I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 16

The yard was tidier than before. As early as when Lin Muwan was cooking, Jiang Zhou had mentioned that Zhang Tieniu was staying for a meal, so before they finished their work, Lin Muwan had tidied up the yard.

Lin Muwan followed behind them, her eyes fixed on the hand Jiang Zhou was using to grip Zhang Tieniu, her expression dark.

“Dear wife, why aren’t you walking?” Jiang Zhou turned and called out, looking at Lin Muwan with confusion. When her pitch-black eyes met hers, she clearly saw displeasure, which startled her. Could it be that she wasn’t feeling well somewhere?

She released Zhang Tieniu. “Brother Zhang, please have a seat first, I’ll go check.”

With that, she took a few steps and quickly reached Lin Muwan, asking with concern, “Wife, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Lin Muwan raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping across Jiang Zhou’s face, then looking towards the yard, and said flatly, “I’m fine, let’s go.”

“Are you really, okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine.”

Jiang Zhou nodded hesitantly.

She certainly didn’t look fine, but since Lin Muwan wouldn’t say, she couldn’t press her. Since they had a guest for dinner, they shouldn’t neglect him. She could only wait and ask her again tonight.

While they were talking, they entered the yard. Zhang Tieniu and Madam Jiang were already sitting on stones, chatting and waiting for them. Seeing them enter, Madam Jiang called out, “Hurry up and come eat.”

“Coming,” Jiang Zhou responded and was about to go sit down, but Lin Muwan grabbed the corner of her shirt. Jiang Zhou turned to look at her.

Lin Muwan was expressionless. “Wash your hands.”

“Oh,” Jiang Zhou smiled. “Luckily, my wife reminded me.”

Jiang Zhou quickly walked to the wooden basin to wash her hands, and Lin Muwan watched from the side.

Jiang Zhou was puzzled—what was so interesting about watching her wash her hands—but she didn’t say anything.

After she washed the dirt off her hands and was about to wipe them dry, Lin Muwan said coldly, “Use the soap pod.”

Jiang Zhou complied, washing her hands again with the soap pod. The washed hands were clean and had a faint fragrance.

She held out her hands in front of Lin Muwan.

“Go change your clothes.”

Jiang Zhou touched her head, her expression surprised. It wouldn’t be right to leave the guest in the yard and go change clothes herself, and if she changed clothes without bathing after a whole day of work, the smell of sweat would cling to the new clothes. She tried to negotiate, “Can I wipe down and change later tonight?”

Lin Muwan’s face suddenly turned cold, her voice clear and cool, saying, “Change now. You smell very strongly.”

Jiang Zhou hadn’t expected this reason. Her face immediately flushed red. Subconsciously, she lifted her arm to sniff her armpit. Although there was some sweat, it wasn’t that bad, was it?

She was a little embarrassed, her face red as she said, “Then, then I’ll go change. You go eat first.”

Lin Muwan glanced at her, didn’t look at her again, turned, and walked to the stove area to sit down.

Jiang Zhou felt instantly wronged. She had a sense of shame, too. No grown woman would take kindly to being told she smelled strongly.

Madam Jiang asked, “Why did Azhou go back to the room?”

“My husband said I was sweaty and smelled strongly, so I went to change my clothes.”

“That rascal, why change clothes so late at night?”

Lin Muwan didn’t speak. She lowered her eyes. Zhouzhou saw her sit down and immediately curled up at her feet, very dependent on her.

Madam Jiang sighed, knowing Lin Muwan’s nature. She had been like this since she was bought, not liking to talk and never resisting. She had been bullied by Azhou quite a bit before, but fortunately, Azhou had changed and now knew how to cherish her wife, so the girl wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.

She decided not to ask any more questions and continued chatting with Zhang Tieniu.

A moment later, Jiang Zhou came out in a short set of work clothes. These were the clothes she planned to wear for work tomorrow, so a little smell wouldn’t matter. She had chosen this set.

She glanced at the three of them. Zhang Tieniu was sitting stiffly, talking with Madam Jiang on the side.

“You rascal, sit down and eat quickly! How bad could you possibly smell? You just had to change clothes now and leave so many people waiting with empty stomachs.”

Jiang Zhou was startled and looked at Lin Muwan. She had her head lowered, her expression faint.

Fine, she accepted it. It was Lin Muwan who found the smell too strong and insisted on her changing clothes.

What else could she do? Her own wife had told the lie; she had to uphold it even if she had to kneel.

Jiang Zhou said, “I was sweating a lot after working all day. I was afraid of stinking up the place for you all.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Zhang Tieniu subtly shifting his stone seat, creating a little more distance between himself and Madam Jiang.

Jiang Zhou suddenly wanted to laugh but held back the corners of her mouth, worried that Zhang Tieniu might feel embarrassed. She scooped a bowl of meat for each of them. When scooping for Lin Muwan, she intentionally said, “Wife, you worked hard.”

Then, she gave her a big smile, showing a row of white teeth.

Lin Muwan pursed her lips, took the bowl, and after her gaze lingered on Jiang Zhou’s face for two seconds, she looked away.

Jiang Zhou watched her and thought she looked quite cute when she felt guilty.

Finally, she served herself a bowl, happily picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. As she chewed, a wave of fishy stench rushed up her nose. If she hadn’t been conscious of the people around her, she would have almost spat it out. The clean fragrance of the meat hadn’t come through; instead, the meat’s natural fishy smell was intense.

What kind of cooking skill could produce a taste like this?

She widened her eyes and looked at Lin Muwan.

She genuinely hadn’t expected her cooking to be this bad. She would never have let her cook if she had known. She had thought Lin Muwan knew how to cook, seeing that the porridge she had made earlier was soft and well-cooked.

She was filled with regret. That was the wild pheasant she had hunted! It was wasted just like that.

Jiang Zhou swallowed the meat with a suppressed feeling. She glanced at the others. Zhang Tieniu had his head down, chewing quickly. After finishing one piece, he immediately stuffed another in, looking like he would throw up if he stopped.

Madam Jiang’s expression wasn’t much better. She ate slowly, taking a long time to finish one small piece of meat, but somehow, no less remained on her plate.

As for Lin Muwan, she hadn’t eaten herself. She picked up a piece of meat and fed it to Zhouzhou. Zhouzhou ate happily, making a purring sound like a cat while it ate.

It didn’t seem to mind the taste at all, Jiang Zhou shook her head.

The meal was silent and quick for everyone. After Zhang Tieniu finished his bowl of meat, he stood up, said goodbye to Jiang Zhou, and left.

As soon as he left, Madam Jiang also got up and returned to her room.

Moonlight cast a clear shimmer across the ground. Zhouzhou’s belly was round and full. Lin Muwan picked it up from the ground, didn’t even look at Jiang Zhou, and turned to leave.

Jiang Zhou was confused, unable to figure out how she had offended Lin Muwan today.

She started clearing the dishes. A moment later, the room door opened again. Lin Muwan came out with the wooden basin and poured water into it. Jiang Zhou looked, and inside was the set of clothes she had just changed out of.

Her heart fluttered slightly. Jiang Zhou said, “Just leave it. Don’t wash it so late at night. I’ll wash it myself tomorrow.”

Lin Muwan didn’t look up and said faintly, “It’s dirty.”

The moon on the tenth day of the month was already half-full, hazy and ambiguous, like a beautiful woman wrapped in a thin veil, emitting a soft glow. Occasionally, a few barks echoed in the village, and she could even faintly hear unknown calls from the mountains.

Jiang Zhou stared blankly at the clothes hanging in the yard, her heart heavy, and a wave of weariness washed over her.

After taking a moment to recover, she returned to the room. Lin Muwan was sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes closed. Jiang Zhou took a pastry from where Lin Muwan kept them and handed it to her. “Eat a little. You didn’t eat anything at dinner; you’ll be hungry tonight.”

“Oh.” Lin Muwan glanced at the pastry and didn’t take it.

Jiang Zhou: “…”

She laughed in exasperation.

Jiang Zhou said, “I washed my hands just now; they’re very clean.”

Lin Muwan took the pastry and quietly began to eat small bites, serene as before.

Jiang Zhou watched her and felt genuinely disliked.

She silently picked up the wooden basin and left the room. A moment later, she returned with a basin of water from outside. Just as she was about to blow out the candle, a clear, cold voice rang out, “Go to sleep. Wipe down tomorrow. There’s no hot water now, and using cold water makes it easy to catch a chill.”

Jiang Zhou suddenly looked at her, her expression slightly astonished.

The faint yellow candlelight flickered in the room, casting alternating light and shadow on their faces.

After Lin Muwan finished the last bite of the pastry, Jiang Zhou cleared her throat and said hoarsely, “I smell too strongly, and I’m worried about bothering you.”

“You won’t.”

Jiang Zhou was confused.

One moment, she was the one saying Jiang Zhou smelled strongly, and the next, she was the one saying it was fine.

She really wanted to know what Lin Muwan was thinking.

Was she worried about Jiang Zhou catching a chill, forcing herself to endure the unpleasant smell and share the bed with her?

Jiang Zhou frowned.

“Blow out the candle. I can’t sleep with the light on.”

Jiang Zhou looked at the candle, leaned over, and blew it out. The room instantly plunged into darkness, with only a faint shimmer spilling in through the window.

She lifted her arm and sniffed. There was a smell of sweat. She hesitated for a moment, pursed her lips, and climbed onto the bed, lying on the outermost edge. Her mind kept replaying Lin Muwan’s abnormal behavior today. She gradually drifted into a hazy sleep.

As the sky was faintly lighting up, Jiang Zhou released the person she was holding in her arms and hurried out the door. Zhang Tieniu was already waiting for her outside, holding a shovel and carrying a bamboo basket on his back. Seeing her come out, he scratched his head. “There are many rabbit holes on the west mountain. Let’s go dig there. The mother rabbits are in their holes this season.”

With that, the two headed towards the west mountain. On the way to the west mountain, they would pass the hill where Jiang Zhou had set the traps. She planned to circle back later to check if they had caught any prey.

The west mountain had more weeds and fewer trees compared to the previous mountain. Jiang Zhou had no experience and followed behind Zhang Tieniu, using a sickle to clear the grass as they walked. When they saw a rabbit hole, Zhang Tieniu carefully searched the vicinity to determine how many exits the hole had. Then, he was responsible for digging, and Jiang Zhou was responsible for blocking the exits to prevent the rabbits from escaping through other holes. They worked together seamlessly. Before long, they dug out a nest of small gray fuzzballs and one large gray rabbit.

Using the same method, they spent the morning catching three mother rabbits and a pile of young rabbits. The bamboo basket was full and heavy.

Jiang Zhou wiped her sweat and said, “Let’s head back first. We still need to check the traps later.”

Zhang Tieniu had no objection. He relied on Jiang Zhou’s decisions regarding raising the rabbits.

When they went to check the traps, they were surprised to find an unexpected bounty: a large wild boar.

Jiang Zhou was overjoyed. Together with Zhang Tieniu, they tied up the wild boar, found a thick wooden pole, and carried it back.

The wild boar was huge. Jiang Zhou felt grateful that she was an athlete and exercised daily, otherwise, she might have broken her arm here.

After returning, they found a scale and weighed it. The wild boar weighed a full 230 jin. Jiang Zhou immediately had an idea. The tavern bought wild boar for one liang of silver. If she sold the meat separately at the market price of 100 wen per jin, this 230-jin wild boar, after removing the bones, could yield about 160 or 170 jin of meat, which would be 1 liang and 600 wen. The ribs and bones could also be sold, making it more cost-effective than selling it to the tavern, although it was a bit more troublesome.

She discussed her idea with Zhang Tieniu, and Zhang Tieniu suggested selling it directly to the village butcher, saying they could get more than 2 liang and save a lot of trouble.

Jiang Zhou considered it and finally decided to sell it to the butcher. She was unfamiliar with the people here, and even if she slaughtered the pig, she probably wouldn’t be able to sell the meat.

Since they returned, Lin Muwan had come out of the room and stood on the side, her face remaining sullen. Seeing Jiang Zhou consult Zhang Tieniu about every little thing, her mood plummeted. She glanced at her, turned, and went back to the room.

Having made a decision, Jiang Zhou first put the rabbits into the rabbit hutch they had built yesterday. Then, she and Zhang Tieniu carried the wild boar to the village butcher’s house and sold it to him for 2 liang and 300 wen of silver.

Originally, they only had 2 liang of silver left at home, but now they had gained an extra 2 liang. Jiang Zhou couldn’t hide her smile. She went straight into the house and handed the 2 liang and 300 wen earned today, plus the remaining 40 wen from yesterday, to Lin Muwan.

“Husband should keep it himself,” Lin Muwan said, her expression faint, her voice cool and clear. She glanced at the money in her hand and scoffed.

It was very soft, but Jiang Zhou still heard it.

She was utterly confused by the scoff.

She carefully moved closer and tentatively asked, “Wife, are you having your monthly cycle?”

Lin Muwan’s faint expression suddenly turned cold. A layer of frost coated her beautiful features, capable of instantly freezing a person stiff.

Jiang Zhou swallowed, her mind racing. She truly hadn’t done anything to offend her in the past two days. Could she have found out her identity? If she had known her identity, shouldn’t she have exposed her on the spot? She wouldn’t have this attitude.

Could it be that Lin Muwan was shy, embarrassed to let others know about her monthly cycle?

This thought gave her a little bit of courage. She said, “Wife, I’ll go get you some hot water. You lie down and rest for a bit.”

Hearing her say this, Lin Muwan was both angry and annoyed. She pointed to the door. “Get out.”

This person’s mind was as dense as a block of wood, and she was as stupid as a pig. What was she thinking when she decided to rely on her to rescue her mother?

For a moment, she wished she could bite her to vent her frustration.