Lu Tong returning home alone became the talk of the village.
“The Lu girl came back by herself.”
“See, being a stepmother is really hard. Tang was also heartless, marrying her daughter off to such a man just for silver.”
The speaker was an aunt who had once come to the Lu family to propose marriage. At that time, Tang had looked down on their family for having no money and directly kicked them out. Later, when she found out that after all the Lu family’s careful picking and choosing, they actually married their daughter off to be someone’s stepmother, she now took every opportunity to mock Tang’s poor judgment.
“Lu’s girl didn’t bring anything back with her.”
“I heard Tang took twenty taels of betrothal gifts but gave no dowry.”
“Tang always seemed to dote on her daughter. How could she be so cruel when it mattered?”
“Has the Lu family been fighting a lot lately?”
“Didn’t Lu Chengyu marry a young lady? Maybe she has a bad temper.”
“Da Lin went to town looking for work a few days ago and ran into Lu Chengyu’s brother-in-law. That guy was surrounded by people going to restaurants to eat, and it seemed like he didn’t take Lu Chengyu seriously at all.”
“When marrying a wife, you still need to match social status. Marrying someone capable is what matters. What use is marrying a lazy young lady who only knows how to eat well?”
The village gossip spread quickly – Lu Tong probably married badly and couldn’t establish herself in her husband’s family, and Lu Chengyu’s wife had a bad temper, and Lu Chengyu probably couldn’t control her.
When Lu Chengyu returned home, Lu Tong had already gone back.
Knowing that Lu Tong came back alone without bringing anything, Lu Chengyu couldn’t help but feel his sister was really too ridiculous.
After Lu Lin married out, he cut off contact with the family. That was because Chen Xiaomi was originally an unreasonable person. But Lu Tong actually learned from Lu Lin too, not afraid of being laughed at.
“What’s wrong with my sister? And brother-in-law too.” Although it was a second marriage, on the day of the return visit, Li Ji should have at least shown his face!
Tang was originally also dissatisfied with her daughter, but hearing news about her daughter shocked her too much, and her dissatisfaction with her daughter was overlooked.
“Your sister isn’t doing well at the Li family either. That old woman there is too troublesome,” Tang said.
Lu Chengyu had studied the classics, but essentially he was a selfish person. When Lu Tong wasn’t doing well, Lu Chengyu didn’t think the problem was that he had used Lu Tong’s bride price, but felt his sister was too ignorant. She was lazy at home, and when she got to her husband’s family, she didn’t know how to please her husband and mother-in-law. What a waste of her pretty face.
Tang sighed. “Never mind your sister. Is your wife’s sister the Chief Clerk’s official wife or just a concubine?”
Lu Chengyu looked up sharply. “A concubine? Who told you that?”
“When your sister came, she said Li Ru is only the Chief Clerk’s concubine.”
Lu Chengyu looked at Tang in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”
Lu Chengyu suddenly thought of several classmates at the academy. There were two classmates who didn’t get along well with him. When they knew he spent a lot of money to marry Li Fangyue, they smiled at him meaningfully. Lu Chengyu had previously thought they might be jealous, but now he felt they might know something, so they were mocking him for treating a concubine’s sister as a treasure.
Lu Chengyu only felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, his heart ice cold, but his face was flushed red with anger.
Tang saw her son looking like he was about to faint from anger and said nervously, “Chengyu, calm down.”
Lu Chengyu took several breaths and finally recovered. “Mom, you didn’t tell grandmother about this, did you?”
Tang hesitated. “No.”
She didn’t tell Grandma Lu, first because she felt the matter wasn’t certain yet, and second, if the old woman knew, she would definitely make a huge fuss. This marriage was something she had agreed to, and if the old woman knew, she would definitely blame her.
If this matter spread to the village, that would be terrible. Originally, the Chief Clerk not showing up at the wedding banquet had already caused villagers to gossip. If people knew that Li Ru was only a concubine, their family would definitely become a complete laughingstock.
“Mom, don’t say anything. Wait until I investigate clearly,” Lu Chengyu said through gritted teeth.
Tang nodded. “Okay.”
Lu Chengyu clenched his fists tightly. In his subconscious, he had already accepted Lu Tong’s claim. He privately thought his sister was proud but naive, but he believed she wouldn’t lie about something like this.
Meanwhile, Yun Niang was cooking in the kitchen, with Wan Xiaofan and Chen Xiaomai helping on the side.
Chen Xiaomai was very interested in cooking. When Lu Lin used to cook, he liked to watch from the side.
Yun Niang felt it was very improper to have Chen Xiaomai, this young master, stay in the kitchen. Lu Lin didn’t think it was a problem.
Chen Xiaomai was a bit slow because of a fever, but he wasn’t stupid.
Chen Xiaomi was very worried about his younger brother. Lu Lin saw that Chen Xiaomai had no interest in needlework, so maybe he could cultivate Chen Xiaomai’s cooking skills. If he could cook, that would at least be a skill.
Lu Lin loaded some things onto the cart, and Chen Xiaocai came over.
“Lin-ge, are you going to the village?”
“Yes.”
A few days ago when Lu Lin went back to the village, Zhang Dazhu came looking for him, inviting Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi to attend his son’s wedding. Zhang Dazhu had once built houses for Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi, and later learned the technique to build kangs. He had earned quite a bit of money making kang beds for people in town. Probably because he was grateful for Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi teaching him this skill, Zhang Dazhu invited both of them to the wedding.
Chen Xiaomi walked out of the house. Lu Lin glanced at him. “Not feeling well?”
Chen Xiaomi shook his head. “I’m fine, let’s go.”
“If you feel uncomfortable, just stay home and rest,” Lu Lin said with concern.
Chen Xiaomi pouted. “I don’t feel uncomfortable. I just feel hot and want to eat something cold.”
Lu Lin: “…” The weather was getting hotter lately. It was fine staying indoors without moving, but any vigorous activity would make them easily.
Lu Lin noticed Chen Xiaomi seemed to be sensitive to heat. A few days ago when he was really tired, he looked like he was about to faint.
Lu Lin had secretly given Chen Xiaomi an ice cream cone.
After eating it, Chen Xiaomi couldn’t forget the taste of the ice cream and kept pestering Lu Lin for more. The convenience store didn’t have much stock, and besides, eating too much cold food wasn’t good, so Lu Lin had only let Chen Xiaomi eat two.
Lu Lin being so “stingy” made Chen Xiaomi complain from time to time.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi, hesitated, and said, “Alright, you really don’t look too good, so just stay home. I’ll visit Uncle Zhou for you.”
Uncle Zhou was an old hunter in the village who had helped Chen Xiaomi. When they lived in the village, Chen Xiaomi would often go deliver things to him.
Chen Xiaomi nodded. “Okay. Although they invited me to the wedding banquet, it was probably just being polite. If I really went, I might end up ruining the occasion.”
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and sighed. “Things will get better.”
Chen Xiaomi pouted. “What does it matter? It’s fine if they don’t.”
Lu Lin thought about it and agreed. They had already moved to town now, so what happened to their reputation in the village didn’t matter much.
The Zhang family had invited many people to the wedding, and Lu Lin’s appearance attracted quite a bit of attention.
After some time, people in the village basically knew that Lu Lin didn’t seem to live in the village anymore. Many people were very curious about where Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi had gone.
As time passed, most villagers knew that Lu Lin no longer lived in the village, and many were curious about where they had gone.
“Lu Lin, you came! Haven’t seen you in a long time.”
“Lu Lin, where have you been lately? How are things going with Chen Xiaomi?”
“Lu Lin, I heard you’re working in town now. How much money do you make per month?”
As soon as Lu Lin appeared, he was surrounded by people making small talk. With Chen Xiaomi not there, everyone’s attitude seemed very casual.
Lu Lin told them he was now working in town, with food and lodging provided, earning two taels of silver per month. Chen Xiaomi was the same as him, so they rarely returned to the village.
Many people who heard about Lu Lin’s wages all praised Lu Lin for being capable, finding such a respectable job. Some people indirectly asked what kind of work it was, and others directly asked if the employer needed more people.
“Lu Lin, did you know? Li Fangyue and Lin Xiu’er are both pregnant.”
Lu Lin couldn’t help but be surprised. Villagers believed in the blessing of having many children, so being able to get pregnant was always good news. Lu Lin had originally guessed that Li Fangyue and Lu Chengyu’s relationship might not be good, but he didn’t expect their relationship to be quite good, getting pregnant so quickly.
However, the Lu family didn’t have many people to do work now. With both Li Fangyue and Lin Xiu’er pregnant at the same time, he didn’t know who would do the household chores. But then he remembered that in this place, pregnant women still had to work.
The original owner’s mother was like this when she was pregnant with her second child.
When the original owner’s mother was six or seven months pregnant, the old lady still forced her to go wash clothes in the bitter cold of winter. As a result, she fell and the child was lost. The original owner’s mother hurt her body because of this and couldn’t get pregnant again.
The original owner’s mother had been the same. When she was six or seven months pregnant with her second child, Grandma Lu still forced her to wash clothes in the bitter cold of winter. As a result, she fell and the child was lost. The original owner’s mother’s health was damaged from this, and she couldn’t conceive again afterward.
Faced with the daughter-in-law who had a miscarriage, the old woman felt no guilt. Instead, she thought the original owner’s mother was incompetent for not being able to protect her child.
The original owner’s father was also honest and straightforward. Although he was sad and upset, he didn’t make a fuss.
Lu Lin felt that the original owner’s mother dying so early probably had something to do with that miscarriage.
“Ah Lin, you and Chen Xiaomi still have no news?”
“Ah Lin, Chen Xiaomi probably has a bad temper, right?”
“Ah Lin, you’re not young anymore, you need to hurry up!”
As people continued with their advice, Lu Lin’s face couldn’t help but turn slightly red.
Shuang’er could have children, but Chen Xiaomi looked no different from a man, which often made Lu Lin forget this point. The family already had two little devils, Xiaocai and Xiaomai, and his career was still in its early stages, so Lu Lin didn’t want to rush into having children.
Seeing that the conversation was getting out of hand and feeling uncomfortable, Lu Lin excused himself to use the outhouse and escaped.
As soon as Lu Lin left, the villagers’ conversation completely changed.
“Chen Xiaomi is so fierce, would he even let Lu Lin touch him?”
“Even if Chen Xiaomi allowed it, would Lu Lin dare to casually touch Chen Xiaomi? That guy is so fierce, one kick could cripple him.”
“What if Chen Xiaomi is infertile?”
Shuang’er looked basically no different from men, but they had a small flower-shaped mark on their forehead. The brighter the mark’s color, the easier it was to have children. Chen Xiaomi was a bit special. His mark was on the top of his head, completely hidden by his hair, so strangers could easily mistake him for a man.
“Chen Xiaomi is really lucky. He actually found a job in town.”
“Is it that easy to find work in town now? Two taels of silver a month, is he making that up?”
“It’s probably not made up. Look at Lu Lin’s clothes. They’re nothing like when he was with the Lu family.”
“You know what, Lu Lin looks much more spirited than when he was at the Lu family.”
Hearing the villagers’ discussion, Lu Lin couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable. However, Lu Lin also understood that most villagers didn’t have bad intentions. It was just that seeing him and Chen Xiaomi doing well made them feel a bit sour, so they had to find fault with their situation to make themselves feel better.
Raine: Proud to share that I’ve now completed translations for Chapters 1–49! If you want to revisit the story in my translation style, you can start from the beginning here.
As always, your comments and support keep me going. Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get access to the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
