To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Are You Disgusted by Me?

After lunch, while Yan An was washing the dishes, Wen Ying continued to sew up the remaining clothes. She then unfolded them and said to Yan An, “Come and try them on. See if they fit.”

Yan An shook the water off her hands and looked around, not knowing where to dry them. She ended up just wiping them on her clothes.

“Oh well,” she thought. “I’m working in the fields now. There’s no need to be so particular.”

She went back inside and took off her outer robe, then put on the clothes Wen Ying had altered for her.

She tried them on, and the size was perfect. They weren’t wide-sleeved robes, so it was much easier for her to move around. She nodded immediately. “They fit perfectly. Thank you, Wen Ying.”

Wen Ying straightened the clothes for her. Looking at the dark gray coarse cloth on her, she inexplicably found it a little jarring.

“Mmm, it’s good that they fit,” Wen Ying said, her tone flat.

Yan An didn’t notice anything wrong with her tone. After all, wasn’t this how she always spoke? She gently stroked the coarse cloth. It felt rough to the touch. How could these clothes be comfortable to wear directly against the skin?

Yan An glanced at Wen Ying and looked at her collar closely, as if she was trying to see if she was wearing coarse cloth underneath.

“Don’t I have some cotton clothes? Alter them for yourself. You can be like me and wear cotton inside and cloth outside,” Yan An said. She really couldn’t tell what Wen Ying was wearing inside.

“There’s no need. I’m used to it,” Wen Ying immediately refused. Although Yan An wore cotton clothes, they were not from a wealthy family, so how many could there be?

It seemed that she was still wearing coarse cloth underneath.

Yan An simply opened her closet, grabbed two clothes at random, and shoved them into Wen Ying’s arms. “You should try to change your habits. Be a little nicer to yourself. How can such rough clothes be comfortable to wear directly against your skin?”

“Or are you disgusted by me? Do you not want to wear my clothes?” Yan An frowned, pursed her lips, and looked a little unhappy.

“I…” Wen Ying grabbed the clothes in her arms and was about to say something, but Yan An suddenly glared at her.

“If you don’t wear them like this, then I won’t either. I’m going to wear the same clothes as you!”

Wen Ying: “…”

Why did this person think that saying such a thing would threaten her? If she chose not to wear them, wouldn’t she be the one who was uncomfortable?

But seeing Yan An’s stubborn expression, Wen Ying finally let out a soft sigh and agreed.

Seeing her compromise, Yan An’s lips curved into a smile. Her eyes showed her pleasure. “That’s right. We’re a family. If you dress too poorly, it’ll look like I’m mistreating you.”

Wen Ying didn’t say anything more. She put the clothes in her arms into the closet and explained before Yan An got upset, “I’ll alter them later. We have to go to the fields now.”

Yan An was about to get angry and call her by her name, but she was choked by Wen Ying’s words. The sigh she had to hold in was a little uncomfortable.

Wen Ying turned around and saw her expression. Her face softened a little, and she said in a soft voice, “Yan An, I know you’re being good to me. Thank you.”

“I… you… you know it, that’s enough.”

When Wen Ying said that, Yan An suddenly didn’t know what to say. She could only respond stiffly and turned her head away, no longer looking at her.

Wen Ying went out, and Yan An let out a sigh of relief. She thought to herself that it would be great if she could continue to get along with Wen Ying like this. If they both worked together, eating white rice would not be a dream!

She took off the clothes and put back on the ones she had worn this morning. When she went out, Wen Ying gave her a questioning look.

“I’ll just wear these for now. It saves me from having to wash another set of clothes,” Yan An explained.

Although she considered herself not lazy, she certainly didn’t want to add more work for herself if she could help it!

Wen Ying: “…”

She didn’t say anything more. The two of them went out to work. Yan An repeated her tasks from yesterday. When Wen Ying was harvesting the rice, she gathered and hulled the stalks that had been cut in the morning. This time, she didn’t care about her outside appearance. Just like in the kitchen, she rolled up her sleeves to make her movements easier.

As she was hulling the grains, she thought to herself, “If only I could recognize the characters of this world, I could help the villagers read and write letters and earn some money to help the family.”

“What a shame.”

“Why don’t I have a cheat!”

Yan An angrily beat a handful of rice stalks against the wooden bucket.

…

Aunt Li came to the fields today to bring water to her family. When she saw that Yan An was actually busy working in the fields and was doing a decent job, a look of gratification appeared on her face.

She went to her family members and said to her daughter-in-law, “Little Ying’s good days are coming.”

She had loved that girl ever since Wen Ying married into the family. Now, seeing this situation, she was naturally happy. Especially since she had seen Yan An washing the dishes this morning. Now, the more she looked at Yan An, the more comfortable she felt.

Her daughter-in-law, Zhou Xiaolu, took the water her mother-in-law had handed her but didn’t drink it right away. She looked in Yan An’s direction and said with a smile, “Mother, it might be true. Yan An after her memory loss is more loving than before.”

Yes, after all, they were a couple now. How could she treat her wife so coldly like she used to?

Aunt Li’s smile grew brighter. “If they can continue to live a good life like this, it’s better than marrying a man.”

Although a man could do heavy physical labor, it was useless if you married a lazy one. Moreover, many men had a bunch of bad habits. It was better for them to live a clean and simple life like Yan An and Wen Ying.

“That’s right. Seeing them doing well makes me happy, too,” Zhou Xiaolu said sincerely. When the Yan family’s daughter was going to marry, it had caused a sensation in the village. Many people didn’t think two women could live together, believing that a family couldn’t function without a man.

But Zhou Xiaolu didn’t think so. She even had a vague hope in her heart that Yan An and Wen Ying would live a good life, a life better than most people in the village, and then those who once thought two women couldn’t make it would be forced to shut their mouths!

Aunt Li took her basket and went to Yan An. She said to her with a smile, “Little Yan, you’ve been working for so long. Take a break. Eat something to replenish your energy.”

With that, she handed the basket to Yan An.

Yan An quickly greeted Aunt Li and immediately refused.

“Aunt Li, there’s no need. We already ate at noon.” Although, after two or three hours, the vegetable leaves had long since been digested…

Yan An’s peripheral vision caught sight of the large flatbreads in the basket, and her mouth began to water.

Wheat-based food! Fragrant fried flatbreads! Oh, I want to eat them so badly!

Yan An was on the verge of tears, but she knew that Aunt Li had already been so good to them. Every family in the village had a hard time. She couldn’t keep accepting her kindness again and again.

“You’ve eaten, but I’m sure you’re hungry now. Be good and take it! You can save it for dinner if you don’t eat it now.” Aunt Li’s face became stern. She pushed the basket toward Yan An, and when Yan An instinctively took it, she immediately let go and took two steps back. “Okay, I’m going back, too. You can return the basket when you go home.”

With that, she didn’t give Yan An a chance to refuse and quickly returned to her own fields.

Yan An held the basket, her eyes feeling sore and welling up, just like Wen Ying’s had this morning. She sniffled and turned around to find Wen Ying with the basket.

When Aunt Li returned to her own field and saw that Yan An’s first thought was to give the food to Wen Ying, a genuine smile appeared on her face.