Evening had fallen.
In Li Family Village, the Xiao household was in chaos as several people came in and out, while curious villagers gathered at the door, chattering away.
“Can you believe Li Miaomiao didn’t die? How wicked!”
“Right? She insisted on marrying Xiao Xian back then. When she found out Xiao Xian’s disability was incurable, she just wanted to take the money and run. Worse than an animal!”
Inside the thatched hut, Li Miaomiao—the very person the villagers were calling “worse than an animal”—was stirring awake on the wooden bed.
The doctor was about to offer his condolences when he noticed her eyelid twitch. Shocked, he lifted her eyelids and checked her breathing.
Then, he slowly spoke to the man with the broken leg sitting on a stool: “She’s awake. Rest a few days, and she will recover fully.”
Upon hearing she was unharmed, Xiao Xian sat on the stool, his gaze indifferent, but his eyes darkened slightly as he looked at her on the bed.
He said to the doctor, “Thank you, Doctor Cui.”
He took a few copper coins from his pouch and handed them over. The doctor accepted the money, packed up his medical kit, and left.
Outside, the villagers resumed their gossip upon hearing that Li Miaomiao had survived.
“Tsk tsk, she’s not dead after all. Xiao Xian’s going to have a hard life again.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Their chattering outside was as noisy as sparrows.
Li Miaomiao’s eyelids twitched twice.
Xiao Xian?
Who’s that?
The next moment, her head split with pain, and memories not belonging to her flooded her mind.
The original Li Miaomiao, who shared her name, had lost her mother as a child. After her father remarried, she was tormented by her stepmother, which made her quick-tempered and stubborn. She even bullied innocent children in the village.
She had been betrothed in the womb to Lin Dalang, the son of the Lin family.
Lin Dalang grew up handsome, and because they were childhood companions, the original Li Miaomiao had long decided in her heart that she would marry him, looking forward to becoming his wife with joy.
But after her father’s death, he got involved with her stepsister.
Still, she endured it as long as she could marry him!
She never imagined that on her wedding day, her stepsister hanged herself. Lin Dalang, upon hearing the news, abandoned her in front of all the guests.
The original Li Miaomiao was pointed at and gossiped about, driving her mad.
Coincidentally, Xiao Xian came to attend the wedding banquet. Her stepmother, Li Dalan, whispered something in her ear, and in a fit of impulse, she clung to Xiao Xian, unbuttoned her clothes, and demanded he take responsibility.
If he didn’t, she would jump into the river.
All the villagers and the headman watched. Xiao Xian had just arrived from out of town and had no choice but to marry her.
After only a day, her stepmother came with a few words, and she packed her things to leave. Xiao Xian found the arrangement ridiculous and didn’t stop her.
As she left, she told the gossiping villagers that Xiao Xian was useless, his leg couldn’t be healed, and she would return to serve Lin Dalang.
But she was reckless. She stepped into a river ditch and was rescued by villagers, who brought her back to the Xiao household.
After integrating all the memories, Li Miaomiao rubbed her head and sat up on the bed.
As she leaned against the headboard, she heard the man’s cold voice: “You may leave.”
Li Miaomiao stared at his face, so close, and even though she had seen his elegance before, his eyes opened and still startled her slightly.
His temples were sharply cut, his eyes deep like peach blossoms, the tails slightly curved, with a gaze as gentle as jade.
She withdrew her gaze, frowned slightly, feeling complicated.
Leave…
Where could she even go?
The place she knew best was Li Family Village. In her memory, the county town was nearly unknown. Besides having a healthy body now, she was no better off than Xiao Xian.
Besides, now that she was married, she couldn’t go back to Li Family.
While she pondered, the man’s cool voice sounded again.
“You’ve achieved your purpose. You’ve seen my courtyard is in disrepair. I can’t even take care of myself, let alone support you.”
The meaning was clear enough.
Li Miaomiao looked at him deeply. Seeing that he had no intention of changing his mind, she sighed, slowly got off the bed, grabbed a small box by the headboard, and headed for the door. The box belonged to the original Li Miaomiao.
Listening to her footsteps fading away, Xiao Xian’s expression showed no emotion.
Only the stone in his hand betrayed his murderous intent.
Just five more steps, and her right foot would cross the threshold.
The crime of killing a wife would weigh far more than the previous two foolish deaths.
Thinking of the impending punishment, a slight smile curled his lips, warm as the wind yet tinged with anticipation for death.
As Li Miaomiao’s foot was about to step out, Xiao Xian’s gaze darkened, staring at the back of her head. The small stone in his hand was ready.
Suddenly, Li Miaomiao twisted her foot. Facing the broken door, she crouched and placed the small wooden box on the ground.
This door had been deliberately damaged by the original Li Miaomiao before leaving, intending to annoy Xiao Xian, knowing he couldn’t repair it. She wanted to make things difficult for him as much as possible.
She reached inside and pulled out a small knife.
She wasn’t leaving.
Though she liked to be lazy, her face was thick enough to dare stick around.
An extraordinary day calls for extraordinary measures. As long as she was alive, even a miserable life could be improved.
She placed the board on the floor and sneaked a glance at Xiao Xian, seeing a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
Let him be disappointed.
After all, he was now her legitimate husband. As long as she shamelessly refused to leave, he couldn’t do anything.
Xiao Xian lowered his eyes, discarded the stone, a little regret flashing across his expression.
Boring.
Li Miaomiao paused her work, watching him pick up two straight sticks and drag his broken body back into the room, using them as crutches.
Her eyes twitched.
The roughly one-meter-long sticks had no handles—practically stabbing the flesh—but he seemed oblivious to the pain.
He looked over 1.8 meters tall, but only his upper body was supported; his lower body dragged along the ground.
Seeing him like that, Li Miaomiao felt a pang of sympathy.
Tomorrow, she would go to the mountain and chop a tree to make proper crutches for him.
Decision made, she continued carving holes with the small knife.
Before she transmigrated, her family had been carpenters for three generations. She, being an only daughter, still learned all the skills her grandfather insisted on teaching, ignoring the usual “teach sons, not daughters” rule.
Xiao Xian’s door was a standalone wooden door. It had broken because the pivot at the top had snapped.
In that era, there were no hinges; doors rotated on a wooden pivot.
The pivot was a piece of wood with a rounded hole at the top of the doorframe, resting on a stone with a carved groove. The left side of the door panel had protrusions top and bottom.
Push the door into the groove, and it could rotate.
Pivot doors were more laborious than hinged doors.
The wooden door in her hands had a broken inner peg she couldn’t remove. She widened the hole to take it out.
She glanced at the thatched hut, noting the chimney’s location.
Rising, she walked into the kitchen. By now, the faint moonlight touched the treetops, spilling through the bamboo lattice window.