“Aunt Zeng—”
A young woman with thick brows and bright eyes stood at the entrance.
She carried a bamboo basket filled with freshly steamed buns, still releasing wisps of hot steam.
Dressed in a floral blouse and black trousers, she froze the moment she saw Qiao Qingyan, surprise flashing across her face.
Zeng Yumei limped out of the kitchen with an apron tied around her waist. Seeing the visitor, she smiled warmly.
“Chunya, what brings you here?”
Chunya’s gaze swept over the bright red Double Happiness decorations plastered across the courtyard windows. The smile on her lips stiffened.
“My mother steamed some jujube buns and asked me to bring you some.”
“Your mother is so thoughtful.”
Zeng Yumei accepted the basket, carried the buns into the kitchen, then returned the empty basket.
Stuffing a handful of candy into Chunya’s hands, she began, “Chunya, this is your…”
She suddenly faltered.
Her daughter-in-law was only nineteen, five years younger than Jinye. Chunya, on the other hand, was older than Qingyan. Calling Qingyan “sister-in-law” somehow felt awkward.
After thinking it over, she introduced them instead.
“This is Qingyan, your Brother Jinye’s wife.”
“Qingyan, this is Wang Chunya from the Wang family down the road.”
Chunya said nothing.
Her lips curled downward ever so slightly as she gave Qingyan a reluctant nod.
Qingyan wondered if she’d imagined it.
Chunya’s eyes looked slightly red, like those of a rabbit.
“Chunya, let me go check on the pot. Don’t leave yet. Stay and have lunch with us.”
Unaware of Chunya’s strange mood, Zeng Yumei patted her shoulder and returned to the kitchen.
Silence settled over the courtyard.
Chunya spoke first.
“Your name is Qiao Qingyan? Your older sister is Chen Xiaomeng?”
The words Chen Xiaomeng had once told her while they picked beans together resurfaced in her mind.
“My younger sister grew up in the city. She looks down on country people and thinks the countryside is filthy.”
“She’s lazy. She never lifts a finger at home, always ordering my mother around and finding fault with everything.”
“Because she’s pretty, she’s always flirting with several men in the village.”
“She secretly wears my clothes, treats me like a thorn in her side, and whenever she does something wrong, she pins the blame on me…”
Qingyan had no desire to mention Chen Xiaomeng.
Nor did she acknowledge her as her sister anymore.
In a colder voice, she replied,
“Chen Xiaomeng is indeed my stepmother’s daughter, but she isn’t my sister.”
She stood straight and poised, her tone calm yet distant.
Just like Xiaomeng said, Chunya thought.
She’s proud and arrogant.
Her sister and stepmother treated her so well, yet she’s denying the relationship entirely.
And Aunt Zeng has trouble with her legs. She’s cooking alone in the kitchen, but this woman doesn’t even offer to help. She’s just sitting here waiting to be served.
It’s only her first day after getting married. Who knows how she’ll bully Aunt Zeng in the future?
They’ve practically brought home a spoiled princess.
She looked Qingyan up and down.
A pink dress.
White lace socks.
Skin as fair and smooth as fresh tofu.
Chunya wasn’t dark-skinned herself, but standing beside Qingyan made her feel dull by comparison.
Most of all…
That beautiful face.
Graceful.
Gentle.
Lively.
Even she couldn’t look away.
She really has the face of a fox spirit.
If Brother Jinye saw her… she’d steal his soul.
The thought made Chunya feel even worse.
After another awkward silence, Qingyan couldn’t think of anything to say to someone she had just met.
Fortunately, Chunya simply muttered a response, called toward the kitchen to say goodbye to Zeng Yumei, and left the Xiao family home.
Before long, lunch was ready.
It was the most satisfying meal Qingyan had eaten since returning to the countryside two years ago.
Braised chicken.
Stir-fried greens.
Loofah soup.
A table filled with fragrant white rice and delicious dishes.
When steaming the rice, Zeng Yumei had placed slices of pumpkin on top. The pumpkin became sweet and tender as it cooked, leaving the rice infused with its gentle fragrance.
In Qingyan’s distant memories…
Her own mother had always cooked rice that way.
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?” Zeng Yumei asked expectantly.
Qingyan set down her chopsticks, sat up properly, and answered sincerely,
“It’s delicious, Auntie.”
Zeng Yumei beamed from ear to ear, continually placing food into Qingyan’s bowl.
The two tenderest drumsticks on the chicken—
One went to Qingyan.
The other to Duoduo.
The old hen had been raised for over a year. Originally, Zeng Yumei had planned to keep it longer before selling it for money.
But today was her new daughter-in-law’s first day in the family.
How could she let her eat such a plain meal?
So she grit her teeth and cooked the precious chicken instead.
Looking down at the mountain of food piling up in her bowl, Qingyan hurriedly said,
“Auntie, please eat too. Don’t keep serving me. I won’t be able to finish all this.”
Duoduo sat on her little stool, enthusiastically stuffing rice and vegetables into her mouth.
After finishing one bowl, she immediately asked for another.
What an amazing appetite, Qingyan thought.
She herself had always eaten very little.
Half a bowl of rice with a few bites of vegetables was enough.
Back at the Qiao family home, whenever Chen Xiuying cooked meat, she always served her own son and daughter first, then Qiao Nianshan.
If Qingyan’s chopsticks even moved slightly toward the meat dish, Chen Xiuying’s sharp glare would immediately stab toward her.
It wasn’t that Qingyan craved the meat.
What hurt…
Was being ignored.
Neglected.
Excluded.
Now…
A mother-in-law she’d only known for a short time was caring for her with such simple, wholehearted kindness.
Qingyan’s nose suddenly stung.
Warmth spread through her heart.
She picked up a piece of meat and placed it into Zeng Yumei’s bowl.
“Auntie,” she said softly, “let’s eat together.”
Meanwhile, the moment Chunya stepped out of the Xiao family’s gate, her eyes filled with tears.
She wiped them with the back of her hand as she trudged home.
Her mother, Qingmei, saw her return and asked,
“Did you deliver the jujube buns to Aunt Zeng?”
“Mhm.”
“And what does Jinye’s new wife look like? Is she pretty?”
“You’ll know if you go see her yourself.”
Pretty?
She looked like a temptress.
Irritated, Chunya kicked the stool blocking her way and went straight into her room.
“I’m busy, otherwise I’d have gone myself…”
Watching her daughter disappear, Qingmei called out,
“Who upset you?”
“No one!”
With a loud bang, Chunya slammed the door shut, threw herself onto the bed, and cried as tears streamed through her fingers.
“This child… getting more temperamental every day…”
Qingmei muttered to herself before returning to the kitchen.
Chunya skipped lunch entirely.
She cried alone on her bed the entire afternoon.
Near dusk, her father, Wang Jianguo, returned from the fields carrying a hoe.
From inside her room, Chunya heard her parents talking in the courtyard.
“I ran into Jinye on the road today,” Wang Jianguo said while washing his hands.
“Oh? It’s his wedding day. Wasn’t he supposed to stay home with his bride?”
Wang Jianguo shook his head.
“I saw him heading to Zhijie’s house. He said he’d be staying there tonight.”
“What?”
Qingmei looked stunned.
“It’s his wedding night, and his bride’s waiting at home. He’s not going back?”
“How would I know?” Wang Jianguo replied roughly. “Quit asking and serve the food. I’m starving.”
Qingmei curled her lips and headed for the kitchen.
Then she shouted toward the bedroom,
“Chunya! Come eat! Stop lying in bed all day!”
“Honestly, the older you get, the lazier you become. Sleeping from morning till night and not even getting up for meals…”
The bedroom door flew open.
Chunya hurried out and looked anxiously at her father.
“Dad, did you say Brother Jinye is sleeping at Brother Zhijie’s house tonight?”
“That’s right.”
Looking up, Wang Jianguo noticed her swollen eyes.
“What’s wrong with your eyes? Why are they so red?”
“It’s nothing. They were itchy, so I rubbed them.”
She stepped closer and couldn’t help asking,
“But today is his wedding day. Why won’t he go home?”
Wang Jianguo answered casually,
“When a man refuses to go home on his wedding night, it’s obvious he’s unhappy with the marriage. He doesn’t want to face his new wife.”
The moment she heard those words, Chunya’s gloomy face instantly brightened.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Oblivious to her reaction, Wang Jianguo pinched some tea leaves into a bowl.
“Go fetch the thermos from the kitchen.”
“Okay!”
Chunya answered cheerfully.
The sun soon dipped below the horizon.
Darkness settled over Shidianzi Village.
Country people went to bed early.
After supper and a bit of tidying up, most households had already turned in by seven or eight o’clock.
Having finished her bath, Qiao Qingyan sat alone in the carefully decorated bridal room.
The room wasn’t large.
There was a heated brick kang bed covered with several brand-new quilts, including the bedding she’d brought from home.
Against the wall stood a newly built wooden wardrobe, where she’d already put away her clothes.
The room smelled clean.
Fresh newspapers lined the walls.
Bright red Double Happiness characters decorated the windows.
A small pot of elegant orchids sat on the windowsill.
On the inside wall was a doorway leading to another small room.
Earlier that day she’d asked her mother-in-law about it.
Zeng Yumei had smiled and told her,
“That used to be Jinye’s room. Feel free to look around.”
It was already this late.
It seemed Xiao Jinye wouldn’t be coming home tonight.
Slipping into her slippers, Qingyan gently lifted the dark blue floral curtain.
The adjoining room was even smaller.
It also had a small kang bed, its bedding folded with military precision.
Several changes of clothes rested neatly beside it.
On the small square table by the window sat a few handmade clay dolls, probably Duoduo’s toys.
Then—
With her unusually keen sense of smell, Qingyan immediately caught a lingering masculine scent in the room.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
Instead…
It was fresh.
Clean.
She touched her warm cheeks.
What’s wrong with me?
Why am I snooping around his bedroom?
It’s just where some smelly man sleeps.
What’s there to look at?
She quickly lowered the curtain, returned to her own kang, and lay down.
A thin quilt rested over her slender waist.
Her rosy lips and lotus-white arms peeked from beneath it, while her long hair spread lazily across the pillow.
Before long, drowsiness overtook her.
Qingyan drifted into sleep.
What no one knew…
Was that inside Jiang Runsheng’s bridal chamber in Shidianzi Village…
An entirely different scene was unfolding.