I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 14

Lin Muwan froze, then lowered her head and stirred the rice porridge in her bowl with a spoon, the corner of her mouth curling up into a slight smile that she couldn’t suppress.

Once the person outside had walked far away, Jiang Zhou retracted her gaze. Combining this with the gossip she had overheard at the village vegetable stall, the news of her being kicked out of the Jiang family had probably been enthusiastically spread throughout the village long ago. The village was never short of people who enjoyed a spectacle.

It wasn’t that she disliked living in the village; on the contrary, she quite liked the life surrounded by green mountains and clear water, provided she could eat her fill and not suffer from the cold.

Thinking of this, Jiang Zhou sighed. Afraid of dampening Lin Muwan’s mood, she changed the subject and relayed the business opportunities she had found to Lin Muwan in detail, her face animated with excitement as she spoke.

Lin Muwan didn’t understand the traps Jiang Zhou spoke of, but considering the rabbit and Zhoū Zhoū from this morning, they must be effective.

Whether they would catch anything tomorrow was still unknown. Seeing her so confident, Lin Muwan didn’t want to discourage her enthusiasm, so she listened with pursed lips.

When Jiang Zhou paused, Lin Muwan was about to say that she could also do something to help supplement the household income, but suddenly a piece of meat appeared in her bowl. She looked up at Jiang Zhou.

“Don’t just drink the porridge. Even though it’s been sitting out for a day, the meat is even softer after being reheated.”

The chicken meat was leftover from yesterday. There weren’t many pieces. Lin Muwan usually wasn’t particularly fond of meat, and she had already eaten some yesterday, so she hadn’t reached for the meat today.

To her surprise, this person had actually put a piece of meat in her bowl. She pressed her lips together, suppressing a trace of unclear emotion rising in her heart, and said sternly, “Eat your own.”

Her tone was not very friendly.

Jiang Zhou was startled, finding Lin Muwan’s sudden change of expression strange. Her face looked a little lost, but then she thought: Lin Muwan might not like eating food that someone else had served her, especially since she hadn’t used serving chopsticks. Who likes the idea of eating someone else’s saliva?

If she hadn’t seen Lin Muwan only drinking the porridge just now and worried, she wouldn’t eat enough, she wouldn’t have lost her composure. Suddenly, she felt a bit guilty.

Lin Muwan’s eyes were fixed on the piece of meat—she must be disgusted by it.

What to do?

Jiang Zhou’s mind raced. She sneaked a glance, gritted her teeth, quickly clamped the meat out of Lin Muwan’s bowl, then popped it into her own mouth, lowered her head, and rapidly chewed, attempting to destroy the evidence.

The speed was so fast that Lin Muwan only saw a streak, and the meat in her bowl vanished, followed by Jiang Zhou chewing vigorously.

She was momentarily stunned, and the color on her face visibly turned red. She felt irritation in her heart, irritated that this person’s scandalous behavior was no different from the old Jiang Zhou, and angered that she wasn’t all that repulsed by it.

Her expression inexplicably darkened. She glared at Jiang Zhou, said nothing, stood up, and went back to the room.

?!

Oh no, is she angry?

Jiang Zhou was alarmed. This wasn’t her intention!

She just couldn’t stand Lin Muwan looking disgusted. Who knew that in a moment of heat, her actions were faster than her thoughts, and she just clamped the meat back.

Now, it was too late to regret it. Staring at the tightly shut door, she felt a pang of annoyance.

Even if they couldn’t be wives, they were living together, seeing each other constantly.

With this thought, she walked over and tried to push the door.

She gently pushed, but the door didn’t open.

?!

She added a little force, and the door rattled.

Jiang Zhou felt her situation was tragic. Lin Muwan had actually locked it from the inside.

“My wife (Niángzi),” Jiang Zhou called out. After a long pause with no response, she continued, “I know I was wrong. Could you please open the door?”

Having said that, Jiang Zhou pressed her ear against the door and listened carefully. The room was very quiet.

She wasn’t actually sure of the specific reason for Lin Muwan’s anger—was it disgust at her saliva, or was it because she took the meat back? But her mind worked quickly: regardless of the reason, admitting her mistake was the safest bet, and she should avoid mentioning either of those two pitfalls.

“My wife, please open the door. Let’s talk things out properly.”

“My wife, I know I was wrong.”

Lin Muwan sat on the edge of the bed with tightly pursed lips and a stern face. Hearing the voice outside growing louder, she felt restless after a moment, worried that Madam Jiang might hear. That person had no shame, but she did.

“My wife.”

“My wife.”

The door suddenly opened from the inside. Jiang Zhou’s hand, which was ready to knock, paused mid-air. Seeing the door open, her face visibly brightened, “My wife, listen to me.”

Lin Muwan pursed her lips and stared into her eyes. They were a pair of captivating ‘peach blossom’ eyes, shining brightly, which ironically made it easy to overlook her inherent allure. Lin Muwan’s eyes darkened, and she lowered her voice: “Shut up.”

“Oh.” Jiang Zhou obediently shut her mouth, but only for less than a breath, “My wife, I already know I was wrong.”

“Shut up!”

Jiang Zhou didn’t dare make another sound. “Come in and talk,” Lin Muwan said, turning and sitting back down on the edge of the bed, looking up at her.

There was nowhere else to sit in the room except the bed. There wasn’t even a decent table or stool.

Jiang Zhou stood by the side, meeting Lin Muwan’s displeased gaze. Her heart was pounding, feeling like she was being waited on for an explanation.

An explanation—what did she do wrong?

Jiang Zhou swallowed hard. She couldn’t say that she shouldn’t have served her meat, nor could she say that she shouldn’t have taken it back.

She had no choice but to bite the bullet and shamelessly say, “My mistake was in making my wife angry.”

Lin Muwan hadn’t expected her to say this. She froze for a moment and couldn’t help but re-examine her. This person looked honest but was obviously good at sweet talk. Instantly, her mood worsened. She said coldly, “I need to rest now.”

The implication was, don’t bother me here.

Jiang Zhou understood. “Alright, my wife, you rest. I’ll go wash the bowls.”

Her mood instantly lifted.

As long as she wasn’t angry, that was good. She had been so afraid that Lin Muwan would shut the door and not open it for her at night, which was why she had begged outside for so long.

Jiang Zhou went cheerfully to wash the bowls. Lin Muwan watched the quick-footed person turn and disappear at the doorway, then let out a soft “Hmph.” She picked up Zhoū Zhoū from the ground and squeezed its little paws. The little creature, still half-asleep, rubbed its head against her and curled up in her arms to sleep again.

“All you do is sleep. You have no sense of alertness.”

Then she thought that the other person was just like that, and she curved her lips. If she didn’t still need her, she would expose her right then and there. Let’s see how smug she’ll be then.

After washing the bowls, Jiang Zhou did some exercises in the courtyard, taking longer than usual to dawdle. When she returned, Lin Muwan was facing the wall as usual, presenting her back to her. Jiang Zhou quietly approached. Just as she was about to lift the quilt, she paused.

Zhoū Zhoū was lying in her spot, curled up against the quilt.

?!

Jiang Zhou bit her lip and frowned, staring at Lin Muwan’s back for a moment. Her heart felt sour and crumpled. Was this a sign that she wasn’t allowed on the bed?

After a long silence, she picked up Zhoū Zhoū by the skin on the back of its neck. The little fellow squirmed in dissatisfaction. Jiang Zhou tossed it into its little nest.

The next day, when Jiang Zhou returned from the mountain, Lin Muwan was cooking. Madam Jiang stood in the courtyard, neatly dressed in the thick cloth garment she had worn when they left the Jiang family. Seeing her return, she said, “Come inside with me.”

After speaking, she walked into the house. Jiang Zhou nodded, placed the caught rabbits into the basket. Today, she was lucky, catching two rabbits and one wild pheasant. She had tied them together with rope before returning, so she wasn’t worried about them escaping.

She glanced at Lin Muwan, whose expression was calm, stirring the porridge in the pot with confidence, nothing like the person who knew nothing when they first arrived.

Pursing her lips, she followed Madam Jiang into the room.

Madam Jiang’s room had a round table and a long bench. Jiang Zhou had refused when she suggested taking them out to the courtyard for meals.

Madam Jiang sat at the round table; her expression very serious. After a long silence, she said, “Today, you come back to the Jiang Manor with me. Go apologize to your father. He will definitely forgive you.”

?!

Jiang Zhou opened her mouth slightly in disbelief.

If she weren’t currently occupying the original owner’s body and was afraid of being labeled unfilial, she would really like to shake some sense into this cheap mother. Why rush to go back when they could have a good life? When that man was enjoying the company of multiple women, why didn’t he think about how you are living now?

A sense of helplessness washed over her.

She stared at Madam Jiang for a long time. What was there to say?

She said nothing, simply agreed with an “Alright,” and then added, “If he still drives us away, no matter what, I’m going to move the household register out this time. You can’t stop me again.”

After a long pause, Madam Jiang lowered her head, struggled internally for a long time, and then said solemnly, “Good.”

After breakfast, Jiang Zhou took the caught rabbits but left the wild pheasant behind. Not only did they need nutritional supplements themselves, but Zhoū Zhoū was extremely picky and only ate meat. If she offered it rice porridge, its little head would tilt, and it wouldn’t touch a bite.

What a troublesome pet to raise.

She secretly glanced at Lin Muwan, then flicked Zhoū Zhoū’s little head with her finger. The little creature sat down on the ground on its bottom.

Hmph. If it weren’t for someone who wants to raise you, you’d have been exchanged for money long ago. How could you be so picky?

“Could you help me buy some needles and thread when you go to the town? I want to do some embroidery to supplement the household income,” Lin Muwan said.

Jiang Zhou looked up at her. She had tried cross-stitching with classmates when she was in school. It was very taxing on the eyes, and she stopped doing it later. She thought for a moment, “Catching a few wild rabbits every day and selling them will be enough for our food. You don’t need to do embroidery.”

Today’s rabbits were good. After an afternoon of improving the traps yesterday, they had no injuries, and their fur was intact. One rabbit sold for twenty-five wén, so two were fifty wén.

Twenty-five wén was enough for them to eat for several days. Moreover, she would catch several every day from now on. Even when building a house, Lin Muwan wouldn’t need to do embroidery, so she firmly refused.

Lin Muwan pursed her lips and said nothing more. Jiang Zhou and Madam Jiang went to the town together. They first went to the restaurant to sell the rabbits, earning a full fifty wén. Jiang Zhou happily tucked the money into her pocket before they headed to the Jiang family.

“Ā Zhōu, you go knock on the door.” Madam Jiang said, straightening her clothes.

She had specifically changed into clean clothes for the trip, making sure her appearance was neat.

Jiang Zhou glanced at her, sighed helplessly, walked up the steps, and knocked on the golden jiāotú door knocker on the red-lacquered main gate. After a while, the door opened from the inside. A doorman peeked out and, seeing Jiang Zhou, was startled. He stammered, “Second Young Master, why are you back?”

“Hurry and inform the Master that we’ve returned,” Madam Jiang said.

“Y-Yes, yes, I’ll go right away.” The doorman closed the gate and scurried off to report.