I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 13

“It will be winter in a few months; does Mother want to live in a thatched hut and freeze?”

“You…” Madam Jiang pointed at her, too angry to complete a sentence for a long time. She glanced around, rushed to the firewood pile, found a thick wooden club, and brandished it at Jiang Zhou with a trembling hand.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhou quickly pulled Lin Muwan behind her, fearing the club might carelessly hit her.

“Your old mother raised you through hardship, only for you to give the Jiang family away to others?”

Jiang Zhou had a headache. It was the Jiang family again. Her cheap mother had been fighting with the concubine in the Jiang family for half a lifetime; her obsession was truly too deep. Jiang Zhou had no choice but to persuade her tactfully, “My father has already driven us out. If he doesn’t come looking for us, should we just wait and do nothing, and freeze to death?”

She pointed to the thatched hut behind her, continuing to reason with affection. “Look at how we’ll get through winter in a house like this. We might freeze to death here before we starve to death, let alone the entire Jiang family. If we lose our lives, what do we have left to fight them with?”

Madam Jiang was choked up. It touched a nerve. After a long pause, she dropped the wooden club, glanced at Jiang Zhou, said nothing, and went back into her room.

Jiang Zhou knew that Madam Jiang had taken her words to heart, but she still needed time to change her mind. She didn’t want to see Madam Jiang upset, as she was her only kin in this world. Although she wasn’t truly her own, since she occupied the original owner’s body, fulfilling the filial duty for the original owner was what she should do.

After Madam Jiang returned to her room, Jiang Zhou took out the pastry she had bought and handed it to Lin Muwan. “It looks good. I thought you might like it, so I bought it. Try it quickly.”

Lin Muwan frowned; her eyes fixed on Jiang Zhou’s handsome, spirited eyebrows. After a while, she pursed her lips, lowered her gaze, and looked at the pastry, hesitant to take it.

“Try to see if it’s good. If it’s not to your taste, we can get something else next time.” Jiang Zhou’s eyes were bright. Seeing her reluctance, she directly placed the pastry into her hand, scratched her own eyebrow, and said happily, “Today, I found out about a restaurant that buys wild game. I’ll go up the mountain again early tomorrow. Maybe I can catch some prey.”

Lin Muwan didn’t speak, her eyes lingering briefly on the pastry pushed into her hand. This pastry was not cheap, and Jiang Zhou had not mentioned the money at all since her return. It seemed the money must have been spent on the pastry. A mix of emotions churned within her.

If only this person never left.

Lost in thought, Lin Muwan pressed her lips together. She went back to her room to put the pastry away. When she came out again, Jiang Zhou was squatting in front of Zhouzhou, poking its head with her finger. The little one couldn’t bear the force and sat down hard on its bottom. As soon as it climbed back up, it was pushed over again—it was being quite badly tormented.

The person seemed to be having a lot of fun, not even hearing Lin Muwan approach behind her. Lin Muwan stood behind her, watching.

After a while of commotion, the little one saw her, struggled to its feet, and cried ‘yīing yīing’ at her, as if seeking help.

Jiang Zhou turned around, saw her, and grinned, exposing her teeth, her spirited eyebrows lifted.

“You little thing, you even know how to tattle.” With that, she mercilessly flicked it with her finger. The little one flipped onto its side on the ground, exposing its pink belly, its front paws covering its mouth, and its body squirmed around on the ground.

“Stop it, don’t bully it anymore.” Lin Muwan couldn’t stand it and spoke up to stop her.

Jiang Zhou pouted and stood up. “How am I bullying it? It’s clearly doing it on purpose. I used very little force. It pretended to fall when it saw you coming.” Her tone was a bit spoiled.

Lin Muwan’s heart tightened. She had to admit that this person acted spoiled without any effort. She pinched her fingertips, her gaze resting on Jiang Zhou’s spirited face for a moment, then she slowly took a breath. “Let’s go. Didn’t you say you were going to bathe it?”

After saying that, she took the lead and walked towards the door. Before she could take half a step, her wrist was grasped by Jiang Zhou. Lin Muwan’s body trembled. After a moment, she turned her face, stared at the hand on her wrist, and said coolly, “Let go!”

Jiang Zhou quickly released her hand, swallowed, feeling a little stung. She spoke hastily, “Don’t wash it by the river.” Her gaze fixed on Lin Muwan’s face. Seeing no anomaly, she continued, “It’s so small, we can just boil some water in the yard to wash it. The water outside is cold and it’s easy to…” She paused, intending to say ‘catch a cold,’ but changed her words at the last moment, “…easy to get chilled.”

Lin Muwan’s expression was calm, and she nodded.

“I’ll go fetch the water right now,” Jiang Zhou said, picking up the wooden bucket from the ground and quickly running out. Within the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, she hurried back with a bucket of water, poured the water into the pot, lit a fire, and began to boil it.

It didn’t take long for the water to boil. She mixed the hot water with cold water and grabbed the little one, putting it into the water. At first, the little one looked at her with wide, terrified eyes, continuously making ‘yīing yīing’ sounds in protest.

Lin Muwan said, “Be gentle with your movements.”

“What?” Jiang Zhou turned her head to look at her.

“I said be gentle with your movements. It looks very uncomfortable.”

“Oh.” Jiang Zhou nodded, said no more, and her movements were noticeably gentler than before.

After bathing the little one, Jiang Zhou found a piece of cloth to wrap it in and handed it to Lin Muwan.

It was tiny, its fur clinging to its skin, and its body was slightly trembling. Lin Muwan held it in her arms. “It’s shaking. Is it chilled?”

“Come and sit by the stove. There’s a fire here.”

Lin Muwan walked over and sat down. A wave of heat washed over her face. She lowered her eyes, her cheeks soon flushed from the heat of the fire. Her skin was fair and delicate, and at that moment, her jade-like cheeks were stained with a faint pink. Her features were beautiful as a painting, and Jiang Zhou stared, completely captivated, her eyes full of her.

She unconsciously took a step closer. Lin Muwan looked up, saw her brazen gaze, and a wave of annoyance rose in her heart. She suddenly stood up, and without caring if the little one was cold or not, she held it and turned to go back to the room.

The door slammed shut behind her.

Jiang Zhou snapped out of her daze, staring blankly at the closed door, and scratched her eyebrow, feeling a little embarrassed.

Why did she get angry?

Was she not going to warm up the little one?

Jiang Zhou felt a momentary pang of frustration, pursed her lips, but didn’t dwell on it. She had just discovered a business opportunity today, and she was eager to go up the mountain. She strapped the chopping knife to her waist and headed toward the mountain entrance. Having been there twice, she easily found the location of the traps, and set up several more traps in discreet places nearby. Adopting the idea of casting a wide net, she eventually set traps throughout nearly half the mountain.

By the time she finished, she was drenched in sweat. Jiang Zhou wiped her brow, full of confidence, and just waited to come back to collect the catch early the next morning.

It felt as though large sums of silver were pouring into her pockets.

When she returned home, the sky was already growing dim. Seeing a firelight in the courtyard from afar, Jiang Zhou’s heart warmed, and a smile appeared on her face. Her steps became lighter. She quickened her pace back home. When she arrived, Lin Muwan paused upon seeing her, and noticing the smile in her eyes, couldn’t help but smile slightly back.

“I’m home.”

“Mm, wash your hands and go call Mother out for dinner.”

Jiang Zhou put down the chopping knife tucked into her waist, walked to the wooden basin, bent down, and washed her hands. She then went to call Madam Jiang for dinner. Madam Jiang said she wasn’t hungry and told them to eat without her. The room went silent.

Jiang Zhou understood that she needed time to figure things out, so she didn’t push it. She sat down in front of the stove, the smile in her eyes deepening. “When we build the new house, we must build the courtyard wall high so people walking outside won’t be able to see into the yard.”

Saying this, she glanced outside and saw a woman passing the doorway, peering inquisitively into the courtyard.