saying, "See, he doesn't even know how to comfort me when I cry. But if his old flame cried, he'd definitely know what to do."
Matilda looked at her with sympathy and said, "I can't figure out what he's thinking either, but I just saw him looking really upset. I think he does care about you."
Zoey pointed at the durian on the table, "Never mind him. Matilda, I want to eat durian."
Matilda didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she had no choice but to open the durian for her.
...
Charles came back shortly after.
A chicken in his left hand, a duck in his right.
Zoey was so surprised she forgot to eat her durian.
After Charles came back, he first smiled at Zoey, then carried the chicken and duck into the kitchen.
Matilda was also shocked for a moment, then quickly walked into the kitchen, "Charles, what... what are you doing?"
Charles said, "Zoey's pregnant, she must need nutrition. I want to make her some soup."
"...Do you know how to kill a chicken?" Matilda asked.
Charles said, "I should be able to."
Should be?
Matilda thought to herself: You could at least have someone who knows how help you kill it.
She didn't know how either. When she bought chicken, she bought it already killed, and at most she'd just chop it up a bit when she got home.
Zoey also walked to the kitchen doorway, watching Charles kill the chicken in surprise.
While tying up the chicken with rope, Charles said to Zoey, "Pregnant women shouldn't see blood. Zoey, don't come over here."
Zoey wasn't scared at all. She still stood in the doorway watching.
After Charles tied up the chicken completely, it couldn't move. Charles then stepped on the chicken's body with one foot, held the chicken's head with one hand, looking like he was about to slit an enemy's throat.
However, he used too much force and cut the chicken's head clean off.
Chicken blood splattered all over him.
Zoey got such a fright that the baby in her belly seemed to move.
Indeed, pregnant women shouldn't see blood. She quickly went back to the living room to continue eating durian.
Matilda also came out shaking her head.
"That chicken died a terrible death," Matilda said. "But it went quickly, didn't suffer too much."
After all, chickens are meant to be eaten, so you can't be too sentimental about it.
Although Zoey was eating durian, the scene of Charles killing the chicken kept playing in her mind.
Charles actually killed a chicken for her?
She couldn't understand it, but she was deeply shocked.
Soon, sounds came from the kitchen again. Charles must have been watching videos on how to kill chickens.
Then, there was silence inside.
Matilda went to check, then came back to tell Zoey, "Charles is plucking the chicken feathers. He's being so careful about it, like... like planting roses for a lover."
Hearing Matilda describe it this way, Zoey also went to take a look.
She saw Charles sitting on a small stool, sleeves rolled up to his arms, with the scalded chicken in front of him. He was plucking its feathers, and for the finer ones, he was pulling them out one by one.
Zoey came back and said to Matilda, "Does he think I'll forgive him just because he killed a chicken? He's doing this for the baby in my belly. If I hadn't said I was pregnant, he wouldn't have killed the chicken."
Matilda couldn't help but say, "I don't think so. No matter who he cares about, the person eating the chicken is you first."
That whole morning, the kitchen was noisy. It wasn't until the afternoon that Charles's chicken soup was finally ready.
For a first attempt at making chicken soup, the taste was acceptable.
Charles called Matilda and Zoey over to drink the chicken soup.
He served Zoey a bowl, "Drink some, it'll be good for you."
Zoey said, "Pregnant women don't actually need supplements. It's women who've just given birth who need them. Pregnant women just need to eat normally, otherwise you only gain weight yourself, it doesn't go to the baby."
Charles said, "Normal eating includes drinking chicken soup. Having it occasionally is fine."
Zoey's attitude toward him had clearly softened quite a bit, though her words were still stubborn, "So, you'll only make chicken soup occasionally then."
"As long as you want it, I can make it anytime. I'll make you more chicken soup tonight."
"Don't make it. I find it too greasy. Besides, yours doesn't taste good - too oily."
Charles smiled, "First time, no experience. Next time I'll have experience."
Matilda suddenly felt like she was being a third wheel.
She forced down a bowl of Charles's fishy and oily chicken soup, then said, "You two take your time chatting. I'm going upstairs to prepare materials for my interview."
Then she quickly ran upstairs.
...
Sally and Nick had both moved out, so there were empty rooms in the house.
But Charles still slept on the sofa, because Zoey refused to go upstairs to sleep. She liked staying in the small room, and sleeping on the sofa let him watch over Zoey.
In the middle of the night, Zoey got up to use the bathroom.
Pregnant women just have to pee a lot, plus she'd drunk soup.
When she opened her room door, she saw the living room light was still on, and Charles on the sofa immediately sat up when he saw her come out.