Lin Xiyue put on the worn cloth shoes that exposed her toes and looked down at the patch-covered clothes she was wearing. She sighed again, feeling that even beggars might not be as miserable as she was.
The Lu family only had three dilapidated thatched huts. They leaked when it rained in summer and let the wind in during winter. With such harsh living conditions, Lin Xiyue truly didn’t know how they had managed to survive.
“Mother, look! I caught a rabbit today! The trap Big Brother taught me really works. I also dug up a lot of wild vegetables and picked some wild fruits!”
Just as Lin Xiyue stepped outside, she heard a boy’s bright and cheerful voice. Looking up, she saw a plainly dressed young man showing off his harvest to Mother Lu.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, the young man suddenly turned around.
When Lin Xiyue met those bright, obsidian-like eyes, she unconsciously lost focus for a moment.
What a radiant youth—like the blazing sun. His face was almost too delicate, like a pearl fallen into the mud: even though surrounded by filth, its brilliance could not be hidden.
Lin Xiyue was not someone who lacked worldly experience. In her previous life she had seen countless handsome men and young idols, but someone this pure and clean—this was truly the first time she had seen one.
And in such a shabby environment at that.
“So this is the wife Mother found for Big Brother and Second Brother?”
Lu Yanqiu tilted his head slightly as he looked at Lin Xiyue. In his mind, Lin Xiyue was a wife his mother had brought for his two older brothers, not for him. After all, he was still young and didn’t want to compete with them.
Mother Lu shot him a reproachful glance and said sternly, “Third son, you promised your mother back then. Are you going to go back on your word now?”
Thinking of what his mother had said when she was bedridden with illness, Lu Yanqiu fell silent.
There were three brothers in their family. Since their father died early, their mother had raised them alone.
Originally, the eldest brother possessed great strength and was an excellent hunter. In order to support Lu Yanqiu and the second brother in their studies so they could pass the imperial examinations, he had taken on the responsibility of supporting the family.
But because the family was poor, even at twenty-two he had not been able to marry a wife.
Last year, while hunting in the mountains to earn money, he encountered a black bear. His waist was injured during the attack, leaving the lower half of his body paralyzed. He had been bedridden ever since.
The second brother blamed himself deeply and had almost given up studying. To save money for his second brother’s education, Lu Yanqiu had already chosen to drop out of school.
Now the family survived mainly on what he gathered from the mountains—digging wild vegetables and chopping firewood.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t as strong as his eldest brother nor as talented in studies as his second brother. Even small tasks like chopping firewood were difficult for him.
Some time ago, their mother fell seriously ill. At that time they all thought she might not survive. The fact that she had never managed to find wives for them had become a deep regret in her heart.
She wanted to see her three sons married before she died, which was why she had come up with the idea of them taking a shared wife.
Of course, she knew it was somewhat embarrassing, but it was still better than letting her sons remain bachelors their entire lives.
Looking at their gravely ill mother, the three brothers couldn’t bring themselves to refuse.
What they hadn’t expected was that she would act so quickly and actually find a matchmaker to bring a bride home.
Those two taels of silver had been borrowed from the old family house after she begged them repeatedly.
Lu Yanqiu looked at the frail girl before him and didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t just stand there. Xiaoyue is still injured—help her inside.”
Mother Lu lightly slapped Lu Yanqiu’s arm. Without saying anything, he walked over and prepared to support Lin Xiyue.
“I’m fine. No need to help.”
Lin Xiyue waved her hand awkwardly.
Lu Yanqiu glanced at her curiously but didn’t say anything more.
After entering the main room, Lu Yanqiu and Mother Lu placed the food on the table.
Mother Lu smiled at them. “You two start eating first. I’ll take your eldest brother’s food to him.”
She placed some stir-fried wild vegetables into a small bowl, took a coarse cornbread bun, and went into the next room.
Lin Xiyue glanced at that room. She couldn’t help feeling curious. Could it be that the eldest brother had some health problem that prevented him from coming out to eat?
As she was quietly observing, Lu Yanqiu spoke first.
“My eldest brother injured his waist while hunting in the mountains, so he’s bedridden for now and can’t come out to eat.”
When mentioning this, a trace of sadness appeared in his eyes.
“Did you see a doctor? What did the doctor say?”
Perhaps out of a doctor’s instinct, Lin Xiyue was curious about the injury and asked another question.
Lu Yanqiu didn’t hide anything.
“The doctor said his lumbar spine was injured. Treating it would cost a lot of money, and even then there’s no guarantee it would heal. Our family is poor, so we don’t have the money to treat him right now.”
As he said this, Lu Yanqiu seemed even more self-blaming, as if his elder brother’s lack of treatment was entirely his fault.
And in truth, he felt it was—he blamed himself for being too useless.
“Things will get better. Once you have money in the future, you can treat your elder brother.”
Lin Xiyue comforted him.
Lu Yanqiu nodded.
“Yes. Once my second brother passes the exams, we’ll have money to treat Big Brother.”
The Lu family’s second son, Lu Wenyuan, was already nineteen years old. If it weren’t for the fact that their family was so poor and they started studying late, someone with Lu Wenyuan’s talent would not still have failed to pass the xiucai exam at nineteen.
Lin Xiyue chewed the coarse grain bun that scratched her throat. It tasted like chewing wax.
Just as Mother Lu came out from the inner room, a sound came from the courtyard.
Lu Wenyuan had returned.
It was dusk. When the tall figure in a plain blue robe stepped into the courtyard under the golden glow of the setting sun, Lin Xiyue felt as if she were looking at a person straight out of a painting.
What kind of genes did the Lu family have?
It was already surprising that the third brother was so handsome—but how could the second brother also be so extraordinarily good-looking?
Even the plain blue robe couldn’t conceal his elegant beauty. His figure was tall and straight, his fingers long and slender, and his features were cold yet refined.
He was completely different from the rough country man she had imagined.
If all three brothers were of this quality…
Lin Xiyue suddenly felt that being a shared wife might not be so bad after all.
Seeing the looks of the second and third brothers only made her even more curious about the eldest brother.
“Second Brother, you’re back! Come eat.”
Lu Yanqiu quickly stood up to get him a bowl and chopsticks.
Lu Wenyuan looked at the unfamiliar girl in the room and immediately understood the situation.
However, in his view, this girl should belong to his eldest brother.
Although they had agreed to their mother’s idea of taking a shared wife, in his heart the Lu family’s first wife belonged to the eldest brother.
“Xiaoyue, this is my second son, Wenyuan. The one in the room is the eldest, Jinghuai. And this is the third, Yanqiu. Their names were all given by their teacher. Our family may be poor, but all three of them are good boys. Especially Wenyuan—he studies very hard. Perhaps he’ll even pass the xiucai exam someday.”
“Although marrying into our family has wronged you, don’t worry—they will treat you well in the future. If you’re not used to it yet, you can call me Auntie for now.”
Lin Xiyue glanced at Lu Yanqiu and Lu Wenyuan.
No wonder their names didn’t sound like those of ordinary villagers—it turned out they had been given by a teacher.
“Mother, since I’ve already married into this family, we’re family now. Don’t worry—I will take good care of you in the future.”
After all, you gave birth to these two handsome husbands—how could I possibly treat you poorly?
Mother Lu had never expected Lin Xiyue to accept them so quickly, and her heart filled with relief and gratitude.