Lin Father was nothing but a paper tiger; he shrank back behind Lin Mother.
“My whole body is only worth this one life, but compared to you, I’m still a bit weaker. Without labor, your families would all starve to death.”
“I’m different. If mine’s gone, it’s gone. I’ll use this broken life of mine to match the labor of your families.”
“I really hit the jackpot!”
With that, she threw her head back and laughed uproariously.
Everyone else felt a chill creep down their spines. In small groups, they began to leave.
The village chief, who had experienced countless events, was not frightened, only letting out a sigh.
He had thought she had matured, but she was still just as quick-tempered.
“Miaomiao, let’s go.”
Hearing the village chief, Li Miaomiao wiped the smile off her face. Lin Father and the others were terrified.
“Village Chief, maybe another day? Li Miaomiao seems… abnormal.”
Lin Father shivered.
Li Xiaorou feigned fear on the outside, but inside she was delighted.
Good. If she’s crazy, she can’t steal Lin Dalang away.
The village chief glared at him, voice stern:
“I’m only free today. If you don’t go, all the potatoes in the field will belong to Li Miaomiao.”
They went up the mountain, and the chief marked out the land boundaries.
Lin Dalang’s parents were preparing to go down and fetch manure to fertilize the land when a clear, crisp voice came from behind.
“Wait a moment.”
Lin Mother grew increasingly resentful of Li Miaomiao and glared at her.
“What are you trying to do again?”
Li Miaomiao ignored her, instead bowing politely to the village chief.
“Village Chief, I just got married and don’t have much fertilizer at home. They’ve farmed my land for three years. They should pour in some fertilizer before the potatoes mature, right?”
The chief pondered carefully.
Lin Father jumped in frustration, veins popping on his neck.
“Returning the land and splitting the potatoes with you isn’t enough? Why don’t you just go to heaven?”
Li Miaomiao smiled faintly:
“If you don’t fertilize, that’s fine. I’ll pull out all the potato sprouts myself. My land, my decision.”
She would suffer, but they wouldn’t.
After cutting some trees downhill, Lin Dalang’s parents realized she could really do it.
With no options left, they could only look at the village chief.
“Village Chief, Li Miaomiao is going too far. Please judge for us.”
“Do as Li Miaomiao says. I’ll supervise every time you fertilize.”
The chief stroked his beard, hands behind his back, walking slowly down the mountain.
Lin Father hurried after him, “Village Chief, why are you always siding with her?”
The chief, fearless of trouble or gossip, smiled while walking:
“Her father and I have been friends for decades. What relation do you have with me?”
His words, polite but sharp, left Lin Father speechless.
Li Laotou and the village chief were roughly the same age. Since Li Miaomiao married late, she was only just over eighteen, two years older than the chief’s granddaughter.
Li Xiaorou, hearing this, felt jealous again.
Why should she receive the village chief’s protection?
Watching the chief’s back, Li Miaomiao felt a twinge of nostalgia for her grandfather.
Like the original owner, her family had all gone—she was alone in the world.
She pressed her lips together and called down to the elder walking downhill:
“Village Chief, I’ll return home by another path. Please go slowly.”
Her voice was loud enough that half the village heard, including Xiao Xian.
The chief waved in acknowledgment.
Li Xiaorou had planned to disgust her with last night’s incident, but seeing her run another way, stomped her feet in anger.
Li Miaomiao found the path downhill, cut through dense wild grass with her chopping knife, and before reaching home, cut down a cypress tree.
She dragged it into the courtyard and then gathered some fresh dry grass to lay on the bedboards.
The dried grass carried a warm scent. Once the quilt dried, she could sleep alone.
In the afternoon, Li Miaomiao busied herself in the courtyard, listening to the sound of wood being chopped outside. Xiao Xian pretended not to notice.
Only the sand-like stones in his hands betrayed how annoyed he was by the hammering sounds.
Li Miaomiao made a pair of underarm crutches nearly 1.5 meters high out of cypress. Without chisels, she carved carefully with the chopping knife, using wedges and nails to solve the curved angles.
She tapped in the square wooden supports, and the crutches were complete.
By the time she finished the pair, night had fallen.
If she had a full set of carpentry tools, she could have worked even faster.
Brushing the sawdust off her clothes, she walked to Xiao Xian’s room.
Seeing her holding the crutches, Xiao Xian’s gaze shifted slightly.
She was busy making these…
Li Miaomiao lit the oil lamp in the room. The gradually brightening light cast warm shadows on her face.
She placed the crutches by the bed and smiled gently at the man:
“I’ll help you down. You try it, okay?”
Xiao Xian’s eyes scanned the crutches, glancing at the woman at the bedside.
This was the second time she had spoken to him in this slightly indulgent tone.
“Trying to appease me over the dowry?”
Li Miaomiao paused slightly. She hadn’t made the crutches to please him—she simply saw him struggling with the two sticks and, being skilled, decided to make them.
“I want to get along well with you.”
At this, a faint smile appeared on the man’s face, his alluring voice tinged with subtle amusement.
“Do you understand me?”
“You know how my legs are broken?”
“Besides knowing the name Xiao Xian, you know nothing about me. If you want to stay alive, become a pair of mutually non-interfering spouses with me.”
Li Miaomiao frowned slightly. These words hinted at a hidden secret in him.
“Take your things and leave. Don’t provoke me again.”
His cold, ruthless dismissal did not frighten her.
She had survived delivering coffins through storms; what hadn’t she seen?
“I understand. But I don’t take back what I’ve made. Whether you use it or not is your own business.”
She placed the crutches by the wall and turned to the kitchen to cook.
“I won’t get angry over such trivial things.”
Her dough-kneading gestures weren’t even twice as vigorous as yesterday, showing she truly wasn’t upset.
In the room, Xiao Xian felt a dull ache in his abdomen.
He moved his legs out, relying on minimal sensation to touch his shoes with his toes. Even this tiny movement made his legs feel like thousands of needles piercing him, yet he didn’t even frown.
That old bastard hadn’t fully crippled his legs.
He had to live, neither fully alive nor dead.
Clutching the two small wooden sticks, he didn’t even spare a glance for the crutches beside him.
In the kitchen, Li Miaomiao cut the noodles, scooped water to wash her hands, and noticed the water tank was nearly empty. She grabbed a bucket and went to the well.
Seeing Xiao Xian with the two sticks, she remembered his words, pretending not to see.
She carried the full bucket back to the kitchen.
She cooked two bowls of plain noodles with only pork fat and scallions in the broth.
As yesterday, she set Xiao Xian’s portion in his room, and ate hers outside.
While eating, she thought about how to earn money.
The small wooden chest contained only ten coins—insufficient to buy anything.
The village market was on the first and fifteenth of every month. She planned to make a small item as a trial, then visit the town to see the furniture styles in the carpenter’s shops.
If she could make something more innovative, selling even one piece would guarantee she wouldn’t starve for at least ten to fifteen days.
After washing her feet and entering her room, she saw the quilt folded in the middle, like a dividing line.
“Not necessary, right?”