Transmigrated as the Husband of a Vicious Villainess - Chapter 35

Looking at Wen Miao’s gradually reddening face, the innocent and stunning beauty made Ji Baiqing want to tease her even more.

“Wife, why are you so love to eat vinegar?”

Ji Baiqing smiled and tilted Wen Miao’s chin up. Before the other could react, she pressed a kiss onto those rosy, plump lips.

Before the beautiful ragdoll cat could snap back or get flustered, Ji Baiqing let go and explained: “It’s not like I like Shen Niannian. I told you, whoever you hate, I hate. I was just curious where she was heading off to so sneakily in broad daylight.”

“Didn’t you hear her say it before? She’s involved with the black market. That place we saw earlier was likely the black market, and the man following us was its guard.”

The man’s eyes had been fierce and predatory, definitely not those of a kind-hearted person.

Although Ji Baiqing had lived in a rule-of-law society in her previous life, she had spent years struggling in the lower rungs of society and had dealt with all sorts of people. That deep-seated vigilance from her days of being helpless remained in her heart.

If she were in Shen Niannian’s shoes, she would have never continued a partnership with that man after the first meeting. She couldn’t be sure if something uncontrollable might happen, and she didn’t view him as a reliable partner.

This black market didn’t seem as harmonious as it was described in the original book. She wondered how the female lead, a delicate young girl, managed to navigate it so successfully.

Hearing Ji Baiqing’s explanation, Wen Miao’s anger evaporated instantly. She gave a soft, yielding reply: “So that’s how it was.”

Ji Baiqing flicked her forehead, her voice full of amusement: “You dummy, what else could it be?”

Wen Miao covered her forehead and glared. “You’re the dummy! I was just a little worried.”

Ji Baiqing was so good, while she had a bad temper and was pampered. What if Ji Baiqing took a liking to Shen Niannian and didn’t want her anymore? She rarely mentioned these fears, but whenever she saw Ji Baiqing’s eyes linger on someone else, she felt uneasy.

She wanted Ji Baiqing to look only at her.

Hearing Wen Miao’s thoughts, Ji Baiqing let out a hiss. Listen to that. Such a charming, swaying beauty actually felt insecure. Sometimes Ji Baiqing truly felt that the inexplicable self-doubt of women and the inexplicable confidence of men should be swapped.

“What are you thinking? I told you I only like you. Besides, it’s not like every woman likes women.”

She hoped Wen Miao’s groundless worries would finally scatter. Wen Miao realized she was right and pleasingly hooked her arms around Ji Baiqing’s neck, kissing her cheek. Her voice was sweet and soft:

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have overthought it.”

Suddenly being kissed made Ji Baiqing’s smile impossible to suppress. She basked in the affection while acting stern: “Good that you know. Don’t do it again next time.”

Capital City, Military Family Compound

Wen Xiangrong was in her study, wearing glasses and reading the newspaper. The bookshelves were packed with various books, like a small library, with a desk occupying one corner.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, and the guard’s voice came from outside.

“Chief, there’s a letter for you.”

Wen Xiangrong didn’t look up, her voice carrying the natural authority of years in the military: “Come in.”

The guard placed several letters on the desk, poured her a cup of water, and left. Once the door closed, Wen Xiangrong looked up.

She was exactly seventy years old. Her hair had long since turned white, and her face bore the obvious marks of a weathered life, yet she possessed an unyielding posture, her back as straight as a board.

After finishing the work-related news, she looked at the letter from her granddaughter, and a smile touched her face. She had been strong-willed all her life, showing tenderness only toward the only daughter of her eldest daughter.

Wen Miao had lost her mother early and grew up under her watchful eye; naturally, she was doted on and pitied. At first, she and her other daughters worried that the girl was too delicate and wouldn’t adjust to rural life. But from the letters Wen Miao had sent back recently, it was clear she was living a very good life, perhaps even better than she had in the Capital.

Seeing this, Wen Xiangrong felt that sending her to the countryside was the right choice; at least she didn’t have to stay in the Capital and live under the scrutiny of others.

However, as she opened the letter and read toward the end, Wen Xiangrong’s expression gradually darkened, and a deep furrow formed between her brows.

When it was time for work to end and her youngest daughter, Wen Ruyan, was nearly home, she called her second and third daughters, telling them to come home for dinner.

When Wen Ruyan arrived, she found her mother sitting on the sofa with a deep frown. She changed her shoes and sat beside her, asking curiously, “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Wen Xiangrong shook her head. “Wait until your sisters get back.”

“The sisters are coming?” Wen Ruyan put the groceries in the kitchen and started cooking.

By the time the meal was nearly ready, Wen Zhiyi and Wen Jiaojiao had arrived. At the table, Wen Xiangrong didn’t pick up her chopsticks, so no one else dared to move. The three sisters glanced at each other, confused. What happened? Who offended Chief Wen this time?

Wen Ruyan, who lived with her mother, was the boldest. “Mom, what is it really?”

Wen Xiangrong pulled out Wen Miao’s letter and slapped it on the table, her face grim.

“Zhenzhen has someone she likes!”

The three women were shocked.

“Which brat does Zhenzhen like?” Wen Jiaojiao couldn’t imagine their haughty little girl liking someone. What kind of outstanding youth could catch her eye?

Wen Zhiyi frowned. “I hope it’s not some country bumpkin.”

Wen Ruyan laughed. “Unlikely. How could Zhenzhen be interested?”

Wen Xiangrong’s face darkened even more. Out of the four, only she knew that not only was the person not a man, but she really was a country bumpkin.

Wen Ruyan opened the letter and fell into silence after reading it with her sisters.

Wen Jiaojiao stared blankly. “If I remember correctly, this Ji Baiqing is the ‘good friend’ Zhenzhen mentioned before.”

Wen Zhiyi was silent for a while before comforting: “It’s fine. At least the letter Little Ji wrote seems polite. There must be a reason Zhenzhen likes her.” As she spoke, her voice trailed off. Even if they were to accept Wen Miao’s partner, this reasoning felt a bit forced.

Wen Ruyan, however, let out a light smile.

“Alright, Mom, Sisters, don’t worry. With Zhenzhen’s personality, would she ever let herself suffer? There must be a reason she likes Little Ji. Besides, Little Ji has taken care of her in Xiaonan for so long; it’s normal to catch feelings.” She shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with liking women. I like women too.”

She had mentioned this years ago, causing Wen Xiangrong to explode in rage. She hadn’t brought it up since, but saying it now caused the air to freeze again.

Wen Xiangrong’s brows knitted together, her tone solemn: “Fine, no one is objecting to you liking women, but who knows if Zhenzhen is being tricked.”

Wen Ruyan was surprised. She hadn’t expected that after a few years, Wen Xiangrong had actually come around. The barrier between mother and daughter suddenly vanished, and Wen Ruyan felt a sense of relief. She smiled. “Don’t worry, Mom. Zhenzhen won’t let herself be taken advantage of. We’ll know once we have them come back for a visit.”

Wen Xiangrong rubbed her brow; that was the only way. After dinner, she returned to her study and wrote an urgent letter to Wen Miao.

Over twenty days passed, and the handmade mud bricks had completely dried. Ji Baiqing, Auntie Qian, and the others continued their work, starting on the walls.

Every day before starting, they mixed the rice straw mud. They laid the mud bricks one by one, sealing them with mud, building up about one meter in height daily.

While Ji Baiqing worked at the school, Wen Miao cooked at home, finding various ways to prepare meals for the family, hoping they wouldn’t get heatstroke in the intense weather. In her free time, Wen Miao reviewed her studies. Using the textbooks her grandmother sent, the knowledge that wasn’t unfamiliar to her became more and more refined.

One day, she went to the school to watch Ji Baiqing build the house. Seeing her moving bricks and sweating under the blazing sun, Wen Miao felt incredibly pained. That night, she was especially considerate, applying aloe vera gel to Ji Baiqing’s sun-damaged skin. For this, Wen Miao had even dug up a few aloe plants from a neighbor, which helped her build a good relationship with their neighbor, Granny Sun.

Fortunately, Ji Baiqing’s days in the sun didn’t last too much longer. The new classroom was just a single-story building, two or three meters high. Once the ladders were set up, they began placing the roof beams. Within half a month, the new classroom was finally built, and the leaky parts of the old classroom were repaired.

In ten days, the work was completely finished. Thinking of the hundreds of work points she had earned during this period, Ji Baiqing felt jubilant. Although Wen Miao thought it was hard work, Ji Baiqing found it manageable; she could handle the heavy lifting, it was just the sun that was a bit much. She had suffered far more before succeeding in her previous life; this was just a bit of physical labor. Plus, she now had a wife who cherished her.

After registering her work points with the village chief, Ji Baiqing went home. Having finished the task, her mood was excellent, and even the surrounding trees looked greener than usual. She hummed a song, washing off the dirt before heading home to take a shower and give Wen Miao a proper hug.

When she got home, Wen Miao was cooking. The smell was like chive and egg. Ji Baiqing leaned in to look, and indeed it was. Her face was already clean, so she gave Wen Miao a kiss on the cheek.

“Wife, I’m back.”

Wen Miao continued stir-frying with a red face. Before long, Ji Baiqing took over the spatula and shooed her away: “Check if the rice is steamed.”

While waiting for He Xiangyue and the others to finish work, Ji Baiqing stood in the yard, rubbing her chin as she remembered something.

“Zhenzhen, it’s still early. Let’s go to the neighboring village to buy a watermelon.”

She had said long ago she’d buy a watermelon to beat the heat, but she had been so busy she almost forgot. At the thought of sweet watermelon, Wen Miao felt a craving too and nodded immediately.

Ji Baiqing covered the food and took Wen Miao to the next village. It wasn’t far, so they didn’t ride the bicycle, walking side-by-side along the field paths.

Upon reaching the neighboring village, Ji Baiqing immediately spotted a watermelon patch. Walking closer, she saw large and small melons hidden among the vines. Many of the connecting vines were turning yellow and dry, meaning they would soon be handed over to the commune for sale.

As Ji Baiqing led Wen Miao around the field, someone quickly ran over.

“Hey, hey! What are those two female comrades doing over there!”

The newcomer was a middle-aged woman with a thin face, wearing short sleeves and knee-length pants, with a pen tucked into her collar.

Ji Baiqing smiled. “Auntie, we’re from the neighboring Yunshui Village. We wanted to trade for a watermelon to eat.”

Xiaoshi Village, Yunshui Village, and Dashan Village were neighbors, and with frequent marriages between them, they were more familiar with each other than other production teams. Hearing this, the woman’s expression softened. “Just pick a small one and go. No need to trade; just don’t let anyone see you.”

Ji Baiqing grinned, pushing her luck. “Auntie, we want to pick a larger one. It’s been deathly hot lately, and my old mother can’t eat anything. She just wants a bite of something sweet. I don’t want to disappoint her. Auntie, can I use money to trade with your village?”

The woman’s mouth twitched, but she eventually waved her hand. “Forget it, forget it. Just pick a big one. Our village has already distributed a batch; the rest are for the state anyway.”

Ji Baiqing suppressed an overly bright smile and knelt to pick a watermelon. Wen Miao stood by curiously; she had eaten watermelon before but never seen it growing in the ground.

She watched Ji Baiqing knock on one melon after another before finally picking one that looked to be about ten pounds and neatly plucking it. Seeing her take such a large melon, the woman’s brow twitched again, but she ultimately just shook her head.

Forget it; female comrades have their cravings, so let them be.

Ji Baiqing pulled out a prepared bag and took out two jicama (yam beans) to give to the woman. “Auntie, these are jicama we dug up from the back of the hill. Have a taste. We’re heading off now!”

With that, she tucked the watermelon into the bag. Seeing that it was getting dark, Ji Baiqing prepared to head back with Wen Miao.

The woman looked at the jicama in her hand, feeling a bit more satisfied.

On the way back, Ji Baiqing washed two small jicama, giving one to Wen Miao and taking one for herself.

Biting into the crisp, sweet jicama, Wen Miao asked curiously, “Where did you find these?”

Ji Baiqing grinned. “Last time I went up the hill by myself, I felt like the vines in that one spot looked familiar. I dug them up and realized they were edible jicama.”

She didn’t actually recognize jicama vines; it was purely a stroke of good luck.

They sneaked the watermelon home. By the time they arrived, the table had already been moved into the yard. He Xiangyue was peering around, looking for them, and let out a sigh of relief when she finally saw them return.

“Day after day, it’s almost time for dinner and you’re still not home. Where have you been wilding?”

Ji Baiqing gave her a mysterious smile and handed the cloth bag to He Xiangyue. He Xiangyue opened it suspiciously, and upon seeing such a large watermelon, her eyes widened. She quickly tightened the bag.

“Good heavens, where did you get this?”

“Dashan Village. An auntie there told me to just take one.”

He Xiangyue instantly forgot about whether it was time for dinner. She quietly fetched some water to wash the watermelon clean, then placed it in a bamboo basket and lowered it into the well.

She sat at the table looking delighted. “We’ll cut it open at noon tomorrow; it’ll definitely be refreshing!”

Ji Baiqing offered a weak protest: “Mom, can’t we eat it tonight?”

He Xiangyue glared at her crossly. “Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating! You’re so full from dinner, do you even have room left? Tomorrow!”

No one dared to protest when the head of the house made a decision. In the end, Ji Baiqing lowered her head to eat dejectedly. Seeing her slumped shoulders, Wen Miao stifled a laugh and placed several helpings of food into her bowl.

After bathing that night, He Xiangyue and her husband had already gone to bed.

Ji Baiqing and Wen Miao sat in the yard to enjoy the cool air. Ji Baiqing was a bit sleepy; she let out a yawn and slapped a mosquito on her arm with pinpoint accuracy.

She turned her head to look at Wen Miao. “Any mosquitoes biting you?”

Wen Miao shook her head.

Ji Baiqing didn’t care much about herself, but after noticing a mosquito bite on Wen Miao’s calf after dinner, she had applied a small amount of her homemade floral water all over her.

They were leaning close together, their scents mingling; even the mosquitoes would have to mentally prepare themselves before trying to approach a defenseless Ji Baiqing.

Ji Baiqing leaned on Wen Miao’s shoulder and yawned again, drifting toward sleep, her voice becoming muffled.

“Are you ready for the teacher recruitment exam?”

Just as Wen Miao was about to answer, the door to their neighbor Granny Sun’s house suddenly opened, and a basin of water was tossed out.

In the darkness, Granny Sun recognized the two of them and struck up a conversation with a smile: “Not asleep yet? What are you two chatting about?”

Ji Baiqing instantly jolted awake. “Nothing, Auntie! We’re going to sleep right now.”

It was far too awkward for a young couple to be seen being intimate by a neighbor. Sensing her hair was mostly dry, Ji Baiqing led Wen Miao back to their room in a hurry.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Ji Baiqing and Wen Miao locked eyes, and neither could help but burst into laughter.

Ji Baiqing patted her cheeks, making two crisp sounds in the darkness.

She muttered, “That was so awkward. Why is Granny Sun still awake this late?”

Wen Miao’s eyes curved. “Maybe she just finished her work.”

“I’ve prepared quite thoroughly,” she replied to the question Ji Baiqing had asked outside.

Ji Baiqing pulled her down to sleep, lying on the bed like a “salted fish.”

Wen Miao poked her arm. “Ah-Qing, let’s go get the mail tomorrow. Grandma must have received the letter I sent last time; I reckon the reply should have arrived by now.”

At the mention of this, Ji Baiqing got nervous. She sat up abruptly, biting her finger anxiously.

“Will Grandma and the aunts dislike me?”

Wen Miao slapped her hand down. “Don’t bite your hand; it’s a bad habit.”

“They won’t. Grandma and the others will definitely like you; you’re so good.”

Hearing this, Ji Baiqing’s eyes blinked, shimmering with light.

“Wife, where am I good? Tell me.”

She moved closer to Wen Miao, circling her arm and nuzzling her shoulder with the attachment of a puppy.

The nuzzling made Wen Miao feel ticklish; she smiled and shifted slightly to the side.

“Alright, be quiet for a moment.”

Ji Baiqing obediently looked up at her.

Wen Miao listed her merits: “You’re tall, you’re good-looking, your personality is very gentle, you’re quite steady most of the time, and you take great care of me.”

Thinking back on every little thing that had happened between them over the past few months, Wen Miao’s gaze grew softer.

“Most importantly, I just like you. It has to be you.”

Hearing these words, Ji Baiqing’s heart turned into a pool of spring water, full and overflowing.

She became even more clingy, sticking to Wen Miao like a piece of taffy. Looking at Wen Miao expectantly, Ji Baiqing kissed her chin with one little peck after another, being incredibly affectionate.

“Zhenzhen, I like you too. I like you so much. I only like you.”

After repeating this a few times, Ji Baiqing was no longer sleepy; her spirits were high.

She started pinching Wen Miao’s fingers and then restlessly twirling her hair. With these constant small movements, Wen Miao, who had closed her eyes to sleep, opened them helplessly.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Ji Baiqing grinned and whispered into Wen Miao’s ear:

“I love you so much.”

After saying this, her ears quietly turned red, though fortunately, it couldn’t be seen in the dark.

Wen Miao’s heartbeat quickened slightly. She asked calmly, “And?”

And what? Ji Baiqing tilted her head, thinking for a long time.

Finally, she whispered, “Wife, I’ll tell you a secret.”

“Hmm?” Wen Miao turned over to face her. “What secret?”

Ji Baiqing whispered in her ear: “I came here for you.”

Her words were a bit cryptic; Wen Miao didn’t understand what she meant for a moment.

Came for her? What did that mean?

By the time she wanted to ask further, the culprit had already closed her eyes, ready to sleep. No matter what Wen Miao said, Ji Baiqing remained unmoved.

In the end, Wen Miao huffed and took a small bite out of Ji Baiqing’s cheek.

“Ji Baiqing is truly the worst!” she thought resentfully.

The next day, Ji Baiqing took Wen Miao to town.

At the post office, there was indeed a letter for Wen Miao, looking quite thick and bulging.

Just looking at it made Ji Baiqing nervous. After returning home, she paced around for several laps before she was mentally prepared to let Wen Miao open it.

Two envelopes. One was opened to reveal a stack of money, each bill neatly bundled.

Wen Miao found it strange. Why did Grandma and the others send her money again?

When she opened the second envelope and read the letters from her aunts and grandmother, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ji Baiqing, watching the contents of the letter from the side, hung her head in dejection.

“Am I really as bad as Grandma and the others say?”

Even though she knew it was only natural for them to feel that way, seeing herself rejected by Wen Miao’s family made her tears almost well up.

Wen Miao pinched her cheeks, looking into her red eyes, and tugged the corners of her lips upward.

“Alright now, didn’t Little Aunt say she thinks you’re a good person?”

Ji Baiqing couldn’t smile. “What’s the difference between that and a ‘good person’ card?”

“What’s a ‘good person’ card?” Wen Miao asked, confused.

However, she didn’t dwell on Ji Baiqing’s words and began to comfort the discouraged youth.

“Alright, Grandma and the others are just overprotective. I know best whether you’re good or not; if you weren’t good, I couldn’t possibly like you.”

“They just haven’t met you yet. Once they see you, they’ll grow to like you.”

Ji Baiqing looked aggrieved. “Really?”

Wen Miao nodded. “Of course. In my heart, you’re the best.”

Only then did the youth feel a bit better, a smile appearing on her face.

She started counting on her fingers: “There are still a few months until National Day. I need to prepare the gifts in advance.”

Seeing her burst of excitement, Wen Miao didn’t stop her and let her be.

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