“Ah, my poor back.”
Shen Yu braced himself against the wall, grimacing in pain.
Cheng An’an’s body was delicate and tender, and although Wang Xiulan’s several swats with the broom hadn’t seemed particularly forceful, they had still left him feeling as though every bone in his body had been knocked loose.
Inside the room, Wang Xiulan was still fussing over her son.
“Yu’er, don’t be afraid. Mom is here. If that wicked woman dares lay a finger on you again, I’ll fight her to the death.”
“From now on, you’ll sleep in the same room as Mom. Let’s see how she can bully you then.”
Lying on the bed, Cheng An’an nearly burst out laughing when she heard that.
Well, this worked out perfectly.
Her current body could barely move, and she happened to need someone to take care of her.
Her mother-in-law had volunteered herself. It was practically like someone bringing her a pillow just when she was sleepy.
Shen Yu’s face turned green.
He was a grown man. How could he possibly sleep in the same room as his mother?
Besides, he was Cheng An’an right now.
“Mom, there’s no need.” He forced himself to endure the overwhelming awkwardness and spoke in that soft, delicate female voice. “I know I was wrong. I won’t dare do it again. I’ll take good care of Shen Yu from now on.”
Wang Xiulan eyed her daughter-in-law suspiciously.
Her daughter-in-law seemed a little different today.
But she had already hit her, scolded her, and vented most of her anger.
Seeing the bruises covering her daughter-in-law’s body, she also felt a little sorry for her.
“See that you do.” Wang Xiulan issued a stern warning. “If you dare treat Yu’er badly again, I’ll have your parents take you back. Don’t even think about getting a single cent of that fifty-yuan bride price.”
With that, she lovingly stroked her son’s face on the bed before reluctantly leaving, looking back every few steps.
The room finally fell quiet.
Shen Yu let out a long sigh of relief.
Then he turned his head and met Cheng An’an’s amused, knowing eyes.
“Cheng An’an,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Shh. I’m going to sleep.” Cheng An’an rolled her eyes, then contentedly closed them.
Shen Yu was so furious his liver hurt. It felt like he had thrown a punch at a wad of cotton.
As the night deepened, Shen Yu lay on Cheng An’an’s little bed covered with floral cloth, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
The physical exhaustion was secondary. What really bothered him was the overwhelming rage burning inside him.
Even worse, a powerful urge to urinate suddenly surged through him.
Shen Yu’s face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
He needed to use the bathroom.
But he was currently in a woman’s body.
Just thinking about having to use Cheng An’an’s body to relieve himself—
No.
He would rather die holding it in than do it.
Minute by minute, the pressure in his bladder became increasingly unbearable. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Shen Yu’s forehead.
He glared at Cheng An’an, who was sleeping soundly in the opposite bed, murderous intent practically condensing in his eyes.
It was all this woman’s fault.
He suddenly sat up, strode over to the bed, and reached out to grab Cheng An’an by the throat.
“Switch back!”
Just as his fingers were about to tighten, the world spun.
Shen Yu’s vision went black.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in that paralyzed body.
And standing beside the bed was the woman he had just been choking.
Cheng An’an flexed her slender wrist and looked at him leisurely, a playful smile curling at the corners of her lips.
“What? You wanted to strangle me to death, husband?”
Shen Yu’s pupils contracted sharply.
She could switch their bodies whenever she wanted?!
“The world is such a beautiful place. I even gave you the chance to experience it personally.” Cheng An’an looked deeply wounded. “You don’t thank me for it, and now you actually want to repay my kindness by trying to kill me?”
Shen Yu was so enraged by her shameless twisting of the facts that his entire body trembled. He couldn’t utter a single word.
Just then, Cheng An’an suddenly let out an “Ow” and frowned.
“Strange. Why does my body feel a little…”
She paused to sense what was happening.
Then realization dawned on her, and she gave Shen Yu a teasing wink.
“Husband, do you need to use the bathroom?”
Shen Yu kept a stiff expression on his face.
Cheng An’an deliberately leaned closer, lowering her voice into an intimate whisper.
“Is it because you’re too embarrassed to use my body, so you’re getting angry out of shame and trying to kill me to silence me?”
“You!”
Shen Yu was so furious he nearly spat blood.
“Oh, don’t be shy.” Cheng An’an patted him on the shoulder. “Who are we kidding? We’re husband and wife. We’re one body. What’s mine is yours.”
Before Shen Yu could figure out what she meant, he was once again transported into that fully mobile female body.
Shen Yu: “……”
The bladder emergency he had been barely holding back came crashing over him again.
Shen Yu gritted his teeth. “What exactly do you want?”
“I don’t want anything.” Cheng An’an’s voice was filled with the exasperated tone of someone dealing with a troublesome person. “There’s a chamber pot in the room, isn’t there? Just squat down and go. Biu, and you’re done.”
Biu?
Just imagining the scene was enough to make Shen Yu want to die on the spot.
“So, can you do it or not? If you can’t, I’ll switch us back. I need to use the bathroom too. If you keep hesitating, you might get to experience what it means to have the floodwaters of the Jinshan Temple.”
“Switch back? Really?” Shen Yu asked.
“Of course.” Cheng An’an yawned. “But I’m not doing it for free. Let’s make a deal.”
Shen Yu immediately became wary. “What deal?”
“Simple.” Cheng An’an’s tone was light and cheerful. “I’ll switch us back and save you from your dignity crisis. In exchange, tomorrow you’ll wear my body and go earn work points for me.”
Shen Yu wondered if he had heard her wrong.
“Well?” Cheng An’an urged. “Once you miss this opportunity, there won’t be another one.”
The veins on Shen Yu’s forehead throbbed.
After a long silence, one word finally came out of his mouth with great difficulty.
“…Fine.”
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking,
Wang Xiulan pushed open the door and first glanced at her son, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.
Seeing that his breathing was steady, she finally relaxed.
Then she turned her gaze toward her daughter-in-law, who was already fully dressed and standing on the floor.
Her daughter-in-law seemed a little different today.
It was still the same face, but she was standing perfectly straight, with an indescribable, almost murderous aura hidden in her eyes.
“Ahem.” Wang Xiulan nearly choked on how absurd her own thought was and cleared her throat. “An’an, are you going to work today?”
She had already prepared herself for the woman to throw a tantrum, roll around, and refuse to go.
But, to her surprise, the “Cheng An’an” standing before her merely nodded expressionlessly.
“Yes.”
One word, firm and forceful.
Wang Xiulan froze.
Had the sun risen in the west?
Had this lazy daughter-in-law suddenly undergone a complete change of heart?