“Eldest daughter-in-law, go boil a bowl of ginger sugar water for Fourth.”
“Mother, my Lang’er needs someone to watch over him while he studies. I’ll go keep an eye on him—let Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law do the boiling.”
Granny Zhou shot Wang Shi another vicious glare.
She went to the kitchen herself to boil the ginger sugar water.
Meanwhile,
once everyone had left, Lin Shiqi closed the door and doubled over laughing, unable to straighten up.
“Zhou Lang, I underestimated you. Hahaha, your acting is something else—you played the simpleton to perfection.”
Zhou Lang turned his back to her directly, refusing to acknowledge her.
“Laugh yourself to death, why don’t you!” As if he didn’t know who he was doing this for.
Ungrateful thing.
Lin Shiqi genuinely found it hilarious.
She never imagined Zhou Lang would be like this.
A Zhou Lang she’d never seen before!
“Alright, alright, I won’t laugh at you anymore.”
She still couldn’t help herself and laughed for quite a while longer.
A moment later, Granny Zhou came over to deliver the ginger sugar water to Zhou Lang, and Zhou Lang put on another performance for her on the spot—a little skit demanding his wife feed him.
Lin Shiqi was about to burst from holding in her laughter.
Granny Zhou’s face was black as coal.
Her gaze was like knives, stabbing into Lin Shiqi.
Lin Shiqi pretended not to see.
After drinking the ginger sugar water, Zhou Lang felt considerably better.
Acting was one thing, but actually making himself sick would be a poor trade—this was ancient times, after all, with poor medical conditions. So the ginger sugar water had to be drunk.
Granny Zhou was still planted in the room, and Zhou Lang had nothing to say to her, so he pretended to close his eyes and fall asleep.
Once he was “asleep,” Granny Zhou found an excuse to shoo Lin Shiqi out to do chores.
“Fourth is asleep—I’ll watch over him. You go outside and wash the clothes…”
Lin Shiqi answered with a crisp, cheerful yes.
She wasn’t afraid of hard work.
As long as she wasn’t being sold, that was fine.
She was naturally capable with her hands—there wasn’t a household chore she didn’t know how to do. This kind of light work wouldn’t kill her. She’d treat it as exercise after a full meal.
And honestly, at noon she’d scooped out two people’s worth of food, and just to spite Zhou Lang, she’d eaten every last bite herself. She was stuffed. Doing some chores would help her digest.
She could also take the chance to scout out the surrounding terrain.
If the Zhou family really did sell her off, at least she wouldn’t be running blind.
In the book, it was written that she, the child bride, would only be sold after Zhou Lao Si died.
Zhou Lao Si hadn’t died now, but she couldn’t guarantee that Granny Zhou wouldn’t be egged on by the male lead’s birth mother, Wang Shi, to sell her.
That was hard to say.
In the book, Granny Zhou found this child bride Lin Shiqi utterly displeasing in every way.
There was a small river in Taohua Village called the Peach Blossom River. Peach trees lined both banks, and at this time of year, only bare branches remained.
But one could imagine how beautiful it would be when the flowers bloomed in spring.
The villagers of Taohua Village all lived along both sides of this river.
The river wound its way through, and the old Zhou household sat at the middle stretch, with neighbors on all sides…
If they tried to flee, all the Zhou family would have to do was raise their voice once.
The neighbors on all sides would probably come out to help catch them…
Thinking about this, Lin Shiqi’s head began to ache.
Unless absolutely necessary, escape wasn’t a viable path for them…
She finished washing the clothes and returned to the Zhou household, just in time for the evening meal.
It wasn’t the busy farming season now, so country folk only ate two meals a day.
The morning meal was around what would be ten o’clock in modern times, and the afternoon meal around four o’clock.
Today it was the third and fourth branches’ turn to cook, so Lin Shiqi went to the kitchen to assist Liu Shi.
Liu Shi asked with concern about Lin Shiqi’s husband, Zhou Lang.
Lin Shiqi said, “It’s nothing serious. My husband drank the ginger sugar water and went to sleep. Mother is keeping him company.”
“Fourth Sister-in-law, don’t overthink things. We women marry whoever we’re given—that’s our fate. Your husband is handsome, just a bit simple-minded. He’s not paralyzed or crippled—he’s already a fine match. And you two grew up together, so you have a good bond. Nothing in this world is perfect. If the days can be lived, live them well…” Liu Shi consoled her.
Lin Shiqi gave a gentle smile. “Third Sister-in-law is right. That’s what I think too.”
“That’s good then.”
Liu Shi had heard from the auntie next door, who’d come back from washing clothes by the river, whispering about it.
She’d said that this Fourth Sister-in-law of theirs, while washing clothes by the river, had her eyes darting around in every direction—clearly up to no good.
So Liu Shi couldn’t help but offer some advice.
They were all daughters-in-law of the Zhou family, and she knew Fourth Sister-in-law did have it hard. She wanted to stop her from getting any crooked ideas.
If life was hard in the Zhou family, would it be any easier elsewhere?
Lin Shiqi didn’t know any of this yet—she only sensed Liu Shi’s goodwill.
Or was it goodwill?
She thought about it. In the book, this Liu Shi was also a tragic woman…
In short, aside from the eldest branch where the male lead Zhou Qinan lived, everyone else in the Zhou family came to a bad end.
The second branch’s couple, desperate for a son, tormented themselves in every way possible until they both went mad, and their pair of beautiful daughters were sold off to a brothel.
Third Branch’s Zhou Third was an inveterate gambler and a wife-beater to boot. He beat Liu Shi within an inch of her life, until one night Liu Shi took a knife and gutted him, then turned herself in and went to prison, leaving their two young children to starve to death.
As for Fourth Branch, there was no need to even mention them—Zhou Fourth was dead, and the child bride had been sold off.
Youngest Aunt Zhou went and became someone’s concubine…
Old Man Zhou fell gravely ill with no money for treatment, so he hung himself with a rope, and Granny Zhou was angered to death…
…
Lin Shiqi had her own problems to worry about at the moment. She would deal with her own difficulties first.
Everything else was temporarily outside the scope of her consideration.
If she and Zhou Lang could return through the Tongxin Lock, then they would go back and not wade into this family’s murky waters.
People only think of helping others when they have the ability to do so.
When one lacks ability and is in a weak position, being able to save oneself is already good enough.
“Third Sister-in-law, the meal is ready. I’ll go feed my husband and call Mother out to eat on the way.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
Lin Shiqi knew her way around well enough—she took a big bowl and filled it with food, heaping it full. Turning back, she saw Liu Shi watching her, so she forced a smile and explained, “My husband… he’s been having a good appetite lately…”
Liu Shi responded, “Young men are at the age when they can eat the most. Find a bowl to cover it with, so the heat doesn’t escape.”
“Thank you, Third Sister-in-law.”
This was the other woman helping her cover things up.
Afraid that if she carried it out and ran into others, there would be gossip.
This Third Sister-in-law Liu Shi was indeed a decent person. The original owner of this body was someone who couldn’t squeeze out a single word even if beaten with eight sticks, yet working alongside her, Liu Shi never bullied her much.
They simply divided the work and cooperated.
Lin Shiqi had seen how it went when First Branch and Second Branch took their turns on duty—basically all the work was done by Second Sister-in-law Mrs. Ruan alone.
As for First Sister-in-law Wang Shi, every time it was time to work, she would claim her headache was acting up.
…
Carrying the meal back to the room door.
She heard sobbing coming from inside.
Lin Shiqi stopped suspiciously and pricked up her ears to listen.
“Fourth child, Mother has wronged you. When I was pregnant with you, the village was hit by disaster, and the whole family fled together. On the road of escape, we couldn’t eat well or sleep well, and you had to endure fear and worry along with your mother. After you were born, we suddenly encountered a mudslide, and you were buried in the rocks and sand. It wasn’t until your father came back to find the two of us that he dug you out from the debris. You nearly lost your little life. The doctor said you were deprived of air for too long in the rocks, which affected your brain’s development—and that’s why you became a fool…”