I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 27.2

That evening, when she brought Lin Muwan’s meal, she secretly gave her the bracelets, also slipping her a handful of wild jujubes she had picked in the mountains. Only then did she happily return to the kitchen.

The next day, she had to go to the county town to sell rabbit meat, another busy day. After dinner, Jiang Zhou’s head hit the pillow, and she fell asleep immediately.

On the other side, Lin Muwan served Mother Lin her medicine. Lying in bed, she couldn’t fall asleep.

She stared blankly at the ceiling. A silvery moonlight shone through the window lattice into the room, faintly illuminating the patterns on the curtains.

Lin Muwan smiled slightly. Who would leave their windows open so wide? Only that fool would do something like that.

A strange feeling came over her. Since that person arrived, it seemed everything had been going in a better direction. And now, thanks entirely to that person, she was reunited with her mother. The corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily.

The night watch drums beat, time passing repeatedly. A faint white glow appeared on the horizon, and a soft sound of a door opening came from the courtyard.

It was that person going to the next room. Lin Muwan quietly sat up from the bed, but she still disturbed Mother Lin. Mother Lin, without thinking too much, asked, “Why are you up so early?”

Lin Muwan hadn’t slept all night. Not wanting to worry her mother, she smiled. “I couldn’t sleep well.”

Mother Lin nodded, then after a moment, said, “It is good to get up early. After a woman gets married, she should serve her in-laws. Although Jiang Zhou only has a mother, as a daughter-in-law, you should still get up early to cook for your mother-in-law. Go on, Mother understands.”

Lin Muwan: “…”

She paused, knowing her mother had misunderstood, but she didn’t explain. Since marrying Jiang Zhou, she indeed hadn’t fulfilled a daughter-in-law’s duties. Since that person arrived, all the housework had been done by her.

Excluding the difference in living standards compared to before, she was still living much like she had as an unmarried girl, perhaps even more comfortably, sleeping as late as she liked.

Lin Muwan casually put on a piece of clothing. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she bumped into Jiang Zhou, who was returning from outside. The person opposite her looked surprised. “Why are you up so early? It’s cold outside, hurry back in and rest. I’ve got this covered.”

A sliver of white light had just appeared on the horizon. From the small courtyard of the thatched hut next door, faint, bustling sounds of conversation could be heard.

Lin Muwan stared at Jiang Zhou, her hands clenched inside her sleeves. After a long moment, somewhat petulantly, she retorted, “If you can get up early, why can’t I?”

Jiang Zhou frowned, a hint of confusion on her delicate face. She was about to ask another question when someone from next door called out, “Brother Jiang.”

Jiang Zhou worried that if she didn’t go now, the louder noise from over there would disturb the people here.

“Coming,” she answered in a low voice.

Turning, she took Lin Muwan’s hand. “You go back first. It’s too early to cook even if you wanted to.”

She pushed her toward the room, glancing back as she did so, afraid that the people outside might call out too loudly.

Once Lin Muwan was inside, she didn’t forget to instruct her: “Sleep a little more. I’ll cook after I finish my chores.”

The person was gently pushed into the room, and the door was softly closed from the outside.

Mother Lin heard the movement and looked back, seeing her daughter standing in the doorway in a daze. Confused, she asked, “Didn’t you go to cook? Did you finish so quickly?”

Lin Muwan came back to her senses. Meeting her mother’s worried eyes, she forced a smile and said, “It’s too early. Let’s sleep a little more.”

Mother Lin: “…”

Why is it too early again?

When she married into the Lin family, she used to get up around this time. Even though there were servants, not getting up early as a new daughter-in-law would still give people cause to gossip.

She had kept this habit until the Lin family met with disaster.

Her daughter’s sudden return made her feel uneasy.

She wanted to say a few words, but remembering her daughter’s suffering, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Thinking of Jiang Zhou, whom she had only met twice, she seemed kind and reasonable. She shouldn’t make things too difficult for them. But what about her mother-in-law?

She sighed inwardly. If the other woman was unhappy, she would simply take the blame. It would be her fault for not raising her daughter well.

Lin Muwan said nothing. She lay down beside her mother, her heart anxious and unsettled.

Afraid that her mother would notice, she turned on her side and closed her eyes. It wasn’t until a knock came on the door that she opened her eyes, which were clear, with no hint of having just woken up. She got up impatiently to open the door.

Outside, Jiang Zhou grinned, saying softly, “Is Mother-in-law awake?”

Lin Muwan nodded, her face cold. She took the tray from Jiang Zhou’s hands and was about to turn back into the room when Jiang Zhou stopped her. “Wife, Mother-in-law’s medicine is boiling in the kitchen. Don’t forget about it. I have to go to my stall now.”

Heh.

Lin Muwan pursed her lips, glanced at the hand on her wrist, and felt even more irritated. She said coldly, “Husband, you should leave now.”

“Oh,” Jiang Zhou let go of her hand.

How did I offend her?

Faced with Lin Muwan’s cold expression, she didn’t dare to make trouble. She just left reluctantly, looking back three times as she went.

She repeatedly thought about it.

Suddenly, enlightenment struck her. Was it because I didn’t let her cook this morning?

Understanding the reason, she scratched her head and grinned. This was a good sign; her wife was starting to care for her.

“What are you cackling about, you little rascal?” Mother Jiang had come up behind her without her noticing, looking at her with amusement.

“Mother, why do you walk without making a sound? You scared me to death.” Jiang Zhou complained.

Mother Jiang snorted. “I called you several times, but you were just busy giggling like a fool. Look at how pathetic you are.”

“Hmph, what do you know?” Jiang Zhou argued with her cheap mother for a few sentences. Before leaving, she couldn’t help but instruct her, “Don’t open the door for strangers during this time.”

After getting her promise, she drove the borrowed ox-cart to the county town. As usual, Jiang Zhou’s spicy stir-fried rabbit meat sold the fastest and best, making the surrounding stall owners envious.

Of course, some people wanted to introduce their daughters to Jiang Zhou. As soon as she finished setting up, the auntie selling wontons next door came over and started chatting with Jiang Zhou.

Jiang Zhou looked up, smiled, and replied, “I’m from the Jiang Family Village.”

The wonton auntie considered this. “You’ve closed your stall. Come to my place for a bowl of wontons before you leave. Your Jiang Family Village is quite a distance from the county town.”

Jiang Zhou: “Auntie, you’re too kind. No need, I’ll eat when I get home.”

“Don’t be modest. We’re neighbors.” She said this while walking back. “Come and have a bowl of wontons before you go.”

Jiang Zhou was often taken care of by these people when she was alone outside, so she couldn’t refuse. She took the remaining pound of meat with her.

When the wonton auntie saw her coming, she quickly called her daughter out to wait on her, while she went to cook the wontons herself.

Jiang Zhou smiled at the girl. She wasn’t actually very familiar with her. She had only heard that the wonton auntie raised her daughter alone after her husband passed away. The daughter was sixteen, introverted, and blushed when she saw Jiang Zhou.

She sat opposite Jiang Zhou, twisting the handkerchief in her hand, and secretly glancing at Jiang Zhou from the corner of her eye.

Jiang Zhou felt strange and uncomfortable being stared at. She sat and waited, finally getting the bowl of wontons. Then, she ate it as fast as she could and hurriedly drove the ox-cart home.

This small incident shouldn’t have been worth mentioning, but as soon as she got home, she saw Lin Muwan sitting in the courtyard. She sighed, “It’s so much more comfortable at home. I just ate a bowl of wontons outside, and I felt completely uneasy.”

“Oh?” Lin Muwan looked up, her clear, cold eyes showing no extra emotion.

But Jiang Zhou thought she saw a hint of the usual tenderness in her eyes. So, she leaned in and said with a chuckle, “That wonton auntie insisted I stay and eat a bowl of wontons at her place today. Her daughter kept staring at me for some reason. It made me completely uneasy. Thinking about it now still gives me goosebumps.”

Lin Muwan’s face instantly turned cold. She twitched her lips and asked, “You ate it?”

Jiang Zhou nodded. “I ate a bowl.”

Lin Muwan: “How did it taste?”

Jiang Zhou thought she was craving wontons and said with a smile, “It was okay. If you want some, Wife, I’ll bring you a bowl tomorrow to try.”

Lin Muwan glanced at her indifferently. “No need.”

Then she got up, not looking at Jiang Zhou again, and turned back to her room.

Jiang Zhou was perplexed. She scratched her head and called out to Lin Muwan’s back, “Wife, I’m going into the mountains to cut some firewood.”

Predictably, she didn’t get any response.

Jiang Zhou wasn’t too concerned, having long gotten used to Lin Muwan’s cold personality. She went out, hitched up the ox-cart, and left.

On the way, she was still thinking about buying an ox-cart, as borrowing one from others all the time wasn’t ideal.

The autumn wind blew, rustling against the door, sweeping across the woman’s pale cheeks. The loose strands of hair on her face lifted with the wind. On the woman’s clear, cold face, her lips were tightly pursed. She stared at the food warming in the pot. After a long moment, she reached out, took it out of the pot, and placed it aside.

Jiang Zhou returned with a cartload of firewood before dinner. As soon as she entered the house, she saw a figure moving in the kitchen. Once she clearly saw the person, her heart skipped a beat.

Jiang Zhou quietly approached.

Lin Muwan looked back at the sound, pursed her lips, and lowered her head to continue what she was doing. Jiang Zhou scooped a basin of water from the water vat in the courtyard to wash up, then rushed into the kitchen. “Hmm?”

She looked at Lin Muwan, then at the wrapped wontons, and smiled. “Are we having wontons tonight?”

Wife’s wontons are really cute, with big, plump bellies.

The more Jiang Zhou looked, the happier she felt.

Lin Muwan remained silent.

“Wife, how is Mother-in-law today?” Jiang Zhou continued to talk to her. Not needing a response, she went on, “Should I go and greet Mother-in-law later? After all, she’s been here for a day, and it might look bad if I don’t show up.”

Lin Muwan frowned. Jiang Zhou was right; if she didn’t show up, her mother would indeed overthink things. She paused and then said, “You can eat with us at dinner. Mother went to the butcher Miao’s house and said she wouldn’t be back for dinner tonight.”

Not coming back again?

Jiang Zhou pouted, accustomed to this state of affairs.

The wontons were cooked and placed in bowls, steaming hot. A sprinkle of green onions brought a burst of fragrant aroma.

Jiang Zhou carried them on the tray into the room. Mother Lin was sitting up in bed, and when she saw Jiang Zhou enter, she straightened her posture, maintaining a dignified demeanor.

Jiang Zhou sighed inwardly. Mother-in-law really cares about her image.

Lin Muwan said, “Mother, it’s time to eat.”

Mother Lin acknowledged this and tried to shift her body. Jiang Zhou quickly reached out and pressed her down. “Mother, your leg is still not well enough for you to get out of bed. Just eat here.”

Mother Lin thought about it and didn’t insist. She took the bowl of wontons Jiang Zhou handed her, suddenly filled with mixed emotions. When had her own daughter ever done such things? Her eyes became teary for a moment.

Lin Muwan saw what her mother was thinking, turned her face away, and sat down at the table with Jiang Zhou. She spoke softly, “Husband, eat more.”

Jiang Zhou: “I will definitely eat a lot of the wontons my wife made.”

Lin Muwan gave her a faint glance, lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterflies about to take flight. Her pale, delicate fingers held the spoon, stirring the wontons in the bowl.

Jiang Zhou was delighted. She blew on the wonton in the spoon and took a mouthful. Slurp, slurp. The moment she chewed it, her expression froze. Sweet and spicy.

What did she put in this? Is this even edible?

She looked up. Lin Muwan’s clear, cold gaze was fixed on her. She couldn’t swallow it, nor could she spit it out. She turned to look at Mother Lin, whose eyes were also looking her way. Their eyes met in mid-air.

Both of their faces registered the same look of utter disbelief.

“Husband, why aren’t you eating?”

“Mmm, ” Jiang Zhou started chewing vigorously. While chewing, she said, “It’s too hot.”

“Oh,” Lin Muwan replied faintly.

Jiang Zhou managed to swallow the wonton with difficulty.

“Is it delicious?”

Jiang Zhou: “???”

She thought for a moment and nodded against her better judgment, thinking, You’ll know once you taste it.

Lin Muwan then asked, “Which one tastes better? This one or the one from the wonton stall?”

How was she supposed to answer this question? It was like asking who she’d save first if her mother and she both fell into the water—unanswerable.

However, she finally found the root of the problem: her wife was jealous.

Once she knew the problem, it was easy to fix. So, Jiang Zhou gritted her teeth and praised seriously, “My wife’s wontons are the most delicious in the whole world.”

Lin Muwan nodded, her cold expression softening slightly. She continued to stir the wontons in her bowl.

Mother Lin, meanwhile, looked at Jiang Zhou with astonishment.

To be able to utter such an obvious lie, she had to think a bit more highly of this son-in-law.

In the end, the extremely survival-minded Jiang Zhou ate two full bowls of wontons, with the consequence of having to run to the toilet multiple times that night.