Before dawn had even broken, Su Wanwan was already awake. The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was to reach out and check under Pei Changfeng’s nose to see if he was still breathing.
“Great, he’s still alive!”
Su Wanwan let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank heavens, thank heavens. As long as he’s alive, that’s all that matters.”
She stared at Pei Changfeng’s faintly rising and falling chest, unable to suppress the smile spreading across her face. Pei Changfeng was the first person who had survived the wedding night and made it to the next day with her.
Su Wanwan now genuinely believed that Pei Changfeng and she were a match made in heaven. Only he hadn’t been “cursed” to death by her! If this wasn’t a perfect match, what was?
With this good news, Su Wanwan felt energized for her chores. She sprang up and hurried to the kitchen to cook two bowls of pumpkin porridge. As usual, Pei Changfeng got the half-bowl of mushy porridge, while she ate the remaining bowl and a half.
After breakfast, she rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out damp, moldy bedsheets and quilt covers. Squatting in the yard, she washed them and hung them up to dry. She also draped the thin quilt she had retrieved the day before over a clothesline to air out, planning to replace the bedding Pei Changfeng was currently using in the afternoon—she had noticed it smelled musty yesterday.
The only problem was that there wasn’t even a stool in the yard. She would have to go to Pei’s Eldest Uncle’s house later to “borrow” a decent stool.
Pei’s Eldest Aunt had been watching from her doorway since early morning, waiting for Su Wanwan to come and announce the funeral. But when she stepped outside, she saw Su Wanwan busily washing and scrubbing in the yard. Sensing something was off, she approached and asked, “Wanwan, how is Changfeng today?”
“He’s doing just fine,” Su Wanwan replied without looking up, wiping sweat from her forehead. “He can eat and sleep. He might even wake up in a couple of days.”
Wake up!? How could that be!
Pei’s Eldest Aunt didn’t believe it. She rushed into the room to check Pei Changfeng’s breathing and saw that he was clean. For a moment, she felt dizzy and disoriented. What was going on? Shouldn’t Pei Changfeng have been cursed to death? Could it be that using poison to fight poison had actually worked?
“You must be very happy too, Eldest Aunt,” Su Wanwan said with a bright, smiling gaze. “We’re out of oil at home. Could you spare us a little? I’ll return it to you once Changfeng wakes up.”
Pei’s Eldest Aunt’s head was buzzing. Hearing Su Wanwan ask for oil on top of everything else, she couldn’t contain her anger. “Are you a beggar?”
“Yes,” Su Wanwan replied, adopting a pitiful tone. “I’m practically no different from a beggar. I’m just begging Eldest Aunt for a bite to eat. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to go to the Village Chief’s house first to borrow some.”
Pei’s Eldest Aunt’s face turned pale, then flushed with anger. Finally, she resigned herself and said, “Follow me.”
She had no choice but to give in. If this little shrew really went to the Village Chief, he would surely scold her.
Pei’s Eldest Aunt couldn’t help but keep staring at Su Wanwan. She really was a poisonous one… capable of even reviving the dead.
Su Wanwan found a large jar in the house and picked up a basket, trailing behind Pei’s Eldest Aunt.
A villager spotted her and asked curiously, “Pei Xiucai’s wife, where are you going?”
“My Eldest Aunt feels sorry for me, seeing that I have nothing to eat. She asked me to fetch a jar of oil and said there are plenty of vegetables at her house for me to take.”
The villager who asked, Pei Daniu, looked shocked. “Really?”
Su Wanwan nudged Pei’s Eldest Aunt. “Of course! She’s my husband’s own aunt!”
Pei’s Eldest Aunt forced a stiff smile. “Yes… yes…”
She really wanted to shut this wretched girl’s mouth! When had she ever said there were plenty of vegetables to give her?
Thanks to Su Wanwan's promotion, half the village soon learned that Pei's Eldest Aunt was going to give Su Wanwan oil and vegetables, and everyone praised Pei's Eldest Aunt for doing things properly.
Pei's Eldest Aunt, holding back her anger, ladled two scoops of oil for Su Wanwan. Seeing Su Wanwan still holding out the jar, her heart ached. "No more, no more! My family won't have any left to eat!"
Su Wanwan wasn't about to indulge her. She snatched the jar, scooped out a large spoonful, and scraped it clean before handing it back, smiling sweetly. "Eldest Aunt, you're so kind."
Her smile was as sweet as honey, but Pei's Eldest Aunt nearly fainted from heartache. That much oil would have lasted their family two months!
"And the eggplants," Su Wanwan said swiftly, grabbing eggplants and stuffing them into her basket. "Eldest Aunt, your eggplants are grown so well. How do you do it? Teach me sometime, won't you? I just don't know if my Changfeng likes them or not."
Pei's Eldest Aunt shrieked, "You're robbing us!"
Su Wanwan blinked. "How can this be called robbery? This is just mutual help between relatives."
With that, she bent down to pick up taro from the ground. Pei's Eldest Aunt tried to stop her, but Su Wanwan grabbed two, then went to the yard to pick loofahs. Pei's Eldest Aunt tried to snatch them back, but Su Wanwan was quick—she even reached into the chicken coop and took three eggs!
"Robbery! Robbery!"
Pei Yaozu came out at the noise and, seeing it was Su Wanwan, stopped his mother. "Mother, Sister-in-law has suffered enough! Just let her take it!"
Pei's Eldest Aunt glanced at her son, then at Su Wanwan, who had even emptied their salt jar, and shrieked again. Was this Su Wanwan a bandit?!
Salt… salt!
As Su Wanwan reached the door, she didn't forget to thank Pei Yaozu. "Thanks to you, Cousin."
Pei Yaozu blushed. Sister-in-law was so pretty. If only she were his wife—what a waste for her to be married to Pei Changfeng.
Ignoring Pei's Eldest Aunt's wails and curses, Su Wanwan stepped outside and loudly began praising how good Pei's Eldest Aunt had been to her. The villagers, seeing her basket full of goods, joined in the praise.
"That's right, Changfeng has been sick for so long, and it's all thanks to Pei's eldest family taking care of them."
"Indeed, it's always the closest relatives you can rely on."
"Exactly, exactly. There are no grudges between relatives that can't be resolved overnight."
Pei's Eldest Uncle, squeezed among the crowd, overheard this and returned home suspiciously. As soon as he entered, he saw Pei's Eldest Aunt cursing heaven, earth, and Su Wanwan.
Seeing him return, she yelled, "That little hussy robbed us of everything!"
Pei's Eldest Uncle's face fell. "Didn't you give it to her?"
"Have I gone mad, giving her all that?!"
Pei Yaozu tried to smooth things over. "Sister-in-law and her family are having a hard time. It's only right for us to help them out."
Pei's Eldest Uncle wasn't most concerned about the goods. He asked, "How is he doing?"
Pei's Eldest Aunt's expression darkened further. "Still alive! I told you that matchmaker was lying. That Su Wanwan doesn't bring misfortune to her husband at all! Su Wanwan's stepmother is just a swindler, trying to marry off that little slut as fast as possible."
"She doesn't bring misfortune?" Pei Yaozu perked up. That was good news. Once Pei Changfeng died, he could marry Su Wanwan. It was perfect timing—he was about to take a wife anyway.
"Wait a little longer," Pei's Eldest Uncle said in a low voice. "Don't rush. Give it two more days. Even if he doesn't die, I have a way to finish him off."
"If she doesn't die soon, I'll have to go find that Widow Liu and have a word with her, tell her to take this hussy back!" Pei's Eldest Aunt, clutching the salt jar, was so furious her face was contorted.
Su Wanwan returned home, and it wasn't yet time for lunch. Concerned about nourishing Pei Changfeng's health, she steamed a bowl of egg custard for him to eat first, planning to feed him a second meal after she finished her own lunch.
She wiped Pei Changfeng's thin arm with a pained heart. "Your uncle's family is truly despicable, letting you end up like this. If you hadn't married me, just think what would have become of you."
Then she brightened a little. "It seems I'm not some husband-cursed jinx after all—I must be your lucky star instead. Please wake up soon, I promise I'll treat you well!"
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Pei Changfeng's eyelashes seemed to tremble slightly.
Su Wanwan stared for a while but couldn't discern anything definite. She dressed him properly and, as if coaxing a child, gently stroked his face. "Be good and wait. I'll cook you some meat congee this afternoon."
Even without a response, Su Wanwan was still in good spirits—after all, this was the first man she had managed to keep alive!
In the afternoon, the sun was scorching. Su Wanwan laid out a quilt on the ground for Pei Changfeng to rest on first, then replaced the nearly moldy bedding on the bed. She took it outside to air in the sun, swapping it for the clean, sun-dried bedding she had washed that day.
After some thought, while setting up the bed curtains, Su Wanwan boiled water in the pot, planning to take advantage of the good weather in the afternoon to give Pei Changfeng a proper bath!
"Don't be afraid. You'll sleep much more comfortably once you're clean."
Su Wanwan tossed his clothes onto a chair and gently wiped his cheeks with a damp cloth.
"My dear husband, my good boy, you have no idea how you've started to smell," Su Wanwan chattered to herself. "Even men should keep clean, or I won't share a bed with you in the future."
The water in the pot had already come to a boil. Just as Su Wanwan had mixed warm water and returned to the room, before she could even pull down Pei Changfeng's pants, she heard a woman's sharp scream from the courtyard.
"You shameless vixen, let go of my cousin this instant!!"