To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Turn Around

“Who gave it to us?” Wen Ying asked, looking at the oil-fried flatbread handed to her. She had been busy working with her head down and hadn’t noticed Aunt Li coming over.

“Aunt Li,” Yan An said.

Wen Ying straightened up and looked toward Aunt Li’s plot of land. She saw Aunt Li, like everyone else, bent over and working. She wasn’t looking in their direction.

“Eat some. It’s Aunt Li’s kindness,” Yan An said, holding the bread out to Wen Ying again.

“I’m not hungry. You eat,” Wen Ying said, looking away.

“Nonsense. If I’m hungry, how could you not be?” Yan An grumbled.

Aunt Li had given them three flatbreads. Yan An took one and tore it in half, then forcefully held one half to Wen Ying’s lips, pressing it against them.

“Eat. We’ll save the other two for dinner.” That way, each of them would have one, and with some vegetables, dinner would be all set.

Oil was on her lips, and the scent of wheat filled her nose. Her appetite was instantly piqued, and Wen Ying’s stomach rumbled.

Helpless, she took the half-piece of bread and started to eat it. She looked up at Yan An and saw her eating her own piece with a satisfied expression.

Wen Ying’s throat suddenly felt choked up and uncomfortable. When had Yan An ever shown such an expression for a simple piece of bread?

It was clear that this person had suffered a lot of hardship with her.

They quickly finished the one flatbread they shared. Yan An carefully placed the basket aside, making sure to cover the bread with the cloth on the basket to prevent any dust from getting in.

With the wheat-based staple food in her stomach, Yan An finally felt much better, and she felt she had a lot more energy.

After a long afternoon of work, they took the grains to Aunt Zhao’s house and then walked home, facing the sunset. The cool breeze took away the heat from the day. Smoke from chimneys began to rise from every house, and they could smell the aroma of cooking from an unknown family on the road.

Yan An looked up at the village of just over a hundred households. From the corner of her eye, she saw Wen Ying walking beside her, and her heart felt more at peace than ever before.

Although their lives were a little hard right now, at least they were stable.

Yan An liked this feeling of stability.

…

Back home, it was another day of boiling water and cooking. But tonight, they had the bonus meal from Aunt Li. Yan An was almost in tears as she ate.

It was not easy. The only thing she had eaten in this world that was substantial and filling was what Aunt Li had given her! The flatbread was especially delicious, fried until it was fragrant and chewy. The texture was great, and she could even taste the flavor of the wheat.

Wen Ying saw that Yan An was enjoying her meal so much that she knew she must really like the flatbread. She tore off half of her own and handed it to Yan An.

“What are you doing?”

Yan An’s mouth was still full of flatbread. When she saw Wen Ying’s action, her eyes widened.

“You eat it. I don’t need to eat so much,” Wen Ying said. If it wasn’t enough, she could just eat more wild vegetables.

“No.” Yan An flatly refused, holding her bowl away from Wen Ying. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said, “We’ve already split them evenly. What’s with all the back and forth? You eat yours.”

“You like it,” Wen Ying said calmly.

Yan An choked. “It’s my business that I like it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll eat your share. Stop being so modest. If you really want to give me some, you can make some for me later when our lives get better.”

Wen Ying held the flatbread out to Yan An for a long time. She saw that Yan An was completely unmoved and even lowered her head to eat the wild vegetables in her bowl without looking at her. Only then did Wen Ying slowly retract her hand.

“Okay, I’ll make it for you later,” Wen Ying said softly.

The desire to earn more money grew stronger.

“Mmm,” Yan An mumbled in response.

After dinner, Wen Ying was the first to take a bath. Yan An washed the dishes and then stretched and stood at the door, looking out at the mountains and fields.

The Yan family’s house was in a high location, so she could see many of the village houses from there. In the evening, the people who had been busy in the fields came back. Families finally had some free time to gather, and the whole village became much livelier.

“I hope my mother and sister are doing well in their own time and will let go of me soon so they don’t get too sad,” she thought.

Yan An exhaled softly. Her eyes scanned the empty plot in front of the courtyard and the one in the courtyard itself. She was thinking about what vegetables to plant and how to plant them.

“Yan An, you can go and wash up.”

While Yan An was contemplating, Wen Ying came out with her hair still wet and called her.

“Oh, okay.” Yan An walked back while she was thinking. When she returned to the room, she saw that Wen Ying had already brought hot water for her in the wooden tub.

Yan An couldn’t help but sigh in admiration once again. Wen Ying really did so many things quietly.

She took off her outer clothes, then paused and turned to look at Wen Ying, her hand clutching her clothes tightly.

“Why are you still here?”

She was about to take a bath. What was Wen Ying doing staying here?

“Take off your clothes, and I’ll take them out to wash,” Wen Ying said calmly. This was the reason she had chosen to bathe before Yan An.

Yan An: “…”

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing her not moving, Wen Ying frowned slightly and looked at her.

“You…” Yan An hesitated. But when she looked into Wen Ying’s extremely calm eyes, she felt that her overthinking seemed out of place.

“Turn around,” Yan An said, biting her lip.

It was out of necessity that they were sleeping in the same bed, but if Wen Ying was going to see her body, Yan An still felt she couldn’t accept it.

Although they were both women, Yan An knew she liked women, so she had to have the proper boundaries.

Wen Ying looked at her, then silently turned around as she was told, with her back to Yan An.

Before she married into the family, she knew that Yan An liked women. After all, if Yan An didn’t like women, the Yan elders wouldn’t have married a woman for her.

However, even though Yan An liked women, she didn’t like her.

Yan An quickly took off her clothes and placed them on a chair beside her. Only after she got into the tub did she feel a little more secure.

“Okay,” Yan An said.

Wen Ying silently turned around, took the clothes from the chair, and went out. Her head was still lowered, and she didn’t look around.

Yan An, who was in the tub, quietly let out a sigh of relief. Only then did her body finally relax.

After a long day of work, her body soaked in the hot water. Yan An let out a sigh of comfort. She felt that all the fatigue from the day had been soothed. She even felt like staying in the tub forever.

But she didn’t dare…

She was afraid she would fall asleep in the tub, and it would be awkward if Wen Ying came in.

Then her request for Wen Ying to turn around would have been completely pointless!