To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Unclean Thoughts

Yan An felt a wave of dizziness. She looked at the seemingly endless paddy field, her head spinning and her feet feeling light. Even though the heavy, drooping rice stalks were a sign of a good harvest, Yan An was intimidated.

Especially since this rice didn’t even belong to them.

“How much do you get paid to harvest one mu?” Yan An asked, gripping the handle of the sickle.

“Twenty-seven coins per mu.” This was actually more than the market rate of 20-25 coins per mu, given to them out of pity.

Yan An: “…”

Wen Ying didn’t say anything more. She went down the path and began to harvest the crops, bending at the waist.

Yan An felt she shouldn’t say too much. She quickly followed her down, observed Wen Ying’s method of harvesting, and began to cut the stalks herself.

Hearing the movement beside her, Wen Ying took a quick look and her brows instantly furrowed.

“Wait,” Wen Ying quickly stopped her.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Yan An held the sickle in one hand and the harvested rice stalks in the other, looking at Wen Ying in confusion.

“That’s not how you cut it.” Wen Ying took two steps forward to stand beside Yan An and demonstrated. “The blade faces down. Be careful not to cut your left hand.”

Yan An paused, looking at the movement Wen Ying was demonstrating. “But I just saw you cutting with the blade facing up?”

Wen Ying returned to her original position, and while she continued to cut, she said, “You’ve never done this before. If you cut with the blade facing up, you might not be able to control your strength and could easily cut yourself.”

Yan An pursed her lips. Looking at how skillfully Wen Ying worked, she said nothing, bent down, and continued to cut. Although she wanted to be fast, she followed Wen Ying’s advice and kept the blade facing down. She didn’t want to get hurt and have to spend money on medicine.

The poor have no right to get injured or sick.

But she had never done this kind of work before. She bent down and cut for a few minutes, and when she straightened up, her lower back felt sore and strained.

She looked up to see Wen Ying’s quick movements had already put her far ahead. Yan An gritted her teeth, bent down, and reduced the number of times she stood up, putting her head down and focusing on the cutting.

As she continued, Yan An became numb. Her mind was filled with the words “cut, cut, cut.” What a pain in the neck!

Yan An straightened her back with a grimace. But she couldn’t see Wen Ying anymore; all she could see were the piles of rice stalks Wen Ying had cut.

“…”

This person worked way too fast!

Yan An felt a little shocked. Compared to her, she was completely useless, just like the original owner—a burden on Wen Ying.

Of course… she couldn’t just kill herself to stop being a burden, could she?

Yan An didn’t know how long she had been working. All she knew was that the porridge she had eaten in the morning was completely digested. Her stomach had been rumbling for a while, but she was holding on, so hungry that her stomach felt stuck to her back.

If she started complaining about being hungry before Wen Ying did, she would look even more useless!

It would make it seem like she was unproductive but a glutton…

She heard a rustling sound beside her and looked up to see Wen Ying had walked over to her.

She quickly stood up, feeling a bit nervous facing Wen Ying’s expression. She was afraid Wen Ying would see how little she had cut and find her to be useless. Thankfully, Wen Ying didn’t mention it.

“Hungry? Let’s go back and make something to eat,” Wen Ying said.

“Good, okay.” Yan An let out a sigh of relief and quickly followed her, occasionally glancing at Wen Ying from the corner of her eye.

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt that Wen Ying’s voice was a little softer when she spoke.

“What do we do with the grain we’ve cut?” Yan An asked, not understanding the process.

“We’ll leave it for now. We’ll hull the grains this afternoon and take them to Aunt Zhao’s house,” Wen Ying said calmly.

Yan An: “…” So hulling was part of the job too?

The walk home was silent. They passed some other villagers, but most of them only greeted Wen Ying. They probably understood that they had nothing to talk about with Yan An, so they only asked her a couple of polite questions. The rest of the time they were just chatting with Wen Ying.

Seeing this, Yan An understood that the original owner was not close to anyone in the village. Even Wen Ying, who had only been married into the family for half a year, got along better with people than she did.

Back home, Wen Ying washed up and went into the kitchen. Yan An also washed up, and as she relaxed, her face twisted in pain. Her back was so sore that she felt like she couldn’t walk straight.

She was too tired, especially from being bent over for so long. The original owner’s body wasn’t that strong, which made it even more difficult.

How was Wen Ying able to do so much and still have the energy to cook!

Yan An looked down at her hands, which had already developed blisters. Her left hand had fine cuts from gripping the rice stalks.

“…” This body was so delicate.

She slowly walked to the kitchen, rubbing her back. She could already smell the aroma of food, and her hunger intensified.

Seeing Yan An, Wen Ying said, “Wait a little longer.”

“Okay,” Yan An answered slowly. She pursed her lips and asked a little shyly, “Where’s the needle?”

Wen Ying was so busy and had so little trouble, yet she felt like she was so much work.

Wen Ying froze for a moment. “Do you have blisters?” she asked.

Yan An nodded and held out both of her hands for Wen Ying to see. She felt a little wronged.

She had never done this kind of work before. After she started taking piano lessons, she rarely even washed dishes at home. If she hadn’t been interested in cooking, she wouldn’t have even been allowed to touch a kitchen knife.

Wen Ying looked down at the hands extended to her. They were fair and slender, with delicate skin, but now her palms were red, and the cuts on her left hand ruined their beauty.

She pursed her lips. Compared to these hands, her own were a mess.

“I’ll go get it for you.”

Yan An looked at Wen Ying walking away quickly, a little bewildered. She felt that Wen Ying’s departure was a bit rushed.

Wen Ying returned quickly. She first heated the needle over the fire and then handed it to Yan An.

Yan An held the small embroidery needle, her eyes fixed on the blisters on her hands. Her lips were pursed, and her expression was serious. She gritted her teeth and tried to prick the blister.

Wen Ying’s eyelid twitched as she watched her. She finally said, “I’ll do it.”

Yan An, relieved, handed the embroidery needle to her. She really couldn’t bring herself to do it just now!

Wen Ying held Yan An’s hand with her left and held the needle with her right, looking down intently as she pricked the blisters. Popping the blisters was easy, but the hands would be sore for a while afterward.

Yan An also looked down nervously. As she watched, she suddenly realized that Wen Ying wasn’t much shorter than her, probably up to her eyebrows. She was just too thin; she would be much healthier if she gained a little weight.

With this thought, Yan An’s attention gradually shifted to Wen Ying’s hands. As Wen Ying held her hand, Yan An could feel the roughness of her hand. The right hand holding the needle was the same. Overall, just looking at the bones, Wen Ying’s hands were a size larger than her own.

As Yan An stared, her face suddenly turned a little red. Her eyes darted away awkwardly. As someone who was attracted to women, she naturally knew what hands symbolized.

She cursed herself in her mind for having impure thoughts. The two of them were comrades-in-arms now; she absolutely couldn’t think of anything else! This person was not someone she could fantasize about!

Yan An reminded herself of this. She remembered very clearly that Wen Ying had met the Ninth Princess when she went to the capital for the imperial exams. The two had been attracted to each other, but both had their own goals and ambitions. Although that little bit of attraction was suppressed and extinguished, it made Yan An realize one thing.

For Wen Ying, love was a useless thing that would only become an obstacle in her path.

Just like the early-deceased ex-wife in the novel, even though the two had no love for each other, the marital relationship alone was enough to bind her…

Wen Ying carefully pricked the blisters. When she looked up, she saw Yan An’s eyes were darting around. The hand holding the needle paused, but she quickly resumed her work. “Okay, you can rest at home this afternoon.”

It was already a huge surprise to Wen Ying that this person hadn’t complained about being tired or given up this morning. She didn’t expect her to continue working. She was very aware of Yan An’s physical condition.

“No!” Yan An immediately refused. She didn’t want to think about all that other stuff anymore. “I’ll go with you. How can you manage all of that by yourself?”

Wen Ying was silent. It was only five mu of land now. She used to do much more than this.

But seeing Yan An’s persistence, Wen Ying finally did not refuse again. After she cleaned and put away the needle, lunch was ready.

What was called lunch was nothing more than a coarse-grain and vegetable porridge made with the coarse grains and the small cabbages Aunt Li had given them. There was no oil in it at all.

Yan An looked at the thin, watery porridge and fell silent. With no oil, it was no wonder she got hungry so quickly, especially after doing such heavy physical labor like harvesting rice.

“No, you go and sit outside first,” Wen Ying said, avoiding Yan An’s hand that reached out to help carry the food.

Seeing her do this, Yan An didn’t insist. She was also a little afraid that her sore back would make her clumsy and she would drop everything.

There was a square low table and two small stools in the courtyard. The most valuable things in the whole house were the books in the original owner’s study. Everything else was extremely simple.

Yan An was truly starving. Even though the bland, coarse-grain and vegetable porridge had little flavor, she found it incredibly delicious. While she ate, she didn’t forget to look at Wen Ying’s bowl, reminding her, “You need to eat more. You’ve done so much work; how is this little bit enough?”

“Mmm,” Wen Ying responded.

When Yan An finished the contents of her bowl, she looked at Wen Ying’s bowl, which still had about half left, and was completely bewildered.

It was impossible. After doing so much work, she was starving. There was no way this little bit would be enough for Wen Ying.

“Don’t just say ‘mm,’ you have to eat, too,” Yan An said, a little anxious. She went ahead and filled Wen Ying’s bowl up again.

“Eat more. You’re too thin.”

Wen Ying’s hand, gripping the spoon, tightened. She looked at the bowl full of rice porridge in front of her, and her nose suddenly stung.