Shen Hongcui, carrying a hoe, emerged from the fields on the other side. When she spotted Li Xuelian and her family, she didn’t even bother to greet them. Instead, she grabbed Shen Ling and stormed off in a huff.
Li Xuelian curled her lips dismissively, paying no mind. With a cheerful smile, she nudged her son as she watched Jiang Yingying up ahead, cradling the rabbit. “Why are you trailing behind me? Go chat with your wife!”
Shen Yao naturally couldn’t reveal that they were bound to divorce sooner or later, so he quickened his pace to walk side by side with Jiang Yingying.
Jiang Yingying turned her head to look at him and smoothly offered a compliment, “Brother Yao, you’re so skilled at farm work! I can’t even lift that hoe.”
Shen Yao glanced at her slender arms. “Don’t you do any work at your own home?”
Jiang Yingying thought back. The original owner of this body had three older brothers and two older sisters, making her the youngest in the family. With a large and prosperous clan, and her father serving as the village chief, she had been born fair and delicate. Her mother doted on her excessively, which fostered Jiang Yingying’s arrogant, pampered nature and her single-minded ambition to climb the social ladder.
“I’ve delivered meals before,” Jiang Yingying replied honestly. Then, extending her pale, delicate hands, she bit her lip timidly and said, “Brother Yao, I was just born with little strength. Please don’t look down on me.”
Shen Yao fell silent again. While there were plenty of slender girls in the countryside, he had never encountered one who was naturally too weak to work—and of all people, she had to be his wife. How could they not divorce?
His family’s circumstances were different. Even if he could eventually earn money through his own efforts, someone still needed to take care of the household. His mother was growing older, his father’s health was poor, his younger sister would marry someday, and there were two young nephews to consider…
This Jiang Yingying was as fragile as a wilted flower, her waist slimmer than his thigh, excessively delicate, and, most importantly, she had no idea how to manage a household. Someone like her was utterly incompatible with his family. Even if she changed her temperament, what good would it do? She couldn’t shoulder the burdens of his rundown home.
Moreover, he genuinely couldn’t stand this type of fragile woman who complained of exhaustion at the slightest effort. If Shen Yao were to marry in the future, he would only choose someone capable and hardworking.
They were simply not meant to walk the same path…
The two walked home in silence, leaving Li Xuelian anxious but helpless. Why couldn’t her son see the light? How could he remain so cold toward such a lovely young wife?
By the time they entered the house, the sky was already dim.
Shen Qinghong had boiled water and was preparing to cook noodles. Surprised to see the large rabbit in Jiang Yingying’s arms, he asked, “Where did that come from?”
Li Xuelian answered with a laugh, “Yingying found it! Isn’t it strange? That rabbit seemed to recognize her—it just closed its eyes and leaped right into her arms!” She added, “In all my years, I’ve never seen anything so peculiar!”
Jiang Yingying tilted her head and smiled. “Mother, it must have seen how kind and beautiful you are, just like the Goddess of Mercy, and deliberately came to fill your belly!”
Li Xuelian laughed until her eyes nearly disappeared, covering her mouth as she exclaimed in delight. Was her daughter-in-law’s mouth coated in honey?
Shen Xiaoyun ran over with a cage. “Sister-in-law, put it in here!”
After an afternoon together, she had finally grown comfortable calling her “sister-in-law.”
Jiang Yingying shook her head. “Rabbits are hard to raise, and they easily fall ill in the summer. Let’s just eat it tonight.”
“What?” Li Xuelian’s eyes widened. She had only mentioned eating rabbit meat in the fields to provoke Shen Hongcui—she never actually intended to follow through.
This rabbit must weigh at least three or four catties—it could be traded for quite a few things in the city!
How could we just eat it ourselves?
Jiang Yingying stuffed the rabbit into Shen Yao’s arms. “Brother Yao, you handle the butchering. The bunny is so adorable, I can’t bear to do it.”
You can’t bear to kill it, but you can bear to eat it?
Shen Yao sighed silently as he took it. He glanced at Li Xuelian and said calmly, “Mother, if she wants to eat it, let her.”
Li Xuelian snapped back to reality. Yes, this rabbit belonged solely to Jiang Yingying.
No matter how much it pained her, she had no right to decide what to do with it.
Shen Qinghong didn’t say anything either. He coughed a couple of times and turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll go boil some more water.”
Only Shen Xiaoyun couldn’t hold back and cried out, “Sister-in-law, if we eat the rabbit, we won’t be able to trade it for money!”
Father’s health isn’t good, and we have to scrape together medicine money from our food budget…
Although she was tempted, buying medicine for Father had to come first.
Li Xuelian shot Shen Xiaoyun a stern glare. “Quiet! If we don’t eat the rabbit, what else should we do with it? Go help your brother with the butchering!”
Jiang Yingying understood Shen Xiaoyun’s meaning perfectly well, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she changed the subject. “Mother, why don’t you rest inside for a bit? I’ll go check on the kitchen.”
Shen Xiaoyun let out an unwilling huff, then angrily ran back to her room.
Li Xuelian smoothed her hair and sighed inwardly. They had eaten their daughter-in-law’s snacks in the morning, her dried meat at noon, and now they were eyeing the rabbit for dinner.
How could they live with themselves?
Although the Shen family was poor, they weren’t starving. What kind of principle was it to take advantage of their daughter-in-law like this?
Wen Qin and Wen Cong played with the rabbit for a while. Being children, their hearts were softer. With tears welling in their eyes, they looked at Shen Yao and pleaded, “Uncle, can we not eat it? It’s so well-behaved!”
Shen Yao’s voice softened. “Be good, you two. Go inside and play.”
Wen Qin shook his head. “Uncle, we don’t want to eat the rabbit.”
Wen Cong chimed in tearfully, “No eating, no eating.”
Shen Yao glanced toward the kitchen, then set the rabbit down and gently stroked it. “But we can’t keep it alive, and being trapped in a cage would make it unhappy too.”
Wen Qin crouched down. “But I like it.”
Shen Yao smiled. “How about this—in a little while, Uncle will get you a puppy to raise, okay?”
“A puppy?”
Wen Qin’s eyes lit up. “Like the big yellow dog at Da Zhuang’s house?”
“Yes, even more impressive than his.”
The two children immediately cheered up, completely forgetting about the rabbit in their excitement. They rushed off to find Li Xuelian. “Grandma, Uncle said he’s going to give us a big dog!”
Shen Yao chuckled to himself, then with a swift movement of his sickle, cleanly dispatched the rabbit.
In the kitchen, Jiang Yingying curled her lips into a faint smile. She had thought the two little rascals would cry over the rabbit, but a mere mention of a dog made them forget all about it.
Ah, so young and already showing signs of being heartbreakers…
The family had little in the way of seasonings besides salt, but Shen Yao had somehow gathered some medicinal herbs and tossed them into the pot. A rich, savory aroma immediately wafted out…
Next door, Aunt Shen twitched her nose. “Old man, did you hide some meat?”
Shen Sanping grunted. “Have you gone mad craving meat? Where would I get any meat to eat?”
Aunt Shen sniffed the air again, harder this time, then followed the scent and turned her gaze toward the Shen Qinghong household next door. She frowned in confusion and shook her head.
“Impossible, impossible. Where is this meat smell coming from?”
Shen Sanping caught the scent too. He stood up, leaned against the wall for a moment, then declared with certainty, “It’s from Qinghong’s house!”
“Where would they get meat in their household?”
Old Mrs. Shen still didn’t believe it, but the aroma grew increasingly strong, making her restless. “Is it really from their place?”
Shen Sanping wiped his mouth. “Must be from the bride’s dowry, right? I heard from the eldest of the Jiang family that Jiang Yingying’s family stuffed that girl with plenty of nice things!”
Half-convinced, Old Mrs. Shen sighed and sat back down. “She may be pretty, but what a pity she doesn’t know how to manage a household!”