To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: You’re Greater Than the County Magistrate?

After the New Year, Yan An and Wen Ying went to pay a New Year’s visit to the village chief and at the same time, they paid back the money they owed. As for why they were able to come up with so much money all at once, the reason was naturally attributed to Ji Wan.

Otherwise, even if Yan An worked herself to death before the New Year, she wouldn’t have been able to earn more than fifty strings of cash to pay them back!

Starting from the third day of the New Year, people started to hold banquets one after another, and most of them were funerals.

When Yan An was a child, she would go back to her hometown with her mother for the New Year. At times like this, the funerals in the village almost never stopped. Because of this, Yan An was very confused and didn’t understand why old people would die in groups after the New Year.

It wasn’t until she couldn’t hold back this question and asked it that she learned from her mother that for old people, winter was the most difficult to endure, and many old people couldn’t make it through and would die in the winter. In addition, Yan An always went back to the village during the New Year in the winter, which naturally gave her the impression that many people died during the New Year.

For funerals, it was naturally impossible to make an appointment in advance. Basically, they would find whoever was available. During this time, Yan An was even busier than before the New Year.

Wen Ying was worried that without her help, Yan An would be too busy and would overwork herself. She also postponed her class time with Yi Shu Hua, planning to continue after this period of time.

Faced with this situation, Yan An naturally didn’t want to see it. In comparison, she would rather earn a little less money and earn it a little slower, but she couldn’t always drag Wen Ying down and make her sacrifice too much of her study time.

During the first two days of being busy, Yan An was already thinking about who to hire for a short-term job. In the end, after seeing Zhou Xiaolu, she had already made a decision. She brought some things to Auntie Li’s house and asked for Zhou Xiaolu’s opinion, asking her if she was willing to come and be a short-term worker for her.

Zhou Xiaolu was stunned for a moment when she heard her intention, and then she said in surprise, “Is that really okay?”

Auntie Li, who was on the side, was also stunned. She clearly didn’t expect Yan An to be looking for a short-term worker to help.

“Yes. You also know that Wen Ying is now studying and learning how to read. I don’t want her to fall behind in her studies because she’s helping me, so I thought of finding someone to share her part of the pressure,” Yan An nodded. “When I have a banquet, you’ll have to come with me to the client’s house to work. It’ll be about thirty coins a day. Can you accept that?”

As she spoke, Yan An was a little nervous. It was the most difficult to negotiate a price with an acquaintance. If they didn’t negotiate well, it could really hurt their relationship. But after spending some time with Zhou Xiaolu, Yan An roughly knew what kind of person she was. She thought that she wouldn’t be the kind of person who would push her luck.

The current market price for a short-term worker was twenty coins a day. Yan An felt that thirty coins a day was already fair, and the meals were also provided for the banquet. It was important to note that when Wen Ying contracted a piece of land, it was only twenty-seven coins, and that was already a high price for her.

“Of course I accept!” Zhou Xiaolu said in a slightly excited tone. As soon as she finished speaking, she hesitated a little and looked at Auntie Li in a questioning way, as if asking for her permission.

After she got married, she had been helping with the work at home or occasionally helping people mend clothes to supplement the household expenses. Now, if she went to help Yan An, the family would definitely lose a laborer on the days she went to help.

But… she really wanted to earn some money, and thirty coins a day was already much higher than what many other short-term workers in the village earned.

Auntie Li smiled contentedly and said, “Just go if you want to. As long as you don’t feel tired, it’s fine. You can keep the money you earn. You don’t have to put it into the common funds.”

Auntie Li was still the head of the household. All the income of the family had to be handed over to her for a unified distribution.

Zhou Xiaolu’s eyes completely lit up. She hugged Auntie Li’s arm and said happily, “Thank you, Mom!”

Yan An was also relieved when Zhou Xiaolu agreed. She said with a smile, “There will be a banquet tomorrow. We’ll have to leave around 5 a.m. Can you do that?”

“I can!” Zhou Xiaolu readily agreed.

“Okay, then it’s settled,” Yan An was completely relieved. Wen Ying had gone out to cut pig feed and hadn’t returned yet. When she came back, Yan An told her about it.

“You don’t have to go with me anymore. I hired Xiaolu to help. From now on, you can focus on your studies.”

Wen Ying came back and heard the news before she even had time to put down the basket on her back. She frowned slightly. “Did Sister-in-law agree?”

“Yes, she did. It starts tomorrow,” Seeing that she wasn’t moving, Yan An had to help her take down the basket herself.

Wen Ying was silent. “If I go with you, I can share some of the work,” This way, with three people working together, they would be able to be a little more relaxed.

“No need,” Yan An flatly refused. She frowned slightly and said, “The reason I’m looking for someone to help is to free you up. If you still go with me, what’s the point of doing this?”

Wen Ying was clearly a little unwilling, but under Yan An’s persistent gaze, she had to back down.

She saw the seriousness of the matter in Yan An’s eyes.

When they were sleeping at night, Wen Ying couldn’t fall asleep as soon as she thought that Yan An would leave her and go to work alone early in the morning.

Yan An, who was also not asleep, naturally noticed Wen Ying’s unusual behavior.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Yeah,” Wen Ying finally turned over to face Yan An and held her in her arms.

Yan An: “…”

After thinking about it, she suddenly turned over to face Wen Ying as well. She raised her hand and gently held her shoulders and back. One hand was gently patting her back.

“The night is quiet, the moon hangs on the treetop, and the sky is full of little stars…” [Note]

“Little darling, good little darling…”

A gentle voice sang a lullaby. She could tell that this was the first time she was singing this lullaby. The tune was slightly different from what Wen Ying had sung before, but overall, most of it was the same.

Wen Ying was already stunned the moment Yan An started singing. An unspeakable sour feeling wrapped around her heart. Her nose tingled and felt blocked, and her eyes were moist.

“…Live without worries until you’re old.”

Yan An sang while gently patting Wen Ying’s back like she was coaxing a baby to sleep.

Yan An had some experience with this. When her sister used to sleep with her and wouldn’t sleep, she would coax her like this.

Wen Ying suddenly hugged Yan An tightly. She buried her face in Yan An’s neck, and the tears that could no longer be held back gushed out, wetting Yan An’s collar.

The moment Yan An felt her collar getting wet, her body stiffened. The hand that was patting her back awkwardly hung in the air.

“Did Wen Ying… actually cry?”

She was sobbing softly. As her collar became wetter, it felt like a heavy punch to Yan An’s heart. The hand that was awkwardly hanging in the air slowly fell on Wen Ying’s back again, and the gentle patting turned into a gentle caress.

She continued to sing the lullaby over and over again, and she didn’t directly ask Wen Ying why she was crying.

There was only her voice left in the entire room, occasionally accompanied by Wen Ying’s sobs. As time slowly passed, the sobs gradually disappeared, and Wen Ying’s emotions slowly stabilized. She maintained this awkward position with Yan An and slowly fell asleep.

When she saw that Wen Ying had fallen asleep, Yan An stopped. She gently caressed Wen Ying’s back and sighed in her heart.

She carefully tried to pry Wen Ying’s hand off so she could change her clothes. But as soon as she made a move, Wen Ying subconsciously hugged her even tighter.

Now Yan An was worried about waking her up and didn’t dare to move. From what she knew, people like Wen Ying who liked to hug things to sleep usually had a lower sense of security. Only by hugging something could she feel more relaxed and fall asleep more easily.

She couldn’t help but sigh again in her heart. Yan An gave up on her plan to change her clothes and wipe Wen Ying’s face. This person had finally been coaxed to sleep. If she woke up and started crying again, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

…

Yan An woke up when it was almost 5 a.m. the next day. Wen Ying was still hugging her like an octopus, but fortunately, Wen Ying had gained some weight, so hugging her was getting more and more comfortable.

This time, when she got up, she had to take off Wen Ying’s hands and feet that were wrapped around her. As soon as she broke free from Wen Ying’s embrace, Wen Ying woke up in a daze.

“Yan An,” She called Yan An’s name in a sleepy state.

“Mmm, I’m getting up. You can sleep a little longer,” Perhaps it was because the surroundings were very quiet, Yan An’s voice also unconsciously became lighter and softer, with a hint of coaxing.

Wen Ying gradually woke up. She sat up and said, “I’ll go with you, and then I’ll come back to rest.”

As she spoke, she rubbed her face. It was clear that her face was not very comfortable because she had been crying before she went to sleep.

“No need. It’s a hassle to go back and forth like that,” Yan An refused.

However, this time, Wen Ying didn’t listen to her. She silently got up, put on her clothes, and went out to start a fire to prepare the hot water she would use to wash up.

Yan An: “…”

This person was really stubborn in some ways.

While Wen Ying was boiling the water, Yan An went to get the ox and hitched it to the cart. The things she needed to bring to the client’s house had already been put on the cart last night, so they could leave directly.

“Yan An, you can wash up now,” Wen Ying’s voice came from the kitchen.

“Okay,” Yan An clapped the dust off her hands and went to wash up. After she was done, Wen Ying still helped her comb her hair.

“You’ll be eating at home today. Make sure you cook well and don’t be reluctant to eat, okay?” Yan An couldn’t help but remind her. She was afraid that if she wasn’t there to watch over her, Wen Ying would be reluctant to eat.

“Got it,” This time, she responded to Yan An very obediently.

Yan An listened to her voice and thought about her past record. She still didn’t feel at ease. “Forget it. You can just eat breakfast at home. When it’s almost lunchtime, you can come and eat with me.”

Yan An still felt that it was safer to keep an eye on this person.

“Okay,” Wen Ying thought that if she went, she could also help Yan An clean up the tables, chairs, and bowls, so she didn’t refuse.

After making all the arrangements, Yan An pulled the ox cart out of the gate. Just then, Zhou Xiaolu also heard the noise and came out. The three of them could leave.

Zhou Xiaolu saw that Wen Ying was also there and immediately understood why. It was not yet light outside, so Wen Ying was probably worried about them walking at night.

After they arrived at the client’s house, Yan An urged Wen Ying to go back and get more sleep.

Zhou Xiaolu looked at their interaction and couldn’t help but smile secretly. She felt that it was not good to keep staring, so she went to unload the things from the cart.

After watching Wen Ying leave, Yan An also started to get busy. At the same time, she didn’t forget to tell Zhou Xiaolu what to do.

At the beginning, they still needed to get used to working together. Later, after Zhou Xiaolu became more and more skilled, their progress was also much faster. They finished preparing the ingredients early, and they even had some time to rest before the banquet officially started.

In the midst of this busyness, the Lantern Festival passed. After the Lantern Festival, the weather showed signs of warming up, and the banquets were no longer so busy.

When there were no banquets, Yan An was relatively more idle, and Wen Ying’s studies were on the right track. To study deeper and more thoroughly, she naturally needed to put in a lot of effort. However, Yan An still believed in the concept that people needed to balance work and rest. When she rested, she would also make Wen Ying put down her books and rest her mind.

At the same time, she hoped that she could be more active. She was a little worried that her good physical foundation would be lowered because she was cooped up in the study all day.

However, what made Yan An feel speechless was that when she wanted Wen Ying to balance work and rest, Wen Ying would take her into the mountains to look for mountain goods, and she would say with a righteous tone that even if they didn’t sell them, they could keep them to enrich their family’s food.

Whenever this happened, Yan An couldn’t help but complain in her heart that it was no wonder this person would grow to such a high level that people would have to look up to her in the future. Just from this tireless energy, she could guess that she would be a workaholic in the future.

That’s right. If she wasn’t a workaholic in the future, how could she not even have time to be in a relationship?

Yan An secretly pouted. When she thought about Wen Ying and that ninth imperial princess falling in love in the future, she felt a little speechless.

Although they didn’t end up together in the end, since you both had your own goals and life ideals to achieve, why would you so easily fall in love?

What was the point of it! It was completely unnecessary!

Yan An gritted her teeth, stood up, and pulled the fishing rod back forcefully, trying to drag the fish that had been hooked to the shore.

Wen Ying, who was on the side, saw the situation and quickly came over to help. As the flopping big fish was thrown onto the shore, Yan An instantly forgot about all the messy things she was thinking about in her heart. She quickly picked up the bucket and put the fish that looked to be at least three pounds into it.

“Wen Ying! A big fish!” Yan An said happily.

This time, Wen Ying’s way of balancing work and rest was to take Yan An fishing by the lake. At first, Yan An thought that sitting by the lake in the cold wind to fish was a very stupid thing to do. But after they actually caught a fish, Yan An instantly forgot all her previous thoughts about how stupid it was.

“Mmm, it’s big. You’re amazing,” Wen Ying looked at it when Yan An brought it back. A look of surprise flashed in her eyes. It was a perch.

Yan An also clearly noticed this, and her eyes lit up. “When I go back, I’ll make steamed perch for you! This kind of fish is already delicious just by steaming it!”

Yan An originally thought that it would be amazing to even catch a grass carp when fishing, but she didn’t expect to catch a perch. And compared to grass carp, perch had much fewer bones.

“Okay,” Wen Ying responded with a smile.

She helped Yan An put the bait on the hook again and cast it into the river. The two of them sat down and waited for the fish to bite.

But…

Yan An looked at Wen Ying, who was sitting back and reading while waiting for a fish to bite. She was convinced.

She felt that the reason Wen Ying suggested coming to fish was so that it would be convenient for her to read.

She looked away and thought about other things. Although the weather was still cold, it was showing signs of warming up, and the villagers were gradually starting to get busy with spring planting later.

She had already decided that after she finished the last banquet on her hands in a few days, she would first make some braised snacks to test the waters and see if the people in the city would accept them.

Yan An felt that her decision to become a village chef was really a very correct one. In this period of time, she had already made a name for herself. Also, some of the new and interesting dishes on her banquet menus were very popular. Because of this, many people wanted to come and try to find out how to make those dishes.

However, Yan An thought about it and decided to keep it a secret for now. After all, she was relying on her cooking skills to make a living now. If she leaked those recipes so early, it would definitely have an impact on her to a certain extent.

Even if she did have to leak some recipes, they had to be valuable, and she wouldn’t just tell anyone who came and asked.

For example, when she went to the city to buy things, she met the manager of the Huixiang Restaurant. The manager had an intention to buy her recipes. However, the price didn’t meet Yan An’s psychological expectations for now, so she hadn’t sold it yet.

This time, their fishing trip was quite fruitful. They caught a total of three fish, two grass carps and one perch. Even though Wen Ying’s attention was mostly on reading, the two foolish fish still bit her hook!

Considering that Yan An had said she would make steamed perch for Wen Ying, Wen Ying still decided to bring a grass carp to Auntie Li.

But she didn’t expect to see the people who were lingering in front of her house when she came back. Wen Ying’s expression completely turned cold.

The four people at the door also saw her and their faces lit up. They quickly walked toward Wen Ying.

“San Ya, we finally saw you. Let me see how you are now,” The only middle-aged woman wearing coarse cloth stepped forward and grabbed Wen Ying’s arm. She seemed to be examining Wen Ying with a look of surprise on her face and kept nodding.

“You’ve gained weight, and your complexion looks better. It seems like you’re doing very well.”

The other three men stood two or three steps away from Wen Ying. The older one was still putting on airs, while the other two younger ones had a nonchalant attitude. They stood lazily on the side, and the way they looked at Wen Ying was also casual and contemptuous. It didn’t look like they were looking at their own sister at all.

And the people who appeared at the Yan family’s door were the Wen family.

When Wen Ying saw them, she felt a chill spread from the bottom of her feet. She originally thought that as long as she and Yan An didn’t contact them, they could have nothing to do with them, but she didn’t expect them to be so shameless as to come to their door.

An unspeakable emotion pinned her in place, especially their appearance, which seemed to reveal a shameful past, making it even more difficult for her to face Yan An.

Compared to the Yan family’s attitude toward their daughter, she felt that being born into the Wen family was an indelible shame and a swamp that dragged her down, making it difficult for her to stand side by side with Yan An.

“Why are you here,” Wen Ying heard her voice, which was stiff and almost trembling.

“Silly child, of course we came to see you. You didn’t even come back for the New Year, so I had no choice but to bring your brothers to see you,” Wen Ying’s mother said with a tone of blame.

However, Wen Ying’s heart felt even colder when she heard her words.

She knew very well what kind of people her parents were. How could they be willing to do something that didn’t benefit them? Her two younger brothers were also people who would only show up for a good reason. Without any interest to entice them, they wouldn’t have appeared here.

The sound of a creaking door opened, and Yan An appeared at the door.

“Wen Ying?”

Looking at the situation in front of her, Yan An was stunned. After she came to her senses, her expression instantly changed. She quickly walked to Wen Ying’s side and pried open the hand that was holding Wen Ying. She stood in front of her and glared at the strangers in front of her.

She was wondering why it was taking Wen Ying so long to deliver a fish to Auntie Li. She didn’t expect to open the door and see Wen Ying almost being surrounded. In an instant, many thoughts came to her mind. She wondered when the public safety in the village had gotten so bad that people would dare to abduct someone in front of their house.

Protected by Yan An, Wen Ying looked at the thin figure in front of her. Compared to any of the people in front of her who were bigger than her, she still didn’t hesitate to stand in front of her.

The cold and panicked heart she felt when she saw the Wen family suddenly welcomed a warm current. It drove away the coldness around her little by little, making her calm down quickly. But her heart was beating wildly because of the person who was standing in front of her.

“Daughter-in-law, I’m your mother. This is your father, and these two are your younger brothers. Don’t you remember us?” When she saw Yan An, Wen Ying’s mother’s face immediately filled with a smile. Even Wen Ying’s father had a hint of a smile on his face.

The two younger brothers of Wen Ying hadn’t looked away since they saw Yan An’s face.

Wen Ying noticed and her expression instantly turned cold. A cold, dark look flashed in her eyes as she looked at her two younger brothers.

Yan An listened to the woman in front of her and then looked at the three men who were not saying anything behind her. Yan An couldn’t help but turn her head and give Wen Ying a questioning look.

Wen Ying quickly restrained the coldness in her eyes. She reached out and held one of Yan An’s hands. “They’re not family anymore.”

Yan An was stunned for a moment. She immediately realized that these people in front of her were indeed Wen Ying’s family, and a hint of disgust appeared on her face.

“What are you saying, child? I heard you’ve started to read now. Did all that reading go to the dogs? You don’t even recognize your own parents anymore?”

When Wen Ying’s mother heard what she said, her expression changed, and she started to scold with her eyebrows raised. Her face instantly became much more mean.

And the man behind her had a dark face. He frowned and looked at Wen Ying with a dignified expression.

Yan An’s disgust was not hidden at all. “Reading is for her to know right from wrong, not for her to be influenced by foolish and unfilial dogmas!”

After she finished speaking, she didn’t want to get tangled up with these people anymore. Fortunately, she had asked Wen Ying about her attitude toward the Wen family before, so she was not willing to give them any face. She pulled Wen Ying and wanted to go into the house.

“Daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law!” Wen Ying’s mother quickly grabbed Yan An’s arm. “We married Wen Ying to you, so we are family. What will people say about you if they see you acting like this?”

Yan An’s arm was grabbed. The person’s grip was very strong. This time, Yan An couldn’t pry her hand open. She was so angry that her face turned red. She cursed, “I don’t care what others think! Let go! Who’s family with you!”

When Wen Ying saw that her mother dared to lay a hand on Yan An, a wave of anger instantly rushed into her head. She went to pry off her mother’s hand that was holding Yan An.

Wen Ying’s mother’s face twisted from being pried open. She quickly let go of her hand and raised it to slap Wen Ying’s face. “You little brat, are your wings hardened, huh? How dare you treat your own mother like this!”

“Who are you hitting!” Seeing this, Yan An was instantly enraged. She directly reached out and pushed Wen Ying’s mother back. This way, she was unstable and couldn’t hit Wen Ying, but her hand, in a panic to stabilize her body, just happened to scratch Yan An’s neck, leaving a few marks.

Yan An hissed. This person’s fingernails were a little long. She might have broken the skin.

Wen Ying had originally planned to dodge, but she didn’t expect what happened next. Seeing that Yan An was scratched, she didn’t care about her mother’s situation and quickly checked Yan An’s injury.

“Wen Ying! Is this how you treat your elders?!”

This time, Wen Ying’s father finally spoke. As soon as he opened his mouth, a displeasing, fatherly attitude came to the forefront.

Yan An raised her hand to stop Wen Ying from speaking. She looked at the man with a sneer. “Finally willing to speak? Not hiding behind a woman and being a mute anymore?”

This was clearly the biggest culprit, but he had to hide behind and push his woman out to be his gun, making himself look as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Wen Ying’s father’s face was dark as he looked at Yan An. “It seems like you two have a very good relationship. In that case, shouldn’t you thank us for marrying Wen Ying to you? Why are you acting like this instead?”

“Heh, you want me to thank you for selling her? You’re really good at taking credit for yourself,” Yan An mocked. “Since you’ve already sold her to my family, she has nothing to do with you. And I don’t recognize you as the in-laws of the Yan family, so we have nothing to do with you either. So don’t block our door!”

When she said the last sentence, Yan An’s tone was serious and solemn. She stared directly at Wen Ying’s father.

Wen Ying’s father clearly felt that his authority was being challenged. His already slightly loose face trembled slightly. He raised his hand and pointed at Yan An. He laughed in anger and said, “We married Wen Ying to you. When did we sell her to you!”

“Whether you married her or sold her, you know it in your heart,” Yan An sneered at him, thinking that this person was simply ridiculous.

How could a normal marriage be like this? Did they treat Wen Ying like their own child when she was young? Didn’t they always treat her as a bargaining chip to exchange for benefits for the family when she grew up? She didn’t have enough to eat or wear and had to do a lot of work, and then they took her dowry to find a wife for their son. What was that if not selling her?

“You’re simply presumptuous! No matter what, I’m Wen Ying’s father. She’s married to you, so I’m your father too! Kneel down!” Wen Ying’s father roared in anger. He was clearly triggered by what Yan An said and started to talk nonsense.

Yan An couldn’t help but laugh. Even Wen Ying had a look of shame on her face when she heard her father’s words.

“You’re really funny. I don’t even have to kneel to the county magistrate, but you want me to kneel to you? Are you greater than the county magistrate?”