To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Still Growing?

As Yan An was dusting and tidying up the study, she heard some noise outside. She quickly went out and saw Wen Ying carrying two large bundles of firewood into the courtyard.

Yan An: “…”

She finally understood why Wen Ying had rushed to wash all the clothes last night. It was to make time to cut firewood this morning!

Wen Ying carried the firewood into the shed next to the kitchen, where some other firewood was already stacked. With these two large bundles added, the amount looked a little more substantial, and Wen Ying felt a little more at ease.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you? I’ll cook right away,” Wen Ying said. Not only had she cut firewood, but she had also picked wild vegetables. When she saw Yan An standing there in silence, she thought she was hungry and unhappy.

“I wanted to make it early so you could eat right when you got back, but I still couldn’t get a fire started,” Yan An explained, so Wen Ying wouldn’t think she was lazy to the point of starving to death and not wanting to do anything.

Wen Ying: “Mmm, I’ll start the fire from now on.”

Yan An followed her into the kitchen. She looked at Wen Ying, who had already broken out in a thin layer of sweat from her early morning work, and asked, “Don’t we still have firewood at home? Why did you cut so much more?”

“Winter is coming soon. We have to store some firewood in advance. It’s not convenient to cut firewood once winter comes.”

Not only was it inconvenient to go up the mountain in the cold, but the firewood would be damp and hard to burn. Every family in the village stored firewood before winter.

“Oh,” Yan An said, suddenly enlightened. “Then next time you go to cut firewood, call me. An extra person can get a lot more firewood.”

Wen Ying glanced at her while she was busy starting the fire and then hummed in agreement.

Now, Yan An not only cared about the family’s situation, but she also didn’t think about being lazy and resting. Instead, she wanted to do every single chore with her.

Yan An was relieved when Wen Ying agreed.

Wen Ying was quick with her movements. After starting the fire, she boiled water and washed the wild vegetables. In less than twenty minutes, breakfast was ready.

Looking at the vegetable soup in her bowl, Yan An didn’t want to call it breakfast. There wasn’t a single grain of rice in sight.

“When we get our pay, I’ll go to the county town tomorrow and buy some rice,” Wen Ying said softly. She didn’t feel anything about eating wild vegetables every day, but Yan An wasn’t used to this kind of hard life, and she was afraid she couldn’t handle it.

“Yes, good. And buy some vegetable seeds to bring back as well,” Yan An nodded repeatedly. She wished she could get the money and go shopping right now.

Hearing her words, Wen Ying glanced at the empty plot of land in the corner of the courtyard. In the past, the Yan family must have grown vegetables in their yard, but before Wen Ying married into the family, the Yan elders were already seriously ill and had no energy to take care of the vegetable plot. The vegetables had long since died by the time Wen Ying came.

“Okay.” Wen Ying naturally wouldn’t object. If they grew their own vegetables, they would at least have a stable supply. It was fine for now; they could rely on wild vegetables. But when it got cold and everything died off, they wouldn’t even have wild vegetables to eat.

“By the way, don’t get up so early from now on. You’re still growing and need more sleep and rest,” Yan An said, holding her bowl with a very serious expression.

However, Wen Ying’s face showed a rare look of confusion at her words.

“I’m… still growing?” Wen Ying mumbled, involuntarily looking down at herself and then falling silent.

She had never heard anyone say that a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl was still growing.

“Yes, you are! Anyway, don’t get up so early. You’ll be short if you’re not careful,” Yan An said, nodding her head and speaking as if it were a matter of fact.

She wasn’t going to admit that she couldn’t get up early, but her conscience wouldn’t let her rest easy while Wen Ying was working so hard so early in the morning.

Wen Ying: “…”

“Don’t try to change the subject. You need to get enough rest and be good to your body.” Yan An was trying to persuade her. Although she had some selfish motives, what she was saying was also true. Look how thin Wen Ying was. Her face didn’t have much flesh, and she didn’t look as healthy as others.

“Alright,” Wen Ying sighed and agreed.

Yan An was satisfied and nodded, but then she started to discuss another matter with her. “By the way, I want to make a deal with the village’s teacher. She can choose a few books she doesn’t have from my collection, and we can pawn them to her for some silver. What do you think? We can use the money to improve our family’s situation, and we can redeem the books later when we have money.”

This time, Wen Ying stopped eating completely. She put down her bowl and looked at Yan An with a serious expression.

“Do you know what you’re saying? You’re a scholar. If people find out you’re selling books, everyone will despise you.”

“I’m not selling them. I’m pawning them!” Yan An emphasized.

“It’s almost the same thing,” Wen Ying said calmly.

Yan An: “…”

“But look, I can’t remember anything now. The books are useless to me for the time being. We can also use this opportunity to build a good relationship with the teacher, and it will be more convenient for you to study with her later. It’s a win-win situation.”

Yan An still wanted to do this. After all, the family was too poor. Although she was a scholar in her modern life, she didn’t have the integrity of the scholars in this world who would rather starve to death than sell their books.

Besides, she wasn’t actually selling them. She was just temporarily using the books as capital!

Wen Ying was silent for a while and didn’t say anything.

“Besides, if you don’t tell and I don’t tell, who will know about it? I don’t think she’s a gossipy person,” Yan An said, a little unconvinced.

Wen Ying sighed softly, her tone a little helpless. “But in a village, everyone knows our family’s situation. How would outsiders not wonder when we suddenly have a sum of money?”

“I don’t care what outsiders think,” Yan An said stubbornly.

This scene inexplicably brought her back to the time when she came out to her mother. At that time, her mother also said that if people found out about her situation, they would gossip behind her back.

Yan An had said the same thing back then. Why should she care what outsiders think? Outsiders weren’t helping her live her life. She only needed to live her own life well. Why should she care about what people she barely interacted with said behind her back?

Of course, if they said it to her face, that would be a different story. Yan An was not a pushover. She would definitely curse them back.

However, that situation had never happened…

Because Yan An didn’t have a partner, and her sexual orientation was only known to her family and friends, she never had the chance to be seen intimately with a girlfriend and be gossiped about…

“Are you really going to do this?” Wen Ying asked again, confirming her decision. Although she disagreed with the idea, the books were Yan An’s. Yan An had the right to decide what to do with them.

“Yes!” Yan An said, cutting her off.

“Fine. I’ll find Scholar Yi in a few days and ask,” Wen Ying sighed softly in her heart, looking at the dark green vegetable soup in front of her. Her eyes looked a little dim.

It was all because of her own uselessness that Yan An had to make the choice to “sell books.”